Or maybe she would feel the same sense of relief that Kat felt. The same sense of finally understanding where she fit in the world.

She shook her head at her own thoughts. No. Kamen was right. It was better left unsaid.

“I wanted to hate you, you know,” she told him. “Because Ahnvil does. Because he has good reason to.”

“And yet you don’t?”

“No. I pity you. You’ve made terrible mistakes and yet aren’t even sure if you know the right way to atone for them. You want to. I can tell you want to. But you don’t know how. That’s why you keep pushing for this research. You think that this is the way to absolution.”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps I realize there is no absolution. That nothing I do or say will ever make up for lifetimes worth of sins. Ask your Gargoyle friend. There is nothing I can do that will ever make what I did to him right in his eyes.”

“No. I don’t suppose there is. So …” She looked around, checking to see if Ahnvil was in earshot before leaning in closer to him. “Teach me one little thing I can do. I just want one little thing that proves to me I can do what everybody says I can do. I just … I mean I’m sure it’s true … but …”

“But you want to see it for yourself. To make it real.”

“Yeah. To make it real.”

“Very well. Pick up the Amulet and hold it in your hand.”

She did so readily, gripping her hand around it tightly.

“Ease up,” he said, resting a hand over hers and coaxing her to relax. “Now, inside the very heart of this Amulet is power. It’s like when I do spellwork. I have to seek inside of myself and then seek inside of the spell and somehow bridge the two together. The more experience you develop, the faster you will be able to build the bridge. Each item will require a new bridge, each bridge unique and constructed in its own way. For now, focus on this item. Imagine yourself stringing lines from the heart inside of your chest to the heart inside the Amulet.”

She nodded as she did so, afraid to speak. There was something about the intonation of his voice, the reverence of it that both excited and soothed her. She felt herself stringing those lines, but it took a great deal of focus to do it so she closed her eyes.

“Once you feel those lines are true, lay planking across them. Like that of a bridge. And with every plank you will take a step closer and closer to the heart of the Amulet’s power.”

She nodded as she slowly struggled to do what he asked. Sometimes it was easy to lay the plank. Other times she would take a step, feel unsteady, and have to step back again or … or it felt like she would fall away and have to start all over again. And yet, before too much time had passed she envisioned herself growing closer and closer to her goal.

“Almost there,” she whispered.

“Once you reach your goal, I want you to open your eyes.”

“I can’t. I’ll lose it,” she said, her voice still soft, as if speaking too loudly would ruin everything she’d achieved. It very probably would. She didn’t want to have to start all over again.

“No. You won’t. You have a strong will. I can sense it on you. The way you have lived your life in spite of the light has forced you to be strong. You will learn this control with ease because of it. Slowly open your eyes, all the while holding your bridge together.”

Kat could almost feel the difference when she touched the heart of the Amulet. It was like receiving a rush of energy, like a sudden breath of fresh air blowing back her hair. She didn’t realize that was exactly what happened, her hair stirring wildly for that brief instant.

“Very good. Come now,” he urged.

She slowly opened her eyes and he reached across the counter for a ceramic coffee mug. Placing it in the center of the counter he said, “Try and levitate the mug from the counter. Levitation, like turning to smoke, is one of the easiest tricks a Djynn can master. This should be simple for you. Slowly push the energy from the heart toward the mug, wrap it around as if you were grasping hold of it with a lasso and then use it to lift it up. Don’t worry about grace or keeping it upright, just lift it.”

By the time she felt she had come into contact with the mug she was actually growing a little tired. She was tensed from head to toe, trying to hold on to her focus.

“Breathe and relax,” he coaxed her.

And slowly, if only by a few millimeters at a time, the mug began to lift off the countertop.

“What the bloody hell is going on here?!”

The sharp command in Ahnvil’s voice was punctuated by the sudden explosion of the coffee mug. It shattered into pieces, each one a sudden projectile. Kamen flinched, throwing up a hand that was immediately peppered with sharp debris. As for Kat, it looked at though the pieces fell just shy of hitting her.

“I have told you tae stay away from her!” Ahnvil reached for Kamen, grabbing him by the front of his shirt. “She does not need your black, manipulative lessons!”

“Stop it!” she cried, shoving her body in between the two men.

Kamen hit Ahnvil hard in the chest, pushing him off himself just as she was doing so. She could see bright red streaks of blood smearing over Ahnvil’s shirt.

“I am tired of you whipping me like a bad puppy!” Kamen growled. “If you want to throw down with me I am happy to oblige! But you are not this woman’s keeper and she is free to do what she wants. And what she wants is to learn how to control her power!”

“Why you fucking weasel!” Ahnvil seethed, launching himself forward once more to go for Kamen’s throat. “I’ll kill you where you stand for even looking at her!”

“Enough!” she shouted at him, as up in his face as she could possibly manage from her height and in the storm of his rage.

“You doona understand the man you’re dealing wi’, Kat! Doona make the mistake of thinking anything abou’ him is worth trusting. He is evil, pure and simple and I’m going tae—”

“What? Kill him?” she demanded. “You couldn’t do it before and for the same reasons you can’t do so now! Whatever you think of him, you need him. You need him to fight Apep and to figure out this curse thing! And it should count for something,” she said, her voice coming down as he stopped pushing his body against hers as though he were going to lunge for Kamen’s throat at any second, “that he’s even here at all. He could have just as easily walked away, never to be heard from again, letting you all get spanked by Apep without any warning whatsoever.” She pushed him back even more. “And Kamen’s right. You don’t own me and you can’t tell me what to do or who to pick to teach me how to do this stuff.” She pointed to the cup. “That was the very first thing I’ve ever done as a Djynn! And it was going great until you came in here and went ballistic!”