I felt my face flush even more when I realized everyone in the room was now staring at me. Luce looked bewildered at my train of thought, while Jenks chuckled incredulously. Jax, to his credit, didn’t make me feel stupid. Instead, he turned his full attention to me for the first time since we collided in the hall.
“Well, I don’t think Claude pays too much attention to my romantic activities. But, even if he did, whatever.” Leaning back, he lifted his right hand to rest his chin on it, his gaze unwavering.
“Sorry, what I really meant was why does Claude, err—Mr. Romanov—care where you are? They aren’t that strict here, at least I didn’t think they were.”
Nodding, Jax continued, speaking with lazy ease that belied the intensity of his eyes. “That’s because I’m supposed to be working off community service hours at the dining hall tonight.”
“Oh, okay. That makes sense. I’m assuming we probably don’t want to know what you did to get that assignment?”
Tossing me a wink before leaning back and pulling his arms from the chair, he replied, “Nah, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for getting three gorgeous freshies all hot and bothered during a lockdown. Hmm, on second thought…”
Jax let his voice trail off suggestively. Jenks scoffed and threw a pillow at his head, which he easily caught and squashed with his chest against the back of the chair.
“Well, I don’t think you can stay in here all night. Why don’t you head back to the friend you were visiting?” Luce huffed a hint of condescension coloring her voice.
“No thanks. No need to head back there, she may get the wrong idea.” With a mock shiver, Jax sighed and pulled out his phone.
“I’ve got a few friends on the other side of the building, I’ll see if I can crash with them until this all blows over. What’s got everyone’s panties in a twist anyways?”
A light knock on the door had everyone sitting up straight and looking at each other with wide eyes. No one said a word. A second knock, slightly louder, sounded on the door. Getting up, I tossed my bathrobe at Jax and gestured for him to hide in the little space at the head of the bunk beds.
Opening the door a sliver, I peeked out. “Hello?”
I was surprised to see Mac, the tall skinny guy from earlier. He grinned and held up a bottle of soda, a couple of beers, a bag of chips, and a bowl of popcorn.
“I’ve come with some refreshments! I figured you guys might not have anything stocked up yet. It might be a long night and day without any snacks.”
As if to prove his statement, my stomach grumbled noisily at the sight of the food. It had been hours since my parents had taken us out to dinner. Smiling gratefully, I opened the door wider and let him in. Turning to shut it behind him, I heard him grunt in surprise as Jax rose from his hiding spot, wrapped in my robe. Jax flopped dramatically down on my bed, stretching languidly, his shirt rising to showcase a faintly defined six pack dusted with a fine trail of dark hair. Catching my eyes following his happy trail, Jax blew me a kiss. “Thanks for the robe, darling, it smells just like you.”
Blushing furiously, I snapped my eyes closed to regain my composure.
“Oh, shut up, you don’t even know my name.”
Grinning saucily as he took in my embarrassment and Mac’s curious gaze behind his glasses, Jax rearranged my pillows under his head. “That just makes it hotter.”
Groaning, I sat back down in my chair. Jenks took pity on me and hopped down from her bunk, popping the cap off a bottle of beer.
“Well, let’s take care of introductions right now then. Jax, Mac, I’m Jenks, that grumpy bombshell up on the bunkbed is Luce, and the gorgeous awkward one with the growling tummy is Rox. Thanks for the snacks.” Reaching out to relieve Mac of some of his burden, Jenks began handing out drinks and food. “And the entertainment.” Jenks plunked an unopened beer onto Jax’s stomach.
“Wow, have you already sung for them? Moving in kind of fast, aren’t you?” Mac adjusted his glasses as he opened the large bottle of soda, waving off a beer from Jenks.
“Wait, you sing? Are any of your abilities connected to it?” Luce suddenly looked excited, peering out from her spot to stare at the man who somehow managed to lounge and drink his beer without spilling any.
“Thanks, Mac, you show them your parlor tricks yet?”
Mac sheepishly chugged some soda, ignoring Jax’s question. Jax sighed and waved a hand halfheartedly at Luce. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
Quickly retreating, Luce shook her head. “Never mind, forget I asked.”
Frowning, I flicked my wrist at Jax. “I’ll play. I hear students here at AOC are accepting no matter what. Let’s put that to the test. I didn’t get that kind of reception at my last school.”
Now I had everyone’s attention. Luce peeked out at us, but didn’t move closer. If I was being honest, I was doing this for her. Something about her fear made my heart ache.
I pushed at Jax’s feet to sit at the end of my bed. Sitting up, he made room for me, although he still had my robe on. Mac sat in my desk chair and rolled it closer to me. Jenks took up residence on the chair Jax vacated. If I had to name the feeling in the air at that moment, I would have to say it was charged with curiosity.
“Who else is in?” Rolling my shoulders, I took a handful of popcorn and shoved it into my mouth.
“Obviously I’m in.” Jax ran his hand through his unkempt hair, making it stand up even more.
“Me too,” Mac piped up, tossing a challenging grin at Jax.
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Jenks chugged some beer, letting out a small belch at the end. Mac wrinkled his nose as Jax laughed so hard the bed shook.
“What about you? You in too?” Mac ducked his head as he waved at Luce. She emphatically shook her head no, her eyes widening.
“Luce currently has immunity, got a problem with that?” My voice came out much snappier and commanding than I was prepared for. Mac looked a little startled and held his hands up as if to ward me off.
“Nope, no problem.”
“Kitty has claws, I like that. You three are tight already, that’s a good thing around here.” Jax nodded approvingly at me, looking somewhat impressed by my outburst.
“Good, well, how do we want to do this? I’ve got five abilities, some stronger than others, shall I give one and we can work our way around?”
Everyone murmured their agreement, and the atmosphere took on a charged feeling. They all seemed excited to size each other up. Here goes nothing.
Running my hands through my hair as I thought, I shrugged, guessing it didn’t matter where I started, so I’d start at the beginning.
“Okay, so my first power I came in to is empathy. It’s fairly strong, and I keep it under pretty tight control, but if I wanted to reach out and get a read on your feelings right now, I could.”
“So, you can pinpoint it? You don’t get overwhelmed in a group? Let’s see, I want a demonstration. Read me.” Jax leaned forward, scooching closer to me. He fixed his bright green eyes rimmed with kohl on me. “C’mon, do it.”
Without a word, I loosened my control, quickly blocking out everyone else as I focused solely on Jax and his mesmerizing eyes. I slipped in and was flooded with a myriad of feelings. A strong sense of curiosity hit me first, then surprise, impressed respect, and desire. There was also a hint of mild irritation directed at Mac. I pushed a little deeper and felt his curiosity in reference to Luce and her mystery, and his respect and desire…well, it seemed like it was pointed at me. His eyes widened as be began to feel me reading him now that I was pushing a little deeper. There was a hint of longing and confusion, but it was hidden pretty deep.
“Okay, okay, that’s good.” His voice came out in a rough whisper. “So, what did you get?”
“Are you sure you want me to share?”
With an emphatic nod, Jax settled back a little bit, a relaxed look on his face.
“You’re curious, mostly about Luce because she’s acting
differently than you would expect. You’re surprised and a little impressed that I have some backbone, and even more so that my ability seems strong, then there was a flicker of desire?” I raised my eyebrows at him as he grinned and nodded.
“You find something about Mac mildly irritating, and there is a strong sense of longing and confusion about something, but you pushed me out before I could unwrap that. Those two emotions were very deep.”
Jenks let out a low whistle, Mac laughed, and Jax smiled.
“So, is she right?” Luce’s smoky voice drifted out from where she was practically hiding in her bed.
“Yeah, she’s pretty damn good. Glad I got her out when I did, who knows what she’d drag up from this messed up brain of mine!” Jax tossed me a cocky grin, but I knew there was something more there than just the wild child he presented himself as.
“Alright, next?” I poked Mac, figuring we’d just go in a circle.
Fiddling with his glasses, Mac looked proud. Straightening his back as he spoke, he explained, “My first ability, which is also pretty strong, is literary absorption. Which basically means I can touch a book and absorb everything in it. Pretty handy for memorizing things, makes studying easier.”
“Wow, I’ve never even heard of that! That sounds pretty cool. Do you ever have a hard time sorting all that information in your head?” It seemed like a neat power, although I could see it being overwhelming.
“Nah, I’ve developed methods to my madness.” Smiling proudly, he turned toward Jenks.
Jenks’ mouth formed a little O, but she looked excited to share also. I hoped it was helping Luce to see people excited about their powers, no matter what they were.
“Well, I’m afraid my powers are all interconnected, so I’m going to share them all at once. Have any of you ever heard of Ryujin?”
Jenks tapped her finger lightly on the back of the chair she was resting on, watching our reactions.
“Yes, of course.” Mac nodded, his face scrunched up in confusion as he eagerly waited for her to continue. I noticed Luce coming forward also, her expression cautiously curious. Damn, I had no idea what the hell a Ryujin was. Glancing over at Jax, I could see he was as clueless as me.
“Right, well, my family is originally from Japan. It’s believed my ancestors are descendants of Ryujin. Long story short, traditional lore has it that he was a dragon god who controls water and weather, things like that. Anyways, I have an extremely powerful affinity for water and water control. Some weather manipulation, and a minor affinity for natural healing or natural medicinal arts.”
I couldn’t keep my jaw from dropping. That was unreal. Jenks had to be crazy powerful. My powers were nowhere near a match for hers.
“Explain this water control, what does that mean? What can you do?” Jax leaned forward, his green eyes bright with excitement.
“I can call water from sources nearby, manipulate it. In the water, I have much more control. I can cause tides, swells, whirlpools. I can help people, I could hurt them also. It’s easier if I’m near or in large bodies of water, but I’ve been working on smaller and more remote sources. I’ve also been practicing with snow and ice manipulation. It’s extremely difficult and not very strong, but it’s coming along.”
Mac looked like he was mentally cataloguing everything she said—who knew, he probably was. Cutting Jax off from another question, Mac quickly interjected, “What about weather manipulation? Could you make it rain? Cause a storm?”
“To a degree, yes. Isolated, but yes, I can manipulate rain, thunder, lightning, and a little wind. And before you ask, I agreed to not manipulate the weather here on campus until after my entrance exams. So, sorry, no demonstrations with that. But as for a parlor trick…”
She quickly moved to our window and opened it. Icy cold wind blew into the room. Before our eyes, she held out her hands, and as she began to move them apart, a blob or orb of water began to grow. Pausing, she flicked her fingers rhythmically, and small streams of water began to dance and leap. After a minute of that, Jenks began to bring her hands closer together, moving them in a circular motion around the water. Before our eyes, we watched as the water began to thicken and harden into a snowball with a shiny glaze of ice on the outside. Without touching the snowball, Jenks threw her right arm toward the window as if she was lobbing a softball. The snowball shot out of the window into the night. Giving a little hum, Jenks shut the pane and headed back to her chair.
“It may not be as jaw dropping as watching me in the ocean, but trust me, massive manipulation in water is a million times easier for me than what I just did. I’m going to need a nap after that.”
We all jumped in to exclaim how amazing what she just did was. I was completely blown away.
“You’re up, Romeo!” Jenks batted her eyelashes at Jax, who laughed and scooted to the edge of my bed.
“That’s a tough act to follow. My abilities are not as exotic and exciting as our own little Ryujin here. But, it’s not what powers you have, it’s how you use them, am I right, ladies?”
Laughing and rolling my eyes, I stuck my leg out and gently kicked him. “Oh, get on with it, will you!”
“Sure, but I might as well follow suit and dump them all out at once. Let’s see, it all started when I was twelve, I was an early bloomer, you see—”
Laughing at me as I kicked him again, he held up his hands. “Okay, okay, geez you guys are vicious! Alright, I have a powerful affinity for music. I can play pretty much any instrument there is. I have the gift of suggestion. Which isn’t as strong as persuasion or compulsion, but much sexier I think, because it means that the person only acts on something they truly believe or want, they just need a little bump of encouragement to get there. It can come out in the music I play, but it’s even stronger when I sing. Obviously, I’m in a band, you should come see us play. I’m also omnilingual, which is just fancy for saying I can speak and understand pretty much any language, and I dabble in a little bit of illusion casting, but I don’t use that one as much.”
Turning in my direction, innocently blinking his beautiful eyes at me, he reached out and swatted my arm playfully. “You’re turn, let’s see what you got!”
“You can’t handle what I got.” The words, although mumbled, slipped out before I could stop them.
Sucking in a breath as his grin widened, I quickly turned my attention back to the rest of the room. Mac was watching me curiously.
“Right, so in addition to advanced empathy, I have a strong transference ability, which when combined, gave me a bad rep at my last school. One accidental adolescent hot and heavy make out session, that totally rocked Robby Beckdell’s world by the way, left my squeaky-clean image more than a little, ah, tarnished. All joking aside, they are really pretty cool abilities, especially if you know how to use them together.”
Jenks murmured her amusement and her disgust at my former peers, while Jax smiled and raised his beer at me in salute. Shaking my head, I continued before this got way off the rails.
“Then came my sensing ability. That one actually is weird, but super handy. I can sense or locate people, objects, whatever really. It’s easier if I have a connection or have seen or touched them before, but I’ve had some success with just descriptions and images. It’s kind of like emotional or image tracking. I just started to develop two brand new abilities, but I haven’t quite mastered them yet. They’re cool, but a little intimidating when I practice if I’m being honest. They are intangibility and power replication.”
“So, power replication, that’s like, what, if someone uses their power on you, you can copy it for a short time?” Jax looked very curious as he sipped his beer thoughtfully.
“Yeah, well, so far anyways. Claude and Liam were a little worried it might be something more than just power replication. I think they want me here and in training to be safe while we figure it out.” I shrugged my shoulders. I have great control, but they weren’t wrong about it being an advantage to train with the top advisors in th
eir fields.
Mac nodded solemnly, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “Yes, there have been instances where power replication, when tied with extreme emotional distress, reacts differently, sometimes even morphing into an entirely different power. Like power stripping or power absorption. But I’m sure yours won’t change,” Mac hurriedly finished, as he watched me grow more agitated. I don’t know why that made me feel so defensive, but it did.
“Intangibility, what is that, like going invisible or something?” Jenks chomped on chips as she spoke.
“No, that’s invisibility. Intangibility is being able to, well, I call it dust. I make my body break down to dust particles. I can go through walls, and I’m working on dusting when people throw things at me, like to avoid attacks. Sometimes it works perfectly, other times I get a ball to the head.”
I mimicked being hit with a ball and everyone laughed. It felt nice not to be treated like a freak. They were all watching with curious wonder, but not horror. I’d take that. Jenks grinned and remarked, “And that’s why they called out some of the big guns to get you. You’ve got potential, baby.”
Mac shifted around impatiently, but before I could encourage him to take his turn, Jax tossed a handful of popcorn at him.
“Dude, let’s go, we are all waiting on you!”
Rolling his eyes at the punk rocker next to me, Mac smiled shyly at the rest of us.
“So, I’m kind of a nerd, in addition to the literary absorption, I have an affinity for power containment and Jenks, I may be able to help you out a little with your healing ability. I also have one, albeit fledgling, but very real. Oh, and Jax and I share the same ability for languages, I’m omnilingual too.”
I just blinked at Mac blankly for a moment. “Power containment? That means you can temporarily contain someone’s power when they use it against you?”
With a nod, Mac tossed me a slight smile. “Yes, so if you need help practicing with your abilities, I could help you out without risk of really getting hurt.”
Jax snorted on my other side.
Draiochta Academy: All Genres Academy Anthology Page 18