The straightjacket corseted my body so tightly my arms tingled and my fingers turned numb. I sank beneath the water’s surface, the weights on the jacket dragging me down. I gasped, and a spurt of liquid spilled into my mouth. Chlorine burned my eyes as I watched the distance between me and the surface growing. Blurry shapes moved above, becoming smaller, blurrier. They were watching me. Waiting. Watching. Waiting.
Panic clutched at my chest when my feet hit the ground. Ten feet separated me from desperately needed oxygen. If I didn’t move quickly, I was going to drown. Bubbles burst from my mouth, dancing before my eyes almost mockingly. I tore at the fabric, pressing my arms against my sides, thrashing and kicking, letting my instinct take over.
It’s just a test, I reminded myself. Summers would never have let me do this if it was too dangerous. She’d been a Variation trainer for years—she knew what we were capable of. She might risk me losing consciousness, but she wouldn’t let me die.
And Alec wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
I stopped struggling and settled at the bottom of the pool, resting my knees on the blue concrete floor. Closing my eyes, I tried my best to ignore the steady pressure building in my chest. I needed air. I’d already wasted too much time panicking.
Focus.
I coaxed the memory of a little girl I’d bumped in the mall. I pictured her delicate features, her narrow shoulders, her slender limbs. I imagined looking through her eyes, inhabiting her body. Immediately, the familiar ripping sensation started in my toes and crept up my calves. Once it reached my chest, the pressure of the jacket loosened. It was several sizes too big now. I wiggled out of my restraints, opened my eyes, and pushed off the ground. With a gasp, I burst through the water’s surface, gulping down air. I felt my limbs lengthening, my body returning to its own form. As soon as my vision was clear, I noticed Alec perched on the edge of the pool, ready to jump in. His dark brows were still knitted, his gray eyes full of worry. He always looked pissed-off when he worried, and it was a look that really, really suited him. It made his sharp cheekbones and strong chin stand out even more, and revealed hints of the temper he usually controlled so well.
Summers, Tanner, and Holly had gathered around to watch. Tanner winked at me and gestured at the pile of towels in the corner; one of them lifted off and floated toward his outstretched hand.
“Show-off,” I mouthed with a smile and swam toward the ladder.
I took Alec’s outstretched hand and let him pull me out of the pool. He wrapped a towel around my shoulders and I snuggled into the fluffy material, wishing it were Alec’s chest instead, but his bicep touched my skin for less than a second. Still the brief contact sent a tingle through me as it always did. I sank down on the bench, my back against the wall. My teeth chattered as I released a shaky breath. I could feel the panic slowly ebbing away, but my heart kept up its erratic rhythm.
Holly wrapped an arm around me. “Shit. I can’t believe how long it took you to resurface. Are you okay?”
I shrugged and leaned my head against her shoulder. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.
“Morphing into a little girl—that’s quite a party trick, Tessa. But there’s nothing like a near-death experience to get your blood pumping, right?” Tanner said with a grin. His teeth flashed white in his dark face. His red mohawk defied gravity the way it always did—one of the perks of having a telekinetic Variation.
“It’s not funny. Tessa could’ve gotten hurt,” Alec growled. He pressed his balled fists against the wall; the muscles in his back quivered as if he was trying to stop himself from driving his hands through the wall—which he could have easily done with his own Variation. He was stronger and faster than normal human beings—and other Variants, for that matter.
“Everyone needs to learn how to use their Variations in extreme situations. We can’t coddle students and then expect them to survive a mission. Tessa isn’t a child anymore,” Summers said, running an impatient hand over her messy ponytail. Summers had been an agent for the FEA—Forces with Extraordinary Abilities—since before we were born and had complete authority during our Variation training. But that didn’t stop Alec from challenging her on a regular basis. He could be impossibly stubborn. And the news that I was no longer the kid he picked up at home several years ago hadn’t registered to him yet.
“Don’t turn this into a bigger deal than it is, Alec,” she warned, pivoting on one heel and exiting the pool area.