Page 69 of Dark Princess Ascending

It moved, but barely so.

Kian chuckled. "You need to take more, Morelle. Don't be afraid. If I feel faint, I'll tell you to stop."

She cast him a hard look. "What if you are too weak to verbalize what you are feeling?"

"I won't let you take too much. Don't worry. Just do it."

"As you wish. Don't blame me if things go south, as they say."

She closed her eyes again, and this time, when she saw the golden ribbon of light, she didn't merely tug at it. She sucked it in, filling herself to the brim with power before expelling it to move the flower.

Everything cluttered to the floor, including the half-empty coffee cups that broke apart.

Gasping, Morelle shifted her gaze to Kian, terrified of what she would see, but he seemed fine, and when he turned to look at her, he seemed more amused than tired or angry or any of the other emotions she'd expected to see.

"That was one hell of a telekinetic display."

She jumped to her feet. "I need to clean up the mess."

"I'll help you." He stood up and then swayed a little. "Now I feel it. You did take a lot out of me."

As the door opened and the others returned, Jasmine gasped. "What happened?"

"Kian had a lot of energy," Morelle said apologetically. "I took too much."

Syssi rushed to her mate's side. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I had too much to drink or have done something strenuous." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'd better sit back down."

"And I'd better bring the broom," Brandon said.

"I'll get the vacuum cleaner." Jasmine rushed after him.

Looking satisfied, Amanda sat down, pulled out her tablet, and snapped a picture of the mess on the floor. "You did it all with your mind," she said.

"I did."

"Did you feel how much you drew from Kian?"

Morelle shook her head. "I just imagined inhaling his energy until my lungs were full and then expelling it at the flower, but I must have taken more than I realized, and everything went flying."

Amanda shifted on the couch to face Kian. "What did you feel?"

"Nothing until I tried to stand up. I would havenever suspected that anyone had done anything to me."

"Interesting." Amanda tapped her finger over her lower lip. "The stealth nature of this power has a lot of potential."

Kian nodded. "I agree. It's one hell of a powerful ability."

40

ROB

Rob drifted back to consciousness gradually, awareness returning in fragments. The steady beep of monitoring equipment. The slight scratch of sheets. The warm pressure of Gertrude's hand in his.

He opened his eyes to find both Gertrude and Margo sitting by his bed and watching him anxiously.

"Welcome back," Gertrude said, squeezing his hand.