Page 46 of Cursed

Arden grins at Rourke but shakes his head. “Nah. A beacon of hope.”

Landis cocks his brow and holds out both hands as if to grab my breasts. “I’d say a pair of great headlights.”

Branden smacks the incubus’ shoulder. “Dude!” But then he chuckles too.

I roll my eyes at his crude joke. But his humor makes me feel less like a weirdo supernatural science experiment.

“Alright, kids, focus,” Quade winks at me. Then he becomes serious again and asks, “What made you glow?”

“Uh…” I feel a bit self-conscious. “I was just thinking, well, I was fantasizing what it might be like to change into a wolf and run through the woods. Or become a dragon, so I could fly and play in the sky with Rourke. I wanted to be more connected to you both.”

“First, you are connected to me through our bond. So even if we can’t race through the forest, you’re here in my heartalways. And you can have that same connection with Rourke if you both decide to make that happen.”

“But—” I protest. I’m greedy. I want more.

“So try to focus on only one. Perhaps the wolf form since it’s smaller and easier for the mind to imagine becoming. Also, we have a completed bond.” He gives me a sweet kiss on the lips. “Feel that desire, but don’t put pressure on yourself to succeed.”

I think about Quade and our bond. I remember what his wolf form looks like—a giant, white and black dire wolf with golden eyes. I construct how I’d like to appear, all black with flecks of white—like Landis’ midnight shimmer.

Gasps.

I open my eyes, half expecting tobea wolf, but fearing that I won’t be.

Instead, I see a shadow wolf standing in front of me. It’s made of darkness with sparkling stars, like a bright night sky.

“Whatam I?” I point at my creation. “That’s not normal, right?”

“I think you left the word normal behind a long time ago,” Branden says. “And that’s fine by me.”

“It’s as though you shifted, but not your form.” Quade crouches down and studies my shadowwolf.

“It felt like a shift to my senses, but not like anything else I’ve ever experienced.” Rourke hums thoughtfully.

“Can you move it?” Landis asks.

I imagine the wolf moving forward. It does, but it’s more like sliding over the ground than walking as a wolf would. I blow out a breath in frustration.

The wolf dissipates and becomes a gust of wind that swirls around us and travels off into the sky.

“You have officially confused me.” Landis shakes his head.

Branden steps closer. His mind is working it out. “It’s like you don’t shape-shift form, but you…”

And I say it with him, “… shape-shift magic.”

I hear the ring of truth in my words. But then I realize, I still don’t know what that means. “So, how does that work?”

“No one has seen that before.” Quade places a hand on my shoulder, bracing me. “Which means we have no idea.”

Branden cuts in. “But she does have a gift for each element. So I would suggest that you learn how to control the basics first. Then learn how to magic-shift each into another kind of magic.”

I sputter, thinking at first that I couldn’t do something like that. Then I realize, I just did. I created shadows and changed them into air magic.

“So I can control the base elements of magic, fire, earth, air, water, and ether. And I can even shift into a simple version of a vamp and a cubi. But it seems so wild.”

“And don’t forget… a druid’s magic by seeing connections,” Arden reminds me.

“There might not be a limit to your powers,” Quade says quietly. “You might beexactlywhat your father was hoping to create. Which means you’re in a lot of danger.”

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