The Touch Reader (#1 of the Elemental Originals Series)

Chapter Nine

I stared at the floor, frowning as I let my mind sift through all the information I had learned in the form of a checklist.

Number One: The abilities I have as a Touch Reader are hereditary, meaning that one of my parents was a Touch Reader as well.

Number Two: My parents belonged to the Royal Guard and were one of the most powerful people the recent world has known.

Number Three: I was apparently able to win a fight against Sir Cardinal because of odd memories that seemed so achingly familiar that I wanted to scream in frustration.

Number Four: I managed to use my Frost abilities to form two ice blades before I even had a single lesson.

My brain hurt from thinking about this.

"Hey," Jayden said softly as we walked to lunch, our steps slow. "Sorry for the way my dad treated you. He had no right to do that."

My frown deepened as I looked at the ground. "It's not your fault. I'm just sorry that you had to grow up with a man that insults his own son in front of an entire class."

He sighed. "It's not completely his fault. Something happened years ago that changed him to what he is now. Something bad."

I snorted lightly. "Oh, yeah? What does your mother think about the way he treats her son?"

Jayden stopped walking, making me pause and glance at his suddenly unreadable face.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "Does the 'something bad' have to do with your mom?" He nodded almost imperceptibly.

Rubbing my eyes, I let my voice soften. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

He shook his head slowly. "It's alright. Not your fault my mom died."

I couldn't bring myself to flinch at the statement, even hearing how cold his voice was at it. "Still. I know from experience that it's not cool for people to assume, so I'm sorry I did."

There were several moments of tense silence before he suddenly thrust one hand out, right in front of me. That I did flinch at, my body stiffening as if he were going to hit me, but he didn't.

"Do you want to see?"

My head snapped to his in shock, staring at him incredulously. He looked completely serious, and for the first time since I'd met him, the gold and onyx stars in his eyes were barely there, revealing the emeralds skies behind them in a startling clarity. "What did you say?"

"I want to know if you want to see how my mother died since I was there to witness it."

I stared at him in disbelief. I'm not even going into how morbid that is and straight into asking, "What the hell happened to you wanting me locked up for trying to drain an entire school? Aren't you afraid I'll just suck the power out of you?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Not really. Or at least, not anymore. I trust you."

Trust.

Of all the things I had ever expected someone to say in my short life, I had never expected anyone to tell me that they trusted me, much less the guy who wanted me gone the moment we met.

I regarded him silently. "Are you sure? I might see something else that you don't want me to see. I can't control it very well."

He shrugged. "I'll only focus on this memory so you won't have to try and block anything out."

Studying him silently, I realized that he was completely serious. So, I did what any logical person would do.

I took off one of my gloves and took his hand, letting my mind merge with his as I closed my eyes and waited for the memory to appear.