The Psychic Within

Chapter 19: Scared

With a yelp, I shoved back from the board, knocking the cup out of the way. It went flying, bouncing off the floor and splitting the crack in its side wide open. The shards scattered everywhere.

A chunk of broken glass skittered across the floor, landing right in front of Luc. He stared down at it for a moment—blinking at it like it was completely foreign to him—before his eyes climbed back to meet mine. His expression was strange—because there was no expression. His features were slack, blank. Only his eyes showed life; wide and wild, they almost glowed in the dying light of the day.

"What the hell are you doing?" he said again, his lips barely moving, his voice whisper quiet.

"I—" I stuttered, unsure where to start.

Luc didn't wait for me to figure it out. Instead he rushed at me. I stumbled back, ducking away from him as he threw himself on the board. He took hold of it and tossed it across the room. It sailed—like an oversized frisbee—into the far wall, leaving a sizeable dent behind before slamming into the floor.

"What the fuck!" I cried, startled.

"I can't believe... I can't believe you just..." he snarled. His back to me, I watched his shoulders shake.

"I'm—I'm sorry!" I said, scrambling to my feet. "I just—"

Before I could get anything more out, Luc span around and pulled me into his arms. His grip was tight, squeezing the air out of me.

"You idiot," he murmured in my ear. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I—" I mumbled back. "I just—I wanted to know!"

He pulled back from me, holding me at arm's length. His gaze roved over me carefully, inspecting me. He looked at me like I had suddenly gone crazy, but it was him that looked deranged.

I waited for a moment for him to say something. When he didn't, I did. "I wanted to know what they wanted," I said, my voice shaking. "The... t-the girls."

"I told you to leave that to me!" Luc snapped, his brow diving into a frown. "You shouldn't be messing around with these things! You know better than that by now, don't you? You could've gotten hurt—something could've hurt you!"

"I know, but—"

"You, of all people, should know just what kind of dangerous things are out there!"

"I know, but—"

"And after everything you should understand that you can't just fool around with this stuff! You need to know how to control it, how to protect yourself—"

"But I am protected!" I screamed, finally freeing myself of his grip. I jabbed my finger at the golden script that ran along the top of the wall. "You said so yourself!"

Luc's gaze followed my finger. I watched as his eyes traced the golden border of his own making. He narrowed his eyes at it, like there was something suspicious there.

"You said nothing dangerous could cross the barrier! Plus I have the key!" I said, digging my hand into my shirt and pulling the chain out. "You said these things would protect me, right? You said that, didn't you?"

"I did, but..."

"But nothing!" I shouted. "I'm not stupid! I may not be an oh-so-holy psychic like you and Tory, but I get it. I understand how dangerous it is. And I wouldn't have done this if I had some other way."

"Some other way?" Luc echoed with a scoff. "I'm the other way!"

"But you won't tell me anything!" I snapped back, my face heating as my volume rose again. "You keep my at arms length and you keep everything to yourself."