Page 73 of B Positive

“Something bothering you, Eden?” BDD asked earnestly, gray gaze locked on mine.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what yet.”

B stared at me a long time before speaking again. “I have some time before I have to get back to the incursion team. I can run through the basics of cloaking if you like.”

“Yeah, thanks. That’d be great.”

He nodded and stood, so I did too.

“First, how do you imagine your vamp powers?”

“Um, they’re kind of balled up in my middle somewhere. Magnetism, compulsion, and dominance all smooshed together with my emotions in a big knot.”

B’s eyes widened, mouth falling open. “You keep all your powers together with your emotions?”

“Yeah, why?”

He pulled a hand roughly through his hair. “Eden, it’s a wonder you haven’t compelled the whole compound yet, or blown out all the windows with a sudden burst of dominance. You gotta get your emotions out of there.”

“I don’t know if that’s going to work for me. That’s how they’ve always been.”

B stepped forward, leveling a serious gaze on me. “Eden, you have to listen to me. If you don’t separate your emotions from your vamp abilities, youwillhurt someone.”

He nodded at my stricken expression and doubled down. “Eden, It’s only a matter of time. They’re only supposed to mingle when they’re being used. The emotions charge the abilities. Having them all together, all the time, you’re a literal ticking time bomb.”

“Ya, okay. I’ll work on it.”

“Uh-uh. Youwillseparate them or our lessons won’t continue.”

I scoffed. “Continue? They haven’t even started.”

B shook his head, hardening his gaze on me.

“I’ll do whatever it takes, B. I’m not trying to blow us up.”

He finally nodded, his coiled stance relaxing. “It’s a wonder you made it as far as you have, knowing absolutely nothing about anything.”

If that wasn’t the fucking truth. “Thanks for pointing it out, Rory.”

And there it was, that little frown again.

“Eden, you can’t give me a nickname and take it away when you don’t like what I have to say.”

My gaze shot to his. “I did no such thing.” Okay, that’s exactly what I was doing, but I hadn’t meant to. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.

“You did. It’s like getting middle-named by my mother. Gives me the willies.”

I smiled at him. “Okay, I promise I’ll only call you by your extremely derogatory nickname and not your perfectly acceptable given name from now on.”

He grinned ear to ear. “Good. Work on defusing that bomb of power and I’ll check back with you tomorrow, same time, okay?”

I nodded, and BDD headed back up the stairs.

It wasn’t long before I fell into the groove of cracking. All the while, in the back of my mind, I concentrated on sifting through the Pandora’s box of powers in my middle.

It couldn’t be that hard, right?

I mean, if it was, B would have stayed to show me how.

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