His jaw dropped. “You’re effin with me,” he denied vehemently.
I giggled as I produced a small flame in one hand, put a force field around the whole vehicle, and projected a vision of Jemmy waving at us from the front of the truck, “Believe me now?” I asked him from my head.
“No wonder, they’re afraid of you guys,” he breathed out in awe.
I dropped all my gifts at once,
suddenly feeling exhausted. It had been too long since I used my gifts, let alone all of them at once, and it drained me quickly. “Every time I made a connection I also picked up a new gift. Unlike you, I kept the gifts. The first gift I got was the empath, which is Jace’s gift, then I obtained the ability to create fire, Troy’s gift, then there was the force field from Drake, followed by the gift of illusion, Jaxson’s gift. I just wish I knew if I attained a new gift tonight, but I have no energy to try to see if I have super human strength, Remy’s gift, or the gift of healing,” I said wearily as I slumped on the center console of his truck.
“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.
I nodded. “Yes, I haven’t used my gifts in a while,” I explained to him.
He patted me in understanding. “I’m always tired and hungry after a practice sesh,” he said sympathetically. “And…” he ducked his head. “Never mind,” he said hurriedly. “Wait!” he exclaimed suddenly. “I thought you only got another gift when you made an oh…oh,” his eyes bugged out and he looked out the window.
I couldn’t help but giggle. He was a twenty-year-old man, after all! “You have an increase in your libido? You feel increasingly froggy?” I began to tease him. “You have an itch, you can’t scratch? You’re hot to trot? You’re feeling randy?” I teased him mercilessly, laughing. It was dark in the car, but I was sure he must be red by now. “My itch got scratched tonight,” I said tongue in cheek. “Although, it wasn’t itching at first. It kind of just happened. No. No. I’m lying. I was out to seduce him.”
He looked at me with a mixture of shock and embarrassment.
“What?” I continued. “You heard the judge, and my precog sister told me the same thing. I need to make these connections.” As he continued looking at me I shouted, “Will you stop looking at me like that? You’re acting like a virgin!” I covered my mouth at his look of embarrassment. “Oh my gosh you are!”
“Not all of us are so… sexual,” he grumbled a bit acerbically.
I knew I had pushed him, and it wasn’t nice, teasing him, especially something that could be as sensitive as his manhood. I may have emasculated him, but I was stung by his comment, and I bit back without thinking. When I was tired, I was cranky. When I was cranky, I tended to speak without thinking. “I haven’t always been this…sexual. When I was twelve, Heidi’s boyfriend molested me. He touched me where no little girl should be touched by a grown man. When I was thirteen I was forced to fondle a man and make sure he got his pleasure, but not before he made sure to slice me under my breast, where I still carry the scars. It’s amazing I can even be intimate with a man, let alone six. Although in my defense. I’ve only technically had sex with two of them.” I was angry as I got out of the truck and slammed the door.
I started walking towards the road, angry, hurt, and filled with self-loathing. I knew I was being irrational and overly sensitive, but I seemed powerless to stop it. I longed for my old life back, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of the danger I was in.
“Blake!” Gavin ran up to me, grabbing my shoulders gently. “I’m so sorry. I had no right implying anything. I was just… embarrassed. I am a virgin,” he muttered quietly.
I looked at him, my chest heaving with emotions before I drew him into a hug. “I’m sorry too. I overreacted, and I shouldn’t have teased you! You’re one of my best friends, and I’m so glad you’re in this with me.”
We decided to ride around for a little while, so we could continue our conversation. Gavin decided to ride around the campus, before we finally stopped near the coffee shop. Gavin ran inside to get us some coffees, while I tried to wake up.
“How often is Bridgette around when you are practicing?” I asked Gavin when he came back. “Is she gifted?”
I had this uneasy feeling within me that wouldn’t go away.
Gavin looked uncomfortable for a moment. “She and Tamara are always around.” Then he closed his eyes and cursed softly. “And I’m pretty sure they snuck downstairs the other day when Jax and I were practicing, and she’s pretty strongly gifted.”
I groaned. “Crap, crap, crap,” I muttered. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to go home or be by yourself anymore. Now that she has an idea what you can do, you’re bound to be on her hit list as well. I just hope she thinks you can cast illusions like Jax. We need to find out what she can do.”
“Where can I go?” He seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation. “The next time I see her I will find out a way to touch her somehow.”
“I’m not sure you should be around her at all. She’s bound to be in the beginner’s class for ‘performance arts.’ If only,” I snapped my fingers. “Rachel. She’s in that class. We need to find Rachel!”
Chapter 9
I was beyond ready for bed when I got back to the apartment. I let myself in the apartment quietly because I didn’t want to have to have any discussions with Collin. I was too tired to act, and I knew my emotions were still too high to deal with him right now. It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, so I knew he wouldn’t be sleeping.
I was on my way to my room when I tripped over an article of clothing. I picked it up, confused. Collin couldn’t cook but he was a neat freak. He never left anything laying around. It took me a moment to realize it was bra I held in my hand.
I couldn’t believe Rose was still here, because I had no doubt whose bra I held. Just as I was about to let them know I arrived, for my own entertainment, I heard a distinctive vibration coming from the kitchen. I saw the screen from Collin’s cell phone light up in the darkened kitchen.
I ran over to the island as I rummaged for my sunglass case that held my new sunglasses I used for running. If Collin had ever looked through my stuff, which I knew he did, he would see the glasses I purposely asked him to get. Little did he know, I had a miniature device that would enable me to listen to his conversations, track him, and read his text messages. We had removed the lining in the case and slid the device behind it. It would probably be the last place he would think to look.
I knew I had little time to waste, so I slipped his case off and pressed the device into his cover. It was so hi tech, and I was thankful that Gavin’s dad owned a computer software company that dealt with spyware. It was fate that he was brought into my life not once, but twice.
Collin’s phone lit up once more, and I saw the message as it flashed on the screen. My hands were shaking with nerves.