Page 10 of Fallen
Amand reaches over to clasp Silas’ hand as well, his claws extending at the same time his fangs make an appearance. The air crackles with his magic, his eyes turning an almost electric blue. “You might have a hard on for Lev but he’s not yours to touch anymore,Silas.”
Silas pulls back, a quiver in his voice as he speaks. “No harm meant. Just catching up with an old friend.”
“Friend?” I scoff, pocketing the notebook. “You ghosted me, Silas. Left me thinking I was nothing. And then you came back and told me I didn’t matter. Letting me know you’ve been in town, owning this place, but couldn’t bring yourself to face me just makes it worse. Apparently, I did mean more to you at some point but it’s too late now.” I pat the table, effectively ending the conversation.
It doesn’t look like I’ll be getting anything else out of him but at least I know where he hangs. If I have additional questions, it’ll be easy enough to get to him.
I slide out of the booth, heading toward the entrance with only one thought on my mind. “Do you actually believe Silas isn’t connected? I didn’t smell anything else on him other than the unicorn.” My mates just grunt, agreeing with me. Since the scent is still lingering around Silas, it’s someone he’s been around multiple times. Someone close.
And I have a feeling it’s someone way closer than I think.
Chapter 7
LEVIATHAN
I came back to Essence PI’s headquarters like a good little chameleon to debrief the team on what I found. And instead of being thrown out into the wild to investigate my newest clue, I was told to go home and turn up the next morning for training. Apparently, disappearing on Lily and ending up on Marcus’ lap across the hall was grounds for an immediate intervention.
Explaining that I was tired and that Rowan had chucked my piece of ginger out the window on the drive over wasn’t excuse enough for Gerald.
Which is… fair.
“Leviathan,” Gerald growls, his tone a mixture of control and frustration. It doesn’t quite make sense but it’s putting me on edge. “Focus. Your magic is instinctual, but it’s also a muscle. You need to train it, not fight it.”
“Easy for you to say,” I mutter, wiping my palms on my jeans. “You’re not the one accidentally ghosting mid-conversation.” I’m beginning to wonder if many of the things natural to magicare things that Gerald ever experienced. So far, he hasn’t really demonstrated any of the things he supposedly can do.
Gerald’s lips twitch, but he doesn’t laugh. “You’re raw, but you’ve got potential. Let’s start with scent-shifting. It’s your strongest asset. Close your eyes,” Gerald instructs, stepping closer. “Feel your magic. It’s like a current flowing through you. Find the part that senses scents.”
I obey, shutting my eyes and taking a deep breath. My magic stirs, a tingling warmth under my skin. I focus on the scents around me: Gerald’s earthy Chameleon musk, Rowan’s spicy Basilisk heat, Amand’s cooler, oceanic tang. It’s overwhelming, like trying to tune a radio in a storm, but I latch onto Gerald’s scent, letting it fill my senses.
“Good,” he states. “Now, shift your own scent to match mine. Imagine it like changing clothes—slip out of yours, into mine.”
I frown, the metaphor not helping. “Sounds like I’m stealing your laundry.”
Rowan snickers, and I flip him off without opening my eyes.Focus, Lev.The problem is that most of the morning, Gerald gave me an abbreviated lesson on everything Chameleon which included all of the things I’m rumored to be able to do. No one actually knows the extent of my magic because most of it is horse shit or legend. Very few people have ever met a Chameleon shifter to then be able to record our biology for the history books.
“I can do this,” I mutter to myself before digging deeper and focusing on Gerald’s scent. It’s like trying to sculpt water, except I’m not a water bender and Gerald didn’t actuallyexplainhow to do this. My skin tingles, and I feel a shift, like I’m wearing someone else’s skin. I open my eyes, hopeful, but Gerald shakes his head.
“Not quite,” he says. “You’re closer to a werewolf now. Try again.”
I think of Jace and immediately gag. Yeah, no, I don’t want to smell like that. Amand’s laugh echoes through the room and I just glare at him. “Not helping, snake boy.” He clams up but I can still see his shoulders shaking.Asshole.I try again, feeling more of a shift this time. When I open my eyes, there’s a look of approval on Gerald’s face.
“Better,” he says, nodding. “You’re close. Keep practicing. Now, let’s try mimicking appearances.”
We tried that earlier and I thought I was going to die. That’s when Gerald scaled back the exercises to theory and then scents. I’ve only just mastered that but I feel like some kind of whackass avatar that has to figure out my magic within hours. I don’t even get the cool adventure with friends.
“I think we should cap it at that, today, yeah?”
Gerald shakes his head. “No. We shouldn’t. Your magic could be the key to everything, Leviathan. The sooner you can master these bits, the sooner you can do so much more than bejusta PI. Think about it. If you have the ability to shift and to mimic, you’ll be able to slip into any situation regardless of the risk!”
Yeah, this feels like a trap but I’m also wildly curious.
“Just focus on your magic. Try… mimicking your mates. They’re the closest ones to you at the moment, ones you share a bond with. It’s easier to feel their magic. Start small and work your way up. I’m going to focus on the new case that passed across my desk but come find me when you can do that. Then I’ll let you go trapezing out into the forest.”
Then he just leaves us there, my mates shuffling over to me. They slot themselves in front and back, pressing closer until I feel their cocks thick against my belly and the small of my back. “What the fuck?” I groan, heat building in my belly. “What—”
“We’ve been doing a little reading, too,” Amand purrs as he leans down to kiss me. “And whatever the fuck you’re doing is releasing magic. It’s making it really hard to focus.”
Rowan starts nibbling on my ear, my body melting between them. “With practice, you won’t release that much but fuck, I need you.”
