Page 64 of Heir

But Drak didn’t even flinch at his chastising.

I glared at the fanged freak in front of me.

“Interesting,” Raewyn said. “You want to kill him.”

I shifted my gaze to her. “Yes, but not really.”

Maxar chuckled softly.

Keeping my focus on Raewyn, I asked, “Is there anything else you can tell me that will help me? You’ve literally told me to envision a shield. And I do. But it’s not strong enough, and it comes down too late. What else can I do to make this work?”

Her gaze was unwavering, and I’m sure she expected it to be unnerving too, but I refused to allow her to intimidate me.

“That right there,” she said after a moment. “That feeling that you’re having about me right now, as well as the one you have about the vampire, the feeling that you refuse to let us intimidate you. Lean into that as hard as you can.”

“What does that mean?” I really hated that she could read my emotions.

“Just try it. Close your eyes.”

Growling, I closed my eyes and focused on how much I really hated this woman. On how much she was treating me like some misfit mutt, when what I really needed was a bit of compassion, support, and understanding. How hard was it to be kind? Was it that much harder than being a bitch?

I channeled all my energy into not letting her intimidate me. Into hating her. Into not letting her into my mind. I threw up the shield. This time, it was stronger. I could just feel it. It was thicker. Heavier. And it took a lot out of me to keep it up. But when the pressure of something coming down on it dug into my mind, I looked up to find a sword bearing down, but unable to break through.

I smiled and thought more about how I hated this woman, but at the same time pitied her. She didn’t know me. And that was her loss. She judged me before she even got to know me, before she even gave me a chance. She was nothing more than a racist bitch with attitude and flawless makeup. But as pretty as she was, that didn’t make her beautiful. I was awesome, and I pitied her for not giving me a chance and getting to know that awesomeness.

And just when I thought my shield couldn’t get any stronger, the pressure of her sword lifted.

My eyes flew open, my chest heaved.

I glanced at Raewyn. Her eyes held a smile, but her mouth was a flat line. “Better.”

I knew without having to say anything, that that was as close to a compliment that I was going to get.

“Again,” she said. “Only this time you need to try not to fry my brain. I’m going to drop my shield and you’re going to have the exact same thoughts about me as you did before. Only this time, don’t pity me. Just hate me.”

Heat raced into my chest and cheeks. I hated that she could read my emotions so easily. How could she do that even with my shield up though? Was the shield just to stop her from frying my brain? Would I need another shield to keep her out of my head?

I sat up and concentrated on this woman. On how full of herself she seemed. On how righteous and better than me she came across. She literally sniffed the air, and then called me a human and an abomination. She was a racist bitch. A self-important snag without any compassion, kindness, or empathy in her heart. If this was what all demon women were like, then no-fucking-thank you.

“Is that all you’ve got?” she asked with a haughty laugh. “I feel nothing.” She glanced at Drak, “Did she try to fry your brain?”

All he did was nod.

“Was it as pathetic as this?”

Her gaze swung to Maxar. “So, like, what is the deal with you guys anyway? Have you ever been with a demon?”

Fury lanced through me, hot and painful, and I growled, my eyes boring into her skull and wrinkle-free forehead.

She screamed and clutched at her head as I brought down my own blade across the two lobes in her skull. Blood poured from her nose, but she pushed back with a medium-strength shield of her own, and opened her eyes. “Good. Now take your anger and compress it into a ball.”

“What?”

“You have to imagine all of this. Take the anger and compress it. Gather it like a colored energy and squeeze it into a ball.”

She was struggling to keep her shield up. I knew she could easily drop a stronger one and keep me out, but she needed me to learn how to stop my assault on people. I didn’t like that I was hurting her. Even though I wasn’t fond of her, even though I pitied her, I didn’t want to hurt her.

“Stop pitying me. Hate me, you stupid, hybrid bitch. Hate me, but take that hate and that anger and gather it up. If you let it run free, you’ll never be able to control it. Collect it. You . . . you have to.”

---