Chapter 397: Chapter 397

Lanie | grinned at my grandfather. “Bring it on, old man!”

Malachi winced. “For the sun’s sake, Lanie. Please try to address me with a bit of decorum.”

“Oh, Ancient one,” | teased. “Is that better?”

“Marginally,” Malachi said.

| was feeling good about putting my body to the test and passing it. My muscles that had been aching were sore but in a good way now. | was pumped up.’

Energized. | felt like | could probably run up the walls and across the ceiling if | tried hard enough. | felt like | could fly.

“Calm down first,” Malachi added as | bounced back and forth on the balls of my feet. “You're so easily distracted.”

Greyson chuckled, earning him a sharp look from Malachi. Charlotte frowned at him, too, shaking her head, but then her lips curled into a small smile. She took his hand and squeezed it. | could tell they were speaking to each other through a mind link.

The love that shone out of their eyes for each other was so beautiful, it almost moved me to tears.

“Your emotions are out of control,” my grandfather cut into my thoughts. “By the Goddess, | can practically smell them. Wipe those sappy tears away, granddaughter. Focus. If you don’t get yourself under control, you're going to hurt yourself. Or worse, one of us.”

“| didn’t think I'd be able to hurt you,” | said, but | did as he commanded and dashed away my tears of happiness for my friends.

He was right. My emotions were all over the place.

There was no reason for me to be so overcome by them. To my surprise, Braden put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me against his hip.

“Stop plaguing her, Malachi. Lanie’s emotions are part of what makes her so unique. She can’t just turn them off like they’re coming out of a faucet,” Braden said calmly. “If she didn’t feel so deeply, she’d never be able to harness her gifts.”

Malachi’s eyebrows went up, but then his eyes narrowed. “Would you like to take responsibility for her if she allows her emotions to hamper her progress? What if it causes an accident because she’s too worked up?”

“Hey, you two. No fighting. Braden, my grandfather has a point. | do need to learn to manage myself. I’m not saying | don’t think |

should feel,” | corrected hastily when Braden looked like he was going to protest. “But he’s right. If | want to learn how to use my hybrid traits, | need to be focused.”

Malachi shot Braden a smug look. For someone centuries old, my grandfather sometimes acted even “Let's try telekinesis,” Charlotte cut in, bringing my attention back to the tasks at hand. She put a small, weighted ball on a table in front of me and stepped back. “Try to move this with your mind.”

it.”

“Can you do that?” | asked curiously.

She shook her head. “No, but it is a talent some vampires have. Malachi has it, so you might.”

My grandfather demonstrated by lifting the ball and setting it down merely by looking at it. “Now, you try | did, but even though | stared hard enough to make my eyes hurt, the ball didn’t budge. | frowned.

“What's the trick?”

“There is no trick. You can either do it or you can’t,”

Charlotte said. “Looks like you can’t.”

That was a disappointment, but there were many other tests | had to do. My earlier confidence and good feeling from mastering the fast run was fading quickly as | was unable to do anything else my grandfather or Charlotte asked me to do. | wanted to cry again, but this time the tears weren't happy.

Charlotte hugged me. “Don’t worry about it, Lanie.

Think of it this way. The more we eliminate, the more opportunities you'll have to focus on what you can do, without everything else clouding it.”

“Enough of this sappy nonsense,” Malachi said, snapping his fingers. “Let's test your mind reading.”

| tried Greyson first, but although | could tell anything from him. Braden, on the other hand...

e was thinking hard to give me a good chance, | couldn’t get “| can’t...quite...tell what you're thinking,” | said slowly as | concentrated. “It’s more like I’m getting flashes of your feelings.”

Charlotte nodded. “That makes sense. As your grandfather pointed out before, your own emotions are running high. You're connected to feelings, especially deep ones.”

“If you can’t discern Braden’s thoughts, then describe his feelings,” Malachi demanded.

| did my best to create that shift in my mind again.

That opening door. But when | looked at Braden’s face, something became so clear to me | didn’t have to read his mind to guess what he was thinking.

He didn’t want me to share his feelings with anyone in this room, and especially not with my grandfather.