Winter

 

“Two days off, and it’s like you have never been trained. Pathetic.” Leigha says as I pick myself up off the floor. I just hit about three-quarters up the tallest metal wall and then slid all the way down. It’s the highest I have ever gotten. Leigha is standing a few steps away, dressed in all black with a mean look on her face. Alex and Drake aren’t here today because Alex is sorting our clothes out for the ball. Drake has to go with her, and he did not look happy about it. I don’t blame him.

“That’s not fair. I did the whole course in five minutes. Like you demanded!” I say with my hands on my hips.

“You didn’t complete the course,” she says with an unimpressed look.

“That’s impossible,” I say, and she laughs. I watch as she takes off her hoodie and walks to the start of the small path leading up the wall. She runs fast towards it and jumps. She lands perfectly on top of the metal wall and looks down at me.

“Not impossible, and you can do this.” She jumps down and lands in a crouch before standing.

“One day, your life could depend on you being able to jump high and fast. When someone is chasing you, this may be the only way you can escape,” She says and lowers her voice to a whisper as she adds, “Like castle walls, for example.”

I know she’s right, this metal wall is roughly the size of the stone walls that surround the castle, and if I needed to escape I need to be able to jump them. I give Leigha a determined look.

 She smiles, “Finally,”

I take a deep breath as I walk over to the start of the path towards the large wall. I can do this. I run with everything I’ve got and push as hard as I can into the ground. I fly up, and my heart feels stuck in my throat when I clear the wall. The downside is that I see the ground, and I know I’m going to land on my side. I close my eyes and instead of feeling the hard floor, I feel a cold wind surrounding me. I open my eyes as I’m lowered to the floor. Atti is standing by the door, his one hand stretched out. His arm and hand are glowing slightly white. He winks at me before leaving.

I hear his whisper in my mind a second later, “Good job, Love, I knew you could do it.”

I hear Leigha clapping as she comes over from the other side of the wall. I stand up slowly.

“Time for some combat and working on your powers, let’s go outside,” she says and turns. I didn’t expect a ‘well done’ from her, but I know she’s proud of me. I can just tell, or maybe I’m hoping. I’m treating myself to a slice of chocolate cake tonight, okay maybe the whole cake.

We walk outside, and Leigha stops in the middle of the stone courtyard that has the weapons around it. The snow is pushed to one side, and there are two vampires practising fighting with metal swords. They stop when they see us, they bow and then go to stand at the side. Stopping to watch us.

“We’ll start with that power of yours, explain what you feel when you use it. It might help,” she says, standing about three steps away.

“When I’m mad or angry, I get this pressure in my body, and it just leaves. I then start glowing, and a blue wave hits everything near,” I tell her.

“So, it’s moving things with your mind but not quite. It’s just protective at the moment,” she muses.

“Yes,” I say slowly.

“Try to use it on those guys and me,” she says and looks at the guards.

“What?” I ask, but she ignores me.

“Come here and help your princess,” Leigha calls to the guards who bow and move to where she points.

“Close your eyes and remember something that scares you or makes you angry,” Leigha suggests.

“I don’t think–” I start, but she cuts me off. I hate when she does that.

“Don’t think, just feel,” she says. I close my eyes and remember Talen as he ran towards me. The anger in his eyes, the blood on his shirt–and the fear fills me. The pressure rises, and I open my eyes as the blue wave leaves me. I have no control, but I do try to stop it.

“No,” I say as Leigha and the guards go flying backward. I run over to Leigha as she gets up.

“Very good, do it again, but think about lifting me, instead. You need to plan what you want your power to do,” she says.

“Are you mad?” I ask, and I see the guards get up, running away.

“Such pussies,” Leigha says watching them with a mixture of disgust and humour. I can’t help but chuckle.

“Use your power again,” she says, and I do it again but she goes flying again. Leigha just gets up as I cringe, Wyatt walks into the courtyard and comes over to press a gentle kiss on my lips. We haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other since we fully mated a few nights ago. It’s like our relationship has changed now that we don’t have any secrets. I feel closer and more in love with him than ever before. Wyatt asked me everything I knew about Freddy last night, and I showed him all the messages he used to send me.

“I have an idea,” Leigha says as I break away from Wyatt.

“I’m not hurting you again, it’s clear I have no control,” I tell her.

“Not me. Your mate.” She waves a hand towards Wyatt.

“No,” I start, but Wyatt kisses me and moves a few steps away.

“I trust you, go for it Sweetheart,” he grins and opens his arms. I close my eyes and find the pressure again, willing it not to hurt Wyatt. The pressure fills my mind, and I open my eyes as the blue wave leaves me. I try to stop it or control it, but it doesn’t work. Wyatt goes flying as I run after him.

“Let’s go again,” Leigha says behind me as I kneel next to Wyatt. He looks fine, although a little shocked as he sits up.

“No, we won’t,” I turn a glare at her then look back at Wyatt. “You okay?” I ask him and run my hand through his blond hair.

“You’re stunning,” Wyatt says and kisses me. We don’t train for the rest of the day because Wyatt carries me back to our room, and we do our kind of training.