Page 57 of Bound By Water
Practically stumbling to my next class, I force one step in front of the other. If Quaid hadn’t stepped in, I don’t know what would have happened. I clasp my arms together, missing the feel of his strength wrapped around me. Yawning, I shake my head. Why am I so tired? An arm slips through mine and pulls me close. Startled, I turn to my right to see Talia, the dark-haired girl from class. She looks to be somewhere around my age. Maybe a year or two older. Hard to tell.
“You were channeling a lot of energy back there,” Talia says with a speculative look. “Do you not use your power a lot?”
How can she tell? “No, why?”
“I manipulate air,” she begins with an easy swirl of her finger. A cool breeze sweeps across my face. “At first, I had little control. Either it was barely working or blowing gale force winds. Unstable. Hungry. Today, your power felt similar.”
“Good to know there’s hope,” I say with a sigh. “Most of the time, I don’t feel the power inside me. Part of me is glad, though. It’s destructive. I wish I didn’t have any.”
She slips her arm from mine and flashes a sympathetic smile. “I used to feel that way. My life was good, full of love and friends. Until they took it all away. Wishing for normal is useless.” Her expression turns fierce, determination in every line. “You’d do better to embrace your powers. I’m glad I have the ability to protect myself. I wish I could do more… like fight.” She pats my back and strides toward Jax.
Another Hightower and Raven victim. It’s sad. More than ever, I wish I could go back in time. Save my parents. Save Lionel. Have a normal life surrounded by all of them. Instead, I’m here with River and Talia and David and all these others. Why? What are we trying to do? Find a fake life? It feels pointless.
Jax raises his voice. “Everyone, find a spot along the range and practice what you learned yesterday.” His ocean-blue eyes find mine, and he raises an eyebrow. “If you need help, ask nicely.”
Needing space from everyone, I head to one of the spots on the outer edge and pick up the headset. I eye the loaded gun with distaste. Another symbol of this war I don’t like. I want to help people regain their mobility, not take it away. I thought it would help to learn new skills, but I’m second guessing this one.
A hand presses against my back, startling me. Jax plucks one side of the headset off. “Tough day, beautiful?”
I turn in the booth to face him. “I don’t want to shoot. This isn’t me.”
His eyes rove over my face, and he lifts a shoulder. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Honestly, it’s kind of terrifying,” I admit in a low voice.
He picks up the gun and takes the stance to shoot. I hold out the headset, but he shakes his head. “My abilities give me everything a sniper needs, including the power to turn sound on and off. Put them on.”
A shiver runs down my spine as I reach up and slide them on. Tensing, I stare at the target in front of us and wait for him to pull the trigger. He shifts and fires. Again and again for at least a solid minute. Rapid firing. Then, he puts the gun down and lowers my headset.
“Let’s see how we did,” he says cheerfully. “Hit the button.”
I bring the target in closer and stare at the paper in disbelief. Not only did he hit the target, but he created a smiley face around the bullseye. My eyes flick from the target to him.
With a grin, he reaches out and grabs the target. “See. Shooting can be fun. Not scary.” He hands the paper to me. “A souvenir.”
I shake my head, refusing to take it. “You keep it. I need… to go. I’ll let Oliver know I want to drop this class.” Pivoting, I hurry away from the booth and the man standing there with his artwork.
There’s only one person I want to see right now. Entering the building, I hurry to his room and knock on the door.
He takes one look at my face and opens the door wider. “What happened?”
I step into River’s arms and bury my face in his shoulder, the story rushing out of me in a plethora of incoherent sentences. “David choked me, and I somehow got trapped in the past. My powers burst out of me like they were alive. I couldn’t control them. Quaid had to step in because I couldn’t get back to the present.” I sob. “I don’t want this. Any of it.”
River continues to rub my back and hold me until I can calm down. “It’s okay.” Then he leads me over to sit on the bed. “Start over. Who’s David, and why was he choking you? Do I need to go find this asshole?”
I wave a hand. “Quaid’s self-defense class. David is a student in my class. We were practicing holds. Everything was going fine until he put his hands around my neck, like he intended to choke me.”
River’s shoulders relax. “Good to know. So, this triggered a… nightmare?” His voice is hesitant, as if he’s confused.
I freeze. I hadn’t meant to admit that part, but I guess if I’m going to have to relive my worst day with Beckett, I’d rather do it with someone I trust first.
“My personal nightmare,” I admit with a sigh. Scooting up the bed, I pull my legs up and wrap my arms around them. River joins me, calm steadiness flowing from his green eyes while he waits for me to tell him my story.
“In college, I had a stalker. Maybe two, but that’s irrelevant. One of them saw the mark on my shoulder and researched my parents. He found out my father had powers, which meant I must have them, too. At the time, I didn’t even know anything about powers or this world or Rh-negative blood. He did, though. Apparently, one of us killed his mother,” I say bitterly. How the past shapes us all.
“Can I see the mark?” River asks softly.
I slip my sweatshirt off my shoulder until he can see the blob on my shoulder. I peer down at it and notice it’s changed a bit since I last looked at it. That’s weird. “It’s a scar I got from the accident with my parents. From hitting a tree or something.”
