Witchling (Curse of Kin) (13 page)

“Do you want to tell me what went wrong?” he asked.

I closed my eyes and felt his fingers move over my face, warming my skin. “I really don’t know, Jasper. I thought I was invincible and could look after myself. You tell
me
,” I said.

“No one is invincible, Nera.”

“But last week I only had to think and it happened. This time I was helpless. I couldn’t do a bloody thing. It doesn’t make sense.”

“You must remember that you are still learning. There could be many reasons why you could not defend yourself today. We just need to find out why so you don’t get hurt again.”

“That is not even an option.” I pulled myself up to sit beside him. “That bastard is not getting away with what he did to me today.”

“I thought you didn’t know who it was, girl dear. Why did you say that? Why didn’t you tell them what you knew?”

“Because I want to be the one to make him pay, that’s why.”

Jasper watched me, his eyes registering a myriad of emotions while he processed my words. He raised his eyebrows and nodded his head slightly. “Well, I suppose you have that right. The boy does deserve some punishment. Just be careful, though. What goes around comes around.”

“That is what you should be telling him, not me. Why didn’t my powers work, Jasper? Is everything you told me rubbish?”

“No, girl dear, all of it is true, but I’m sure you already know that. Why your powers worked the other day and not now, well, I think the best person to ask is Bones.” He stood and held out his hand to me. “Shall we? I have to let your folks know you are here, so it would be a good idea if we go down to the house and talk to him now.”

I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. Taking a deep breath, I followed him down the grassy slope to the house and found Bones in the garden cleaning a collection of longswords. I recognized the ones we had used over the weekend. Now they were shining in the sun, and I longed to pick one up, but I had other things to deal with first.

I felt his eyes follow every move I made. Instead of going with Jasper inside, I turned at the door and came back to stand in front of Bones. He didn’t say a word; he just watched , letting me make the first move.

I wanted to rant at him for my failure earlier today, but I knew it wasn’t his fault. He was my teacher, yes, and Jasper had reminded me more than once that I was just learning. I could hardly blame him for my incompetence, even if I wanted to. Bones was a different story. For someone that had informed me that he was my shadow, shouldn’t he have been there and helped me? Just a little would have been nice.

“Why didn’t you help me?”

“I did, Nera. I admit that I was a little slow in getting there, but when I sensed the danger, I was there.” Bones eyes were hard and dark; he kept his lips pressed together.

“I never saw you.”

“No. It would not do for me to be seen on school grounds with you laying hurt on the grass,” he replied. “They would likely think it was me that hit you.”

“Did you see them?” I still didn’t believe him, not entirely.

“Yes, I did. They won’t bother you again, Nera. I have seen to that.”

I glared at him. I wanted to hurt them like they had hurt me. More than that, I wanted to humiliate them in front of others. I wanted to see them on the ground in pain.

I knew Bones had read my thoughts when he replied. “Your time will come if you choose to hurt them more, but not yet. You are not ready to take on another life and risk taking it too far.”

“I feel the need deep inside my guts to hurt him. How can I get past that when I know I failed to keep myself safe?” I ranted at him.

“Success is the best revenge, Nera.”

“I’ve heard that before. But what did I do wrong? Are you going to fill me in?”

“You did nothing wrong.” Bones visibly relaxed. He flicked his hair away from his eyes. “You are just inexperienced. That will change. The more you practice, the better you will get. The same as anything, practice makes perfect.”

“Funny. I was kind of hoping that it would just be there one morning when I woke up,” I joked.

Bones threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, Nera, if life was only so easy. I can help, you know. I have told you that. You just have to trust me.”

“What? Like trust you to look after me like you did today?” I asked, the venom back in my voice. “Right.”

“If Bones hadn’t felt you in trouble, you would be in hospital, girl dear,” Jasper interrupted, a frown on his face. “I called your folks, and they know you are safe here.”

I hadn’t heard him come up to us. Guilt crept up under my skin, and I felt ashamed. “What do you mean, he
felt
me? I thought he was my shadow?”

“He can’t physically be beside you all the time.” Jasper sighed. “But you two have a connection, and he can feel your moods and your fears. Bones came to you immediately when he felt you were in danger.”

I looked at both of them, not understanding at all how he could get to me so quickly. The beating had not lasted long.

“It’s a god thing, Nera.” Jasper winked at me.”Speed.”

I nodded my head, letting them think that I understood. “What did you do to them?” I looked at Bones.

“I hurt them, just like you would have done. It was my right. One day you will understand that.”

I shook my head. How could he have known what I wanted to do to them? “You can’t, can you?” I asked. “Surely not.”

“If you can do it, why wouldn’t I?” he asked.

Jasper had told me of the ability I had to hear other’s thoughts. He said that one day I would be able to sort out the noise and listen to whom I chose. I hadn’t even thought that Bones would be able to do the same thing. That was my mistake. I wanted to know more.

“You know what I want to know, so are you going to tell me?” I asked.

“I think Jasper has already told you what you are going to be like.” Bones nodded his head to my uncle.

“Not exactly,” I said. “He said that if I was the girl he thought I was, then there would be nothing that I could not do.”

Bones smiled down at me in a way I found so condescending and annoying.

“What?” I asked, hands out.

“You just answered your own question.”

“How? I don’t get it. What am I going to be able to do?” I was even more confused at what I thought was a simple question.

“And the simple answer is—everything,” he replied.

I turned to Jasper. He was quietly chuckling to himself.

“Jasper?”

“Oh, girl dear, the look on your face.” He laughed. “Anything you might have read or heard of; you can do it all. You just have to learn.”

Right, like I believed that. My lips twitched, the scenarios running through my head. Jasper and Bones watched me and I knew that my thoughts were not my own, but the scope of what they were saying was too exciting to try to hide. I looked at Bones.

Want to try to read me, Nera?

“How did you do that?”

Just think what you want to say to me and keep me in mind. We have a connection, remember?

I looked at him, then over to Jasper. He was still chuckling quietly to himself, seemingly amused by my reaction. Did they have the same connection? I wondered if Jasper could do this too.

Not as easily as you and I can, but it is there, always useful to know.

Can you do this to me whenever you want?

Yes. However, you can try to block me now that you know.

I looked at him, embarrassed. Did that mean he was in my mind when I first noticed him driving past our house in the paper van? No wonder he was scared of Brie, the things that must have been going through her mind when she met him, poor bugger.

“This is way too weird, Jasper.” I had to stop myself thinking about Bones from now on. Heaven forbid he should realize that I thought he was the best looking guy I had seen for a while, and that my stomach did flips when he was too close. My gut started to churn. How was I going to deal with this?

“You will get used to it. It will be hard in the beginning to get the noise out of your head with everyone’s thoughts shouting at you, but it is easy enough to block them out. Just let your mind go blank, pretend that you are meditating,” Jasper said.

“Will that work for blocking out Bones?” I asked, making a point for my privacy.

“Is it a problem for you?” Bones’s face had changed again to the cool look I was used to.

“What do you think?” I retorted. “I’m a teenage girl with teenage girl thoughts. Work it out for yourself.”

“I will try not to be too intrusive, Nera,” Bones replied in a stilted voice. He opened his mouth to say more, hesitated, then shut it instead.

“Calm down, dear boy,” Jasper chided him. He turned to me. “I think that I should help you with those bruises, girl dear. How about you come into the library and relax for a bit.”

“What do you mean? Mom rubbed me down with comfrey cream. That should do it in a few days.”

“How does your face feel?” he asked.

I put my hands to my cheeks and ran my fingertips over the bruises and scratches. My eye didn’t seem to be as puffy, and I couldn’t feel the gouges in my chin from Connor’s fingernails.

“What did you do?” I looked at him, suddenly suspicious again.

“I healed your face when we were up on the headland. Would you like me to heal the rest of your body too?”

“How did you do it?”

“Just a little knack I have.”

What more are you capable of that you haven’t told me?

So much more than you could ever think of.

I glared at Bones.
Get out of my head.

“Nera, would you like to see how it is done?” Jasper asked.

“Why not?” I looked back at him. Realizing how ungrateful I sounded, I smiled at him. “That would be great, thanks, Jasper.”

“Coming, Bones?” Jasper asked.

“No thanks. I’ll finish this.” He picked up another longsword and his polishing cloth.

Jasper put his arm over my shoulders and led me to the library where the fire was roaring in the fireplace. He instructed me to lie on the couch and relax.

“Anyone can do this if they know how to channel energy,” Jasper said and proceeded to explain the theory. “Energy is the universal power that is available for all to tap into. It’s just knowing how and where to send it and what you want to use it for.”

Jasper closed his eyes. As he rubbed his hands together, he moved his lips in a silent incantation. He held his hands just above my face, not quite touching me. I could feel the heat that his hands generated when he moved them up and down the length of my body. All the while, his eyes were closed, and he seemed to be in a serene trance. He let his hands return to rest gently on my forehead, and the tingling vibrated through my body, soothing the turmoil inside. He flicked his hands and opened his eyes.

I could feel the connection breaking the moment he moved away from me. It left me with a small emptiness that I could not explain. He held his hand out and helped me rise from the couch.

“Feeling better, girl dear?”

I knew what he expected me to say. How could I not feel better after what he had just done for me? I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed in his magical energy. I had always loved Jasper, but today, I forged a bond with him that had not been there before. Another piece of the never-ending jigsaw puzzle was falling into place. I wondered what the final picture would reveal.

“Thanks, Jasper,” I whispered, taking in the calm for as long as I could.

“I think an apology and a thank-you should to go to Bones for today, if you could see your way clear.” Jasper cupped my chin in his hand, looking into my eyes.

I knew he was right, but the rebel in me wanted to refuse. To be chained to Bones for the rest of my life had got my back up, and why wouldn’t it? No more privacy, ever. Not even in my thoughts. How was that going to work out? And yes, he was an easy target for my frustrations. Not my fault that he was there. To keep my favorite man happy, I would do it.

“Sure. Sorry if I seem ungrateful. I don’t mean it. He just gets my back up without even trying.”

“I know that. Seeing as how you two are going to be going through life together, so to speak, I think you should try harder to keep your snappy remarks to yourself just a little bit more.” Jasper toned his words down with a smile.

I left him in the library to go and apologize to Bones. He was where we had last seen him in the garden polishing the longswords. I could tell by his body movement that he had sensed me coming. He stiffened at my approach.

“Bones.” When I put my hand on his shoulder a sudden jolt of electricity shot up my arm, the power between us was more obvious to me now. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I latched onto the connection I knew we had, then mentally slapped myself. I couldn’t let him get too close just yet. I wasn’t ready for someone to take control of my life, and I knew he would eventually.