Chapter Four #3
Annie grabbed both my hands and placed them palm up on my knees.
I saw a sky-blue light swirling from her fingers into my palms. It felt like a sun-kissed bolt of energy was flowing from the tips of my fingers through my body.
I also sensed her concentrating on the warmth of the energy deep inside her, expanding it outward in rhythm with her breath.
“Wow! That was awesome, Annie. I feel great!”
She smiled. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“I think I understood how you did it. Would anything happen to me if you did it again? Or if we did it at the same time? I’d like to try, if you don’t mind.”
She hesitated. “If you think you’re up for it, maybe we should go back outside then.”
“Yeah, I’m up for it! I can see why you love your powers so much.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You can sense that, can you?”
I shrugged. “I just know you do.”
Annie and I headed to the middle of the yard, leaving everyone else standing on the deck.
“Okay, I will not hold back much.” Annie stood facing me. “I want to see what happens when I can actually boost your powers.”
I felt the excitement build. “Hit me with it!”
“Alexa,” Jenny said, “try to hold on to it in your hands and see what you can do with it.”
“How?”
“Like you’re swirling a cup of water to make the liquid move. Except it’s your palms containing energy, which hopefully you can control.”
I nodded as if she’d made sense. I mean, she kinda did? But not really.
Annie touched her fingertips to mine, and I felt her boost rush through me, as if her blue light was swirling and seeping into my skin at the same time. With each pulse, I could feel it rushing to my core, where I felt my powers were most centered.
It was all amazingly stashed there. I felt like it had never existed before but was still an extension of me. I closed my eyes, feeling the tingle of raw power ready to burst out in full force.
“That’s it, Alexa.” Jenny whispered. “Try pushing it toward Annie, taking your time. Slowly. This time it will be your power, assuming you converted it.”
Slowly? This thing was ready to detonate!
I could feel the drips of sweat forming on my brow and the palms of my hands. I took it in . . . one, two, three, four, exhale . . . one, two, three, four . . . exhale and push outward . . .
As I focused on pushing it toward my hands, the tingly heat increased, and the ground began rumbling, not that it was moving physically in the least. The earthquake feeling really was just me sucking up the—the what?
I didn’t know. I was pulling something that made me feel powerful from the ground and I gave in to the force.
It fed my nerves and excitement, and I was ready.
I saw the light flowing through my veins, and a lilac glow shot out into Annie as she jolted backward a few steps.
“Holy crap!” She stared at her hands. “It feels exhilarating. You did it, Alexa!”
I bounced on my heels. “Okay, so what did I amplify for you?”
“I don’t know, but I feel unstoppable!”
At that moment, Beth, Andrew, and Elisa walked out of the kitchen door to meet us outside. “Hey, guys!”—Beth looked at the scene in front of her—“Ooh, what are you doing? Are you training? Without me?”
“Beth! You have to see what Ry . . . lexa can do,” Kevin said, gesturing for them to join us on the grass. He made eye contact with Jay and smiled, shaking his head.
After filling them in, Beth did a warm-up dance. “Can you do me now? I’m curious to see how it feels to have my energy boosted and my powers amplified at the same time.” She smirked, looking at Annie. “Plus, we can see how someone with actual visual powers would react to yours.”
“I—I mean, Annie is like really strong. But you? I’m afraid to hurt you.”
Beth smiled. “No, girl. I can handle it. Come on, let’s try.”
We got into position, and as I concentrated, I felt the individual threads of warmth within me.
I transferred them in a soft push toward Beth and watched her fingers glow for a split second with my purple swirl that traveled into her irises.
I hadn’t looked at Annie’s eyes, but I assumed the same thing happened to her.
The lit-up irises were hauntingly beautiful.
Beth placed both hands on her chest as she inhaled sharply and got into position to run. Then suddenly she was on the roof, staring down at us. She waved and then ran toward the air, doing a somersault that landed all the way back to where I was standing.
“That was so far! Is this normal?”
Beth was laughing. “No! That’s about ten feet without running and bracing for impact. I could do maybe a six-foot jump with Annie’s boost, but this was pure fuel!”
Nick stood with his hands in his pockets. “I think that’s enough for now. Let’s not forget we have neighbors.”
“Come on, Nick! Don’t be such a buzzkill.”
“We’re playing with fire, Annie. At least we should go to the training center or somewhere more isolated, like the junkyard.”
“You’re right, Nick,” Jenny said. “But can we try one more thing here before moving to other training locations?”
He frowned. “What’s that?”
Jenny smiled. “Come here, Kevin. Now that Dr. Ryder’s done all he could for you, maybe she can turn your powers back on.”