61: Ada's POV

Things moved slowly over the next few weeks. The three princes were sent out of the castle on various secretive missions from their father, who was still alive. Darius was avoiding all of us and keeping things very close to his chest. Lady Elizabeth had become a bit kinder to me, but ultimately avoided me as well. Which was just fine with me, because I felt the few times she’d been with Darius after the confrontation in my bathroom and before he’d left. 

I spent most of my time in my room, just as Darius had instructed. No one had been by except Gwyn since the princes had left. It was lonely. Sahara kept me company, and I did practice with my magickal gifts. I got nightly reports from Nik and Phoenix about what they were doing and working on. Other than that, it was monotonous. A lot of reading, eating and pacing. My mind reeled with theories and plans and questions. How was Darius going to kill Alpha King Everett? Would he be able to do it? Sure, he was a dick. But he was still Darius’ father It was cruel of Finn to make him do this in order to achieve their alliance. 

Still, I was angry with Darius. A small part of me did think he was getting what he deserved. Though, patricide did seem a bit extreme. 

It was the start of week four of the princes being out of the castle and I was pacing in my quarters, thinking the same thousand questions over and over and over again. I froze when there was a tap on the glass of the balcony door. My eyes widened when I spun to face the entrance point. 

Finn was standing on my balcony, wiggling the fingers of his right hand at me in greeting. He had a shockingly warm smile on his face, and was dressed in an all black suit. I walked over to the door and pulled it open. After the conversation in my bathroom, I’d emerged to find the balcony doors unlocked and the illusion for the tunnels in place. 

“Finn,” I walked over to the sitting area in my room, “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been working with Nikolai for the last few weeks,” he stepped into the room and tugged down his suit jacket, taking a look around the room. A slow grin spread across his face, “Of all the realms I spend time in, this is one of the most beautiful,” his pale fingers ran over the silky canopy attached to the four posters of my bed and shook his head, “Sorry. As I was saying, I’ve been with Nik. It’s taken him this long to tell me about your magickal abilities, dear Ada.”

“I’m surprised he told you at all,” I sighed and sat down on the small loveseat, “Considering it isn’t his business to tell.”

The vampire king smirked. His long legs carried him over to the settee across from me in mere seconds, “He only mentioned them because he thought I might help you. It isn’t common for wolves to have gifts at all, let alone multiple of them.”

I flicked my fingers and the fire came to life in the fire place, flames in the shapes of dragons and fairies shooting forth and dancing through the room before disappearing. Finn watched with an amused smile and I rolled my eyes. With another flick of my wrist, the water within my cup turned to snow and twirled around Finn before returning to its watery state and collapsing in his lap. 

My voice was even, “I’m doing just fine by practicing on my own.”

He gave a curt nod but pursed his thin lips, “I seem to recall Nikolai stating you had *three* gifts. Not two.”

He’d caught me. I swallowed. The acid shadows that putrified everything it came in contact with… I hadn’t called them forth since that first time. Sahara had not pressured me to, either. If anything, she also seemed nervous about them. It would be easier if I had shadows like Nik’s— little extensions of me and my mind that could do my bidding. But these? These were destructive. I had no desire for that type of power. 

Finn cocked his head to the side, “Well?”

I sighed and reached for the area within my chest that I felt them come from before. In an attempt to focus the energy, I grabbed a flower from a nearby vase and set it on the coffee table in front of me. My heart pounded as I continued reaching inward, trying to call the shadows forth. They slid out of my fingertips, inky and wet, and slopped down to the floor. As they trailed up the coffee table legs, the rug that had been beneath it bubbled and evaporated, appearing singed at the side. The table leg beneath it smoked heavily, large bubbles protruding around the shadows crawling slowly over it. 

“Enough,” Finn ordered firmly and broke my concentration, sending the shadows flying back into me. He clucked his tongue, “Such a novice, producing black acid like that.”

“A novice?” I arched an eyebrow.

With a hefty sigh, he flicked his finger. The same inky, wet shadows emerged from his own fingers, eating into some more of the rug beneath the table before snapping back. “Black acid is the first thing that Nikolai and myself mastered,” he shrugged, “It does take same time, but you can refine them to be usual shadows.”

I blinked, “So there isn’t something wrong with me?”

“Tell me,” Finn climbed to his feet, sending shadows to the fireplace and snuffing the fire within out, “When you first wielded flame and ice, were any of the things you can do with them now happening?”

With a quick shake of my head, I averted my gaze, “No, they were crude the first few times. Simple flames I couldn’t control and ice shoots that landed everywhere.”

“Then why would you not think your shadow work needs to be practiced? That it couldn’t be refined?”

“It frightens me,” I whispered softly. 

Finn’s shadows crawled along the floor to me and he blinked out of existence only to blink right back into it and be kneeling in front of me. His hands grasped mine and I gasped at how cold his were to the touch. He turned my hand over, tracing the lines of my palm with his thumb, “They used to frighten Nikolai as well,” a small smile grew on his lips, “It is something we can work through. There are safe places to strengthen this ability.”

Silence enshrouded us as I considered his words carefully. There would be no safety within this castle or its estate. Nearby villages could result in catastrophic loss if my training was uncontrolled. Something tickled at the back of my mind that Nik had said when talking about Finn. My eyes widened. 

I shook my head, feeling my face go pale, “The Forest of the Forgotten? Are you out of your mind, Finn?”

“Not at all,” his hand gave mine a gentle squeeze as he grinned and stood up, “We begin tomorrow. The Princes return from their assignments in five days time. You will be trained by then.”

“You can’t just—“

“But I can,” he let go of my hand and ran his fingers through his white hair, “I’ll see you at sunrise.”

And just as quickly as he’d shown up on my balcony, Finn vanished into thin air.