Page 9

Serena said she used to take the form of Garrett’s beast and fly with him, but it wasn’t something she was able to replicate without a lot of effort, and even then, it was still only partial.

Right now she’s taking Lyle’s form completely, to the point that if I didn’t know it was her, I might not have guessed it.

When did she learn to do this?

And why would she put herself through the pain of taking his form out of every beast she could choose?

Lyle’s beast only lasts a moment before the shadows vanish as if they were never there.

Serena remains, but she’s no longer calm the way she was a moment ago.

Instead, she sits on the ground with her chest heaving enough that I can see it even from here, just like I can see the tears that roll down her cheeks.

I’m moving before I can think better of it.

No, I didn’t really want her to know I’ve been following her around and risk pissing her off, but right now, she’s already upset. I’ve never been able to handle seeing Serena cry, but this isn’t just a few tears because she’s mad or had a bad dream.

She’s breaking in front of my eyes.

Tears run down her face faster than she can wipe them away; she hiccups and gasps for air as she collapses forward onto the mat.

I’m fast thanks to my beast and in good physical shape, but even still, it feels like it takes far too long to get to her as she loses it.

Her breath catches as I pull her into my arms and hold her close to my chest. She looks up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes, and her lip fucking trembles before she bites down on it hard enough that I’m surprised she isn’t bleeding.

“Little Rabbit…” I don’t know what to say. I’ve never been good with words, but right now, there is so much I want to say. It’s as if my words get clogged in my throat.

The urge to yell at her for not taking care of herself sits heavy on my tongue.

Along with the urge to scold her for blaming herself for what happened to Lyle, and reassure her that everything will be okay, even though I don’t know that for sure.

But more than anything, I want to take her worries and fears away.

“Everything’s a mess, and it’s all my fault.” Her voice is quiet, but I hear the pain as clearly as I see it in her eyes, and it breaks my heart.

“No, Rena, you didn’t do this.” I know she doesn’t believe me. I’ve been telling her that since we got here, but as each new bullshit thing happens, she only adds it to her shoulders. “And we won’t give up on Lyle.”

She looks away at the sound of his name, unable to hold my gaze, but I refuse to let her continue to hold this in. I tried to let her work through this on her own, but it’s clearly not working.

Besides, we’re stronger together. Even with Lyle missing and Storm skirting around, I still believe that.

“If anyone can save Lyle, it’s us, Serena.”

I grip her chin and force her eyes back up to meet mine, needing her to really listen to me.

“We’ll figure this out together, as a pack.” She holds my gaze, almost as if she’s looking for the lie, but she won’t find it.

I don’t care if we have to spend the rest of our lives working to save him; so long as I have her, I can live with that. Though I really hope it doesn’t take that long.

She buries her face in my chest. I’m not sure how long we sit here, but her hands remain fisted in my shirt as I hold her close, offering her the only comfort I can right now.

Serena’s lip trembles again, and this time, I’m pretty sure it’s from the cold more than her crying, though she is still crying, much to my dismay. The kingdom has been pretty warm during the day since we arrived, but without the sun, it’s a little cold.

The training yard is equipped for training at any time, including at night.

Large fireplaces are spread around the yard and used to warm up during later training sessions. I’ve only been a part of two trainings that ran that late, but even still, I can’t help but be grateful for them right now, though not for myself.

Without releasing Serena, I lift a hand and send a flame to the pit.

Imagine my surprise when the tiny flame doesn’t come out so tiny and instead heats up not just us but the whole damn training yard.

“What the fuck?” I watch the flames as they slowly die down, still at least five times bigger than I’d intended, but at least nobody else was here.

“Damn, Blair. I know you’re cold-blooded, but I don’t know if Rosalynn would appreciate us burning the whole castle down.” It almost sounds like she’s joking, but her tone is flat, and she has yet to release her hold on me. It’s almost like she’s worried I’ll disappear if she lets me go.

“I…” I watch the flames as they taper down, trying to understand what happened, but it doesn’t make sense.

“I didn’t do that. At least not on purpose.”

That gets her attention, and she pulls back to look up at me, her brow raised. Her eyes are puffy from crying, her breathing ragged, but damn if she isn’t still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.

“Maybe we can get you some training for your fire,” she says, pulling back and finally releasing my shirt.

I don’t want to brag, but there doesn’t really seem to be a way to explain that doesn’t sound like exactly that.

Oh well.

“Ever since we arrived, I’ve been training.

For so long, I’d hidden that part of myself, worried you would hate me for it, but I realized in doing so, I’d made it so I was unable to control it.

I couldn’t do more than make a basic flame, but I needed control, not just for that, but also with water and earth.

We have access to so much here, it felt like a waste not to learn it all, especially when Rosalynn said we have the potential to learn even more beyond the basic elements. ”

My eyes are still glued to the flames that are just now reaching an acceptable height, but I can feel Serena’s eyes on me.

“We’ve all been training in combat with Garrett and the King and Queen as often as we can.

” The fire flickers but doesn’t grow or shrink anymore.

When I’d summoned my magic to light the pit, I’d tried for a flame that wouldn’t go out.

It’s something I’d been working on and thought I’d mastered, but maybe I was wrong.

“Maybe it was just because I was crying. I know you hate it when I cry.” I look down at Serena, and she shrugs as if to say she’s unsure and I also have no idea.

But I know how to find out.

Before I can overthink it, I turn with Serena still in my arms, shooting my flames at the fire pit that was just behind us.

“Fuck!” Serena’s hands grip my shirt, and she ducks her head into my chest to hide as the flames once again roar out of control.

What the fuck is going on?

I test my wind, giving a tiny flick of the wrist that shouldn’t do more than kick up a few leaves off the ground, and just like my fire, it does way more than it should. It almost pulls some of the flowers from the beds that line the castle and tips an empty fire pit.

“Blair.” I can hear the question in that one word. She’s worried about me and confused, and while I want nothing more than to assure her everything is okay… I’m not sure that would be the truth.

I push to stand, and Serena does the same, taking a step back as I move to the now upside-down fire pit to fix it. With it back on its legs, I can’t help but try one more time.

Just to be sure.

The flame moves from my hand into the fire pit with a grace that shouldn’t be possible before an average-sized fire ignites.

No roaring flame that damn near takes my eyebrows off, despite the fact that I’m less than a foot from it.

I look at Serena, where she remains on the mat, and find that she looks just as confused as I feel.

“Did I…” she asks, pointing to the ring of char that marks the ground where I’d just lit it on fire moments ago.

I can’t be sure, but I find myself nodding, regardless. That’s the only explanation, and even though it doesn’t really make sense, it might come in handy.