Page 152 of Gift from the Nexus

“Well, aren’t you just a ray of fucking sunshine,” Oakly hollers, grinning from ear to ear as soon as she and her men popinto the lawn. Her eyes trace all over Will and she knows without even being told that she’s bonded to all of us now.

The two of them hug, laughing, no doubt have their own little conversation just as Lyker and his crew pop in as well. Aria wastes no time joining in with the other Primaries and just like that, the twelve of us men are pretty much forgotten.

“No hey, hug, or nothing for me, fortune teller?” Lyker says teasingly.

“I was getting there, Alphahole. Ladies first, always.” Will smiles, embracing him, then his brothers.

“Cut it out,” I tell Draken when I hear the rumble in his chest.

“It’s not me, it’s him. He doesn’t like that shit.”

“You are him, dragon, but regardless, growl louder so we can run all these people off,” Caspian says with a roll of his eyes and a sly-ass smirk.

“Enough. Draken, stop it and get used to it, Caspian. No one’s ruining her dinner tonight, so suck it up and go take your seats,” Corentin orders.

Even as I try to focus on what Ry’s saying to me, I can’t help but laugh at the shit going on in my head. This mind connection is incredibly useful and highly entertaining, but damn, the noise can get overwhelming at times. I haven’t had this many voices in my head at once and not been able to block it out in a long time.

I’ve tried practicing blocking them out individually from talking to me all the time, mostly because of Draken, but I haven’t cracked it completely yet. When they send their words to the entire group, or at least between us guys, there’s absolutely no stopping it. My mind won’t even allow me to try. I guess a connection like this isn’t supposed to be blocked, so it’s a permanent distraction I’m gonna have to grow used to.

Conversations flow easily between our three Nexuses as they always have, but now, with three spunky, sassy-ass Primaries in the middle of them, it’s far livelier. Less talk of missionsand killing rebels, and more of things the Nexuses are learning together.

From my eavesdropping, I know that Aria still hasn’t had her awakenings, but Kyan knows and hasn’t said anything to anyone. That’s going to be quite the little secret that comes out. And it will. Secrets always reveal themselves.

“Fuck them two, hell, three, are gonna get us killed one day,”Ry complains mentally as Willow accidentally makes a glass explode all over the table, attempting to show Oakly and Aria how she can move things with her new shadows.

“Nah, let’s be real, they’ll probably be the three to save our asses.”

His eyes whip to mine and widen. It takes me a minute to understand why he’s staring at me, then it clicks. This is exactly what happened to Oakly the other day.

“Can you hear me?”

“Crystal fucking clear.”

“Holy shit,” Will mumbles.

When I look over, both her and Oakly are staring between the two of us in shock. The answers written across their faces for me to see.

“You’re not doing anything, little warrior?”

“Nope. That’s all you,” she says with a bright smile that has the whole table now looking around in confusion.

“What’s going on?” San and Caspian ask at the same time.

“Apparently, I’m now talking in other people’s heads. Oakly’s heard me before and I thought maybe Willow was somehow interfering, but I just talked to Ry.”

“And he could talk back?” San asks.

“Not necessarily. I hear his voice like I normally would when hearing people’s thoughts, but I responded like I’d be talking in my Nexus’s link.”

“I think you may have just expanded your gift, Tillman. Try on me,” Gaster says enthusiastically, eagerly volunteering to be the guinea pig.

“Concentrate on me, just my voice. Respond once you’ve established you’re talking to me and only me,” he instructs in his mind just as he used to when I was a kid, and I pick it up instantly.

“Just like old times, old man.”

“I am in my prime, thank you very much,” he says with a warm, grandfatherly smile and everyone erupts in excitement.

The eight men who aren’t in my Nexus jump at the chance to now try it and picking up their thoughts, pride swells in my chest. Their first thoughts are how excited they are for me, to immediately following up with what an advantage this gives the E.F.

---