“Excellent work, Bianca,” Turner said. He flicked his wrists and used his powers to grab the metal where it fell. With one smooth motion, he knocked the man off of the shipping containers.
There was a crunch when he landed, but he seemed unfazed. The man scoffed. “So annoying,” He groaned and turned his attention on the Professor. “Stay out of this!” He raised his hand.
Professor Turner rose into the air, as if he were being held by an invisible hand. He strained and struggled to breathe.
“Professor Turner!” I shouted. “Let him go!”
The greasy guy clenched his fist tighter and Turner let out an agonized groan. He gasped for air as his rips popped under the pressure. With a flick of his wrist, the man sent Turner flying backwards.
Turner rolled to a stop and didn’t move. His handsome face was bleeding.
I only had a moment before my fear turned to seething anger. “That’s it.” I growled low in my throat.
“Bianca, be careful, think before you act!” Ryland shouted.
I didn’t need to think anymore. I needed to feel. I needed to do the opposite of Ms. Blackwell had taught what me. Being calm and in control wouldn’t help me against this enemy. He had hurt enough people. He was ruthless; I would be, too.
I clenched my fists and connected myself to as many scrap pieces of metal that I could. My voice ripped out of me as I pushed with all of my might and flung them at him. The shards of metal circled around him, trapping my enemy in a vortex of scraps of aluminum, iron, and tin.
“Holy shit,” Ryland breathed.
The greasy man shouted. Nothing came out of his mouth but a waterfall of profanities. He was trapped, and he knew it. He held up his arms to shield his face. “You little bitch!”
I had to stop him before he teleported himself out. With a flick of my fingers I sent the smaller shards towards him, cutting and biting at his skin.
The man was having trouble keeping his levitation steady. I could sense the energy fading from him.
“Now, while he’s weak!” Ryland shouted. He was at my side and holding my shoulders steady.
I blinked sweat away from my eyes and clenched my fists. The metal groaned and creaked, forming a solid cage around him. I brought the cage down to the ground with a clatter. Inside, the man was unconscious.
I let out a shaking breath and collapsed against Ryland. My knees were shaking and my stomach was turning with nausea.
Ryland slowly laid me down on the ground. “You were amazing,” He said, brushing my hair away from my face. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. I knew you were powerful but, wow, that was something else. You are something special, Bianca.”
Maybe it was just my exhaustion, but there was something different about him. His eyes glowed with an emotion I had never seen in him before: Pride? Adoration? I wasn’t sure how to label it. I struggled to sit up.
“No, no,” Ryland said gently. “Save your strength.” He nestled me in his arms and stared into my eyes. He leaned in a kissed me tenderly.
I didn’t resist. My hand shook as it held onto his; being in his arms felt so right.
There was a groan.
We both bolted up, our adrenaline surging, but the man was still knocked out.
The groan was from Professor Turner. He struggled to his feet and looked around in disbelief. “Did you? How?” He shook his head, eyes wide at the surrounding scene.
“We got him,” I said.
“Well, she got him, more like,” Ryland said and winked at me.
I shrugged it off. My mother had raised me to be modest, and it didn’t seem right to take all the credit. “Either way, we’re safe now.”
Turner’s eyes were dark. He frowned as he inspected the man and his metal enclosure. “How did you do this?” He ran his finger along the cage. The different metals twisted together smoothly; it looked unnaturally beautiful.
“I don’t know,” I said. Ryland helped me regain my balance when my wobbling legs threatened to give out. “I just felt angry, and I did it.”
Turner smirked and nodded as he appraised my handiwork. “Well, this was unexpected,” He muttered under his breath.
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that but I was too tired to care.
Ryland pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. “I will call to get us teleported out of here.” His voice sounded far away.
I blinked, and the scene faded to darkness as I finally gave into exhaustion.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
When I woke up, I was in the nurse’s office. The walls were white; the lights were bright, and everything smelled like bleach. I gasped. “What happened?”
“Don’t worry, I got you.” Ryland was sitting beside my bed.
I eased back into the not-so-comfortable bed. The room was small and we were alone.
“You passed out back there. I called for back up and we were teleported back safely.” Ryland sat back in his chair and shook my head. “You gave us all a scare.”
“Why?”
“You’ve been asleep for over a day.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
“Over twenty nine hours to be exact.” A woman walked in. I could safely assume she was the academy nurse based on her scrubs and clipboard. “Let’s check your vitals and get some food in you.”
Before I could object she was already checking my pulse. I didn’t have the energy to refuse anyway. I let her do her “nurse stuff” and was rewarded with a big bowl of soup.
The room lit up as the rising sun’s rays streamed through the window. I had missed an entire day to sleep. It felt so wrong. And what was worse, I felt the opposite of well-rested. My head ached and my stomach was queasy.
Ryland watched me eat and told me what I had missed in the past day. “We caught the guy, thanks to you. He was still unconscious when the authorities arrived. I’m sure you can imagine how hard it is to apprehend someone with teleportation powers, they were amazed.” He brushed my hand lightly. “You’re really something, Bianca.”
I blushed. I had always been terrible at taking compliments. As much as it was against my nature, I really had to agree with him on this one. I kicked ass that night; I even surprised myself. “What did they do?”
“He’s been arrested by the special FBI division. He won’t be bothering us again.” Ryland said. His expression was hard.
Relief flooded me. I took another sip of hot soup before asking my next question. “Is Professor Turner alright?”
“Yeah, he’s fine aside from a few bruises and a fractured rib,” Ryland said with a shrug.
I didn’t miss the change in his tone. “What’s wrong?”
Ryland frowned, his eyes focused somewhere in the distance. “I just don’t trust him.”
“Trust him? Why wouldn’t you?”
“I can’t say for sure.”
“Have you tried getting into his head?”
Ryland glanced behind him to make sure the nurse was gone. “Yeah, but we’re strictly forbidden to use our powers against teachers. I haven’t been able to get a good latch on him and I know he’ll sense it if I do.” He shook his head. “Whatever. It’s probably nothing. Just be careful around him, alright?”
I nodded and quietly finished my soup.
Ryland sat with me, seemingly unbothered by the silence.
We both spoke at the same time.
“Ryland, about the kiss last night.”
“Bianca, about the kiss last night.”
We both stop and chuckled. I looked away and shook my head.
Ryland spoke first. “I wanted to say that I really liked kissing you. But I’m sorry if you didn’t want it. You weren’t in the right mind.”
Wait. Was he — Ryland - effing - Willams — actually fumbling over his words? Was he apologizing to me? No way. I must have woken up in some alternate universe.
I raised a finger and pressed it to his lips to silence him. “It’s ok. I liked it,” I said with a smile. “It was really good. C
onfusing. But good.”
“Confusing?” Ryland repeated. He lifted his hand up to entangle our fingers together. It felt good. It felt right.
I chuckled softly. “I mean, I still don’t know how I feel about you, Ryland. It might have just been the moment, but I really liked you kissing me. And, honestly, I really liked you kissing me in the gym too. But,” I trailed off.
“You thought I was in your head, didn’t you?”
I nodded.
Ryland sighed and rolled his shoulders. “Bianca, I swear to you. I would never use my powers against you like that,” He said. “Besides. I can’t read your mind. It’s as if something is blocking it.”
“How can I block it? I don’t know anything like that.”
Ryland shook his head. “I don’t know. But what I do know is that I was right about sensing great power in you. Your psychic energy must block me somehow.” He paused. “Remember that night in the park when Luke and I saved you and your little friend?”
“Daniel,” I corrected. “Yeah. Why?”
“Remember when I transmitted a message into your head?”
I paused to think. Tell no one what you saw. So it had been him. “Yes! I remember!”
Ryland nodded and held my hand a little tighter. “That was the hardest thing I had to do in a long time. It was like swimming in oil.” He blinked, wondering if I got the analogy, and continued when I nodded. “Slipping into minds is effortless for me. But not when it comes to you.” He gestured around the room. “I can get into anyone’s head in this academy. You’re the only one who’s a mystery to me, Bianca. I want to get to know you better. I know I was a jerk to you before, but please give me another chance.”
I took a moment to consider his words. Despite feeling welcomed in the Psychic Academy, there was an unbearable loneliness that I couldn’t shake. Would it be so bad to give Ryland a second chance?
I didn’t answer him with words. I leaned in and kissed him. He tensed in response and then melted against me, cupping my cheek with his hand and running his thumb against my jaw. The kiss turned hot and needy.
I edged over on the bed and he took me in his arms. I straddled either side of the chair, holding onto his shoulders as he kissed my jawline and neck.
I was naked under the hospital gown, not even wearing panties. His hands roamed down my waist, over my thighs and up the hem of the pastel green fabric. My body ached with need. I wanted his touch. I wanted his kisses all over my body. Right here. Right now.
The sound of the door opening jerked us back into reality. I sprang backwards on the bed with more energy than I should have had. Ryland stood up and straightened his shirt. We were both panting when the nurse came in.
“Bianca, I’ve finished your paperwork, you can return to the dormitories and resume class tomorrow.” The nurse said in her brisk and business-like tone. If she had any idea of what she interrupted, it didn’t show.
I nodded. “Great.” Maybe I could get back to the dorms with Ryland and finish what we started.
“And speaking of classes,” The nurse added. “The Major called me. He told me to remind you that waiting at her bedside was honorable, but you have a midterm next week and better get to class, Mr. Williams.”
Ryland shrugged. “Alright, I’m going.” He looked over his shoulder and winked at me. “See you later, Bianca.” He said and shut the door behind him.
#
The dormitory was quiet during class hours. I showered and bummed around in my room for a little while before going out to the lounge to see if there was another soul to make the time pass quicker.
Finding the lounge empty, I picked a DVD at random, turned on the television and flopped down on the couch. Titanic would kill three hours and then it would be time for dinner.
About halfway through the movie, Katie White came in. She made a surprised peep that reminded me of a kitten.
I tried not to look overly enthusiastic about having company. The loneliness and quiet had been eating away at me since leaving the nurse’s office. “Hi, Katie.”
She looked at me shyly. “Hi. Do you mind if I sit with you?”
“Sure.” I curled up my legs so there was room for her.
“I heard about what happened. I’m glad you’re ok,” Katie said.
It didn’t surprise me in the least. I was positive everyone at the academy knew about the incident. It was embarrassing. “Oh?” I feigned surprise. “What did they say?”
“That you got attacked by some Rogue Psychic,” She said.
“It wasn’t so bad.” I shrugged it off and tried to change the subject but she kept talking.
“That won’t be the last time.”
A shiver ran through my body. “What?”
“I told you. You’re powerful. Something is going on. Someone wants you.” Katie said.
I hugged my knees to my chest, only then noticing that my socks didn’t match. Maybe I wasn’t as well rested as I thought. “Yeah, you said that,” I mumbled.
Katie forced a smile in my direction. I could tell that it was an expression she rarely made. “Listen, I’ll do my best to tell you if I sense any danger if you promise to do your best not to get hurt. Or worse.”
“Noted.” I swallowed hard. “Why are you looking out for me, anyway?”
“Because you stayed with me while I was having an episode,” Katie said. “You know how often I wake up scared and alone in my own puke? It’s a nightmare. Everyone who’s been here for a while doesn’t even care anymore.”
I remembered Ryland’s cold, indifferent reaction. I shook my head. “I could never leave someone like that.”
“You’re a good person,” Katie whispered as she picked at the hem of her t-shirt. “That’s why I want to help you.”
“I appreciate that,” I said with a sigh. “I just hope it's no more trouble than it’s worth.” If that Rogue was only the beginning, what else was coming my way?
“It’s about time I use my powers for something,” Katie said with a cynical chuckle.
“What do you mean?” I sat up straight so I could face her properly. There was a glimmer of sadness in her eyes.
Katie shrugged. “I have what they call a ‘passive talent’. Which means I’m not much good at fighting or anything like that. Kids with active talents, like you, get way more attention. If the passive kids can’t prove themselves in physical training, we’re just seen as a waste of time.”
That must have been why she finished class before dinner and why I had never seen her in any of the training labs. "Hey, your talent is far from useless! "
She shrugged again. “I can see the future but only at the whims of my talent. I can’t control it yet.”
“You’re still young, give it time,” I said as if I had some sort of clue. I was new to this too. “I’m sure the psychic world needs people like you.”
“Well, my other talent is finding lost stuff. Clairvoyance. So I always figured I’d work for the police or something in the future. Not that they’d want a weakling like me.” She lifted her pale hands and twisted her bony wrists to emphasize the fact.
“I know a clairvoyant who works for the FBI,” I said. “I’m sure they’d be thrilled to have someone with your set of skills.”
That seemed to perk her up a little. She curled her legs underneath her and pulled her hands into her over-sized sweater. “That’s good news.” Katie leaned her head against the arm of the sofa. “I never really liked having powers.” She whispered so faintly I wasn’t sure if she was speaking to me or not.
“I’m sure it's stressful,” I said. I couldn’t quite imagine what it must be like at such a young age to be away from her parents haunted by premonitions. It explained her introverted behavior. “But if you ever need me, I’ll be here.”
“I hope so.”
Katie’s simple words shattered my confidence once again.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Sadly, Ryland never showed up that evening to finish what we started in the nurse’s
room. It was probably for the best; I told myself. I knew better than to get caught up between Ryland and Luke. I still couldn’t decide who was best for me. Luke was so nice and caring and understanding, Ryland was just so… exciting. I always had a soft spot for bad boys.
There was still an hour before curfew, so I went to the training facility to burn off some steam. I threw on black leggings and a tank top, grabbed a bottle of water, and tied my shoelaces tight.
The lounges were filled with students and even the grounds had a few groups soaking up the rays of the setting sun. I didn’t run into anyone I knew on my way to the training facility, though I got a few curious glances. I had no doubt that the entire academy knew what had happened, as Katie had alluded to.
When I arrived at the training facility all of the accordion walls had been retracted, leaving the enormous room open and flooded with white fluorescent light. Only two people were there, positioned at the very center of the room. Ryland and Luke. I couldn’t believe my luck.
Before I could back out and slip away, they both noticed me and looked in my direction. Their tense poses eased a fraction.
“Bianca?” Luke raised his eyebrows. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“I’ve done enough resting,” I forced out, trying to be heard across the distance. The facility’s acoustics were terrible.
Luke flickered out of sight and reappeared at my side. “There, now you don’t have to yell.”
I gasped and took a step back. “Please warn me before you do that!”
“That’s not the point of being able to teleport.” He laughed and shook his head.
Luke’s warm smile always put butterflies in my stomach, the same way that Ryland’s smoldering scowl made my chest tight.
“You should rest,” Ryland said. He jogged over. His twin daggers clattered against his belt. “The nurse didn’t clear you until tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I waved away his concern even though it flattered me. “I can’t sleep. I needed to do something.” I pulled the elastic off my wrist and gathered my long hair into a ponytail. “So, who’s first?”
Luke gulped and Ryland’s face went red.
Psychic Secret: An Urban Fantasy Academy Romance (Psychic Academy Book 1) Page 13