by A. S. Oren
He takes a step forward and points at the cracks. "Good, that's a good sign. Now imagine scooping out the earth with your hands, while still keeping your emotions at bay."
I focus my eyes on the spot, whilst picturing in my mind my hands digging away at the earth. I imagine how the cold, damp dirt slides through my fingers and clumps under my nails. A round hole gives way at the crack and grows bigger with each second.
Jakki claps. “Good, very good. You're starting to get the basics of earth magic." His phone chimes the hour. He takes it out of his pocket. "Our time is up, I'm afraid. You have Rian next. I get to go see my love now!" He smiles and dances, then looks to me. "Not that I don't like spending time with you, too, Sweetie."
I smile and laugh. "Just remember, the training is about him getting better at earth magic. Not about having sex."
He grins. "Who ever said we couldn't do both?"
I roll my eyes. "Just don't do it anywhere where I might run into you two. I don't think there’s enough brain bleach in the world to wash that image out of my mind."
He pats me on the shoulder. "I make no promises, though you may want stay away from the woods in that direction for at least an hour. I may make him late for Rian later."
I shake my head as we each walk off to our different places. I'm to meet Rian next to the small pond near the house. He stands on the edge of the dark water. His blue eyes shine against the brown of his skin as he stares into his reflection. He doesn't wear a shirt; his black tribal tattoos show in the sunlight of the morning.
I come to stand next to him. "Hey."
He smiles. "Hey, ready to start?" His English accent strong to my ears; I love hearing him talk. How did my brother manage to bag two sexy Brits? Does Rian even know about the Fold yet?
I grin. "Yup."
He nods. "Okay, I want you to make a bubble like you did yesterday."
I put my right hand out in front of my body, with my palm facing the surface of the water. As if I’m holding a ball, I cup my hand. A bubble forms on the surface and rises into the air to meet my palm. Holding it, I turn my palm to face the sky.
Rian nods. "Now, make another one without breaking that one."
I'm not as good with manipulating the elements with my left hand, but I'll give it a shot. I let my other palm hover over the water and try to pull a bubble into it, before the surface can even form something, the one in my right hand pops, and the water spills back into the pond.
"Damn!" I sigh.
He places his hand over the water and pulls up two bubbles. "Try again, with your dominant hand. The bubble won't pop as long as you have the right amount of magic flowing through it."
I put my hand out over the water again, trying to pull two bubbles up at once. One comes up and then another, but before they can touch my hand, they both burst. Why can't I get this on the first try like I did yesterday?
He motions to the water. "Try again. You almost got it."
I nod and make another go of it. This time the bubbles both touch my hand and each other, sticking together like a bubble doll. I turn my palm over, and they stay in place. I grin. "Yes! I did it." They burst at the same second.
Rian nods. "Good, but remember to control your emotions. Water is very sensitive to all vibrations."
I sigh. It appears I'm going to have to become zen in order to learn earth and water. "What do I do now?"
"Now make three bubbles without popping them. We will keep adding until you can make a hundred rise up out of the water." He makes the motion with his hand; hundreds of bubbles rise out of the water and come together to form a massive bubble. It wobbles in front of us. My eyes widen. I can't wait until I can do that.
It pops, dosing me in the water. Rian laughs.
I shake off my arms. "Not cool, Dude."
I stand inside the library with Bullock. "Shouldn't we be outside for this?"
He shakes his head. “The natural breeze could get in the way of your training right now. It's more effective if we train in here where the air won't affect whether you’re actually manipulating it or not."
I nod. "Okay." Yesterday, all we did was stand outside and felt how the natural air moved over our skin and through our hair. He had me analyse every sensation it brought and had me describe it. It was the weirdest training session I've ever had. I don't remember any of the Air teachers at camp teaching that to the little kids, but I could be wrong. I never paid much attention to the other element classes.
He places a feather down on the coffee table. My core heats up at what I know can be done with it. "Make the feather float." With a single finger, he points at it, and it rises into the air. How does he focus his magic into just a single finger?
It lands back down on the wood. "You try it."
I point my right index finger at it and try to focus my magic. Nothing happens. "Do I have to use only one finger to focus my magic?"
He pushes his thick, black framed glasses up his nose. "You don't have to, but I find that that type of focus helps control the air better. Otherwise, your magic can take on a chaotic, unleashed feeling.”
I stare at the feather. "That makes sense, but how do you do it? I've never focused my magic like that."
He gulps. "Well, that's because you let yourself be all over the place, so of course your magic is used to being wild and not tamed."
I frown; was that an insult? "What do you mean by that?" I fold my arms over my chest, and he takes a step away from me.
He clenches his hand; it shakes a bit as if he’s forcing it to stay at his side. "You're wild in spirit. That's all I meant."
I ease up and uncross my arms. I let out a breath. I forget he takes my temper harder than the others. Only time I've ever seen him lose it was that day in the courtyard when Mirren and him were fighting, and I stepped in. As I've gotten closer to him over the years, I've noticed how nervous he can be. Yet, on survival challenges, he comes together unfazed by it all. I don't understand it. I don't know much about him or his past. I do know his father was a serial killer, and the Ancients make him pay for his father's sins. I've been there to heal him every time they come to collect since that day on his birthday. Thick scar tissue covers all of his back.
I push a wavy strand of hair behind my ear. "Can you show me again, please?"
He nods. He points at the feather, and it floats into the air. I still don't get how he focuses his magic like that.
I try again, using my imagination to picture it floating in my mind's eye. Not even a wiggle. "I don't know if I can focus my magic the way you do. I don't feel my magic doing anything. What am I doing wrong?"
He steps a bit closer to me. "You aren't pulling your magic in. I can still feel it all over the place on the air."
I cock my head to the left. "You can feel my magic in the air?" I've never noticed anyone's magic on the air, unless they are in a rage, and I'm not angry in the least right now.
He nods and looks behind him to the brown leather couch. "Um, sit here."
I go to the couch and take a seat. "Okay, now what?"
He takes a seat, too, but as far away as he can get from me on the other side of the couch.
I frown. "Why do you do that? I'm not going to hurt you. I think you know that by now, it's been four years."
He looks at his lap and blue jeans. "I'm aware." He rubs at his cheek with his knuckles. Before he grabs it and forces it into his lap. "I'm complicated.”
I sigh. "It's okay, don't get nervous. Do you not like me?"
His hand returns to his cheek. He rubs at his face more. This is a new tick. "No, I mean, I like you. You're nice to me. I don't meet a lot of people like you. I'm complicated."
A smile pulls at my lips. "I like you, too. How are you complicated?"
His eyes remain on his lap, and his hand moves ever faster. I want to reach out and stop him, but I squash the impulse. I don't think he would like that.
"You won't like me anymore if I tell you." His brown eyes dart up to glance in my direction
.
I move an inch closer to him, "I find that hard believe, Bull--Derren. I've stuck with you this long. I'm not going anywhere now."
He forcibly puts down his hand again and stares to me. "I have a high functioning form of autism."
I've never met someone with any form of autism. "Oh. Well, that doesn't bother me."
His hand returns to his cheek. "It takes me a long time to form relationships with people. I like my space, facts, and control."
I nod. "I've noticed. You make more sense to me now. Just tell me when I cross a line with you. I want to help you in any way I can. Okay?"
He nods. "I know I'm a member of your Fold and what that means. You'll want to have sex at some point. I understand how it works, but I've never done it before."
I suppress a laugh. I've wanted to have sex with him since I was fifteen. "I'm good with waiting and taking things at your pace. And when it comes time for sex, don't worry. It will come naturally to you." I hold my hand out to him.
His hand hovers over mine before he takes it. This is good. At least now we have a chance to move forward from this point. "So, are you going to tell me how sitting will help me focus my magic through a single finger?"
He nods. "We're going to meditate again, so that you become aware of the magic around you."
Great, more meditating.
CHAPTER SIX
Day Three
"Please tell me this isn't all of your shoes." Jakki points to the shoes at the end of my closet. A pair of snow boots—which I never needed until after I got dosed with Rosemen's serum—and a pair of old black converses.
I shrug. “I'm not a shoe kind of girl. I would walk everywhere with bare feet if society would get off their high horse and let people walk around barefoot where ever they want."
Jakki chuckles. "We need to get you a pair heels. If I were a girl, I'd have a pair of heels for every day of the year." He pulls down a light pink sundress. "Wear this today, Flower Child."
I laugh. This is a dress he bought for me. It's the first pink article of clothing I have ever owned.
"I'm going to paint your nails now." He pulls out my nail kit— that is his, but he keeps it in my room. "I want to do white daisies on them, I think."
Before him, I'd never be caught dead with painted nails, but it makes him happy. He's the closest thing I've ever had to a girlfriend. "Now? But breakfast will be ready soon." Not that I'm that excited about it. It's Mirren's day to cook. We developed a rotation, so that no one felt like the sole cook for the house. I've been training with him okay for the past two days, but that doesn't mean he isn't pushing every button I have. The only reason I haven't acted out is because I have Paden after him for metal training. I've been working off a lot of steam with him.
"It won't take me long. It's not like you really want to go to breakfast. Sit." He points to the end of my bed. I take a seat, and he moves to the floor to sit cross-legged in front of my legs. He's tall enough that he has no issue holding my hand. He paints all my nails a nude colour.
"Jakki, do you still want to be a girl?"
He pauses as he pretends to dig in his toolbox for a dotting tool. "Yes, but it can't happen."
I frown. "Why? Did you talk to Amr about it?" I can't imagine he took the news badly; it's Amr.
He clears his throat and shakes his head. "I don't want to give him the chance to reject me, Sweetie. He likes boys, not girls, or he would have a different Fold."
I sigh. "You won't know until you tell him. I can tell him for you?"
He looks up at me. "No, don't do that. Promise me you won't say anything."
I frown more. "I won't out you unless you ask me to."
"Thank you." He dips the dotter in white paint and begins putting daisies on each of my nails.
He won't be happy until he is a woman.
Bacon, sausage, fried and scrambled eggs, toast, orange, and cranberry juice, and milk line the dining table. I frown. Mirren made all this? No burnt scent wafts into my nose. Damn, I was hoping he’d be a worse than Maverick, who’s chowing down on the food like there’s no tomorrow. I take a seat next to him and grab two pieces of toast and a portion of scrambled eggs.
Maverick nudges me. “This is really good. I’m surprised.” He reaches for his glass of orange juice.
“Yeah, so am I.” I take a glance at Mirren as he sits at the other end of the table. “Thank you for preparing breakfast.”
He shrugs. “Whatever, Princess.”
I growl. I said thank you; why does he always have to be such a closed off prick?
Paden reaches for the platter of fried eggs in front of me. “Let it slide, Lon. I don’t want to clean up breakfast off the floor this morning.
I rip off the corner of my toast and use it to pick up some of my eggs. I just don’t get him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Day Four
Mirren huffs. "No, you aren't going to summon a thing with that posture, Princess."
We've been working on my posture for four days now. I bite my tongue even harder. "My back is straight, my arms are at ninety degree angles, and my legs are shoulder width apart. What more do you want from me? And don't call me princess."
He places a hand on my lower back and presses into it. "Your back can be straighter." He pushes my feet further apart with his own. "And shoulder width is here. I'll stop calling you princess when you stop acting like one."
That's it. "Why do you have to be such a prick?"
He shrugs. "For the same reason you're a bitch?"
I growl. I promised Maverick and Paden I wouldn't physically fight him. "I'm done for the day. I can't be around you! You drive me crazy."
I stride back toward the house and slam open the door. Most of the guys sit around the table having their lunches.
Paden stands. "Your time with Mirren isn't done yet, what happened?"
"He's a prick and can go fuck off!"
I stride toward the stairs.
"It would help if she would get her panties out of a twist." Mirren's voice fills the kitchen.
I stop in my tracks. "What did you just say?" I face him with narrowed eyes.
He folds his arms. "You heard me."
Jakki groans and rests his chin on his hand. "Will you two just fuck each other already and get it over with?"
"Shut up!" Mirren and I yell in unison.
Jakki shrugs. “I’m just stating the truth. The sexual tension between you two can be cut with a knife.”
I go for the stairs again. “You’re nuts, Jakki!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Day Five
Several platters line the island. Horace stands next to me as he spreads raspberry jam onto small yellow macarons to make the delicate sandwich cookies. I work on icing the cupcakes. "It's so nice to have someone else around who likes to bake."
Horace nods. "Well, I'm not all about programing all the time. Plus, it's Jakki's birthday, of course I'm going to help you bake for his party."
I do a perfect peak with my icing bag. "Yes! Now I just need to do twenty more this way!"
Horace places the yellow macaron sandwiches onto the three tiered glass platter underneath the pink, lemon filled ones. "I hope they can get the beer. Cards Against Humanity isn't fun without beer."
I shrug. "They went to London with Rian, so getting alcohol shouldn't be hard to get with his ID."
He nods. "True. I forgot they have a younger drinking age there.”
I sync my phone to the bluetooth on the stereo and begin playing some dubstep. I know he likes that, too.
Both of us dance to music as we bake.
"Well, looks like you're starting the party without me." I stop as Jakki walks into the kitchen.
The icing from the piping bag drips onto the cupcake. "You're not supposed to be home yet. I thought you were going to hang out with your mother for the day and then see some friends?"
Jakki walks up to the island and dips his finger into one of the cupcakes with chocolate frosting. "Somet
hing came up, and she had to leave shortly after our food came. It's the story of my childhood. As for my friends, I cancelled on them. I rather be hanging out with you guys."
I turn off the music and hand him the cupcake he has all but started to lick clean. "Eat it." He takes it and peels back the foil cup surrounding the Devil's food cake.