“Oh, then you’ll be with me! I’m a kinetic, but I’m still working on consistency,” she says quickly as if she’s worried I’m going to ask her for a demonstration.
“Great.” I fake a smile. I doubt very much she will be happy to train with me when she finds out I don’t have any ability, let alone a mental one. “So what’s it like? How do we train?”
“No need to worry about that, Briar. You’ll be training with me,” Mick pipes up. You’d think I’d be more aware of my surroundings, but it appears I’m just as clueless as I am challenged when it comes to directions.
“Oh wow,” Oshea whispers in awe. I can’t tell if her wide-eyed stare is for Mick or the fact that he’s personally training me.
I want to argue with him for some reason and make the case that I’m better off with Oshea and her instructor, but I don’t. Mick knows what I am, and while I don’t have any real hope he’ll be able to train me at using my magic, there is other knowledge I can benefit from, and I would be stupid to deny it.
I take my eyes off Mick long enough to see Hawk is indeed still staring at me. Mick looks over his shoulder, where my gaze is trained, and says, “It doesn’t look like he’s ready to forgive and forget.”
“Nope. What are the rules about challenges?”
“He can’t—” Oshea stops mid-answer, sealing her lips together, and I realize it’s because Mick is scowling at her.
“There’s a three-day healing period,” Mick supplies, and Oshea nods quickly. It bothers me that he cut her off, but it doesn’t surprise me. Hierarchies are a way of life, even if I don’t like it.
“That’s good to know.” I breathe a little easier—for now anyway.
“Hawk’s not known for following the rules,” Mick supplies.
“Great,” I mutter and focus on my new tutor. At least he isn’t as big as Ziv. The unintentional thought of him hurts, especially after the incident in the hall when I thought he was near. “Let’s get to work.”
“Eager to show off?” He misses the mark entirely, but I don’t bother telling him that. “Why don’t we start with your friend here.” Mick motions to Oshea, who seems to go pale with the attention. “What can you do?” It’s clear they have never interacted before by his lack of knowledge.
“I can move things with my mind,” she answers.
“Interesting.” He stares at me, probably wondering how that will work against me. I lick my lips, coming up with an idea onthe fly. This may work in my favor—I hope anyway. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Shouldn’t we warm up?” Oshea glances between me and Mick as if I’m part of the decision making.
“Do you think you’ll have time to warm up at the Undertaking?” Mick’s demeanor shifts, becoming much more serious as he probes.
“No.” Oshea doesn’t meet his eyes when she answers.
“No, you won’t. Now find an open spot on the field,” he instructs.
Oshea springs into action, hustling over to an area that has boxes and a bunch of other objects lying around like some sort of junkyard. Some of the items are as small as my palm, and others are as big as a horse. After hearing what her ability is, I know what to expect, but it doesn’t mean I like it. I hate the thought of being put on display, and I can pretty much bet everyone is going to be watching, especially after last night.
I follow Oshea, feeling a little bad that she got roped into my problem, but also relieved that her ability may allow me to hide what I am a little longer. I face off with the female, familiar with how these things usually play out, and she doesn’t waste any time sending a rock, about the size of a small cat, sailing toward me.
I’m a little slow on the uptake, but I manage to get my arm up and shift it to the side, pretending as if I am controlling the rock and diverting it from hitting me when in reality it’s what would have happened no matter what. It’s almost like there’s a force field around me in some ways.
Oshea reacts to the rock shifting paths and retakes control, but when she directs it back at me, the same thing happens—it gets deflected. Frustration shows on her face when she scrunches up her nose and bares her teeth. Seeing her standingstill gives me the confidence to do the same and stop pretending to use my hands to ward off her magic.
It’s only when someone screams behind me that I look over my shoulder to see another object, this one littler, soaring over a small group that ducks to avoid being hit with it. I didn’t even realize she was sending another attack. Thankfully, she’s still working on that consistency, or I might not have even been aware.
She huffs. “How are you doing that? I can’t even feel you pulling it away from me.”
“I’m not. I’m just making sure it doesn’t hit me,” I answer just before a metal box flips through the air and crashes to the ground ten feet before reaching me.
Oshea is breathing heavily. Clearly, she’s straining herself, but her magic is barely affecting me. I would have to do this all day, maybe even longer, before I felt the drain I usually do with more direct magic.
“You need to work on your endurance,” Mick tells Oshea, whose face goes red at the censure, but she nods in agreement anyway. To me, he questions, “Is that how it always works?”
I peer around, wishing there weren’t so many eyes and ears on us. “Pretty much,” I hedge.
Mick searches our immediate vicinity, and I know he’s looking for someone else to test me against. The heaviness of defeat lands on my shoulders. If I could let it crush me, I would.
