Basic was hardly the term I'd use to describe the spells she and Shelton had me practice. One was blowing out a candle. Another was lighting the candle. I'd managed to blow the candle off its pedestal where it set fire to the curtains in Elyssa's bedroom. And while trying to light the candle, I'd managed to melt the wax to a puddle without ever actually lighting the wick.
"Uh, yeah, I did some practicing."
Bella arched an eyebrow. "I take it your fine control is still lacking."
"You might say that."
"You didn't hurt anyone this time, did you?"
I fended off her question with a wave of my hands. "No, nobody lost any hair the last few times."
"Because Shelton wasn't happy about losing his eyebrows. I still don't know how you managed—"
"Can we start? Please?" I looked around the room for the candles I'd been using for practice, but didn't see them.
She smiled. "Today, we'll be entering another phase of control. I hope you've been running through the meditation rituals."
"I haven't really had a chance. It's only been a couple of days."
"Well, you're going to need proper meditation skills to light a candle, Justin. And since you won't be able to rely on circles for everything, you need to learn how to fill your internal well with energy." She touched my stomach just above the naval. "I can't emphasize enough just how important it is you learn to fill your well."
I crossed my arms. "I think you and Shelton have emphasized it nonstop ever since I started taking lessons a week ago."
"Well, today, you're going to learn the steps to filling it."
The demon side of me knew what it felt like to fill a well of energy. When I fed on emotions, it sated a need nothing else could. That energy enhanced my preternatural strength, speed, and other abilities. It also could trigger my ability to manifest or spawn into full demon form. Feeding my incubus side required a certain kind of meditation of its own. Otherwise, my target could be overtaken by lust and do all sorts of embarrassing things. I'd nearly done the deed in the meat department of a grocery store the first time I'd unknowingly tried to feed from a woman.
Bella led me through a series of breathing exercises, telling me to focus on the magical energy in the environment around me. After a while, I thought I felt something, only to realize I was just light headed from all the breathing exercises.
I steadied myself against a wall. "All this is doing is making me dizzy. Isn't there a better way?"
She narrowed her eyes, violet like Elyssa's since she too was a dhampyr, as well as an accomplished Arcane.
Some people are just overachievers.
"Do you remember the first time you learned to whistle? Or snap your fingers?" she asked.
"Uh, not really. I do remember the first time I learned to burp on command by sucking air into my esophagus."
Bella groaned. "Justin, you have to feel the magic around you before you can absorb it."
"I feel it when I make a circle."
"Yes, but you can't always stop and make a circle to fill your well." She gestured at the air around us. "Your well is only so large—a finite container you must constantly replenish from the world around you. Making a circle to do this would be very impractical."
Elyssa appeared from around the corner, a small frown on her face.
I walked to her. "What did you find out?"
"I spoke directly to Commander Salazar. He said Maximus is definitely in Bogota and, as far as he knows, hasn't left."
"Will he help me rescue Ivy?"
She bit her lip. "I don't know. He was planning to hit Maximus before, well, you know."
I raised an eyebrow. "You mean before he sent the Templar army after me when good old Franco, the drug lord, held me captive?"
"Yep. Christian said he's holding back on an assault because the number of vampires in Max's stronghold have increased exponentially and he doesn't have enough people."
"Wait a minute, I know Maximus has been recruiting noms, but unless something has changed, he still can't turn them into vampires, right? Is Christian sure they're all vampires?" A chilling thought went through me. "And what about vamplings?"
Elyssa shook her head. "I don't know." She blew out a frustrated breath. "He only told me what he did as a favor."
In any case, I knew exactly where I was headed. No matter how hard I tried to stay out of trouble, it found me. It