Summoned Chaos by Joshua Roots Page B

begging her once again to teach me her ways.
    “How long were you inside?” I asked, wanting to shift the conversation away from the laws she was breaking.
    “Since before you got home. I was waiting for you, but wound up passing out on your bed. I didn’t wake up until you flushed the toilet.”
    I blinked at her in surprise. The Skilled had an amazing ability to “sense” each other’s power. Most of us learned early in our training to dampen our magical signatures, but there was always a small trace. It was like a scent or aura unique to the individual. Everyone processed the information differently, but to me, the signature came across as colors and temperatures.
    Only the truly powerful of our kind, the ones that either wound up as Elders or senior officials, were strong enough to completely mask their magical presence. I’d seen Quinn in action before, when she wasn’t suppressing her aura, and she burned white-hot. The fact that she could not only fully hide her magical signature, but do so even while asleep gave me pause.
    I peered at her. “I’m surprised I sensed you at all. You’re not getting sloppy, are you?”
    “Hey, I was just waking up. Cut me some slack.” Then she set the glass on the nightstand and held out her hand to me. I allowed her to pull me back down onto the bed. She pressed herself up against me. We were silent for a while, just enjoying the comfort and warmth of each other. Eventually I was aware of her wiping her cheeks.
    “It’s been a lonely few weeks,” she murmured.
    “For both of us,” I whispered, trying to ignore the grisly images of the attack at HQ that sprang to mind.
    “The good news is I was able to find some more of Daddy’s files.”
    “And?” I tried not to get too excited.
    “It’s all gibberish to me. Lots of scribbles that don’t seem connected. I’m not sure if they’ll help, but I made you a copy.”
    “I’ll take anything I can get my hands on. So is that what you’ve been doing the past few weeks, cleaning out storage lockers and filing cabinets?”
    “That, and doing some training.”
    My ears perked up. “Oh? What kind?”
    “The kind I don’t want to talk about yet,” she said in a tone that left no room for debate. “Anyway, I was worried about you after our conversation the other day. Then I heard about the attack at HQ and just... I wanted to make sure you were alright. After all, you mentioned you needed me.”
    I ran a hand over her shoulder, tears stinging my eyes. “Thank you.”
    She pulled away. “What’s wrong?”
    I cleared my throat, then told her everything about the attack at HQ. My shock at the suddenness of it, my fear for Mick when he was hurt, my awe of Elsa. I even muscled through the part about enjoying the beating I gave the Mimic.
    She listened patiently, allowing me to unload everything. When I finally ran out of steam, she pulled me close. The warmth from her touch soothed the ache in my chest.
    Sitting there, listening to the beat of her heart, I realized how much I missed her. She was funny and kind, passionate and stubborn. We laughed a lot and had, on occasion, cried. I could be vulnerable around her. It should have been unnerving, but instead I found it calming.
    We deserved more moments like this.
    “You’ve been under a lot of stress lately,” she said quietly. “Ever since the incident at your folks’ place, you’ve had more eyes on you. There’s a lot of pressure to perform, especially now that you’re working for the Delwinn Council. It doesn’t help that you tend to bottle your emotions. Maybe you just reached your breaking point. You really should release your frustrations more often.”
    “I can think of better options for that.”
    She batted me lightly on the back of the head. “That’s not what I meant, smart-ass.”
    I chuckled, then fell silent.
    “Scared you, did it?” There was no mistaking the concern in her voice.
    I nodded.
    “Have you thought about seeing a