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“I can take care of myself, Sol,” he assured me. “Let’s try again. This time, try and bring forward less power if you can. Less is more.”

I tried again, and this time, I was able to force the energy out myself. But when it impacted with the floor, a small fire bloomed and then vanished.

“Fire again.” I huffed, frustrated.

“It’s good,” he encouraged. “Power is power. You are wielding it. Your magic is out. You have it. This is what we’ve been working toward. It’s the first step. Think of your power as neutral. When you draw on it, you tell it what to be in that moment, then you can direct it.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It’s not hard, it’s just unfamiliar. It’s another thing you will hardly give a thought to once you have it. But for now, just try telling it what you want it to do in your mind.”

After several more tries, burn marks smoldered in several places, and all the cans remained standing. “Why am I stuck on fire?” I huffed. “Maybe we should be trying to light things on fire, not knock things over.”

“What do you want to light, a barn? Because you need to dial it way back before we try a candle,” he teased.

I studied my hands. The fire didn’t stream from them like I might have imagined. The power was just that. Intangible and invisible until it hit, and then it ignited. Like that first day when Kol lit the candle. I never saw the fire come from him, the candle just lit. I see now that he sent a tiny amount of his power to the wick and told it what to do. The control I now realized that must have taken seemed unachievable, but Nyx’s words helped me make sense of the how.

I was still using too much to have any kind of control. Even if I wanted to light a fire, it was going to be out of control outside of this safe room. I needed to work so much smaller, then maybe I could find the control over how the magic was used, too.

I took a deep breath and tried to visualize the amount of power I wanted. I was stuck with fire, so I tried to focus on a single flame’s worth rather than a fireball. The power I drew felt smaller, but I wanted even less, so I tried pushing some back. It worked and felt manageable, so I took a chance and told it to push the can over. If it was fire, it was fire, but at least I knew it was a more controlled amount.

I let it burst from my hand and watched in horror as Nyx was blown off his feet. He landed on his back and skidded across the floor, knocking over a can as he slowed to a stop.

I rushed over, falling to my knees beside him.

“Are you okay?” I checked him over, but hedidn’t respond. “Nyx?”

He coughed and groaned, and I leaned over him, trying to see any injuries.

He tried to speak, but the words were unclear. I leaned in close. “What did you say?”

“We need to work on your aim,” he said into my ear and then began to laugh.

I rocked back, relief surging, but I still shoved him.

“Hey!” he objected, still sprawled on the floor.

“You’re fine,” I grumbled.

“I’m not on fire. That’s something, at least.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I knocked over a can. That’s more than something.”

“You knocked over the can?” he challenged.

I shrugged, leaning over him with a smirk. “You didn’t say I couldn’t use you to knock it over. You should really be more specific.”

The words had barely left my lips when my world flipped, and I found myself on my back with Nyx looming over me.

I drew in a sharp breath at the hungry look in his eyes.

“I’m going to kiss you now. Is that specific enough for you, Sol?”

THIRTY-THREE

NYX

Itook her lips with mine, and she didn’t hesitate in kissing me back with a shocking hunger. My need for her was building, and I knew I couldn’t ignore it indefinitely, but I’d been trying to give her time to deal with all the changes in her life without adding more complications.