Page 177 of Barbi and the Villain

“Okay. I’ll try.” I nod, closing my eyes.

I try to make contact with that source of energy I’d tapped earlier. I see it in my mind’s eye. It’s a swirling mass of pink that seemingly grows in size the more I stare at it.

“You are doing the opposite, Barbs,” Nykander tsks.

My eyes flutter open and I immediately see what he means. Instead of hiding my shield, I’ve made it more conspicuous.

“I can do it,” I tell him, closing my eyes once more.

I identify the same source of energy, but this time, instead of watching it grow larger, I tentatively step forward, willing it to become smaller until it can fit in the palm of my hand. Once it’s within my reach, I let it wash over me, imagining it’s coating me in an invisibility spell.

“Yes. That’s it.” Nykander’s voice echoes in my ear. “I cannot see, nor feel it. You did it, Barbs.”

I open my eyes, a wide smile on my face. But the moment my focus rattles, my shield becomes visible again, and the sphere of energy increases in size until I am but a dust speck next to it.

Nykander rushes to my side, his tentacles reaching around me to contain my shield from exploding.

“Almost there.” He chuckles.

“Almost,” I grumble.

He doesn’t seem mad at my failure. On the contrary, he sweeps me off my feet and takes us back to camp, all the while praising me for my efforts.

When we get there, he lays me on the grass next to the dog house.

“You must be starving,” he comments. “I will go get food. You rest.”

“Is that an order?” I raise a brow.

He shakes his head and laughs.

“You can take it as such.”

Smiling, I watch his retreating figure as I barely stop myself from rolling on the grass from too much giddiness.

I guess this is how it feels to be in love.

Ander spots me and runs to my arms, his little teeth already on my fingers, chewing away. I hold him tight to my chest.

PomPom and BonBon don’t even bother with me. They’re playing together, almost as if they were in their own little world.

BonBon has a wide smile on his face—well, for a dog—as he chases after PomPom.

It seems I am not the only one who’s been hit by the love bug around here. And damn if that doesn’t make me even happier.

Nykander returns a few moments later with some meat he’d caught, and he proposes we eat first before we leave.

“We’re leaving today? I thought we’d wait a bit longer until I can perfect my technique.”

“You will be doing that on the way there. You are already doing so much better than I expected, sweetheart.”

I preen under his praise, and because the butterflies in my stomach are so restless, I place Ander on the grass and drag myself closer to Nykander.

He’s with his back to me, tending to the fire.

I press and rub myself shamelessly against him.

“What do you think you are doing, you little minx?” His eyes crinkle around the corners as he half-turns to me.

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