Page 66 of Avelina

“I think we can make that happen. I didn’t keep Aaron’s Evocation, though,” I said.

Ward shrugged. “You weren’t trying to take it. He gave it to you, but it was still connected to him, so it returned to him when you were finished.” He dropped his eyes, frowning. “He probably absorbed some of your reservoir, actually. That happens sometimes when you have a deep Connection link with someone. They call it ‘mixing reservoirs.’ There’s a kind of residue left on both of you from the other. Aaron can probably pull you in with Connection now, and your resonance will increase.”

“That’s true. He does pull me in now,” I said.

Ward leaned over to me and whispered, “Now that you’ve had sex, you’ll be all mixed up, especially if it was as good as that sounded.”

I cringed. “Sorry, Ward. I know we were kind of loud. I didn’t expect it to be so intense.”

Ward waved it off. “It’s okay. I’ve been living vicariously through you for years. Do you remember the time you brought home that Lebanese guy?”

“Not really,” I said. “Wait, you mean Jasar?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention to his name,” Ward said.

“Yeah, I met him at the Kinetic Grand Championship. His sculpture flipped over and sank. I gave him a towel and he was extremely grateful. That was a great night.”

“I remember,” he said, getting up. He crouched in front of the bookshelf and skimmed the titles, his face absurdly close to the spines. So much for Monashi supervision. “Start with this one,” he said, pulling a book off the shelf and handing it to me.

I read the cover. “Beginning Fragment Theory: Uses, Synergy, and Side Effects of the Noble Six, by Nikos Galanis.”

“Yes, that textbook will answer your basic questions about Protection and Connection, which are both Noble. It will also teach you about how to create a blended link, which is the use of multiple fragments together with Connection. You’ll need to learn that.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Since you have Connection, you can use that fragment to expand the range of your other reservoirs, like expanding your shield farther out from your body, or healing through a Connection substrate, like dirt or water.”

“Oh, that sounds useful,” I said, a smile settling on my face. The textbook looked handmade and old, as if it had already been through a thousand hands before reaching mine. It had no dust cover, just a cloth-covered binding with yellowing paper and asymmetrically printed block letters. It reminded me of some of the antique books my parents had in their house. My parents loved old books. And old television shows, for that matter. They were the ones to make me sit down and watch the original Star Trek episodes.

The smile faded from my lips as I thought about them. I had been dependent upon them for so long. This was the first time I’d ever had to completely figure things out on my own.

I’ve been so spoiled, I thought. The people here have to fight to live a normal life. I’ve just been mooching off my parents, riding around on a pony that my daddy bought me. I spent so much time agonizing over my lack of friends and completely missed how lucky I am to have two stable, loving parents. I need to do better. Give more. If I ever get back, that is.

“This library is extraordinary,” Ward said, pulling me out of my self-flagellation. He squinted as he scanned the books on the shelf, choosing one that looked even older than the one he’d handed me. “Ascension: Twelve Worlds, Twelve Bridges, by Gerhelm Meriweather,” he read. “Wow, if the Ministry knew this was up here, they would definitely burn this house down. It’s forbidden to even talk about the other fragments. They call them the ‘Unspeakables,’ and they never mention the other worlds at all. I didn’t know they existed until Seleca pulled me onto the bridge to Earth.”

“Why do you think that is?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said, sitting down again in the reading chair, “but it probably has something to do with control. Eve controls everything, down to who gets to mix reservoirs, if you know what I mean.” Ward held the book comically close to his face, closing one eye.

I played with the beads on my wrist. The fire agate beads had a slight warmth to them while the aquamarine crystals felt cool.

Spirit?

It took her a moment to appear, but when she did, she had a strange expression on her face.

“What is it?” I asked. Ward looked up from his book and saw I wasn’t talking to him. His eyes flicked around the room again, then down at the book.

“You should go outside and find Aaron,” Spirit said. “He’s out there on a big rock, staring out at the sea.”

“Okay. Thank you, Spirit. Will you please go find out what our enemies are doing?” I asked.

Spirit nodded, then blinked out. I felt bad for ordering her around. She was my friend, not my servant, but what else was I supposed to do? She was my top rope, so to speak. I needed her to make sure I didn’t fall to my death from this giant cliff I was trying to climb.

I glanced at Ward. He seemed as if he wanted to appear relaxed. I found my socks and shoes and sat to put them on.

“Spirit says Aaron is out by the sea. I didn’t even know we were by the sea,” I said.

“Yes, the Meriweather Sea. Neesee, the capital of this province, sits on the sea as well, just northwest of here, up the coast.”

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