Page 77 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

I couldn’t help but pull Rowan in for a kiss, finding him too adorable for words. When I’d gotten drunk at dinner the other night, he’d mentioned seeing all sorts of sides of me and loving the drunk one especially hard. Now, I was seeing new sides of him too and feeling exactly the same. All it’d taken was an alpha demon lord to bring out his inner brat.

“Mm.” Rowan glided the tip of his nose across mine before pressing another light kiss to my lips. “The sweet taste of victory.”

“Go over there with Onyx before I spank you,” I told him.

He grinned and did as I said, a pep in his step as he neared the smoking-hot demon lord. One who may have had a hold over both of us in the knees-weak department.

“Take this,” Onyx said, handing him an apple from the bowl of fruit on the side table, one that also held an assortment of wine.

“An apple?” Rowan frowned. “What am I supposed to do with this? Eat it?”

“No.” Onyx motioned to the shadowy corner. “Make it disappear.”

“Oooh.” I scurried over and looped my arm with Onyx’s, watching Rowan. “I love magic tricks.”

Rowan didn’t share my same excitement. He looked confused in fact.

Onyx sighed. “Earlier at dinner, you threatened to throw Callum in the shadows and leave him there, yes? Consider this apple your lesson in bringing that idea to fruition. If you can’t place it within the shadows, how will you ever place a rabbit?”

I smiled at the reference to Callum’s nickname.

“Now.” Onyx nodded to Rowan. “Continue.”

Rowan’s brow scrunched with a new determination, and he knelt down, placing the apple on the floor against the wall. A moment passed, then another. Nothing happened.

“Close your eyes,” Onyx instructed him. “Imagine the shadows creeping over the apple. Envision in it your mind.”

Rowan tightly shut his eyes and held out his palm. He inhaled, held the breath, then released it. Still, nothing.

“You’re not concentrating enough.”

“I’m doing the best I can,” Rowan barked at him, frustration evident.

“There lies your problem.” Onyx scrutinized him. “You are too emotionally charged. Like a spring about to snap back. You need to focus your mind and clear it of any distractions.”

“Kinda hard with you watching me.” Rowan gritted his teeth and glared at the apple.

“Oh, pardon me,” Onyx said, lifting a hand to his chest in a mock innocence. “Would you like for me to turn around and give you privacy? During combat and emergent times, you won’t have such a luxury.”

In that moment, I wished I was a fly on the wall. Because it was awkward as hell standing there while Onyx scolded Rowan.

“You can’t expect me to get it on the first try,” Rowan argued.

“Precisely.” Onyx gave him a droll look. “Which is why I started you with the book. So you could learn the basics for shadow magic. It involves much more than simply wishing for it to happen. Breathing techniques, muscle control, and focus are all necessary. Learning which parts of your body you need to relax depending on what type of magic you intend to use.”

“I don’t need any of that,” Rowan countered, frowning at the floor. “I can slip into the shadows easily and go wherever I want. I can start fires with the snap of my fingers and create glamours to hide my presence. Hell, I can use shadows to crush people to dust.”

“Yet, you have trouble with a single apple.” Onyx watched him with a hard stare. Reminding me once again of a teacher, though this time one disappointed in his star pupil for not listening to him. “Do not misunderstand me, Rowan. I’m quite impressed with the abilities you possess. No one taught you a thing about your magic, yet you’ve learned how to do what most fail to learn even after years and years of training.”

“But?” Rowan asked, his shoulders slumping.

“You ran before you knew how to walk,” Onyx said. “Much like Evan when his powers awoke in the throne room, your powers came from emotion rather than logic.”

I yawned.

Both of them looked at me.

“Sorry.” I rubbed at my watery eyes. “Just got tired all of a sudden. I’m okay though. Continue.”