Page 94 of Beg the Night

Because she only saw a glimpse of who I really was. Yes, she’d seen the moment I killed my very first childhood friend, but that was only the beginning. Would she ever look at me the same if she knew the truth?

My heart clenched tight enough to make me suck in a breath. Not likely.

People like Athena didn’t belong with people like me. I would only ruin her.

The sound of water falling in the shower kept me steady, kept me here, in this moment. The steam soaked into my skin, the smell of lavender soap inspiring emotions I wouldn’t name.

But fuck if my power didn’t like it all. A lot.

“Sinner?” Athena asked from behind the shower curtain.

“What?”

“Do you feel different now? After the claiming, I mean?”

She shut the water off and snagged a towel off the counter without pulling the curtain back. When she did appear, she’d secured the plush white fabric tightly around her body.

I watched her through the mirror, eyes meeting hers, as she stepped out.

“Different how?”

She shrugged as if she was asking a perfectly casual question. “Anything, really. How do we know it really worked? What if it didn’t? And what if they know that?”

“It worked.”

“How do you know that?”

I couldn’t explain the primal sensation that had developed deep in my bones. My power had been satisfied. Unlocked, really. Unchained. And along with it, she was there. The essence of her. The knowledge that I could wield her power again if I wanted to, the same way she could wield mine.

“Have you tried to use my shadows?” I asked, spinning to face her.

She adjusted the towel around her body. “Try them how?”

“They’re a part of you now.” I dipped my chin. “They’ll protect you. They’ll obey you.”

She lowered her focus to the bath mat, shifting her weight. “I don’t know how to control magic.”

“It doesn’t matter. Will it, and they will obey.”

Her eyes met mine, a turbulent sea of doubt. “I’m not strong enough. I don’t think I?—”

“You’re afraid to use your power. I understand why. But my phantoms? They won’t hurt you. They won’t hurt me, either. You can trust them. You can trust me.”

I reached out and ghosted my fingers down her bare arm.

She shivered, and goose bumps erupted across her chest. “What if I lose control?”

The pit inside me widened, ached to be closer to her. “You won’t.”

She still didn’t believe me. I would have to prove to her that she could trust me.

I let my magic loose, let my shadows pour from my chest and darken the room around us. Athena sucked in a sharp breath.

“See?” I murmured. “They won’t hurt you. I honestly don’t think they would hurt you now even if I wanted them to.”

“Because we’re claimed?”

“Because we’re claimed.”

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