by Raquel Dove
Balthazar had summoned Alex a short while after he left so she could begin practicing and training to use her abilities. He was anxious for her to help him, but the thought made Alex more than a little sad. After this morning, it would be even harder for her to leave him when she was ready to go home.
Alex sat beside Tavi in Balthazar's office, trying to suppress the butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach. Balthazar sat on the other side of his desk, barely looking at her. She wondered if he was mad at her for pushing him away this morning. She couldn't think about it too much, or she knew the two demons in the room would smell her arousal. That's the last thing she wanted.
“Calm your aura,” Tavi said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “When Lord Balthazar starts to release his beast, it will be unsafe for you to be so anxious. It will sense it.”
“I don’t know how to do that,” Alex said, biting her lip as she looked up at Tavi.
“Just...try,” Tavi said. His usual carefree happy demeanor was absent and Alex knew it was because what had happened with the Delshad sisters.
“You'll be fine,” Balthazar said, hoping to calm her anxiety. “Tavi is here in case I get out of control.”
“I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do,” Alex said. She twisted her hands nervously in her lap. “What if something goes horribly wrong?”
“Like what?” Balthazar asked, his eyes finally looking at her. She was relieved when she didn't see anger in them. “The worst that can happen is I lose control. If Tavi gets hurt holding me back, you can always heal him.”
“Right,” Alex said, taking in a deep breath. She wasn't as confident in her abilities as these two were.
“I'm going to start to release it,” Balthazar said. “Try to reach out and feel my aura.”
“Shouldn't your Lord Enchanter be here?” Alex asked, looking from Balthazar to Tavi. She didn't feel like she was ready to do this.
“No,” Tavi said. “His magic could interfere with yours. We want you to use yours on your own.”
“I've consulted with him on this,” Balthazar said. “Trust me. You'll be fine. Just do what I tell you.”
Alex nodded and took another deep breath. Balthazar allowed the darkness that lurked within him to slowly come to the surface. The power in his aura rose sharply, drifting around the room and making Tavi extremely uncomfortable. His power was absolutely immense, and even though Tavi was his brother he was nowhere near as strong as him. No one in the kingdom was.
“Can you feel it?” Tavi asked as he shifted a little in his seat.
Alex shook her head. She took another deep breath, and tried to concentrate on feeling his aura. She had no idea what she was feeling for, and she didn't know how to feel for it. Tavi craned his neck from side to side. It was obvious how uncomfortable he felt.
Suddenly Alex felt a tingle rushing through her. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Rather than the feeling emanating from within her, the tingle felt like it was encircling her. It was strong, it was uncomfortable, it was almost overpowering. That must be it. Now that she had felt it, she couldn't escape it.
“I think I feel it,” Alex said. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on the tingling that kissed her skin. She pushed her concentration, trying to draw on what she felt from Balthazar's aura. She could feel the heavy darkness in it, but beneath that she felt something else. She felt something pure and gentle. She tried to concentrate on that. She sifted through the heavy waves of darkness, trying to hold onto the light that was hidden underneath it.
Balthazar felt a small tug on his aura. Whether she realized it or not, Alexandra was stealing his power. His beast raged at the insult, having already been allowed to emerge. Balthazar’s eyes clouded over with a bloody red color and a fierce growl erupted from his throat. The darkness gained control and he lunged at Alexandra, no longer in control of himself. Tavi was taken by surprise at the sudden outburst and was unable to stop him from wrapping his fingers around Alexandra’s throat. She dangled helplessly in his grip, her heart pounding heavily as she choked out a shocked scream.
Tavi appeared behind Balthazar, wrapping his arms around his torso and trying to pull him away from Alexandra. Balthazar reared back, dropping Alex to the ground and turning on Tavi. His clawed fist went through his brother’s torso as he pinned him on the floor. The smell of fresh blood permeated the room, and brought satisfaction to his beast.
Balthazar struggled with everything he had to cage his darkness. It clawed and scratched at every corner of his brain as he shoved it back in and slammed his mental door shut behind it. Balthazar pulled his bloody fist back from Tavi's torso and backed away. His breaths came out in heavy pants as he leaned against the wall. The red in his eyes slowly began to disappear as he focused on Alexandra. The look on her face hurt him more than any injury he'd ever sustained. She was absolutely terrified of him. She'd seen his beast, felt the darkness of it, and he wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted anything more to do with him.
“Get her out of here,” Balthazar said through his heavy breaths. Tavi picked himself off the floor, his hand covering the gaping wound in his midsection, and led a terrified Alex from the room. Once they were gone, Balthazar sank into the cushion behind his desk as he tried to compose himself. Learning to control and harness the power of his beast was going to be a lot more trouble than he thought. He rubbed at his chest. There was an odd aching inside of him that he couldn't pinpoint. It was as if his beast had tried to rip its way out of his body. He felt a trickle of blood coming down his lip and he wiped at it with his fingers. Perhaps the failed attempt at controlling his beast had done some internal damage. He'd need to be more careful in the future.
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