The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,67

“Picture having multiple, invisible arms—arms that can stretch hundreds of feet. And yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but take those dozens of arms and encase them in the Source. Not what it looks like with Grayson or me, but with your Source.”

That did sound ridiculous, and it had led me to picturing all kinds of random invisible things that had nothing to do with the task at the hand, but when I finally focused and did what Luc had instructed, the carton winged right at my head.

And that was right about the time I learned that if I was going to move an object, I needed to also plan where I wanted to move it.

Some days, I felt dumber than others. This was one of those days.

When Luc finally called it a day and Grayson disappeared in, like, a nanosecond, I was only slightly relieved to be heading back to the house. I was tired and hungry, but I also wanted to practice more.

Emboldened by the success that we had and a wee bit confident, I actually felt truly hopeful, like for the first time I thought maybe I could take back some control in my life. I was juiced to do more. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t use the word juiced since that just sounded weird, but I wanted to see exactly what I could do.

I thought again of how fast Grayson had disappeared.

“I wonder if I can run fast now,” I said as we walked down a road empty except for abandoned cars that had more rust and sun damage than paint. I kept scanning, hoping to see Nate, but knowing it was probably too soon for him to come back.

“That’s actually a good question. I don’t know. Hybrids are physically stronger and faster, but not like a Luxen or Arum or Origin. So, technically speaking, you should be able to run pretty fast. As fast as I can or they can? I can’t answer that.”

I wasn’t sure what I would do if I could actually run measurably fast, since the only time I had was when my life was under immediate threat. Even then, I ran like a turtle with a broken leg. “Can we practice more when we get back to the house?”

“I think you should take it easy the rest of the day.”

I frowned.

“Before you can ask why, and I know you’re getting ready to, it’s because I don’t want you to overdo it until we get a better handle on what comes naturally to you other than knocking Grayson on his ass.”

My frown turned upside down. “Man, that was great. I will never forget that. Not as long as I live.”

“What was better was the fact it proved you can control your Source, even when angry.”

That it did, but …

What else did it prove? Yes, I’d been angry with Grayson, but that had been nothing like the fury I’d felt in the nightmare, nor the panic. What I had done today didn’t mean I wouldn’t lose control again or that I wouldn’t go hive-mind Trojan on everyone.

And just like that, my earlier confidence belly flopped out of a window. “But what does that really prove?” I asked as a cool breeze rolled down the street.

“It proves a lot more than you were just thinking, Peaches.” Luc took my hand. “You can use the Source, and you can control it, but it’s almost like a muscle that has wasted due to lack of use. I think with a couple of sessions, you’ll be shocked by what you can do.”

A dozen or so different scenarios played out. Opening and closing doors with the power of my mind just because I could. Lighting and extinguishing candles. Summoning a jar of peanut butter and a spoon from the kitchen. Heating up my own—

“Peaches.” Luc chuckled, lifting my hand to his mouth. He kissed the back. “Not even I can summon a jar of peanut butter from a totally different room and have it do anything other than smack into a wall.”

“But I’m supposed to be awesomer than you, so maybe I can.”

“You are already awesomer than I am.” He tugged me along as we came to the overgrown field that bordered the street. Off in the distance, I heard the mournful call of cows. “We’ll practice moving some more stuff, and then we’ll move on to seeing if you can move harder things.”

“Like?”

“Like people who are able to resist.”

My eyes widened. “Like you?”

He nodded. “Grayson. I’m sure Zoe