Page 58 of The Freedom You Seek

Kill.

Even though I was lost to the primal beast, I was careful not to damage any vital arteries, which would allow him to perish faster than I wanted. There would be no mercy for this rapist, not even the one of a quick death. His screams were a source of delight as one band cut off the first finger, and I couldn’t help but roar with manic laughter at his agony.

Kill. Kill.Kill!

Nothing could stop me, not until I’d cut this despicable male to pieces. Compared to him, Iwasa god, and he was the pest under my boot. And all the while, I’d imagine it wasThainI had at my mercy.

In the end, he’d lasted almost five minutes. Farmer Three might have been able to make it another one or two, but I’d grown impatient, and—if I was completely honest—his screams had started to hurt in my ears.

I released the tattered remains of the corpse and willed all my shadows to disappear. They reluctantly followed my orders, and I struggled to lock my true nature back in, so it wouldn’t leak out for others to feel. Sometimes, I wondered why I even bothered to pretend to be what I wasn’t.

With one last disgusted glower at the corpses, I approached a nearby tree, stepped into its natural shadow, and allowed my body to become one with it.

The void was familiar and welcomed me like an old friend, but I knew better than to dwell too long. This place was a harsh mistress who took her fair share of compensation for each visit—shadowwalking was a fast method of magical travel, and I favored it when I was alone, but it also was draining as fuck. In the end, it was power worth spending.

Transporting myself through the darkness, I jumped from one shadow to the next. Moments later, I arrived close to our camp.

Out of curiosity, I stayed morphed into the shade of a giant oak, silently observing what my little Jama was doing while she thought I was gone.

We spent an hour listening to Antas explaining what Dion had told me yesterday about the reservoir of power called Potential that I presumably had inside of me and what Thain had to do to use it as effectively as possible.

For me, it sounded pretty straightforward: I only had to be physically present, which wasn’t so hard to master, and I was quite sure that I could finally be considered a prodigy atsomething. Antas’ good eyebrow raised when I remarked exactly that, and he just mumbled something about beingfluent in sarcasmandno wonder she and Dion are getting along.

The next piece of information he threw at me had me reeling, though. As it turned out, there was nothing I could do to stop a Wielder from using my powers if they were of the fire type. I bit my lip before I could compare myself to a free-for-all buffet, which would trigger another condescending shake of Antas’ head.

Thain’s instructions were a lot more thorough, but I didn’t pay too close attention to them.

Honestly, more than once, I had wished that I didn’t have a fire predisposition. Somehow, it wasn’t hard to imagine how much more fun training could be if I’d had it with Dion, even though he was—well, himself most of the time.

After all, we were friends.

“Darling, did you hear me?” Thain waved his hand in front of my face.

“Sorry, I spaced out. What did you say?”

“I wanted to know if you’re ready for a test.” Thain’s red hair gleamed in the light of the setting sun, resembling the fire he was able to wield, and his dazzling smile made it easy to see why he had no trouble finding company to warm his bed. However, I wasn’t attracted to him at all.

I nodded and simply did my part—standing around as if I’d been born to do exactly that. When nothing happened, I sighed deeply.

“You have to allow me inside, darling.”

I pursed my lips in amusement. Everything sounded dirty when Thain said it. “As if I could influence anything. Try again.”

“I will. Brace yourself.”

Suddenly, a heavy pull tore at something deep inside me, followed by a wave of dizziness crashing over me. I vaguely heard Thain shouting in triumph, but I just leaned forward, massaging my temples and trying to stay conscious.

It felt so awful that if it persisted, I would have to ask Dion to tell Thain I could no longer be his magical reservoir. However, there was still a chance that I’d just have to get used to the sensation and my issues would improve.

“We made it, darling!” There was a slight pause. “Fuck.”

I lifted my head, finally having at least partly recovered, and I realized Thain hadn’t cursed at me but at Dion, who had just materialized from the shadow of an enormous tree as if he was emerging from underwater.Fuck indeed. If he was able to hide inside random shades like that, how often could he have stalked me when I thought no one was around?

I tucked that question into my little mental folder labeled ‘questions for later’ as my priority was currently Dion, who radiated volatile and murderous energy.Please, gods, not again.

Lucky for Thain, though, he rushed over to me and pulled me up to my feet. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

Barely concealed fury blazed in his eyes, and it was obvious I had to tread carefully. “No. I’m just not used to thesensations coming with amplifying, that’s all.” Dion’s eyes scanned me from head to toe, trying to figure out if I’d lied.