Page 35 of Marked

"You want me to do, what ?" Damien stared at Blair with his eyebrows slightly raised.

There was a moment of silence as the wind rustled, blowing the discarded branches and loose flowers across the ground. The wind picked up again, tousling Blair's hair as she smiled, rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.

"I want you to control them."

"It doesn't work like that." He sighed, lowering his eyebrows, and leaning against a tree.

Blair watched him as he gave up, but her mind drifted to the plan they had made. They were going to infiltrate the Hunters, but to do that, Damien would need practice with his shadows. She blinked a few times, refocusing on the man in front of her, and looked at him thoughtfully, shrugging.

"Because you're scared."

His relaxed tone took on an edge, "That's not it."

A smile tugged onto the corner of Blair's mouth as she slid off the boulder she was sitting on and slowly walked up to him, stopping about a foot away. She laid her hands on his chest .

"You control them around me." She said, fully maintaining eye contact as she walked her fingers up to his neck and positioned her hands along his jaw. "I think you're wound too tight. You bottle things up. I think it buries your ability to control them."

She stepped away again, and the smile that threatened to show moments ago shined brightly in mischief.

She reached down to her thigh and pulled out her dagger.

As she slowly looked at it and turned it back and forth, Damien's eyes narrowed in caution, and he stood straight.

He swallowed as his brows dipped in worry.

"Whatever you're thinking, don't ."

Blair didn't answer but instead kept her eyes on the dagger. In one swift motion, she sliced it across her palm and blood immediately started to descend to the ground. Horrified, Damien stepped up to her, his shadows cascading down his arms and wrapping around her palm.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Blair calmly looked at him and shrugged.

"Testing out a suspicion."

She focused on the shadows cocooning her hand and slowly dragged her eyes up to meet his.

"How do you feel?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"I feel like you are crazy wrapped in chaos," he answered, not taking his eyes off the shadows that had wrapped around her.

"Do you feel that? The adrenaline? That's it, Damien! That's how you control them," Blair says, meeting his eyes .

Damien didn’t speak for a few moments; his blue eyes filled with swirling thoughts. He opened his mouth just to close it a moment later as he looked back down.

Blair fought to take her hand back, but when he didn’t budge, she lowered her voice and sheathed her dagger with her left hand, resting her hand on his arm.

"You've been taught your whole life that your shadows are bad, but I see everything good in them and you. You need to start seeing that too."

A silence fell as Damien's eyes softened.

His breathing grew slightly heavier as he closed his eyes and moved his hands away from Blair, his shadows still circling her palm.

The rest of his shadows started to flicker beneath him, rippling, stretching, and moving toward Blair's hurt hand.

They traveled past her hand and up her arm.

She smiled at them, welcoming the soft touch as they writhed above her skin.

They made it to her elbow before Damien opened his eyes and realized what they were doing.

His blue eyes widened as they continued to climb her arm, heading towards her shoulder.

His eyes filled with concern, and he broke the connection as they grew, pulling his hand away and forcing the shadows to disconnect with it.

"Not with you. We don't practice with you," he said breathlessly, a look of panic buried in his eyes.

"Okay, we'll find another way."

Damien nodded, picking up their bags and walking toward the path that led out of the clearing.

She watched him walk away, thinking of different ways she could help the situation.

She flexed her hand, intending to run her finger along the fresh cut, but instantly froze.

As she opened her hand, her breath caught at the smooth skin.

The cut was healed. Her eyes widened as she flexed again.