Page 136 of The Throne's Undoing

Terin's grim expression, however, suggested otherwise. "I have never experienced it myself, but from what I've read, it is not pleasant. I would be careful if I were you."

His warning turned over and over in her mind. There was much Kallie still did not understand about her gift, but she meant what she said. She would not manipulate someone again. To manipulate someone was to control their will.

No one deserved to have that kind of power over another.

At night, memories of Domitius's assignments would infiltrate her dreams. Somehow, she knew instinctively that Terin hadn't put them there. They felt different, more haunted.

Kallie never recalled fearing her gift before. The headaches were unbearable after extraneous use, but she had always felt strong and powerful when she used her gift and felt its honeyed tendrils wrapping around her.

As Kallie looked inwards, she instantly recoiled, unable to even reach for her power.

"I think that's enough training for today," Terin said after tense silence permeated the air. He nodded toward the castle as he tossed his jacket over his shoulder. "Are you joining us for lunch this afternoon?"

Kallie bit down on the inside of her cheek as the previous conversation still hung in the air uncomfortably. She had only taken Terin up on his offer to join him and the others for lunch twice. Both times, she had sat there in silence, her attention bouncing between Terin and the others. Their conversations were so easy, and Kallie felt a foreign longing to partake.

But she wasn't one of them. She didn't share their inside jokes or know the places Emmett and Sylvia spoke of back in Pontia.

The recent argument aside, training with Terin was one thing, for there was never a need for small talk. But sharing ameal with him? With all of them? Kallie couldn't quite stomach it, especially today.

While she may have wanted to dismantle the wall that still existed between them, she couldn't quite get herself to remove the first brick.

Kallie looked toward the tree line that bordered the castle's property, and something beckoned her toward the woods, as if telling her today was not the day.

Finally, she shook her head. "Not today."

Terin nodded before turning on his heel. Although guilt rose in her throat, Kallie could not call Terin back as he and Ellie walked away.

Kallie sighed and headed toward the forest, listening to the pull of the wind.

The breeze brushedthrough Kallie's hair, pushing through the long chestnut locks and sweeping them off her shoulders.

She could feel the guards watching her as she made her way to the forest. And for a moment, she hesitated. She shouldn't wander too far from the castle. Everyone still mistrusted her, yet her feet propelled her forward as if a rope was tied around her waist tugging her deeper and deeper into the woods.

When she glanced over her shoulder, she could barely make out the castle within the spaces between the trees.

The guards had shifted closer, but none made to follow her. Her brows furrowed, but she did not stop to think on it long as the wind ruffled the leaves and swept a caress across her face.

She curled the stray pieces behind her ear and continued.

Then, as the woods swallowed her, she froze as light, unfiltered laughter filled the air.

Kallie squinted.

There, through the trees, she spotted Nyrri in a small opening, her tail whipping back and forth. The dragon-wolf jumped, her large wings beating and lifting her higher as she snapped her large jaw.

Nyrri landed with a loud thud, sending a dust cloud into the air.

"That's a good girl."

Kallie's heart thumped in her chest as Graeson came into view and scratched Nyrri beneath her chin. Nyrri tipped her chin up, her tail beating against the ground as she received his praise.

Out in the woods, he looked a little unruly, wilder, less contained. But the fear that existed when she found him bleeding and trembling before was nowhere to be seen.

He looked...good.

A blush heated Kallie's cheeks, and she stepped backward.

A twig snapped beneath her foot.

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