Aurora Rising, page 7
“Thank you. And for last night, thank you. I never told you but I can never thank you enough.” Tears came to the mother’s eyes.
“You just did. I’m happy I was there to help.”
Dena smiled. “Oh, you haven’t met my husband, Harvus.”
Rori turned to him. “Hello.”
“Welcome and thank you.” The man opened his arms and Tad went to him. “You’re the new Guardian?” The man looked to her and then to Keyen who nodded and added a greeting.
“Yes, I just arrived here. I’ve been at an Ag-unit.”
“I will say welcome again and thank you for my son. I’m on the tech-team so will see you in the future. For now, we’ll let you get to your dinner.” After a brief good-bye, the man led his family away with Tad waving over his father’s shoulder.
Rori was still watching them walk away when Keyen leaned close to her ear. “And when you’re bone-deep tired, in pain, and you wonder why you are doing this, if it could possibly be worth it, just remember this and the answer will always be…”
“Yes,” she finished for him.
A few minutes later they sat down to eat. Rori was again conscious of the attention she was getting. Knowing it wasn’t going to change, she decided to experiment with it. Opening up her mind, she reached out immediately the feelings intensified. She could almost hear their words. “Who is she? She’s dressed like a Guardian. Never seen her before.” There were even a few telltale flashes of envy. She glanced at Keyen.
“Do you know several women in the room have a…” she paused to come up with the right term, “have an ardent desire for you?”
“Really.” He glanced around quickly then back to her. “Which ones?” He grinned back teasingly before shifting to serious. “You’ll learn fast that there are those who will seek you out because you’re a Guardian, some pressured from their families because they want such a strong talent in their family.”
Rori knew what he was saying was true, even though her parents were only mid-range talents. She knew from her grandfather many people sought out higher talents. Her mother’s parents had been ecstatic that her father was from a high talent. It was common that offspring from strong talents were usually at least mid-talents, though it all just came back to genetics and luck.
“You want me to point them out?” she returned teasingly.
“No, I like the company I’m with tonight.”
Rori felt a wave of heat. Silence dropped over them. Keyen finally broke it. “I take it you’re readings people?”
She nodded.
“Tell me.”
“It kind of feels overwhelming but I can handle it. Mostly what I’m getting is curiosity, but I knew that all ready. It’s just a whole lot stronger now that I’m focusing on it.”
“You ready to try an experiment then?”
“You mean on these people, the whole room?” She couldn’t hold back her disbelief in what he suggested.
“Why not? There probably won’t be a better chance, and it’s a whole lot better than a dry run on panicked people.”
Rori understood what he was saying. Still, she’d never knowingly tried anything like that on one person, and Keyen was suggesting a crowd. She looked around the room and back to him. Unconsciously, she leaned forward and whispered. “Do you really think I dare?”
“Why not? Make it simple. Just press out with the will to ease their curiosity in you. That will do nothing to hurt them.”
Rori felt her stomach tighten with nervousness, and gazed around the room again before she nodded. “Okay.” Taking a steadying breath, she cleared her thoughts before concentrating on damping the curiosity bouncing at her from all directions. She firmed in her mind what she wanted then pushed out gently. Almost immediately the waves of energy eased, but they didn’t stop. It was more like they were buffeted, but the feelings definitely decreased.
“Well?”
Rori raised her gaze to Keyen’s expectant look and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what’s scarier, the attention or that it actually worked.”
“Rori.”
She shook her head, a feeling of tightness settled in her. “I actually manipulated these people.”
“I wouldn’t say manipulated.” He tried to comfort her.
“Oh, really, what would you say?” she challenged. She could see him thinking of an answer for her but there was none.
Still, he tried. “You’re not controlling them. You just siphoned off or dampened what they were feeling. You didn’t change it did you? They are still curious about you, aren’t they?”
Rori nodded, letting the words sink in, mostly because she wanted to.
“You can’t take over anyone’s mind.” Keyen voiced the fear that had started to settle in her. “No one can.”
“I don’t know if I want this.” The words escaped her.
Keyen’s hand reached out and settled over hers bringing with it a charge of reassurance. “Rori, I might not have known you long, but I know one thing. You can’t use your talents against people, so it makes what you can do all right. You’re an empath. Your need to help will make it impossible to harm. Do you understand? It’s part of the make-up of your talent and who you are.”
Rori understood all he was saying and knew from being a lower level empath it was true, but still, she couldn’t look around the room without a fissure of fear at what she was able to do.
“Come on, don’t think about it. It’s time to head up and meet Areathea.”
Rori stood with him, no longer worried about the implant as her thoughts remained locked on the ability to sway so many people’s emotions.
Two hours later, the door to her room slid closed behind her, and Rori let out a sigh. She didn’t have to be told the room was shielded for talents. Immediately, the ‘buzz’ she realized were tendrils of emotions she was picking up from other people, ended.
Funny, as soon as it was gone, she knew what it was. It had always been there, even before her talent was boosted, just stronger now and undeniable. She wondered if that was the reason she had always partially distanced herself from people. She wasn’t quite a loner, not in the least. She just never seemed to be able to develop a close, intimate bond with anyone. The moment the thought went through her head, the image of Keyen came to her mind.
“No,” she denied aloud, pushing it away. Unfortunately, she couldn’t forget the wave of connection she’d felt when he’d touched her hand or the look in his eyes before he turned from her at the door.
***
Keyen lay back in his bed and thought of the woman on the other side of the wall. Aurora, Rori, she was such an enigma to him yet so familiar. She was so strong but untrained. Well, not totally untrained, just not sure what she could really do. She had calmed the curiosity in the room full of people. When he had suggested it, he hadn’t really thought she could do it. It was just a test, practice to build her power and control. But she’d done it so easily.
Rori had a right to be disconcerted. It had shocked him too, and he was used to the amazing things Guardians could do. Still, he’d never seen anything like that and from a novice. It was a little unnerving.
Though, for him, the most unsettling was not her empathic abilities or shielding, it was when he touched her. That was the real problem. It was like the dormant fire that burned within him burst to life.
He was used to an inner fire. Part of his talent lay in it. What he wasn’t used to was having it fueled by another person. He didn’t know quite what to think of it and didn’t want it to end. Now ignited, he doubted he could handle it being snuffed out. But, if it continued, he might have to talk to Areathea or one of the other med-techs or maybe even Hiymm. Though, there was nothing they could do about it because he was sure he and Rori should be kept together. He let the certainty of the thought settle into his mind.
***
Rori didn’t answer her door the next morning when he stopped on the way down to breakfast. Keyen didn’t see her in the dining room either. Thinking he’d told her the team would meet in the training room, he went there next, coming through a side door. Keyen heard the voices of his teammates across the room and waited, listening.
“It can’t be true.” Sansa’s voice carried her normal cool tone.
“I’m serious. I heard there’s a new Guardian. There was a ‘young’ woman with Keyen in the dining room last night, and she was wearing a Guardian uniform.” Cassie sounded like her bubbly self.
“What’d she look like?” The male voice rumbled.
“Tankin!”
“Well, a guy wants to know these things.”
Keyen could picture Tankin in his mind wiggling his eyebrows in exaggeration. The man was huge as a mountain but had a playful heart he used to put people at ease.
“You know Tankin has a point,” Cassie put in. “It could’ve been Keyen was just on a date. Men are known to do that, women, too. Just because our love lives are almost nil−”
“Speak for yourself.” Tankin and Bass, Cassie’s twin, echoed themselves and Keyen heard a hand slap.
“All I’m saying is maybe Keyen found someone to date, which I think is wonderful. He’s too solitary,” Cassie said defensively.
“He has us.” Sansa’s cool tone almost crackled.
Keyen decided it was time to interrupt the conversation and started forward.
“I think it would be great if Keyen found someone. Still, it doesn’t explain why she was wearing a Guardian uniform,” Cassie continued.
“Maybe they just mistook it for one,” Tankin pointed out.
“How was the break?” Keyen broke in.
“Hey, hi.” The greetings were stacked on each other as his friends turned to him.
“Keyen, what’s this we heard about a new Guardian?” Tankin spoke up.
He started to nod, figuring to get right to it. “We have a new team member.”
Even though they’d been discussing it, there was still a look of shock on all of their faces because none had really believed it true.
“Who? They say it’s a woman and there’s no woman on any of the teams that fit the description,” Cassie questioned.
“She’s new.”
“What do you mean new?” Sansa cut in. “There’s no one new near ready to move up.”
There were nods around the group.
“Rori’s new to the program. She’s a high level empath with shield abilities.” Keyen could see the question rising on all their faces, but it was Bass that got it out first.
“How can she be high level and new to the program?”
“She was misdiagnosed because her talent was late showing itself. But, she is very strong. She’ll just have to be trained up some.”
“What do you mean ‘trained up’? Are you saying she’s not trained?” Sansa’s voice iced even more.
“Rori, was a member of a rescue team. She just never had…,” he paused for the word, “an opportunity to work her talents to their full extent.”
“You said she can shield,” Tankin said in his easy way of accepting things. “That’ll be handy. We can use that.”
“Yeah, but he also said an empath,” Sansa returned.
“So?” Bass looked to her.
“Don’t you get it? We’ll be trapped with a human lie detector.”
Chapter Seven
Rori hurried down the hall. She was late. She wanted to be in the workout room already but right after she woke up, she discovered a message waiting for her on her IPI from Med Areathea wanting to check it out. It only took a minute for the medic to proclaim everything looked perfect with the integration. She then spent almost two hours with an Intel-tech going over all the options and training her to use it until she was confident and could operate it without much conscious thought.
“A human lie detector. Great help that will be.” The voice reached her as she stepped into the exercise room.
Rori froze. Pain arched through her.
“She’s not a lie detector.” Rori recognized Keyen’s voice as he defended her. “Rori can feel emotions and dampen them. Think how useful that will be when we have a dozen panicked people on our hands.”
“Right, then we’ll only have eleven panicked people to worry about,” the first voice returned.
“You’re saying she can handle more than one at a time?” Another female spoke up.
“Yes, she can,” Keyen assured.
“So when do we meet her?” This was another male voice with a low, deep tone.
Rori debated on turning and leaving but before she could, she felt a tingling of awareness across her senses. Though she had never had any previous signs of mental connection, she knew Keyen was picking up her presence.
“Rori, we’re over here,” he called out her name before she could flee.
Rori stiffened, setting her resolve. This was her team. They would be like a family. She needed to have complete trust in them, and they would need to have faith in her to work together. Pushing the hurt from the ‘human lie detector’ comment away, she moved forward. They needed to get to know each other and it was best to start now.
She didn’t like this feeling of not knowing where she stood on her team. Funny, she’d never questioned her spot on the rescue team before. Since she had started helping out early, by the time she was placed permanently, she already felt part of the team.
This was the first time she’d ever felt like a new person, an outsider. And what made it truly worse−she was still battling her new abilities. She could acknowledge that, not that it made it any easier. But this was her place now, so pasting a smile on her face and pulling a wave of confidence around herself, she stepped forward, moving around a few more obstacles until she came to the group.
Keyen stood across the team from her, sending off a push of assurance that was impossible to miss. Sitting on the floor, leaning against each other, looking like a pair of blonde bookends, sat one male and one female. Sitting on one of the blocks above them, interest radiated off a huge man with light caramel skin. On the floor opposite from them was an auburn haired woman, who without even hearing her voice, Rori knew was the one who’d made the lie detector comment. Skepticism and animosity drifted from her in waves.
Forcing her bravado, Rori gave a cheerful, “hello.” She caught a knowing glint in Keyen’s eyes as he straighten, taking the lead.
“Rori, let me introduce our team.” He stressed the ‘our’, reinforcing it to everyone including her. She was a member of the team now.
“Bass and Cassie Morus, twins if you didn’t guess, they can mind communicate with each other and are both strong telekinetics on their own, but when linked, they are phenomenal. Tankin Rees,” Keyen motioned to the large man, “is a sound wave manipulator. He also has a way with the animals and can detect changes in elements.”
“What can I say,” Tankin spoke up jovially. “I’m a sensitive guy.”
There was such spark in the giant’s eyes, Rori had to fight to keep from laughing, knowing full well that was what the man was going for. She picked up a pleased awareness from the man knowing he had gotten to her.
A chill through bit her body as she turned to the woman Keyen was introducing. “Sansa Faultneer, she is a water talent.”
That caught Rori’s attention. She’d heard of water talents, but they were so rare she’d never met one, and the thing was, if Sansa was a Guardian, she had to be extremely strong. Maybe the chill in the air was more than just the emotions she was picking up.
“We are missing one other team member. Ultin Thurin, he’s a pyro and energy talent.”
“Someone talking about me?” A wiry man who was only a couple inches shorter than Keyen, came through the side door. It was his looks that caught Rori. He was one of the handsomest men she had ever seen with wavy dark hair, sharp features and piercing dark eyes. Those eyes locked on her, picking up signs of interest. “And who do we have here?”
Instinctively, Rori opened her senses to read the man. There was interest but it was all superficial. It wasn’t that he wasn’t sincere. He was, she knew, a consummate flirt.
“A new team member.”
Being open, Rori felt a change in Keyen. She turned her attention to him. His posture had stiffened slightly. When he saw her looking at him, he continued, “Everyone this is Aurora Straye, or Rori.”
“Hi.” Cassie smiled openly and greetings followed from her brother and Tankin. Sansa was the last to acknowledge her with a nod of her head, still studying her as if she was an insect.
“Aurora, beautiful name.” Ultin headed toward her but stopped with Tankin’s question.
“Straye?” Tankin’s eyebrow arched in thought. “Any relation to Jattin Straye?”
“He’s my grandfather,” Rori acknowledged.
“Wow,” Cassie said. “We all started under your grandfather. He used to come in and check on our studies all the time.”
“He loved the Guardians. It was his life,” Aurora acknowledged.
A scowl creased Sansa’s brow. “I don’t remember you ever coming here. How come?”
Rori fought to keep from shifting in unease. She knew there would be questions. “My parents didn’t like it here. They are both Ag-techs. The city is not for them.”
“Keyen said you were on a rescue team at an Ag-unit,” Sansa probed.
“Yes. I’m a tracker and rescue trained.”
“And an empath.” Sansa’s comment didn’t sound very complimentary.
“An empath?” Ultin questioned.
“Yeah,” Sansa answered before Rori could. “So don’t try your games on her. She can read right through you.”
“I don’t play games. I just like all women. Is it my fault I can’t pick one? Maybe the one I want doesn’t want me.” He scowled at Sansa and Rori knew there was some truth in his words. Ultin was interested in Sansa and the woman had absolutely no idea. Ultin turned his attention back to her as if he knew she was probing. “So you’re an empath?”
“I haven’t had much experience with it except using it as a tracker.” Rori felt it was fair they knew her experience. “I’m very new to shielding but I will work to develop it.”
