Page 25 of Centaur Bolt

Her eyes gleamed. “Not just for fun. I love to learn.”

“Without good info, any team would be lost,” I said. “I think your talent is an essential piece.”

Vali offered another small smile. Wow. Even though it was almost sad, I figured she really didn’t need pheromones to drop a dude to his knees.

Our resident Satyr had been remarkably silent during this exchange. I glanced over and realized her focus was across the room.

It was fastened on the young male Dire at the next table. I rolled my eyes. Should have known it wasn’t our dazzling conversation that rendered her silent.

Vali’s fingers tapped on the page as she processed what I’d said. More to give her space than anything else. I opened the book she’d given me. The table of contents alone had me gaping. And then I spotted the word “Teleporters.”

I flipped to the page and forgot entirely about Vali.

* * *

Teleporter. This was what I was.

Teleporters, also known as Jumpers, rely on anchor points to provide a destination. Depending on the capability of the Teleporter, this is most often a landscape triangulation. Once a location has been seen, the Jump can be completed. Talented Jumpers have been known to teleport based on images of a location.

Okay, that meshed with what Jacques had taught me. And on what he’d claimed Sparkle could do. I skimmed through a history section—Cara was right that Jumpers had been used in times of war—and found an interesting tidbit.

The tale of Prince Barim is largely considered to be fantasy, but there are enough legitimate questions around it to be included in this text. While held captive, the Prince was said to be rescued by a Teleporter who relied on His Highness’s personal items to make their Jump. Teleportation is such a rare talent that this psychic variant has never been verified.

Prince Barim? I looked the name up in the index but couldn’t find any other reference to him. So I returned to the narrative for a sobering reminder.

It is important to note that if the Teleporter does not create a sufficient connection to the destination, the results can be tragic. They have died teleporting into solid objects or have vanished altogether.

That was all the book had on my talent, but it left my pulse racing. I had no idea where Marcus was. But if personal objects could lead me to him—what if I could use my ability to find him?

I tried to calm myself. If Cara had thought it was a feasible plan, surely she would have mentioned it. Which meant that either she didn’t think I could do it, or that I wasn’t ready to try.

When I looked up, Kiko was gone. I spotted her sitting beside the young Dire, who seemed completely gobsmacked. Then I spotted the male library assistant, who was also staring at Kiko.

I managed to corner him against a bookshelf long enough that he actually acknowledged my existence. Sort of.

“If I wanted to look something up, where do I go?”

He appeared riveted by the Satyr and barely glanced at me, merely pointed to a row of cabinets. “Card indexes are there.”

I’d never in my life used such a thing, but it turned out to be pretty easy. I soon disappeared into the rows of bookshelves.

When I emerged, Kiko had rejoined Vali. The Dragona was making a point of trying to read her book, but Kiko was being her authentic self.

She was talking.

The Satyr looked up as I dumped five sizable books down on the table. “What in the realms are those?”

“Books with info on Jumpers,” I stated as I sat down.

She eyed the stack. “Can’t you just ask your instructor?”

“Jacques isn’t here. The books are.”

Her brows lowered. “Your instructor is Jacques? The Satyr, Jacques? Why is he teaching you about Jumping?”

“Cara said she doesn’t have another instructor, not yet, anyway. And Jacques trained his bird, so she thought he could help.”

Kiko’s brow wrinkled. “I suppose.”

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