“You mean killed?” Willow’s voice rang out across the room.
Serena gestured to Lucas. “You want to take this question?”
“Yes, that’s what Serena means,” said Lucas, more harshly than he intended.
“That’s barbaric!” Willow’s blue eyes flashed as their gaze locked. The charge of electricity ever present between them intensified. Tingles coursed through his body as he became hyperaware of her. He didn’t deny her claim, and silence stretched across the room.
When Serena cannonballed through his mind, he knew she was alerted to the tension between him and Willow. Unable to breach his defensive blocking, she walked over to him and stood beside him with an easy familiarity, and possessiveness. Judging by Granger’s grin, and the pointed looks of the other mentors, it would be across the Sanctuary within a day. Serena’s games had been only one of many reasons their affair had crashed and burned so quickly.
Thankfully, Gabriel interrupted the escalating tension. “What if one of us did not want to come?”
Tyler leaned back on his chair. “Y’all, that’s what happened to me. I got bundled into a van, got knocked out and ended up in this joint.”
Serena lay her palms on the table. “We can’t risk exposure to the wider world. Globalization and the rise of instant communication have made anonymity increasingly difficult.” She offered a strained smile to Tyler. “In the past, we approached newly activated Starborn and gave them time to think about joining The Order, but we can no longer risk them discussing it with friends or posting it on social media.” Her tone deepened with derision. “Discovery risks the lives of their family members and friends.”
She fixated on Paige. “If someone had your mother, your father or your boyfriend, and threatened their life and tortured them, would you burn down a police station? A kindergarten?”
Paige’s face drained of all color.
Serena gestured to Tyler. “Would you create a cyclone so a construction company had endless work so they wouldn’t kill your grandmother?” With her hands on her hips she addressed the neophytes with urgency. “There are horrific things we can do if we’re forced. There are horrific things others can do if they want our power.”
Serena’s gaze rested on him as she continued. “Some of us here wished to God they had been taken into The Order before others had found them and their family.”
He stiffened. Serena was hitting below the belt and she knew it. Adrenalin pumped through his body as memories flooded his mind. Memories he’d worked so hard to bury. Feelings that had somehow resurfaced with the arrival of Willow Trilby and now threatened to rage out of control with just a nudge from Serena. Tension rippled through his body and he took a few deep breaths. He waited for everyone to turn and stare at him, but the neophytes were fixated on Serena and her dire warnings. Desperate for escape, he waited a few minutes and then slipped quietly out of the library. His destination—the boxing ring in the Sanctuary’s gym. An hour later, he sat on the locker room bench, his body wet with perspiration and his mind clear again. Only then could he return to the induction class. Two weeks of Serena’s antics and the close proximity of the hypnotic Willow Trilby were surely going to send him crazy.
13
Willow
Willow listened to Serena continue her sermon on the evils of man and the need for The Order of Orion to maintain its secrecy. Sure, she was captivated by the idea of a secret society, who wouldn’t be? And after so many years of hiding her emotional telepathy, hearing the journeys of others was intoxicating. But their ideas were archaic, terrifying even. The other neophytes showed no hesitation, their eyes dancing with excitement as they sat on the edge of their seats and soaked up the Starborn stories. A man who could levitate. A woman who could manipulate the weather. A teenager who could astral travel. If she could just shake the feeling of being recruited into a cult, then she too could fully enjoy the whole new world being shared PowerPoint presentation style. She couldn't let her suspicions stop her from using every resource at her disposal to find Eve. If that meant subjugating herself to a Vampire Academy type training program, then she was all in. Embracing this world would hopefully be the ticket to finding Eve.
Once again, she glanced over at the back wall to the space where Lucas had been standing earlier. Relief had surged through her when she’d entered the induction room and seen him standing there. His arms had been folded across his broad chest, but his beautiful eyes had softened when they’d looked into hers. And now with him gone again, she felt the loss with startling sharpness. The other mentors, including the good looking Granger, still stood at the back of the room, observing.
“Look sharp, everyone,” Serena called out as she noticed a few neophytes slumping in their chairs. “It’s time for some fun.” She moved to stand near a tall, freestanding lamp. “There are six houses of Starborn ability and you’re about to get real live demos.” Her smile appeared genuine as she surveyed the group. “I shall start with the first, and which I of course think is the best!”
Willow braced herself for something to fly through the air, her survival instincts in overdrive. She noticed the others also looking around, suspicious of what would happen next.
And then it happened. Serena, who stood in front of them smiling, disappeared. As in, click and she was gone. Into. Thin. Air.
Gabriel let out a whoop of excitement and they all glanced around expecting her to pop up behind them or on the ceiling. Which of course would be Spider-Manesque, but nothing would surprise her at this point.
“Serena?” Gabriel called out. “Where are you?”
“I’m here,” she replied, the sound of her voice near the bookshelves. “Come find me.”
Gabriel got up and moved toward where her voice had come from. Willow smiled as he groped around like a zombie searching for prey.
Serena’s disembodied voice called out again, but this time from near the neophyte table. “Gabriel, you’re getting warmer.” He waved his hands around until they bounced off something. And then she appeared. In the exact spot where she was standing before. Her expression smug, she bowed. “What do you think my ability is?”
“To be invisible?” called out the new guy, Tyler.
Serena shook her head.
Willow thought of the dock when they had arrived on the island and voiced her idea. “Mental manipulation. You projected an image of the blank space into our minds.”
Serena clapped her hands slowly. “Bravo, Doctor Trilby. You and I are going to become buddies. Along with Lucas. The three of us belong to Mercuria, the house of telepathy. Starborn belong to this house if they have cognitive telepathy, emotional telepathy, or memory telepathy,” she paused, “Willow, you have emotional telepathy, yes?”
All eyes turned to Willow. There was no suspicion or wariness; they all looked toward her with acceptance and a healthy dose of interest.
“I’ve never known the right name for it, but yes, that is what I can do.”
Serena’s eyes narrowed. “Come on up and you’ll be our first guinea pig.”
Like hell, thought Willow, her radar for getting played on high alert. But her ex-patients—no, her friends, for this was who they were now—all smiled encouragingly. Rather than disappoint, Willow stepped up in front of the group.
Serena motioned her to come closer. “The induction process over the next two weeks will involve learning about your own ability, but also sharing your learning process with others. Willow, how confident are you in identifying someone’s emotion?”
Willow thought for a moment. “Maybe sixty percent.”
Serena raised her eyebrows. “So you’re cautious in your estimate. Would you bet on yourself in a situation where your ability might be needed?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Yes or no, Doctor Trilby?”
“Yes,” said Willow, feeling maneuvered into a corner.
“Well, let’s do a little experiment.” Serena gestured to the rear of the library. “Granger! Come up
here and play.”
Granger slowly unfolded his arms and pushed himself off the wall. With easy grace, he walked to stand beside Serena.
Serena turned to the neophytes. “This little experiment is for Willow only. Don’t try and intervene.”
The room fell silent. Serena reached into a nearby bookcase and pulled out a collection of envelopes from a small box. “Granger, you’ll be our judge. I have an emotion written down in each envelope. I’ll choose one and concentrate on that emotion. Willow, you’ll tell us the emotion.” She selected an envelope and put the rest back on the table. After opening it and reading the note, she sealed it back up again and gave it to Granger.
A few feet away a wall clock ticked loudly, or perhaps that was just in Willow’s mind. Normally, she spent most of her time trying to clamp down on the emotions that swirled in and out of her consciousness. It was exhausting, but it was a habit that helped her cope with daily life. Now, she was forced to let those defenses down. She slowed her breathing, and like a flower unfurling its petals, opened herself up to the emotions charging throughout the room.
Serena gave a great blank face. But it didn’t matter. Fists of anger curled through the air toward Willow.
“Anger,” she called out in a clear, steady voice.
“Correct.” Granger put the envelope back onto the table, while Serena selected another.
This time, emptiness seared through Willow’s body and made her feel hollow. It was all too familiar a feeling for Willow.
“Lonely.”
They went through the process a further four times. Each time Willow was correct.
“Well done, Doc.” Granger clapped his hands along with others.
“You’re good at identifying an emotion from a specific source. Quite impressive, in fact.” Serena’s words sounded sincere, but Willow had learned to be cautious.
She tried to detect Serena’s aura only now to be greeted by a strong wall that blocked her entry.
Serena spoke to her and Willow tried to refocus. “What about projection of your emotion?” When Willow didn’t answer, Serena persisted. “Come now, Doctor Trilby. Tell us what you have done with it?”
Willow sighed. “Please no more Doctor Trilby. Call me Willow.”
Serena smiled tightly. “Very well…Willow. Tell us what you’ve been able to do. Remember this is about teaching the rest of us as well.”
Willow tried to explain herself as best she could. “As a teenager my foster parents took me to a lot of therapy. I learned meditation and accepted my out of control emotions as part of who I was. I stopped fighting my feelings and allowed them to drift in and out of my consciousness. Over time I was able to calm myself.”
Willow thought back to her days as a university student. She took a deep breath and continued. “When I started my psych training and learned how to help others to relax, I noticed that if I touched someone they seemed to calm more quickly. More than from a simple touch of comfort.”
A sense of shame washed over Willow as she remembered experiments she had carried out on others as soon as she had suspected what she could do. Not to her patients, but to the everyday person on the street; the cashier at the supermarket, sparking an angry outburst after the simple brushing of fingers when money was exchanged; the librarian who checked out a book for Willow, bursting into tears; and the countless other people she had tested herself on, sometimes working, sometimes not.
“Well let’s see what you can do,” Serena said with enthusiasm.
“It’s not a consistent skill. It comes and goes,” replied Willow cautiously.
“Willow, Willow…don’t be shy. From what I heard you weren’t shy yesterday with our Starborn sister, Kiara.”
Instantly, Willow sensed a blowtorch of dislike directed toward her from the sweetly smiling Serena. She knew then she was about to be on the receiving end of payback. Willow stood straighter and looked down at the diminutive Serena and gave her a sweet smile of her own. A quick glance at Granger and his smirk confirmed her suspicion she was about to be taught a lesson. The lights suddenly dimmed, giving the room a theatrical air.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Make Granger bark like a dog.”
Granger’s smirk slid from his face. The rest of the group murmured their surprise.
Willow shook her head. “As much as I’d like to, I can only make others feel a certain way, not make them do things.”
“Well, what if you made him feel sad. Could you make him cry?”
“Maybe,” she said at the same time as Granger yelped, “What?”
Serena walked around the table casually. “This afternoon you’re all booked in for a two hour workout session in the gym. What if I said if Willow can make Granger cry, you can have the afternoon off to explore some of the Sanctuary.”
“Are you serious?” Willow frowned as the others cheered her on.
“You heard me. If you can make Granger cry then it's happy days for you all this afternoon, and if not, you’ll all give me two hours of crunches.”
Willow looked at Granger. No matter how annoying he was, no one deserved to be messed around with emotionally. “Are you okay with this?”
“Baby, give it your best shot.”
Right then. Time to saddle up that pony and give them the show they wanted.
With his hands on his hips, Granger stood with his legs wide apart. A few feet separated them, and Willow fought the urge to laugh nervously as she imagined an O.K. Corral scene. He winked at her and she was reminded of how pretty boy cute he was. Too bad he was such a flake. A worried flake in fact. She could sense his anxiety amongst a flurry of bravado he wore like armor.
Why couldn’t the emotion have been something else? Something fun, like arousing him or making him laugh? Depression was a downer she tried to avoid as were the memories she would need to tap into to get the job done. To transmit an emotion, she had to feel it intensely herself. And crying was her least favorite thing to do.
Concentrate, Willow, concentrate. Granger’s handsome face, and the world, faded away. Focusing inward, she noticed and tracked sensations as they flit through her own body. She cast a dark shadow over herself and Granger, weaving the space between them with an imaginary black thread. Heaviness descended upon her and she allowed herself to accept its black comfort. Any hope she felt disappeared and emptiness surrounded them. She watched Granger, looking for signs he sensed her. His jaw was clenched, but he remained tight-lipped and stood still.
“Come on, Willow,” urged Serena. “If you want to be part of us you must hone your skill, no matter who you go up against. Try harder!”
Willow closed her eyes and cast her mind back. Opening the Pandora’s box of her childhood, she let painful memories flow through her mind. One in particular rose to greet her with an intensity that was as if she was twelve years old again. Her breathing increased and she tried not to let the memory grip her with the desperation it sought. Shame and guilt enveloped her and it was these emotions that were soul crushing and regretful. Fourteen years of regret.
She opened her eyes to peek at Granger. The aura between them was charged. No longer standing straight, he bent over with his hands resting on his legs. His eyes were closed and his mouth compressed as he fought the feelings she pushed onto him. More shame washed over her. Shame at her ability and shame that she secretly delighted in giving Granger some public humiliation. The emotional connection between them intensified and Granger’s defense began to crumble. Disappointment and hopelessness swirled between them. He closed his eyes to ward off the emotions but it didn’t help. A single tear rolled down his cheek.
She didn’t feel triumphant. No one clapped or cheered.
Serena simply nodded, confirming it was over. Willow let out a long held breath and brushed her own tears aside with a quick swipe of the back of her hand. She imagined herself standing on the top of the highest mountain peak, her hands held up wide, casting the emotions off into the wind. Forcing her breathin
g to slow, the connection between her and Granger dissipated.
He looked a little worse for wear, but was gracious in defeat and gave her a salute. “Well done, Doc. You kicked my butt.”
He walked to the back of the room and stood beside Lucas.
Lucas. She hadn’t noticed him return. Had he seen her display? If he had, what did he think? As quickly as she thought it, she shoved the shallow thought aside and told herself to get a grip.
“Thank you, Willow,” said Serena. “Impressive, especially for a neophyte Starborn. But we’re not finished yet. That was only a practice run for the grand finale of today.” She walked around the room, her long brown ponytail swishing, her dark eyes roaming across the neophytes. “Some of you have arrived here at the Sanctuary with less ability, others may have more, it doesn’t matter. What matters is working hard to refine it. You must become its master, rather than let it master you.”
Willow hated that Serena’s words made sense. Hated that she agreed with this diminutive drill sergeant. At her next words, Willow hated her more. “Paige, it’s your turn. Come up and sit here,” said Serena.
Paige’s eyes widened with anxiety. She turned to Willow seeking guidance. Dread filled Willow’s belly. She gave Paige a tight smile and then watched Paige get up and walk to the table and chair at the front of the room. Serena opened the metal box that lay on the table and pulled out a black rope. When she took Paige’s hands and placed them behind the chair, Willow cried out. The other neophytes echoed her calls for Serena to stop.
Serena ignored them and secured Paige’s hands to the chair. “Thank you, Paige. I’m glad to see you’re willing to participate in the induction process.” Serena motioned Willow to join them at the table. “Willow come sit facing Paige.” When Willow hesitated, Serena sneered, “So brave before, so willing to show off. Surely you want to learn our ways? Perhaps it might bring you closer to finding your sister.”
Despite the mocking tone, Willow’s heart leapt at Serena’s words. She stared into Serena’s dark eyes. “What do you know about my sister? Have they found her? Do you know where she is?”
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