Page 106 of Phoenix Rise

The Watcher’s fingers tapped against her chin. “She has the ability to heal, and I think it’s linked to that.”

The two Bellatis looked at each other, and then Cass gestured to me. “Touch me.”

I grimaced. “Are you sure?”

“You cannot hurt me,” he stated, and it sent me straight back to Sebastian saying the exact same thing. My heart twisted, and I blinked back tears.

“It’s okay,” Cass coached. “Take off your gloves and give me your hand.”

I offered my naked hand. The moment I made contact, the beast inside me shot to full attention. I sensed the tendrils wave like antennae before focusing on his energy. I tried to pull my hand away, but the Bellati closed his fingers over it. His brows, much darker than his hair, drew down. “I can sense something inside you. It’s hungry.”

“It will feed off your energy,” Cara said.

“That isn’t Bellati.” Eli closed his eyes, sensing through his mate. “We pull from the surrounding energies to do our damage.”

“No. It may be unique to Anna.” Cara looked at me. “If she has Satyr blood, it may have combined with the Bellati to generate something new. The source of her power may be different, but how she wields it is the Bellati piece.”

Cass’s brows rose.

“Unique,” Eli murmured. “Show her, Cass.”

Cass’s hand overtop mine squeezed slightly. “If you can, follow along as I do this. It will demonstrate how we use our power as a weapon.”

I was busy trying to stop my inner demon from attacking, but I sensed him pulling energy from around us. He gathered it, laid his free hand on Eli’s arm—and I felt a surge of power.

It scorched along Eli’s arm, raising blisters on his skin.

I gasped and yanked my hand away. “Your arm!”

Eli smiled. “I heal fast. It’s how Bellatis train. We use each other to learn control. We are mostly immune to our own power. If I weren’t a Bellati, that would have ripped apart the flesh beneath.”

I stared at him. It wasn’t as if it didn’t hurt—his energy had gone all jaggedy with pain. This was how theytrained?

Cara rose and stepped forward to lay soothing hands on Eli. “They may heal fast,” she said. “But not as fast as me.” The horrible blisters vanished beneath her touch.

“We only use the power as a component of fighting,” Cass explained as Cara healed Eli. “Our spiral swords do most of the damage. Using our power means getting in very close to our opponent. Not always a healthy thing. But we learn to block with the sword, and touch with the opposite hand. If we hold contact for a longer period, we can kill. Like you did.”

“That isn’t really useful in a battle situation,” I pointed out.

“Not unless you can immobilize your opponent,” Cass agreed. “But used in balance with a sword, it can incapacitate.”

“I want you to teach her that,” Cara said. “I will bring her here every morning for instruction.”

I stared at her. So much for wilting flowers.

“Do you have a sword?” Cass asked me.

I swallowed. “Yes.”

“Excellent.” He looked pleased, and so did Eli. “Then we’ll see you in the morning, Anna.”

* * *

Cara was silent as we traveled back to the academy. My head spun with so many questions I didn’t know where to start.

Even Trix was subdued, pacing quietly at my knee. What had she made of all this?

Start at the beginning.Matt sounded a bit distracted, but he must be done with his obstacle class.

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