He shook his head. “That’s complex. It’s going to take time.”
“I don’t have time. Nika doesn’t have time. She’s dying.”
“I know, but there’s only so much you can do. You can’t start slinging around the kind of power it’s going to take to help her. Not yet. Our connection is too new and small. You might end up hurting her.”
“Then let’s stretch it out.”
“It’s not that simple. These things take as long as they take.”
He was hiding something from her. She could feel it. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?”
“I’m protecting you.”
“I don’t need you to protect me. I need to you protect Nika.”
He pressed his hand to her cheek and the touch felt good. Right. A hum of strength flowed into her and she wanted more. “You have to come first.”
“Then teach me how to get enough power to help her. Without her, I have nothing.”
His mouth tightened into a grim, flat line. “It’s too soon. We shouldn’t force it.”
“Screw that. I want to force it.” She couldn’t sit here in his lap anymore. She had to get up and put some distance between them before she did something she’d regret, like punch him for not cooperating.
Paul followed her up. His eyes darkened to a rich, chocolate brown, as if the idea of rushing things appealed to him. “It’s not smart. I won’t take the chance you might do yourself harm.”
“It’s not your choice. I’m going to do whatever it takes to help Nika. It doesn’t matter how dangerous it is. If I can’t save her, nothing matters. Don’t you get that?”
“I do. More than you know.”
“Then help me.”
Paul stepped forward. He pressed his hand flat against her chest, just below the luceria and above the swell of her breasts.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m giving you what you want. More power.”
“This seems like an odd way of—”
A hot jolt of energy ripped through her, streaking from where his ring hovered near her skin with only the fabric of her shirt between them. The jolt wasn’t exactly pain, but it was one hell of a close cousin.
Andra was left breathing hard, shaking. Weak. She felt like she’d just run a mile uphill after a bout of stomach flu.
“You were saying?” asked Paul with a smug grin lifting his voice.
“Was that enough?” she asked, praying it was so. “I sure don’t feel stronger.”
“Hardly. That was a mere spark. If you want to help Nika, it’s going to take a lot more than that. Plus, you’ll have to learn to channel it.”
Andra wasn’t sure how much more she could take, but she knew how much more she was going to make him give her—enough to fix Nika. “Then teach me.”
He stared into her eyes, his expression deadly serious. “Be sure, Andra.”
“I’m sure.”
Paul said, “Put your palm on the ground.”
She knelt on the ground and speared her fingers through the dry grass so she could feel the dirt. He knelt beside her and his hand pinned hers in place.
“Now, close your eyes. What do you feel?”
“Weeds. It’s warm. A little damp. There’s a rock under my finger.”
“That’s just the surface. Go deeper.”
“I can’t touch anything deeper.”
“You also can’t touch Nika’s mind, but you have to learn how to feel your way around inside it.”
Andra got his point. She didn’t tell him she’d been peeking around inside the thoughts of lost children for years. Whatever she was able to do with them didn’t work with Nika—she’d tried—so she made herself concentrate. His body was hot and hard against hers. It was easier to feel his muscular thigh brushing hers than it was to feel inside the ground, but she kept trying. She thought about what it must be like in the ground, all dark and heavy, but she sensed that she still wasn’t getting it right.
“Sorry. I’m not feeling anything.”
“That’s because you’re doing it on your own. You have to use my power. Pull it from me.”
“I don’t know how.”
“I’ll help,” said Paul. His hand cupped the nape of her neck and she felt his ring hit her necklace and stick like a magnet. He leaned down over her until she could feel his breath fan her cheek, and he placed his free hand next to hers on the ground. Her neck warmed beneath the band, and that warmth spread down her arm and into each fingertip. It wasn’t like the jolt before. It was gentler, or maybe it just felt that way because the power was draining out of her into the ground.
“Can you feel the soil just below your fingertips?”
Andra nodded. That part was easy.
“Below that is a layer of broken rock. The roots of the plants have dug their way in through tiny cracks, soaking up the water that’s trapped there each time it rains.”
Andra squeezed her eyes shut and tried to see what he described.
“About thirty feet down there’s a thick slab of stone. Old stone that’s been here since before my grandpar ents were born.” With every word, the power flowing into her seemed to increase. She could feel it expand to fill up her arm and it vibrated faster with each passing second.
“Can you see it?” he asked in a mere whisper.
“I can imagine it, but I can’t see it.”
“You’re not letting me in. My power is flowing through you, but you’re not using it.”