by K. K. Perez
“Uh-huh. And how am I doing that?”
“By tuning in to their frequencies.”
Her stomach cartwheeled. “That’s what Tesla believed.”
“Yes, precisely.” Ravi’s eyes sparked with excitement. “Eventually you’ll be able to read people’s minds. Brain waves are just another form of electricity, so it makes sense.”
“Nothing about this situation makes sense,” she countered. Especially since it had been Lucy who had hurt Cole on Saturday. His kisses might have made her feel sick, but she was the one feeling conflicted about him.
“I understand it’s a lot to take in,” Ravi told her.
“Understatement of the millennium.”
Ravi shifted his hip against the boulder so that there were only a few inches between them. “You’re strong, Lucy.” His gaze panned over her. “If anyone can deal with this, it’s you.”
She didn’t know about that. What Lucy did know was that she was the one asking the questions here.
“Answer me this—how do you know about my … powers?” Was she really using that word? “About me? Why did you come to Eaton undercover? How do you have a Ph.D.? How old are you?” The questions came out rapid-fire, Lucy’s frustration mounting with each one.
Ravi’s expression remained neutral. “All valid questions.” Clearing his throat, he said, “As for the last two, I sort of bypassed high school and went straight to Cambridge at fifteen. I just turned twenty-one.”
Wow. Ravi was a hand-to-god prodigy. Lucy shouldn’t have been so glad he was only three years older than her. He had still deceived her.
“As for your other questions, can we walk a little first?” He adjusted his glasses.
Lucy nodded and led him toward a trail she knew well. She wondered if Ravi was aware of the message she’d decoded, but she didn’t want to show him all of her cards.
Silence stretched between them, pierced occasionally by chirping sparrows. Finally, Ravi began, “The answer to how I know about your powers is: my parents.” Acorns and wildflowers crunched underfoot as he spoke. “They were studying your condition when they died.”
“I thought they were researching Alzheimer’s.”
He cut her a startled glance.
“There’s this handy thing called the Internet,” she explained, a mite haughtily. “Just full of information.”
A crooked grin. “So I’ve heard.”
“It’s how I figured out you weren’t who you claimed.”
Ravi’s grin faded. “Out of curiosity, how did you find me out?”
“Reverse image search of your photo on the Eaton High website.”
He held Lucy’s gaze until it became uncomfortable.
“What?” she demanded.
“You just keep impressing me.”
Do. Not. Smile.
“I’m sorry about the deception,” he told her. “Perhaps it was a miscalculation. I needed a way to approach you that wouldn’t raise any red flags with … certain parties.”
“Again with the vague,” Lucy shot back. “Why did you want to approach me? Exactly how long have you been stalking me?”
Ravi came to a dead stop and she jostled into him. He reached for her hand. She shoved it in the pocket of her jeans instead, fingers closing around the tourmaline.
“Look at me, Lucinda,” he implored. Like she could look anywhere else. “The first time I saw you was at the New Yorker Hotel.”
“You were there?”
“No. I saw the surveillance footage.” Lucy had thought she’d gotten away clean. Ha. “The people I work for,” he continued, “they own the hotel. Only someone with your abilities could have opened the door to Tesla’s lab.”
“And by the people you work for, I presume you don’t mean Eaton High,” Lucy said. Ravi shook his head. “Chrysopoeia Tech?”
“That’s part of it,” he replied. “They want to meet you.”
“Who is they?” Lucy couldn’t believe there really was an omniscient, omnipotent they, after all.
“Professor T, for a start.”
She drew her brows together. “And I’m just supposed to go blindly to meet with the members of your shady organization?”
He laughed. “Professor T is hardly shady.”
“But he is an alchemist.”
“You two will get on swimmingly.”
“Swimmingly.” Lucy couldn’t resist mocking his accent despite her erratic heartbeat. Alchemists wanted to meet her. This was all too much. “If you wanted me to trust you, Ravi—you shouldn’t have lied to me.” Lucy squared her shoulders. “What about Mrs. Brandon? Is she part of your organization, or are your sketchy friends blackmailing her?”
Ravi grimaced. “We’re scientists, Lucy. Not mobsters.”
“Scientists who commit identity fraud. Why should I believe anything you have to say?”
“Because what I’m saying rings true to you. But if you want to be sure: hug me.”
What? “Are you serious right now?”
“As a heart attack.”
“That could be arranged,” she informed him, and he gave another soft laugh. “Why on earth would I hug you?” Never mind that Lucy might have fantasized about it once or twice.
Ravi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “The hug would work in the same way as the tourmaline.” His eyes roamed her face.
“Which is?”
“The Greeks discovered that certain crystals, when placed in hot ashes, attract the ash and then repel it. These crystals, or piezoelectric materials, have a natural frequency at which they resonate.”
“Like a tuning fork?”
“That’s one way to think of it. The harder you strike a tuning fork, the greater the oscillation of the sound waves. The same holds true for your electric field, Lucy.”
She gulped but she didn’t deny it. “Is that what happened—what happened with Cole?”
Ravi took off his glasses and began fiddling with them.
“May I ask what you were doing when the incident occurred?”
“We were in his hot tub, um, we were—” A heat wave broke out across Lucy’s skin as she rambled.
“I think I’ve got the picture.” Ravi clicked the stems of his glasses together more rapidly. “As your heart rate increases, or you have a hormonal surge—cortisol, adrenaline—there’s a corresponding increase in the frequency and amplitude of the oscillation of your electrical field.”
“I figured out that much already.”
“I’m not surprised. Well, the increased frequency makes you prone to—”
“Knocking out the power grid?”
He caught her eye. “I thought that might have been you.”
“Guilty.”
“Because human skin is also piezoelectric, when you hold the black tourmaline against it, the stone couples your electrical field’s oscillations to the vibrations of the tourmaline. The tourmaline will interrupt any increase in your oscillations due to any, er, outside factors. It will anchor your field to the resonant frequency of the tourmaline.”
“Basically, you’re saying it acts like a dampener?” she said, and he nodded. “Will it make me less dangerous?”
“You’re not dangerous, Lucy.”
“I think Cole would disagree.”
Ravi replaced his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “Right. In future, you might avoid any … water sports with Mr. Hewitt. At least until you’ve gained control over your abilities. Water, as you know, decreases the resistance to electricity.”
“Yep.” She hiccupped a tired laugh. “It’s a moot point, anyway. I doubt I’ll be participating in any water sports with Mr. Hewitt again.”
“Oh?” His eyebrows shot up before he regimented his features back into a neutral mask. “Be that as it may—”
“Ravi,” she interrupted. “What does this have to do with giving you a hug?”
Red rose in his cheeks as he explained. “When you touch someone, Lucinda, you’re able to sync with the oscillations of their nervous system.
Just as you do with the tourmaline. Those oscillations are then re-created in your own brain—a shadow, if you will, of what’s happening in theirs.” He coughed. “The more … intimate the contact, the fuller the picture you receive.”
“The more accurately I can read people’s emotions.”
He nodded.
“So all I have to do is hug you and I’ll feel what you’re feeling?”
“The more you practice, the better you’ll get at identifying specific emotions. But for now, you’ll be able to recognize that my feelings towards you are … concerned.” He swallowed. “Protective.” Another swallow. “That I mean you no harm.” He dropped his hands to his sides. “But only if you want. The choice is entirely yours.”
Ravi stood scarecrow still. He wouldn’t initiate anything. She needed to go to him.
Lucy took a step forward, releasing her grip on the tourmaline in her pocket. She couldn’t believe that she was entertaining the notion that the universe had supplied the answers she needed when she needed them, but she wanted to believe Ravi.
He was taller than Cole. Lucy had to reach higher to slide her hands behind his shoulders. He shivered, making her hesitate.
“You’re not scared?” she whispered.
“I trust you.”
He might live to regret it. Or … not.
Gently, she laid her head against his chest and she wanted to laugh from the feeling of floating. Was this Ravi’s frequency? She glanced up at him and the blush on his cheeks was distinctly satisfying. Slowly, his arms encircled her waist. Was it possible he’d imagined holding Lucy too?
She grazed his cheek with her hand, the texture of his halfhearted facial hair delighting her. Lucy giggled. She would have sworn she was flying, and yet she also felt peaceful.
“Do you feel that?” she asked.
“Yes.” Barely a whisper.
She should let go. Her instincts—or powers—were telling her that Ravi was on her side. There was no reason to continue the embrace. His arms tightened around her. No reason at all … except she wanted him closer.
Pushing onto her tiptoes, Lucy pressed her mouth to Ravi’s, parting his lips, exploring. They were as soft as they looked. Her mind filled with the hot-pink tendrils of a breaking dawn.
She savored the taste of him as sunlight filtered behind her eyes.
Ravi pulled back. “That wasn’t supposed to happen,” he said in a low voice.
“You didn’t want to?”
“I did. I do. But I’m here to train you.”
“Meaning?”
Ravi released her and Lucy instantly missed the feel of him.
“Meaning this…” He indicated the space between them, “will only confuse matters.”
Talk about being doused with cold water.
“Please don’t take it the wrong—”
“Whatever,” she cut him off. “You got what you wanted. I’m on board with your conspiracy theory.”
“Lucinda.”
“I’d stand back if I were you.” She withdrew the tourmaline and tossed it from one hand to the other, daring him to cross her.
“There are people who would hurt you for being who you are.” His expression grew severe. “I came to teach you how to defend yourself. If we could find you, so could they.”
“Again with the they?” she said irritably. “You’ve heard of smoke and mirrors on your side of the pond?”
“The threat is real,” he ground out.
“Gee, five stars for terrifying the young ingénue.”
Lucy turned on her heel.
“I’m only telling you because I know you can handle it.”
“You don’t know me at all. And I obviously don’t know you, Ravi Singh.”
“Tomorrow. We start training.”
“Whether I like it or not?”
“I’m sorry, but yes.” His tone was cool, determined. “And you can’t tell anyone about your abilities—for your own safety. As well as theirs.”
“Right.” Over her shoulder, she said, “I’ll make my own way home. You’ll probably be watching me anyway. But if you think I’m done asking questions, think again.”
His voice followed her as she stomped away.
“I’d be rather disappointed if you were.”
INTO THE WOODS
Lucy refused to turn around, but, as she sent Claudia an AOK text, she began to think her dramatic exit might have been a pyrrhic victory.
There were still so many questions left unanswered.
For instance, could her father be connected to these so-called alchemists? And what was he really doing in Tokyo all this time?
Lucy found it hard to believe that if her dad had any inkling that piezoelectric materials would temper her seizures and other neurological symptoms he wouldn’t have tried it years ago. Her parents did everything they could to protect her—so much so it was often suffocating. If they’d known tourmaline would help manage her condition, surely they would have made Lucy a suit of armor from it.
She swallowed a lump rising in her throat.
The truth was so much more X-Files than Lucy could have imagined. Would her parents even believe her? She put the chances at slim to nil.
Lucy reached the student parking lot and unlocked Marie Curie, heaving herself on top as exhaustion rippled through her. Sloth-like, she began pedaling toward Claudia’s house to study for the American lit final.
She touched two fingers to her mouth in an attempt to extinguish phantom flames.
Don’t think about his lips.
To kiss or not to kiss was not the most crucial question at hand. Far more important was how the mysterious they Ravi worked for had tracked Lucy down after she fled the New Yorker Hotel? Why did they own it in the first place? How long had Ravi’s employers been waiting for someone to open the door to Tesla’s lab, and what were they hoping to find inside?
And, perhaps most pressingly, why had Tesla gone to such lengths to conceal it?
Lost in her maelstrom of thoughts, Lucy was knocking on Claudia’s front door before she knew it.
“Jess?”
The other girl smiled as she pulled it the rest of the way open.
“Hey, Lucy. The dictator is kicking me out so you two can study.”
“Oh–uh…” Lucy stuttered, trying to remember to be socially competent. “You don’t have to leave.”
Jess fidgeted her eyebrow ring. “It’s cool. I should be studying myself.” She flashed another smile. “Plus, I wouldn’t dream of interfering with best-friend time.”
She sounded totally sincere. “Thanks,” Lucy replied, uncertain whether it was a polite thing to say, but some alone time with her best friend was what she needed right now. Desperately. Only Claudia could anchor Lucy back into something resembling reality.
Pursing her lips, Jess said, “You okay?”
Lucy must look as blindsided as she felt. She didn’t get a chance to answer before Claudia came rushing down the stairs.
“Minnie! Here safe and sound, I see.” She laughed. True to form, Claudia hadn’t asked Lucy why she felt compelled to hike a trail this afternoon.
“Yeah.” Lucy forced a weak smile. She was safe. Sound was a completely separate matter.
Jess looked between them. “That’s my cue.” She squeezed Lucy on the shoulder. “Good luck with the studying,” she said, and guilt swelled inside Lucy at being glad to have her friend to herself.
“What about me?” Claudia teased her girlfriend. “Aren’t you going to wish me luck too?”
Jess stepped toward her, grinning mischievously, and drew Claudia in close. She planted a scorching hot kiss on her lips. “Will that do?”
“For now.”
Laughing, Jess shook her head. “Thank you, Supreme Leader. I’ll text you later.” Moving back toward the door, she said, “Bye, Lucy.”
Lucy responded with a small wave. As soon as the door closed behind Jess, she turned to her beaming bestie, commenting, “Things seem to be going well,” a
nd her friend made a faraway Mmmm noise.
“How about you?” Claudia asked. “Fresh air clear your head?”
If only. Lucy couldn’t stop her face from creasing. In an instant, Claudia had thrown her arms around her in a fierce hug. Warm tingles washed over Lucy and she recognized them as Claudia’s energy: her love and concern.
Lucy stiffened. Ravi had described her ability to read other people’s emotions like it was a good thing. Hugging Claudia now, Lucy’s powers seemed like an invasion of privacy. Unethical. Wrong, even. She stiffened further.
“Oh, babe,” said her friend. “Let’s head upstairs.”
A virtual forest slid its shadowy branches across Lucy’s face as she entered Claudia’s bedroom and she had to remind herself she wasn’t back in her dreamscape. Lucy had helped Claudia to wire up the chandelier constructed from mesh, twisted bicycle spokes, and other found objects. When the single bulb glowed, it cast fairy-tale impressions on the seafoam-green walls.
Claudia plunked herself down on the bed. “Cole asked me to return this to you,” she said, scooping something up from the comforter.
A wink of metal. Like an SOS. The key to the science office lay in Claudia’s outstretched palm.
How could Lucy have misplaced it? Ugh. “Thanks,” she said.
“Wanna tell me why I’m playing messenger, doll face?”
“We broke up.” Lucy slid onto the bed next to her friend. She stared up at the weathered ballerina ornament Claudia had recently added to the scraggly aluminum branches, its legs frozen in a pirouette.
Claudia stroked Lucy’s cheek and another surge of happy, ticklish goosebumps prickled beneath her skin. Was it a violation if she already knew her best friend loved her?
Lucy licked her lips. “Cole and I have been drifting apart for a while now. I think it was inevitable.”
Claudia bobbed her head.
“Everyone knows long distance is the kiss of death, anyway,” she carried on. “I didn’t see the point in keeping up appearances for the last few weeks of school.” She blew a hair from her face. “The good news is that I’ll be totally focused on the sound and lighting at the prom—you and Jess can enjoy yourselves.”