Once the female's hand was in hers, she took a deep breath and stared at the small, wooden button with two holes. She'd found one with a flower painted on it and had added her initials to the back, making it easier to identify. If she fucked this up, it could end up really far from this room and the building would need to be searched.
Well, provided it ended up in a nearby time and place and not inside a wall or something.
Don't think of failure before you've even begun.
Right, well first things first. Yesenia corralled her magical energy toward her figurative center, gathering more and more until she had a large, rolling ball of heat located somewhere in the region of her chest. Satisfied she had enough power for the task, now came the tricky part—she had to imagine the button bursting into thousands, or even millions, of tiny little specks, ones small enough to filter through the threads of time.
She closed her eyes and while drawing on her power source, she imagined the millions upon millions of threads that made up reality, the very fabric of time itself. The trick to getting something to move through it was breaking it into small enough particles to slip through and reassemble at the desired destination. And since all she needed was to move the button roughly a minute into the future, she wouldn't have to keep the object dematerialized and spread out for too long.
Bit by bit she imagined the button breaking into pieces, and then further and further, until they were so small only a super powerful microscope would be able to see them. Satisfied they were tiny enough, she imagined pushing them forward, through the minuscule gaps between an untold number of strands, advancing bit by bit. Even though her goal was only a matter of seconds from the present, sweat trailed down her back, between her breasts, and down the sides of her face as it took every iota of mental strength she possessed to both keep the button dematerializedandpush it forward through the maze of strings.
Once she was sure she'd pushed ahead of the present time far enough, Yesenia had to slowly put the pieces back together, into larger and larger chunks, like the most difficult jigsaw puzzle in history. When she was sure she'd gathered every bit and stuffed it back, she hesitated a beat before letting go.
As she felt the weight and power drain from her, she sucked in huge lungfuls of air.
Rebecca finally released her hand and Yesenia opened her eyes, still breathing heavily, as if she'd just ran five miles at full pelt.
Thankfully she and Rebecca could sit in comfortable—well, at least not uncomfortable, since Yesenia was nervous as hell—silence as they waited. They both stared at the table, anxious to see if the button would appear in one piece.
After what seemed like hours but couldn't have been more than seconds, a small wooden disk dropped onto the table with a light, wooden clang—her button. Well, most of it, at any rate. Part of the upper circle was missing, as if it'd been clipped off.
Despite her best effort, she'd messed up. Yesenia sighed. "Damn it, I failed."
Rebecca shrugged. "Not completely, you made an object move forward, right?"
"Yes, but—"
Rebecca put up a hand to stop her. "This is why we start with buttons or other small objects and fully expect for little parts to be missing in the early days of a time-wielder. My former employer shared stories of the same sort of things happening in her training days, long before I met Evelina." The older fae witch gestured toward the clipped button. "But now you see why we have to take your powers seriously, and not rush them. Because if it'd been a person instead of a button, they might've reappeared without their head."
Yesenia swallowed, not wanting to imagine what that would look like.
She finally met Rebecca's serious gaze again and the other female continued, "But don't be discouraged, Yesenia." She reached out and patted her hand. "That was a remarkably good start. After all, it appeared where you wanted, in the exact same spot in fact, which usually takes more practice."
She shook her head. "I wish I could revel in the praise. However, not only do I feel as if I'd been hit by a train right now, but my magic is tapped out and I can't try again for a while."
The other female squeezed her hand in a rare show of affection. "You're training a muscle like any other. And you must remember that your magic managed to bring you here, to this time, in one piece. The power lies within you, and you just need practice until you can fully harness it."
Even though Yesenia had read about how sometimes self-preservation would push a fae witch's magic to new heights and it proved she could use it successfully, that knowledge didn't help in the moment. She asked quietly, "So how much longer do you think my training will take before I can send a note?"
"It greatly depends on you. Most likely, a few weeks yet."
She rubbed her hands over her face, suddenly feeling more tired than she'd ever been in her life. "I know that's unbelievably fast, but I'm still disappointed."
"You've been a bit distracted, which is part of what's holding you back from your full potential, I think." Yesenia looked up. Was Rebecca finally going to address the elephant in the room—Yesenia and Leo?
Rebecca raised her brows. "Well, you have been distracted, you can't deny it. I try to mind my own business when I can. But until you and the vampire Dark Lord sort things out between you, then you can't focus 100 percent on your studies. I'd suggest dealing with him as soon as possible."
"You do realize that means letting him claim me?"
Rebecca smoothed her skirts. "I have three children of my own, with a shifter. I know how claiming with a different paranormal species works, and it's quite remarkable. I'd suggest giving in and enjoying yourself."
She opened her mouth to ask more questions related to children being half one species and half another in this time period versus the future, but a knock on the door stopped her. John Sakamoto's head popped inside. "Leo wants to see you, Miss Vale."
Rebecca smirked. "I'm sure he does."
Not wanting to discuss sex further with the female, no matter how much she liked Rebecca, Yesenia stood. "Tomorrow again, then?"
The other fae witch nodded. "I'll be here at the same time. Bring another button with you."
Murmuring her farewell, Yesenia struggled to make her feet move. Not because she dreaded talking with Leo. No, she had a few things to say to him.
But rather, using her powers for the first time had worn her out and made her feel eighty years old. Despite the fact she wanted to feel Leo's cock inside her with his fangs piercing her neck like in her dreams, she wasn't entirely sure she had the energy to handle it right now.
One thing she and Leo never seemed to have was good timing.
Regardless, she followed John to see what the infernal vampire male wanted. If nothing else, she could set up a definitive time to get the claiming over with, which might finally allow her to sleep better and focus solely on her studies.