A little part of me couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous.
I looked down at my still spotless combat boots. They were comfortable and reliable. What would I do with a bunch of heels?
Wearing a puffy skirt in the shop was weird enough; I didn’t need to add high heels to the mix. That would just be crazy.
A part of me wanted to do it anyways.
“So,” Aries stood up, glancing at me before jerking open Corva’s dresser drawer. Reaching in, she crinkled her nose and tossed out a few pair of underwear. Bras came next. After a while, she slammed the door shut and began searching the next one. “I’ve never seen you before. How do you know Krave?”
“I don’t.” I stood there awkwardly, uncertain what to do with myself. “I just feel like he loves to torment the demons stalking me. Sounds like my kind of friend.”
She shoved the bottom drawer shut, frowning and thinking as she stood up. She put her finger to her mouth, tapping her fingers as her eyes scanned the room. “He does like to torture people, that’s for sure.”
“Can I help you look for something?” I could only assume that’s what she was doing and I felt weird, just standing here.
“Sure. I’m looking for a journal. It’s Corva’s.” Her eyes met mine. “She’s a bitch, by the way, and my sister. I think she’ll have something in her journal that can help disguise you.” Her eyebrow ticked upwards. “Unless you think that you can just glamour yourself.”
I swallowed down the knot in my throat. I liked Aries, but I wasn’t ready to reveal my heritage, or my powers, to anyone. So I just shrugged. “I can do some glamour but if you have something that can help us, I’ll take it.”
Suddenly she jerked upwards. “I know where she put it.” In two long strides her legs ate up the space between her and the bed. She flipped the edge of the mattress upwards, revealing a worn, leather-bound journal. Aries snatched it, grinning. “She thinks we’re too dumb to look there.”
I walked over to her, curious. She took my hand, tugging me down onto the bed next to her. “Look,” she lay the journal on the bed, then tucked her hands in between her legs. “I can teach you how to shadow bend, if you want. That way if you ever need to get the hell away from your demons, it’ll be easy.”
I snickered. “They’re not my demons.”
She raised her eyebrow again. “Yeah, you should tell them that.”
I scowled. “I’m just helping them. For now. Then their asses are out of my life and I can go back to fixing cars and eating bon bons while watching Netflix.”
Both her eyebrows shot up now. “You’re a mechanic?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. It’s a job. It keeps ramen noodles on the table.”
She chuckled. “I wish I knew how to do… mechanic stuff.”
I laughed. “It’s not that hard.” I twirled my fingers, blue magic zapping between them. “Having magic helps.”
“I bet.” She studied my face. “So, how about it? Want to learn how to shadow bend?”
I considered her offer. I couldn’t think of any reason it would hurt, and it would be nice to be able to shadow bend instead of being smoked everywhere. “Sure.”
She smiled briefly before turning serious. “Okay, it’s not like smoking like the demons or teleporting like the seraphs. It’s more like…” she paused, thinking, “blending completely into the shadows. Like hiding in the darkness so well, no one can see you. Why don’t you try moving to the other side of the room first?”
I nodded my head. “Okay.”
“Close your eyes.” She paused and I followed her instructions. “And in your mind, grab the shadows from any corner of the room. It doesn’t even have to be from this place, just imagine any corner from somewhere you feel comfortable.”
I thought of my parents’ room, how cozy and relaxing it was on their bed. My mom had a handmade vase her sister had given her in the corner, filled with long white feathers inside.
“Now focus,” Aries continued. “Just imagine that you’re grabbing the shadow in your hand and pulling it towards you. Move it up over you, like a blanket. Let the darkness absorb you.”
Nodding, I took in a deep breath. Mentally reaching out, I pretended to grab the shadows under mom’s vase and pulled them over me. A calming coolness washed over me and then suddenly I was falling into a pile of tulle and satin.