Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,78
I really don’t think it was. What I heard was just so black.”
“What do you mean?”
“It wasn’t pain, and it wasn’t fear. It wasn’t even really fury. I just heard intensity. Hate, definitely. But she wasn’t really angry with me—she only feels contempt toward me. I’m hardly a blip on her radar. But she’s determined to show Ms. Lacusta that she’s…” I furrowed my brow, trying to describe what I’d heard. “Worthy, maybe? Worthwhile? I don’t know. She’s trying to prove something, and that’s more important to Nell than anything else.”
“But you still think it has something to do with—” he lowered his voice, “—witchcraft?”
I had to be honest about this. “She never thought anything specifically about that,” I admitted slowly. “I never heard anything about spells or powers in so many words. But given her history—what you told me on Saturday, what your parents told me—it just seems obvious.”
Michael’s eyes were steady on mine. “The obvious answer isn’t always the right answer. Didn’t you once tell me that when people don’t understand something, they look for the most reasonable explanation, even if it’s the wrong one?”
I raised my eyebrows. “I just told you what I heard Nell thinking today. I didn’t give you any of my own commentary. But admit it, your first conclusion was the same as mine. And you call witchcraft reasonable?”
He was quiet as he ate the last piece of fruit on my plate. I closed my eyes and leaned toward him, trying only to feel his mood, not to hear his thoughts. What I felt was deep concern and a brooding indecision. I understood. On one hand, he wanted to agree with me, to tell me he had my back. On the other, he worried that doing that would put me in danger, either real physical peril or the less worrisome risk of humiliation.
His concern warmed me, but at the same time, I was impatient. I knew without a doubt that Nell had deadly intents toward Amber. It was hard to explain to someone who couldn’t hear thoughts how different it was from overhearing that person speak or even talking to her directly. Most people speak with an audience in mind, even if that is just one person. But unvoiced thoughts are so primitive and gut-level real that second-guessing motives is an exercise in futility, particularly if that person doesn’t know that what she’s thinking is being heard by someone else.
“I want to explain something to you,” I began. “When we’ve talked about my talent, we’ve mostly discussed technique, its limitations and so on… how I can control it or not. But I’d like you to consider this: my parents have known for most of my life what I can do. Even though I extend them the courtesy of not listening on purpose and really try not to hear anything accidentally even, they know that it’s a real possibility that I might slip up. I might relax my mental curtain and hear something. So taking all that into consideration, wouldn’t you expect their thoughts would be very guarded? But I can tell you that I have heard, completely by accident, some things that I never wanted to hear from either of them.”
Michael looked puzzled. “Okay. I understand, I think, but I don’t get what this has to do with Nell.”
“Remember when we first met, after you knew what I could do? Weren’t there times you thought things that you wished you hadn’t, because you weren’t sure if I were listening or not?”
He made a face that I knew was embarrassment at the memory and ducked his head. I wondered how often he still tried to censor his thoughts on the off chance I might be tuning into them.
“My point is, if you and my parents, knowing there was a real possibility that your thoughts aren’t always private, cannot control what you’re thinking, what makes you think Nell can or would? When I hear something from her—from anyone who doesn’t know about me—you can bet it’s a pretty reliable source. She doesn’t have any motive to think dishonestly. Add that to what I can pick up from her mood and feelings, and I tell you, this is serious, it’s bad and I’m willing to bet Nell is trying to follow in her mom’s footsteps.”
“Would you be thinking that if you didn’t know her past?”
I didn’t hesitate. “I might not have gotten it right away, but I think I would have come around to it eventually. It