Luna hadn’t used her powers since she’d vanished from emotional overload in front of Gunner. It still didn’t feel right to use them after she’d caused so much pain.
But if she could help now, she had to show them.
So she did what she had since she was trained to use her powers a year ago, calling them forth, but this time, it didn’t feel the same. There was no feeling of razor blades slicing through her veins, no acid burning her gut, no fundamental feeling of wrongness making her sick to her stomach.
“It’s not the same…” She spun to Gunner, her eyes wide. “This is different. It feels, it feels right, good.” It worked the same, but using her power didn’t send her entire mind and body into distress.
“Do you think it’s my blood?” Gunner asked.
“There’s nothing else it could be.” She lifted her hands, raising her block, and couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “When I drank from Azel, I had to fight not to throw up.” She blushed and cleared her throat. “I definitely don’t have that problem with you.” Her gaze slid to Chaos. “Try to touch me.”
Chaos lifted a hand and moved closer until he butted against the barrier she’d made. “Christ. This is amazing, Luna. How much force can it withstand?”
“Well, the beast ran into it and it stopped him in his tracks.”
Gunner made a strange sound beside her. He was thinking the same thing she was. That she’d stopped the beast from getting to him that night. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him right then or she might cry all over again at what she’d done, what had almost happened to him because of her.
“Can you show us your layered block? How that works?”
She nodded and envisioned layer after layer stacking up in front of her.
Both males cursed.
“You’re completely invisible,” Gunner said. “I didn’t try last time, but if I reached out now, would I be able to touch you?”
“How many of us could you block at once?” Chaos added.
“On my own? I’m not sure. I’ve always had Ronan’s power boosting me. Quite a few, I think.” She dropped the block and motioned Gunner forward.
He joined her and she lifted the block again, in layers.
“You’re both gone,” Chaos said. “Can you use your barrier at the same time?”
“Yes,” she said and lifted that as well.
“Try touching us,” Gunner said.
She looked up at him. “He can’t hear us when my barrier’s up.”
“No?”
She shook her head.
He reached out and cupped the side of her face. “I can feel it, your power. Your skin is tingling against my palm.” His eyes grew intense. “You saved me that night, too, didn’t you, love? The beast was gunning for me and you blocked it, you protected me like you did at that house.”
She nodded because suddenly she found it difficult to speak.
“Thank you.”
She nodded again, and he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. They came away coated in blood.
“That always happens when I use my power. I’m not crying…”
Gunner's mouth came down on her, cutting off her words. Luna lifted to her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back. She was greedy for him, always.
Someone cleared their throat, and Luna pulled back, only realizing then that her block had dropped completely. She’d been so wrapped up in the male grinning down at her that she’d lost all control.
“Mental note. Keep you two apart if we ever use Luna in the field,” Chaos said.
Gunner grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“I want to help,” she said, meaning it with everything in her. “I want to help fix what I broke. You’ve seen what I can do.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being out there…”
“Grace fights,” Luna said, injecting all the determination she felt into her words. “And you know I can keep myself safe. No one will even know I’m there.”
“Azel will, and after the way you reacted the last time he was close…” He planted his hands on his hips. “Until that angel is out of commission, I want you here where it’s safe.”
A shiver moved through her at the memory, but things had changed. “I know this sounds weird, but I can feel him leaving me. The more I drink from you, the less I feel of him.”
Chaos crossed his arms. “It’s working, then. Silas was right.”