like a geyser.” He tilted back his head and finished his beer. “More importantly, any creature with sensitivity and Power would have been able to feel it, and Molly—if you don’t trust me on anything else, trust me on this one thing—you don’t want to come to anyone else’s attention like that. It shows you’re out of control and makes you a mark to predators. There are creatures in this world that would love to sink their teeth into you and suck all the magic out of your bones like sucking the juice from a ripe peach.”
She could feel the blood drain from her face. “That’s a pretty grim image.”
“It’s pretty grim when it happens.” His narrowed gaze met hers. “But here’s the good news. You can avoid that, and you can avoid hurting anyone by accident, with a few simple techniques.”
“Such as?”
“Meditation, for one. Start for ten minutes at a time, three times a day, and build up from there. That will help to keep your Power under better control until you acquire the training you need. A daily yoga practice also helps. And you need to develop a technique for stressful situations. Practice that one like your life depends upon it, because it might.” He wiped his mouth and hands with a paper napkin, then helped himself to another beer.
She’d never been drawn to meditation, but ten minutes at a time sounded doable, and she would gladly take up yoga again. “What kind of technique?”
“It can be anything that calms you down in a stressful situation and allows you to maintain self-control. You could try the four-seven-eight breathing technique. Breathe in to the count of four, hold it and count to seven, and breathe out to the count of eight.” One corner of his mouth notched up. “If nothing else, all that counting should ground you. And if a situation is too stressful to count in, you have worse things to worry about than fluctuating Power.”
Reluctantly, she smiled back. “That’s the worst attempt at reassurance I’ve ever heard.”
“You should see my bedside manner.”
Ha. She eyed her beer. If she was going to be cautious, she should never have contacted Josiah to begin with. Screw it. She reached for the bottle.
“Molly,” he said. She looked up from her drink and met his intent amber gaze. “Meditation, yoga, and breathing techniques—those are all Band-Aids. You have far too much Power.” He paused, and then for the first time in her life, someone else’s voice entered her head.
The meaning of his message slid away as she realized he was…
In. Side. Her. Head.
The beer bottle fell out of her lax fingers. She launched off the picnic table and didn’t stop until she had put fifty yards between them. Then she turned in a circle, hands clapped to her temples.
“You could have given me some warning!” she yelled when she faced him again.
He laughed so hard he nearly fell off the table. “How could I know you hadn’t tried telepathy before now? It was the first thing I reached for when my Power awakened.”
“I’ve been a little preoccupied with other things!” She stomped toward him. “Don’t talk to me that way again!”
He waited until she had almost reached him.
“Agh!” She clapped her hands to her head again. “I don’t have to get used to anything right now! Seriously, stop!”
His face was still creased with amusement. “When I offered to take you on as a student, I didn’t realize how entertaining it could be.”
“I’m not your student,” she told him irritably. “This is a onetime lesson, remember?”
His laughter faded, and he eyed her with a leisurely, almost sensual glance. “It doesn’t have to be. Nobody else can teach you what I can teach you. Nobody else will encourage you to be whoever you want the way I would. To shed your inhibitions and explore everything you’re capable of being.”
She let herself be ensnared by the allure in his words, by his sexy voice. Just for a moment. It was such a dangerous, pretty fantasy to run to someone who claimed to have all the answers.
Then she looked away, and the fantasy burst. “I still don’t