5. Kian

5

KIAN

A s the limousine glided along the winding road back to the village, Kian considered the implications of what they'd discovered earlier.

The tactical advantages of a null, someone who could potentially neutralize the abilities of others, were immediately apparent. Morelle could be effective against any enemy who possessed supernatural abilities, but most Doomers didn't have any beyond thralling, and even that was limited to humans and could affect a minimal number of them. She might be useful against Navuh's compulsion power, without which he would lose his hold over his followers, and that could be tremendously helpful in taking over the island. But the question was how strong her nullification was and from how far it could be implemented.

Given that Ell-rom had used his power next to Morelle and her nullifying hadn't affected him, it probably meant that her power wasn't all that strong.

Then again, she had been a kid at the time, and her power might not have fully manifested yet. Morelle and Ell-rom were twins, but they were fraternal, not identical, and the discovery that they had different powers really wasn’t surprising.

If her nullifying ability was strong, though, she could pose a threat to the clan if she turned against them for some reason.

The tenuous peace and cooperation in the village was in part reliant on the compulsion placed on all members not to harm each other. Morelle could potentially nullify the compulsion, releasing everyone to act as they pleased.

It wasn't a likely scenario, but the issue needed to be addressed.

First, though, they needed to find out the extent of her power, and he didn't want to wait a moment longer than necessary to do that.

Kian pulled out his phone and typed a message to Amanda: Can you wrap up things early and return to the village? We need to continue testing Morelle's ability ASAP .

Her response came quickly: I need to finish a few things first, but Syssi and I will try to get back as soon as we can. Need to coordinate test subjects. Cassandra would be ideal because her explosions are easy to verify. Can you check with Onegus if she's working from home today?

Cassandra's power was indeed perfect for testing Morelle. There was no ambiguity when she made things explode, especially not now after all the training she had put into gaining better control over her talent. He forwarded the request to Onegus, asking him to check with his mate about her availability.

When the chief answered a few moments later that Cassandra was available, Kian texted Amanda. Done . Cassandra is ready when we are. I suggest we test Morelle's nullifying power on Arwel. Poor guy would love a break from everyone's emotions. We could try Toven's compulsion, too, though that's trickier to test.

Amanda : Good choices. Can you arrange for them to be available? We can do the testing at Mother's house.

Kian: Will do. I'm inviting them for a late lunch at two o'clock to be sure that you and Syssi make it back on time .

As Morelle shifted in her seat and looked at him instead of Brandon, Kian realized that she must have noticed the rapid exchange of texts and was wondering about it.

"Amanda and I are organizing more testing," he said. "We are exchanging ideas about the kinds of abilities we should test to see how your nullification works."

"When?" she asked.

Kian liked how direct Morelle was. Her speech patterns were similar to Jade's in that she didn't mince words, but somehow the effect was different. More refined.

"I'm inviting a few people to my mother's house for a late lunch, which reminds me that I should let her know so she can put her Odus to work." He typed a lengthy message to his mother, explaining Morelle's possible talent and the people he wanted to invite to her house for lunch.

When she replied immediately with an emoji of a thumbs up, he smiled. His mother had only recently started to use emojis in her texts, and she was having a blast with them.

"What kinds of powers will I have to nullify?" Morelle asked.

Should he tell her? Did it matter if she knew ahead of time?

Maybe. It was better if she didn't know.

"I'd rather not tell you to see if you can nullify their powers without knowing what they are."

Morelle nodded. "I knew that Syssi was a seer, and Amanda reminded me of the fact before handing the coin to Syssi. It will be interesting to see if not knowing makes a difference."

"I also want to test at what distance your power works and if you can aim it at a particular person or if it is blanket nullifying."

Brandon put his hand on Morelle's thigh. "You don't have to do this all at once. We can test some things today and continue with others tomorrow."

Determination settled over Morelle's features. The princess didn't back down from challenges. "I'd rather get answers sooner than later. Not knowing is stressful. Knowing my limits will help me control this so-called talent."

She was obviously not happy with what the Fates had given her, and Kian could understand that. But the truth was that most immortals who had powers above the standard thralling and shrouding were not too happy about them. Arwel would give away his gift if he could, and so would Cassandra. Toven, Kian wasn't sure about. Being able to compel others was too useful an ability to pass up, and as long as the one wielding the power used it conscientiously, Kian was glad to have the option to use it for the clan's benefit.

Drova, on the other hand, was too young to use it in any capacity, and if Morelle could nullify her power not just temporarily but for a while, that would definitely be beneficial for the clan.

His phone buzzed with another message from Amanda: Syssi suggests testing distance limitations, too. Does Morelle need a line of sight? Physical proximity? Can she nullify through walls?

All were excellent questions.

He typed back: We also need to check if she can selectively nullify and for how long .

"More test candidates?" Morelle asked.

"No, more parameters. Distance, selectivity, and duration of the effect. The more we understand about how your power works, the better we can utilize it."

"Or guard against it?" she asked.

Kian met her gaze. "The more control you have, the less chance of accidents."