Awaking (The Naturals, #1) (19 page)

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

Kellen sighed, repositioning his arms across 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.”

Lia took a sip of her drink. “Oh, this is really good.” Then she glanced up at Morgan. “How much do I owe you?”

Morgan just shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks,” Lia said.

Ris raised an eyebrow at Morgan, who raised an eyebrow back.

Lia turned her attention back to Ris. “I didn’t realize you and Corbin were a couple.”

Color rose to Ris’s cheeks. “Oh—we’re not. Not officially, or anything. We’ve just been hanging out lately.”

Lia nodded appreciatively before turning her attention toward Morgan. “And you? Any special guy in your life, Morgan?”

“What? No.”

Lia looked like she was going to ask another question, but Dreamers Often Lie took that moment to thank the crowd gathered in the Daily Grind for coming out to see them. Lia turned her attention to the stage.

The music was good and loud enough to hinder conversation. Morgan had to admit they did a decent job with their covers. The crowd seemed to agree and a few songs in, a group of people got up and started dancing near the entrance. Ris got up to dance, too, and even managed to persuade Lia to join her. Under the guise of saving their seats, Morgan stayed at the table.

She allowed her gaze to drift between Corbin on stage and Ris and Lia dancing. As another song ended, a thought suddenly surfaced as if from a great depth: Kellen said he would be here.

Immediately, Morgan began scanning the room for him, but it was impossible to see through the bodies of so many people.

Then she realized something: She had something better than eyes for seeking people out. Hadn’t Kellen said she should never be surprised by a person’s presence? That she should always know who was around her?

Knowing she’d look silly closing her eyes in this environment, Morgan kept her eyes open as she pushed out with her mind, trying to locate Kellen’s energy. Almost immediately, she felt Lucas and Corbin. Their energies were so familiar to her, they seemed to jump out above the rest. When she pushed a little further she felt Lia and, more faintly, Ris.

Other energies ebbed and flowed around her—elation, irritation, sadness, affection. But she pushed all the unfamiliar energies away and tried to tune herself to the one she was searching for—the one that was Kellen.

And then, suddenly, she Felt him. He was there, in the coffee house—in the back room they’d spoken in the first time she’d been here. Tesin and Wen were with him, along with a dozen or so other people—some common, some Veneret.

Morgan smiled, impressed with herself. Maybe getting better with her abilities wouldn’t be so difficult after all.

Up front, Corbin was speaking into his microphone. “Hope you all enjoyed the first set. We’re gonna take a short break, so don’t go anywhere. We’ve got another set coming up.” With high-fives to the band’s other guitarist and its bass player, Corbin hopped off the makeshift stage and was immediately swarmed by at least a dozen people.

Morgan couldn’t help smiling. Corbin the rock star.

Turning her attention back to the glass in front of her, Morgan pulled on the straw a few times, finishing off the beverage within. She noticed Lia making her way back to the table, so she took the opportunity to go to the counter for a refill.

After waiting in line for a few minutes, Morgan set her glass on the counter triumphantly. “Get ready to make me another free drink, Kenrick.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really. You figured it out, then?”

“It’s a chai. Only you did something sneaky to it.”

“Interesting guess. Can you identify said sneakiness?”

“That wasn’t part of the deal,” Morgan said, pointing at him. “You just said to guess what it was, not to guess what craziness you did to it.”

“Fair enough.” Lucas smiled. “Another, then?”

“I trust you.”

Lucas took her glass and set to work on her next drink. As Morgan watched him, she allowed her mind to wander, to encounter the different energies buzzing around the room. She wondered if it would be possible to identify each one individually—to count them all.

When Lucas set the drink in front of her, he looked at her quizzically.

“What?”

“You just seem… more focused than you were earlier.”

“Less fuzzy?”

Lucas grinned. “Definitely less fuzzy.”

“Kellen’s here—did you know that?”