Page 30 of Shaped By Darkness

I shift back, slipping free from Blair’s tail, and manage to land on my feet instead of my ass, thankfully. The last thing I need is to give Pike another reason to laugh at me.

“It’s fine, Blair. The boys are quite entertaining. I always hoped to have more children, but the gods didn’t will it,” Queen Rosalynn assures him as she moves to join us on the mats, but I heard the way her voice hitched. “The gods didn’t will it, but then Serena found us, and I was elated. I never dreamed that the castle would be so full. You might not be my children, the way Garrett is, but you are in my kingdom, and you are Serena’s mates, which makes you family in my eyes. Seeing them playful is refreshing, especially with the state of things lately.”

She doesn’t need to elaborate for us to know what she means.

Lyle.

Ever since Draven changed him, things have been different. Serena’s been different. Now that I’m not in danger of dying, she has a one-track mind set on finding a way to save him.

Not that I blame her. We all want him back, but while the rest of us have been trying to balance life and saving him, it’s consuming Serena.

My heart feels as though it’s being squeezed as our combined sadness pulses through the bond.

Ouch. Pike and I both clench a hand to our chest at the feeling. I’m not sure if it’s only our pain or if we just got a hint of Serena’s. She in no way knows how to close herself off the way we’re attempting to learn, hasn’t a care in the world to learn right now, and I’d be lying if I said I hope she never does.

Feeling her emotions, hearing her thoughts, knowing where she is.

It’s the best feeling in the whole damn world, making me feel complete in a way I wasn’t aware I was missing before we sealed our bond.

Blair remains as impassive as usual, but I can see the way his brows pinch, and I know he feels it too.

“Alright, back to the lesson.” Rosalynn claps, and the sharp sound echoes off the courtyard and castle walls.

“You need to picture a wall, much like the ones that protect the castle, but it needs to be erected in your mind.”

Erected…Pike snorts a laugh in my mind and apparently in Blair’s, as well, because it earns him a smack upside the head. Pike lets out a yip that’s more wolf than man as he rubs at his head and glares at Blair, but says nothing.

If Rosalynn notices them messing around, she ignores them as she continues the lesson, and I try to pay attention to her instructions.

“You can build the wall from the ground up if you need to. Brick by brick is sometimes easier than just throwing down a wall, but it’s up to you on how you do it. After you have your wall, you must strengthen it and your mind. Keeping your wall intact at all times will take practice. Delegating magic to that wall while doing other tasks, both magical and not, will take some time to get used to.”

I’m in my mind building a wall, brick by brick, with the help of my beast. I’m not sure if that’s normal or not, but I’m too focused to stop and ask. Knowing my luck, if I do, I'll lose the progress I’ve made so far.

“Once your wall is built, let me know, and I’ll check for cracks.” She wiggles her brows at us, and I get the feeling she really is enjoying this, even if it seems like it should be a daunting, pointless task for most people.

“Done.”

I’m not surprised it’s Blair who’s done first. Everyone likes to say I’m the bookworm, and while that’s true, that doesn’t make Blair less smart. No, if anything, he’s smarter than me. He just doesn’t flaunt it, never answers questions in class unless he’s directly asked, never turns in his tests first, despite being done long before anyone else. Blair doesn’t like the spotlight or people, really, unless that person is Serena.

I pause on my wall and peek an eye open to watch as Queen Rosalynn attempts to break through Blair's mental shield.

It only takes her a moment before a smile turns her lips, and she claps her hands. “Very good, Blair!” she praises, and I swear Blair’s cheeks look pink and not just from being out in the sun all day.

Even more determined, I go back to my wall and try to make it as strong as possible.

Which is why I’m annoyed as hell when it only takes her thirty seconds to break through.

My only saving grace is that it doesn’t take her much longer with Pike.

“Don’t be discouraged, it’s difficult, and strong emotions make control harder. You will be vulnerable in sleep or when fighting. After a few hundred years, it will be like breathing, I promise.”

Somehow I feel like a few hundred years for Rosalynn is different than it is for us, but I’m not really worried about the guys attacking my mind, more so accidentally sharing something I don’t want to.

Without permission, my mind goes back to the memory of Serena riding me. I’d woken up surprised to be alive only for her to tell me she loved me and proceed to fuck me, snapping our mate bond into place, and leaving me second-guessing if I really had died or not.

Thankfully, it’s dinnertime, and Rosalynn and Blair are already headed to the main hall to eat, so the only one who might have picked up on that would be Pike.

“Damn it, Sol, as if it wasn’t bad enough the first time, I don’t need a front-row seat,” Pike whines, and while I know he’s mostly playing, I can hear the longing in his voice.

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