Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) (21 page)

“I
still can’t believe I can do it,” Whit said in awe.

“Well, I knew it was only a matter of time.
And I am so happy you’ve progressed with your dreams as well. Ending a dream on your own is a good start. Now you need to focus on dreaming or, I should say, having visions on subjects you want to know about. Directing the visions, so to speak. That’s the next step,” Mrs. McFaddin said with a squeeze to Whit’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I wish
,” Whit muttered to herself. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to do that. But as long as her powers were growing, there was something else she wanted to know. Before she could chicken out, she asked Mrs. McFaddin a question that had been on her mind for months. “Do you think I’ll be able to mindbend?”

Mrs. McFaddin paused for a long moment.
“Whit, I don’t think you’re ready for that particular skill yet. It takes a lot of concentration and control. You don’t have the control for it yet, but yes, I do think you’ll develop it eventually. You have a very gifted mind, and it’ll continue to get stronger and develop new skills as you learn.” She smiled and patted Whit on the arm. “It will all come. Just be patient, my dear.”

Whit didn’t have time to be patient. She needed to
mindbend for Dark Conquest. She remembered the vision of her becoming invisible to the girls walking by in the warehouse. She could do this, it’d just take a bit of work and maybe a little help. But who? Not Mrs. McFaddin, so who? She needed to know how to mindbend so she could make that vision become true. Without the skill, she would most likely be captured if that vision happened. She also realized that she would become more of an asset to her team and be able to help out more. Help them win. But the question was, who could help her?

She only knew two mindbenders
: Wallace, who had Mind Study with her and pretty much stayed to himself, and Anthony, Elli’s friend. She thought he might be a friend of Rosco’s as well, and would probably help her if she asked. There was also Darby, but Whit didn’t know what her skills were. Plus, just thinking about her being a mindbender made Whit cringe. Even if she did ask her, Darby would probably look at Whit like she was an idiot, then laugh herself silly. Out of those three, Anthony sounded like he might be the best option. Besides, it wasn’t like she was asking for a lot. All she needed was some information on how to practice, and then she could try on her own. It really wouldn’t take much of his time at all.

Having
decided that was the best plan, she promised herself that the next time she saw him, she would ask for help.

Chapter 23

Whit and Rory decided to go to team signups an hour early to ensure that they would get a spot. But by the time they got to the office, there was already a line of students. Rory worried that they would get to the front just to be turned away because the eight spots were already filled, and moaned for the entire wait. Whit spent the time trying to figure out how many teams were in front of them. By the time the line started moving, she was convinced that they’d get the last spot in the tournament. Nolan and Mark must have gotten up super early, because they were the second team in line. Both waved at them, but Rory only snarled, clearly coveting their spot.

Once
they reached the front, the girls received an envelope, and learned that they were the seventh team for the tournament. The secretary told them to read every paper in the packet and make sure to turn in the team agreement by Friday, or risk disqualification. Rory was beside herself with excitement at having got into the tournament, and danced back toward the cafeteria, Whit jogging along beside her and laughing.

At breakfast, the table was bubbling with excitement. Talk centered on
Dark Conquest, of course. The majority of the people at the table were either on Whit’s or Nolan’s team. There was already some trash talking going on, which made everyone laugh.

Whit noticed immediately when
Anthony sat down at a table nearby. She took a deep breath, wondering how to ask him if he would help her.

“
Already looking for another guy?” Nolan whispered in her ear.

She laughed.
“No. I just need to talk to Anthony for a sec. He’s in Mind Study too, and I have a question about a … project.” It wasn’t really a lie, since she didn’t say he was in her class. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to talk to anyone about this yet. If she was able to do it, then she would tell them.

Nolan watched her without speaking. “Okay
, I was just joking,” he said with a smile before kissing her lightly on the cheek.

Whit smiled back.
Over the week, Whit had really let Nolan in. He had even held her as she told him about her parents’ accident and moving to North Carolina, tears running down her face. She’d told him about the dreams and how horrifying they could be. She’d even demonstrated her telekinesis for him.

He had opened up to her
, too. He’d told more about his sister and that his life before Maverick had been pretty normal. One thing he really missed was competing in sports at his old school. This didn’t surprise her at all; she’d seen him in Movement Performance, and knew how strong he was. He told her that soccer had been his favorite, though he’d also played basketball and baseball. She noticed the sadness around his eyes as he talked about sports and his dream of playing soccer in college, which he said would probably never happen now, unless he was able to walk on to the team. He played on a soccer team during the summer, but felt his skills weren’t improving because of the lack of use during the year.

Whit felt sorry for him. Of course, after that all she
’d wanted to do was cheer him up, which had led to making out. Whit still blushed thinking about it. It had happened in a semi-public place, too. She still couldn’t believe they hadn’t got caught. They’d been in the library, of all places. Since most of the tables had been occupied, they had spread out their books and papers in the floor near a back corner. A student came by every few minutes, but it was actually pretty isolated. Thank goodness. She’d been the one to start it, not him. But he had looked so sad. And at that moment, without thinking, she’d leaned over and kissed his cheek. Then his other cheek. Then his nose. Before finally finding his lips.

His reaction had been instantaneous.
He’d grabbed her around the waist and pulled her toward him until she was straddling his lap. His hands rubbed up and down her thighs, before settling on her hips for a few seconds. Whit had felt like she had fire in her veins. She ran her hands up his chest, before circling his neck and pulling him closer. As if that was even possible. The kissing had been explosive, and quickly got out of control. His hands pushed their way under her shirt and along the sides of her breasts. His moan had shocked Whit out of the moment, though, and reminded her where they were and what they must look like. She’d jumped off his lap, fixing her shirt quickly.

Nolan’s eyes
had remained shut as he banged his head against the wall. After a few moments of silence, they had looked at each other and burst out laughing. It had been a really good moment, and Whit knew there was no going back. She was falling for him.

**********************

Eli was heading down the hallway when Whit managed to catch up to him. She started off with small talk, but once it became clear that they had nothing to talk about, she blurted out her question.

“Could you help me learn to mindbind?”

Eli stared at her for a second. “Why? It usually develops on its own. Why the rush?”

She knew her reason sounded stupid, but couldn’t think of another one to give him
, so decided to tell the truth. “I signed up for Dark Conquest and think it’d help my team out. Can you help me?”

“Sorry,
Whit.” Anthony shook his head. “I don’t know how it works, plus I haven’t really learned to control it all that well. I don’t think I’ll be much help. You ask McFaddin? She’s probably the best one.”

Whit’s shoulders sank.
“Yeah, she said to wait until it shows up on its own.”

“Well, I can’t really help that much since I don’t understand it myself. Sorry
. She’s probably right, you know. You can’t force it.” He frowned and then turned and walked away.

She felt disappointed that Anthony hadn’t been able to help, and as far as mindbending her options were limited. How could she learn more about it? Were there books in the library about this sort of thing? The only other mindbenders she knew were Darby and Wallace. All she needed was a starting place, then maybe she could develop it on her own. Darby was definitely a no, but maybe Wallace would be more receptive to her. She would ask him after Mind tomorrow, along with check the library for books. With that plan in mind, Whit headed toward the television room for team practice.

Rory had decided that since the tournament started in two weeks, the team needed to understand what powers they had to work with and come up with a strategy. The team was made of up Rory the bonecrusher, Ellie the vampire, Linds
ey the caster, Misty the stalker, and Whit the psychic.

Practice
started with each person demonstrating their powers. Whit had already seen Rory and Ellie in action, and they were awesome, but Lindsey and Misty were equally impressive. Lindsey was an ice caster, and for her demo she froze Rory’s feet together. She explained that she could do a lot more, but would need direction. Then Misty demonstrated her senses, which were extremely sensitive. She would be excellent as a guard or hunter. When it came time for Whit’s exhibition, she wasn’t able to call up a vision, but had already seen the game floor in several dreams. That meant that she could provide her team with some details about the arena. She described the ropes hanging from the ceiling, the stacks of large crates, and the maze of hallways. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember every detail of the warehouse, but at least she was able to give them a slight advantage over the other team. Then again, the other team might have psychics that knew how to control their visions. She promised to work on getting more details via her dreams.

T
hen she floated the television around the room. Rory and Ellie were both quite shocked at that, as she hadn’t told them about her telekinesis yet. She also explained that she might be able to control the dreams, to ask specific questions. Maybe between now and the tournament, she would see something to help them. By the end of the meeting, Whit felt good about her contributions, but wanted to do more. She wanted to mindbend and was determined to find out how.

Chapter 24

Preparing for the Dark Conquest tournament took up most of Whit’s free time over the next two weeks. If she wasn’t in class, Rory had strategy meetings and practices scheduled.

At their first team meeting,
Rory started by announcing that for the next two weeks the team would spend most evenings working on melding their powers and forming a strategy. They also had to make sure they knew the rules of the competition. They looked over the informational packet they had been given at signups, and started with the Team Agreement, which basically stated that all rules must be followed and no one would physically harm another person. After everyone signed, they looked over the game instructions and rule sheets, which repeated everything Tolman had said at the assembly, but included more specifics about the gaming area and game play.

The game would be held in a large warehouse.
The room would be mostly dark, with torches placed randomly throughout to give some light. Each team would have a small safe zone, found at the door that allowed them entry to the arena. Next to the safe zone was each team’s hold – a windowless room with one (non-locking) door, where they could keep captured opponents. The room only contained chairs, nothing else. The rest of the warehouse held various obstacles, such as stacks of crates, ropes hanging from the ceiling, tall climbable walls that divided the room into sections, a mazelike set of hallways, barrels, small watch tower structures, large rocks, and many other obstacles. Teams were allowed to use any objects they found during the game.

No team would see
the gaming area before the competition started. This gave Whit’s team an advantage already, since she’d seen the warehouse in her dreams and knew the basic layout.

The sheet also explained that
the game would start and end with the sounding of a horn. All the obstacles in the game area could be used in accordance with the rules. If someone got captured, he or she would go to their opponent’s hold, to sit and wait for rescue or the end of the game. According to the rule sheet, any rule broken would result in team disqualification.

There were only five
hard and fast rules.

1.
       
Games would last six hours exactly. A large digital clock, visible at all times in the arena, would keep time.

2.
      
All team members were required to wear assigned uniforms. No uniform could be altered, must be worn in original form.

3.
      
Captives may only be incapacitated using powers and gifts. No ropes or constricting devices allowed to restrain players.

4.
      
No student was allowed to harm another.