The Locket

“Fine!”

Brody stared intensely at Logan for several seconds. Logan started to sway. He held his hands out at his sides as though he was trying to keep his balance, making me laugh.

“I create a dizzy effect, like vertigo, keeping people off balance,” Brody explained, turning from Logan who steadied himself, appearing in control now.

“Yeah, real cool,” Logan huffed his annoyance.

I laughed.

“Hey, it is cool,” Brody defended. “Except in the mornings when I feel the v

ertigo.”

“So that explains why you’re always late to class,” I teased, remembering him showing up late to class with messy hair and wrinkled clothing.

“Exactly, Claire. Mornings are no fun for me,” Brody laughed.

“It’s a good excuse, anyway,” Logan joked. We all laughed and Brody punched Logan in the arm.

“What can you do, Brooke?” I asked her.

Layken spoke up, clapping her hands together eagerly. “It’s so awesome. All of us will need her when the time comes.”

Brook looked at her hands shyly before responding. “I am an Augmenter, which means I am able to enhance each of your abilities.”

“That is awesome, Brooke! We will definitely need that,” I praised. “That just leaves Layken?”

Layken cocked her head slightly, raising one teasing brow. She flashed a sly grin before she spoke. I suddenly couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Her words entered my ears in song, the sweetest words I had ever heard. My body relaxed immediately, and a sense of calm entered my blood. My eyelids became heavy with tranquility. I realized this was not the first time I felt this way around Layken. She released the spell, watching me to see how I would react.

“This is not the first time you’ve done that to me,” I said, smiling. She smiled back, nodding in agreement.

“The Siren’s song, Claire. It’s so hard to resist,” she sang.

“What about the three of us?” I asked, shrugging and pointing to Reese and Brent.

“We don’t know,” Layken answered. “The way I understand it, each of us learns what defines us as we age.”

“I know,” Reese said. “I am a Semblancer.” I had figured that one since I knew Reese could change his appearance to resemble anyone he chose. “But the ability has grown, Claire. Watch this,” he added, looking at Brooke. Then there was another Brooke and another until there was ten of her around us. It was no longer possible to know which one was the original Brooke.

“Whoa! That’s crazy, Reese,” I said, trying to figure out which was the real Brooke.

“I know,” he beamed, as the other Brookes faded away. “But think how hard it will be for Kace to hurt you if there are so many of you.”

“Good point,” I agreed, glancing at Brent to see if he knew his role in the group.

He heard the question even though I never actually asked it.

“I’m a Trapper, Claire.”

I had seen him absorb and trap before so this seemed the logical thing.

“Has your ability grown also?” I asked

“It has,” he admitted. “I can trap anything that is not inherently human.” This was not new, and I had been witness to this before. He heard my thoughts again.

“Only now, I can absorb and trap another person’s ability and use it as my own for a period of time,” he finished.

“Wow!” I praised. “So that just leaves me, I guess, but I have no idea what I am other that what I’ve been told.”