Page 38 of The Panther's Price

“You do,” he said. “You just don’t want to.”

Evryn closed her eyes.

Shefeltit, just like in the alley weeks ago, the pulse beneath her skin, the flicker just outside her vision. It was like trying to cup smoke in her hands.

But then she let go. And something moved.

Shadows slipped from the edges of her boots, slow at first, like startled deer in the underbrush. Then faster. Bolder.

They curled around her arms, her legs, reaching—testing.

Lucien stepped forward slowly, cautious but impressed.

“They’re responding to you.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“You don’t need to.”

She looked at him, panic creeping in. “What if I lose control?”

His voice dropped low. “Then I’ll catch you.”

She didn’t expect that. Didn’t expect how much shewantedto believe it.

The shadows surged then—tall, rising behind her like wings unfurling.

She gasped. “Lucien?—”

He moved fast, stepping in close, his hands catching hers.

“Breathe. Look at me.”

She did.

And the darkness settled. Not disappeared. Just… calmed.

Because ofhim.

Because he wasn’t afraid of her.

It had taken a lot out of her, reaching into herself like that, so the training had been short, but well worth it.

They sat later by the fire again, both drained but oddly settled. Evryn nursed a cracked mug of dried berry tea Lucien had found hidden in the back cellars.

Lucien tossed a stone toward the flames, watching it skip once before landing near the edge of the coals.

“You remind me of someone,” he said after a while.

Evryn tilted her head. “Who?”

“My brother’s wife. Before she died.”

Evryn’s expression softened. “What was she like?”

“Braver than me,” he said. “Smarter too. She used to tell Cassian I was the Queen’s leash dog and that someday I’d snap the chain.”

Evryn smiled faintly. “Sounds like she had good instincts.”

---