“Well that was most of them,” Noah guffawed.
Terrance, Jemmy, Gavin, Sierra, Marcel, Rachel, and Sam along with a handful of Nons continued to climb up the mountain. They were attempting to climb over the pile of rocks and boulders that Remy had thrown down.
“My turn,” I grinned inspired by Jaxson’s playful offense.
“Make it quick,” Drake said in a strained voice. I turned and saw he was waning. He had been our defense for too long. Their assault had been relentless.
I focused all my energy on the small group advancing on us. I imagined them stopping their assault and decided they should play duck, duck, goose. Terrance, Marcel, Dawn, Jemmy, Rachel, and the Nons easily complied with no resistance. They all sat as Jemmy was the first to get up to tap on each one of their heads.
“Duck, Duck, Duck, Du- Goose,” she cried giddily as she tapped Marcel’s head and started to run around the circle, away from him. I could hear the guys chuckle behind me amused by my choice.
Drake sighed in relief as the force field was dropped. He took a few breaths in.
It took me a minute to realize Gavin and Sierra had resisted my compulsion.
“He’s trying to use my own gift against me,” I gritted out between my teeth. I could feel my already weakened resolve begin to crumble. Last night had taken a lot out of me, and I still hadn’t recovered.
Jace stepped up beside me, and I could see his focus was homed in on them. “That bastard,” Jace muttered with respect tinging his voice. “He’s trying to use mine now.”
Remy came up beside us, rock in hand.
“No,” Troy insisted with a hand on his arm. “They’re too close to the edge, and we don’t want them to tumble over.
Remy nodded. “Now what?”
“Guys,” I cried as I fell to my knees in pain. “I need you to hold onto me!” I cried out desperately as I felt Gavin and Sierra try to prod into my mind. Gavin had grown strong in the weeks he had worked on his gifts. With Sierra acting as his catalyst he was nearly unstoppable.
I couldn’t do this on my own. I needed the guys to back me up. I needed them to help channel and tap into my full potential.
“No!” Noah cried out as Jaxson and Drake went to grasp my hands. “We agreed not to connect our gifts anymore!”
“There’s no other way,” I said with a pained voice. “He’s trying to mimic me! If he does, then they are free to come after us.”
“It’s not worth it for a training exercise,” Jace said firmly.
I understood their reservations, and it had terrified me too, but I knew with all of them the gift wouldn’t be able to rise out of control. I compelled them to touch me and help me channel my gift.
As they all touched me I felt rejuvenated. I felt tingling in my extremities. I felt the steady power begin to rise. It was reveling at being released. It was vibrating, but I felt like it was contained, like it wanted to break free but knew it was unable to. I focused on Gavin and Sierra, and saw them stumble back as I pushed his penetrating reach back.
“Go play with them.” I commanded them. “It looks like fun.”
Once they inserted themselves into the game I slumped over. Feeling the gift leave me.
“That should keep them busy for a while,” I turned and smiled at the guys.
Remy, Troy, and Jace were glaring at me. Noah and Jaxson were amused once more. Laughing at the group playing Duck, Duck, Goose. Nothing bad had happened. Drake looked uncomfortable as he glanced between me and the guys glaring at me.
My face fell. Confused at first by the anger radiating off them. “What?” I asked in confusion. “I know you guys said you didn’t want to connect our gifts anymore, but we needed to. We didn’t get this far just to let them win. I knew if we all connected, you guys could help me control it.”
“You had no right using your gift against us,” Troy yelled, before picking up his pack and turning on his heel. He started stomping up the road without looking back.
“No training exercise is worth your health, your life,” Jace said with deadly quietness as he picked up his pack and followed Troy.
“We can’t build a strong relationship if you’re just going to ignore us and do as you please. We could have come up with a different solution before you decided to use your gift against us,” Remy said with disappointment. “We’re your connections, your helpmates, your lovers, and friends. We’re not your puppets.” He picked up both of our packs before he followed Troy and Jace.
I felt like they had physically hit me. Their words cut me through to the heart and it hurt. I felt hot tears burn the back of my eyes. I hadn’t realized that they would be so angry by my decision. Intuitively, I knew it was going to work. I didn’t think it would have such a negative effect. I didn’t think the guys would get angry or feel betrayed by my decision.
Drake reached down to take my hand. “They’ll get over their…anger soon,” he said soothingly. “If you could have seen how you came back to us last night you’d understand why they feared to make a connection.”