Page 33 of Nidev and Lyric

Her breaths came in micro-gasps as she reached up to fasten the top buttons then jerked her hands down when the door opened.

Her breath vanished. Black slacks, white shirt, sleeves rolled to his forearms, collar open just enough to reveal ink and all the sinful things she craved beneath.

His gaze raked over her in a single, precise sweep. Calculating. Collecting. Then again. Slow. Deliberate. Absolute.

He stepped back.

She walked inside.

The air in his apartment was heavier. Thicker. The soft click of the door behind her locked something in. Or maybe locked something out.

“Let’s talk,” he said, making his way toward the living room side of the apartment.

Lyric set her bag down at the door, heart racing with figuring out his tone. It was different in a way she’d never heard before.

Lord, she hoped she hadn’t done something.

She took a seat at the single chair near him on the couch, avoiding his gaze. His entire face, really. All while wondering again how this part of the lesson was going to go down.

“How was school?”

She snapped her gaze at him, surprised with the question. “Um, it’s fine. I mean, I’m learning. Keeping up.”

He held her in his steely gray stare. “We’re just talking,” he informed evenly. “I’m still your mentor.”

Her guts only tightened more. “Okay, sure.” She redirected her thoughts, pushing down her runaway fears.

“What are you learning?”

She pursed her lips. “Ancient frequencies. And to focus,” she said. “King Lore’s been drilling me about control, but that’s… standard.”

“Hmm,” he said, gaze unwavering on her.

“Technique stuff,” she added, swallowing down her nerves.

“And what haveyoubeen working on? You always have some little side project.”

Lord, where was this going? “Uh, well…”

He placed his arm on the back of the couch, head tilting a little on her. Waiting.

Then realized her little side project wasn’t something she wanted to tell him. He’d find it silly and useless. “It’s nothing really worth… mentioning.”

He turned up the degrees on his stare, letting her know disclosure wasn’t an option, but an order.

“It’s… just a little trick,” she explained.

“Tell me,” he prompted with an ease she knew not to misinterpret as safe.

She licked her lips and took a breath, her foot bouncing. “So I… found a soundwave that targets a particular part of people. And if I… emit it,” she explained, tangling her fingers in her lap. “Then it… produces a reaction.”

“A reaction.” His tone kindly pointed out the lack of required details to know what the hell she was saying.

She searched for terms he might consider important. “Like… it…” She adjusted herself in the chair a little. “… So when a person is, let’s say, having a really bad day and it’s interfering with their ability to perform efficiently and accurately which is… important, then uh… it helps. With that.”

“Well, I’m having a really bad day,” he said. “Show me how it works.”

Her stomach dropped with her jaw a little. “Oh… I’m sorry—”

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