Page 15 of Sight Unseen

The library was quiet; occasionally, I heard a whisper of others around us talking and turning pages. Being in here, I could see the appeal; I could actually hear myself think, but the smell still turned me off.

When my eyes started burning from the strain of reading, Apollo finally spoke up. “I think I found something.” He looked up at me with a shocked expression before starting to read. “It says here way back in the Nephus line, there was a woman who could go unseen.” My ears perked up in interest. “She was able to slay demons without them ever seeing her coming. She was a legend and took out so many. Before she died, it was noted about the possibility of her being able to make her team invisible as well.”

“Holy shit, Diana is a badass. Look at my girl go. Being able to make herself invisible.” I couldn’t help but smile.

I even saw a little smirk tug at Apollo's lips.

Damn, that might be even better than my own gift of being able to make storms. Together, this team would soon be unstoppable. Now that we knew what Diana could do, we could start working with her and see if we could get her gift to grow.

Chapter 15

Diana

Going out the side doors, next to the hallway with all the classrooms, we entered a beautiful garden. There were hedges lining the stone walls on either side and an array of beautiful flowers.

“This place is breathtaking.” Wanting to look everywhere all at once and take it all in, my eyes darted around the garden, settling on the wolf fountain. It was magnificent. The stonework was awe-inspiring. From the delicate swirls to the real-looking hair on the wolf itself.

Glancing up to my right, I saw the red curtains hiding my room. Now that I knew how to get here, this was going to be my favorite place to escape. The sound of running water emitted a calm over me that I didn't know was possible.

Eros’s gaze was locked on mine, “I know.”

Realizing he was here, forgotten in my awestruck haze, I glanced his way. “You're not even looking at the fountain.”

“I’m looking exactly at what I should be.” He grabbed my hand in his. They were warm, not the clammy warmth that makes you want to wipe your palms against your jeans because they're sweating. It was a warmth that I wanted to wrap around myself. Like the heat of a fire on a cool autumn day. “The most beautiful thing in this garden.”

Averting my eyes and returning to the fountain, I looked away. It did nothing to help the heat rising up my neck and onto my face. Turning my cheeks so red, I knew he had to have caught it.

We continued down the pebble path around the end of the building. To the far left, I could see the challenge course; I was not looking forward to another day there. My muscles tightened just thinking about it.

Right in front of it was what looked like a sparring ring. So not only were they trying to kill you in the weapons room, but they also decided to try and kill you outside. Like fighting wasn’t hard enough, add the sun to the mix, and I was out. There was no way they would get me into that ring. Knowing Apollo though, it would come soon enough.

I swear that man hated me. He couldn’t even look at me without a frown on his lips and anger in his eyes. Nope, I decided Apollo hated me. Now, I just needed to figure out why. He was the one that flipped my whole world upside down; that man was infuriating. It was like he couldn’t stand the air I breathed.

“We will start with you meditating; it's a good way to concentrate on your inner thoughts and decipher what’s yours and what’s not. Having a familiar can be difficult. Sometimes, you cannot tell what voices are theirs and what is your own.”

My interest heightened at that statement. Huh, maybe the voices in my head weren’t, in fact mine after all. That’s impossible though; I think I would have seen a giant ass falcon following me around for the last three years. Astra is kind of hard to miss; she had to have been at least two feet from beak to tail, and when she spread her wings, it doubled her size. There’s no way I would have missed seeing a bird like that hanging around my apartment.

Maybe it is not a bird you should have been looking for.

Well, that makes sense, I guess. “Are falcons the only familiar you can have?”

Glancing over, I saw his eyes light up. Is that a stupid question? Maybe it was only birds you could bond with. What did I know? This is all new to me. I looked up to see a field spread out in front of us. That must be the training ground. Massive boulders that looked bigger than me sat at the back, surrounded by trees. The field was full of lush green grass, little purple and yellow flowers dotting the surface.

“All animals can be a familiar.” Ha, not a stupid question after all. Eros continued, “There are documented cases of all kinds, ranging from simple house cats to grizzly bears.”

Joy lit up my inside, adding a little more pep to my step. That is so cool. “Well, what are you waiting for? Come on. Let’s go meditate or some shit.” Releasing his hand, I took off across the field. My footsteps were light and fast, hardly disturbing the ground in my wake. Eros was going to slow; I wanted to start already. The chance that I could actually have a familiar fueled my need to get started. I stumbled to a stop right before slamming into a group of rocks. They were massive, definitely twice as tall as I was.

“Ooph!” My body was suddenly knocked forward. With my weight suddenly shifted, I threw my arms straight out in front of me, waiting for an impact that never came.

Warm arms wrapped around my midsection, hauling me back into a strong chest. I could feel his breath on my neck as his chest rose and fell behind me in quick succession. His arms were tight, leaving a comforting feeling within me that I missed when they were gone.

Releasing me far too soon, he walked around, disrupting my view of the boulders.

Eros was tall, at least a foot taller than my five-foot height. “I’m sorry. I didn't mean to plow into you. You just suddenly stopped so fast I couldn’t get my feet to work. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” That was an understatement. Physically, I was fine. Emotionally though, I wanted nothing more than his arms wrapped back around me.

“Let’s get started then.” Following his lead, I sat down with my feet crossed in front of me. Resting my hands on my thighs. Astra landed beside us, taking a long moment to look at me before Eros.