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I turned toward the door again, placed my hand against it, and summoned a trickle of magic into my body. I felt the magic surge through me, filling me with adrenaline, with warmth, with the rush of raw power.

It only took a moment of thought, an ounce of concentration.

I took a step forward, going through the closed door. As I reached it, the atoms in my body shifted to become Ethereal, essentially making me ghostlike. Once I was in this state, I could cross solid boundaries, going through them and emerging on the other side of them.

The magic only lasted a moment, though. Once I was on the other side of the door, I turned around and opened it. All three of the Diaboli were staring at me. Mason and Carla with frowns, and suspicion; Lucien, with a touch of awe.

“How’s that?” I asked.

“Interesting,” said Mason. “Very interesting.” He paused, then he looked down at his lounging wife. She turned her eyes up at him, and for an instant they flashed bright red. Mason nodded, then turned to look at me.

So, they can speak telepathically.

“What else do you want me to do?” I asked.

“How thick of a wall can you pass through like that?” asked Mason.

I looked around the room. The truth was, this power was limited; it wasn’t necessarily about how thick a wall was, just how long I could keep the ephemeral shape for. It was usually only a split second, enough to phase through a simple, wooden door, but with effort, I could probably move through a solid, brick wall—like the walls of this house.

I crossed the room, heading for one of the outer walls. Mason and Carla both watched me like I was about to do something incredibly stupid; Lucien, too. I didn’t. I only did what they asked. Bringing all of my concentration to bear, I stepped toward the outer wall, placed my hands on it, and plunged through it as fast as I could.

I hadn’t realized there was a hedge on the other side of the wall, so I had to keep my concentration up for longer than I had wanted to, until I managed to stumble past it and make it outside. If I had lost concentration a moment sooner, there would’ve been branches poking out of my skin right now.

I waved at the Diaboli through the window.

Mason barked at his men, who quickly left the room. I was already walking back to the mansion’s front door when his men caught me. I didn’t resist. I let them drag me back into the study, where they held me in front of Mason Diaboli and his red eyes.

“That… could have been the biggest mistake of your life,” he said. “Why didn’t you try to run?”

“You told me yourself, trying to run away from here is hopeless,” I said.

“That doesn’t answer the question. I fully expected you to be dim-witted enough to try it.”

“I’m a quick study.”

He nodded, slowly, then with a gesture of his head, he ordered his men to release me, which they did. Both of them took a step back, away from me. Mason turned his head and looked over at his wife. She met his gaze, took another sip of her drink, only this time, she sharply turned her eyes on me.

I was so taken aback by her sudden eye contact I hadn’t noticed Mason winding back his arm until the gleam of the glowing fire-poker caught my eye. He swung it toward me. Instead of ducking, I phased, turning my molecules into ephemera just long enough that the fire poker went swishing through my ethereal body.

When I solidified again, I took a step away from Mason. “What the hell was that for?!” I shrieked.

Mason hung the poker on the side of the fireplace, ran a hand through his hair to straighten it out, and brought the full weight of his gaze to bear. “I needed to know whether your little party trick was good in a fight,” he said. “As it turns out, you’re more capable than I gave you credit for.”

Lucien looked like he was burning with anger on the inside, but he also looked entirely incapable of criticizing his father’s decision to strike at me with that lethal weapon. If I hadn’t been able to avoid it, I would’ve been seriously injured, or worse, which meant only one thing.

Mason Diaboli knew exactly what skill I was going to showcase.

“What does that even mean?” I asked.

“It means your skills are fit for purpose, Ethera,” he said.

“You could’ve killed me.”

“I could have killed you many times before now, but I have shown restraint at all times.”

“Only because you need something from me.”

“I do. And now I want something, as well.”