Prodigy by Natasha Brown

Author:Natasha Brown [Brown, Natasha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Natasha Brown

Chance dropped his backpack to the floor and stopped in the washroom to splash water on his face. He peered in Ana’s room and found her resting so he darted downstairs to the main living space. Balam was busy placing wood in a hearth and Chance settled onto the couch to watch his great-grandfather. No longer covered only by a cloth, Balam wore a pair of thin cotton pants with a colorful red sash wrapped around his waist. After Chance reflected on Niyol’s memories, he decided Balam couldn’t have aged even ten years but his grandfather’s memories had to be over eighty years old. If he had to guess, he would say Balam was in his sixties.

He was pretty confident that shifters weren’t immortal. They could die. But he had never met an older shapeshifter before. Excluding Niyol. Although he believed his grandfather hadn’t used his powers since he was a young man.

“Are you deciding if you can trust me?” Balam asked with his back turned to him as a blossom of light grew into a crackling fire.

“Can you ever really trust another shifter?” Chance asked. “You said something about there not being many of us left. Is that true?”

“Yes. We take time to mature. Sixteen years to discover if a child has the birthright. When the seed takes root and the energy is awakened, it is a dangerous time. You have already met one who craves power, who has the sickness. Fresh shifters are easy to pluck, for they have little defense. The young are susceptible to misusing their gifts without guidance and can be tempted down a path, like your cousin.”

The warmth from the fire radiated to the couch. A red glow illuminated Balam’s face as he stoked the wood and cast shadows along the creases of his mouth. The last couple of months had been such a drain, but sitting here with Balam, Chance felt rejuvenated.

“Markus seemed insane. He said he’d killed his own grandfather. What happened? What would make him do that?” The memories of Niyol witnessing his brother murdering their father were unnerving. Were they just bad seeds or was it a shapeshifter sickness?

Balam seemed to understand the question. “Could this happen to you? That is what you want to know, yes? The true question is, what was Markus like before he sought his elder’s power? I do not know what your grandfather taught you, so I will teach you everything as though you are an infant.”

Chance hated that. Infant. It made him sound like a baby—inexperienced, naïve. Balam pulled out a narrow stick from the fire and held it up for Chance to see. Its tip was aglow.

“When the power is awakened in a shifter, it is small like this flame. You must work very hard for a very long time to stretch your capacity to hold more power.” He gestured to the belly of the hearth and its fiery contents. “When you absorb another’s life force, it expands your own. It doesn’t help that we are drawn to each other like moths to a flame.

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