Empath

by Emme DeWitt

  As Brendan’s body crumpled against the hallway wall, I dropped what remained of my connection with the two blockage guards and stepped backwards into Niko’s arms, clutching the box tightly to my chest.

  My stomach lurched as Niko pulled us away to safety.

  A pair of green lantern eyes greeted us as Niko popped us in front of the humble teacher’s cabin at Windemere Prep. My feet sunk deeply into several inches of snow, and I could hear retching noises behind me in the dead grassland landscape. Bile churned in my stomach as well, but with practice, I had been able to keep it down. Tio and Tia were not as lucky.

  “Ig!” I called out, jogging through the snowdrifts to the porch. Ig’s black tail switched back and forth in as much of a tail wag as he was willing to allow. I bounded up the porch steps and scooped him into my free arm, cradling both the box and the cat equally. I buried my face into his fur, demanding full cuddles. “I missed you!”

  A slightly indignant yowl got lost in my hair, but Ig remained in my arms, permitting my cuddle even though he wasn’t the biggest fan. All the tension in my body melted after holding him for a few moments.

  “Did you tell Xavier we were coming? Huh? Could you tell?” I cooed at him. I turned around, finding Niko with his head cocked slightly to the side, and Tio and Tia brushing themselves off before taking in the surrounding area. I looked between Niko and Ig and back again. “What?”

  “Is that only a cat, or…” Niko raised an eyebrow.

  “Hard to say,” I said, burying my face back into Ig’s soft fur. “Not part of my specialty, I’m afraid.”

  I looked at Ig, and he squinted his eyes at me.

  “You’re right. Not important,” I replied, turning back toward everyone. “Come on inside. We can put the fire on if it isn’t already. You can camp out here until things settle down.”

  “Did I just port us behind enemy lines?” Niko asked, trotting up the stairs. “This doesn’t feel…like a welcome place.” Tio and Tia followed close behind.

  “Also hard to say,” I agreed. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you though. Gotta test those spidey-senses of yours.”

  I opened the door to the cabin, scooting my dirty feet on the mat earnestly before heading further into the house. I set the box on the counter in the kitchen and let Ig out of my arms to do whatever he felt like doing as I moved around to make tea and coffee for everyone. The house felt warm and lively, and I smiled as the kettle and the water faucet hummed at me.

  “Missed you, too,” I said to the objects I touched. Niko froze in the hall, causing Tio and Tia to run into his back.

  “Are you…why am I even bothering to ask,” Niko muttered. “I will await further instructions. Although we may want to call Eli.”

  “Do you want to get yelled at twice or just once?” I asked the mugs. I gave them a knowing look as I pulled out the tea leaves and coffee press. Niko harrumphed behind me. “Who wants tea and who wants coffee?”

  “Anything is fine,” Tia whispered. I turned and caught her slight smile. She looked shaken, and I could tell she was having a hard time keeping it together. I left the various beverage paraphernalia and walked to where she was seated at the big kitchen table. I crouched down next to her and took her hands.

  “Tia, would it be okay if I helped? Just a little,” I said. My eyes darted to Tio, whose expression looked a little pained. “I know Tio can’t help with this kind of pain, but I can give you a few moments of peace, if you’d like. Otherwise, I’ll leave it alone.”

  “Don’t waste your energy, mija,” Tia whispered, patting the top of my hand. “You have many more important things to be worrying about.”

  “I’m not going to be able to stay with you long,” I warned. My eyes slid to Niko’s. “I’m going to have to move on as soon as Ms. Xavier gets here. But she’ll make sure you’re safe. Are you sure I can’t help? I feel partly responsible anyway.”

  Niko checked his watch, and gave a slight nod.

  “Please?” I asked again. After a moment, Tia relented, giving a slight nod.

  I opened up my mind again, checking that we were still in the clear. Ms. Xavier’s energy was en route, and I knew she would walk through the door any moment. Otherwise, it seemed like the normal bustle of campus. Not too many of the other far flung teacher’s cabins were occupied. I felt an energy outside on the perimeter, but it was still. Since it didn’t feel threatening, I let it pass.

  Taking in a deep breath, I poked slightly around Tia’s energy, seeing where was causing the most pain. The grey cloaking her core was deep, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to move that energy. Her grief for Abuela was her own, and I had no business messing with it. There were some murky clusters latching on outside of it, so I focused on those. Slowly, I focused my attention on them, and they broke up into smaller pieces, scattering and being absorbed elsewhere in her energy.

  I opened my eyes, and watched as Tia let out a huge sigh.

  “Better?” I asked. “I didn’t take anything away, so it’s still there. But now should be more manageable.” Tia smiled, her eyes watery as she nodded in understanding.

  “I’m used to it, mija,” she whispered. “I’ll be okay.”

  I looked to Tio, and he reached out, placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder. After a moment, he seemed to determine something and looked directly at me.

  “It’s a shame you didn’t inherit my gift, but I am so thankful you have yours,” Tio said. “The emotional wounds are not things I can heal with my energies.”

  “I don’t know if we can call what I did healing, but I am always happy to help,” I said.

  The floorboards beneath my knees hummed.

  “Xavier’s home!” I said, a smile escaping me. I sent a happy blip toward the front door, where Ig was already waiting.

  “I know I said I had an open door policy,” Ms. Xavier called out from the front hall as she relieved herself of hat, gloves, and scarf, “but you could maybe let me know you’re in the neighborhood first.”

  “Surprise?” I called out. “Sort of.”

  “Ah, and guests,” Ms. Xavier said, feigning surprise. “You’re lucky it’s exam break. Normally, I would be in lecture right now.”

  Tio and Tia looked to get up from their seats, but I swatted them back down. Popping up from my crouched position, a wave of vertigo hit me. I gripped the back of Tia’s chair briefly, waiting for the feeling to subside. When my eyes caught back up, I found several pairs of eyes watching me intently. I ignored the concern and wandered off back toward the whistling kettle.

  “I’m just stopping by, but they’ll need to lay low for a while. Couldn’t think of a better spot,” I said, busying myself in the kitchen. Ms. Xavier walked in, surveying the motley crew of refugees.

  “Welcome!” she said, pinging back and forth between the guests. “For however long you need.”

  “Niko, Tio, Tia,” I recited, pouring hot water into the teapot and French press. “This is Ms. Xavier.”

  “Yes,” Ms. Xavier said, stopping at the edge of the counter and absentmindedly resting her hand on the package Jasleen had left for me. Her brow furrowed, and she pressed her lips together. “Please excuse me, but whose is this?”

  “Mine,” I said, turning to face her. “I haven’t opened it yet.”

  She hummed at me in response.

  “Should this be a need to know thing?” I asked. “I don’t want to tell you more than you want to know.”

  “It’s alright,” Ms. Xavier said, her eyes pulling away from the package to meet mine. “I recognize this. I’ll leave it to you. Everything else though, may be best to leave me in the dark.”

  I nodded and looked at Niko.

  “Shall we?” I asked. Niko looked slightly taken aback.

  “Now?”

  “You can come back after dropping me off to transport Tia and Tio. They’ll be safe here for a while. No one would ever expect they’d be here,” I said. “I don’t want to involve Ms. Xavier more than we already have.
I’m a bit of a hot commodity, and I don’t want folks storming in here and ruining her lovely home.”

  The objects around me hummed in agreement.

  Niko paled.

  “I’ll loop you in when you come back for your second trip,” Ms. Xavier said, offering a knowing smile. “But it’s probably what you’re imagining.”

  Tia twisted in her chair to face me.

  “Come give me a hug before you go,” Tia said. “I never did get a proper hello.”

  Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I bit the inside of my cheek. Pressure rose up behind my eyes, and I felt my ears pop. Something was telling me we were cutting it very close again.

  I walked over to the table and melted into Tia’s embrace. Tio’s arm joined, and I felt cocooned in love and safety. I didn’t want to leave it.

  When I pulled away after several minutes, my cheeks were wet. I sniffled and offered Tia a reflection of her own watery smile.

  “We will meet again soon. Until then, take care,” Tia said.

  “And give them hell,” Tio said with a firm nod.

  I looked up, and Ms. Xavier was holding out Jasleen’s gift to me. In her arms, Ig purred.

  “Good luck,” Ms. Xavier said. “And don’t worry. I’ll take good care of everyone.”

  “Any spoilers?” I asked, shaking the box slightly at my favorite mentor.

  “You have your ethics, and I have mine,” Ms. Xavier said with a chuckle. “Just because I know what’s inside doesn’t mean you get to skip the fun part.”

  Another wave of nausea hit, and my field of vision blacked out briefly.

  I could feel Niko behind me, and he rested his hands on my shoulders.

  “I think we’ve found the limit. Come on. Time to go,” Niko’s voice rumbled.

  I took a deep breath, unable to clear the swirling mass around me. Worried I might freak out everyone, I turned around, leaning into Niko’s chest and pressed my forehead against his sternum. His arms wrapped around me, and I felt confident I had masked my impending fainting spell.

  “Surprise me,” I said. “Just not, like, the beach, okay? I really hate sand.”

  “It’s going to be sand or Eli yelling,” Niko warned.

  I muttered against his chest and let out a sigh.

  As soon as I felt the pull of Niko’s jump, pain crashed through my head, ricocheting down my limbs. We swayed, and I knew we had landed somewhere. I smelled saltwater, and I sighed, surrendering to the overwhelming pain that had blanketed me. My body slumped, but I wasn’t awake to know if someone caught me before I hit the ground.

  If my vision had also included temperature information, I would have worn thicker layers.

  I found myself shivering under Ms. Xavier’s kitchen window, knee deep in snow and dead shrubberies, just because my stupid vision told me I’d be here. And that I wouldn’t want to miss it.

  I blew into my mittened hands, rubbing them together violently before sticking them back underneath my parka-coated arms. New England winters were stupid. The second I graduated, I promised myself, I would escape to warmer climates, preferably some place I could be as far away from the Association and all their shenanigans as much as possible. Maybe I could make a living reading tarot cards and predicting the future for tourists on cruise ships or retirement communities in the deserts of Arizona. Sounded like as good of a plan as any.

  Ever since Noah and Evie were sent away, I had not had a moment’s peace.

  I had fallen out of favor with Dean Moriarty, Adair had gone off somewhere to “study abroad,” and senior year was filled with studying and tests and other meaningless things. My visions had grown stronger, not that anyone cared. I only cared because now I had ulcers and acid reflux and couldn’t eat anything. Sleeping was difficult, too.

  So here I was, trying to squeeze blood out of a rock. I had lost access to reliable intel, and without it, I couldn’t make sense of my visions. What was true, or maybe true. Or more likely to be true than not. What was still able to be changed versus what was bound and determined to happen. I had chosen the side that promised me safety and prestige and a place to prove my skills. But that side had tossed me aside, but not far enough away that they didn’t have complete control over my life.

  I needed to know which side to pick now.

  Should I double down, get scrappy, and win my way back into the dean’s good graces no matter the cost? Or should I run as far away as I could, likely for the rest of my life?

  “How much does she know?”

  The voices had been quiet for some time after the big burly man, Nick or something, had teleported Evie to the next safe house. I hadn’t gotten much from their earlier conversation other than to gather Evie had gotten ridiculously powerful, and even more surprisingly, even more in control of that power. No wonder Dean Moriarty was up her ass so much.

  “More and more each day, but not enough,” Evie’s uncle said. “I’m worried we haven’t left enough clues.”

  “Evangeline is a very smart girl,” Ms. Xavier said. “It will be enough. Jasleen’s gift will push the odds in her favor.”

  “I don’t want to know,” Evie’s aunt said. “All I can do to protect her is to not know and not get in the way.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on her,” Ms. Xavier said. “She’s with the right folks. It’s all up to her now. She has time.”

  “We’ll do our best to buy her as much time as she needs,” Evie’s uncle said. “You know how to find us?”

  “Of course,” Ms. Xavier said. The man chuckled.

  “Silly thing to ask you, of all people.”

  “I like that some people forget. My life would be much easier if more people forgot.”

  “All our lives would be easier if people forgot and just left well enough alone.”

  A clear pop punctuated the wishful thought.

  “Ready?” the teleporter’s voice said. “Your house is still a mess. Do you have another place you can go?”

  “Yes, just drop us off at the cathedral down the street. We’ll take our time coming home from mass. If they’re still there, we’ll deal with it then.”

  There was a dramatic pause, and I squirmed, punching blood back into my thighs. I couldn’t feel my toes in my shoes anymore. Boots, while more practical, hadn’t seemed as stealthy. Lesson learned.

  “I’ll be here whenever you’re curious,” Ms. Xavier said. “Open door policy extends to you now as well.”

  After a round of thank you’s and farewells, another pop resounded in the brisk early evening air. I waggled my jaw back and forth, worried the vibration had somehow messed with the pressure in my own ears.

  A whoosh erupted above me as Ms. Xavier raised the window pane above her sink.

  I tumbled over in surprise, landed on top of a mound of dead leaves and snow.

  “Are you going to come in and regain feeling in your extremities, or should I ignore your eavesdropping?” the professor called out into the frigid air.

  “Depends on if I’m in trouble or not,” I said, feigning bravado. My chattering teeth undercut the mood though, and my fingers and toes ached for relief.

  “Oh, we’ll see,” Ms. Xavier said. “At the very least, you owe me a favor.”

  About the Author

  Emme DeWitt lives on the north side of Chicago near Lake Michigan with their very old and curmudgeonly rescue beagle, still too many hoodies and coffee mugs, and now a concerning horde of scented candles. Emme enjoys a plethora of Asian dramas, sassy memes, and podcasts broadcast on YouTube they barely watch while playing Sudoku. When not vigorously being a homebody, Emme can be found out enjoying the lake, Chicago theatre productions, and various LGBTQ and civil rights activism-related activities.

  To find out more about Emme and keep up to date on the latest Dawn of Eight releases and other writing projects, check out their website.

  www.emmedewitt.com

  Dawn of Eight Series

  Harbinger

  Empath

  Coming Soon
/>   Oracle

  Reaper