“Thanks.”
I hurried to the east bathroom and pushed the sliding door open gently. I heard the rush of running sink water and opened the door all the way.
Adrien was at the sink, splashing his face over and over. He’d half soaked his tunic, but he kept cupping water in his hands and throwing it onto his face, slapping his cheeks hard every time. He finally stopped, his hands braced on either side of the sink, a line of muscle forming on his cheek where he gritted his teeth. He stared at himself in the mirror.
His face looked pinched with pain. His shoulder blades jutted out next to the taut muscles on his back.
Seeing him like this shocked all the questions right out of me. I felt a hitch in my chest as I watched. I’d never seen him like this before. He was always so ready with a smile for me or a joke for Rand and Juan at the Caf table.
“How long?” he whispered, his voice low and guttural. At first I thought he was talking to me, but then I realized he was questioning his reflection.
“Adrien?” I asked, finally stepping inside.
He looked up and his mouth dropped open in surprise when he saw me in the mirror. He spun around, rubbing his forearm over his dripping face and pasting on a quick smile.
“Hey,” he said, then looked away and cleared his throat.
“What’s going on?” I stepped closer.
“Nothing.” He grabbed a few towels from the dispenser on the wall and started cleaning up the water he’d splashed all over the sink.
I came closer and put my hand on top of his to stop him from scrubbing the sink so hard. “What did you mean when you asked, ‘How long?’”
He flinched, but covered it quickly with a smile.
“I’m so sorry I left you like that last night,” I said. “Are you upset about the soldiers? Or did you have a new vision?”
He closed his eyes and breathed out in frustration. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Last time I told you about the future,” his words came out harsh, “it caused you so much stress you had a nightmare and lost control of your power.”
My mouth dropped open. “That wasn’t your fault!”
“Remember that story we read about Oedipus, and how the oracle started it all?” He turned to me, his voice heated. “I feel like it’s the same with me. Whenever I tell people my visions, bad things follow. Those soldiers last night…” The smiling mask had dropped away and every ounce of grief and pain was clear in his eyes. “I told Taylor about a vision I had, and that’s why they were in Central City in the first place. It’s because of me those soldiers died.”
“Adrien—”
“The things I’ve seen…” He shook his head. “I’ve tried so many times to change things, and every time I fail. I thought maybe I just didn’t have enough power to stop them, so I started sharing all my visions with the General. Even one vision I should have never told her.” His shoulders slumped in defeat. “Knowing the future changes a person. It makes you desperate, or reckless.”
He looked at the mirror again, his haunted eyes reflecting back. “Or hopeless. I’ve learned my lesson now. You can’t stop what’s coming for you. What’s the point of even trying?”
“Oh, Adrien,” I murmured, pulling him into my arms, ignoring his soaked tunic and holding him as tightly as I could. I listened to his heartbeat through the damp cloth. “Shhh, it’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s gonna be okay.” I patted his back.
I pulled his head down and kissed his forehead, wanting to comfort him any way I could. I kissed down to his ear, then to his cheek, tasting salt on my lips from his tears. I kept moving, slow gentle brushes of my mouth all the way down his face.
“It’s gonna be okay,” I whispered again. He stood still in my arms, not moving as I hovered, inches from his lips. He stared at me, his eyes dark. Then he cupped the back of my head and pulled me into him for one deep, hungry kiss. A sizzle of lightning sparked all through my body.
All the anguish and intensity that had been in his voice a moment ago was now transformed into his touch. I gasped as his tongue trailed down my neck and pulled his head back up roughly with my hands so I could kiss his full lips again.
He twirled me until his body pinned me against the wall. One of my legs hitched up around his hips, pulling him closer. He gripped the fabric of my tunic in his fists and a low growl escaped from the back of his throat. I was all lips and nerve endings and a body pressing against his.
I arched up into him, barely hearing the buzzing in my ears go from a slight hum to a raging vibration.
Until the mirror behind him exploded into a thousand pieces, the shards blowing outward.
Chapter 12
I’D BEEN TRAINING with Adrien’s mom for the last week—and had the bruises to prove it. But I deserved it. It had taken two hours for Jilia to get all the bits of mirror glass out of Adrien’s back. The look Sophia had given me when she came in to see him had cut sharper than the glass splinters embedded in my arm. She had pulled me aside and said she’d arranged for me to train with her every afternoon until I could get my power under control.
It felt like all I did was train now, morning till night. Mornings with Tyryn, then I usually skipped lunch to spend an hour meditating with Jilia, followed by afternoons with Sophia. And still, other than a few rare moments here and there where I’d felt right on the cusp of calling my power voluntarily, I wasn’t any closer to controlling it.
“Your power is linked to your emotions,” Sophia said, lifting the pellet gun at me again. “But obviously meditation isn’t working,” she continued. “So let’s try getting you angry.”
I tried to prepare this time, to gather my telek, but before I could even try to focus on the dim buzzing in my ears, a rubber pellet smacked me in the forehead.
“Why didn’t you deflect that?” Sophia asked, her gray-blond dreadlocks flying behind her as she spun around.
“I’m trying,” I said through gritted teeth.
She raised the pellet gun in response. “General Taylor doesn’t need you to try. She needs you to do. She had this place rebuilt to accommodate you because she needs your power to work. She needs you to be a weapon.”
“I don’t see how shooting me in the face is supposed to help me focus—”
Two pellet rounds smacked into my ribs.
“Hey!” I shouted. “I wasn’t even ready.”
She sneered. “You think in a fight, a Reg will stop so you can have a moment to get ready?” Another bullet flew toward me. I held up my hands to deflect it, but it just smacked into my pinky finger.
“Ow!” I cradled my finger and looked up at the woman, so frustrated I could scream. We’d already been at this for half an hour, and I was sure I was going to have small pellet-sized bruises up and down my body. I bet she couldn’t wait to volunteer for this task. I could almost feel the satisfaction radiating off her. My hands started to shake. I looked down at them in dismay. This was exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I didn’t want to lose control with Adrien’s mom. It would just be that much more ammunition for her hatred of me.
I held up my tremoring arm. “Maybe we should stop for a little bit.”
Sophia ignored me, not lowering her weapon. “I told Adrien that he should stay away from you. That you are dangerous.”
“I’d never hurt him.”
“Oh really?” Her eyebrows raised.
“The mirror was an accident,” I mumbled, looking down.
“What if these were real bullets? When you’re out there running missions, you need to be able to take care of yourself. My son is strong and smart, but he’d jump in front of a laser weapon to try and save you. Are you going to let him get killed because of you?”