Calder apologized for not being able to get a close parking spot, but Grey waved it off. This was supposed to be a test of what he’d learned with Cort. Calder didn’t need to make it easy for him.
Grey climbed out of the SUV, then easily walked around to the back, his right hand sliding lightly along the sun-warmed metal and glass until he reached the rear. He’d forgotten his new cane—was really going to have to remember to use it. Calder helped to point him in the right direction, and they steadily made it to the sidewalk. Grey couldn’t help his grin of pride. Calder had a knack for knowing when to step in with some guidance and when to let Grey go.
“Do you know someone who is blind?” Grey asked as they stepped through the automatic doors.
“I had a friend when I was much younger whose mother was blind. How did you know?”
“You’re less…hover-y than the others.”
Calder chuckled as he carefully directed Grey down the aisles toward the pharmacy drop-off window. “I hung out at his house a lot over a couple of summers. He made it normal for me. He didn’t jump up constantly whenever she walked into the room to help her. She was plenty self-sufficient. You know, you’re doing pretty amazing considering how new this is for you.”
Grey wrinkled his nose a little. “I think that might be an exaggeration. I won’t say that it’s getting easier, but it definitely feels less overwhelming now.”
The pharmacist took the script, and they wandered around the store for a little while with Grey’s hand on Calder’s elbow. They stopped in the toy aisle and debated the wisdom of buying dart guns for everyone in the house to help break some of the tension. They then moseyed to the magazine rack, where Calder read off all the insane headlines for the tabloid rags. As he was finishing, Grey’s name was called, and they picked up the prescription.
Wisely, Calder grabbed a couple of bottles of water so Grey could take a pill in the SUV before they returned home. The headache had already begun to recede on its own, proving to Grey that at least some of it had been caused by the anxiety currently blanketing the house.
Stepping onto the sidewalk, Calder led them away from the doors and stopped for a moment. Grey turned his face up to the sun and closed his eyes, soaking in its warmth. He missed Cort, but it was nice to be away from the house and out in the real world for a little while.
“Do you need—” Calder started to ask, but Grey didn’t hear the rest of the question. The wind had shifted, and it carried with it the scent of pestilents.
Grey snapped his head in the direction of the rotten odor and inhaled deeply, praying that maybe he was wrong. But the scent was still there and stronger. His heart sped up and the hand he had on Calder’s elbow tightened.
“Pestilents?”
“Yesss,” Grey hissed in a near whisper.
“How many? No, never mind. We need to get out of here.” Calder started to pull him forward, presumably in the direction of the car, but Grey didn’t budge.
“Can you tap into your power here? Is there enough moisture in the air?”
“What? Are you serious?” Calder stepped closer, his chest bumping into Grey’s arm. His breath brushed against Grey’s ear as he said, “You know I’m still learning to use my gift.”
“When Clay taps into his power, I can touch him and use him as a sort of battery to boost my own. I want to do the same with you.”
Calder was silent for a couple of seconds before he grumbled, “There’s a fountain on the other side of the pharmacy. If we stand next to it, that should help.” Calder shifted directions and Grey walked easily beside him, still sniffing the air here and there like a bloodhound trying to track a scent. They were actually moving closer to the source of the odor, which wasn’t great.
“What am I looking for? Everyone looks normal to me,” Calder asked, his voice tightening with worry.
“Besides the smell, they usually have red eyes, or possibly the air around them wavers.”
The splash of water on stone grew louder along with the footsteps of more people. They were heading into a more high-traffic area for shoppers.
Calder didn’t need to tell Grey when he tapped into his powers; he gasped as a surge of energy washed through him. Where Clay had always been more hesitant to tap into all the energy the earth seemed to offer up, Calder embraced it, letting it pour through him completely.
With his eyes closed, Grey attempted to pull some of that power into himself the same way he did with Clay. To his surprise, it flowed just as easily into his own as if he were made to simply plug into each of the different Weavers. When he’d spotted Lucien in Savannah all those weeks ago, he’d not actually seen the man with his eyes. His presence had been more of a bright light in his brain. By contrast, the pestilents were more of a dark smudge or sometimes a blankness among the clusters of humans.