Discern (Mosaic Chronicles Book 1)

by Andrea Pearson

  Something tickled at the edges of Nicole’s brain and she opened her eyes. With surprise, she watched a juniper tree nearby glow for a moment before fragments of it shredded off and joined the dirt that Austin was controlling. Did that happen because of her?

  Only one way to find out.

  Taking another deep breath, Nicole pushed toward the tree. She grinned as more of it glowed and broke off.

  A sudden warmth flooded over her, starting at the back of her scalp and flowing down, covering her face, neck, and arms. Goose bumps popped up as the warmth rushed through her system, and Nicole smiled when she realized what was happening. The heat was chasing away every ache and pain she’d felt since the entire ordeal began—even the residual bruising from the vines back home. She felt rejuvenated, less tired, more alert. Better than she’d felt in months.

  But why? What was causing it? Nicole stared at the tree, her eyebrows knitted, thinking.

  The feeling had started when she’d pushed at the juniper. Could she get it to continue, to increase? She bit her lips, watching the tree, imagining it disintegrating bit by bit, adding to Austin’s mass of swirling dust. And as she watched, her will became command and even more of the bark glowed, then flung away.

  She could do something! She could help! But the juniper wasn’t enough—Austin still struggled next to her.

  If wood responded to her call, what about the old pioneer homestead? Could it help Austin destroy the beast?

  With a sweep of her gaze, Nicole glared at the cabin, then watched in surprise as a great river of bright, pulsing lights flowed away from her and surrounded the wooden structure. Had she broken the wall of ocean? She couldn’t tell.

  The entire cabin glowed for a brief moment before exploding with a blast that rocked the Jeep and made her ears ring. Shards and slivers pelted Nicole and the men, but Nicole was easily able to ignore them as she melted into the seat of the Jeep, enjoying the warmth that cascaded down her back.

  Now to use the wood. At her encouragement, the fragments got sucked into Austin’s storm, and she felt him increase in strength. His struggling stopped. His storm grew. And Nicole craved and hungered for another wave of heat and well-being.

  She turned her attention to more wide-scale things—every tree and bush she could see. She focused hard, enjoying the feeling as the warmth enveloped her entire body, making her skin tingle. Only a little more focus, and she’d be able to force the wood she now pictured in her mind to join the rest of the dust.

  “Nicole, no!” Coolidge shouted, glancing back at her. “Stop it—you’ll kill yourself!”

  Her mouth popped open. What was he talking about?

  “You’re pushing yourself too hard. Please, trust me. Let it go. You’ve done really well—better than most of my graduate students would have done—but Austin can handle the Shoggoth on his own now. He must do it on his own. We can’t risk your life.”

  Disappointment flooded over Nicole. Would she not even be allowed to help? Wasn’t that why she’d come on the expedition—to prove herself? To prove her abilities? And the first chance she’d been able to do something—to assist in any way—her professor shouts at her?

  Realizing he probably knew what he was talking about, she released her hold on the trees, watching as the bits of wood that had broken away dropped to the ground.

  The heat dissipated from her body, leaving her cold and stiff, but mercifully, the pain stayed away.

  Rain began pouring from the skies. Austin forced lightning to crack overhead, striking the Shoggoth.

  Bolt after bolt slammed into the monster. It roared, fighting against the wind and dust. The juniper tree Nicole had been working on suddenly uprooted itself and joined many other trees as they bashed against the Shoggoth over and over.

  With a huge crash, the beast fell to the ground.

  The storm stopped pelting the creature and things went still.

  Austin frowned, eyes shut tight in concentration. “It’s leaving.”

  “What do you mean?” Nicole asked. “It looks passed out to me.”

  “It’s melting into the ground,” Coolidge said.

  Austin’s expression intensified. The earth on either side of the Jeep rippled. What was he doing?

  With a massive boom, more dust filled the air, making everyone cough.

  The dust settled. No one spoke.

  Austin slumped back into his seat, his chest heaving. He stared at her, almost glaring. The look on his face made her gasp and pull away. Why the sudden animosity? He was looking at her as if he didn’t know her—as if they’d never spoken before and he resented her for being there. What was with him?

  Finally, he turned from her. “I caved it all in. Every opening I could feel. To keep others from finding the creatures. To buy you people more time, hopefully.”

  You people? Was he going to desert them—her—after everything they’d been through?

  “What do you—” Nicole stopped talking when Professor Coolidge sent a warning glance to her.

  She folded her arms and glared out of the Jeep. Fine. She wouldn’t talk. But she hated not knowing what was going on.

  Coolidge finally pulled away from the campsite, making his way across the desert. She stared at the dry landscape, determined to ignore the guy sitting next to her.

  Not long after they left the park, Nicole’s pain and exhaustion returned in a massive wave that pounded against her. She gasped in shock as a migraine split across her head and between her eyes. She slumped in the seat, eyes out of focus, barely breathing. The pain radiated from her skull, pounding against her teeth and backbone and every joint in her body.

  Coolidge looked at her through the rearview mirror, an expression of concern and pity on his face. “Breathe through it, Nicole, breathe through it. You’ll be fine.”

  Nicole sucked in air, trying to maintain consciousness. She looked out the window, barely controlling the urge to bawl from the suffering.

  Gradually, her pain eased away until the body-sized migraine was only at the base of her skull.

  Austin ignored her the rest of the ride back into town.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nicole carefully lowered herself into her seat in the airplane between Austin and Coolidge. She rested her head back and closed her eyes, grateful for pain medication. She wondered if Austin was still not talking to her. He hadn’t responded to anything she or Coolidge had said, pretty much confirming her feelings that he was about to desert.

  Austin’s behavior didn’t seem to bother Coolidge. In fact, he encouraged it by doing some ignoring of his own.

  Nicole had been dying for conversation by the time they got to the airport, but she refused to break the silence herself.

  Her thoughts left Austin and returned to their experiences. It was hard to believe that only a week had passed since they’d flown in to Moab. So much had happened—so many had died. She grimaced, thinking about Sylvia and the family she’d left behind, and about Jason and Camille and Professor Howard . . . people she’d never see again.

  “I’m sorry about your cello,” Austin said, making Nicole jump.

  She frowned, resisting the urge to stare at him. Now he starts talking?

  “I hesitate bringing this up in case I’m wrong,” Coolidge said, “but there’s a chance the university will replace it.”

  Nicole turned to Coolidge. “Really?”

  “Yes. It was destroyed on a university expedition, so they might be accountable. I’ll look into it and let you know.”

  “Regardless, I still feel bad it got ruined,” Austin said.

  Okay, that was it. She wasn’t letting him off the hook. “So you’re talking to me now?” She threw her hands up. “You know what? I don’t get you, Austin.”

  “It’s not what you think,” Coolidge said.

  “Oh, so you’re in on it together? You two . . . you’re ridiculous.” She folded her arms and refused to look at either of them.

  “I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose,”
Austin said. “It’s a part of me I can’t control.”

  Nicole didn’t respond.

  “I’m serious. It happens to all Aretes.” He leaned forward, trying to catch her eye, an anxious expression on his face. “I pushed myself too hard back there.”

  “As did you, Nicole,” Coolidge said.

  “Yeah,” Nicole said, “just like the both of you—it’s been stressful and exhausting.”

  Austin shook his head. “That’s not what we’re talking about. When I push myself too hard, it does temporary damage to my brain. I lose the ability to recognize faces.”

  Nicole frowned, finally looking at him. “You’re serious? Does that happen to everyone?”

  “The temporary damage, yes,” Austin said, “but each Arete reacts differently to overexertion. My dad loses his sight—which, as you can imagine, makes things really stressful.”

  Nicole gasped. “That’s horrible.” She swallowed, trying to collect her thoughts. “Why haven’t I ever heard of this before?”

  Coolidge looked at her. “There’s a lot you don’t know about being an Arete.”

  “I want to understand. I want to learn—to know more.”

  “And that’s a good thing,” Coolidge said, leaning back in his seat.

  “Then tell me more.”

  Coolidge took a deep breath. “Basically, when you push your Arete powers too far, the pineal gland is forced to borrow energy from other areas of the brain, and your body suffers accordingly. As Austin said, it’s different for everyone. I lose my hearing when I push myself too hard.”

  Oh—that explained him yawning and scratching at his ears earlier. “How do you think it’ll be for me?” Nicole asked.

  “We can figure that out now,” Coolidge said. “Tell us how you felt earlier, before I asked you to stop.”

  She shrugged. “Excellent. Energetic. I didn’t hurt anymore, and it was as if I’d gotten plenty of sleep last night.”

  Coolidge and Austin met eyes. “Pain,” Austin said.

  Coolidge saw Nicole’s skeptical expression. “The part of your brain that recognizes pain was targeted—it removed your suffering.”

  “Yes, the pain left, but I also felt energized.”

  Austin spoke over the sound of the jet engines starting. “Pain is on the cellular level. When individual cells no longer suffer, you experience a surge in energy.”

  Nicole internalized that, realizing the implications. “If that’s true, it could be very bad.” She looked at Coolidge, then Austin. “If I stop feeling pain while using magic, how will I know if I’m getting hurt?”

  “Exactly,” Austin said. His gaze met hers, and then he glanced away. “Thanks for your help. I was too distracted to know what you were doing, but I sensed the assistance immediately. If it hadn’t been for you, the Shoggoth would’ve broken through my storm.”

  Coolidge shook his head. “Yes, it helped, but she nearly killed herself in the process. She was controlling wood.”

  “Oh, crap,” Austin said. He looked back to Nicole. “You’re not ready to start working with Earth abilities.”

  Her mouth popped open. “Earth abilities?”

  He nodded. “Manipulating wood falls under Earth.” He glanced at Coolidge. “It explains why she maxed out so suddenly.”

  Coolidge agreed. “You can’t learn other powers yet, Nicole—not until you master Wind properties. It’ll kill you.”

  “I wasn’t aware I was branching out. I thought I was just . . . just telling the bark and cabin to help.”

  “And that’s a power Earth Aretes have,” Austin said. “Most of us never fully master our own power, let alone another Arete’s. You have potential, and a lot of it, if you can already control Earth.”

  Nicole leaned back, thinking that over. She couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her face. “So, I used my magic then.”

  “Yup,” Austin said. He smiled back at her.

  “Does this mean I don’t need to have a focus anymore?”

  Coolidge shook his head. “The cello is still your focus—you’ll use it until you can control your Wind powers without it. Forcing yourself not to use your focus when you aren’t ready can lead to severe damage of the brain.”

  Nicole exhaled quickly. “I had no idea.” Good thing she’d listened to Coolidge earlier.

  No one said anything for a moment, but Nicole wasn’t ready to relax just yet. She still needed to discuss their experiences.

  “Back when Austin caved in the tunnels,” she said, “wouldn’t it have been better for the two of you to use your energy to destroy the Shoggoth instead? Rather than opening us up to an all-out war?”

  Coolidge shook his head. “It was far more powerful than we are.”

  “You saw it fighting the Agarchs,” Austin said, “and you’ve felt its magical pulse. We were no match for it.”

  Coolidge sighed. “Now that we know for sure such creatures exist, it’s better for us to avoid their attention as much as possible.” He plugged in some earbuds. “Though, I doubt they’ll ignore us now.”

  He relaxed, apparently wanting to wind down. Though, how he could after everything they’d gone through, Nicole didn’t know. She was still so wired.

  She peered past Austin as the plane took off, pretending to watch as the ground fell away. She wanted to talk to him—discuss their experiences. Get him to open up more. Figure him out. And maybe kiss him again, if Coolidge continued to ignore them.

  Nicole couldn’t think of a way to start a conversation, though, without her desires being super obvious. And what if Austin wanted to put everything from his mind? What if he wasn’t interested in pursuing anything with her, even friendship?

  She shut her eyes again, trying to forget that he was sitting next to her, close enough where their arms brushed occasionally. It would be so easy to grab his hand. How would he react to something like that? After kissing, it should have been easy. But so much time had passed and so many things had happened since then. What if he no longer felt that way?

  After several minutes, Austin broke the silence, surprising Nicole.

  “You did really well on the expedition, by the way.”

  Nicole looked at him, biting her lip. “Even though I nearly led us to our deaths?”

  “Yes, and it could have been so much worse. What if the group that found the creatures had been regular people? Or what if we’d wandered into the middle of a cannibalistic coven of deformed humans, also surrounded by Shoggoths and Agarchs?”

  She didn’t respond at first, trying not to picture what would have happened in either of those cases. “That’s true. But if I were more powerful, more able to sense magic, I still might have been able to tell the difference—to know that we wouldn’t end up finding survivors by following the Agarchs’ pulses.”

  “It’s possible. But I don’t believe so.”

  Austin’s phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at it.

  A picture of Savannah flashed across the screen, and Austin squeezed his eyes shut. He ran a hand through his dark hair, then fisted it on his thigh, his jaw working. He didn’t need to say anything for Nicole to tell he was conflicted. Obviously, he still had feelings for Savannah. No wonder he’d been so standoffish with Nicole! But he had feelings for her too—she’d felt it, could feel it now.

  Austin looked out the window for a minute, then back to Nicole and started talking again. The moment the words were out of his mouth, he had Nicole’s complete attention.

  “A while ago,” he said, “you asked me something. Or, you were going to, but I didn’t let you.”

  It felt like every cell in Nicole’s body was listening, waiting to hear what he’d say.

  “The thing is, Nicole, you were awesome down there. Compared to Judith Ann especially. I had high expectations for her because of her abilities. I never thought someone who can’t even Channel properly would be able to stand her ground so well against such horrors.”

  Nicole waited for him to cont
inue, sensing—hoping—he had more to say.

  “So, yes, I’d love to help you figure out your powers.”

  A huge grin split across Nicole’s face. “Really? Oh, Austin, I’d appreciate it so much!”

  He grunted and looked out the window again.

  Nicole’s grin widened. Such an Austin reaction.

  She touched his arm. “I am serious. It means a lot to me.”

  Austin glanced at her hand, then raised his gaze to her face. His expression was intense, and Nicole couldn’t read the emotion behind it. She hesitated and pulled away, but Austin stopped her, interlacing his fingers through hers. He brought her hand up, brushing the back of her fingers across his lips, a smile raising one corner of his mouth.

  He set their hands down, but didn’t let go. “I’m excited to begin.”

  Nicole returned his smile with a grin of her own. So was she.

  Obviously, Austin had decisions to make, and Nicole didn’t want to compel him to pick her. It was his choice, and only he would know what was best for him.

  But she hoped he’d fall for her and forget Savannah.

  ***

  The moment Nicole stepped into the apartment, Lizzie’s arms flung around her.

  “Oh, my gosh, Nicole, I missed you so much!”

  “Same,” Nicole said. She cringed as Lizzie hugged her. “Too tight, girl, too tight. I’m really bruised.”

  Lizzie stepped back. “Oops. Sorry.” She studied her friend’s face. They’d had time to talk on the phone during Nicole’s layover in Salt Lake City, so she knew what had happened. “You doing okay?”

  “As good as can be expected.” Nicole dropped her things onto the leather couch and sank down. “Coolidge called me right before I pulled up. The officials have released the names of the dead, those who are still missing, and the survivors.”

  “And?”

  “Sylvia lived. Actually, most of Coolidge’s students are still alive, thank goodness.”