This time, the stern look came from Lia. “Why now?” she asked. “Why not before?”
“Because, like anything concerning the future, it can be open to interpretation,” Miss Scotford said. “And anything like that really needs to be considered with an open mind and without any preconceived notions. Until now, there have been people who’ve wondered whether you might just dismiss the Prophecy altogether.”
“Or try to take it into our own hands,” Lucas said quietly, not quite avoiding a glance in Morgan’s direction.
“That’s another concern, yes.” Miss Scotford leaned on the edge of her stool. “Now, do you guys know anything about the Prophecy already?”
Lia shook her head, but Morgan, Corbin, and Lucas nodded.
“The first time we met Orrick,” Corbin said, “he told us Morgan was the One—”
“She panicked and Moved things around the room,” Lucas added.
Morgan punched him in the shoulder.
Lucas held his hands up innocently. “What? True statement.”
Morgan stuck out her tongue at him.
“Orrick said something about Morgan… leading the Veneret back to their place in the world or something like that. Oh, and she’s supposed to have other Naturals who help her,” Corbin finished.
Miss Scotford nodded. “It’s something like that, yeah.”
“Just something like that?” Morgan asked.
“Of all the abilities we can possess, probably the least reliable is Knowing,” Miss Scotford said. “The Knower can’t always be positive about what a vision means. Most of the time, the Knower has no idea when something will happen. And often—very often—context is missing, so an event that might appear to be one thing can really turn out to be something else.”
“So, this stuff about me being the One might all be crap?” Morgan asked, a bubble of hope rising within her.
Miss Scotford smiled. “In your case, unfortunately, no. When we talk about it, we call it ‘the Prophecy,’ but in reality, it’s a compilation of the visions of many Knowers over many hundreds of years. You are the One, Morgan.”
Morgan’s skin began to prickle. “But, how can you know that for sure? I mean—why isn’t Lia the One?”
Lia looked horrified at the prospect.
“Because Lia’s mom isn’t a Natural,” Miss Scotford said calmly, as though explaining a grammar rule. “Here’s what we’re pretty sure about: The One is a girl. She’s born of a Natural—also female. And Naturals aren’t particularly common, especially nowadays. The Veneret, the Watchers—our abilities aren’t what they used to be generations ago. There’s been a correlation between the decline of abilities in the Veneret and Watcher populations and the decline of Naturals born in the world.”
“That makes sense, though,” Morgan said. “Naturals all have a member of the Veneret somewhere in their family tree.”
“Who told you that?” asked Miss Scotford.
“Kellen.”
Corbin shifted uncomfortably at the sound of Kellen’s name. Morgan pretended not to notice.
Miss Scotford nodded. “That is what the Veneret believe—what they’re told. But based on all the research the Watchers have done, there’s no proof of that. These abilities do seem to just appear in people with no genetic predisposition.”
“So, we’re just kinda genetic freaks?” Lucas asked.
“You’re a genetic freak,” Morgan muttered.
Miss Scotford ignored them both. “The Watchers believe this means there is much less difference between the Veneret and the common than the Veneret like to admit.”
“Well, sure, the common have some power in them,” Corbin said, “but they can’t use it.”
“That’s what the Veneret think, and that’s why they feel it’s okay—it’s right, even—to take that energy from them. The Watchers don’t believe that. That’s why we don’t take energy. In fact, one theory about why abilities are declining is that it’s due to the energy siphoning. Maybe Naturals show up in a generation when the energy in their common bloodline has finally reached a certain level. If that level is never reached because the people in that bloodline are never allowed to hold on to their energy, maybe that means a Natural won’t ever manifest.”
Morgan glanced toward Corbin, whose face had clouded over. He was looking at the floor before him. Without having to reach out with her abilities, she knew what was making him uncomfortable: last summer, Kellen had forced Corbin to take energy from a common girl.
Miss Scotford seemed to sense this too. “Corbin, no one blames you, you know that right? None of us looks down on you for what happened last summer.”
Corbin made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.
“Just think of how Wen feels. When he was undercover with the Veneret—working so closely with Orrick—he had to do what he had to do.”
Corbin managed to look up at Miss Scotford. “I know. I can… I can understand why they do it, though. It’s a rush—like a drug or something. I didn’t feel right for days afterward, and sometimes getting more was the only thing on my mind.” He pressed his lips together in a tight line. “I don’t know how Wen’s doing it—it doesn’t seem to affect him.”
The corner of Miss Scotford’s mouth twitched. “He’s got a lot of practice hiding things. Believe me, though, it hasn’t been easy for him.”
Morgan’s mind flashed Wen. She only saw him a training sessions and, if she was honest with herself, she didn’t give much thought to him beyond those times. He always seemed so in-control, she hadn’t allowed herself to think much about how drastically his life had changed in the last few weeks.
“So,” Lia ventured tentatively after a few moments of silence, “to recap: Morgan’s the One and we’re… supposed to help her?”
Miss Scotford have her head a tiny shake, as if ridding it of thoughts. “The Prophecy says the One will depend on a group of four Naturals. She’ll become stronger through them.” She looked at Morgan and smiled. “You’ll need the other Naturals to reach your potential—each one of them will help you as you develop to fulfill the Prophecy.”
Lucas held up a hand. “Okay—wait, now. I’m not a mathematician or anything, but you just said four Naturals, right? In addition to Morgan?”
“That’s right.”
“So, where’s number four?” Lucas asked.
Miss Scotford gave a half smile. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”
“Wait—so, there’s another one of us out there somewhere?” Lia asked. “That person could be anywhere. They might not be in this state—they might not even be in this country.”
“We’re fairly certain that, like the rest of you, this fourth Natural will live around here and be your age,” Miss Scotford said. “Now, Greg and I have been attempting to figure out who that person might be, but so far, we haven’t had any luck.”
“Why can’t you identify him? The Veneret knew about me and Corbin and Lia—”
“But not about me,” said Lucas. “And if this fourth person has a wall up he doesn’t even know about, then it’d be almost impossible to find him, right?”
Miss Scotford nodded. “We may not know who this person is until he starts manifesting abilities.”
“Until the person is activated,” Morgan said quietly. Lia, Corbin, and Lucas all began displaying abilities after a psychic reading from Morgan. Something happened during each reading that seemed to turn on the abilities in each one of them.
Morgan knew what she had to do: She needed to activate the fourth Natural. But how? If Miss Scotford was right and the fourth Natural was someone at this school, maybe Morgan could find him…
“There’s something else,” said Miss Scotford, breaking in to Morgan’s thoughts. “I got some information earlier today, and Greg and I think it’s important not to keep things from you, so…”
“What is it?” Corbin asked.
“It’s… The house you were training at yesterday was broken into overnight.” Miss Scotford
eyed them steadily as she said it.
Morgan felt her pulse quicken. Her mind flashed back to the blinding light she’d encountered last night when searching for her mother. Whoever had been at the other end of that energy had Seen the training house. Did that mean the events were linked?
“Are the people who own the house okay?” Lucas asked.
“They weren’t home. That’s why we used the house—the couple who lives there is out of town for a week, visiting family. They had no idea it happened until we contacted them. And the only reason we knew is because we were keeping an especially close eye on it. As to the why… We’re not entirely sure. Nothing was taken, so far as we can tell. The couple poses no particular threat to Orrick’s operation—not by themselves. I mean, if they were looking to get information on the Watchers, they could’ve hit dozens of other homes—”
“Except,” Morgan said quietly, “We weren’t at dozens of other houses yesterday. We were there.”
Miss Scotford nodded. “That’s what we’re thinking. When you Saw Orrick’s office, someone must have Seen where you were.”
“But why’d someone have to go there? I mean, Seers and Feelers work remotely, right?” Corbin asked. “They don’t have to be somewhere to get a sense of it, do they?”
“Not necessarily,” Miss Scotford said. “But sometimes, they can get a stronger impression if they’re close to the source of something. I mean, you’ve seen on TV shows how a psychic will go into a room or touch things someone owned to get a stronger connection, right? Well, that idea’s based partially in fact. We think they wanted to be close to where Morgan was.”
Corbin seemed suddenly agitated. “If they want to be close to Morgan, what’s keeping them from just showing up here or the Daily Grind or—or her house?”
Miss Scotford held an allaying hand out toward him. “We’ve got all those places too well-covered. We strongly believe Orrick won’t try something—”
“But you don’t know that,” Corbin said. “You can’t be sure—”
Miss Scotford silenced him with a look. Then she turned her gaze toward Morgan. “This is why it’s so important that you don’t do anything rash. Look what happened by just accidentally Seeing Orrick for a moment.”
Morgan’s insides twisted. She opened her mouth to tell Miss Scotford what had happened last night, but she talked over her.
“Luckily, I think the Veneret were taken off-guard—I don’t think they realized you could See like that. But now that they do, they’ll be looking for another opportunity to find out what you’re up to. Do you understand?”
The words Morgan had been about to say sank to the pit of her stomach. She met Miss Scotford’s eyes steadily and nodded, then looked down.
“Look,” Miss Scotford said, her voice softer. “I know you want to find your mom, Morgan. And I can understand the appeal of trying to find out what Orrick knows about her—but you can’t. He’s too strong, Morgan, and you’ll just be putting yourself in danger. You have to be patient—let us find her.”
“So, you are looking?” Lucas asked.
Miss Scotford nodded. “We do have Watchers on that detail, yes.”
Morgan shifted on her desk, a knot of anticipation tightening in her abdomen. “I know I shouldn’t try to See Orrick—I understand that’s dangerous.” She cast a sidelong glance at Lucas before continuing. “But if there are already Watchers looking for my mom, maybe I could help them…?”
Miss Scotford sighed, her shoulders sagging as if under a great weight. “Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve said? Morgan, the Veneret are focused on you. If you start exposing yourself, who knows what kind of information they could get from you? You’re not trained. Let some people who’ve been doing this longer than you have take care of it.”
Morgan opened her mouth to respond—to plead—but was silenced by Lucas’s hand on her arm.
“The four of you are more important than I think you realize,” Miss Scotford said softly. “We’re doing everything we can to keep you safe, but all the safeguards in the world won’t help if you go out of your way to put yourselves in danger.”
Morgan didn’t know how to respond. Guilt curled itself around the edges of her consciousness, but she tamped it down: Miss Scotford didn’t need to know the real reason the Veneret were able to find their training location—she blamed Morgan already anyway.
Miss Scotford stood, nodding toward the door. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
As Morgan filed out of the room, she tried to ignore the swell of disappointment building within her. Not only had she been unable to locate her mother the previous night, but now Miss Scotford had basically banned her from the search.
But as she moved down the hallway, she realized a new challenge lay before her: finding the fourth Natural.
Chapter Four
When Morgan woke the next morning, a bubble of hope pressed even the concern for her mother out of her mind: She was convinced that today was the day she would activate the fourth Natural. In every class, in the hallways, in the stairwells, she pushed out with her abilities to caress those around her, looking for anything to suggest a person wasn’t entirely common. But besides the bright energies of the people she already knew about—plus three Watchers she hadn’t realized were newly stationed at the school—she didn’t sense anything beyond a dim glow.
At lunch, she focused more than usual as she gave psychic readings to each client; however, the readings passed without incident, as they had the day before, and the day before that.
By the time the bell rang to end sixth hour, Morgan felt entirely deflated. The hope she’d felt all day had ebbed entirely, leaving a dry, barren landscape behind.
She entered the already-teeming hallway and joined the flow headed in the direction of her locker. When she saw Corbin and Ris already stationed there, she allowed a heavy sigh to pass her lips before pinning on a great-to-see-you smile and joining them.
“Excellent,” Ris said by way of greeting. “Corbin and I were just talking about you.”
Morgan pushed past Corbin and attempted to fill her backpack with the evening’s necessary items. “Discussing my winning personality?”
Ris laughed. “We’re going to the Daily Grind. Lucas is working, and you know what that means.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
A genuine smile stretched Morgan’s lips as she slammed the locker closed and turned to her friend. “Don’t you ever feel just the slightest bit guilty about using Lucas for free drinks?”
“Never.”
“So, you wanna come?” Corbin asked, and Morgan couldn’t help detecting a hopeful light in his eyes.
That light alone almost made Morgan decline, but one glance at Ris let her know that an answer in the affirmative was expected. She sighed and smiled. “I’m in.”
When the three of them got to the parking lot, Ris automatically split off to go with Corbin to his car, despite the fact that Morgan had driven her to school that morning.
“We should all just go together,” Ris called, noticing Morgan heading to her own car.
Morgan shook her head. “Nah, I’d rather take my car.” Seeing the conflicted look in Ris’s eyes, she quickly added, “See you there.”
This seemed enough for Ris, who skipped back into place beside Corbin. Morgan turned away from the sight of the two of them together and closed the distance to her car. When she slipped into the car, she allowed herself to clench the steering wheel only momentarily before releasing it and putting the key into the ignition. As she started toward the Daily Grind, she tried to get her emotions in order. She was happy for Ris, of course. Happy her friend was happy. And Corbin was a decent enough guy to be spending time with, Morgan supposed. She liked him well enough.
But perhaps that was the problem…
Morgan shook her head. Of course that wasn’t it. She didn’t like Corbin. Not like that.
But, then, why had she kissed him?
She pulled up to a red light and p
ounded on the steering wheel. She had not kissed him. He’d kissed her.
Hadn’t he?
Morgan shook her head slightly to clear her mind. It didn’t really matter, after all. The two of them had shared a closeness since she activated him, and she supposed that was part of why Corbin had been so worried about her well-being when they’d been separated. The kiss was a one-time thing never again to be repeated.
That’s what she told herself, at least. Especially when it crossed her mind that Ris might have the right to know that it had happened.
And especially now, when she had Seen that Corbin still thought about it.
Morgan was slightly surprised to find herself pulling into a spot at the Daily Grind. In a way, she supposed it was comforting to know that her body knew what to do even when her mind was otherwise occupied.
With a sigh, she cut the ignition and climbed out of the car. She noticed Corbin’s car was already there and empty and wondered vaguely how they’d beaten her.
Upon entering the coffee shop, Morgan immediately looked toward the counter and locked eyes with Lucas. He offered her a broad smile and she returned it. She glanced around the room and saw that Corbin and Ris were already seated and playing a card game. Morgan approached Lucas.
“So, Mr. Wizard, what delightful beverage will you be creating for me today?”
Lucas, who was now busying himself at the espresso machine, glanced in her direction. “Come on, Morgan. You know that’s not how it works.” He offered her a brief grin before turning his attention back to the task at hand.
Morgan smiled, too, knowing well that Lucas enjoyed making drinks—and often adding at twist of his own—only to make the drinker guess what his concoction was. When she first started coming to the Daily Grind, before Lucas was activated, he referred to his knack for creating the perfect drink for a customer as his special talent. Now they both knew that this “talent” was an early manifestation of his then-suppressed abilities as a Feeler.
“You can head over to the table; I’ll bring the drinks to you,” Lucas said as he added a squirt of chocolate syrup to the bottom of a glass.
The Naturals Trilogy Page 20
