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When a slow song finally played, I welcomed slowing our pace. Cael wrapped his arms around my waist, and I hooked my hands around his neck. We moved together as I tried to memorize every detail of his handsome face and embed this memory in my mind. His smile faded, and the look in his eyes made my breath catch. His fingers splayed out across my lower back, and then his hands slid down and around to grab my hips and hold me against him. I pulled him down for a kiss, and we spent the whole song swaying and kissing.

Devon put on a country CD, which amused people until Pippa and Brodie started talking about line dancing. They tried a few things, but I poked fun at them. They retaliated by making fun of my southern accent and insisting I teach them how to do it. I downed another half glass of champagne and agreed. I pointed out an appropriate song to Devon from the CDs he showed me. Then I took a spot in the front, swore I couldn’t do it right in my bare feet, and then gave it my best. I showed them heel digs, grapevines, pivots, and the kick-ball-change. They were laughing so hard that I also had to introduce the Tush Push. Surprisingly, Pippa already knew it, so she stood up front to help me teach it. It was a total mess, but everyone had a blast giving it a shot. After a bunch of songs, I had to get some water, and the music changed over to pop.

Cael and Brian teased Pippa and me mercilessly. Then Brian started smacking Pippa’s butt and talking about how he wanted to see her ass move some more. He ended up chasing her out of the room and down the hall while Cael and I laughed. Devon and Brodie jumped up on tables, shook up champagne bottles, popped the tops, and sprayed everyone. Some of the girls squealed and ran out, and then there came a quick consensus that everyone should head to the pool.

The security guard and nurse Angela grinned as everyone rushed past the central station, screaming and running. Cael detained me with a hand on my shoulder. “You shouldn’t go swimming.”

“Come on, Cael. What could happen? I can’t drown when I’m surrounded by a dozen other people. And I won’t do anything,” I added, winking exaggeratedly. He reluctantly let me go. But when Val and I held hands and ran into the pool together, he gave up and cannonballed in behind us.

All fourteen of us ended the night together playing crazy games in the pool. The guys took off their shirts and we played volleyball. Even Wesley participated. And it was well past midnight when Cael and I decided it was time to go back to his room.

Chapter 29

Iggy

I woke up late. Cael didn’t realize I was watching him at his desk, typing on his computer and reading my files. I sat up, pinning the covers under my arms. “You’re such a book worm.” I didn’t ask if he’d found anything because I still didn’t like the idea of him reading about me from lab reports.

He leaned back in his chair. “You know Iggy, you’re pretty damned amazing.”

I flopped back on the bed and sighed. “No, I’m not. Please don’t say that.” I propped myself up on my side. “I can’t even go one day without wanting to do that water stuff you and Wes think makes me flip out.”

Cael sat on the bed next to me, took my hand, and kissed each one of my fingers. “You miss it?”

“I’m happy when I get to do it. It’s fun, and it’s something I like about myself. You said I should try to think of something positive about my power, and I did. Not that swirling around a bunch of liquid is useful, but I think the designs are pretty. It’s like creative art therapy for me.”

“Iggy, I think it’s really cool that you can do that with water. I just worry about the behavior change that comes over you.”

“But if I practice with you there, you can snap me out of it.” The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I sat up again. “It’s a great idea. Please, Cael? Let me practice with you around. I’ll feel safer about it. You’ll feel safer about it. And I’ll learn the extent of what I can do along with control.”

“Where would we do this?”

“In the shower. There’s lots of water and it doesn’t matter if we get wet.”

“The shower, huh?” He smiled and traced a line across my collar bones with his index finger. “And just how often would you want to practice?”

I grinned. “Lots and lots. As much as possible.” I slid my hands across his glorious chest and leaned forward to kiss him.

“Okay. How about you start practicing right now?”

Iggy

Something was on Pippa’s mind. And that girl couldn’t play a poker face if her life was the bet. We were using the weight machines, and she seemed deep in thought, a myriad of emotions causing shifts in her facial expressions.

“Spill it,” I finally said after my last set.

“What are you talking about?”

“Something has you totally lost in thought. Is it Brian? Did you two have a fight?”

She shook her head. “No. It has nothing to do with him.” She sat up on the padded bench and took a deep breath. “You’re my best friend, Iggy.”

“I am?”

She nodded so hard it caused droplets of sweat to land on her shirt. “And it’s normal to share secrets with your best friend, right?”

“You want to tell me a secret?” I was intrigued.

“Well, the secret is a really, really secret one. Brian said I shouldn’t tell anyone. But I am dying to talk to you about it.”

I placed a finger over my lips and pointed to the nearest camera. It was supposed to be off, but I didn't trust Jensen. “If you want to tell me something, Pippa, I can certainly keep a secret. But I think we should visit the bathroom.”

She smiled and then beckoned me to follow her. She rushed down the hallway with the grace of a ballerina, light on her feet and practically giggling like the pixie she resembled. Whatever the secret was, she obviously thought it was a good one.

Wesley was coming out of his room as we passed. “Iggy,” he caught me by the arm. “I need to talk to you.”

I felt relieved that he actually spoke to me, and I tossed him a bright smile. “Pippa and I need to have a girl chat, but I’ve been wanting to talk to you, too. Can it wait?”

Disappointment flashed across his face before he nodded. “Find me after you’re done.”

I nodded and ran after my friend. In her bathroom, she locked the door, grabbed my hands, and jumped up and down. “Okay, okay, okay,” she breathed with a face-splitting grin. “I’m settling down.” She let me go and took a few cleansing breaths. “You can’t tell anyone. This is top secret.
Top
, top secret.”

“Got it.”

“You can’t tell Cael or Brian – even though he knows, he can’t know you know – or anyone.”

“I won’t, Pippa. Spill!”

She stared at me a moment and then confessed, “I can do something I’ve never done before. I can pull water from any source, not just people and animals.”

I stepped back. “What? Like how? What do you mean?”

“Look.” She pointed at the sink faucet. Water began flowing from it while she stood across the room.

I clamped a hand over my mouth. We looked at each other. “Just from the sink? Or from anywhere?”

“From anywhere that has water in it. A glass, a pool, a toilet.” She pointed at her toilet. Water filled the bowl and poured over the sides.

I stepped back so I wouldn’t get my shoes wet. “Pippa, that’s amazing!”

She threw her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re not freaked out by it. I was worried how you’d react.”

I was floored. Pippa and I had the same gift! “Do you realize what this means?”

“That I can do cool stuff?”

“It means,” I corrected, “that you don’t just control the cells that hold water. It’s not osmotic control, Pippa. You have power over an inorganic substance.”

She gasped and slapped a hand on her forehead. “Oh my god! You’re right.”

I grabbed her arms exactly the way Wesley had grabbed mine. “You can’t tell anyone, Pippa. No one. You have to hide this from Jensen. From
everyone
. This could be very dangerous for you.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“How long have you known about this?”

“About a week. I just discovered it. I was sitting a table with Brian and I remember thinking about how thirsty I was. And when I looked at it, the water bottle on the desk
across the room
tipped over, and the water oozed toward me like some freaky living substance.”

“Did anyone see it?” She shook her head. “Cameras. Were there any cameras around?”

“Maybe. It’s a possibility.”

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. If Jensen saw it, then there’s nothing that can be done to change it.” The floor was a mess. “You need to clean up. And be careful what you’re thinking around all water sources from now on.”

“Right. Okay. I’ll go get a mop.”

I grabbed her arm as she turned around. “Just make the water go back in.”

She paused and shrugged. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. If you can pull out, you can put it back. Just…I dunno…think the opposite of what you just did.”

“I’ve tried it. I can’t make it go back. I can’t do anything but make it come toward me like a slithering snake. It’s kind of creepy, actually. But still cool.”

I closed my eyes briefly and shook my head.

Pippa said, “I’ll go get the mop. We’ll just say the toilet overflowed.”

Something clicked in my brain. A split-second decision. I stopped her again. “Let me show you how to clean it up.” I looked at the water and it lifted into the air. I thought a snake was a very apt description. I made a floating water coil and pushed all of the liquid back into the bowl.

Pippa gasped and squeezed my hand so tightly that my fingertips turned white. “How did you do that?” I shrugged. “How long have you known you could do this?”

“Not long.”

I wondered if it was a mistake to have told her my own secret. But then she hugged me and said, “We’re sisters in this. We have a secret that’s only ours, Iggy. I’m so glad to have someone to share this with. I felt like I was going to explode trying to keep it to myself.”

“I’m glad I can talk to you about it, too.” And I wondered just how many others had discovered something new about themselves lately.

Chapter 30

Iggy

“You see, I think that it’s just easier for you to manipulate molecules that are fluid, like water,” Cael proposed, toying with strands of my hair as I lay on his sofa with my head in his lap. “If a muscle is dehydrated, it will spasm. Cardiovascular function can be impaired. But maybe you control calcium and magnesium too, which are key in muscle function. So it’s not
only
that you control the muscle fibers liked Jensen believes; rather, you control the molecules that make the fibers function.”

“Does that mean I could pull water out of people like Pippa does?”

Cael’s fingers brushed across my cheek. “Yeah. Like I said, even after all the reading and research I’ve done, I don’t know squat, and this is all conjecture; but if I had to take a guess, I’d say you could control any molecule, whether or not the test subject is organic or inorganic.”

I sat up. “Whoa. Hold on. I took biology and chemistry in high school, but I’m not even sure I remember what a molecule is.”

“They’re basically just two or more atoms that stick together. Some are simple and some are quite complicated.”

“Could I do what Krish does? Could I make someone bleed out?”

“Iggy, plasma is ninety-two percent water. Who knows what you could do.”

“Then Pippa’s ability is very dangerous.”

“Everyone around here is very dangerous, in my opinion.”

“What about what Ibram does? Could I control pyrogens that cause fever and kill someone by cooking his brain?”

Cael made a face. “You’re getting really morbid with this.” He tucked me into the crook of his arm. “But what’s really interesting is that you don’t just control the water molecules in living organisms. Since you have some kind of molecular control outside the body, then maybe you can manipulate other inorganic molecules. Hell, maybe you could manipulate any
thing
made of molecules: elements, minerals, fuels, metals, polymers…”

“I can’t.”

“How do you know? Have you ever tried? According to what I’ve read, Jensen has always focused on bioscience. All of your tests were conducted on living creatures.”

“Should I try manipulating other stuff?” Admittedly, I was excited about the possibilities. And having Cael’s support in this gave me confidence.

“Sure. Why not? How do we know what you can really do if you don’t try your power on everything?” He leaned his cheek on the top of my head. “As far as I’m concerned, I think that if you can manipulate water outside the body, there might be all sorts of things you can do.”

I tilted my head up to kiss his jaw. “I’m kind of excited to try this out.”