something I wasn’t doing right, that if I could just… be more, somehow, he wouldn’t feel that he had to push me away during those times. But if he does do that with you—it’s his choice, to let you in or not to, and you can’t blame yourself.”
Then she shakes her head and winces. “I’m sorry. I sound like I’m lecturing you. I don’t… I don’t mean to be. I hate when people condescend to me. I guess he just needed something different from me… and I just couldn’t give him what he needed. I do hope he gets that from you, but if you’re ever… it’s not you, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Do you know something?” I ask. “About—”
“He’s not violent,” Tamlin assures me. “He won’t ever hurt you. He’s not going to use whatever’s in his past as an excuse to manipulate you or be cruel to you or anything like that.”
That’s reassuring, I suppose, but it’s not what I meant—and I think she knows that. I think she was deflecting.
The magical wand beeps, and Tamlin gets up to check on it, smoothing out her skirt. I can almost see her drawing an armor back around herself.
She glances up at me, releasing the wand to continue its path over my body. “The machine wants to inform me that you’re in good health and that you don’t have cancer, so I suppose that’s a good thing.”
My brows shoot up. “I thought this was scanning for my ability to steal magic.”
“It’s diagnosing your magical ability, yes, but it comes with side effect features that I couldn’t quite turn off.” She gives me a brisk smile, the kind she gives the whole class, and I know she’s slipped back into professor mode.
I get it, I do. Tamlin’s younger than every professor here besides Roman, and she’s a woman, and only a few years older than her students. She has to establish her authority constantly.
Still stings a little bit.
I hope she at least doesn’t hate me. She doesn’t seem to, but I could be wrong. It’s just—I have enough people against me right now; I’d really like one of the people I respect most at this school to not be one of my enemies.
“Ah, here we are.” The wand has reached my head now, and Tamlin plucks it from the air and begins pressing some buttons on it. “The marriage of technology and magic, it’s really quite fascinating.”
My heart races. Now’s the moment we find out the truth—if I’m the one who’s really taking people’s powers or not.
God, I hope it’s not me.
Not just because that’s an awful thing to do, but because it would mean I’ve been using this power against my own will, without being aware of it. I was so certain I wasn’t the culprit because I haven’t felt it, or tried to do it, or anything like that. But if it’s been unconscious this whole time, and I didn’t even know…
It would make me a danger to everyone around me.
Tamlin looks up, giving me a smile. Is it just me, or is it a bit stiff? “Ah, good news. You’re absolved, Elliot. You don’t have the power to steal people’s magic.”
“What’s going on with me, then?”
“You do have a third power: mirroring.”
“Mirroring.” I roll the word around on my tongue, grateful beyond words that she didn’t say “stealing”.
“Yes. It’s not something we see very often, even in Unpredictables. I’ve never met another person with that power, actually. I’m sure it will be quite a valuable skill once you learn how to control it properly.”
“Yeah.” I nod emphatically. “I’ll definitely need to work on control. Do you know how mirroring works?”
She brushes a delicate hand over the wall, and the runes on the walls stop glowing. “You can mimic the ability of another person in your proximity as long as you maintain your concentration. It’s an excellent defensive ability, since fighting fire with fire is quite effective. Or you could use the ability of, say, someone standing to your right to attack someone to your left. But it will take time to properly master and to maintain the mirroring for more than a few seconds.”
So much relief floods me that I nearly faint, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. I was right—I wasn’t the one doing it. I’m not hurting anybody. Thank God.
But that means…
“Then who is doing this, if I’m not?” I ask.
Fear flickers in Tamlin’s eyes for a moment, although when she speaks, her voice is calm.