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“You want me to go into your mind?” he clarifies, and I offer a nervous smile.
“I trust you.” The words warm my chest, confirming now more than ever that I mean every one of them. When I first arrived and he threatened to invade my thoughts without my permission, the mere thought left me feeling violated, but now, this is my choice, my offer. It feels entirely different.
It’s funny what a little thing like consent can do to a situation to make it feel like a good idea.
“There will be nothing for you to trust,” Brax advises as he stands, prowling toward me with slow, measured steps. “If you think of just that in your mind, I swear to leave everything else untouched.”
A shiver runs down my spine as he comes to a stop in front of me. Wow. Could it really be so simple for him to delve deeper into my thoughts? I meant what I said, though. I trust him in my mind, and even more so to only see what he needs.
He steps closer and I can feel the eyes of the rest of my men watching our every move. He lifts his hand to stroke under my chin, a simple touch that calms me without even trying. From there, he trails his fingertips up my cheek before settling them at my temples.
My eyes close of their own accord and the vivid picture of the compound comes to mind. I see everything. The tree line, the imprisoned creatures, the shrubs, all of it. I can feel him in my mind, weirdly similar to a soft caress, and I bite back a groan. No one mentioned it was going to feel… good.
“What are you doing?” he mumbles as he presses his forehead against mine.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’m supposed to find the image waiting, but it’s like you’re projecting it directly intomymind.” He leans back and I blink open my eyes.
“I’m sorry?” It feels like a question because I don’t really know what I did, but I also can’t sense if he’s mad or not. If I did something wrong, there was no intention to it.
“Don’t be sorry, Shadow. That’s just never happened before.” Frown lines mar the skin between his eyes. One brown. One green. Both staring inquisitively at my soul through my own blue pools.
“You’re still making me feel like I should apologize again,” I mumble, and he shakes his head.
“I know exactly what I’m envisioning, so we got the task done, but could you see if you could give the image to Eldon as well?”
“Why?”
“It could be a magical ability, Raven.” His voice softens as I meet his gaze and I nod. I’m so confused by every little thing that I didn't even consider that to be an option. Eldon steps up to my side a moment later, a gentle smile on his face as he approaches. “Place your hands on her temples like I did, Eldon,” Brax orders, and he does just that.
Closing my eyes, I picture the compound in my mind, exactly like I did last time, but after a few minutes pass, Eldon drops his hands and takes a step back.
“I’m getting nothing,” he admits, and I peer up at him, a hint of disappointment casting over me. Of course, finding another magical ability wouldn’t be so easy.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe, before hands squeeze my sides and lift me off the ground.
“Let’s go before she apologizes us all to death,” Zane says with a snicker, and the others laugh too. This time, I roll my eyes and mean it. Asshole. He places me down on my feet, tilting my head back to look into my eyes with a smirk plastered to his lips. “Shake your funk off, Dove. We’ve got this. Some things just take time.”
I sigh, letting the stress I’m putting on myself melt away. I mouth my thanks to him and he winks before steering us toward the gateway Brax has now created.
Creed steps through first, followed by Eldon, and I sneak through next, Zane and Brax right behind me. My eyes widen in surprise when I realize Brax has brought us to the same spot I was standing in the last time. It’s as if he’s placed us exactly where my memory showed him I was.
The compound is as I left it and my familiar is where he said he would be. I can see him off to the left, close to the barrier.
“It doesn’t look like a cage,” Zane states as we head toward Ari, and I nod.
“I can’t decide if that makes it better or worse, but it’s a prison to them all the same. They’re basically being kept as cattle for the students to slaughter,” I grumble. I’m sure they’re sick of me repeating myself, but it’s hard not to when I can feel Ari’s pain and heartache over the situation. Especially with Gia inside.
I run the remaining steps toward Ari, burying my face in his feathers as I stroke a hand down his chest without a single word passing between us first. His head dips down as usual and I take a deep breath, settling my heart rate with his.
“Anything new?” I ask, and he shakes his head as I take a step back. I can sense an almost awkwardness between the Bishops and my familiar, but I don’t really know how to rectify it. Ari can’t speak to them like he can to me, so the instant inability to communicate doesn’t help.
“Who’s that over there?” Creed asks, and I frown as I follow his line of sight to see two members of staff from the academy step through the barrier over by the forest.
“They’re the staff that come to do checks on everyone every few days,”Ari explains, and I reiterate the information to the others.
“Is it just those that can enter or people in general?” Eldon adds, looking at Ari for the answer.
