“Two more truths?” He says. I roll my eyes. He’s always been really bad at this game, and now I know why. He is the exact opposite of a Psychic Mage. I’m not entirely certain he knows how to lie. “I once broke into the gym after hours just to see if I could bench press more than my friend, Derek.”
“Go on.”
He continues. “This is the last one. I am pretty sure I’ve had a crush on you since that first moment I laid eyes on you.”
My stomach knots. I can’t look at him. I glance at Wednesday instead, who is now frozen on the couch with her chocolate-and-salt-coated fingers in her mouth. Looking at her is even worse.
“Oh um,” I hesitate. “The second one then.”
Kendall grins. “Good job.”
I am barely able to keep my head from spinning. I feel lightheaded and excited and nauseous all at once.
“My turn,” Kendall says, as if he didn’t just drop a flaming torch into the barrel of gasoline that is my emotions right now.
I try to shake myself out of it. “But it won’t work, you’re not a Psychic.”
“That isn’t the point. It’s a game, isn’t it?”
“Right, a game. Just a game.”
I gulp a few times, but I am unable to think clearly. This isn’t fair. He escalated this so quickly. I try to wrack my brain for something basic to say. All I am able to think of over and over is the one truth I am keeping from him.
I can’t do this anymore. I can’t lie straight to Kendall’s face. Not even in a game.
But then, just as I am about to blurt out the truth and surely ruin everything, I feel my phone vibrating against my thigh. I grab it, excited for any excuse to avoid this conversation. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see who it is. Thank god.
“I have to take this. Another time?” I grab my bag and head for the elevator faster than my short legs should be able to carry me.
“Hi, Mom!”
“You sound overexcited. What did you do?”
“Nothing, nothing,” I say. I wait until the elevator has risen out of sight of the common room before I allow myself to breathe again. That was close. Too close.
My mother is still talking. “How did things go? Did you get your divinity or whatever?”
“It’s called an affinity,” I say, trying not to let the sudden annoyance I feel creep into my voice. This must be how Wednesday feels about me all the time. “And sort of.”
“That’s nice,” she says. There is a bit of a pause on her end before she continues. “Your father wanted to say hello, but something came up with work.”
“Uh huh.” I know what that really means. My father was never particularly excited about my magical powers. I find my hands wanting to fiddle with something. My parents always had one of those old phones with the curly cords at home. I can imagine my mother twirling it between her fingers now.
“But what do you think of the city?”
“It’s fine,” I say, before realizing I should probably say something more concrete or else she is going to start worrying. Truth be told, I am actually surprised she sounds so calm. I was definitely supposed to call her days ago, but my mind has been…elsewhere. “I’m in some classes with Wednesday.”
“How about Kendall?”
My stomach does a little flutter at the mention of his name. Did he really just tell me he has a crush on me? I am barely able to keep my voice even-keel when I answer her.
“Oh yeah, him too.”
“He’s really filled out since I last saw him. His mother showed me the picture with one of the teachers.”
“Mom!”
“Why didn’t I see any pictures of you?”
I haven’t exactly prepared for this conversation. How am I supposed to explain to her what happened? I mull it over as long as I can without it sounding too suspicious. “I got accepted into a special program,” I say. “So I am taking extra classes. I guess I just got so busy, I forgot to have it taken.”
I flinch at the flimsiness of my own lie.
But apparently, it’s good enough. Good thing she isn’t a Psychic too. I manage to suffer through another couple minutes of answering her questions as vaguely as possible before I manage to turn the conversation over to her and dad. I am only half listening as I book it to my room at the end of the hall. I have to open the window to keep myself from suffocating inside. After a couple of minutes, I realize the other side of the line has gone silent. Crap. She must have asked me something.
“Oh sorry, what was that again?” I ask.
“We just want you to know we support you. Your father is having a bit of a rough time with it…but he’ll come around.” I am sure I am about to get some lecture on keeping in touch better, so the next thing she says surprises me. “We are trying to give you all the space you need. I know you’re a little younger than I was when I went to college…but this is the closest thing to it that you’re going to get.”
“Thanks Mom.”
“And just make sure to use protection. If you need me to send—”
“Argh! Mom!” I hold the phone away from my ear so I can’t hear the rest of her sentence. Leave it to her to throw that part in there. I try to reassure her that it isn’t necessary, but I can’t help but hear the irony in my own voice. If she only knew.
It only gives me one more reason to avoid Kendall and the rest of them for as long as possible. There is too much at stake every time I am around one of my impossibly attractive, talented, paired mages. As soon as I am off the phone with my mother, I want to cover my head with my pillow and scream. I am so in over my head.
By morning at least, I am pretty sure I can keep it together enough to make it through Psychic class with Cedric and Flynn. I just have to avoid playing that ridiculous game with them. I don’t think I can count on my mother to rescue me with a perfectly timed phone call twice in one day. Yesterday was way too close. On second thought, maybe she is something of a Psychic.
Of all the affinities I am most excited to learn, it easily Psychic Magic. Even though I had Wednesday draw out a map to my class, I somehow manage to get myself turned completely around and wind up arriving right as class is starting. But just as I reach for the door, someone taps me gently on the left shoulder to stop me. I jump and spin around, way too eager to fend off what I immediately assume is another thief.
Instead, Cedric takes a lazy step backward, arms up in surrender. “Woah there, Octavia. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me!” I say, but I have to shake myself into a less defensive stance as I do. “You just startled me. A little. You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”
“I was actually wondering if I could speak to you a moment, before class starts.”
I glance over my shoulder. I can see the clock inside from where we stand. I am already fifteen seconds late. I sigh and cross my arms resignedly across my chest. “Fine. What is it?”
“So harsh.” Cedric takes a step towards me. He is well over head-and-shoulders taller than me. I barely reach the bottom slope of his pectorals. Very, very well-defined pectorals. The shirt he wears is obviously tailored just for him. Every cinch, cut, and seam melds against the flawless edges of his body. Only the very top button is undone, but something about the way the carefully cuffed sleeves are not even creased makes me feel uneasy in a way I can’t describe. It’s too...immaculate.
He towers over me. If not for the way his bright blue eyes look at me, it might be intimidating. But his eyes show a deep interest, a near fascination, an intensity that freezes me in my spot.
“I actually came to apologize. I heard about the incident in the subway, and I’m sure my father didn’t exactly extend the friendliest of condolences.”
“None, actually.” I am surprised my vocal cords still work, standing so close to him. I swear if I shift my weight forward, my body will close the rest of the gap between us. “Quite the opposite. He made it sound like I had done it on purpose.”
Cedric doesn’t m
ove to reveal any surprise at this news. “Well, I think a proper apology is in order. This Friday my father is hosting a dinner party. I know you have a lot on your mind,” and here he gives me a pointed look that tells me I am probably not keeping any secrets from him, “but I would be delighted if you would attend.”
“And you don’t think your father will mind?”
“On the contrary.” Cedric slips a hand into the pocket of his trousers and produces a small, neatly sealed envelope with my name on it. He holds it up in the small space between us so that we are almost touching. “I’ve been looking forward to the opportunity to get to know my paired better.”
Before I have the chance to snatch the envelope away, he gently takes one of my hands and presses it into my palm. He doesn’t immediately let go. The gentle feel of my hand in his makes the hair at the back of my neck stand up. My mouth is suddenly dry and my heart flutters a beat too fast.
Cedric leans in a hair, and for the briefest of seconds I think he is going to kiss me. I feel his hot breath on my face—sweet and fresh, like mints. It mingles with whatever expensive cologne he wears, overwhelming my senses.
And then, rather than kissing me, he gently touches each of my shoulders and spins me around. The door to the classroom is open. “Let’s get to class, Octavia, before I try and do something rash.”
15
Octavia
Everyone looks up and watches as we pick our way towards the closest couple of empty seats. They are not together. As soon as I sit down and try to focus my attention towards the Psychic teacher and not the lingering scent of Cedric’s cologne, someone leans over the back of my chair and makes me seize up with just the sound of her voice.
“Stay away from Cedric.”
I don’t have to turn in my seat to know it is Whitney. When I don’t immediately respond, one of her hands darts out between the seats and her claw-like nails clamp down on my arm. “You’re just another pawn in one of his silly games. Once he’s made his point to his father, he will come running back to me. He always does.”
I do not dignify her with a response.
The Psychic teacher doesn’t waste any time with long-winded speeches. He instructs us to pair off as the Earth teacher did. The room shuffles quietly, and I am more relieved than I like to admit that Whitney moves elsewhere.
Cedric finally settles in beside me. “What was that all about?”
I fiddle with the envelope under the desk as Flynn moves to sit on my other side. I’d almost forgotten he was going to be in this class, too.
“Nothing,” I say, but it is certainly not nothing. I’m not used to getting threatened, and I don’t like it. I should back down, give Whitney what she wants. But I’m too stubborn. All her words do is make me want Cedric even more.
I almost think the Psychic teacher can sense this, because he looks at me with those wide eyes of his for a moment too long while explaining today’s tasks. It’s like he is speaking directly, and only, to me. If he was allowed, I am sure he would be speaking into my mind.
Even though last night’s study session did not go exactly as planned, I am surprised to find I don’t feel as far behind as I thought I would be.
“The difficulty with Psychic magic, as you will find, is that it requires a great deal of concentration. That is why the best Psychic Mages are the ones that learn to control their emotions as well as their mind.” He raises one hand up to either side of his face and rests one pointer finger on each of his temples. “The stronger a thought or emotion is in your mind, the more it wants to escape.” He flourishes his hand as he says it, and a large silvery butterfly flutters away from his hand. “You must learn how to capture those thoughts if you wish to control them.”
His arm shoots out and he grabs the butterfly with incredible speed. It disintegrates in a shower of light in his hand. The illusion is mesmerizing.
“But sometimes, it is unavoidable. In these cases, it is best to guard your minds entirely. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out.”
We first years are assigned the simple task of building what he calls a “mental block” that we are to refer to whenever we feel we are in danger of being unable to control our thoughts or emotions.
It turns out not to be so simple.
Cedric and Flynn tell me that when I feel that odd pressure in my mind it is someone trying to get inside.
“But it is more than that,” Cedric says. “If you let someone into your mind unhindered, they have access to your feelings, memories, or they can even to try and implant new thoughts there.”
“Like that movie about crazy dream layers?”
Flynn snorts. “Not even a little.”
Cedric looks at him with more than a little disgust. “Here, Flynn, why don’t we demonstrate for Octavia. I will try to penetrate your mind, and you will try to resist me.”
It doesn’t take long for me to see the spot between Flynn’s eyes crease. I can tell he is trying hard to resist Cedric, but coming from a long line of Psychic Mages does seem to have its benefits. He soon crumbles and breaks eye contact.
Cedric tries to look unaffected, but I notice a fine line of sweat beaded across the top of his brow. Seems he isn’t so impenetrable after all.
“This is all fine and dandy,” I say, before the two give up this weird mental dick-measuring contest and start lunging at each other for real, “But this isn’t actually helping me.”
Both of them stop immediately and look a little sheepish.
For the next hour or so, they teach me how to protect my own mind.
“There are many ways to do it,” Cedric says, “But the easiest is to quite literally imagine a wall, or a room protecting your mind.”
I turn to Flynn. “Like you were saying about the stick the other day.”
“Exactly,” he says. He is not nearly so cocky in this class as he was the other. I wonder if it has anything to do with what it was Cedric saw inside that head of his. I wouldn’t mind taking a peek myself. Out of my four paired mages, Flynn is the most difficult to read.
I try out several versions of walls and rooms until I finally settle on something simple. Plain red bricks. No cracks. No windows. Not even a door to get in and out. But the more I think about keeping them out, the more I think about my secret.
This magic brings a different kind of exhaustion than Earth Magic. I don’t want to think it’s because I’m not as good at it...but the thought does come to mind and leaves me unable to focus for the rest of class. My Psychic teacher notices when I don’t even try to stop him reading my thoughts, and he excuses me for the rest of the day.
I need time to rest, and to think. And to prepare. And I am not going to be able to do that so long as Whitney keeps staring daggers into the back of my skull and two incredibly handsome mages are trying to penetrate the inner workings of my mind. It takes everything in me already just to keep from revealing the plans that would get me stripped of my powers to any one of the dozens of mind-readers in that class.
But I am barely halfway down the hall when I hear the door shut again and Flynn jogs up behind me.
“What is it?” I grunt. I don’t mean to always be so aggressive around him, but I am exhausted, and it seems like whenever he is around he always finds a way to put me in a bad mood. I guess if I did have to choose...I know which one of these boys I wouldn’t lose much sleep over.
Instead of making some backhanded comment about my work ethic, he asks to see my phone. When I give him a quizzical look, he quickly adds, “I saw that the screen was broken, and I think it is my fault.”
“You think?” I clamp my mouth shut again. Geez, give the guy a break. I fish it out of my backpack and wave it in front of him. “It’s already done. Nothing you can do about it now.”
“Actually, there is.”
He takes it from me and, pressing his one free hand to the glass window of a nearby classroom, begins to run his thumb is small, slow circles across the screen. It begins to slowly mend right before my eyes. Withi
n a couple of seconds, it is as good as new.
He hands it back to me, and although he doesn’t exactly apologize, the sentiment is plain across his face.
I examine the phone before I shove it back in my pocket. “Thanks.”
He just nods and hurries back into class. I stand there for a moment, both surprised and a little guilty. Maybe I misjudged Flynn. I turn to go, and I think that maybe given a little time, I might lose sleep over him after all.
16
Draven
It’s been nearly a week since I last saw Octavia, and I hate to admit how much I’ve thought about her in that time. Something about that girl...I can’t get her out of my head. She might have four paired, but I only have one. So as soon as Cedric corners me coming home at four-thirty in the morning, I already know what it is about.
“What’s happened?” I ask, and immediately have to change the tone of my voice so it sounds less concerned. “Your father finally kick you out of the family mansion?”
Cedric ignores my jibe. “You need to accompany Octavia to the Ritual complex in the morning.”
“What, you don’t trust her to get there by herself?”
“Shows how well you really know her,” Cedric scoffs. The comment grates at me more than it should. What has Cedric been up to? I haven’t noticed Octavia hanging out around any of the others, except Kendall, but that has to be expected. They’ve been friends for years. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t make my throat tighten with jealousy.
Cedric continues. “But either way, this isn’t about Octavia’s navigating skills, or lack thereof. This is about her safety.”
I straighten up a bit and clear my throat. “She’s in trouble?”
“She got herself identified in a less-than-favorable mage news article.”
“How did she do...that?”
“Why don’t you ask her yourself in the morning?” Cedric pats me on the shoulder and turns to go. “Everyone in the mage world is watching her now. And when we say everyone, we mean everyone. She’s got too much power for her own good.”
Absorb: Book One of the Forgotten Affinities Series Page 9
