Page 57 of A Winding Wave of Magic
Obediently, I put the jumpsuit back. “When did you start being able to See this far?”
“For the last few months. Penny said that would happen right about now. She once told me that by the time she turned thirty-three, she could See clear to Ireland when she tried. We’re getting closer now, so…”
“You just turned twenty-nine.”
“Yeah, but think about it. Reaching our paragon is supposed to be like going through puberty all over again. Growth takes time.”
“Sounds super fun.” At thirteen, I’d been a bundle of knees, elbows, acne, and attitude. I wasn’t looking forward to a magical version of that awkwardness.
“Seriously, though. Aren’t you even a little excited to see what you’re going to be able to do?”
No, I wanted to say. Not even a little. My power was already out of control. One bad day had me out for another after that, and now I was running into frozen ponds to escape these visions. I already lived as isolated as I could to avoid the worst of things. I had no interest in finding out just how bad things were going to get in a few more years.
“You’ll probably gain some more control,” Reina said, clearly reading my mind all the way from Portland. “Listen, I came out for lunch last month, and Penny said it’s going to be great. She was so excited for you to come home and start training with her.”
My heart squeezed with more than a little guilt. In some ways, Reina had been the granddaughter Gran wanted. She certainly saw her much more than I had in the last six years.
“Stop that,” she said. “She knew you loved her.”
“Did she?” I pulled out a fuzzy sage green sweater.
“Of course she did, Kermit. She was a seer and a powerful one. She didn’t need you to say it out loud because she could feel it anytime she wanted.”
Oddly, the reminder helped as I returned the sweater to the rack.
But not for the first time, I wished I had the same abilities. Wished I wasn’t so limited by space and touch.
Which was why she had sent me the clothes, of course. The packages of things I probably could have found in Boston if I’dwanted. She’d wanted me to know she loved me too, of course. Because she’d always known how I felt, no matter what.
“It’s funny, though,” Reina said. “I couldn’t See you today until you got back from the beach, all mad about Jonathan.Was he shielding or something?”
“Oh-ho, yes,” I said as I pulled out a short red number. “He’s basically a one-man signal blocker. I bet NASA is super curious as to why Manzanita is a black hole. As long as he’s focusing, anyway.”
“It has been a little fuzzy whenever I check in. I wasn’t sure if that was me or something else. And don’t wear that. It’s the same color as ketchup. Too bloody.”
I sighed and went back to looking. “Anyway, yeah. The guy has been putting up big black walls from the beginning. I’mnot sure how he’s managing it, given that he’s not one of us. Some things slip through, but I don’t actually See much when we touch. Which he hardly lets me do at all.”
“Well, you must like that. A nice little break for you.”
“You’d think, but it’s actually incredibly frustrating. For once I actually want to know what someone is thinking, and I can’t. And yet, he can readmelike a book whenever he wants.”
“Hmm…what do you think of him, then?”
“You can’t tell?”
“I’m trying to give you some privacy, you know.”
I chuckled as I took out a mustard-yellow sweater dress that reached my calves and held it up to the mirror. “Well. I find him irritating, cryptic, and stubborn. But Gran appears to have trusted him, so I guess I should give her the benefit of the doubt, right?”
“I guess. Also, I like that one. The yellow complements your eyes, and it’s pretty. Does he really wear suits everywhere?”
I rolled my eyes and draped the dress on the rack over the others. “No, just the one time in his memory with Gran. He had a mustache too.”
“The porn star kind or the Clark Gable kind?”
“Gable,” I had to admit. “Or maybe a silent film star.”
“Must have been some time, then.”
