Page 76 of Dark Princess Emerging

Morelle frowned. "What if I can't stop Jin? Will Brandon stay tethered to her?"

Jin's laugh was light and careless. "I'll snap the connection, silly. It's not like I enjoy being a peeping Tom and observing someone else's life." She leaned in closer to Morelle. "I'll let you in on a secret. Most of the time, it's incredibly boring, and sometimes it's also embarrassing."

Morelle could imagine private moments that should never be observed by another person, even a loved one.

"I wonder if this is going to feel different," Amanda said. "Cassandra's explosion ability is straightforward but unique. Somehow, she manages to influence with her mind the molecular structure of the object she wants to blow up, and she doesn't even know how she does it. In that respect, Jin's mental tether almost seems simpler, but it implies that consciousness is not bound to the body and, under certain circumstances, can be independent of it."

"I could have told you that," Syssi said. "How do you think I access visions? Consciousness is also not bound by time and space, which is why I can see into the past, the future, and even other planets."

For some reason, the explanation eased Morelle's mind about the test. It made Jin's power sound more like science with a tinge of spirituality than magic.

Looking at Brandon's face, she could tell that he shared some of her reservations about Jin's ability, and she couldn't blame him. No one wanted someone else's mind inside their own or even just hitching a ride on their optic and auditory systems.

45

BRANDON

Brandon tensed involuntarily as Jin's hand came to rest on his shoulder. He knew intellectually that she couldn't read his thoughts, could only see what he saw and hear what he heard, but the idea of someone latching onto his consciousness was deeply unsettling.

Across the room, Morelle watched Jin with a frown, her large blue eyes focused on Jin with laser-like intensity. Brandon had no idea if whatever she was attempting was working. Jin's tether was weightless, and there was no visible sign of Morelle's nullifying ability, so there was no way to tell if she was successfully preventing Jin from establishing her ethereal tether.

Something about this whole setup bothered him. Jin and Mey had freely shared details about their abilities during dinner before Morelle had even attempted to nullify them. Either Amanda had forgotten to instruct them to keep their talents secret for testing purposes, or she had something else in mind.

Amanda wasn't the type to forget such details.

The feather-light pressure of Jin's hand lifted, and Brandon fought the urge to step away from her.

"Well?" Amanda asked, tablet poised to record the results. "What's your verdict?"

Jin grinned. "It's like we thought?—"

Amanda's raised hand cut her off. She turned to Morelle instead. "How did you stop her?"

"I concentrated and imagined snipping the tether." Morelle demonstrated the action of cutting with her fingers.

"Where exactly did you place your scissors?" Amanda pressed. "At the source, meaning Jin, or the destination, meaning Brandon?"

"The source. I imagined snipping the tether extending from Jin's mind."

Amanda's satisfied smile suggested this was the answer she'd been expecting. She waved a hand at Jin. "Now, you can explain."

"With pleasure." Jin turned to Morelle. "Before coming here this evening, I tethered Mey, Arwel, and Yamanu. I held on to those three tethers during dinner and checked on them occasionally to make sure that they were still there and that you didn't nullify them unintentionally. Then, when I attempted to tether Brandon, I not only couldn't establish the connection but also lost the other three." She appraised Morelle with her brown, expressive eyes. "You didn't know I was tethering anyone else, right?"

"I didn't." Alarm flashed across Morelle's face. "Did I destroy your ability to do that?"

Jin didn't look worried. "Let's test it." She turned toward Arwel and then frowned, looking worried. "I can't establish a new connection."

"Step outside," Amanda instructed. "Try it out in the backyard away from Morelle. Distance matters with her nullifying power."

"I'm not actively doing it anymore." Morelle sounded stressed. "I don't know how to turn it off."

Brandon wrapped his arm around her waist. "I think it just needs time to fade."

When Jin and Arwel returned a few minutes later, they both looked relieved. "It worked outside," Jin said.

Tension visibly drained from Morelle's shoulders. "Thank the Mother."

"Yes." Amanda smiled at Jin. "Thank the merciful Fates. We don't want to lose a valuable talent like that."