Page 39 of Brutal Alpha

“Try closing your blue eye again,” Eve suggested. There had been some debate about whether having my good eye open or closed was better. According to Eve’s books, the Shadow Witches who had come before me were all entirely blind, not just partially, and the question had never come up. Generally, I thought it was easier with one eye closed—there was less to distract me when I couldn’t see anything but the creeping shadows—but I didn’t want that to be the only way I could use my power.

I was tired of failing, though, so I shut my good eye, still marveling at how swiftly the shadows came to the fore. I concentrated on the one in front of me, the legs, the seat, and the back of the chair, all casting their own pattern on the grass. I tried to push my power into it, but I only pushed the thing away from me so that it stretched out at the wrong angle.

“Try again,” Eve said gently. If nothing else, that woman had the patience of a saint.

I took a deep breath and tried again, trying to fill up the shadow, to make it solid. This time, it spread like a stain across the grass, and I heard Eve give a thoughtful little hum.

“Okay,” she said. “What do you do when you move the shadows? How do you manipulate your power then?”

“I just—I mean, I think about moving them and then… they move?”

To my surprise, she didn’t look at me like an idiot or a child, but only gave another thoughtful hum.

“Have you tried that… technique with this?” she asked. “Just thinking about the shadows becoming solid?”

“No.”

“Well, then it’s worth a shot.”

She didn’t sound confident, but I supposed it was as likely as anything else to work. I was already tired from the morning’s work, and I was willing to try anything.

Another deep breath and I closed my good eye again, honing in on the shadow of the chair. I was so sick of that chair. Instead of trying to reach inside to identify whatever nebulous part of me could be called my power, I concentrated with all my might on the shadow deepening, growing darker, so dark that it became a matter of its own.

The shadow bent to my will. Or at least, it looked that way: when I was done, I could no longer see the grass beneath the shadow, as if there was a black blanket laid over it.

“Alright,” said Eve softly, as if she was trying not to spook me, “now I want you to try to curl it up, so it’s not flat to the ground. I’m going to go and see if I can touch it.”

I did as she asked, and the shadow did the same for me. One of the legs peeled away from the whole, curving upward into the air. I could see Eve’s shadow as she approached it, and I held the position as she reached out and touched the curl with the tip of a finger.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. My eyes flew open, and my good eye saw the strange curl of shadow snap back to its usual form.

She met my gaze, her familiar hazel eyes sparkling with excitement, but before either of us could speak, Ethan was striding toward us.

“Is everything okay?” he asked. All he’d heard was the shout and had naturally assumed the worst.

“Everything is more than okay,” Eve declared. “Your girl just made her first corporeal shadow.”

“Did she?” Ethan said as if he knew what that meant. “Sounds impressive.”

“It’s very impressive,” Eve assured him, “and very tiring. I’m going to leave it there for today. Make sure she’s fed and watered, now.”

Ethan did not need to be told twice. He was striding toward the house, probably about to empty Xander’s pantry to make a “snack”. I knew he was only doing it to make sure he brought me back to Caleb in good working order, but I couldn’t help smiling after him.

“It’s sweet of him to look after the pair of you.” Eve appeared at my shoulder, and I startled.

“The pair of—oh. Right.”

“I assume he’s the father?”

“Would you keep your voice down?” I hissed. If Ethan found out,whenEthan found out, I didn’t want it to be by accident. Somehow, I was convinced that he could hear us even through the walls.

“You haven’t told him?” Eve sounded mildly scandalized, the hypocrite.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no,” I said tightly. Eve might be a great witch, but I was damned if I was going to let her judge my life choices. I flinched as she kissed her teeth.

“You won’t be able to hide it forever, you know,” she said, and I cracked.

“I was planning on just never telling him, dumping the baby on his doorstep, and then disappearing into the night,” I said, easy and conversational and brimming with anger. “How’s that for a plan?”

---