Master and Apprentice by Bateman Sonya

Author:Bateman, Sonya [Bateman, Sonya]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2011-03-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

I took my jacket off and folded it. “Are you sure I have to do this?”

“Yes. The fastest way for you to learn your power is to discover the source.”

“But do I have to take all my clothes off ?”

Calvin smirked. “You can leave your underwear.”

“Gee. Thanks.” If he was messing with me, it didn’t show. Much. I rolled my eyes and kicked free of my shoes, yanked my vest and shirt off, and did the rest before I could lose my nerve. At least I’d put on clean underwear before I left the house and got caught in a downpour. I rubbed at the goose pimples on my arms and hopped from foot to foot. “It’s kinda cold in here. Is that fireball of yours hot?”

“Not especially. But if you’d like, I can set your pants on fire.”

I glared at him. “All right. What am I supposed to do?”

“Lie down.”

“On this rock?”

“Unless you’d prefer lying outside in the mud.”

Fantastic choices. Groaning, I lowered myself to the ground and stretched out flat on my back. Cold stone nipped my flesh and sent prickles through my limbs. “Now what?”

“Close your eyes. Feel the earth.”

“What, all of it?”

“Concentrate, apprentice.”

I closed my eyes and wondered why none of the djinn could bother calling me by name. Except Tory, and he always got it wrong.

I could feel the earth, all right. It was poking me in the spine, digging against my shoulder blades, caressing the back of my head like a brick wall. Unyielding, unwelcoming, practically pushing me away. Why couldn’t we have been hiding in a nice, soft meadow? At least it didn’t smell too bad in here. It was dank and musty, the way I guessed most caves smelled, but outside of that I caught the scent of fresh rain, moist dirt, the perfume of a thousand pines dashed through a mountain wind.

Below me, the rock warmed—or my skin grew numb with the cold. I couldn’t tell which. I tried to concentrate on that, on the feeling of stone against me, the idea that I was touching the world. And I felt … something. A deep-seated buzzing, like an itch that I couldn’t quite reach. I strained for it, attempting to break it open, but the sensation hovered just beyond my grasp.

Come on, you bastard. Instinct told me the key was right there, directly at my mental fingertips. All I had to do was touch it, take it into me, and I could use it. But the circuit refused to complete. The buzzing intensified, filled every muscle and vein until I was convinced I’d start flopping around on the cave floor with smoke pouring out of me like a downed power line.

The electric flood ceased abruptly. I opened my eyes. “Ow.”

“Nothing?”

“Not exactly nothing.” I pushed up and drew my knees to my chest. “Something’s there. I just can’t touch it.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm, what?”

Calvin shook his head. He stood, stretched. “We’ll have to try again later. For now, there are a few important spells you should learn right away.

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