Page 63 of Charming Her Monsters

Calder stares at me for a long minute. Perhaps he’s wondering what I’ve done to encourage their affections. Or he senses that I’m correct. “Sorry. Nope. Maxum and Arran were never gaga over Osen the way they are with you. Flint is definitely into you all on his own. And I haven’t sensed Osen’s energy radiating out of you in a way that would attract them to you.”

“But guys rarely want me… not like how deeply they are hinting at.”

“You have a magnetism all your own. It just needed the right people to attract.”

“How can you say that? It isn’t like you know what’s going on with the other guys. It’s not like you feel an attraction for me.”

Calder drops his gaze, and he tenses. “Even when I was against having you around, I thought you were… attractive.”

“Is that why you hated me even more?”

“Hate is a strong word.”

“Repulsed? Sickened?” I offer.

Calder chuckles, shakes his head, and makes eye contact again. “Let’s go with irritated.”

“Okay. I know I can be irritating. It’s what my ex-boyfriends call me.”

“Witch, you had some terrible taste in males.”

“Apparently, let’s see if supernatural guys are any better.”

20

TRAINING

JADE

After Calder instructs me to stand in the middle of his room, he tells me to close my eyes. “Imagine your aura has a bubble around it. Then another one around your body, then another layer around your mind.”

I crack open my eyes and look at him, “You sure this is how I shield myself? Imagining bubbles?”

Calder gives me a long-suffering sigh. “Magic is all about intention. I thought you would know this from all your supernatural books you supposedly write.”

“I do write those books, but I guess I thought it was all made up bullshit.”

“How do you think things get made up? From what is real… or the other way around. You get my point. Form follows thought and thought follows form.”

“So the whole ‘as above, so below’ theory?”

“Exactly.” He nods at me. “Now, close your eyes and focus.”

I do as he says, because it’s hard to focus when I’m barraged by his handsomeness. I hate to say I’m flustered by the intense presence of this hot guy, but yeah… I am.

“Envision those bubbles. Make them as solid and as real in your mind as you can. Imagine that your enemy cannot get beyond your boundaries, no matter how hard they try.”

I focus on creating these bubble boundaries, and finally, they feel like they have solidified.

“Good,” he praises. “Now hold on to that feeling, no matter what you feel.”

I smile at his approval. Then I feel energy moving closer, pushing on my boundaries. I push back with my mind.

“Boo,” he whispers.

I jump. My eyes pop open at sound of Calder so close to me. When I see he’s in my space, less than a foot away from my face, I yelp, “What are you doing?”

“Testing you.” He smirks.

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