With all eyes on me, I glanced around for something to grasp at. Feeling the familiar build of energy inside me, I threw out my Telekinetic lasso and aimed for a carafe of water that stood on a small table to Alton’s right-hand side. The lasso easily snatched the curved glass jug up by the neck. I held it in the air for a moment or two, before lowering it again. Concentrating intently on the invisible bond between me and the object, I tipped the jug slightly, praying the contents didn’t spill out everywhere and douse the Council. As it touched the edge of Alton’s glass, I let the water pour, before setting it down on the table again. Not super impressive, but I figured it was better than just lifting the carafe.
A stiff round of applause found its way around the audience.
“Well done, Harley,” Alton said. “Now, if you’d like to move on to Empathy?”
I nodded and walked toward the Mage Council. They glanced at me in surprise, and a sudden spike of doubt shot through me. Was I not supposed to perform my abilities on them? My heart pounded ten times harder. Any more of this anxiety, and they’ll have to carry me out of here on a stretcher.
“The best way to show my Empathy abilities is to share what you’re feeling with everyone,” I announced. “Then you can tell me if I’ve hit the mark or not.”
No one objected, so I took that as my go-ahead. I looked at Leonidas Levi first, letting his emotional state filter into my consciousness. He met my gaze with a hard stare. Focusing entirely on him, my eyes widened in surprise. Total and utter boredom. Plus, a sour hint of suspicion and a smattering of disappointment, which stung a bit. I was doing my best here.
You just wait until I get this Suppressor out—then we’ll see who’s disappointed.
“Mage Levi, I hate to put you on the spot like this, but you seem to be bored with this whole thing,” I stated. A splinter of panic ricocheted through me. I knew it was coming from Alton without even turning to look.
To my surprise, Levi smirked. “Very good, but you hardly need Empathic abilities to gauge that. I’d call it nothing more than a bit of cold reading. Look around, pick a person, you could say the same thing and they’d applaud you for it.”
A twist of irritation coiled around my heart. Alton shared my annoyance, but I wasn’t about to let Levi get away with insulting me in front of everyone. “You’re also suspicious of me, and there’s a hint of disappointment, too. Was I not what you were expecting?”
“Better,” he commended coolly. “I have every right to be suspicious, given the weight of your surname. I wouldn’t let it go to your head if I were you, however—not all of my emotions concern you. My disappointment is aimed elsewhere.” He shot a casual look at Raffe, whose eyes glinted angrily.
“Do me next!” Nicholas Mephiles chimed in, clapping his hands together excitedly. The impact of his palms slapping together prompted his chin to quiver like jelly beneath his reddish beard.
I smiled. “Of course, Mage Mephiles.” I focused on him. He was easy enough to read. With him, I probably could have guessed what he was feeling without any magical ability whatsoever. “You’re very excited about cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries for lunch, smothered in the chef’s famous lemon mayo, and I’m guessing you wish we’d invest in more comfortable seating because your back is in a lot of pain. I can sense your discomfort.”
I could feel the cravings coming off him, getting a sense for the exact foods he was hungering after. He was focusing on them so hard that it made the emotions clearer, each one hitting me with a vivid idea of what it was that he wanted.
He chuckled heartily. “Remarkable. Yes, excellent. Right on the mark! I do enjoy a good banquet, in case you can’t tell.” He rubbed his belly like jolly old St. Nick, causing a button to make a last-ditch dive for survival. It landed by my feet, but nobody seemed to notice. Wanting to preserve the man’s dignity, I discreetly kicked it away and carried on down the line of Mages.
“Mage Knightshade, do you want me to read your emotions?” I asked.
He waved me away. “No, no, I believe your ability.”
Intrigued, I homed my mind in on his aura anyway. It was a slight invasion of his privacy, but I couldn’t help it. It wasn’t as though I could shut this skill off. Nervous tension bubbled beneath the surface of his Bear Grylls exterior. Being near him made me feel jumpy and oddly sad, a bittersweet sensation that was tricky to decipher. What’s your deal, Remington? I wasn’t going to get any answers from him this way, that much was clear. Expectation hung in the air above me—everyone was waiting for me to get to Imogene.
Ah, crap.
Ever since meeting her, Imogene had been one of the few people whose emotions I couldn’t read. Garret was another one, plus O’Halloran and Preceptor Bellmore. The three shared one key detail in common: they were all Shapeshifters. I hadn’t been able to read the psycho Ryders either, for the same reason. We’d suspected Imogene of being one, too. Still, I had my doubts about that. I couldn’t read distinct emotions coming off her, but I always felt a wave of warmth whenever I was near her. A feeling of contentment and soothing light that didn’t match up to the blockade I got from the other Shapeshifters I’d encountered.
“Mage Whitehall,” I murmured nervously, flashing her an apologetic look that I hoped she understood.
“Please, go ahead.” Her voice drifted over me like the first flurries of a winter snow. In one deft movement, she removed the silver bracelet from her forearm and set it down on the table beside her. Smiling, she waved her hand with effortless elegance. “Whenever you are ready, Harley.”
Does she want me to make something up?
A moment later, I realized I didn’t have to. Delicate whispers of emotion flitted away from her calm demeanor, winging their way toward me. First, a sweet ripple of intense pride that fanned out around me like peacock feathers, followed closely by a bundle of hopeful nerves. Her sky-blue eyes never left mine, and my heart seemed to swell as a glimmer of delight sparked across them. This scrappy underdog had won the favor of a freaking elf princess.
Her emotions shifted into a vein of sadness, the merest hint of a tear welling in her striking eyes as she looked at me, letting me know where her sadness stemmed from. My life, my history… the things I’d endured. I was feeling her empathy with my Empathy. I’d never known a connection like it. It was like being hooked up to pure light, the energy of it sprinting through my nerve endings.
She reached for her silver bracelet and pushed it back up to the middle of her forearm. My time in her secret world would soon be up. A tiny white light flashed for a moment, barely noticeable. Instantly, the emotions vanished, but the rush of her remained. I had no idea how the bracelet blocked anyone from reading her emotions, but she had allowed me in. Honestly, I didn’t feel worthy of the privilege.
So you’re not a Shapeshifter… you’re just hiding your emotions from Empaths like me. People who might use them against you. Damn, as if I didn’t already think you were a total badass. Imogene Whitehall, when I grow up, I want to be just like you.
I cleared my throat, aware of the wave of anticipation gathering behind me. “You’re feeling pretty nervous for me, Mage Whitehall, but you want me to do well. I sensed encouragement and happiness at how I’m doing so far.” I didn’t want to mention the pride and the sadness I’d sensed, in case it embarrassed her. It was enough that she’d let me see it.
“Very good, Harley. I am feeling somewhat anxious for you, indeed, but you’re proving your worth once again,” she said, with an enrapturing smile. “You are truly doing the San Diego Coven proud. I must admit, your Empathy abilities are even more detailed than I’d thought. One has to wonder what else you sensed from Leonidas and Nicholas that you are too polite to reveal?”
A laugh ran through the crowd, Imogene’s chuckle joining the masses. Levi shot her a cold look.
“Now, might you care to move on to the Elements?” Alton suggested, glancing at the clock on the wall. Evidently, I was taking my sweet time. Either that, or he didn’t want me revealing his emotions to the rest of the coven.
“Of course,” I replied with a nod. “I’d like to start with Fire.”
“Certainly.” His shoulders relaxed as I took up my position.
The garnet of my Esprit flickered, the red glow dancing. I lifted my hands and urged two tumbling balls of ferocious fire into my palms, forged from pure Chaos. I hurled them at the back of the room, and they smacked into the arched back of a bronzed dragon, exploding in a puff of soot and sparks. The smoke receded to reveal a melted dent where a triangular spike had once been, the molten metal trickling down the side of the beast.
Alton gave me a stern look. “You seem to have Fire handled. Let’s move on, before you melt anything else.”
I beamed at him. “I’d like to do Water next, if that’s cool?”
“That is… cool,” Alton replied stiffly.
I wandered over to the glass of water on Alton’s side table and picked it up, before returning to my position in the designated semicircle. Setting the glass down on the floor, I lifted my palms. The sapphire of my Esprit sparkled as the water shot out of the glass in a spiraling column.
As I spread my arms wider, the water followed, fanning out in one thin, cascading sheet. Every time the droplets reached the bottom of the watery pane, it meandered right back up to the top, flowing over and over in perpetual motion.
After a couple of minutes, I forced my open palms slowly together, folding the water in on itself until it created a swirling orb in the center of the podium. I watched it for a while, mesmerized, before letting it trickle back down into the glass.
“Water,” I gasped, beads of sweat forming on my forehead. This magical stuff wasn’t easy.
A round of applause thundered across the crowd, while Tobe wandered over to retrieve the glass and set it back on the table beside Alton. I mouthed a thank you to him, and then moved swiftly on to Earth. These last two Elements were not my strong suits, and I was absolutely dreading them.