Black Orchid by Abigail Owen Page B

tired. They needed very little sleep in general.
    Still,
Adelaide did need the practice, and Ellie was a great teacher. When she touched
someone, Ellie could control their powers. More than that, she instantly became
an expert, although Ellie claimed it wasn’t always perfect. She was still
learning her own ability, after all. But at the very least, Ellie’s gift came
in handy for teaching. She used it to help others discover and then master the
nuances of their skills faster.
    Ellie
waved a hand at Adelaide’s suggestion. “You sound like Alex.”
    “I
bet.” Adelaide gave her wry smile.
    Ellie
sighed. “I’m fine. Nothing an extra hour of sleep tonight won’t cure.”
    Adelaide
swung her feet over the side of the bed. “Okay, then. I’m ready when you are.”
    “My,
my. Eager today,” Ellie teased as she pulled her long hair into a ponytail and secured
it in place.
    Adelaide
shrugged. “It would be nice to master something .”
    Ellie
gave her a sympathetic look. “Makes sense. Let’s get going, then.”
    They
made their way downstairs to where Charlotte was waiting to pop them halfway across
the world. Selene had insisted that any teaching happen at a place more familiar,
the theory being that they’d be able to guard it better and still be away from
the bulk of the Vyusher. Very few knew about Adelaide’s problems yet.
    They’d
decided to train in a field in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, close to her
family’s homes in Estes Park. Adelaide wasn’t thrilled about that. The middle
of the Outback seemed fine to her, and she still wasn’t ready to be around a
lot of people. But she needed the practice, and they kept it to just her family
as guards for now.
    Tonight
they popped into Ellie’s house, where she found Griffin and her parents
waiting. After a quick round of hugs, Adelaide opened the window, and both
girls shifted to falcons and flew out into the night air. Adelaide was a little
wobbly at first, but she was getting the hang of things faster now.
    It
took them only a short time to make their way to the chosen field. As she had
the last several times, Adelaide looked around at the moonlit landscape as they
landed. She willed her memory to kick in, to let her feel some sense of
recognition or connection to this place. According to Ellie, this was the same
field where her family had battled and defeated the Vyusher when they’d been
under Gideon’s thrall. Gideon, Selene’s twin brother, had been the ruler of the
Vyusher for a long time. He’d used his ability to force his people to do
unimaginable horrors against all other Svatura tribes for centuries. And he’d
come for them.
    Ellie
had killed him in this field. But to Adelaide it just looked like a flat, open
space in the middle of pine trees with mountains rising up around them on all
sides.
    She
pushed her frustration aside and turned to face Ellie. “What’s your plan for
tonight?”
    “Well,
we could continue to work on the falcon shift if that’s what’s going to gain
you some independence.”
    Adelaide
picked at a loose thread in her jeans. “Actually, to start with, I’d like to
work on my ability to see relationships.”
    She
glanced up and caught Ellie’s small frown. Why would Ellie be worried about
that? Though, now that she thought about it, Ellie had seemed reluctant to help
her much with her relationship power in general. “Is there a problem?”
    Ellie
tapped a fingernail on her front teeth, a nervous habit Adelaide had noticed.
“Not a problem, really. Just…”
    Adelaide
reached out and gently stilled Ellie’s hand. “Just what?” she asked softly.
    Ellie
stopped her tapping and sighed. “Before you lost your memory, you were very
guarded about sharing that particular gift. You worried that knowing future
relationships would influence others to do things they might not otherwise.”
    Adelaide
gave a small smile. “Sounds like me.”
    “So
I don’t want to violate that rule for you. It was too important.