Page 63 of Shattered Stars

I wonder if he’s reading my thoughts right now. If he can’t help himself. If he is, he doesn’t say a thing.

“Clear your mind, Miss Blackwaters.”

I peek open one eye. “I hate it when people say that. It’s impossible. As soon as I try, I’m thinking about how to do it.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, you have a very busy, chaotic mind.”

“Beautiful or sewer, professor, make up your mind.”

“It’s messy and chaotic – that’s what makes it so beautiful.”

I close my eyes again. “Just tell me what to do.”

“You need to use your magic to block me. Your magic is powerful. Even more powerful than it was.”

“It’s grown again. Since we bonded.”

“Yes,” he whispers. “I can see that. I can feel it. You need to ensure your magic is there in your mind, hovering in the recesses, there to strike whenever someone enters uninvited.”

“How?” I say with frustration.

“Focus it there, let it seep into your mind.”

I try, clinging onto his fingers as I strain to force my magic away from my fingertips, along my nerves and into my mind. But it’s stubborn and it’s not innate, not natural like so much magic is.

“I can’t do it,” I growl in frustration.

“You can,” he whispers and I give him a very clear image of my middle finger in my mind.

“Miss Blackwaters,” he warns. “A little less smart, a little more patience.”

“My magic doesn’t want to do it.”

“Rhi,” he whispers gently, stroking the pads of his thumbs over my fingers, soothing me. “It isn’t something you need to force.”

“But–”

“Rhi,” he continues, “magic was something you kept hidden from others for so long, you’ve built a barrier in your mind. All you need to do is find that barrier and release it and then it will be as easy and as natural as breathing.”

I screw up my eyes and search for the thing holding my magic back, for that barrier, for that lock. I begin to growl again, ready to give up, sure this is all nonsense, when something snaps, something strong and solid, and magic floods into my mind so powerful, it ejects Stone right out of my head, flinging him across the classroom, where he lands with a thud on his backside.

“Stone!” I cry, snapping open my eyes and racing towards him.

He groans, stumbling to his feet and brushing dust off his pants. “First the chains, then this.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

He chuckles. “I know you didn’t, sweetheart. I don’t think you know just how strong you are half the time.”

“Did it work though? Can you enter my mind?” I let my magic tingle behind my temples, ready to strike.

“Are you going to shoot me across the classroom again?” Stone asks warily.

I shrug with a smile and he swears, holding my gaze. I feel him pushing, testing my defenses but he doesn’t break through. His brow furrows and he grits his teeth. The pressure builds but I hold him back with ease.

“Well?” I ask.

“Nothing,” he concedes, letting out a breath.