beats per minute (19 page)

‘Trust your instincts!’

Something kicked in, some survival sense. There was no
skill, only a wild energy; but it was enough to yank the sun back before it
reached the edge of her body. The yellow ball jerked and stayed still.

It was sheer force of will that allowed her to struggle on
against Sam, raising her head to meet his gaze – he tried to look away, but it
was too late; ah, so eyecontact made it easier! She reached out for his
heartbeat but it slid away. Again, with steely determination, she called; and
watched in wonder as her sun moved out of her chest, but with purpose this
time, not pulled against its will. It advanced toward the centre of the figure
of eight, slowly, battling against some invisible tide. Sam’s sun jerked
forward and they both stopped short of the centre, suspended in the air as if
on a wire.

She held his heartbeat, commanding her own forward, on, to
meet it. They were both sweating now; Raegan thought she could hear herself
panting with the effort. The beads moved back and forth, minute degrees, as
they both continually lost and gained ground.

‘You see?’ Liana broke in, speaking quickly so as not to be
too distracting. ‘You see how much resistance is needed to keep your power
safe?’

Raegan felt exhausted, the dual heartbeats ringing within
her ears, eyes stinging so badly she thought they might explode.

‘This will go against every instinct that you have, Raegan –
but I must now ask you to stop fighting so hard. Give in to Sam.’

Raegan thought Liana had overestimated her; she didn’t want
to lose, and was afraid of what might happen if she let go, but she was tired,
so tired. To let go would be a relief.

She was wrong.
The minute she relaxed,
Sam’s power smacked into her; more painful than a physical blow.
The
aftershock was strong enough to have a physical effect, and she was picked up
and tossed, flying backwards. The cold sting of the ground was almost a
blessing but she could not move. His power rolled over her. She was drowning.

Struggling, she somehow forced herself to her feet, and stumbled
away; she knew she had to escape, but could feel him closing in on her. She
immediately wanted to give herself more time, to slow it down so that she could
run - but when she reached out, she couldn’t. Even as her vision cleared and
she regained use of her limbs, she felt half suffocated, a vital piece of
herself missing. It was like being held forcibly within a black hole.

Though she had regained her strength, the loss of those
precious seconds had allowed Sam to catch up with her. He had her by the throat
now. Over his shoulder she saw Declan get to his feet and then-

‘Okay, Sam, let her go.’ His grip tightened fractionally;
and then there was space around her windpipe and Raegan keeled over. The effort
made her stomach churn. Sam placed a steadying hand on her back; and though he
was only trying to help, she flinched away.

‘Some ice chips, Declan, please.’ Liana sounded completely
unruffled.

A cup was thrust under her nose. Raegan’s fingers felt
nerveless and clumsy but she managed to scoop out a few chips and sucked on
them gratefully. ‘Thank you,’ she croaked.

‘Raegan.’
Liana was kneeling in
front of her, her beautiful white light glowing through the still-hazy air at
Raegan’s eye-level.

She managed to raise her head. ‘I’m ok.’

‘I know.’ Liana nodded. ‘It has not happened to me for so
long, but I remember how bad it feels. To be locked in against your will-’

‘Locked in?’

‘When your heartbeat is connected to another; locked, as it
were, to that heartbeat. If achieved forcibly, your bpm is subordinated. It can
be a vicious form of attack. And it is one the Fay use.’

Raegan gasped.
‘They- how?
They’re
not…?’

‘Though their time is stolen, Raegan, they can manipulate it
in much the same way as us,’ Liana reminded her gently. ‘Slowing down your
clock is a very personal experience; if you traverse, you exist in your own
time continuum. It provides you with an easy method of escape. They do not want
this.  It can also work the other way round. We do not want the Fay to
simply traverse- if they do so, they can disappear in what seems like the blink
of an eye. Locking into their heartbeart can be the only way for us to stop
them.’

‘But they can do it –
that -
to us?’

‘They can try. Eye contact is usually essential to establish
first contact, but they have other methods. This is one of the main reasons for
the Brain discipline; to give you the mental fortitude to fend off their
attempts.’

Liana got to her feet. ‘But as you can see it usually takes
a great deal of effort to ‘lock in’ with someone. It therefore tends to be only
the elder, more skilled Fay who even
attempt
this most
aggressive tactic. Would you agree, Sam?’

Sam, who had been staring into space, nodded. ‘It depends on
the Fay and the situation. In my experience, though, you’ll traverse at the beginning
– that’s part of the chase. If you’re really going to fight, most Fay tend to
traverse as far as they can, slowing time to their maximum point. You won’t
lock in, you need to be in common time for that; you’ll just try and mimic
their efforts, so that you’re both traversing. You’re not exactly in the same
time-space, but
it’s
close… and that way neither side
has that advantage.’

‘And then what? We use our fists?’ Raegan asked weakly.

Liana smiled. ‘Correct. Your Body training is crucial here.
And in that case, you will be dividing your Heart - holding your clock slow and
steady while allowing it as an organ to power your movements; the two parts in
one theory we’ve been practising.’

Declan did not say a word. Raegan was grateful. She was
already bruised mentally, if that was possible. Biting sarcasm was not
something she could handle right now.

‘But there is another question to ask: what happens if you
meet a Fay skilled enough to slow down time to a greater degree than yourself?
Remember your own limits. You cannot go beyond a certain point, or the clock
will drag you down with it – but if you lock in, you can stay with them. You
can borrow their power; and they cannot shake you off. If they jump to a
different time plane they will only bring you with them. And so, we practice.’

With that, Liana’s voice became almost peppy.
‘Time to go again!
On your feet, everyone.
There’s still two hours of our session left, and we must use this wisely.’

By now, Raegan was almost used to the sparkling, cloth-like
air and random scattering of dark and light spots within it. She was even
almost used to looking down at the burning sun within her chest. What she could
not believe, though, was that the thing was still glowing as brightly as ever.
Her power-centre was a traitor; on it shone, telling, no,
shouting
to
Liana that Raegan was okay, when in reality her power wasn’t helping at all.
Hadn’t helped her at all.
She felt like a rag doll that had
been tossed around and clawed by a bunch of wild dogs.

But she had no choice. Painfully, her knees protesting,
Raegan dragged herself up and shuffled into position. It was going to be a long
two hours.

  ***

The remainder of the lesson was relentlessly draining. When
it was finally announced that Declan should have a turn, Raegan had been on her
feet for nearly ninety minutes. Knackered, she waited as he took up position,
expecting an even harder fight than she’d had with Sam - Declan detested her,
after all.

But it had been easy.

More than easy; it had been like breathing. She couldn’t
describe the sensation as their two beads of light drifted towards each other,
almost immediately synchronising with one another; or the strength that seemed
to course through her as they connected. Obviously this wasn’t something she
could voice out loud, either.

‘You see. At times, it is not such a trial.’ Liana’s voice
was full of something – satisfaction, perhaps? Trembling from head to toe,
unsure if this was an after-effect of the zoning or a sign of how freaked out
she felt, Raegan didn’t know where to look. She felt exposed: vulnerable,
somehow. She didn’t know if what happened
should
have; if it was some
strange fluke; or if it actually meant something.

Finally looking up from her feet, she caught Declan’s gaze
for the briefest of seconds. The mint-green eyes, usually so cool, were wide
with surprise.

‘Teamwork!’
Their teacher dismissed
them with an enthusiastic flourish. ‘You will often find that your powers do
not bow to petty matters of personality. It is not about fondness, but respect.
Pick your teammates wisely: work not to your preferences but to your own
strengths!’

Liana was as subtle as a brick. Raegan knew it made sense –
but
why
did her powers have to choose a teammate she couldn’t stand?

Stumbling, her feet suddenly four sizes too big, she hurried
over to the chair where her bag was. Collapsing into it, she took the rucksack
in her arms and rested her head against it for a second. The heavy object
pressing against her stomach was chunky and oddly comforting. With a pang, she realised
how long it had been since she’d hugged someone.

There was a cough. She was too weary to raise her head more
than a few inches.

Declan was standing there, hesitantly. ‘Can I?’ He gestured
to the chair next to her.

This was getting weirder by the second. It took a few
moments for Raegan’s brain to catch up with her mouth. ‘Sure,’ she replied.

They sat side by side for a while, not speaking, as stiff
and awkward as two frozen chickens. Declan thawed first.

‘That was kinda wild.’

The depth of this understatement was enough to shut Raegan’s
brain down completely. She couldn’t make small talk at a time like this.

‘Come away, o human child, to the waters and the wild,’ she
said listlessly.

He glanced at her. ‘Huh?’

‘Yeats.’ She took a slug of water, and then another. It was
icily soothing; she hadn’t realised how dry her mouth was.
‘The
poet.’

‘I know who he is.’

She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. What was it
about Declan that turned her into a little kid?

Then he surprised her. ‘You should give yourself some
credit. You’re doing way better than you think.’

‘What?’

‘At everything.’
He sounded almost
impatient. ‘It took guts to face off against Sam like that. You’ve got power.’

Taken aback, she tried to make a joke. ‘Or maybe I’m just an
idiot.’

‘No.’ Declan cut her off. ‘You’ve got what it takes. You
need to believe that.’

Quickly, Raegan turned her head, prepared to get up and
leave if he was taking the piss. But his face was serious; earnest, even.

‘Thanks,’ she said quietly.

The silence that fell was nearly comfortable.

Then he shifted, and she turned to him in almost the same
instant.

‘Raegan,’ his voice was low, urgent. In that second, she
knew – just
knew
– that he felt the same as she did; what had just
happened had shaken him to the core. The mess between them could be forgotten.
If he would just apologise, they could turn a corner; they could work together,
at last -

‘Hey, there you are.’ Sam interrupted loudly, looking at
Raegan as if he had been waiting eagerly to speak to her all night. He reached
down for her backpack, which had slid to the floor, looking up at her winningly
through the sandy tendrils falling in front of his eyes. ‘Walk you to your
room? It’d be nice to catch up.’

Then it was like he finally noticed Declan. He stopped awkwardly.
‘Unless – sorry
mate,
was I interrupting something?’

‘Yes,’ Declan said shortly.

Sam looked crestfallen.
‘Sorry, my
mistake.’

‘We were just talking,’ Raegan blurted, before he could
leave. What was going on? It felt like Declan was going to say something
important before Sam butted in, but there was no need to make a big deal out of
it. Besides, why should she invest anything in her conversation with Declan,
after everything that had happened? Was she mental?

She made a split-second decision and got up, smiling
brightly at Sam. ‘I’m ready – pretty exhausted after all that, actually.’
Anxious to hold on to the fragile truce that had sprung up between them, she
turned to Declan. ‘Good. To talk, I mean. See you.’

Declan nodded but did not hold her gaze. With a burst of
impatience, Sam strode off, leaving her to trail awkwardly behind. When they
reached the door, he held it open, grinning brightly; but she couldn’t shake
the sensation that the warmth in the air had evaporated.

The night was dark and cool, and every so often a gentle
raindrop tickled Raegan’s skin as they walked. She was glad to be out of that
room – what with destiny and the Fay and Declan and Sam it had felt a little
like living inside a pressure-cooker. But at the same time it didn’t feel like
much of an escape. She felt pushed and pulled in different directions. Why did
she jump at the click of Sam’s fingers? All the weeks of waiting and now
she was too confused to enjoy being with him. She also couldn’t help but wonder
if she had just been played. Was Sam only interested because he saw her talking
to Declan?

Suddenly she wanted to be far away from both of them.

‘What’s up?’ Sam
asked,
when she
stopped dead at a fork in the path.

‘Uh, nothing,’ she lied, ducking her head. ‘You know what, I
remember I was meant to see Bree, and this is her turning, so I’ll head off
here. Thanks for walking me.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ he offered.

‘That’s okay.’ She could feel her face turning red. ‘She
wasn’t f-feeling all that well, actually, so it’d probably be better if it was
just me.’