Page 54 of Centaur Bolt

“You have to be careful, Riley.” His voice actually squeaked. “I have no idea what will happen if you Jump right into me.”

“Didn’t I just blow you backward?” I asked. A quick glance downward—and I pushed my claws, still holding the ball, behind my back.

He frowned. “Yes, you did push me back before you crashed into me. And there was a blast of really hot air.” He still appeared quite unsettled. “Thank goodness you landed in front of, and not on, me.”

“That’s where I was aiming.”

“Good thing then,mademoiselle,that I didn’t step forward at an inopportune moment.”

Oh. Good point. I held the ball behind me until I was sure only my normal human fingers would offer it back to him.

But I’d tried to focus only on him, not on his surroundings. Had I just used a living person as a reference point? Difficult to say—I could have unconsciously registered his position on the beach.

And how did that translate to someone I would only see in a dream?

“Let’s find a point in the woods for you to Jump to,” Jacques said, pulling his boots back on.

I donned my own footwear, tugged my wet leggings into submission, and followed him as he marched up the path. If I concentrated, I could now sense the place inside me that I needed to tap into to Jump. And I didn’t feel too bad this time. Not nearly as shaky. Was I getting stronger?

Jacques led us into the forest, and then off on a side trail until he found a small clearing. Sparkle flew up into the trees and perched on a branch overhead.

“Okay,” the Satyr said. “Look around you.”

I did. “Trees. Bushes. How is it any different from the rest of the forest?”

“You have to look for thedifférence. Do you think you can? If not, we’ll try something else.”

I examined the ground. Noticed where two trees bent around each other, and a small bush in full flower bloomed at their base. And there—a boulder, just visible in the tall grass.

“I think I’ve got it,” I said.

“Okay. I’ll wait here. Go back a ways—not too far—and then Jump.”

As I backtracked, I worried about my hands. I went along the trail, stopped, shoved my hands in my damp pockets, closed my eyes, and then reached for that emotional spot deep inside.

White noise…

Snap.

The air was alive with the sound of cracking branches, and I heard a startled squawk, but all I saw was swirling leaves and golden light. Then my butt hit ground—hard. Not just grass, but by the feel of it, small rocks. The wind spun my hair into my face, and the hand I raised to push it away had shortened fingers and long claws.

I pulled both of them behind my back as the leaves drifted to the ground and the light faded. Jacques had backed away to the edge of the clearing. As I stared at him, Sparkle appeared with a burst of flame, hovering before settling on his shoulder.

“Well done,” he praised.

I picked myself up off the ground and rubbed my sore butt. “Did I blow her off the branch?”

“Yes, you did. Look around you.”

I looked. The area where I stood was bare of any loose debris, and the long grass had been twisted back on itself. But about two feet from me, the clearing was littered with broken branches.

“Did I do that?”

He nodded. “Yes. You cleared yourself a landing spot.” He looked slightly uneasy. “I don’t know if that is normal, or not.” The Satyr led the way out along the path. “That is enough for this session. You don’t want to overtax yourself. Building slowly is the only safe approach.”

I didn’t feel too bad. A little shaky, but nothing like last time. As I rubbed my butt bruises, I contemplated that landing on my feet was obviously going to take some work. I didn’t think Jacques could help with that—I was beginning to understand just how little anyone actually knew about my talent.

And unless I figured out what I could and couldn’t do pretty damned quickly, I wasn’t going to be any help at all in the search for Marcus.

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