Page 52 of By the Moonbeam and the Mist
He looked pointedly at the twins, who jerked their heads at the pile of logs nearby and sent them soaring into the hearth over the bed of simmering coals. Terrin busied himself with stoking the flames, though I was sure he could ignite a wildfire within seconds if he wanted to.
I, on the other hand, kept my eyes glued to Steeler’s face and my finger glued to his chest, glad for the bit of privacy everyone else was momentarily giving us.
“Garvis.” Steeler didn’t even glance down at that single point of contact between us. “Remove the barrier again.”
“Coen, she’s—”
“Remove it.”
I bristled at the way he spoke to his so-called friends, but then—then the protective wall around my head melted away.
The cacophony of voices pounded into me again as Terrin, Sasha, and Sylvie whirled around to gape.
He’s pushing her too hard.
We should’ve never agreed to this.
Aaaand she’s on her knees again.
Damn, that girl canscream.
It’s way too late for this kind of shit.
A nod from Steeler and Garvis wrapped the barrier back around me, cutting off the voices.
I sat there, hunched over on the rug, breathing through the panic that seemed to scrape jagged fingers down the back of my neck where my new brand still burned.
Steeler lowered himself to a crouch right in front of me and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look up at him.
I didn’t have the strength or the willpower to wrench myself away.
“The only thing that comes naturally about Mind Manipulating are those voices in your head,” he said, his lips moving a breath away. “Eavesdropping on inner thoughts, commanding actions, stealing or guarding memories—that all takes work. And your new power, Drey, needs alotof work before I can trust you to protect yourself.”
Before he could trust me? Trustme? I would never be able to scowl enough to properly convey how I felt just then.
“What do you expect me to do?” I half-laughed up at him. “Waltz right into the Mind Manipulator classes and announce myself as a new student?” I dredged up as much sarcasm as I could muster in my current state. “Hey Wilder, I’m in your sector now.Just got a second power from the person I’m supposed to be handing over to the Good Council. No big deal. Oh, and the Good Council isn’t actually good.”
Steeler’s eyes shuttered once before he released my face and stood with surprising swiftness and grace.
“Of course I don’t expect you to do that. That’s why you’ll be coming over here every Sunday to the lighthouse. To train.”
“If you think I’m willing to spend anothersecondwith you—” I started, scrambling to my feet for the second time tonight.
“Not with me,” Steeler interrupted. “With Garvis.”
That made me clamp my mouth shut. If Steeler was as obsessed with me as Dyonisia and he himself claimed, shouldn’t he want to force me into spending every single second with him?
Garvis spoke up before I could piece these words together.
“I’m not so sure the fleet will be happy if—”
“—the Fated General lets you leave the ship for a measly few hours once a week?” Steeler interrupted, and I felt my eyebrows furrow. The Fated General? Was that some fancy name for the captain of their ship? Steeler continued before I could think too hard about it. “That’s hardly long enough to make anyone look twice.” After a pause, in which he and Garvis seemed to engage in a short but intense staring contest, he added, “I can’t bear to be in her mind that much anyway. Not right now.”
Once again, my eyes were drawn to his mutilated brand, the cut I had inflicted. It was already healing, but suddenly a treacherous part of me was itching to tell him to go put some salve on it in case it got infected. The same for the clotting wound on his arm, too. Both injuries had drastically hindered his Mind Manipulating power tonight—one by limiting his ability to use it, and the other by giving most of it away.
Garvis swiveled his gaze to me now.
“Are you okay with me training you, Rayna?”
