“I have to tell you something,” I admitted, and then the words flew from my mouth. “I want you to understand, I didn’t mean to do it. It just sort of happened. I was worried about you, and then you were talking, and I wanted to step out and check on you, but then you got so angry, I—”
He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Cas, calm down, it’s all right. Just tell me what happened.”
“I overheard your phone call the other day,” I said, my eyes falling from his. Fuck. I hoped he wouldn’t be, but he’d have every right to be pissed at me.
He frowned, blinking, as if trying to recall what I was talking about.
“After the snowball fight,” I clarified. “You stormed outside, and I followed, worried that something was wrong.”
He drew a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair.
“I’m so, so sorry,” I said, grimacing as I imagined how angry he might get with me. “I didn’t mean to listen in on your conversation. I just didn’t know how to approach you after you got angry.”
“Sorry I scared you like that,” he said, sliding a glance my way, and my steps slowed at the unmistakable balmy, icky feeling of guilt over my skin. Guilt? Why would he feel guilty?
“You don’t have to answer, but... is your friend okay?” I asked, tilting my head to look up at him.
“She’s all right,” he said.
“Is she a friend of yours? Do I know her?”
“I guess you could say that,” he hedged. “It’s...complicated.”
I nodded, not wanting to press him further. It was enough to know the situation had been handled, and that everything was, for the most part, okay.
“You seem to have gotten to know more of the recruits in the past couple of weeks,” Zephyr said as we neared the edge of the clearing.
“All but one it seems,” I said, catching onto his eagerness to change the subject.
His brows furrowed. “Who?”
“Aiden. He seems... I don’t know, annoyed with me?” I bit my lip as a smile forced its way across my face. “Damien looked like he was about ready to go off on him when he made that comment about me holding up the line.”
“Aiden’s worse than Barrett sometimes,” Zephyr said, annoyance painting his words. “He’s a powerful warrior and has become quite the asset to The Order, but I swear, the guy is the epitome of his magic. All fire and rage.”
“I’m honestly afraid to even talk to him.”
“Stay away from him,” Zephyr warned. “He’s got zero patience, and he’s been reprimanded for losing his temper and hurting others in the past.”
Unease settled into the pit of my stomach. Why was he still around with a track record like that? I guess we were desperate with the numbers Damien had given me. We’d managed to gain a few new recruits since I’d joined, but it still wasn’t enough.
“But enough about him. We’re here to practice shifting,” Zephyr said, coming to a stop.
I perked up at his words. “You want me to just continue what we’ve been trying?”
He nodded. “You’ve been studying the owl you want to shift into, right?”
“Yeah.” Damien had gotten me a book on birds with great images of the barn owl, and I’d been studying every last detail of it, committing everything to memory.
“Perfect. Now, just focus on those details, just like we discussed before.”
Air filled my lungs as I drew a deep breath, and I closed my eyes, focusing.
Talons instead of toes.
Nothing.
Wings instead of arms.
