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My lips part. His orange eyes latch onto the movement. “Kohaku. It means amber.”
His orange eyes flare and his lips twist into a smile. “Kohaku.” Then he inclines his head in a nod.
“So, you’re just going to have a tattoo of a dude with ears on you?” Cohen asks, and he sounds like he doesn’t like that idea.
Kohaku sniffs. “I can shift into a fox form. I imagine my little warrior would like that better on her skin?”
I lift my brows. “Oh, whatever you would like is just fine with me. I’m just really grateful that you’re okay with, uh, being bound to me.”
He gives me a soft smile. “Without a witch to guide us, we are formless, nearly mindless. But it has been so long since we have found someone worthy of a binding. I imagine that many others will try to answer your call when you are in need. Being bound to a witch such as yourself is a great honor.”
“If it’s an honor to be bound to a witch, why does that asshole have three shadows?” Fielder asks, jabbing a finger at Cohen. “He is certainly not worthy of that many.”
Kohaku’s eyes move to Cohen, run over him from his shaved dark hair all the way to the black boots on his feet. “He is worthy. If he was not, his shadows would let me know.” Then he looks at Fielder and does the same thing. After a moment, he shakes his head. “You are not yet worthy.”
Fielder makes some kind of spluttering noise, like he can’t understand why he would be told he’s subpar on something. I’m a little worried that he’s going to say something to make my kitsune upset so I hurry to say, “yet! He said you aren’t worthy yet! You can get there. Just… calm down.”
Fielder’s gaze flicks to me. “I’m not mad, Sweeney. I’m confused.”
Kohaku tilts his head to the side. “Why are you confused?”
Ezra is the one that answer for him. “The four of us,” he motions with a hand at himself, Fielder, Gideon and Hardin. “Are the strongest witches in our coven. We have access to power that most can only dream of, so how is Fielder not worthy of a shadow?”
Kohaku shakes his head. “It has nothing to do with your power level and everything to do with your mental shields. You are not ready for a shadow because you do not think you can have one.”
Cohen laughs. Just straight up laughs at that. “Limited,” he howls. “You’re so fucking limited because you let them do that to you.”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Hardin snarls at him. “Or I’ll shut it for you.”
I shake my head. “Sweet baby kittens, guys, can we just… Can everyone calm the fuck down, please? We can’t fight each other if we want to succeed. If you wantmeto succeed. I can’t be worried about you brawling over stupid shit. Magic takes time and practice and a hell of a lot of mental energy. You all have blockages because you were raised with them. It doesn’t mean you can’t clear them out. And it certainly doesn’t mean that Cohen is better than any of you.”
“That’s exactly what it means,” Cohen mutters.
“It just means,” I continue like he didn’t say anything. “That its something for you to work on. I would bet that Kohaku can help with that. He’ll be able to tell when you’ve become,” I don’t want to use the word worthy, because that makes it sound like they’re currently unworthy and I don’t think that’s true. “Opento being bound to a shadow.”
The foxy man in front of me nods. “This is true. I will sense when you can bind with an umbra.”
I let out a breath and nod. “See? It’s still possible. It’ll just take time.”
“Time is the one thing we don’t have, sweetheart,” Gideon says, running a hand down his face.
I nod in agreement. “Then you better get started.”
Chapter 7
We spend the rest of the day in group training. Now that my shadow has a form—and what a fine form it is too—Cohen puts all of us on mastering all the elements we can. Including lightning, which is an affinity for Cup and Moon, Morgan Bettencourt’s sect.
That thought alone is enough to make me want to master the electricity snapping down my arms, purple flecks of lightning. But it’s a lot fucking harder than I thought. Actually, all the elements are really fucking hard. I can conjure them up no problem, but controlling them is an entirely different matter.
“Ow! Watch it, love,” Hardin shouts, rubbing his ass where I’ve just accidentally zapped him. Thankfully, it’s not anything more than the zing of an electric fence. I’m not able to call full on thunderbolts like Cohen is. And that is a good thing, considering that I have little to no control.
“You need to think about where you want the lightning to go, wildcard. Direct it with your intentions.”
My face heats and I don’t meet his eyes. He chuckles. “You were thinking about Hardin’s ass, weren’t you?”
The Brit in question spins around, a pleased smirk on his face. “Were you, love?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “What do you want from me? You were bent over and it’s just so round and biteable.”
