PHENOMENAL GIRL 5 (12 page)

I ducked into an alley and then flew up to the rooftops. Finding a suitable one, I plunked down and had a good cry.

My skin tingled a split second before I heard Robert’s voice. “It is okay, Lainey. It was bound to happen.”

I quickly wiped my face, but knew it was useless; my red eyes and nose would show I had been crying. “My washing out?”

He shook his head and handed me a handkerchief from his pocket. “No, succumbing to stress. It happens to everyone. That is why you train for two years. After all, this is a very stressful job, even if you have been doing it for years prior.”

“Everyone has a freak out?” I said, wiping my eyes.

He nodded. “You have done better than I expected after all that has happened with Syn.”

“I wanted to be tough, to prove I could handle anything.”

“Why?”

“To impress you.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted you to like me!” I blurted. “It’s not like I have a lot of friends to back me up. And if we were friends, maybe you wouldn’t tell the EHJ I couldn’t hack it. But after what happened with the Virus and now today, I’ll understand if you tell them to let me go.”

He sat down next to me. “Lainey, I think you can more than just ‘hack’ it. There is potential for greatness in you. You could be one of the heads of the Elite Hands of Justice one day. That is part of the reason that I do expect more out of you than any of the other partners I have trained. Your idealism and determination can be one of our greatest assets. But idealism can also take a very dark turn.”

He reached out and brushed a tear away from my cheek, an intimate gesture. “You are right, our justice system is not perfect, and criminals escape or get off through loopholes every day. It can make you think that all of our work is for nothing. That is why many heroes stop caring and focus on notoriety, like the EHJ, or burn out and walk away. Or worse, become like Markus Vale.” He laced his fingers in front of him. “We fight the darkness of mankind every day, Lainey, and it is important to not become consumed by it.”

I was aware of how close we were sitting. “You really think I could be great?”

“You are well on your way.” He leaned in and my heart pounded an excited rhythm in my ears. Was he really going to kiss me?

He stopped short and brushed a kiss on my forehead. “Now, if you are not going to quit, I think we should be heading home. It has been a long day and it is not even noon yet.”

“Okay.” I dealt with the disappointment of another moment that we had both let pass by as I braced for the teleportation spell.

“We are going to do something new today,” Robert said as I met him out in the garden a few days later for our daily centering kata.

“Why am I suddenly afraid?”

“You have no reason to be. We have been working the Syn case since it began, and are both succumbing to the stress. After your incident the other day with the Death Dealer, I thought we could use a slight change of pace.”

I winced at the reminder. “So what are we doing?”

“Training exercises. Since your powers are primarily physical, I thought I would test your reactions, limits, and strengths and weaknesses in that area.”

“Oh, God, we’re not going to spar, are we? Because let me tell you, based on personal experience, the only thing that ever accomplishes is spinning off into real fist fights.” I’d seen too many of my male teammates almost kill each other because they got tagged too hard during a sparring session and assumed it was done on purpose.

“Trust me.”

He led the way through the grounds to a large building I’d assumed was a stable. Wrong. Inside was a state-of-the-art training facility that looked like something straight out of a comic book, with not only every workout machine known to man, but also a chamber with what looked like
rotating hoops in the air and floor, and strange metal columns that popped up from the floor at odd intervals.

“You’re not serious,” I said. I also wondered what he kept this for.

“It is like an obstacle course. You have to fly through the hoops and dodge the columns to get to the other end of the room and push that button. It shuts down everything. Your objective is to do this without touching a hoop or column before time runs out.” He pointed out video cameras. “We will record it so you can see what mistakes you make.”

“I’m not going to make any mistakes. It’s easy,” I scoffed.

“Alright. Let me see you do it, then.”

I positioned myself at the other end of the room. “I’m ready. Let’s go!”

He pushed the button and everything started up. I watched for a moment, getting into the rhythm of the machinery, and then went for it.

I passed through the first hoop easy, curving my body to miss the column that shot up just as I flew overhead, and dove toward the ground to pass through the second hoop. I was right. It was easy. You just had to watch for the pattern.

I made my way through the grid, forcing myself to go a bit faster. Maybe if I went through his little system with a record-breaking time, he wouldn’t make me do it again.

I cleared the last hoop and headed for the button. It was only a few feet away, and I stretched out my hand, ready to punch it—

—and hit what felt like an invisible brick wall.

I plummeted to the ground like a bird that had hit a window, and lay there in a daze. What had just happened?

Robert stood over me, holding one glowing hand up.

“What did you do?”

“Shield.” He leaned over and punched the button. “Your time is up.”

“That’s not fair! You cheated.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to complain to a
magic-user villain that he is cheating if a situation like this happens in the field?”

“No, I’m going to punch him in the face.”

“Not if you cannot touch him. So what else could you do?”

“Distract him so he’ll let his guard down. Throw a car or something big at him so he’s occupied with that and then go hit the button, figuratively speaking.”

“I myself would try something involving less property damage, but that might work. You did show good reflexes with the obstacles, and were making good time. But you forgot about one tool you have at your disposal.”

“And that is?”

“Magic. Which is the next part of your training. If you would follow me, please?”

“Can I at least get a drink or a shower?”

He ignored me and we walked back to the house.

“You said I probably wouldn’t be able to cast a spell.”

“That is right; I said
probably.
I did not say definitely. So we shall try it and see what happens. And you should know your way around magic, since I am the highest-level magic-user today and you are my partner.”

“You go around telling people that at parties? ‘Hello, my name is Robert Elliot, and I’m the highest-level magic-user today.’ ”

“Of course not. I would say
I am
the highest-level magic user today.”

I smiled at the joke. “Of course, you’re the one who ranks all of the magic-users, so it’s a bit of a cheat, isn’t it?”

He gave a soft laugh. “A perk of the job, but it does not make it any less accurate. I still rank a ten.”

“Braggart.” I returned his smile. Since my meltdown, things had still been somewhat tense. It felt good to be getting back on friendly ground.

“Well, even though it probably won’t work, I’m game to try,” I said as we descended into his lair.

“Good. First you are going to start learning Italian.” He walked over to one of the tables and picked up some CDs. “Start listening to these during your free time.”

“What free time?”

“Instead of watching television, you can do something productive.”

I made a face at him. “Can’t you just teach me the spells in English?”

“I could, but that is not how it is done. I was taught them in Italian, therefore I teach any pupils of mine in Italian. It is tradition.”

“Alright. So I’m learning Italian.” I watched as he went to a cupboard and took out a few vials and small bags. “What am I learning today?”

“I assume the School went over the basics of magic with you?”

“We had a class in rudimentary magic knowledge, yes.” At his expectant look, I sighed. “Magical forces are all around us, but only a few people are born with the ability to tap into those forces and use them as their own. It’s a power, like strength and flight are mine.” He nodded and I continued, feeling like I was back in school again. “There are three effectors of magic: word, deed, and will. Word, hence your use of Italian. Deed can be a physical action, like a hand gesture, or a physical ingredient, like the powders you use in the teleportation spell. Will is taken from you.”

“They can all combine, too. As a matter of fact, some of the highest-level spells will use all three. Will, however, is the key ingredient to any high-level spell. Understand that the spell powers itself from you on a physical and spiritual level. Many magic-users have died trying to perform high-level spells, like resurrection, for this very reason—it drains their bodies and their souls until there is nothing left. That is how I go about ‘leveling’ magic-users. The higher the level, the greater their capacity to do will spells and survive. Teleportation spells are mid-level magic, say a level five, and
they only use word and deed. The mind spell I used on Cyrus is a high-level spell; no one below a level eight could work it, and it uses word and will. Word will work its way into most spells. That is why you need to learn Italian.”

“So, what are we trying?”

“Something basic, since you are a level one.” He motioned for me to sit in the chair in front of the desk and I did so. “Focus on the book sitting open on the table. Now you are going to raise it. Point to it, make a motion like you are picking it up, and say ‘
Libro di aumento
.’ ”

The book lifted off the table.

“Sorry about that. My magic made it do that just by saying it.” He motioned for the book to settle back down and then nodded at me. “Try it now.”

I took a deep breath, pointed, said, “
Libro di aumento
,” and lifted my hand.

Nothing happened.

I swallowed hard. “
Libro di aumento!
”

Still nothing.

“I told you I couldn’t do this.”

“You have to believe you can. You are letting doubt cloud your power.”

“You sound like a mentor in the movies.”

“I do not watch television or movies. I find better ways of occupying my time.”

“You’ve got all the time in the world. You’re allowed to kick back, relax, and do something stupid, like wasting time watching television.”

“I would rather waste time by going to a play or reading a book.”

I shook my head. “Fine. Snub television. Be that way.” I gave him what I knew was a flirtatious smile, and was delighted to see him return it. Yes, it was definitely better to be back on friendly terms.

“Try again. This time try to clear your mind. Think of nothing but the book, the words, and lifting it up.”

I closed my eyes and took a few calming breaths. I opened my eyes slowly, focused on the book, pointed, and said with all the conviction I had, “
Libro di aumento.
”

The book lifted from the table, hovered there a moment, and then dropped back down again. My mouth hung open. Robert looked pleased.

“Very good. Better than I expected. Now remember, you do not use magic carelessly. As I said, you are using a bit of your will every time you work a spell. You do not want to drain yourself, or worse, become addicted to the power of spells. And I think it goes without saying that you should not use your magic to harm others.” He held up a hand at my impending argument. “Yes, there will come a time in our business that you may have to use your magic to defend either yourself or someone else against someone who means harm magically. It is key for you to find a balance. Just as you cannot go around punching people who say the wrong thing, you also cannot go around silencing them magically. That kind of magic abuse is the way to downfall.”

“Again, sounding like a movie mentor.” At his frown, I held up a hand. “No using spells for frivolous reasons or to be a bully. I got it.”

“It is not just yourself you could harm, but the environment as well. Too much inter-dimensional travel using teleportation can rip a hole between this dimension and the next.”

“You mean we’re going to another dimension when we teleport?”

“Briefly, yes. And that is why I only use teleportation spells for official business and do not use them to, say, zip around town.”

“I doubt I’ll be able to work a teleportation spell anytime soon.”

“You keep practicing and learning Italian and I will have you up to a level four or five before your training is finished.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. In our spare time, I will have you work on both physical and magic training every day.” He handed me a leather-bound book. “Here is a book of spells you can try on your own.”

“Sure, what else have I got to do but read?” I joked. Between working on the Syn case, patrolling at night, and doing menial office tasks for him during the day, I was always busy.

“You knew how involved this job would be when you took it. The only place that villains are stopped without any hard work or effort is on Saturday morning cartoons.”

“It really bothers you that there is no Reincarnist on the Elite Hands of Justice Morning Hour, doesn’t it?”

He laughed. “Do I seem like I care?”

“They left you out for a wise-cracking teen sidekick that never existed. All I’m saying is that has to hurt. But you know what? I’m willing to put in the hard work and effort because I have a new power!” I did a little happy dance and noticed he was watching me in that way guys do when they are checking you out. I deliberately caught his gaze, just to see what he’d do.

He met my gaze and held it. The room temperature seemed to climb. I swallowed hard, my mouth going dry.

“Sir, Fantazia is on the line, returning your call,” Mayhew said, popping into the doorway. He must have sensed something going on between us, because he cleared his throat and said, “I’m sorry, am I interrupting?”