Page 14 of Out of My Flocking Mind

He shook his head as though disappointed by the weak attempt, then set a drink before me. I didn’t ask what it was before picking it up and taking a sip.

And immediately spitting it back into the cup. “What the hell is that?”

“Tea.”

“I’ve had tea. It isn’t this gross, bitter leaf juice.”

“You’ve had sweet tea, Grey. That is not the same thing. Now, drink it.”

“No, thank you.”

He lifted one of his light-colored eyebrows as though unused to people telling him no. “You were attacked by a Mind for the second time in less than a week. That will throw your body out of sorts and can cause low magnesium. Thus, the tea is made with a magnesium supplement to counter that before you suffer from the effects, which can include anxiety, trouble sleeping and muscle cramps.” He gestured at the cup. “Now, drink.”

I thought about arguing again—the taste really was horrible—but the idea of having added anxiety on top of the mess in my head seemed worse. I gave in and lifted the cup, staring it down like an enemy. Thankfully, it wasn’t that hot, so I did it the same way I did cheap liquor, gulping it down like a shot before slamming the cup on the table.

Harrison sighed—loudly—before taking the cup away. “Was that my own little glimpse into what you look like drinking?”

“A lady never tells. Besides, you could come bar hopping with me if you want. I bet you’re fun after a few shots.”

“As I said—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.” I paused, then furrowed my brows. “Why does Ignis drink, then?”

“She’s far less powerful, so it doesn’t affect her as much. It just causes us to have trouble controlling our powers, but it doesn’t increase them. For her, it causes headaches, and she feels the emotions of those around her more, but it isn’t nearly as troublesome or dangerous as it would be for me.”

“You have those subtle brags down, don’t you?”

“It is hardly a brag—subtle or not.”

“Yep. Poor me, I’m just a super powerful and handsome Mind. You should feel so bad for me.”

“That is the lamentations of those who misunderstand the stresses of power. Ignis may live where she wishes. She can interact with who she pleases, shape her life as she wants. For me, that is not possible.”

I glanced around his massive living room, the décor sparse and modern. “Yeah… I feel really bad for you in your mansion.”

“Do you know why I live here?”

“Because you’re filthy rich?”

“Because this property sits on five acres, giving me enough space to not worry about neighbors.”

When I didn’t seem to understand what he meant, he sat in a chair across from me.

“I have lived here for ten years, but it was not my first home on my own. I lived closer to the city at first, in a smaller place with neighbors to each side. I had thought I’d learned enough control to make it safe. However, as the days passed to weeks then months, the community around me changed. That softness that existed before, the closeness between the residents, it cracked and left jagged edges. Couples split up, families fought, children suffered, but still I assumed those things the normal goings-on beneath the surface of all places. It was four months after moving in when I awoke to the flashing lights of police on the street.” He crossed one of his legs over the other, resting his ankle on the opposite knee. Despite his flat, careful words, a tremor vibrated beneath them, a sign that it affected him more than he let on. “The father in the house to my left had been a sweet and quiet man. He’d lived his life doing everything he was expected to. It took only four months of living beside me for him to take a gun and end the lives of his wife, his three children, then himself.”

I sucked in a quick breath, the story worse than I would have even guessed. The horror of such an action was bad enough, but the realization that he was responsible for it? A weight that heavy could easily end a person.

He nodded, then jerked his gaze from mine to stare out of the large window that showed the open land between him and any neighbors. “So you understand now why I live where I do. People can spend short periods of time around me, but eventually they all become affected. No matter how strong a person, spending time around me will turn them to their darker feelings. They will give in to the darkness inside them because that is what my power does—it infects those who come in close contact with me.”

I frowned as his words—full of so much self-hatred—hung in the surrounding air. And, even if his reasoning was different, even if the effect he had on others was different from my own, I understood that isolation.

My crow did the same thing, didn’t it? Hell, I’d been annoying even before that, but since changing? I thought about my place, full of stolen trinkets I’d been unable to not pocket, the times I’d annoyed others just because I couldn’t help it.

How much worse would I feel if my actions had caused actual harm to others?

But I knew better than to come out and say that. Harrison was proud, just like me, and he wouldn’t appreciate that from me.

So instead, I brought my legs up and crossed them in front of me on the couch. “So why’d you bring me here?”

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