Page 48 of Twisted Gift
Pushing the hair away from my face, I take a minute to focus my breathing, slowing it down until it’s at an easy rhythm.
“Where do I start?”
“I’d go with the people farthest from you. You’re more likely to absorb energy faster from the humans closer to you in proximity, so you should leave them for last.” That makes sense. He points to a group of humans near the back of the room, laughing and dancing to the music. “Start there,” he suggests.
I nod, carrying my gaze from one person to the next, assigning each a different shade of orange in my head.
Nikolai steps closer to my side. “Once you can see their colors, it might be easier to close your eyes so you can picture the rest of it without getting overwhelmed by everything in the room.”
Following his direction, I continue to identify each human’s color, keeping them in mind when I close my eyes, and try picturing the colors appearing on a canvas.
After a couple minutes, I blow out a breath and open my eyes. “It didn’t work.”
He puts a hand on my shoulder. “Close your eyes and try again. I know you can do it, you just have to reach the level of concentration that allows it.”
Annoyance flickers through me like an uncomfortable itch, but I listen to him anyway. This time, when I see the canvas, instead of waiting for the colors to materialize, I conjure up a brush and picture myself dipping it into a glass of warm water before dipping it into the color I want to add to my painting—to myself.
The first time the brush touches the canvas, the orange doesn’t show up at all, so I pause, and then I try retrieving the color again, this time more slowly. The second stroke of the brush against the canvas brings a faint line of color. I keep at it until I get a bright burst of orange. After a few strokes of that, I move on to the next color.
Following the same pattern until I’ve covered the canvas in a variation of colors, I feel the energy seep into me at a steady pace. My posture straightens, and my muscles feel stronger. I find myself not worried about being dizzy or sick. Overall, I just feelbetter.
I open my eyes to find Nikolai beaming at me.
“Attagirl,” he praises.
A grin breaks out across my lips, and I throw my arms around him. “Thank you,” I say over and over against his shoulder.
He rubs my back, laughing. “You did all the work. I just told you how to do it.”
I lean back, letting him go. “I don’t just mean for this. For everything you’ve done for me since I became fae. I really appreciate you, Nik.”
He grins and shoots me a wink. “I appreciate you, too. Now, let’s get back to the par-tay. I think we could both use a drink.”
A while later, I catch sight of Allison with one of the light fae girls who happens to be friends with Oliver. They’ve got their arms draped over each other’s shoulders, giggling while watching a game of darts on the other side of the room. Tristan’s standing next to me, having joined me at the bar not long after I finished feeding. He and I exchange a knowing look and smile at each other.
“That’s new,” he comments.
“We want to bring everyone together,” I remind him.
“Hmm.” He turns so his body faces me. “I’m breaking my own rule now, anyway.”
“No, you’re—we’re—not,” I say, but it sounds half-hearted as if I wouldn’t protest if he leaned in to kiss me right now.
“I can be very professional with you, Aurora.” He lowers his voice as he leans in, closing the space between us. “Why don’t you let me show you?”
I try not to laugh. “What is this?Fifty Shades of Fae?Forget it.”
“Fifty what?”
My cheeks flush hard. “Never mind. It was... never mind.”
He looks as if he’s trying to keep a straight face. “You still want to wait until the war is over? Wartime sex is hot.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You... I... Seriously?” I blurt. I can’t stand here and lie to him. No, I don’t want to wait until everyone is done with fighting, but I’m still scared as hell to go there again, considering what happened after the first—and last—time we did it. I’ve come to terms with being unable to change how our story started and how it progressed until the night I changed, and I’ve accepted that everything that’s happened since has been under my control.Why am I so hesitant to go there with him again?The only time we experienced that connection, it was amazing. Beyond anything I could imagine. And yet, I’m still holding off because of the war. I don’t want to tell him I need more time. Enough time has passed. I don’t want to waste any more of it, even though we’ll have forever.Forever.That’s something I haven’t given a lot of thought to, and for good reason. Any time I do, it triggers a gut-wrenching, head-spinning panic attack.
“Did I lose you?” Tristan cuts into my spiraling thoughts, his voice deep, smooth—alluring.
I close my eyes, shaking my head. “I’m here.”
