Void(33)

There was a gazebo with blooming flowers in the distance, secluded from the others. Gritt led us over and plopped down on the bench, sitting there with his legs stretched out in front of him, an angry smirk on his face as he observed me.

“The first thing I want to do is see how strong your Void power is. It’s activated by touch, right?” Banner asked while circling me.

“Unless it’s extra...hungry. Then it doesn’t necessarily need touch,” I replied while swallowing.

He stopped at my back and ran his fingers along my shoulders and used one hand to lift up my pale blonde hair. Again, I found myself feeling embarrassed by how responsive to touch I was. He was my pseudo-professor, and I was over here panting over a simple brushing of skin. I needed to get in control of this soon, or I was going to be embarrassing myself left and right.

“Let’s see how hungry you are then, hmm?” he asked before tracing the clasp of my necklace with his thumb and undoing it.

I reached my hand up to catch my amulet before it could fall. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I said quickly. “How do we know that your power will win against mine? Maybe my Void will swallow yours whole.”

“It could,” Banner conceded. “But I don’t think it will. Either way, we’re going to try.”

I wrung my hands together. I was terrified of this. What if I let my Void out and it immediately drained his power? I would be devastated, and there was selfishness in that fear, too. I wouldn’t just feel guilty. I’d hate it because that would mean he couldn’t neutralize me after all, and I was so desperately hoping he could. “But…”

Banner interrupted my worries. “Did you know I wasn’t allowed to come here as a student either,” he said offhandedly, his eyes scanning over the academy building in the distance. “But unlike you, what I do isn’t permanent. I’m really more of a shield. I can block powers from working, but I don’t take them away like you do. Still, no one wanted to teach me. Supers don’t want to risk being without their powers, even for a little while, and I don’t blame them for that. But it meant that I was forced to teach myself. It was difficult, and it took years for me to master it, but I put in the work, because I made it my mission that I would rule my powers; my powers would not rule me.”

My heart slammed against my chest. That was what I wanted more than anything in life.

“So, I learned how to walk through a room without unintentionally shielding powers left and right. I learned to do it with precision and purpose. And that’s exactly what I’m going to help you learn to do, too,” he said, looking at me steadily, like a rock unwilling to be pushed away by the current. “That amulet has been your crutch, Miss Cainson. But if your level of power is any indication, then you don’t need it, because you’re strong on your own. You can master this, and you will.”

His words wrapped around me, bolstering my timid hope. Slowly, I nodded. “Okay. I’ll try.”

He smiled, and I think it was the first genuine smile anyone had given me besides my human best friend, Reed. That handsome smile lit me up inside, thawing pieces that I didn’t think could ever feel warm again.

“Good girl,” he said, looking around the wide-open space. “Now, no one else is around except for us. When I say so, I want you to drop your amulet. Your Void will probably rush out because it’s starved, but I want you to imagine yourself tossing reins over it and controlling its movements. You direct where it goes. You control whether it retreats or advances. And only with your direction can it feed.”

I swallowed hard, trying to hide my shaking hands in my skirt before eyeing Gritt. He was leaned over on the bench, resting his forearms on his thighs, eyeing us with curiosity. “What if it goes for Gritt, and I can’t stop it?” I asked. I watched Gritt’s mouth part in shock, like he was surprised that I didn’t instinctually want to steal his powers.

“I’ll be here to stop you, don’t worry. I won’t let Torne’s prized shifter go powerless,” he replied easily while circling back to face me.

“You mean if I don’t suck you dry first.”

A mischievous smile curved across his lips, and my face heated when I realized what I’d said. When he noticed my mortification, he chuckled. “Not to worry, Miss Cainson,” he murmured, my name sounding like a sinful treat. “I’m not afraid to be sucked dry by a pretty girl. But maybe we should save that for behind closed doors, yes?”

The heat from my face immediately dropped like a lead weight, going straight to my core. A supernatural man was flirting with me. Me! The Void. I was so shocked that I could have been knocked over with a feather.

Gritt grumbled something under his breath that I couldn’t catch.

“But,” Banner continued, raising his voice and returning his tone to his usual cheer, “if you feel like your Void is coming for me, you will simply put your amulet back on. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

“Good. Now let’s see you in action.” Banner held his hand out to me, his fingers brushing my stomach slightly and causing another shiver to travel up my spine. Biting my lip, I let the amulet drop into his palm, and he snatched it up with finesse, pocketing it with a grin as my smoke started to spill out around me.

Black tendrils of the Void started to surround Banner, but instead of latching around him like usual, it stopped up against an invisible barrier. I breathed out a breath, a smile surfacing. Thank the gods.