Kyran
Selene’s unexpected use of her powers is impressive, I haven’t asked her yet about them since reuniting and I’ve been curious if everything feels the way it was for her long ago, after receiving her memories back. I push through my front door with a grin and press it closed behind me as I watch Selene make her way into the kitchen. My smile grows wider as I think of Stjarna and her mate, how unbelievable it is for her to have found him this late in life. I am overjoyed for her and look forward to celebrating tonight with them.
Noticing how Selene is preoccupied with searching the cabinets, I silently sneak across the kitchen and duck into the pantry with the childish idea to scare her. My heart feels so light today, I want to run carefree like the pups do with their playful laughter while making mischief. Pressing my back against the wall beside the open door, I breathe shallowly to remain undetected and listen for Selene’s movements. I can hear the rattle of some pans being placed on the countertop and her soft humming beneath the movements before the clack of her heels grows louder as she nears.
Pressing my lips together, my muscles bunch in anticipation to jump and I calculate how many steps she’ll take before crossing into the pantry. Five more to go, I measure based on the echo and bend my knees. My lips pull into a smirk at how stupid this is, but I can’t help the desire to play with her the way she did with me moments ago. Three…two…one… I spring into a sharp twist with a loud yell, simultaneously slapping my palms against the door frame only to be met with empty air. My brow pinches in confusion, I know she was right here. Leaning forward on my hands, I peer out into the vacant kitchen as my mouth turns down at the corner. Where the hell—
“Boo,” a whisper grazes my ear and my body goes rigid at the sudden sound.
Whipping around, I find Selene perched on a shelf beside me and I can’t stop my mouth from opening in astonishment at the sight of her. Her laughter rings out around me mirthfully and she wipes at an eye from the force of it. My lips curl upward even though I’m both shocked and embarrassed as her amusement fills me. I let out a chuckle with a shake of my head as I mumble, “How?” and tilt my head curiously at her.
She gives me a wolfish grin and her eyes shine in the dim light as she kicks her feet out lazily. “How as in, how did I get in here? Or, how did I know what you were doing?” she raises an eyebrow and purses her lips.
“Both,” I mutter with a grin in return.
“Magic,” she responds slyly, narrowing her eyes with a smirk.
I laugh at that and step between her legs, sliding my hands up her bare thighs to grasp her waist. She drapes her arms around my neck as I lift her, carrying her back into the kitchen and place her on the island. I kiss her forehead before asking, “What else can you do? The way you control your power is impressive, I have met witches who can’t do what you do. Could you show me?” and I take a step back, sliding my palms beneath hers.
An easy smile spreads across her beautiful face as she nods. “Sure, though there’s one thing I can’t do during daylight. I’ll show you tonight, beneath the full moon. It’s so cool,” she whispers dramatically as she leans forward with a grin. “But for now, I can show you everything else. I have the ability to teleport, as you have experienced, though I call it shadow-walking. I can control shadows, wield them the same way you would with say, a knife, rope, or arrows for example,” she releases my hands and swirls her wrists as inky writhing shadows appear and coil around her outstretched arms.
I stare openly dumbfounded at the sight, never in my life have I seen anything this… “Amazing,” I breathe, carefully reaching a hand toward her. “Can I touch it?” I ask, extremely curious about how something like this would feel.
Selene laughs and nods her head, holding her hand out and a shadow snake stretches toward me. I hesitate only for a heartbeat before gliding my fingers through the obsidian smoke. It is cool the way fog feels and leaves a slight tingle on my skin as my hand passes through it a second time. I grin at Selene who grins back before narrowing her eyes a fraction, the only warning I get before the shadow coils around my wrist and hardens like steel. I glance down at it, giving my arm a slight tug and feeling absolutely no give with the binding. Peering up at Selene, I raise my eyebrows and pull harder, seeing the tension in her arm as a result but feeling no change in the hold she has on me.
Her grin grows wider at my attempt and she shakes her head with a laugh, “Try all you want, you will not break free unless I choose to let you. These shadows are as fluid or solid as I need them to be and believe me when I tell you, I am adept at wielding them,” she smirks as she releases her hold on my wrist and turns to look around the kitchen. “Is there anything you don’t particularly care for in here, if it gets damaged?” she asks, turning back to face me.
“Everything except you,” I answer automatically and she barks a laugh. “I’m serious,” I add, pulling my brow in.
Pushing off the counter, Selene grasps my hand and pulls me out of the kitchen toward the back door. Outside in the gardens, she points at the nearby forest and says flatly, “Name three things, and make them small. Then name something as big as you and something that you could hold in your hand.”
Without questioning her, I take a brisk look around, rattling off, “The white mushroom on that tree, the patch of moss on the rock over there, and that little purple flower in the middle of the clovers,” pointing to each one and she nods as I go. “The large oak log on the ground and…this rock,” I gesture at a large river stone resting in a flowerbed nearby.
Without a word, Selene winks over her shoulder at me with a smirk and flicks her hand out in three rapid successions, followed by three simultaneous quiet thumps. Glancing at the mushroom, moss, and flower, I find each impaled with a dart of shadow directly in their centers. My eyebrows raise at her skill and I silently watch as she whips her hand out toward the stone. A thin, wispy black rope flings out toward it before she yanks it back harshly and the rock flies through the air to land in her awaiting palm. Without hesitation, Selene turns on her heel and throws her arms out in front of her, thick bands of shadows billowing out to encompass the fallen tree and form a ring around the wide trunk. Her fingers bend inward and the resounding crack that echoes around us is astounding as the log crumples beneath her power.
When she releases the shadows, a pile of splintered wood remains between the severed halves of the tree and I slowly drag my gaze to hers. Selene’s chest rises and falls from the effort as she gives me a haughty smile and I laugh in astonishment. With that sort of power alone, she is nearly unstoppable. I shake my head at the realization and consider what else there is to learn about her.
“That was incredible,” I murmur with wide eyes, “I am beyond impressed. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Thank you, it really is an effective force, especially in combat. Though, I can use it in other ways than with a fight. For instance, I can place my shadows as you saw with the darts, they will remain until I intentionally call them back to me. It does drain my energy, though, depending on the size or amount of shadow to keep them in place. Through them I can hear and see things if I focus on it, although the visual aspect is grainy at best. I used to do this to play spy with Ria when we were young,” she smiles wistfully at the thought for a moment before blinking the memory away.
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“Using the shadow powers is much like anything else you wield physically, it strains my body and takes a lot of stamina to uphold. It will deplete me if I am not careful and can put me in a predicament of being too exhausted to call it forward. The only replenishment I know of is sleeping and eating, just as anyone else would after a rigorous exercise,” she explains, brushing her hands against her white skirt and smiling at me.
“That’s honestly fucking awesome, and I’m kind of jealous,” I grin at her, running my hand through my hair at the admission.
Selene laughs with a shake of her head and walks toward the house. I follow her back into the kitchen as she crosses over to the pantry, nodding her head for me to come in with her. She stands in front of one of the walls of shelving, her gaze searching for something before coming to a stop. Shaking out her hands, she looks at me briefly before turning her attention to the shelf once more.
“Okay, so besides the shadows and the teleporting, I also have the ability of telekinesis. It is not nearly as strong as the shadows are and I’m honestly not that great with it, it’s the least-used of my abilities mostly because I have the shadows. The telekinesis came with the telepathy,” she says offhandedly and I gape at her.
“Wait, what?” I ask incredulously. “Telepathy? As in, mind reading?”
“Yes, and I can also push my thoughts into someone else’s mind as well, make them see or hear what I want them to. Kind of like a vision or hallucination of sorts,” she says softly, watching me over her shoulder once more.
I nod my head at that, remembering Vala’s skill with her psychic magic and I mention, “The only other person I’ve met with an ability like that was Vala and I know it was strong, as I’d told you a while ago. Though hers wasn’t technically quite the same as you, I don’t believe. Is yours detectable?”
Selene just slightly shakes her head then narrows her eyes. “I’m sure it isn’t, unless I use it on Hekate or one of the elven,” she mumbles, “both are impossible to get anything magically past them.”
“Elven?” I ask curiously, unsure of what she means.
She scoffs a laugh and rolls her eyes, “The fae. They despise the term, and refer to themselves as elves.”
“The fae, as in fairies?” I clarify, and she nods her head once. “We have a lot to talk about,” I breathe out and drag my hand over my face.
Selene just laughs and turns back to the shelf, raising a hand. A moment goes by before a bag of flour slides forward and topples off the shelf, landing in her hands with a poof of white dust. She giggles and blows the cloud away from her as she turns to me with a grin and steps out of the pantry. In awe of Selene’s abilities, my gaze flicks from the empty spot on the shelf and back to the doorway when I hear her voice call out to me.
“Could you get the sugars, some chocolate, and—actually, just bring me all your baking ingredients, it’ll be easier. Please,” she adds in a singsong voice and a wide smile pulls at my lips in response.
“Yes, sweetheart,” I call back to her, already filling my arms with her request.
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I help Selene cook lunch, though she adamantly refuses me with making the cookies and I concede by washing our dishes while she gets to work. We talk about her journey to unlocking her memories and I feel some guilt about not being there to help her even though she’s clearly more than capable of handling herself. It doesn’t feel good to hear how volatile things were for her and especially with the condition she was in, I wish that there was something I could have done to help in some way. She explains that her pain was her own to overcome and I understand that—hell, I respect it, even—since I’d essentially felt the same with myself most of my life.
Sitting at the island, I watch Selene while she scoops the chilled dough onto a couple of trays. She has a light smile on her lips as she goes, and I can’t help but imagine her doing this with little fingers reaching for a taste. I smile at the image and notice her glance at me with rosy cheeks, her smile growing wide as she undoubtedly sees my imagined scene. Popping a bite of cookie dough into her mouth, she tosses me a small lump and I catch it effortlessly, taking a bite and groan at the sweetness as I hear the front door open.
“This is easily the best I’ve ever had, and I’m not saying that as your mate,” I say around the mouthful and Selene laughs with a shake of her head.
“Whoa, whoa, easy there, we have company,” Trey boasts sarcastically and I laugh as he walks into the kitchen ahead of Castian and Mira.
After closing the oven, Selene lets out a soft sound of endearment at the sight of little Eudora cradled in Mira’s arms, swathed in a soft yellow blanket with her big brown eyes blinking owlishly. I smile at them and nod my head in greeting as they enter. Mira carefully hands her baby to Castian and clasps her hands together as she walks eagerly over to Selene.
“You must be Selene, I am so happy to meet you! I’m Mira, Castian’s mate and we just heard the news! Congrats!” she says excitedly, bouncing on her toes and Selene smiles warmly at her.
“Thank you. Your baby is beautiful, what is her name?” Selene responds softly, her eyes sliding back to the little bundle.
“Eudora, it means—”
“Good gift, yes, that is very fitting. All babies are,” she murmurs with a wistful look in her eyes. “Congratulations on her birth, by the looks of her sweet face she must have been born recently?”
“Yes, just a few days ago,” Mira says with a smile as she looks back at her child. “Thank the stars that Eir was here to assist with her birth, I fear things wouldn’t have gone well without her help.”
Selene’s mouth turns up at the corner as she replies, “Ah, yes, of course. I couldn’t think of anyone more suited than her. I’m glad you’re well and for Eudora’s presence.”
As Mira talks with Selene, I get lost in thought over how she addressed the mention of Eir. As far as I’m aware, Selene doesn’t remember being treated by her after ingesting venom. Hell, I don’t even know for sure if I’ve even spoken about her besides that incident. Narrowing my eyes at Selene, I mindlink her, Why did you speak of Eir as if you know her?
You’ll find out soon enough, is all she responds, a sly smirk appearing at the corner of her mouth as she listens to what Mira is talking about. I’m about to push it further when I hear her voice whisper, Tonight, Ky. It’ll make sense later, and she glances at me briefly before giving Mira a quick hug.
“I completely understand if I don’t see you tonight, so do not fret over the matter. A raucous celebration is no place for a newborn and I hope she sleeps well for you,” she waves her hand with a grin as Mira and Castian make their way upstairs.
“Speaking of which,” Trey announces as he slides his phone into his pocket and crosses to the garage door, “Kyrre is back and has a carload of things for the ceremony. I’ll be with her if you need anything,” he calls over his shoulder before the door closes behind him.
“Okay,” I call out to nothing and Selene giggles as the oven dings.
She grabs an oven mitt and pulls out the trays, the mouthwatering aroma filling the kitchen deliciously as she transfers the cookies onto the cooling rack. I hear the door click open and Trey dashes across the kitchen, snatching a couple cookies and garbling his thanks over a mouthful as he quickly leaves again. We both laugh and shake our heads, our gazes meeting across the room. Selene picks up a cookie and shadows swirl around her, transferring her to my lap. My arms snake around her waist as she takes a bite of the cookie before holding it up for me to eat. I take it from her and pull the entire cookie into my mouth, laughing at the way she scrunches her nose in disappointment.
Wrapping her arms around my neck, she presses her forehead to mine and rubs our noses together, sending little tingles down my back and over my arms. “I’m excited for tonight,” she whispers, her icy eyes shining brightly.
“As am I,” I whisper back, brushing a kiss against her lips. “But I’m even more excited for tomorrow night, and the night after, and after,” her giggles make me laugh when she squeezes me tightly.
“I love you,” we say at the same time and grin widely, kissing through our laughter.
For the only time in my life, my heart is full and content as I cherish the feeling of having my entire world in my arms.