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“Any luck with your super cool new powers?”
I groaned at the table, letting my head bounce with a small thump as Kiran made himself at home across from me. The man chuckled, sounding mildly deranged as he waited for me to pull myself together and actually respond to him.
Luckily, breakfast hadn’t been completely cleared out yet by the time I made it to the kitchens—even though I was really pushing the boundaries of the word ‘breakfast’—so I was able to grab a small bite to eat. Sariel had let me sleep in, happy to skip off into the morning air when I was too tired to drag myself out of bed.
My hangover wasn’t even terrible, just a little sting and thump behind the eyes as I made my way through the motions. I just hadn’t realized that I would be facing off with Thing One as soon as I sat down. If I had, I probably would have waited another hour—or three.
“Not really,” I answered. “I don’t really like experimenting with any of it ever since my angel had her little outburst.”
An understatement, but he nodded sagely. Apparently, everyone had been content for me to wreak havoc on the whole compound when it was clear that Barimuz had been up to no good. Never mind that I’d been overrun by a whole new entity and all she seemed capable of was rage.
I tried not to be bitter about it, but it still rubbed me the wrong way to remember.
“That’s what I figured.” Kiran chuckled, taking a bite of an apple. “After we get done snacking, we’re gonna head over to the training field together and see about helping you connect to them.”
Briefly, I debated the pros and cons of trying to explain that I couldn’t connect with my powers because the only way to get to them was through a very feisty ball of rage who was ready to throw hands at anyone who looked at us wrong, but ultimately decided I should just try to eat my oatmeal.
“I don't know…” I grimaced as Kiran grinned at me, waggling his eyebrows a bit. “What if I lose control, and she goes completely insane or something?”
He shrugged as if the idea was of no consequence, propping his head up with one hand. “Well, it’s not like I’d be far off, and I doubt Marilyn would let you take off on a murderous rampage. She’s always there this time of day doing her witchy meditation stuff.”
Honestly, I wasn’t positive the witch could stop me if my angel managed a full hostile takeover. Kiran, though?
I eyed him speculatively, narrowing my eyes as he flexed his free arm playfully.
I sighed when he couldn’t contain his laughter anymore, knowing that I’d lost whatever game this was we were playing. “Fine. I’ll try it.”
Worst case scenario, he shifted, and we would just fight it out until Sariel showed up to reel my angel in. He was probably the only person who could make her see reason anyway, even though we literally shared a damn body.
Breakfast was quiet after that, both of us trying to hurry through it. The sooner we got there, the sooner I could leave; there was no way he would let me off the hook without at least trying things his way. Kiran didn’t even let me pass him on the street without reminding me how badly he and Atlan wanted to do a pack run together once Sariel was ready. He was relentless.
There was nobody else hanging around the training field beside Marilyn when we got there, and she was busy doing her own meditation a few yards away. As I sat in the grass, Kiran instructed me to close my eyes and try to clear my head—which was harder than anticipated, given how crowded my entirebodyfelt most days. Once my attention was focused inward, my wolf and angel rushed to the surface, both eager to escape.
My wolf was easy enough to hold back, but my angel was a ball of fire in my chest, twisting and knotting herself around my heart until I thought the organ was going to burst. I coughed, gritting my teeth and resisting the urge to rub at my chest.
Great. Now she’d learned how to give me heartburn in retaliation for keeping her contained. That wasjustwhat I needed.
“Interesting,” I peeked open an eye to find Kiran staring intently at me, face weirdly serious for once. “You almost look like you’re failing to hold onto a glamor. Is that your angel or your wolf?”
Thinking for a moment, I frowned. “That makes sense, I guess—my angel is kind of aggressive.”
He nodded in understanding before I closed my eyes again and tried to force myself into a state of relaxation. It was uncomfortable, and my mind kept drifting to recent events.
Just as I was about to give up, a pair of hands dropped onto my shoulders, and Marilyn let out a small hum. “Focus on your breathing.”
The advice was a whisper, barely audible, but I took it.
Even though it was hard to keep myself on the task, I managed it after a few minutes, and Marilyn stepped away. I could feel her nearby, briefly derailed by her absence before I righted myself again.
Everything was hypersensitive after that. I could almost count the grass blades digging into my legs, and every time a breeze came through, three hairs tickled at my cheek. Kiran's breathing was slow and steady, but Marilyn's heartbeat was a little faster than his—it was all so overwhelming, I shuddered.
My angel was less aggravated when she pushed to the surface this time, but it was clear she was still intent on taking over. I didn’t know how Sariel could stand his if this was how they all were.
Things had been stressful enough when it’d been just me and my wolf. With the addition of another creature trying to fit in, I knew I was dangerously close to cracking. Thinking that just seemed to upset her more, and then I was being forced to push her back down, vying for control of my own damn body.
She complied, reluctantly, and some of the burnings in my body eased.
“If you’d like, I could try some calming techniques,” Marilyn said. “We have to do it sometimes to help young witches find their center and keep from lashing out.”
