Page 39 of Live Like Legends

I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Your kids are lucky to have you as a dad.”

He gave me a smile that almost had no happiness in it, it felt lonely. “Let’s hope they still think that, that they don’t think I abandoned them.”

“I have a feelingyourkids could never think that.”

Garrett placed his hand at the top of my shoulder and squeezed, silently thanking me before stepping back.

I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes. It was as if everyone around me took a collective breath inward, waiting.I rubbed my hands together stupidly thinking that that might light some kind of spark in me, but it didn’t. I felt like I was being put on display and if I didn’t do something extraordinary then I was useless. My closeness with Lilith and my dagger made me special, but both of those things were no longer a part of my existence, so achieving this one thing was all I had. I didn’t have time to fuck it up and fix my mistakes.

I couldn’t have all these people wanting to help me and then find out I wasn’t worth all the trouble. Nick would follow me until the day I begged him to not, but what if all that commitment came up empty handed. I didn’t want to have faced death at the hands of the one person who only ever wanted the best for me to mean absolutely nothing.

What if I’d worked this hard to find out that I wasn’t deserving of all this power I held?

Without having to look, I knew the caress of wispy darkness skimmed across my arms and up my neck. I knew the shadows danced mindlessly in between my fingertips. This would always be my go-to, my comfortable place, the power I clung to whenever I needed a hint of familiarity.

And that was okay.

It’syourpower.Yours. You rule it, not the other way around.

Lilith also had me believe my power, the dark shadows, was who I was. I had a kinship with it, but after all this time basking in the light that was Nick, I decided I wanted a kinship with that as well.

I wanted to be vulnerable with it and let it become a familiar sensation. I didn’t want it to be a foreign spark that only came out when I really needed it. I wanted it to feel free to be present when it wanted; Iwantedit to feel wanted.

The room started to feel warm and a small hum echoed against my ears. It was a hum of satisfaction and contentment. The warmth mimicked my darkness, and I opened my eyeswatching them chase after each other along my hands. I put my palms together, taking in one big, deep breath. I pulled my hands apart, letting my fingertips touch for as long as they could. A ball of black, highlighted in gold light stared back at me. It hovered between my hands and continued to grow the more I inspected it.

Tiny pieces of light fell off and stung my cheeks, but it didn’t hurt. My skin absorbed the small amount of pain like eventually one day, it wouldn’t be painful at all. Little micro flames puffed off of the ball of power, but nothing like what I’d done the other day. I tried to keep my mind right, trusting myself and the balance I wanted to maintain.

I counted to three in my head, before I shot it out of my hands and towards the wall, willing it to go nowhere else but where I’d aimed.

The ball of hybrid magic flew over to the magically layered wall, bursting into a fit of nothing as the wall puckered and rumbled, consuming the large amount of power. The room shook with the aftereffects when Natalia spoke.

“Do it again.”

I did the next time with more ease, one hand grasping the power and not two. It wasn’t cockiness I felt, although I was allowed to feel every ounce of that, but it was a confidence I could completely call my own. Nick’s light would always be able to make this bigger and more blinding, but I could do just fine on my own.

“Okay, okay, how about a moving target?” I turned around to see Reese notching his bow. He pulled back the string as he aimed the arrow slightly above my head. I noticed him take a breath in and then let the arrow go with his exhalation. The arrow flew and I eyed its precise spot when I sent shadow and light its way. The arrow didn’t stand a chance when it was caught in the crosshairs.

Reese didn’t let up. He sent arrow after arrow, in multiple directions and at various speeds. I was breathing heavier when he slowed down, bringing his arm down so his bow rested at his side. He nodded his appreciation. “I have never been prouder.”

“Your arrows are literally nothing compared to what she’s training for.” Elise scoffed, turning her head towards Beetee. “Go ahead, do your thing.”

Beetee ran her fingers across the shaved side of her head. “What thing?”

“Don’t get shy about your snake sense now.”

Beetee’s mouth formed an O before rapidly shaking her head. “I’m not shifting in here.”

“She is one thousand percentnotshifting in here,” Zane agreed with a much more authoritative tone.

Elise gave them both a bored expression before she faced me. Her tail unfurled from behind her back and she snapped it against the air. Her eyes flashed a shade of red before she snapped her tail in my direction. “We both know what the venom does, so let’s try to avoid it, huh?” Her tail lashed out, almost slicing one of my arms. I jumped back, nearly falling backwards.

“Is this a good…” Reese started but snapped his mouth shut when Elise flung her tail a few inches from his face.

She shot her tail over towards one of my ankles, but I darted away from it. I turned my head to look at her when a cloud of reddish-black magic hit my face. I was pushed back, landing on my ass as I coughed.

“You’ll have to use that handy peripheral vision you were graced with.” Elise taunted, flinging her tail at me again, but I scurried backwards out of its grasp.

“Ellie, be nice.” Beetee made a hissing noise over at her friend.

---