Page 77 of Obsidian and Frost

I stared after her as she swept away to assist one of the sorceresses who was having trouble moving their manufactured shadows around.

Huh.

Sylas gaveme a wink as he left the class, following out after all the others had already left. It seemed like he wanted to stay with me, but I saw the professor wave him away.

He closed the door behind him and took off down the corridor outside.

And then I stood opposite the professor’s desk as she sank down into one of the comfy chairs that was the same as the ones provided to the students.

“I’m going to give you an additional assignment,” she announced.

“On top of the four sections we need to read and experiment with?”

Her lips quirked. “Yes. On top of that. I don’t doubt that somebody with your conscientiousness and drive can handle it with ease—and grace.”

I couldn’t help smiling at that—the way she had about her. Firm but disarming at the same time. “I can,” I admitted.

“Excellent. So, what I wish you to do is to justplaywith your shadow magic. You are used to using it for defensiveness, for battle, for a purpose, and often a purpose with high stakes. For this assignment, you will only use it for fun, for pleasure. Weave your shadows through the trees and allow yourself to feel the serenity of such an act, to identify the beauty in it, the simplicity. Have your shadows dance under the morning light. Create amusing shapes to spark a laugh or two.”

“I… why?”

“Your intensity, the way you’ve unfortunately had to use your shadow magic as survival, is causing a blockage and a build-up, which will have you imploding under any emotional distress or even mild upset. You need to let it out, feel attuned to this ability, have some honest to goodness fun with it. Reframe how you use it, expand how you use it in a more positive way.”

She rose from the seat already and swept around to me. “You’ll report back to me next class, and we’ll take it from there.”

“Thank you.”

She laid her hand on my shoulder. “In case you were concerned, this is not obvious to others. Just to me—and Sylas.” She rolled her eyes at that. “Because I was taught to use mymagic as you have been—to defend, under duress, under fear. I understand the struggle.” She smiled. “You are free now and I will help you how I wish I had been to actually feel that freedom. At least with the shadow magic aspect. The rest will come in time.”

She was taking me under her wing, helping me beyond the actual scope of the class.

“I really appreciate this.”

“It is my true pleasure.”

With that, she dematerialized in a swirl of shadows, much like the way she’d first arrived in class earlier.

Wow.

14

~Sylas~

“That fucking Immortal bitch-ass—argh!”

Lazriel’s tirade ended with him smashing his fist into the wall of his dorm room.

Fortunately, the brutal force he’d used didn’t crack it or so much as dent it.

The dorm rooms as well as the common spaces were formed and protected to withstand such outbursts and losses of control from students.

With Lazriel being a member of Umbralis Circle, that included enhancing the structural integrity of each room and making it invulnerable to even the strongest of blows, and resistant to magical surges as well.

Lazriel resented being classed as Umbralis, believing himself to be suited to Bestia Circle that consisted of shifters like werewolves, dragons.

But while he identified more strongly with his wolf side and had trained it into dominance over the years, he was still inherently hybrid by birth, emotionally conflicted about his vampire side, which made him volatile in ways he hadn’t even yet fully explored

Umbralis Circle was for hybrid beings, mixed-blood supernaturals, power-splintered beings, of which he most definitely qualified.