A woman in black and white walked up to them, proffering a tray of exotic-looking drinks. Kellen waved her away and led them further into the room. When they got near the center, Kellen muttered something to Lucas, who was closest to him, and disappeared into the thronging mass around them.
Ris, who had noticed only that they had stopped moving, immediately started dancing, touching Corbin lightly on the wrists. After a glance in Morgan and Lucas’s direction, Corbin began dancing as well.
Morgan glanced at Lucas unsurely before the two of them also began to dance. Under the guise of rhythm, Morgan moved closer to Lucas. “Where did Kellen go?”
“Just said he’d be back and for us to stay here.”
Morgan nodded and continued to sway to the music. She scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kellen. It was not Kellen’s face that caught Morgan’s attention, however: in the far corner of the dance floor, Morgan thought she recognized someone’s sleek bob.
“Lucas, is that—”
But before Morgan could finish her question, she felt a presence at her side. She turned to see Wen standing just a few inches too close to her. “Come with me.”
Morgan’s hand went involuntarily to her heart. “Wen, you scared the crap outta me.”
Wen seemed unfazed by this information. He jerked his head in the direction he intended them to go. “Bring Lucas.”
“What about Corbin?”
“I think he’s a little busy with your friend. And, unfortunately, she’s not invited right now.”
Morgan glanced over at Corbin and Ris. They were still dancing, attention focused on each other; Morgan wondered if either of them noticed Wen’s arrival. One thing was certain: Lucas noticed. He watched Morgan curiously. Morgan beckoned to him and the two of them followed Wen.
They wove their way through dancing groups of people, Lucas keeping the fingertips of one hand pressed gently against the small of Morgan’s back as if to keep from losing track of her. Wen led them to a curtained-off area, behind which a few dozen people sat or stood in groups. No one paid them much attention as they entered. It wasn’t until they crossed to where Kellen was seated that a few sets of eyes flicked up at them.
“What’s with the cloak and dagger?” Morgan asked as she sat next to Kellen.
Kellen shrugged. “We’re well-practiced at being secretive, I guess.”
As Lucas took a seat beside Morgan, he scanned the room. “Why are people looking at us?”
Morgan glanced around, too, and saw several people casting surreptitious looks in their direction. “Do they know who we are or something?”
“Well, they are psychic,” Kellen said lazily.
Morgan and Lucas exchanged glances.
“So, why did Orrick want us to come here tonight?” Morgan asked.
Kellen made a sweeping motion with his hand. “To be around your own kind.”
If he said something else, Morgan didn’t hear it. She was suddenly overwhelmed by what felt like white noise enveloping her senses. Instinctively, she reached out, taking hold of Lucas’s hand. As he squeezed her fingers, she felt the buzzing fog receding, but not dissipating entirely.
“What is that?” she whispered.
“Them,” Wen said, glancing up at the others in the room. “They’re curious. Just trying to feel you out.”
Morgan closed her eyes. Taking in a steadying breath, she focused her energy on blocking out the noise the others were producing in her mind. She thought of the wall she encountered when she tried to read Lucas and concentrated on that. Slowly, by degrees, quiet returned to Morgan’s mind. She looked up at the strangers in the room; several people were watching her and a few nodded appreciatively. Morgan made a face. “You could just ask me.”
Wen chuckled softly. “Not exactly the way we do things.”
“Still,” Lucas said. “A little rude, don’t you think?”
“Not if you can block it. And you both can.”
Morgan considered mounting an argument to this point, but decided that this wasn’t exactly the venue for it.
Lucas seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “Since we’re kinda new to this whole thing, why don’t we keep this meeting more… low-tech.”
Wen nodded. “As you wish.” He stood up, and as soon as Morgan and Lucas followed suit, the people in the room began to crowd around them, many smiling and offering their hands for Morgan and Lucas to shake.
And then the conversations began. Some people asked Morgan about herself—but trivial, banal things like her favorite this or her least favorite that. Morgan asked questions, too, and received occasional answers as people pushed and shuffled to get closer to her. As the minutes passed, she was separated from Lucas and Wen, but this didn’t concern her much. If she pushed out with her mind, she found she could sense they were nearby. She could sense everyone, actually, but there was something familiar about the way both Lucas and Wen felt; whereas, the energies from the other partygoers was somehow foreign. It was almost like being able to pick out the voice of a friend in a crowded room.
How much time had passed in the meet and greet, Morgan wasn’t sure, but at one point, she noticed Tesin standing over against a wall. He didn’t notice her looking; he was too busy surveying the room. His eyes seemed to be following someone. Morgan tried to catch a glimpse at who was holding his attention, but she couldn’t see through the ever-thickening crowd of people. With a shrug, she allowed herself to continue to be passed from person to person, answering the same questions again and again, consciously attempting to keep her wall in place. Every few minutes or so, she was aware of someone trying to penetrate her defenses, but she was able to keep her wall up. At least she was pretty sure she was.
Growing tired of smiling and shaking hands, Morgan decided to go say hello to Tesin. He was a familiar face and she was at least relatively certain that he wouldn’t attempt to enter her mind. Nodding politely as she edged by people, Morgan made her way toward the wall where Tesin stood. However, when she was less than ten paces from him, she saw another person approaching him—someone familiar. The person she had thought she’d seen earlier.
Morgan changed directions abruptly, turning toward where she knew Lucas was. She pushed her way to him and tugged on his arm.
“What?” Lucas asked, turning to her.
“Look,” she said, nodding her head toward Tesin. When Lucas turned his attention where she’d indicated, she continued. “Am I on crack, or is that Lia Roderick?”
Chapter Twelve
As if she’d heard Morgan’s words, Lia Roderick glanced over her shoulder. Instinctively, Morgan ducked against Lucas to hide.
“Really?” Lucas asked skeptically. “And you’re hiding why?”
Truthfully, Morgan wasn’t entirely sure why she felt the need not to be seen by Lia. Somehow it felt almost as if she were being caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. But if Lia was at this party—and in this room—then it must mean that she belonged. Which meant that Lia was either Veneret or—
“Do you think she’s a Natural?” Morgan asked suddenly.
“Didn’t Orrick say Naturals are really rare? What’s the chance that you and me and Corbin and Lia are all—”
Morgan made a face at him. “You moved me with your mind, but this you find outside the realm of possibility?”
Lucas shrugged. Then he smiled. Before Morgan could ask what he was doing, she saw the set to his face and knew—he was going to make Lia do something. He had stared this way at countless people the other night when he’d wanted people to compliment his hat. Curious, Morgan turned to see what he was trying to make Lia do.
Seconds passed as she watched. Then seconds more. When she glanced up at Lucas she saw a look of disappointment on his face. “Maybe it doesn’t work on other Naturals,” she said, placing a conciliatory hand on his arm. “You couldn’t get me to do whatever it was you wanted me to do, remember?”
Lucas nodded. Shook his head. “But I could yank y
ou out of the road. And I can calm you down—you’ve said so yourself.”
Morgan shrugged. “It’s just a guess. Like I know anything about this stuff!” She smiled.
Lucas nodded. “Fair enough.” He glanced back at Lia. “So… you wanna go talk to her?”
Morgan raised a dubious eyebrow. “The last interaction I had with her, she was trying to manipulate my yearbook group to go on all the hard routes so she and her friends could have an easy—” Morgan stopped. “She’s a Pusher.”
“What?”
“A Pusher—she can make people do things. I saw her do it.” Morgan smiled and couldn’t help feeling slightly impressed. “But…”
“But what?”
“Just the other day, someone wanted me to do a reading for Lia, and she was all like, ‘Oh, I don’t believe in that kind of stuff…’ It just… doesn’t really make sense.”
“Maybe she found out about it afterward.” Lucas considered this for a moment. “Wait—did you actually do the reading for her?”
Morgan thought back. “Kinda, yeah.”
Lucas nodded as if something was making sense to him. “Maybe it is you.”
“Huh?”
“Orrick said that you weren’t, like, giving your powers to anyone, but maybe you’re—I don’t know—activating us or something. Maybe you’re waking something up inside us.”
Morgan looked at him doubtfully. “Seriously?”
“Depends. Did everything start for Corbin after you gave him a reading?”
“Well, yeah…”
“See? Maybe you are doing it.”
Morgan was unconvinced. “So, you’re saying that I somehow turned Lia into a Pusher? And she then tried to use that ability to screw me and my group when we were selling ads?”
“I didn’t know what I was doing, if that’s any consolation.”
Morgan jumped and turned around to find herself face to face with Lia Roderick. After eyeing Lia for a moment, Morgan said, “Actually, that makes you lose esteem in my eyes.”
Lia huffed. “Like I had any to begin with?”
“Now, ladies, play nice,” Tesin said, walking up beside Lia.
Morgan immediately turned her attention to Tesin. “And when exactly were you going to tell me about this? About her?”
Tesin raised an appraising eyebrow at Morgan. “And what makes you think I answer to you?”
Morgan looked down. “I didn’t mean—”
But Tesin was talking again. “Lia’s been a little… hard to convince.”
Lia’s hand went automatically to the necklace she wore—a cross. She smiled thinly. “I just… It’s so incredible.”
“It is at that,” Lucas said.
Lia looked around the room, apprehension and wonder apparent in her eyes, and Morgan bristled.
“You seem to’ve come pretty far in your acceptance of this kind of thing,” she said coldly. “I seem to remember you saying you didn’t believe in this psychic stuff.”
“And she didn’t,” Tesin said firmly, an edge to his voice. “It took lots of effort to convince her I wasn’t crazy.”
“You?” Morgan asked, surprised.
Tesin raised an eyebrow.
“I mean—I guess I just thought—”
“That it was Kellen’s job?” Tesin supplied.
Morgan shrugged. “Well, yeah, I guess.”
He smiled. “Kellen’s not, like, my boss or anything. We’re more like… coworkers.”
Lia placed a hand on Morgan’s arm and Morgan started.
“Look, I’m sorry I was such a jerk the other day.” Lia smiled. “You were right, though. Your reading.”
Lucas glanced from Lia to Morgan and back again. “What’d she say at the reading?”
Lia looked at Morgan, as if waiting to see if she was going to explain. When it became apparent that she wasn’t, she spoke. “She said change was coming, and that I should embrace it.”
“Hear, hear,” Lucas muttered. Just then, something seemed to catch his eye.
Morgan turned to where he was looking and saw Corbin walking toward them. Alone.
“She’s with Kellen,” Corbin said before Morgan could even ask. He looked around the makeshift room, nodding. “Cozy in here.”
Lia shifted perceptibly toward Corbin. “It certainly is.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. Of course Lia had a crush on Corbin.
Corbin seemed to notice Lia for the first time. “Wait—what’re you doing here?”
“She sneaked past the doorman,” Morgan said sarcastically. “Why do you think she’s here?”
After a moment, Corbin’s face broke into a grin. “That’s fantastic!” he said, wrapping his arm around Lia’s shoulders in a brief squeeze.
“I’m glad you think so,” Lia said.
Morgan noticed how Lia remained close to him even after he released her. Hadn’t she put it together that he was here with someone else?
Corbin glanced at Morgan and Lucas. “How’s it going in here?”
“Lots of handshakes,” Lucas supplied. “How’s Ris liking the party?”
“She’s easily amused; I’m sure she’s having a ball,” Morgan said.
Corbin laughed. “She hasn’t stopped dancing. I was actually kinda glad when Kellen showed up. I needed a break.”
“Well, it’s not much of a break in here,” Morgan said. She briefly explained about the mental wall she’d been keeping in place.
Corbin gave a low whistle. “Sounds rough.” He glanced at Lucas and Lia for verification.
To Morgan’s surprise, Lucas just shrugged.
“I don’t see the need to put up a wall,” Lia said airily. “I haven’t got anything to hide.”
Morgan caught Lucas’s eye, and he grinned at her exasperation.
Wen approached them then and clapped Corbin on the back. “How’s it going?”
“Great,” Corbin said.
Wen nodded. “Good.” He motioned around the room. “Plenty of people here who wanna meet you. Come on, let me introduce you…”
Corbin allowed himself to be led away. One glance at Tesin told her that she was expected to get back to mingling as well, but the thought of interacting with these strangers again wearied her.
“I’ve gotta pee,” she announced.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Good for you…?”
She waited for another second, partially feeling as if she needed clearance from Tesin. When he said nothing, she decided it was safe to go.
Morgan ducked out of the room. She skirted the wall, figuring if she walked far enough, she was bound to run into a bathroom.
There were people everywhere. Most were dancing, but some were just standing around, impeding her progress. She wove around groups and individuals, avoiding being hit by flailing limbs only narrowly on a couple of occasions.
The first wall was a wash, and the second wall consisted of more curtains. Wondering whether the bathroom might be tucked behind this section, Morgan poked her head in.
Her first thought was that she’d walked in on a couple. There were two people seated on a couch in the corner of the empty makeshift room. The guy was close to the girl—hovering over her face, almost. Morgan froze, her heart pounding. She knew she should turn away, walk away, but there was something so strange about the scene. So familiar about the guy’s disheveled brown hair. So recognizable about the sparkly clips in the short blond hair of the girl—
“Ris!” The name escaped before Morgan had fully come to the realization that the girl on the couch was her friend. She crossed to the couch, and before she was close enough to reach either party, Kellen looked up at her, a lazy smile playing on his lips.
“Morgan,” he said, his tone pleasant, silky. “How’s it going?”
“What the hell are you doing?” Morgan demanded, her eyes on Ris, who didn’t seem to have noticed Morgan’s arrival.
Kellen shrugged easily. “Getting better acquainted with your friend.”
Morgan turned to hi
m, glaring. “What’s wrong with her? What’d you do?” She looked at Ris again, waving her hand in front of her friend’s face. Ris’s eyes remained unfocused and her jaw was slack. “She looks like she’s been—I don’t know—drugged or something!”
Kellen chuckled, leaning back against the arm of the couch. “Come on, I didn’t drug her. Please. Give me a little credit.”
“Oh, so I suppose your boyish charm just overwhelmed her, then, huh?” Morgan slapped Ris’s cheek gently, hoping to get a response from her.
Kellen grabbed Morgan by the wrist. “Don’t bother. She’ll come to in a little while.”
Morgan wrenched her wrist from Kellen’s grasp, glowering at him. “How can you be so calm? Look at her—there’s something wrong.” Suddenly, Morgan stopped. A memory floated to the top of her consciousness and she understood exactly what was happening. “Wait—you’re taking her energy?”
“Like Orrick told you earlier, the abilities the Veneret possess are diminishing. We think—well, there are a few schools of thought on the matter, but, basically, the thought is that the more people there are in—you know—the world, the more the basic energy available to those people is spread thin. The Veneret have always been able to use the power in a way that the common just can’t—they don’t know how to use it.” He made a face, as if what he was saying wasn’t coming out the way he wanted it to. “Look, Morgan. She doesn’t need it. I haven’t hurt her. Calm down.”
“Calm down? You’re… you’re violating my best friend and you’re telling me to calm down?”
Kellen rolled his eyes. “Please. I’m not violating her. I’m merely taking back a little of what rightfully belongs to me.”
“I think Ris would disagree with that,” Morgan snapped.
“Trust me. She won’t even notice.” He smiled. “She didn’t notice before.”
“Before—?” But Morgan knew what he meant. “At that first party—it wasn’t the alcohol that made her pass out like that. It was you. And that’s why she didn’t wake up the next morning.”
“Well, let’s be fair. She did consume a fair bit of alcohol. If she hadn’t, she might have slept an hour longer than usual, but beyond that, you’d never’ve noticed.” Kellen crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed Morgan. “I’m not sure why you’re freaking out on me. It’s not like you didn’t know we do this. We can do more with a little borrowed power than we could ever do by ourselves. You’ll see that.”
The Naturals Trilogy Page 13
