Chapter 58

It was a horrible idea, Natalie realized the moment the skill settled across her. Like before, using the ability in a less than appropriate way came naturally, so much easier than her struggles to use it in a typical combat manner. And, concentrated on the ongoing spar, the exact application, Natalie left up to her subconscious. Considering that, what came out was better than she could have hoped for.

She made herself naked. Her Tenet uniform disappeared, leaving Natalie bare—not an inch of clothing on her.

A horrible idea. That realization pounded into her not just from her reasonable, functioning brain—the part that had protested this idea from the start—but also from how devastatingly effective it was. Exactly as intended, Sofia faltered. And not just faltered, but floundered. Her eyes shot open in surprise, and she stumbled, the first time Natalie had maybe ever seen that.

Natalie, of course, capitalized. Her combat training kicked in, even if her rational self was horrified at what she’d done. In a quick exchange, Sofia was lying on the ground, disarmed, gaping up at Natalie, who’d dispelled the illusion and returned her uniform. Dressed. Not naked.

“Point to me,” Natalie said—though it was, unfortunately, impossible to take satisfaction in her exceedingly rare triumph against her composed white-haired rival. Because ... the look on her face.

“Did you just flash me?” Sofia shrilled.

“It was an illusion.”

“But it was you! Naked!”

“Not actually me.”

“What’s the difference?!”

There wasn’t much of one. Natalie knew what she looked like naked, obviously, so the illusion had been true to life. There ... wasn’t much difference between what she’d done and actually just stripping off her clothes. She’d flashed Sofia. Full-body. She’d seen every inch of her. Only for a brief moment, but every inch.

Except ... had Natalie included her cock?

Her alarm spiked. She didn’t think so? To be honest, though she was growing accustomed to it, it hadn’t fully settled as ‘part’ of her, yet. Her illusion, she found herself reasonably certain of, had been of her body as how it had been most her life. Cock not included.

Not that Natalie wasn’t mortified. She’d flashed Sofia.

And why was Sofia blushing so deeply? She was a prude, and this was an embarrassing situation, so a blush was reasonable. But this much so? Her face beet-red, and practical shrieking her responses?

Seriously, why had Natalie done that?

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Natalie said, her own face burning to the point it felt numb. “Chill, princess.” She held out a hand to help the girl up, who was still laid out on the ground, Natalie the victor of the exchange.

“You flashed me,” Sofia dumbly repeated.

Natalie looked to Jordan for help.

“Without even taking her on a date, first,” Jordan chided, seeming amused. “That’s not very polite, Nat.”

Now, Natalie was sputtering along with Sofia, who still laid on the ground. Date? With Sofia? Even as a sarcastic joke, the concept had Natalie on fire, immediately. Date that irritating girl? No, thank you.

“And how was it so real? When did you get good at illusions?” Sofia asked.

Natalie shook her hand, insisting that Sofia take it and climb to her feet. Seeing the always-composed girl so out of array was doing things to Natalie. It just wasn’t right, seeing her red-faced and wide-eyed, breathing heavily as she stared up at Natalie.

Sofia shakily took her hand, but still blushed furiously, continuing to give an incredulous look to Natalie.

“And why flash me, if you’re that good, now? There’s so many other things you could have done!”

The following words came by accident, because she needed to defend herself. She couldn’t let Sofia believed Natalie had flashed her on a whim. “It’s my class specialty, okay? Just ... using what I have.”