Awaking (The Naturals, #1)

by Freeman, Madeline

  “Morgan?” Kellen asked after his initial hello went unanswered.

  “Yeah,” Morgan managed to say.

  “I figured you’d call today.”

  He said it with such certainty that Morgan was taken aback. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Kellen laughed on the other side of the line. “Don’t get all offended. You’re a curious girl; I figured you’d call eventually with some questions.”

  “And you figured it’d be today?”

  “Yes. You got something to write on?”

  “Um…” Morgan’s eyes scanned the vicinity. She found a pen, but nothing to write on. Pinning her phone between her shoulder and ear, she poised the pen over her palm. “Yeah. Ready.”

  Kellen recited some directions and Morgan wrote them—as small as possible—on her hand. When he finished telling Morgan how to get to their rendezvous location, he bid her farewell and hung up. Morgan put her phone down and started her car.

  It took twenty minutes to arrive at the location Kellen’s directions led. Morgan wasn’t familiar with the area, so she found herself checking and rechecking the words on her palm.

  She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what she found. Kellen’s directions led to a subdivision filled with luxury condominiums. When she parked and got out of her Honda Civic, she felt slightly bad for not having stopped to wash the car before arriving. The few automobiles visible as she walked up the driveway were spotless SUVs and sports cars.

  When she arrived at the front door, her hand barely had time to lift to knocking position before the door opened, revealing Kellen, who had evidently just gotten out of the shower. He wore a pair of dark washed blue jeans, as usual, but no shirt, and he was towel-drying his hair as he stepped out of the doorway to allow Morgan passage.

  Morgan walked into the house, attempting to take everything in. Opulence was the only word that came to mind as she walked down a hallway decorated with handsomely framed canvasses interspersed with ornate sconces. Kellen ushered her into what appeared to be a living room: the carpet a rich cream color; the walls just hinting at gold; the couch, love seat, and chair all of a soft brown leather.

  Morgan sat down on the couch and marveled at the glass-topped coffee table before her; there was no dust, no fingerprints, not even a water ring from a cold glass.

  As Kellen sat down beside her, she turned to him. “Whose place is this?”

  Kellen seemed mildly amused by this question. “Mine.”

  “You own this place?”

  Kellen shrugged. “Don’t need to.” Then, to answer Morgan’s unvoiced question, he added, “Orrick owns it.”

  “You live here by yourself?”

  At this, Kellen smiled in earnest, and it was not lost on Morgan that he still wasn’t wearing a shirt. “Would you be jealous if I said I shared this place with a gorgeous supermodel?”

  Morgan rolled her eyes.

  Kellen chuckled. “Yes, I live here by myself.”

  Morgan surveyed the room. “How do you keep it so clean?”

  Kellen looked offended. “What? You think since I’m a guy living alone this place should be some kind of cesspool or something? I happen to appreciate order. And beauty.” As he said the last part, his eyes found hers and held them.

  “So,” she said, shifting slightly in her seat, “when you figured I’d call today, what’d you figure I’d be calling about?”

  Kellen leaned forward. “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, his voice low. Then, abruptly, he straightened, putting distance between them again. “Your powers. I could tell you were upset the other day when I said you were sloppy. I thought you’d want to start some training.”

  “How are you supposed to train me? I mean—you’re not a Feeler, but I am, right?”

  Kellen shrugged. “I don’t think there’s one label we can apply to you.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “That’s a very good thing. It confirms what Orrick already knows.”

  “That I’m the One?”

  Kellen smiled. “Yes.”

  “I’m still not sure I’m sold on that.”

  “If Orrick says you are, then you are.”

  Morgan cocked her head inquisitively. “You’ve got a lot of faith in him, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely. He’s a great man.” He leaned in toward Morgan. “You should trust him.”

  “I know—I do.”

  Morgan intended for her assertion to reassure Kellen, and for him to back away again, but he didn’t. Instead, he stayed close, his eyes traveling the length of her body. When his gaze was once again fixed on her eyes, he spoke.

  “Tell me what I’m feeling.”

  Morgan, who had been focusing all her energy on not shifting under Kellen’s gaze, was momentarily thrown by the demand. After a moment, she got her bearings and focused her mind. She closed her eyes and allowed her breath to fall into the same easy cadence it always did during her readings. When she reached out, she could feel Kellen’s energy, but it was muted—blocked behind the same sort of wall Lucas usually had up.

  “I can’t,” she said, opening her eyes. “You’re blocking me.”

  “That’s true,” Kellen said quietly. “But I still need you to tell me what I’m feeling.”

  “Well, then, stop blocking me—”

  “Push through it.” Kellen’s hazel eyes were intent.

  For an instant, Morgan considered telling him that she didn’t know how, but she knew her words would be ignored. Instead, she closed her eyes again and reached out with her mind. When she came up against the barrier again, she attempted to simply push forward. Predictably, it didn’t work. For a few moments, she just sat, considering her options. If she couldn’t knock it over, perhaps she could tear it down? Or maybe just create a hole large enough to get through. But how could she dismantle something that didn’t really exist?

  If the barrier between herself and Kellen were real, she wondered, what would it look like? The first image that popped into her head was a brick wall, so she decided to go with it. She began to scan the wall for any chinks, any weak spots. On first glance, the wall looked to be impenetrable, but when she looked a little closer, she saw two bricks that were crumbling slightly. She focused her energy there and slowly, steadily, the bricks disintegrated, as did the bricks surrounding them, until there was a hole large enough for Morgan to reach through.

  “You’re curious,” Morgan said. “Excited. Anxious, a little. And… powerful. There’s power coursing through you—more than I’ve picked up on before.”

  “Good… That’s good.”

  Morgan opened her eyes. “Why is that? Why are you so much more powerful?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe you’re just better at detecting it.” Before Morgan had a chance to respond, he was talking again. “That night with Lucas, you were able to Move some things, right? Why don’t you try that now?”

  Morgan considered this. She hadn’t attempted to Move anything since taking Lucas’s fedora on the street. The only other times she’d Moved anything, she hadn’t meant to. “I’m really not sure how—”

  “You weren’t sure how to get into my mind when I was blocking you, either, but you did it.” Kellen leaned back against the couch, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Let’s see it, then.”

  Morgan’s first instinct was to argue, but he did have a point. She turned her attention to the living room. She wanted so start with something easy—a piece of paper or a shoe—but a quick look around the room revealed no such targets. After a short debate, she decided on the lamp on the end table beside the chair. The lamp was unlike anything she’d seen before: anchored to a thin metal square were at least a dozen spikes protruding upward, each terminating in a glass sphere. It looked light enough, so she focused her energy toward it.

  After what felt like an eternity, nothing happened and Morgan turned back to Kellen. “I can’t.”

  Kellen sighed, repositioning his arms acr
oss his chest. “Just because you didn’t doesn’t mean you can’t. Try again.”

  Morgan pursed her lips and turned back to the lamp. Again she focused on it, imagined it hovering, and again, nothing happened.

  “It’s not working,” she said after a few minutes.

  “What do you want me to do about it?”

  “Well, you’re a Mover, right? Tell me how I’m supposed to do it.”

  “Why do you need me to tell you? You’ve done it before.”

  “But that was different.”

  “Really, how so?”

  “I don’t know—it just was.”

  “You know what I think?” Kellen asked, sitting up straighter and positioning his arms by his sides.

  “No.”

  “I think you don’t want to do it. I think you’re afraid that if you can do this on your own, you won’t need me anymore and I’ll leave you, like your mom did—”

  Morgan slapped Kellen as hard as she could. “Don’t you dare say that about my mother—”

  From behind her, Morgan heard a crash and the sound of glass breaking. She spun around to find the lamp had fallen to the floor and smashed into a thousand tiny pieces.

  Kellen began clapping slowly. “Well done.”

  Morgan turned back to him, aware of the sting on her palm from its contact with his face. “Kellen, I’m sorry, I was just so mad—”

  But Kellen didn’t look upset. “I know you were mad. And I’m sorry for the low blow, but I knew bringing up your mom would make you angry.”

  “Wait—you were trying to make me angry?” Suddenly the red mark on Kellen’s cheek didn’t make Morgan feel so bad.

  He smiled. “Sometimes, when you’re not in control of your powers yet, you can focus more when you’re in a heightened emotional state. Anger was the easiest for me to get you to feel.”

  “Wait—is that why—? In Orrick’s office I kind of…”

  “Sent things flying?” Kellen supplied.

  She nodded. “After he told me I was the One.”

  “Fear, maybe. Panic. Either one could’ve pushed you to Moving the things around you.”

  Morgan turned again to the shattered lamp. “I’m sorry about that. Where’s your broom? I’ll sweep it up.” She got so far as to stand before Kellen grabbed her wrist and tugged her down again.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have Donna clean it up later,” he said, not removing his hand from her wrist.

  “Donna?”

  “The maid. When she’s done upstairs, I’ll have her take care of it.”

  “Wait—she’s here?”

  “Yes. Can’t you Feel her?”

  “I wasn’t exactly trying—”

  “That’s no excuse,” Kellen said. “In order to gain more control over your abilities, you have to use them. As a Feeler, you should never be surprised by a person’s presence somewhere—you should always be able to Feel a person’s energy, even if you can’t see the person.”

  “Okay, okay,” Morgan muttered. Closing her eyes, she bid her mind to reach out. She felt Kellen, of course, but she ignored his energy, pushing past him, imagining her mind to be moving through the ceiling.

  After a few moments, Morgan became aware of a faint glimmering pulse of energy. This, she decided, must be Donna. The energy felt busy, task-oriented, but muted.

  “She’s common?” Morgan guessed, opening her eyes.

  Kellen chuckled. “Of course. Do you think a Veneret would be caught dead as a maid?”

  Morgan bristled, pulling her wrist away from Kellen’s hand. “You say that like the common are so beneath you.”

  “Beneath us,” Kellen corrected. “Because they are. They’re not like us. They’re weak. Like I told you last night—they can’t even use the little bit of power they have.”

  Kellen’s casual reference to their conversation last night sounded harsh and discordant in Morgan’s ears. Something wasn’t right about what happened last night. Then, like a cold rush of water, images came to Morgan’s mind. Ris on a couch, unresponsive. Kellen positioned over her—

  “You took energy from Ris,” she said quietly.

  “Yes.” He said it matter-of-factly.

  “Oh, my god.” Morgan pushed herself against the arm of the couch—as far away from Kellen as she could get. “You took her energy at the first party, too. And I didn’t—I didn’t stop you. I haven’t told anyone—”

  “You haven’t told anyone because I haven’t wanted you to,” Kellen said, his voice low. He leaned toward her, hazel eyes gazing intently into hers.

  “You Pushed me. I was gonna tell and you—you Pushed me so I wouldn’t—”

  “Yes. And if you don’t stop now, I’ll do it again.”

  Morgan stood and pulled her cell phone from her back pocket, her only thoughts to tell Corbin and Lucas what was happening.

  Kellen stood, too, and grabbed Morgan by the shoulders, turning her so she was facing him. “Put the phone away,” he said, his voice even.

  Morgan’s finger hovered over her phone’s call button, but she did not press it. “I have to—”

  Kellen shook his head. He didn’t say anything, but Morgan knew he didn’t need to. He was right, after all, she didn’t need to call anyone. Ris was fine. Everyone was fine.

  She slid her phone back into her pocket.

  “That’s a good girl,” Kellen said, smiling.

  Morgan nodded vaguely. “I’ll see you tonight?”

  Kellen’s eyebrows furrowed.

  “Corbin’s band is playing at the Daily Grind.”

  “Oh. Wouldn’t miss it.”

  Morgan nodded again and started toward the front door. “Okay, then, I’ll see you tonight.”

  Kellen followed her and opened the front door when he arrived. “You’re going home now.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes. Home.”

  “Drive safe.”

  Morgan waved at him and walked to her car. When she got behind the wheel, she had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right, but she pushed it away. She had to drive home now.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Morgan pulled into the parking lot of the Daily Grind just before seven that night.

  “You think we’ll get a good seat?” Ris asked as she got out of the car.

  Morgan shrugged, falling into step beside her friend. “Don’t they have, like, special seating for the girlfriend?”

  “I’m not his girlfriend.”

  “I think the kiss you landed on him last night tells a different story.”

  Ris stopped walking. “Wait—I what? I kissed Corbin last night?”

  Morgan stopped too and turned to her. “Yeah. You don’t remember?”

  Ris covered her face with her hands. “I thought that was a dream.” She removed her hands and started walking again. “I can’t believe it.”

  Morgan put her arm around Ris’s waist. “Look on the bright side. It wasn’t your first kiss with Corbin anyway. You kissed when you went out before.”

  “Yeah, in the fifth grade.”

  Morgan held open the front door for Ris and followed her in. The band was setting up in the front and Lucas was, as promised, behind the counter. She scanned the rest of the main room, which was more crowded than usual, and saw Lia sitting at a table right in front of the band. When she noticed Morgan, she waved enthusiastically and indicated the empty seats around her.

  Morgan pinned a smile to her face and started over to Lia.

  “I thought you were kidding about meeting Lia here,” Ris said quietly as they approached.

  “Hi!” Lia greeted brightly, looking more genuinely pleased to see Morgan than Morgan ever recalled. “Have a seat.”

  Morgan did as she was told. “Hey, Lia. Great seats.”

  “I know, right?” Lia glanced up toward the stage area and waved demurely at Corbin, who seemed to have noticed their arrival.

  The wave was not lost on Ris who immediately stood up. “I think I’m gonna go say hi,”
she said, starting toward the stage.

  Lia watched Ris go with mild interest. When Ris greeted Corbin with a deliberate kiss on the cheek, Lia turned her attention back to Morgan. “I was really surprised you called.”

  Morgan shrugged. “Lucas made me.”

  Lia laughed.

  Morgan smiled, deciding not to point out she hadn’t been joking. “I was gonna head up to get something to drink—you want something?”

  Lia looked surprised by Morgan’s offer. She turned to the menu board. “Sure. I’ll have—”

  “Don’t bother. Lucas’ll just insult your choice and make you something different anyway.” Without waiting for a response, Morgan headed up to the counter.

  Lucas greeted her with a smile. “Long time no see.”

  “How was the family picnic thing?”

  He shrugged. “Lame, as expected. But the food was pretty good, so I can’t complain too much. Ready for your mystery drink?”

  “Yes. And one for Lia and one for Ris, too, please.”

  Lucas nodded and set to work.

  Morgan watched him. “I’m calling my freebie, by the way.”

  “What?”

  “The free drink you promised me on the night of the fedora. I’m cashing it in. And I think Lia’s drink should be on you because you’re the one who wanted me to invite her.”

  Lucas turned his attention from the task at hand momentarily. “Oh, really now. And what about Ris’s drink?”

  “Oh, I’ll pay for hers.”

  He smiled and turned back to the drinks. One by one he placed three drinks on a tray, indicating which was for whom.

  Morgan started rifling through her purse for her wallet but Lucas waved a hand at her.

  “On the house.”

  “Thanks. Aren’t you gonna tell me what they are?”

  He shook his head. “Tell you what—you guess correctly and the next round’s on the house, too.”

  Morgan smiled. “Challenge accepted.” She picked up the tray and walked back over to Lia’s table.

  Ris had returned and she and Lia seemed to be making polite small talk. Morgan set the tray down and passed out the drinks.

  “Don’t ask me what they are; Lucas wouldn’t tell me. But feel free to hazard a guess.”