The Embers Of My Heart (3 page)

"You were contacted by a rogue agent. They took you and all those other agents out before fighting Shade." She shivered even in our warm nest. "I can't even imagine what sort of power they must have. Fighting six people, almost all at the same time? That's impossible, and then taking Shade on and beating him? I can't believe they put him in a coma. If they were that skilled, I'm surprised any of them are alive."

I had no regrets. "I wish I remembered more of it."

"It must have been traumatic."

"I'd like to watch Shade get what he deserved." My previous trainer was a brutal, dangerous man, and that was before he realized I was a traitor. If he ever came out of the coma, I was dead.

She shook her head. "I know how he treated you, but that isn't what he deserved. He was just protecting you."

I tried to hide a smile. "Even so, it would've been nice to see him on the receiving end of a beating for once."

To my sudden surprise, she twisted around and faced me, then pulled me in for a lingering kiss. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost you like that." Another kiss followed and her arms slid around me. "I think I was mad because of the regrets I'd have if you didn't come back."

"Regrets?"

She looked me in the eyes. "How long are they going to be gone?"

"At least another couple of hours."

"Perfect. I'm going to warm you up." She leaned backwards, pulling me down until I lay atop her. Our hands started to wander. "We need to take advantage of these moments," she said when we both had a moment to breathe.

I hated myself the entire time we made love. My body responded as any young man's would, I said and did all the right things, but in the back of my mind, all I could do was compare her to Star. How she moaned at each touch, how she tasted, how warm she felt. Everything about her, I judged against another girl. It was completely unfair to her. I tried not to let it get to me. I tried not to let my expressions tell her anything but how I felt in the moment. I tried to be hers and only hers.

We fell asleep in her bed, her naked body curled up against mine. I wanted to leave but it was simply too comfortable to get up and go. Kaitlyn wouldn't care if I spent the night here. I let that comforting reassurance run through my mind as I fell asleep.

I dreamed. Seductive red-haired phantoms touched me, but every time I focused on them, they had Nikki's face. When one actually bit me, I jolted awake. Next to me, Nikki grunted, but didn't wake up. My heart hammered against my ribs and my head pulsed and throbbed. It felt similar to the time before my powers had fully awakened and that terrified me. The psionic power trapped in my head was trying to get out and it didn't care how much it hurt me in the process. I leaned up and looked across the room. The clock read well past midnight, but Kaitlyn wasn't back. She had probably gone home with someone. Maybe Andreas if he was lucky. No. Andreas was never that lucky.

I settled my head back on the pillow, closed my eyes, and tapped my power. Instead of the steady flow, only a trickle sputtered to life, barely enough to call up my Sight. I tried a couple of mental exercises to loosen up my power. Nothing happened except my headache creeping to a different part of my skull. I tried to coax a little more power out. The headache intensified for a long moment, but then my power reacted. A burst of power rang my skull before settling into a more normal rush. Nikki grunted again.

The headache subsided and I decided to reach out to Absynthe. She might know why my head was aching. I pushed my mind outwards to find her. It took longer than I expected, and establishing a solid telepresence link with her took me four attempts. By the time her telepresence manifested, I was sweating. "Why, Kevin," she said. "This is a pleasant surprise. What's on your mind so late at night?"

"I didn't wake you, did I?" I asked.

"Of course not," she said. "Besides, I always have time for my student. One of the university's top talents."

Her mental realm was a classically furnished room, accented with dark wood that resembled cherry or walnut, but there was something darker running through the grain. Her favorite colors were red and black and they were in ample display. Absynthe lounged on a simple leather couch, her black hair pulled back and flowing down her shoulders. I cleared my throat. "I'm having some problems."

Her dark eyes looked down pointedly, then back up to my face. "Oh?"

"Not that sort of problem!"

She chuckled and crossed her legs. "Of course not. You're oozing sexuality. Just got lucky, did you?"

My cheeks burned. "I'd say it's none of your business, but it's too late for that. It's nothing physical, nothing with Nikki, nothing like that. I'm having trouble controlling my powers."

"How so?"

"It seems like my power is slippery lately. That's the best way I can describe it. It's hard to get started, and even after I have it flowing, it's hard to keep under control. It sputters or surges when I'm not expecting it."

Absynthe sniffed. "Sounds like you're out of practice."

"It's not that," I said. "When I was trying to make the link with you, it took me four tries. I know my telepathic and metasensory powers aren't the best, but you know I have those basics down. Plus, trying to pull my power up was giving me some headaches that reminded me of the time before I was awakened."

She sat upright and leaned toward me. I tried to ignore the cleavage she was putting on display. My mind was definitely still on sex. "Sounds like a mild mental fracture," she said. "Have you had anything strange happen lately?"

"Absynthe, everything in my life seems strange these days."

"Funny, but I'm serious. Have you had any unexplained restlessness or inordinate stress? Did you have any family problems while you were home? Did something happen during your trip to the city?"

I grinned. "I was in a completely uncomfortable and weird situation. Does that count?" It wasn't exactly a lie, but it conflated my experiences at home with my other experiences in the city.

"Could be the cause." She paused for a moment and her expression shifted. "Are you feeling guilty about something?"

"What?" There was no way she could know.

"What happened to Shade. He's showing no signs of awakening from his coma. Trust me, Kevin, there was nothing you could do in that sort of situation."

I blinked and felt tension flow out of my muscles. "Absynthe, you should know, I don't feel bad about what happened to him at all. Not in the least. Couldn't have happened to a better person. I wish whoever did it beat him as hard as he beat me."

"I never condoned the way he treated you," Absynthe said. Her tone grew chilly. "Still, what happened to him was vicious. Not to diminish your injuries and pain, but what happened to him was destructive beyond your knowledge. His powers may be gone. The feedback from the twist may have burned out his powers, or his personality, or everything that makes him who he is. We don't understand much, but we do understand one thing. He won't be the same if he wakes up."

I swallowed back another comment. It was either him or me, and I chose me. "Sure. Sorry. I'm just bitter about the way I was treated."

"That's understandable." She continued to stare me down. "Another potential cause would be injuries from the rogue. Perhaps a deep lying twist that our examination missed is starting to come undone."

"I don't think so. When I went down, other agents were there, and then Shade showed up. I don't think there was an opportunity to sneak a twist in there. They'd have to be ridiculously good at psionic multitasking."

"That's what we presumed as well," she said. "It's still not outside the realm of possibility. I'd like to do a checkup on you later this week."

"Fine with me. What should I do in the meantime?"

"A mild fracture isn't serious, but could be dangerous if it lingers. If it's just coming on now, I assume it's temporary, perhaps due to stress, injury, and lack of practice. Keep an eye on it. We'll start your training this trimester slowly and make sure you're fully healed before doing anything strenuous."

"Sure, but what can I do other than wait?"

She shrugged. "There's always a root cause. We can provide a professional therapist if you think it's a mental issue. A doctor if it's a physical injury, though that's unlikely in your case. Sometimes they resolve on their own. Very rarely, the fracture doesn't heal, and it can have permanent effects on how you use your powers. Trust me, Kevin. We won't let that happen to you."

I sighed. "I was hoping for more."

Absynthe echoed my sigh. "Exercise your mind lightly on a regular basis. Keep physically healthy. If there's anything you're worried about, try to distance yourself from it. Let things settle. That's all."

"I'll do that," I said.

She nodded and yawned. "Excuse me. It's late and I have things to take care of before bed. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"

"Nothing important enough to keep you from your beauty sleep," I said, earning a wry smile from her. "Thanks, Absynthe."

"Any time," she said. Her presence faded and I found myself back in my own brain, still in Nikki's bed. The entire conversation had taken only a couple of minutes. It took me far longer than that to fall asleep.

I didn't wake up until close to noon the next day. Neither Nikki nor Kaitlyn were present and I suspected that Kait had never come back that night. I found my clothes folded neatly at the end of the bed. I dressed and made the walk of shame back to my room. The door to my dorm room was unlocked and I took a deep breath before opening it and walking in.

"Morning, Kev," Drew greeted me. I waited for some sort of comment on my absence, but he simply raised an eyebrow at me and I couldn't help but grin. He was occasionally gone for the night and I never said anything about it to him. I felt a sudden pang of guilt. He wouldn't take the easy shots at my expense.

"Did someone get lucky last night?" Of course, Max didn't have a problem with those shots. "You dipped out early on us and missed the Kaitlyn implosion. That was a scene, my friend, that was a fucking scene."

"She apparently flirted with the wrong set of guys," Drew said. "Came close to a brawl. And you know you broke it up? Fucking Andreas. The skinny bastard went right in and pulled her out."

"Andreas?" I asked. "Seriously?"

"Walked right in, grabbed her hand, and walked her away. I knew Andreas had balls, but there were a lot of big dudes and some really skanky white trash girls there. Could have gotten nasty." Max laughed. "I don't think any of them really knew what to do."

I got a good laugh out of that. "Did I miss anything else of note? Did Max and Jess publicly make out or anything fun like that?"

"There wasn't any alcohol involved, so, no," Drew said.

"Give me a break," Max said. "It doesn't need alcohol to happen. Just the right circumstance."

"Keep telling yourself that."

I walked to my desk while they traded barbs. An envelope rested on my chair, addressed formally to Mr. Kevin Parker, with a campus return address of Dr. Austin Burke. The name wasn't familiar. I turned it over and found an actual wax seal holding it shut. "Hey, any idea what this is?" I asked.

"Came in the morning's mail. Got a secret admirer?"

"Hardly," I said as I peeled it open and pulled out the letter within. The paper was heavy and the ink was deep and rich, probably written with a fountain pen or something similar.

To Mr. Kevin Parker,

Congratulations on your accomplishments during your first year at Ripley University. Your achievements have not gone unnoticed and we are pleased to formally nominate you for a seat on the Student Council Subcommittee for Gifted Students. The Subcommittee is an organization of some of our most highly talented students, providing university administration with recommendations on future program growth. To accept your nomination, please attend the initial meeting as indicated below. Failure to attend without notice will be considered declination of your nomination. We look forward to making your acquaintance.

Sincerely,

Austin Burke, Ph.D.

The bottom third of the paper gave a date and location. Something about the tone and phrasing of the letter told me that this wasn't just some ridiculous honor student thing. "Interesting," I said. "Looks like it's an invitation to join some part of the student government."

"That's a resume enhancer," Drew said. "Do it up, man."

"Sounds like effort to me," Max said.

"You two are like the angel and the devil on my shoulders," I said. "But I think I'll go and see what it's all about. If it sucks, I'll just drop out."

"Seems like the right thing to do," Drew said. Max snorted. "No, seriously, Max. We don't all have a trust fund to cover our asses."

"What makes you think I do? My family's well off, not ridiculously well off. I wish I was a trust fund baby."

"Instead you're just a baby."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I dropped the letter in my desk drawer before standing up and stretching. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. Feel like hitting the Caf for lunch?"

Chapter Three

The room phone rang, breaking me out of yet another intense dream. I was almost thankful. It'd been a few days since I spoke with Absynthe and the dreams had only gotten worse since then, complete with waking with a headache. I opened my eyes and looked over at the clock. Just past one in the morning.

"Kev," Drew said. "Tell this chick not to call after midnight on a weekday. Seriously. What the fuck."

I sat up and threw the covers off. I had no idea who would be calling me this late. I also had no idea what our room's phone number was. It was 2010 and landlines were archaic, but the school still had one in every room for some reason. I grabbed the phone and dragged it out into the hallway to keep from disturbing my roommates any more. I kept my voice down. "Hello?"

"Hey there, hot stuff. How's things?"

"Who's this?" My sleepy mind couldn't place the voice. "And why'd you call this late at night?"