at me and gestured again.
"I don't have all day, Alec. The plane will be refueled in the next few minutes, at which point I need to be on my way."
I reminded myself of all of the reasons that I hadn't mouthed off to her earlier and dropped down to my knees, suppressing an internal grimace as she placed her hands on each side of my head and sent a rush of power out.
My beast didn't like it, he responded with a surge of power of his own, but she was too focused on using her ability to notice and take umbrage. I was fairly sure that it was nothing more than my imagination, but I always came away after a session with Mallory feeling cold and clammy inside.
Nearly a minute passed before she released me and sat back in her chair with a considering look on her face.
"You're more powerful now than you were the last time I scanned you. What happened?"
Her statement took me completely by surprise. I'd known that her ability allowed her to see when another hybrid had an ability of their own as well as giving her some very specific information regarding what that ability was able to do, but I'd never known that she was able to sense general changes in the amount of power a given shape shifter possessed.
"I don't have to tell you that. Now that you've confirmed that I still haven't manifested an ability I'm going to go home."
"An increase in power level is useful all by itself, Alec. Surely you can't be as cavalier as you pretend regarding your ongoing inability to realize the potential I saw in you so many years ago when you were born. An ability would allow you to call your own shots, make your own way in the world…protect those you care about."
"Don't mistake my ability to differentiate between the things I can control and the things I can't as apathy."
"Ah, good, some fire finally. You're right, you have not manifested an ability despite the fact that your general power level has gone up noticeably."
I stood, but she waved me back to a seat. "I'm not going to force you to tell me what triggered your increase in power. Mostly I'm not pushing because I already have a pretty good idea. It's not uncommon for the first real dose of combat to trigger a power increase in someone, but you need to find a way to grow your power level even more. A lot rides on it."
I had to force myself not to laugh in her face. "I know that you're a level removed from most of the dominance posturing, but I've been in plenty of combat before now. It's a rare week when I don't end up tangling with someone."
Mallory waved my comment away. "It's not the same. Dominance fights do occasionally end with someone being killed but it's a rarity. Your father's rules help somewhat, but mostly it just comes down to our natural instinct. A beaten foe, one whom our beast is sure is inferior to us, is more valuable alive than dead. Alive they can help serve as a buffer, another opponent that someone else will have to challenge and beat before they can get at us. Dead, they serve no purpose at all. The only time we see a death from combat in Sanctuary tends to be when the two people involved really hate each other."
"Just in case you've been asleep on the job, Vincent and I really hate each other. I've been in plenty of danger in the past without ever needing to square off against any vampires."
I got a cold smile from her. "I'm done talking about this, Alec. Every word you've said has been the truth, but I'm perfectly capable of discerning when someone is trying to deceive me by telling me only part of the truth. I've only continued the conversation for this long because it is vitally important that you understand the extreme importance attached to you manifesting an ability. You are quickly running out of time."
I kept the relief washing through me off of my face, and I was pretty sure that I'd done a decent job stopping it from bleeding over into my scent. She'd assumed that I was trying to put her off the trail of the truth, which I had been, but I'd been
"I don't have all day, Alec. The plane will be refueled in the next few minutes, at which point I need to be on my way."
I reminded myself of all of the reasons that I hadn't mouthed off to her earlier and dropped down to my knees, suppressing an internal grimace as she placed her hands on each side of my head and sent a rush of power out.
My beast didn't like it, he responded with a surge of power of his own, but she was too focused on using her ability to notice and take umbrage. I was fairly sure that it was nothing more than my imagination, but I always came away after a session with Mallory feeling cold and clammy inside.
Nearly a minute passed before she released me and sat back in her chair with a considering look on her face.
"You're more powerful now than you were the last time I scanned you. What happened?"
Her statement took me completely by surprise. I'd known that her ability allowed her to see when another hybrid had an ability of their own as well as giving her some very specific information regarding what that ability was able to do, but I'd never known that she was able to sense general changes in the amount of power a given shape shifter possessed.
"I don't have to tell you that. Now that you've confirmed that I still haven't manifested an ability I'm going to go home."
"An increase in power level is useful all by itself, Alec. Surely you can't be as cavalier as you pretend regarding your ongoing inability to realize the potential I saw in you so many years ago when you were born. An ability would allow you to call your own shots, make your own way in the world…protect those you care about."
"Don't mistake my ability to differentiate between the things I can control and the things I can't as apathy."
"Ah, good, some fire finally. You're right, you have not manifested an ability despite the fact that your general power level has gone up noticeably."
I stood, but she waved me back to a seat. "I'm not going to force you to tell me what triggered your increase in power. Mostly I'm not pushing because I already have a pretty good idea. It's not uncommon for the first real dose of combat to trigger a power increase in someone, but you need to find a way to grow your power level even more. A lot rides on it."
I had to force myself not to laugh in her face. "I know that you're a level removed from most of the dominance posturing, but I've been in plenty of combat before now. It's a rare week when I don't end up tangling with someone."
Mallory waved my comment away. "It's not the same. Dominance fights do occasionally end with someone being killed but it's a rarity. Your father's rules help somewhat, but mostly it just comes down to our natural instinct. A beaten foe, one whom our beast is sure is inferior to us, is more valuable alive than dead. Alive they can help serve as a buffer, another opponent that someone else will have to challenge and beat before they can get at us. Dead, they serve no purpose at all. The only time we see a death from combat in Sanctuary tends to be when the two people involved really hate each other."
"Just in case you've been asleep on the job, Vincent and I really hate each other. I've been in plenty of danger in the past without ever needing to square off against any vampires."
I got a cold smile from her. "I'm done talking about this, Alec. Every word you've said has been the truth, but I'm perfectly capable of discerning when someone is trying to deceive me by telling me only part of the truth. I've only continued the conversation for this long because it is vitally important that you understand the extreme importance attached to you manifesting an ability. You are quickly running out of time."
I kept the relief washing through me off of my face, and I was pretty sure that I'd done a decent job stopping it from bleeding over into my scent. She'd assumed that I was trying to put her off the trail of the truth, which I had been, but I'd been
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