Awakened (Unbound, Book 3)

Chapter Sixteen

An hour later, still sitting on the grass at the center of the clearing while Calin barked orders as he walked circles around me, I felt more frustrated than calm. Even with the view from the cliff. He hadn't let me move, telling me to close my eyes and concentrate every time I tried to look at the abandoned campfire on my left or the trees on my right. Not one moment of the peace he induced when he was touching me was produced.

I slapped my palms against my thighs and growled. "I don't have a taproot, Calin. I told you my mom tried getting me to learn this and I couldn't do it."

"In order to find control, calm within a moment's notice despite environmental stimulus, you have to be able to shield yourself from negative energy. That starts with learning how to ground yourself. Draw on the power of nature when you need it and release what you don't need or want."

"With a taproot."

"Yes."

"Sorry." I opened my eyes. "My spine is made of bone. It doesn't merge with anything but my neck and my tailbone, so this is a waste of time."

Calin stopped pacing and squatted in front of me, holding my gaze and resting his hands on his thighs. "If you can't do this—"

"I'll burst?" I puffed out my cheeks and blew, raising my hands to mimic an explosion as I rolled my eyes. Scrambling to my feet, I said, "I get it, okay? My mom referred it to a frozen can of beer or a car's radiator, but yeah. Too much and yadda, yadda, yadda..." Opening my hand and snapping it shut over and over, I crossed my eyes and bounced my head to the rhythm of my voice as I watched my hand snap from left to right, mimicking a person's mouth as it opened and shut to allow words to find sound.

"Nora—"

I dropped my hands and slouched, correcting my vision to bring him into focus. "The problem is, I'm gifted. Like... really off the mark, you know?" I sighed and walked over to the logs around the unlit firepit, and then sat down. "The only way I figured out how to meditate was by visualizing my body's innards at work. Seriously. I'm a Mad Scientist with abilities."

"So then try that," he said, still squatting.

I looked at him and shook my head. "How about no? I'm a sore loser."

"A sore loser or Mad Scientist? Can't be both."

"Scientists fail. I bet they hate it too."

"That's when they get creative and earn the 'mad' in front of 'scientist'." Laughing, Calin stood and walked over to sit on the log next to me. "You've already done it, you know."

"Yeah, okay." I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously. You did. At Dr. Stanzo's. When I was pissed at Duvessa, you calmed me down," he said and watched me, making me feel antsy under the scrutiny. "What were you thinking about then?"

No way was I answering that honestly. "Well, what do you think about?"

"You."

Oh, boy. I jumped up and walked to the edge of the cliff, crossing my arms while I stared straight ahead. Calin followed, stopping two feet behind, and we both watched in silence as the sky changed from blue to purple, then red to black, and the sun set. I'm not sure how long we stood there or if night descended more quickly than usual. Soon, the silver light of the half-moon reflected off the glistening grass, collecting dew as the air chilled, making our skin appear white and glowing, and a haze pooled at our feet as if we stood in a field of smoke.

"Nora."

"What game did Maible like to play?" I asked, not wanting to keep the other topic of conversation alive. "Regarding the Craft? You said it would help."

"Right. Uh, well..." He brought his hand to his mouth and coughed, and then pointed behind us. "Why don't we talk while we walk?"

I glanced down to my watch and back up, shrugging. Supper had passed over an hour ago, so whether I left now or later wouldn't matter—it still meant trouble with Devland, not that I cared. "Sure."

He waited until we reached the path to continue, pulling the first branch out of the way so I could be the first to enter. "Maible used to run down to the library and make notes for every class, as much as she could remember of every lesson. I would read them and add anything I remembered that she didn't, and then she would try again. When she'd get home, she typed it all out."

"Oh, my God! Why?" I stopped and Calin rested his hand on my waist, nudging me to keep moving. "That's torture."

"Not for her," he said. "Torture for Maible is taking classes when you're the only one who can't practice what she was taught. For years, she thought by memorizing those notes—repeating them over and over like we could with actual abilities—she would stumble onto the one thing she was missing that would unlock her power."

"Her trigger."

"Yeah."

We stepped out of the bushes and I moved out of Calin's reach, pausing to look at the sign to Wickenton. Usually, I went over there to feel the difference between being outside of town and within. Today, now that I knew what generated the feeling, I didn't want to. I shook off thoughts of high-tailing it back to Briarville—of leaving this colossal mess for some other unsuspecting do-gooder to clean up—and started towards the car with a sigh, looking at the ground as my toes kicked up clouds of dirt.

We reached the car and he opened my door, waiting to close it before rounding to the driver's side. He stuck the key in the ignition but turned to me and smiled. "Maible saves all her notes, even backs them up on a disc."

"So, I can figure out what I missed compared to what I know?"

"Yep," he said, smiling. Turning on the car, he winked at me before pulling a U-turn back onto the road. "Not only can you read her notes, but they come attached to a pretty awesome tutor. If she can't give you what's needed, my mom can dig up some books from our library."

"That place Duvessa brought me?" My brow furrowed. I didn't want to go back there. Whatever they'd done to it to make it fit for the founding family's children felt wrong. Not the library portion, just that... room. The altar.

He laughed. "Hardly. We have our own at home, and it's better."

Okay... The only books I wanted were my mom's, but since that wasn't happening until I got back to Briarville to search for them, I had to make do. I wasn't too sure of Calin's optimism, either. But he'd just offered me a way to figure out what I had to hide and the best part?

I didn't even have to ask and then explain why I needed it.