Page 72 of Ruthless Ends

“You’re not helping,” she mimics, like we’re five fucking years old.

I open and close my mouth and fists simultaneously, the frustration threatening to boil over.

“Hey. Hey.” Reid’s hands land on my shoulders, turning me to him. “Ignore whatever she’s saying, okay? Just focus on me. I know you can do this.”

He keeps his hands on my shoulders as I let my eyes shut again, and I focus on the warmth of his skin against mine to anchor myself. A deep breath, then another, trying to force my body to relax. To let whatever this power is find me instead of me searching for it.

And like bare feet on ice, a flicker of cold so biting it feels warm appears in my soles.

I inhale sharply, following the string it connects to, that does, indeed, feel like it’s coming from just behind me. I breathe deeply, inviting it in, welcoming it.

As it slowly travels up from my feet, it feels nothing like my magic normally does. No heat, no tingling, no electricity.

It’s smooth like velvet, quiet like the night. Not cold, exactly, but cooling, soothing.

How can something so dark feel so calm?

As if scared off by my judgmental thoughts, as quickly as it came, the power slithers away.

A noise of frustration sounds in the back of my throat as my eyes open again, immediately locking with Reid’s.

“I had it. But I think I…offended it.” The possibly nearly makes me laugh.

“If you make it feel unwanted, why the hell would it want to work with you?” V chimes in. “It can sense if you’re afraid of it too. If you don’t trust it. If you want this to work, you have to embrace it. Completely.”

I wince.Sorry, I offer lamely.I’m new at this.

Apparently a forgiving magic, that strange coldness brushes my feet, this time sweeping up my legs faster, then traveling along my spine. I stretch my awareness to Reid’s hands on my shoulders, and the magic follows suit, flowing from my body to his like a shadow.

I urge it to gently lower his arms back to his sides, and judging by the sudden absence of his warmth and the sharp intake of his breath, it worked.

“Try something bigger before you lose your concentration,” says V, her voice distant, thin.

Similarly to how I would use my blood magic, I imagine the innerworkings of his body, the structure of muscle and bone and tissue, letting the shadow of magic travel from his arms to his chest, the long column of his throat, his vocal cords.

“Bigger how?” he asks, quickly followed by a breathy “Fuck.”

My eyes snap open. “Are you okay?”

But he’s grinning at me, the pride shining in his eyes enough to warm my cheeks and to make whatever snarky comment coming from V fade to the background. I smile back, the shadows of magic slithering back the way they came and funneling out through the soles of my feet.

We try a few more times, the summoning of the magic faster now, as if it’s now grown familiar with its path, and once I get the hang of it, we have Reid offer up more resistance, fighting back against my magic.

By the end of an hour, I’m covered in a fine layer of sweat, feeling more exhausted than I do after a training session with Cam. And though he hasn’t said a word of complaint, I can tell it’s taken a toll on Reid as well.

Despite the improvement, my excitement is short-lived as reality checks back in. Controlling Reid took everything out of me, and even though he said he was fighting back as much as he could, I have a feeling he was going easy on me.

I won’t improve fast enough. Not when the death toll rises each day.

Not when Reid’s coronation istonight, painting an even larger target on his back than there’d been to begin with.

As if reading my thoughts, Reid lets out a slow breath and glances toward the estate. He’ll need to head back and get ready.

“Go ahead,” I say. “I’m done for the day.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” I wave him off even though the last thing I want to do is watch him walk away. “I’ll see you tonight.”

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