Void(34)

Banner smiled too, and I saw the hint of relief that crossed over his features. For all of his outward confidence that he’d been trying to reassure me with, he’d been nervous, too. “Perfect,” he purred. “Now, how are you feeling?” he asked me while tipping his head to the side, observing me with his dark eyes and beautiful smile. Hunger like a harsh punch was hitting me over and over again, making every inch of me coil up with acidic pain.

“It’s hungry. It hurts,” I replied through clenched teeth. “It hurts a fucking lot.”

“Probably because you chain it up like a rabid animal all the time. But you are holding it back.”

He was right. I was holding it back. Sweat broke out over my brow and back, and my entire body was shaking with restraint, but I was actually holding it back. I’d always had my necklace, and the only times I’d ever removed it were for trials at the council, so I’d never even known I could hold it back. As exhausting as it was, I also felt a new sense of empowerment.

“Good,” Banner commended, circling around me. My smoke hit his own barrier everywhere he stepped. “You’ll have to accept your Void so you can learn to work in-tandem with it,” he said calmly, watching my smoke with interest. “But you’re stronger than you think. Look at the amount of control you’re already showing.”

I would have beamed if it wasn’t taking every ounce of willpower and concentration I had to keep the Void from lashing out.

“You’re doing wonderfully,” he said, coming to stop at my side. “Now I want you to turn its attention to Gritt. Let’s see if you can feed the Void without letting it drain someone completely.”

I let out a shaky breath, and Gritt launched to his feet, eyes wide. “No fucking way.”

“Relax, shifter,” Banner said. “I won’t let her take your powers. But I have a theory.”

“Well, I’m all fucking ears,” Gritt snapped.

Banner regarded his displeasure with amusement before turning back to me. “My theory is that you need to feed your Void. Stop starving it. It exists for a purpose, and I think we all realize, since what happened at the trial, that it’s more than just voiding out powers. Perhaps the Void is always draining people completely simply because you’ve been starving it all along. Let’s see what happens when we try to feed the beast.”

It sounded so simple, but I knew it was anything but. I wrung my hands together. “I don’t know…”

“I’ll be right here to intervene if it comes to that,” Banner assured me quietly.

My eyes flicked over to Gritt, whose hands were in fists. “You’re not using your fucking powers on me.”

“Fine, then leave,” Banner said before I could even open my mouth. “And get us someone with bigger balls than you.”

My eyes widened at Banner’s words, and the two men stared each other down. Gritt was seething. If there was one thing that you didn’t insult a shifter on, it was their fearlessness. But I had a feeling that was why Banner did it in the first place.

After letting out a low growl, Gritt shot me a dark look. “Don’t you dare take anything that doesn’t belong to you,” he said with a curse while crossing his arms across his chest.

Another wave of agony coursed through me as I continued to hold back my power. The Void was pissed off. The smoke looked like jaundiced tar and was churning with want and fury. Sweat rolled down my temple and gathered in the crook of my neck. I raised my hand to better control it, and then slowly, I started to loosen the reins.

My smoke shot out like a bullet toward Gritt, and he flinched back. The black Void wrapped around him, sucking his power out in a rush. I started to panic, my shaky hold faltering, but Banner was immediately there, standing in front of Gritt and shoving the Void back.

My eyes were wide with alarm, but Banner held his hands up in a soothing manner. “It’s alright. Take a deep breath, Miss Cainson. I want you to rein it back in.”

“I can’t,” I shuddered, nearly in tears. It hurt so much. I couldn’t hold it back for much longer. It was taking over me, pummeling me with a thousand punches that I felt in my blood and bones.

Banner stepped in front of me, his hands clasping my arms. My Void instantly receded, and I took a huge, gasping breath. Sweat was soaking my shirt now, and my limbs hung loosely, feeling bruised all over. “Breathe, Devicka,” he said, my name sounding like a prayer on his lips.

I mimicked his inhales until my breathing evened out, my eyes locked on his. “Good girl,” he praised. “I’m going to let go now.”

“No,” I pleaded, my bottom lip quivering.

“Shh, it’s alright. I’m not leaving. But you are going to try again, and this time, you aren’t going to let it lash out. Remember—you are the master of your power; it is not the master of you. Show it who’s boss.”

He carefully released his hold on me and stepped away again. I gritted my teeth, but this time, when it tried to shoot out toward Gritt, I snapped on the reins, both hands outstretched, and I forced it to go slow.

“Good. Now let it slowly feed. Just a bit.”

My hands shook with the effort, and I was sure that I was going to collapse after this, but a few wispy tendrils went forward at my direction, twirling around Gritt’s legs. It trailed up his muscular thighs, dancing across his hips, his abs, and lastly his face. I poured all my focus into reining it in. I felt like I was playing tug of war with my soul, yanking backwards as it stretched me thin.