Chapter 6 #2
Yeah, not sure that’s going to work, since what I’m feeling right now is nervous and insecure. No way in hell am I letting Andrew know how vulnerable I am. Also, how weird is it that he hasn’t said anything yet? Since when is Andrew quiet?
But I nod anyway. Maybe I can conjure another emotion.
“Whenever you’re ready, Noah,” Percy says quietly.
I close my eyes and breathe deeply, using some of the techniques from the guided meditation I did this morning.
The magic, which has been clinging to me since Andrew and I meditated yesterday, slides against my skin, an almost comforting presence.
I hear a stifled gasp, and while part of me wants to open my eyes and see who it was and what the problem is, the rest of me is sinking into a state of mental awareness, and that seems more important.
I concentrate on my emotions, and the process feels a little different than yesterday.
I guess the meditation really does help.
It’s less chaotic, and it’s easier to gather the emotions up.
I push them to the side, safely out of the way, and try to conjure something else.
Annoyance is my go-to with Andrew, so that should be easy enough.
It’s not, though. Even with my emotions penned up in a corner of my mind, they permeate everything else.
I try several times to build annoyance, thinking of all the things Andrew says and does that piss me off, but I can’t hold it.
I do manage to get a little annoyed by the fact that I can’t feel annoyance—and doesn’t that sound ridiculous—but it’s not enough to tamp down everything else.
I take another deep breath, and the magic…
warms? I don’t know, exactly, but it’s reassuring.
Maybe I should just use the emotions I’m actually feeling.
Andrew’s a dick who thinks he’s funny, but after seeing the way he reacted yesterday to the bitch succubus and how supportive—kind of—he was while trying to train me, I don’t think he’d use my insecurity against me.
And if he does, well, I’m not completely defenseless. I broke his nose yesterday, didn’t I?
There’s a rustle of sound as someone shifts position. They’re probably getting restless—I’ve been sitting here focused on my breathing for a few minutes now. So… time for some action.
Slowly, concentrating, I push what I’m feeling toward Andrew.
“Oh,” he says. “Wow. Okay, Noah, that worked. Can you… uh, thanks, that’ll do.”
Is it wrong that I maintain it for a few more seconds? I’m sure Andrew’s been insecure at some stage in his looooong life, but he’s had a facade of confidence since I met him, so it’s probably been a while.
Letting my focus fade, I blow out a breath and open my eyes. All three of them are looking at me, Percy with a vague air of concern, David with… awe? I must be misreading him.
Andrew seems a little shaken. The pang of guilt takes me by surprise.
“So,” David begins. “Uh, well done. Like I said before, you probably have questions, and—”
There’s a knock. We all look toward the door.
“Coffee,” Percy announces. “David, would you…?”
David’s brow furrows in concentration, then a moment later he nods. “Done.”
“Come in,” Percy calls, getting up and walking toward the door.
Was that weird, or just me?
The door opens, and Candice, one of the receptionists, comes in with a cardboard tray of paper cups and a paper sack. “Good morning,” she announces. “Do you want this over there?”
Percy takes the items from her. “I’ve got them, thank you, Candice. We appreciate you bringing them up.”
Her smile lights up her face. “Always happy to help, Lucifer.” She turns and leaves, closing the door on Percy’s request that she not call him that.
He brings the coffee and food over to us, a pained expression on his face. “There’s always someone who insists on being formal,” he grumbles.
It’s… sweet.
As he hands the food around, Andrew leans toward me. “David has the room warded for privacy,” he explains. “Nobody outside can hear us, even if we shout. He needed a second to open a gap.”
“And now it’s closed again,” David adds.
Whoa. This is starting to get a little disturbing. “Was that… I mean, we weren’t doing anything secret, were we?” Nobody said I should keep this to myself. Andrew and I were training in the conference room yesterday without wards or anything.
“Not secret,” Percy assures me, “but we didn’t want to be disturbed.
It’s easier this way—and it gives you control over who you tell.
If you want to keep these abilities secret, that’s your call.
” He hesitates. “Andrew mentioned that Nikita from accounting attempted to enthrall you yesterday. That’s not permitted, and she’s going to face consequences. ”
Tell me, what am I supposed to say to that? Good? Thank you? Aw, you shouldn’t have?
“Okay” is what I settle on, following it up with a sip of coffee.
He raises a brow and gives me a stern look. Yep. Percy can actually be stern. It’s even intimidating. “Have there been any similar incidents?”
Fuck.
“Nobody’s attempted to use their abilities on me before,” I compromise.
“But they have tried to intimidate you?”
So, compromising didn’t work.
“If I had felt the situation was out of my control, I would have talked to HR.” It’s weird—if you had asked me yesterday, or even half an hour ago, I would have said I owed my workmates nothing and they were responsible for any consequences their actions might bring.
And yet here I am, doing my best not to snitch on them.
Percy sighs, a sound of disappointment and regret.
“I’ll respect that,” he agrees. “But if anyone tries to use their abilities, please report it to me immediately. If they feel safe doing that here, then who knows what they’re doing to other humans they encounter. It’s not okay.”
I nod. “I will.”
He nods too. “Okay. So, let’s talk about your newfound abilities.”
“I don’t know what to call it,” I admit. “It’s not really charisma, is it?”
“It’s not charisma at all,” David says bluntly.
My gaze darts toward Andrew. “It’s not?” Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Am I developing some kind of freak ability? What did Tish do to me? My breath grates in my chest.
In the next heartbeat, Andrew’s sitting on the arm of my chair, his big, warm hand closing over my nape. “It’s fine,” he declares, looking me right in the eye. “This is a good thing.”
The panic lessens a little but doesn’t completely disappear. I make myself nod and concentrate on regulating my breathing, the magic twining around me in a noncorporeal hug.
“I’m so sorry,” David says. “I should have eased into that. Andrew’s right; this is good news.” He sounds utterly remorseful, so I paste on a smile.
“It’s fine, just a surprise. I guess you’d better tell me all of it.” I meet Percy’s searching gaze, trying to seem confident despite the fact that I’m still a bit shaken. As long as this isn’t something Tish did, I can handle it. And if it is… well, I guess I can still handle it.
Andrew gives my neck a light squeeze, then lets go and goes back to his seat on the couch, collecting a muffin on the way. Which reminds me… coffee. I take a big gulp and let the caffeine settle my nerves.
“Okay,” David begins. “Bear with me, because this gets a little exotic. And some of it is still based on theories. You know how the magic seems to really like you?”
As if it knows we’re talking about it—which it might.
Nobody seems to know how much sentience the magic has—it dances over my skin.
“Yeah. I can feel it most of the time.” He knows this.
We had some pretty extensive conversations about it when they were trying to get an idea of what was going on with me.
“Andrew mentioned last night that he’d told you humans have the capacity to use the magic…?” He seems to be fishing, and I’m not dumb. Well, not usually, although really, I should have put this together before.
“You think I can feel the magic because I can use it? And that’s how I projected feelings at Andrew, not charisma?” That’s so fucking cool! Existential magic is part of everything . It makes up the fabric of the universe. I wonder if I can learn to fly? Or teleport like demons do?
“Yes and no,” Percy says. “It’s definitely how you projected emotions just now. I could see it reacting to you and influencing Andrew. But our knowledge of how humans can manipulate the magic is limited, and everything we know indicates it shouldn’t work this way.”
The coolness factor fades a little. “So we don’t know if this is because of what Tish did?” There’s a tiny, eensy-weensy tremor in my voice.
Percy hesitates.
“We don’t know for absolute sure,” Andrew says. “But we don’t think so. Let David explain his theory. Whether it turns out to be true or if Tish has influenced this somehow, we’ll make sure you’re safe.”
David and Percy hurry to agree.
“I really don’t think this has anything to do with Tish,” David adds.
“Not in the sense that he did something to you, anyway. I did a lot of reading last night, and this seems to be within the parameters of how humans use magic. Uh, so… quick recap. All community species have a certain subset of abilities as well as a small amount of personal magic that can be used for glamor and disguise. This was something that came into play after the species wars.”
I did not know that. Maybe I need to do some more research myself.
“Wait, let me just make sure I understand. Before the species wars—that was, what, ten thousand years ago?” Holy fucking crap, that’s a long time. And these people talk about it almost casually sometimes.
“A little under nine, actually,” David corrects. Because that makes a big difference.
“Yeah, so before the species wars, humans knew all about the community? And then after, the magic made it so we… forgot, I guess, and gave the community species what they needed to hide in plain sight?”