Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter Sixty-One

I turned off the recorder and leaned back in my chair.

Maible had found me in fifth period, and we'd come straight to Celestial Java after the trip was announced by Mr. Corbin. It made me happy that he sounded angry as he spoke, though my anger had sizzled as I learned the details. It had felt like someone had punched me when I'd learned the specifics of the trip, like Devland having a yacht and being willing to ban me from it.

"You are a rock star." Maible smiled, her full lips, so much like my own, curving up in admiration. "I wish that had been videotaped instead so I could see the looks on their faces! Can you make me a copy? I'm going to cherish that forever."

I shrugged. The café was nearly empty except for one other table, a business meeting just wrapping up so everyone could get home to their families in time for supper. I envied them their normalcy.

"Aren't you happy about this?" Maible asked and I forced a smile. "You don't seem pleased."

"Yeah, well, at the time I hadn't realized that the field trip they'd been talking about was two nights on a yacht I didn't know Devland owned."

"Are you surprised, though? Really?" She snorted. "You live in that Manor, Noreena. It's not like he can't afford it."

I looked at her in shock, my coffee cup held in midair, paused on its trajectory towards my mouth as her words reached fruition. What the hell? Where had the hostility come from? Was it about the money? I'd never flaunted it, and aside from the car I drove and the dress I'd bought her, I didn't even use it. The money I'd inherited from my mom was controlled, barely touched as I went out of my way to find inexpensive things for us to do.

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"Is something wrong?"

"No—I don't know." Maible stood, looking confused. "I'm sorry, okay? I gotta pee."

I watched as she hurried into the back of the café and disappeared behind the bathroom door. What the hell was her problem? Sometimes she got so moody, so suddenly, I felt like she was a completely different person, no longer the friend I loved spending time with. Was I missing something? Maybe I should ask how things were at home for her. She hadn't alluded to any problems.

"Refill?" I looked up to see Luna staring down at me with a friendly smile and a half-filled pot of coffee poised over my cup.

"Please." I nudged the cup forward with my knuckle so that it would be easier for her to pour. "Thank you."

Instead of heading back behind the till or cleaning the table the business people had vacated, she sat down and placed the coffee pot in front of her. "Your friend doesn't look very happy."

I shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know why." I stirred my coffee and took a grateful sip.

"She's troubled, though she doesn't know why." Luna traced the lettering of the coffee pot, concentrating on something only she could see.

"Do you know why?" I leaned forward. "You sense emotions then? Like some sort of, uh, empathy—empathic ability?"

She nodded and looked up to make eye contact. I'd thought her a ditzy hippy until that moment, but looking at her now, I saw she'd achieved a rare clarity of life around her. The pain, sadness, joy—all human emotion was reflected in her eyes if she let you see. It was no wonder she hid behind a façade of a brainless love child who believed in flower power and free love.

"I'm sorry for your loss, by the way." She patted my hand. "I would have said it before, but the place was so full and I didn't think that, with all that grief you've been feeling, you needed the attention."

"Thank you," I said and looked down. "You knew my mom?"

"Not really." She smiled and my heart fell. "Only through Zachariah."

"Zachariah?"

She nodded with the hint of a smile. Right. She could sense my emotions. She knew before I voiced it what my opinion of him had been, even if it had been lessened by the fact that he'd died.

"He was a good friend to me," she said. "He introduced me to your mother, but I'm afraid we never really got to know each other that well. She seemed a lovely lady. I can tell that you miss her very much."

"I do," I agreed. "She was my mom. You only get one of those."

"I know." She patted my hand and raised her eyes to the back of the room where we could hear the running water as Maible washed her hands. "Look, I know it's hard. It gets better. If you ever need to talk or get out of that stuffy Manor for a while, give me a call. I've always got room for a friend of Zach's."

"We weren't—"

"I know, but he'd want you to have somewhere to get away." She winked and stood. "He told me how hard that place was for your mom."

I nodded and she walked away as Maible shuffled back to the table, obviously still in a mood. "Are we ready to go?"

"Sure." I shrugged, preoccupied with thoughts of Luna and Zach. I'd never imagined him with friends before, my mother excluded, though he'd been her mentor more than he'd been her friend. I didn't have a word to describe what he'd been to me. It was nice to know he had at least one true friend.

"See you girls soon," Luna said as she followed behind us so that she could lock up, all signs of the serious woman I'd just met banished as though a hallucination.

"See you," Maible mumbled and pushed through the door, letting it slam carelessly back in my face. I stopped, surprised, and looked over my shoulder.

"Thank you." I smiled, trying to be respectful after Maible's thoughtlessness.

"It's my pleasure."

I opened the door and paused, turning for one last parting, "Luna? I'm sorry for your loss, too. My mother thought the world of Zach."