Page 96 of In Between Darkness

“His name is Ryder. I know I shouldn’t want him; he’s probably bad for me, but the way I feel next to him… I’ve never felt that way about anyone before.” I sigh at the thought of him, how he feels so close but at the same time so far from me. “I thought he liked me too, we kissed once, well twice, but the first one didn’t count…and ever since then he has been pulling away.”

“Guess boys are all the same. Moon or not,” she says whilst rubbing circles on my back.

“Don’t pretend you know. Charlie practically worships the ground you walk on.”

She nods her head in response.

“Hey! I’m trying my best here… It’s not my fault, I got lucky!” She laughs, which briefly pulls me out of the slump I was feeling. “Look, you said you could learn any Gift, right?”

I give her a nod as she takes my wrists and leads me into the centre of the room.

“So instead of moping over a guy who clearly doesn’t deserve you, how about we put that talent to good use?”

I look at her blankly. “I’m not following.”

“Influencing silly!” She laughs, which triggers me to smile. “Lesson one starts now.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The sweet smell of Ryder’s cologne fills my senses as the weight of his immovable muscle holds me down. Our training has been more intense recently. He is not holding back like he used to. Or maybe I just like the feeling of him on top of me. I focus on a rock beside me and tether my mind to it like Nala taught me. He’s not the only one who can play rough. The rock shoots up at my demand and flails through the air into Ryder’s arm. He doesn’t flinch. My cheeks redden in embarrassment, and the corners of his lips curl upwards. My powers still lack strength.

“Was that supposed to hurt?” He brushes the dust off his arm and chuckles.

“I’d like to see you try,” I scoff, still pinned down by his weight.

“What, like this?” He smirks and holds his hand out. Dark shadows feed out from behind him and manifest as beings in front of me. Kyro squawks and stretches out his lengthy black wings before swooping down and picking up the rock in his beak. He glides effortlessly and drops it into Ryder’s palm.

“That’s cheating,” I whine, the pressure of him still apparent.

I roll my eyes, looking for anything that can give me the upper hand. The only weapons in this soft, grassy meadow are the few pebbles that litter the ground. A wide variety of flowers sprout randomly around the uneven terrain. If Ryder had hay fever, the battle would be over before it started.

“There’s no such thing as cheating when it comes to fighting. Only advantage.”

I wriggle between the vice of his thighs, trying to retrieve my arms from their grip. He clamps down harder. “You do what you have to do to survive.”

“Okay, I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve left me no choice.”

I watch as his eyebrow rises slightly. I smirk at him and revel in his confusion whilst he is still on top of me, and in a flash, he is gone. I stand up and dust myself off, turning to face the sea of petals in the distance. Any moment now. I use my hand to shield the sun’s rays and wait for the inevitable. Ryder falls suddenly out of the sky and crashes onto the bed of flowers below.

“I guess I had that coming.”

He stands up and brushes the grass off his black cargo trousers and strides towards me. “Good use of your portal.”

“Thank you.” I smile with pride, enjoying this a little more than I should, and close the distance between us. “And I made sure not to drop you from too high.”

“Lucky me,” he says in a sarcastic tone, but I can see that he is impressed at how far I have come.

“I can’t believe I am losing sleep over this.” He squints in the sun’s glare as it paints him in an angelic glow.

“You always keep me up at night,” I retort, matching his tone, playfully nudging shoulders with him.

“You never sleep,” he protests and laughs.

I shrug my shoulders. It’s true. I can’t remember the last night I slept through.

“You got me there, I guess the Starkind don’t need as much sleep.”

The sun is setting over the horizon as he sits down on the ground, flattening the blades of grass beneath him.