Warrior (Relentless #4)(105)

“You were spooked when you learned what you were, and I thought it was too soon to introduce you to your Mohiri family. If it makes you feel better, Chris didn’t know at first either.”

“Just promise, no more keeping things from me.”

“Ask me anything and I’ll give you an honest answer.”

My Mori shifted, filling me with longing. It wanted me to tell her the truth about the bond so we could be with our mate. But the demon acted on instinct, and it didn’t understand why I waited.

She didn’t say anything, and I knew it was time to get back to training. If the lamprey and kark attacks had taught me anything, it was that Sara needed to learn to defend herself. She had a long way to go before she reached the other trainees’ level, but she had one weapon they didn’t have. She only had to learn to wield it.

“You ready to try something different?”

She leaned forward eagerly. “Like what?”

I turned in my seat to face her. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me yesterday about your power getting stronger. You were worried it might hurt your demon or another Mohiri, but I don’t think it will, at least not intentionally. The bazerats and lamprey demons were in their true form, which made them more vulnerable to your power.”

I took her hand. “Our demons live inside us and are shielded by our bodies. I think that, and the fact that you also have a Mori inside you, is why your power is not flaring up right now.”

She eased out of my grasp, looking slightly flustered. I wondered if it was my touch or my words that affected her.

“Was that what you wanted to try?” she asked.

I hid a smile. “Not quite. We know your power doesn’t react instinctively to me, but I want to find out if you can use it against me consciously.”

“What?” She leapt up and backed away, her eyes wide with horror. “Are you crazy? I could kill you.”

“You won’t,” I reassured her.

“You don’t know that!” She paled and shook her head. “You didn’t see what I did to that demon in Boise. If you had, you wouldn’t even suggest this.”

I stood slowly. “I saw the pictures our guys took before they cleaned it up.”

Her voice shook. “Then why the hell would you ask me to try to do that to you?”

“I’m not asking you to do that.”

She took another step back, ready to bolt.

I held up my hands. “Listen to me. I think your power reacts when you are frightened or in danger, and you don’t believe it, but you can control it. You were in mortal danger when the lamprey demon attacked you, and you knew you had to kill or be killed, so you did what you had to do to survive. You may have been afraid when you were in here with the bazerats, but you never really felt like you were in real danger, did you? Not with everyone outside.”

She didn’t answer, but I saw her relax slightly as my words sank in.

“You’ve been using your power to heal creatures most of your life and you know how to manipulate it and how to release it in controlled bursts, right?”

She nodded.

“It’s the same power; you just used it offensively with the demons. I think you can learn to use your power as a weapon if you start thinking of it as one and the same.”

Hope flared in her eyes for a few seconds before it turned to panic. “I can’t… I can’t do it…”

I gently gripped her stiff shoulders. “This really frightens you, doesn’t it?”

Her head jerked.

“All the more reason for you to learn to master it. If you don’t, it will control you instead, and we both know how much you hate being controlled.” I smiled. “You trust me, right?”

She averted her gaze. “Yes.”

“And I trust you with my life.”

Her eyes flew back to mine, and I saw her surprise, her uncertainty.

“I trust you, Sara, and I know you won’t hurt me,” I said confidently.

“Yes, but –”

“You were afraid to connect with your Mori at first, but you did it and now you no longer fear it. This is no different.”

I took her hands and laid them over my heart to show my faith in her. “Start slow and see what happens. You can pull away anytime you need to.”

“Okay, but not here.” She took her hands from my chest and reached for one of my hands instead.

“Do you feel anything?” she asked after a minute.

I shook my head, and she tried again. Still nothing. Her hands began to glow. I stared at them in amazement. “Your hands feel warmer. What are you doing?”

“I’m sending my power to them like I do when I do a healing.” Her brow furrowed, and she let go of my hand. “I don’t think this is going to work. I only know how to heal things, and I don’t know what I did to those demons.”

I’d suspected this was the case, but I’d wanted to start where she was comfortable before I suggested something more aggressive.

“Your offensive power only surfaces when there is a demon nearby, but it doesn’t sense my Mori,” I said.

Relief filled her eyes. “That’s a good thing though, right?”

“It is as long as we keep our demons restrained, but what happens if we allow them closer to the surface?” I replied, already calling my demon forth.