Page 87 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

***

Piling into the training room, Zee and I spar in an effort to calm my erratic nerves and clear and center my mind. Then Duncan spends some time discussing my affinity with air, since that’s the magic that first appeared.

“Close your eyes and concentrate. The magic is around you. Try to pull it into you,” Duncan instructs for the tenth time. In an hour, I’ve progressed from paper ruffling to making my water bottle topple over. Duncan runs his hands through his hair.

“I’m sorry. I’ll keep practicing.”

He rubs his hands together. “When you’ve pulled it into you before, how did you feel?” My eyes flick briefly to Zee, who’s sitting against the wall.

“Angry. But I wasn’t pulling anything. It was like I was pushing it out.”

He frowns. “That’s… interesting. Can you replicate it?”

“Maybe, if someone pisses me off.”

We glance at Zee. He throws his hands in the air and stands. “Fine, but don’t put me on my ass if you can help it.”

I nod, wiggling my fingers at him. “Okay, say something to piss me off.”

“Hmm…” He pauses. “I’ve checked out the extra lingerie in your drawers and the interesting things they’ve left for you to sleep in. Much better than the shorts and T-shirt you normally wear. Although seeing your sexy legs is always a sight that makes me think about all the things I wanna—”

I crouch, as my body heaves with laughter. “Did you really go in my wardrobe looking at my underwear?”

He studies the wall. “Yeah.”

“You creep! I should get a freaking restraining order against you. Oh my god, you didn’t try them on, did you? Tell me which ones so I can have them washed,” I joke.

Zee goes red.

My jaw drops open. “Which ones?”

“I haven’t worn your underwear.”

His normally burnt orange aura flares red. “But you’ve worn someone’s?”

“It was a one-time thing, and she got off on it!”

“Aren’t there help groups you should be attending?”

He levels a glare at me then Duncan. “Tell anybody, and you’ll need a food taster for a year.” I cross my fingers over my heart, trying to stifle the laughter that keeps bubbling up my throat.

Duncan interrupts, “Kids, this isn’t working. Why don’t you try accessing the memory and the emotion attached to it and use that to focus?”

Closing my eyes, I center my thoughts on the anger and frustration I felt when Zee and I argued. Nothing, nada—there’s no magic in this girl. Maybe it was a fluke? Although meetings with mystical beings suggest otherwise. I refocus and mutter, “Okay, magic, time to make you my bitch.” I fling my hand toward the water bottles—the middle one wobbles, while the other two stay as still as stoic guards. I puff out a breath and glare at Zee, who starts laughing at my pathetic attempt.

Duncan steps behind me and squeezes my shoulder. “I’ll do some research into the different techniques used to train witches.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I frown. “You haven’t trained a witch before?”

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. “No, most witches have family who train them from an early age. I avoid getting involved.”

“But even you were trained once,” Zee comments.

“Sure, a long time ago. I hate to say it, but maybe Jed or Archan can help?”

Zee glares at Duncan as he asks, “What about the SIP trainers?”

I shake my head. “No, we keep this away from the SIP. I don’t want to disappear for months while they decide if I’m stable enough to be let loose in society.”

---