The Cowgirl Rogue

Chapter 27

I cleared my throat and took another deep breath while I looked at him. "Ready?" I asked, and he grimaced before he nodded.

"Do you know how much I don't like this?" he asked, and I nodded because we had this conversation before. "Again, don't make me do anything stupid."

I rolled my eyes and scowled. "I won't," I said. "I already told you that you had my word. Now, shut up and focus on me."

Clint stayed silent and focused only on me. He didn't pull his gaze away from mine while he waited for me to tell him to do something using my powers. His heartbeat was relaxed and steady, and I knew that both he and his wolf trusted me enough for me not to cause him pain while I did this.

I took another deep breath and let it out while I tapped into my powers, and Hailey shifted in her seat while she looked between us, her eyes wide. I didn't take my gaze off of Clint, making sure to focus my powers only on him and watched as his eyes shifted a little while he grew still. "Jump in place," I said, my voice having the same command that others had.

And like I expected, Clint started to jump in place, keeping his gaze on me, and Hailey watched him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Corbin looked at the little girl before he looked at Clint and cleared his throat. "How are you feeling?" Corbin asked while I stayed silent, knowing full well what I needed him to do.

"Annoyed," Clint said, his voice a little softer than normal while he waited for me to say something else or to release him from my command, "but I am relieved that it isn't something stupid like undressing."

"I mean..." Corbin trailed off when he caught my look and smirked. "I'm not going to do it or else I will end up with a foot up my ass or a knife to my heart." He looked at Clint. "So you are good."

"Touch your nose," I said, not releasing him from jumping, and Clint touched his nose while he continued to jump in place.

"Can you tell her how it feels to be under Kel's command?" Corbin asked. "What do you hear?"

"I hear this voice whispering in my ear, "jump in place, and touch your nose. Jump in place, and touch your nose. Jump in place, and touch your nose." And it feels as if I have to obey. It doesn't hurt me not to do it, but I know that my wolf won't allow me to stop unless Kel releases me from her command."

"You may stop," I said before I stopped the power that was connecting me and him, and he instantly stopped. I wrinkled my nose and closed my eyes while all of the power over him was released, giving me a small headache.

I was about to rub my head but stopped because my hands were full, and I huffed but didn't put anything down to rub it. "See?" I asked and looked at the little girl while I blinked back the weird white spots that happened sometimes after each command. "You are able to control it."

"The only people that you aren't able to control are other Vespers," Corbin said. "I would watch out who you try to command because you have no idea if they are a Vesper or not."

Hailey frowned and wrote something in the book. She pushed it to Corbin and waited for him to read what she wrote.

"What does it say?" I asked.

"Are you done?" the king asked. "Can you unmute yourself?"

I bit back a sigh and unmuted myself. "Yes, we are done," I said. "The little girl said something, and Corbin is reading it at the moment. I don't know what it says."

"It says 'the bad man killed Mama because I tried to tell him what to do,'" Corbin said and looked at me. "I think that means she tried to use her powers against him, not realizing what would happen."