The Way of the Heir

Chapter 9

"Ezra?" There had been a question in my voice I was too afraid to utter aloud, 'are you okay?'.

He hadn't answered to his name, a habit he'd seemed to have gotten used to, so I closed the book I was reading and placed it to my right on the couch. I scooted closer to my left where he was sitting and placed my left hand on his shoulder.

All of Ezra's movements stopped at once as he tilted his head to look down at me.

"Nothing yet?" There had been an obvious answer to that question, but I couldn't think of anything remotely helpful to say.

He shook his head, his eyes stayed focused on mine as he did so. I had strangely started to miss the slight glow he had in his eyes when he looked into mine, it had stopped on the fourth day in the bunker.

Aida had responded to his messages for three days and then, as Ezra had put it, there was nothing but radio silence. I'm sure the stress must've been getting to him to the point that he was making himself sick.

"She probably doesn't have any updates." It was a lousy lie; she had been messaging him nearly too much to stay inconspicuous, I was sure she had gotten caught and the guilt had made me feel horrible pity for the man who had been treating me so kindly since he'd apologized.

"You should try to call your magic again." His voice was dismissive and so was the blank look in his eyes.

He had tried to teach me how to call my Elven magic so I could use spells to protect myself, but I had failed tremendously. Ezra had been sent across the living room and into the table that held all of Sunshine's treats and snacks on it. It had looked so painful that I had sworn that I felt the blow myself.

I had been trying to practice calling to my magic away from Ezra when I was in my room so as to not hurt him. I had managed to break the bathroom sink, the closet doors, and my bed frame a good number of times.

"Okay, I could use the practice. Although, I don't think I'm anywhere near close enough to try spells again," My voice had been sheepishly small. I scooted away from him understanding that he didn't want to bring his fears to light and that he'd rather avoid them with the most chaotic thing around him. Me.

Ezra had placed his phone down between us on the couch, facing up.

"Try feel the energy around you and let it lay on your skin this time, don't absorb it right away." Ezra's eyes were focused on me, his arms were crossed, and he leaned into the soft cushion of the couch pillows.

I nodded my understanding to him and closed my eyes to focus on all the energy and magic around me. Being part Vampire meant that my skin naturally repelled the energy and magic of the world around me, so I had to put real effort from my Elven half to lift my magic repelling safety blanket off and allow the almost stinging feeling of it all to take over my senses.

A shiver had run down my spine as my skin tingled and almost itched to be exposed to magic that wasn't my own.

"Okay, let yourself get used to the feeling and slowly pull the magic in." Ezra had spoken softly, presumably to not startle me, I had felt the couch shift a bit. I had assumed at the time it was to move away from me and keep himself safe.

I held in a deep breath and felt goosebumps all over as an almost electric sensation seep into my skin, it burned almost instantly.

"Hold it, Princess please," Ezra had spoken urgently, his voice almost sounded fearful.

The last time I tried to pull in energy instead of pulling it from within myself, I flung Ezra across the room, so it had been understandable why he was maybe a tad fearful.