“Patron, yes. She made that quite clear. I don’t mean to rush you, but we’re on a rather tight schedule. Are you ready to go out into the forest to practice?”

“Sure. I suppose it can’t hurt.” My legs were still a bit unsteady as I rose, and Caden looped his arm around my waist.

“Perfect.” Melinda led us out onto a balcony at the back of the shop and down some rickety steps with a liberal sprinkling of lichen decorating the wood.

The ground was mossy and almost blindingly green. Ilovedit. Something about moss just made me want to strip naked and roll around on it.

We walked about half an hour straight into the forest. I probably should’ve been slightly concerned in case Melinda turned out to be an axe murderer or something, but the trees felt so peaceful.

“Clothes off.” Melinda unceremoniously shucked off her dress and shoes as we entered a small clearing. She was bare beneath the fabric.

“I’m sorry, what?” I wrapped my arms around myself.

“We’re doing this skyclad.”

I glanced at Caden and Seth before taking a deep breath and dropping my sweater into the moss. I peeled off each item of clothing in turn, ridiculously aware of all of them watching me. I could have told them to look away, but if I was going to be prancing in the woods with Melinda, what was the point in trying to retain modesty?

Seth sucked in a sharp breath as I wiggled out of my leggings, fingers paused nervously at the waistband of my panties. I closed my eyes and shoved them down, letting them fall, and unhooking my bra before I could think otherwise. I wasn’t going to bend down and gather it all up. I wasn’ttooconcerned with them seeing me naked, but I wasn’t about to flash Seth with my pussy.

“Perfect,” Melinda said with a smile as she kneeled down. “Come, have a lie down.”

“You weren’t supposed to be a mind reader about my impulses to roll naked in moss.”

Melinda laughed. “It’s something I do regularly.” She patted the squishy green ground next to her.

I sank down, my knees cushioned, and the urge to fall face-first into it was too great to resist.

“This isamazing.” I breathed deeply. The power of the forest washed over me like a gentle stream.

“It gets better,” Melinda assured me. “Roll over.”

I flipped onto my back and wiggled happily against the moss. I needed an entire bed made out of this.

“Focus on rooting into the earth and ask the forest to let you see through its eyes.”

The visualization was easy and something I did every time I worked with the divine. Energetic roots sank into the ground and I opened the request to the enormity of the millions of trees around me.

My head spun and my stomach churned, thousands upon thousands of plants and creatures filtering information to me.

“Pull back,” Melinda said, pressing a hand firmly against my belly button. “It’s easy to fall deep. Ask them to show you what you need to know.”

I relayed the question inside my own head and my mind barreled through the intense network of trees like I was on a roller coaster. It came to an abrupt stop at the farthest edge of the forest where it met the grassy foothills.

Darkness whispered over those hills.

It was still hunting us.

It was coming.

I bolted upright and Melinda pushed me right back down. “We’re not done. You don’t know how to doanythingand if you don’t get at least a bit of a handle on things, you’re going to fry those boys to crisps.”

“What?”My gaze flickered to Seth and Caden. They were both tense, watching me, probably also wondering what the fuck Melinda meant.

“We opened a lot of floodgates, and while they’re notallopen, there’s enough to drown them if you’re not careful. You’ve got a lot of power and it’s been growing every year but was unable to express before. I don’t have time to teach you much, but I’ll do what I can. Now, close your eyes, call up a good bit of it, and focus on keeping it centralized in your body. Don’t let any of it escape.”

I nodded, closing my eyes, imagining the power like a campfire in my belly. The warmth of it radiated out, a pleasant, tingling sensation that had goosebumps rising. I called more, mybreath trembling as my heart picked up its pace and the tingling grew to a vibration that teased my nerves. My clit pulsed and my pussy clenched as I yanked up more power. Every bit of me broke out in a sweat. I dug my fingers into the moss with a whimper.

“Focus it where you want it, where the core of your power responds strongest.” Melinda’s voice reached through, but I couldn’t open my eyes to see her.