The Terrible Gift (Empath Found Book 1)

by Colette Rhodes

  I stood and grabbed my glass to get more water. “Allow me, foxglove,” Marlen said cheerily, grabbing my glass and magically filling it with water. I stared at the glass in awe. That was a handy trick.

  “Top me up, would you?” Leigh asked, and I felt a wave of amusement from Marlen as he reached for Leigh’s glass, filling it up.

  Leigh took a sip and promptly spat it back out. “Without the salt,” he scowled playfully, making us all chuckle. My laughter died in my throat as a strong wrench in my chest pulled my gaze up to meet Bryn’s glare from a table across the room. The blonde from this morning talked a mile a minute in his ear but Bryn's attention was fixed on me.

  Uncomfortable with the intensity of his stare and feeling a little overwhelmed by the growing dinner crowd, I stood and made my goodnights. I was eager to get back to the solitude of my cabin after being surrounded by people all day. Hopefully, I’d have enough energy to crack into one of the books Gwyneira had loaned me.

  “Let me walk you back. We took a pretty confusing route here this morning,” Marlen said, giving Leigh and Briallen an affectionate smile.

  “That would be helpful,” I admitted. I didn’t actually have any idea how to get back to my cabin on my own. We grabbed our satchels and Marlen steered me out of the commons, his large hand resting lightly at the base of my spine. I felt Bryn’s eyes burning holes into my back the whole way out of the room.

  ◆◆◆

  “I thought I could show you the library sometime, foxglove. I think you’d like it,” Marlen said, giving me a crooked grin. It was a little unsettling that he’d known just what I would like. I hadn’t mentioned my love of books to him.

  “Well, I hope you’d like it. You just seem like you’re quite independent and would enjoy the chance to research things on your own,” Marlen rambled, filling in the silence when I didn’t respond. Another wave of his insecurity crawled over my skin.

  I rested my hand on his forearm to get his attention and caught his eye. “I would love that. Thank you. I was just surprised you suggested it to me, that’s all.” His insecurity faded and was replaced with relief.

  “I was thinking about what I’d want if I were in your situation. A source of knowledge would be my first priority — I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking people questions all the time,” Marlen shrugged like it was no big deal that he’d basically spoken my exact game plan into existence. Was this what Briallen had meant by kindred souls?

  We reached my cabin and Marlen paused at the entryway while I hovered awkwardly in the doorway.

  “Want me to get the fire going for you before I leave? No funny business, I swear. It’s easier to get it hot with a bit of elemental magic.”

  Sensing his honest intentions — and feeling a little chilly — I moved back to let him in. Marlen moved straight to the potbelly stove and I watched closely as he stacked the kindling and lit the fire with a match. He held his hands out and closed his eyes, concentrating hard for a few minutes until the flames began to grow. Marlen tossed on a couple of logs of wood then stood to look at me.

  I kept my face neutral while I panicked internally. Would he try to kiss me? Please don’t try to kiss me. I have a very tenuous hold over my hormones right now.

  Marlen gently picked my hand up from where it hung loosely at my side, raising it to his mouth and brushing a soft kiss across my knuckles, the same way he had this morning when we met. His eyes stayed intently on mine as if to check that I was okay with what he was doing and I could feel the nerves that he so carefully kept off his face.

  “Goodnight, foxglove,” he said softly.

  “Goodnight, Marlen,” I said, cursing my breathy voice.

  I let him out then leaned my back on the closed door, inhaling deeply to clear my head. It didn’t help. Marlen’s woodsy, pine scent clung to everything he’d touched, making me crave more. Suddenly, Avalon’s rudimentary plumbing didn’t seem so bad. A cold shower was exactly what I needed.

  ◆◆◆

  Instead of Briallen and Leigh, it was Marlen who greeted me at my door the following morning to walk me to breakfast. He proceeded to walk me to my first class, then found me a couple of hours later during my lunch break in the commons.

  Logically, I knew I should be weirded out that we were spending so much time together so quickly. Still, the mating pull in my chest seemed to override logic. Being close to Marlen made the pull in my chest feel warm and comfortable, heating my body from the inside out. Whenever Bryn was around, it felt like there was a separate mating pull in my chest, burrowing uncomfortably into my bones and forcing me to acknowledge his presence against my will.

  My elemental classes were as unsuccessful as yesterday. I had been excited about my air mastery class, only to be sat on the sidelines because Master Aures was worried I was a hazard to my classmates until the human toxins were out of my system. Remembering how that ball had embedded in a solid stone wall, I figured she was probably right. Regardless, I was a little bitter that I didn’t get to participate in the one class actually could do magic in.

  By the time I reached the commons for dinner, I was in a pretty foul mood. Marlen rested his hand lightly on my lower back, his thumb rubbing comforting circles over the fabric of my dress throughout dinner. His touch was so comforting, it felt like he was drawing the negativity right out of my body.

  “A few of us are heading out to a clearing at the edge of campus tonight for a bonfire since there aren’t any classes tomorrow. We’ll have ale and snacks and music. It’d be a great way to take your mind of all of this,” Marlen gestured absently at the room, “if only for a few hours. Want to come with?”

  His tone was casual but he looked so hopeful like nothing was more important than my answer. I could feel his nerves and it only endeared him to me more. Marlen’s nervousness felt like something I had all to myself. He presented such a cocky facade to the rest of the world but was a sensitive soul underneath all that bravado, it gave me a burning urge to protect him and his secret vulnerabilities. Which was crazy because I barely knew him and he was far more equipped to defend himself than I was.

  “Sure, maybe just for a little while? I’m pretty exhausted.”

  “Of course, I won’t keep you out too late.” He winked and started digging into his salad. “Finish eating, and we’ll head over there. Leigh and Briallen are coming too.”

  ◆◆◆

  We walked the short distance to the clearing together, where a large group of students had already started a roaring bonfire and were holding pitchers of ale. Marlen and Leigh went to fetch our drinks, while Briallen pointed out various students and made introductions that I promptly forgot. Fortunately — or unfortunately — the mating pull I felt to Marlen was strong enough to render any weaker ones insignificant. I had noticed an almost constant, small twinges in my chest throughout the day when I had classes with unmated males. I guessed it meant that I had some compatibility with them, but not enough to really catch my attention. Nothing like what I experienced with Marlen and Bryn at any rate.

  Marlen returned with ales for us and our fingers brushed slightly as I took the pitcher from him. Even that small amount of physical contact had me craving more. I wanted to grab his shirt and yank him to me to bury his face in my neck. I wanted him to smell like me. Curiously I hadn’t felt the urge to force Bryn into submission. I wondered what it was about Marlen that brought out this dominant side of me. Maybe the surge of jealousy being directed my way from a few of the surrounding females. I didn’t blame them really, Marlen was hot.

  “Kelvyn!” Marlen shouted, getting the attention of a guy on the other side of the bonfire.

  The man is question stalked over to us, irritation rising with every step until he stopped right in front of us. As soon as he spotted me, his irritation died and was replaced with a morbid curiosity that sent shivers down my spine.

  I angled myself imperceptibly behind Marlen a little more, torn between standing my ground and getting the hell away from the dude
throwing off all the creepy vibes. Marlen noticed my discomfort, his eyes scanning my face and his brow creased.

  “Fi, this is my roommate Kelvyn. Kel, this is Fi. She’s new here,” Marlen said slowly. I was grateful he kept my origin story vague.

  “Fi as in Ffion?” Kelvyn asked and I gave him a wary nod. “Pretty name. Welcome to the Academy." His emotions didn't feel malicious but there was something off about his interest in me. It wasn't sexual, or even friendly, yet there something intense about it.

  "I’ll be seeing you, Ffion.” He gave me a long, assessing look before sauntering off.

  “That was weird,” Marlen frowned after his roommate. “He’s a prickly bastard but not so...odd, usually. Sorry, foxglove.”

  I hummed nonchalantly, unable to tell him about Kelvyn’s bizarre interest in me without hinting at my abilities.

  “Was it a mating pull? Did you feel a pull to him?” Marlen continued.

  “God, no!” I exclaimed in horror, making Marlen chuckle.

  “Sorry, foxglove. I didn’t mean to offend. Anyway, forget about Kelvyn. He’s a fire affinity. Briallen and I have a theory that all fire affinities have asshole tendencies.” Thinking of my interactions with Bryn so far, I conceded that idea might have some merit.

  We spent the next half hour with Leigh and Briallen, drinking our ale and laughing at Leigh’s antics. As we listened to another one of his questionable jokes, I felt a sudden rush of panic from Marlen that made my head spin and my heart pound in my ears. Marlen looked determinedly at anything but the sultry redhead stalking over to him with a predatory glint in her eye. I willed myself to calm down, remembering how insane I’d been this morning with Aderyn, and she turned out to be his sister. Maybe this was another red-headed relative.

  “Marlen,” she purred, wrapping her long fingers around his upper arm and pushing her breasts against his chest. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  Ugh, definitely not a relative. Leigh and Briallen exchanged a wary look before discreetly disappearing into the crowd. Thanks, guys.

  Fortunately for her fingers, Marlen extricated himself quickly from Red’s grip and stepped back toward me, resting his hand lightly on my lower back. I had been about two seconds away from seeing if I could rip her fingers off using air magic. What I would give for Bryn’s fire magic right now, I bet I could do some serious damage with that.

  What. Is. Happening. To. Me.

  “Who is this?” Red snapped, narrowing her eyes at me.

  Marlen went to open his mouth, but I got there first. I didn’t need any man speaking for me — sexy fae or otherwise. “Fi. Who are you?”

  She snorted and tossed her hair like it should have been obvious to me who she was. Maybe she was famous? Presumably, they had famous people in Avalon? Something to ask Briallen about later.

  “Corsen," she bit out, glaring at Marlen’s arm that had disappeared behind my back. “Marlen, baby, what are you doing? Come drink with me.”

  “Not going to happen, Corsen. You know what’s going on here.”

  I guessed he was referring to the mating pull between us? People had been referring to it casually all day. It was par for the course amongst young fae apparently.

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t waste your time with this, Marlen,” she sniffed, waving her hand dismissively at me. “You didn’t have a problem coming to my bed two nights ago. Clearly, she’s not enough for you.”

  Two nights ago?

  I felt Marlen tense up next to me, his emotions becoming a tangled mess of panic, irritation, regret, and a bit of self-loathing.

  “I didn’t know Fi two nights ago. This changes everything, she changes everything. You know how this works, Corsen. There's no pull between you and me.”

  Corsen’s cheeks matched her hair at this point and I felt the teeniest bit bad at how this had played out. I mean, if he was screwing her a couple of days ago, it wasn’t too much of a stretch for her to feel like she had some rights to him.

  She turned on her heel and stormed off while I stared into my pitcher of ale like it held the answers to all the questions in the universe. This is precisely why I had told myself not to get involved with anyone, not to give in to the mating pull, and I was failing miserably after three days. I was already at a breaking point in my identity crisis — boy drama was a bad idea on so many levels.

  I needed to get out of here.

  I felt another rush of self-loathing from Marlen as he sighed and gave me a sad smile.

  “You’re going to run, huh?”

  I was pretty sure I hadn’t said that out loud. Aderyn had mentioned Marlen had a healing gift, definitely no mind-reading abilities as far as I knew. If anyone was likely to get those, it’d be me.

  “It’s what I would do,” he explained. “The mating pull between us is really strong; we’re kindred souls. Chances are, our decisions will overlap a lot of the time.”

  That sounded really nice actually. It’s a shame I’d never speak to him again.

  “You’re a powerful fae woman, a rarity these days. You shouldn’t settle for anyone. Make us work for it, foxglove.” He smiled at me kindly, masking the insecurity he was feeling.

  “When we screw up, make us prove our worth as potential mates. And I for sure screwed up. I should have known she’d be here and kept you away from this mess.”

  His words did calm my ire. Still, I reminded myself that a) he had sex with another woman less than 48 hours ago, and b) my freaky magic would only get stronger if I did actually did take a mate. It was stupid to put myself in this situation in the first place. The pull between us made me want to act on primal instinct rather than rational thought.

  “That’s good advice. I’m going to leave now. Please don’t come to my cabin in the morning." I said in a low tone, the hurt in my voice obvious to even my own ears. "I’ll see you around, Marlen.”

  I felt guilty ditching Briallen without a goodbye, but I knew it was for the best. If anyone ever did find out about my abilities, at least she wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.

  Fi

  I’d made a deal with Gwyneira to give the Academy a chance for two weeks, so I threw myself into studying while surreptitiously avoiding Marlen, Bryn, Leigh and Briallen. I had almost every lesson with Aderyn but she didn't seem to talk to her brother or spend any time with him so I still sat with her in class. I'd have been pretty lonely without her company. While I was feeling faint mating pulls towards other males in my class, they were easy enough to ignore. I understood more every day what Briallen had meant by sensing the strength of compatibility.

  Marlen was definitely trying to bump into me around the campus and even Bryn seemed to pop up more and more each day. A lifetime of foster care had prepared me perfectly for avoiding people. I had found multiple hiding places around the campus and snuck food from the commons during lulls. I was more convinced than ever that giving in to the mating pull and getting to know Marlen would be a bad idea for both me and my magic. For all I know, Marlen would bolt if he found out what my horrible invasive magic was anyway. Bryn had hated it the second I’d told him about it.

  I felt terrible avoiding Briallen but I knew she was eager for me to spend more time with both Marlen and Bryn. Plus, I wasn’t ready to tell her about my invasive magic and the problems mating would bring. She was better off not knowing.

  All of this avoiding people left plenty of time for me to explore the campus and discover my various hiding spots. I wanted to try a new forest path this evening — I still had a couple of hours of daylight and I’d always been curious about where this particular path led. It was quieter than the others, I’d be easier to spot if anyone was looking for me but less likely to be stumbled upon by accident.

  The narrow dirt path wound through a tightly packed copse of trees, lined by the mysterious glittering wildflowers. The iridescent sheen that covered all of the flowers here made me want to reach out and touch them but I hesitated, in case it was some kind of poison enticing me in. I admired
them from a distance to be safe.

  Albion’s flowers really had nothing on Avalon’s. My magic seemed to respond to the flowers too, or perhaps the trees. It was definitely something in nature that made my magic rise and swirl in my veins like it was saying hello.

  The path grew steeper and I was glad there was no one around to witness how embarrassingly out of breath I was getting.

  Near the top of the incline, the path was lined with colorful stones as big as dinner plates. They were painted in elaborate detail to look like natural crystals. I wanted to reach down and run my fingers over them but it seemed inappropriate, it looked like someone had put a lot of effort into painting them.

  At the top of the hill was a clearing with some kind of giant marble arrangement. After hunching over with my hands on my knees for a few minutes to catch my breath, I took in the sight in front of me. Six slabs of bright white marble were arranged in a tight circle. Each slab was taller than me and as thick as a mattress. They sprouted out of the ground like they were naturally occurring.

  I walked around the circle in awe, something about the place resonated deep within my bones. Cautiously, I slid sideways through the small gap between two of the marble slabs and stood in the center of the cramped space.

  The world around me went silent. I couldn’t hear the trees rustling or the birds singing or...anything. It felt like I was underwater. Some part of my brain reminded me that this was not normal and I should probably get the hell out of here, but the most glorious sensation had taken me hostage. An invisible warm, welcoming goo was reaching up from the ground and running up over my feet and all the way over my body. It wasn’t sticky or suffocating, it was like a comforting caress.