Chapter 8
EIGHT
sinner
My phantoms purred beneath my skin at the mere mention of their release. The shields had only been blocking them for a day, but already, I was close to losing my damn mind without them.
I’d never exactly been proud of my power, but having my ability stripped from me like that?
I wasn’t a fucking fan. Not one bit.
Athena finally met my eye for the first time since we entered the field.
She was terrified. Not being fully connected to her through the claiming didn’t dull my ability to sense it.
Her chest rose and fell as she sucked in labored breaths and her fists balled at her sides. She was prepared for a fight.
And she was afraid of her own magic. That much had been true from the start.
Director knew she was a tier four, but the others?
These cadets?
They had no idea who they were messing with.
Between one heartbeat and the next, the strange, half-claimed connection between us snapped into place.
Hell, I hadn’t even realized how little I’d been feeling her until my senses were completely flooded with her.
The very essence of her soul blended with mine, and my every cell became aware of her breath, her thoughts, her body.
She was mine, after all. I’d damn near forced her to admit it just a few minutes ago.
Her eyes widened, a subtle indication that she could feel the connection too. My phantoms liked that even more—they bubbled in my chest, reaching for her.
I kept a tight clamp on them. I had no plan to show my shadows to anyone here—especially Simon.
“Your bond should be intact now,” he started. “Show us your skills. A simple display will do. We’ll maneuver tests for your specific abilities after that.”
Anger bloomed in my chest. Show our skills? Had this guy lost his fucking mind?
I should kill him right now for what he’d done to me less than an hour ago.
I should kill Alexander, too.
It wasn’t real. Athena’s genuine confusion assured me of that. But that didn’t mean I wanted to look at that bastard’s face again.
I’d witnessed him kissing her. Touching her. Whispering things in her ear.
I’d seen him taking what was mine.
“Sinner,” Athena warned.
I snapped back to reality, only to notice the black shadows curling around my fingertips.
Fuck.
Not part of the plan. Nope.
One of the cadets in the crowd gasped.
“Shadow magic,” another whispered.
Simon smiled in my periphery. “Shadow magic, indeed. Can you control them?”
What a dumb fucking question. Of course I could control them. My phantoms were just as much mine as Athena was—except they didn’t give me nearly as much attitude.
“Yes,” Athena answered for me. “He can control them just fine.” She was looking at me with a sudden deep intensity.
My phantoms—the little fucking whores they were—crawled up my arms in response to her attention. The corners of Athena’s mouth twitched upward, which only encouraged them more. They leapt toward her without my permission, nearly caressing her skin.
Normally, I would have tamped down on them. Pulled them back. Forced them beneath my skin to keep them hidden from prying eyes. But that invisible link I shared with the woman standing a few feet away had them roaring back to life.
Could she feel it? How much they craved her?
They’d never fucking cared about anyone else. They’d never reacted to anyone else the way they reacted to her.
“And Athena?” Simon questioned. “Are you ready to show us your magic?”
She blinked once, twice, like she was coming back to the moment, and tore her attention away from me. “It’s not something I can easily show you.”
A tiny flicker of her nerves funneled through our bond. She looked brave. Intense. A bit unfazed, even. But underneath, she was terrified as hell.
“That won’t be a problem,” he told her. “That’s where my gift comes in.”
He took a step toward her—toward my claimed—and my shadows reacted on instinct. They surrounded his outstretched hand, stopping it a few inches from Athena’s face.
“Whoa there.” The fucker laughed.
A few gasps rang out around us. I ignored them all.
“You can put the shadows away,” he told me easily. “I’m just going to touch her temple, it will allow me to sense her power.”
“You can do that?” Athena’s voice wavered. “Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?”
“Yes,” I hissed. “It is.”
Simon rolled his shoulders back, moving forward again, even though my shadows lapped at his skin, ready to kill.
“You’re here to train your magic. Not to hide it. I’m the commanding officer here for a reason,” he said, adding extra authority to his tone, “and in order to help you fully train your abilities, I must understand what we’re working with. I assure you, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
Athena’s eyes met mine, wide and full of fear. He was fucking wrong about that.
“You’re not going near her,” I demanded.
“I am,” he retorted without looking away from her. “And before you can do something stupid…” He turned to the group of mystics still standing on the perimeter of the field. “Shields, let’s put these shadows away, shall we?”
“No.” I moved to lash out, to stop them before they could stop me, but before my shadows had made it more than a foot toward them, the bone-crushing weight that had been pressing down on me came back, and my shadows were pummeled at the source.
“It’s nothing personal,” Simon said, his tone easy again. “This is for your safety, remember? Your own good.”
“Yeah fucking right,” I spat.
Without my shadows, I was forced to stand by and watch as Simon lifted his fingers to Athena’s temple, pressed the grimy things against her skin, and shut his eyes.
Fuck.
Time slowed. The moment played out like a fucking horror story.
One second, he stood in front of Athena, his magic seeping into her mind like he had the right to even touch what was mine.
The next?
His eyes snapped open and he stumbled backward like he’d been fucking slapped.
“It’s not possible.” He sucked in a heavy breath.
He turned to one of the shields on the perimeter. “Get Director. I need to speak with her.”
“What is it?” one of the cadets asked.
No. Don’t fucking say it.
I’d never felt more helpless. More exposed.
I couldn’t even fathom how Athena felt.
“I’ve only read about it,” he said, his eyes wide. “I’ve never actually encountered any.”
I clenched my jaw. Without my phantoms, I could probably take a couple of them and maybe shut him up, but it would do more damage than good.
And it wouldn’t stop the truth from coming out.
“A mind whisperer.” Simon gaped at Athena as if she were a statue to be studied. Then, he broke out into a ridiculous, joy-filled laugh. “We have our very first tier four.”