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."Matt looked up to see Aki, Sam, and Jerry watching them with equal parts amusement and resignation, and he blushed slightly."Okay, let's go.I can beat Pietr's ass on the way."That's what you think.Now, about how the language transferred.Matt groaned out loud as he started walking toward the cabin.***It was a little strange suddenly being the one with the strongest powers.Pietr and Aki didn't understand how he did most of the things he did, and even Sam reeled when Matt took a short cut and split a tree in four at one shot.Things turned tricky when he had to use the power against another being.Sam, without hesitation, forbade him to do anything physical; his trainer looked a little panicked at the mere thought.Matt was far more reluctant to attack any of his friends mentally."What if I do a tree trunk on one of you?"A collective shudder went through the Himika as they looked at the remains of the first tree trunk he had tried to split.Sam wouldn't back down, though."You just have to keep from doing that.You have to learn how to control it.You can practice on me."That was either a very brave or a very stupid offer.Matt leaned strongly toward the latter.Then he got an idea.Pulling together all of his self-control and the power of the three of them, he carefully reached out for Sam's mind.Sam resisted, putting up a good fight.But instead of using force, Matt dodged Sam's defenses and slithered in where Sam's attention was lowest.Suddenly, he was in the middle of Sam's mind.It was astounding to be this intimate, especially since he had barely communicated mentally with Sam before.Sam was shocked and instantly wanted to fight Matt.However, Matt wouldn't let him.Instead, Matt let a layer of soothing thoughts simmer through his mind, forcing Sam to relax.Sam gave in surprisingly easily, and with that, all of his inner defenses went down.This was someone who had been through hell.Without a mate, Sam was always aware of the fact that he wasn't complete, and it haunted him.Then there were the memories of the war, and the deep pain from witnessing the death of Stor, his best friend and Jerry's mate.And Sam loved Jerry.Sam knew it was hopeless; not so much because Jerry didn't like him, but because Jerry couldn't love anybody at all.Not yet, and perhaps not ever.But Sam had accepted the fact that he could at least be close to Jerry and help the other Himiko as much as possible.It was such a noble decision that Matt got tears in his eyes.Then he started when he realized what he had done.This was eavesdropping, but a lot worse.This was violating the most fundamental principles of privacy.Gingerly, taking great care not to hurt Sam, he pulled back.Sam stared helplessly at Matt."What? Did it work?" Jerry sounded impatient."Yeah.It worked," Sam answered, his voice tight.Then he fell to his knees.What happened?Both Pietr and Aki were shouting at him, but it was Jerry who went to Sam's side, gently helping him sit down.Robbie joined them, looking worried."I couldn't feel what Matt was doing at all." Aki's voice sounded a little accusing."It felt as if there was a limit at Sam's shields, and I couldn't see past that."Me neither.What happened? Pietr was less than happy at being shut out, but it was such a relief that the other Himika hadn't seen what Matt had seen."I was just a little too rough," Matt said.Sam looked up at him.Matt nodded almost imperceptibly.He would keep Sam's secrets.Sam nodded back, and there was a deep gratitude in his eyes."But you're okay?" Aki had broken their mental connection as soon as Sam fell, and now he was looking at the kneeling Himiko, real worry in his eyes.Sam nodded, and Robbie did the same."He'll be fine.We're just playing with hardcore stuff here."You might say so.Matt took a deep breath."The good news is that I think I got it.I know how to use it now."Thank god.Because that was just a little creepy.Their connection hadn't been broken, so Pietr wasn't in any kind of distress.He just hadn't been able to track Matt like he usually did, and that bothered him.Yeah, a little.And I can't even say I won't do it again.I know, Matt.It's okay.Matt couldn't count how many times he had heard those words over the last few days.Perhaps he should start believing them.It would save us a lot of work, honey.The smack that followed was inevitable.Really, Pietr should have learned his lesson by now.***"How did the Warriors practice? I mean those who used their abilities for real?"It was early afternoon, and they were at the meadow again, ready to begin another training session."We didn't practice!" Sam sounded outraged."Yes, they did." Aki's voice was quiet.Matt remembered Jerry's words about Aki being close to Stor's murderer.Sam turned to Aki, a shocked expression on his face.Aki looked away."They played with other Himika.I don't think they ever did it with the intention of killing someone, but they were definitely bullies."And Aki had been so close to becoming one of them.Matt could sense his mentor's revulsion at that thought."Okay, so that's not an option." What the fuck was he doing now?"I think it actually might be." Aki sounded a bit surer of himself now."You leave us behind anyway when you do it, so you don't really need to use the combined power of the three of us to practice.It was really easy keeping up the connection."Matt nodded.He hadn't even had to think about that."Then we just spar.Like we did when I taught you how to shield.You try to break my shields, and I try to defend myself.Just don't fry my brain."After what had happened to Sam -- and to the tree trunk -- Aki had to be very, very brave to suggest this.Matt really appreciated it.He still did his very best to kick his mentor's ass.Aki reeled back when he felt Matt's attack."Jesus, Matt! What have you been doing since I trained you?"Matt thought about apologizing.Then he remembered: sucking it up.He attacked again, and this time he almost got through an opening in Aki's defenses before he gave his mentor a break.Aki bent over, gasping, while supporting his hands on his knees.Robbie was watching him with raised eyebrows, and Aki looked questioningly at his mate when he got back up."What?""Oh, nothing.You did ask for this," Robbie answered.Matt grinned and attacked again.***Matt had been practicing all of the last three days, Sam and Jerry pushing him as much as they could without exhausting him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]