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“Oh, I think you know, Little Bird,” his voice lowered. “I have been remiss not to mention it prior to today. If another Shadow tries to ghost you, I’ll have to kill him if that’s the result of your transport.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I most certainly would,” he growled. “But my reason for sharing this right now is two-fold. The second reason is because I believe you can prevent it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You stopped me from shifting into shadow form. Why not one who attempts to … take you?”
“You’re more concerned about the after effect than the abduction part,” I evaluated. “This is more about the prevention of feeling sexual need with someone else, as though I’m incapable of stopping myself from acting on it?”
His dark chuckle pressed all the right buttons. Or were they the wrong ones?Gah!
“No, Little Bird. I’m sharing because you need the information. It’s something important you should know when living and interacting with Shadow demons. I’m also sharing it as a safety precaution. Both Kree and Lyric were taken from Embour, only a couple of years ago. Lyric was ghosted away by one of our own soldiers.”
I swallowed. “Did …”
“No. By then she’d figured out how to control the effect, it’s part of her and Kree’s Adestrian magic. Neither of them were abused or manipulated in that manner. But the fact remains we were betrayed by one of our own.”
Relief filled my heart. Lyric was a headcase, but I now considered both her and her sister as friends. The realization you are powerless to stop someone from harming you is another sort of torture itself.
“Few things cut as deep as betrayal from those you trust,” he added.
“That wasn’t the first betrayal you’ve experienced, was it?”
He solidified, storms brewing in his eyes. “It’s a hard lesson I’ve had to learn more than once. I don’t want to take chances with you, especially not if there is any possibility Sersha or Malcolm has gotten to one of our own. Everyone has pressure points. Money. Power. Threats. I wouldn’t put it past the Fae Queen to hold a loved-one’s life over someone’s head to get what she wants. Even if the odds of one of our own Shadows assisting Sersha are miniscule, I want you to be prepared.”
He was absolutely right about the royal couple’s nefariousness. They would indeed stoop to such levels.
Casimir wrapped both arms around me and I gripped his hips. “I’ll make a list of anything else you should know. Protocols, safety measures, chain of command, all of the things here that I should have been going over with you already.”
“I understand,” I assured. We were suffering similarly in terms of clarity of mind.
He pivoted around to face the stone, still in the same place. “Can we be done with him?”
“Of course.” I crumbled it to dust and spread the debris over one of the more rocky areas. “Do you want to try to ghost me so I can practice?”
“No. We can try that later. Perhaps on our return to Embour?” he tested.
“Yes,” passed my lips without thought. The bond simmered in the best of ways, seemingly connected to the juncture of my thighs instead of my soul. Neither of us were thinking about the prevention of the shift. The carnal pull was so intense I couldn’t imagine it being any stronger.
Casimir shook himself slightly, breaking our spell. “We still need to push your magic. What’s the most complicated thing you can do? Was what you just did with me difficult?”
Burying my disappointment at the turn of conversation, I cleared my throat. “Lifting you was relatively easy but locking down your power was not.”
“Yet you still managed it.”
“I did,” I agreed, “but I didn’t expend myself for very long. I need to push harder.”
“So what are you thinking of trying?”
“Originally, I thought of creating a storm.”
“I thought the elements were easy for you?”
I lifted my palms, one face up and one face down, like I was holding a ball between them. I conjured a tiny cloud, the power tickling my skin. The cloud darkened, tiny raindrops fell onto my waiting hand below. It picked up in intensity.
“Elements like this aren’t complicated. This is very small, though. I’ve never made something like this on a grand scale. I originally thought that’s what I’d do, then try to control the sound, control the damage, and control its visibility to anyone close enough to see it.”
