56. Morelle

56

MORELLE

T he tremor might have been minor, but Morelle still felt rattled by it long after the brief shaking had stopped. She couldn't understand how everyone else seemed so casual about it. On Anumati, there was no seismic activity that caused things to shake, but it had been covered in her temple studies as a phenomenon that plagued many of the gods' colonies. She'd read about the devastation it could cause.

The television mounted above the ornate fireplace droned on quietly, its sound muted. Two attractive humans, a female and a male, gazed steadily into the camera, their relaxed expressions suggesting nothing serious had occurred. Text scrolled across the bottom of the screen, but the English script was inaccessible to her.

Still, it bothered Morelle that the screen was hanging directly over the heads of the children, and no one seemed bothered by it.

She leaned toward Brandon. "Shouldn't the little ones be moved to a safer area?"

He followed her gaze to the screen. "Oh, don't worry about that. It's secured with a bracket that can withstand a major earthquake. The house would fall apart before that thing gives."

Morelle didn't share his confidence, and his comment about the house itself collapsing as a result of strong seismic activity only added to her anxiety.

Returning her gaze to the children playing on the mat, something in her chest eased, and at the same time, something in her gut twisted. Their innocent vulnerability called to her on a primal level, a protectiveness that was both instinctual and learned.

Kra-ell females, as well as the males, were charged with protecting the very young who were defenseless and teaching them to protect themselves as soon as they could. She and Ell-rom had started practicing blocking stances at three years old.

These children were still too young to fend for themselves, and watching their carefree play was endearing. Allegra was carefully stacking blocks to build a tower that was about to topple at any moment, while Evie was satisfied with just watching her cousin. Kalugal's serious little boy had moved closer to the fireplace, studying the ornate stonework with solemn eyes that seemed too old for his face.

Almost unconsciously, Morelle found herself reaching out with senses she didn't fully understand, drawing on the energy that seemed to pulse from everyone in the room. Logically, she knew that she was most likely imagining it, and yet the sensation felt incredibly real. It was as if she could actually harness the power radiating from each member of her family, but mostly from Annani.

The energy seemed to swell within her, filling spaces between the cells of her body. It was like discovering a new nervous or vascular system that had lain dormant in her body until now.

Imagination. That's all it was.

The head priestess had warned her against letting her mind roam free with flights of fancy. The fact that Ell-rom had a terrible, dangerous power didn't mean that she had one, too. She wasn't an energy vampire who could suck others dry of their life source.

When the second tremor hit, it wasn't notably stronger than the first, but it lasted longer, and suddenly, a fine web of cracks appeared in the ornamental stone mantel above the fireplace. They were so thin that they were barely visible, and no one else seemed to notice. Their attention was on the frightened children as Allegra's block tower toppled.

But Morelle not only saw it, she sensed it, and she knew that it was more than just surface cracks. It was a weakening of the stone, a flaw.

Time seemed to slow as a large section of the heavy mantel broke free, falling directly toward Kalugal's son.

Morelle didn't think—she reacted.

That gathered energy surged through her like a tidal wave as she thrust out her hand, and the falling stone halted mid-air, then shot sideways to crash harmlessly against the floor several feet away from the children.

In the sudden silence that followed, every eye in the room turned toward her. Even the children stopped crying and were staring at her with awe.

The energy still crackled along her nerves like an electric current, ready to be used again if needed, but as the immediate danger passed, uncertainty crept in. What had she done?

How had she done it?

The moment of silence was broken when Jacki uttered an anguished cry and ran to her little boy. Kalugal moved with incredible speed to snatch his son away from the fireplace, and Jacki examined the boy for any injuries. Other parents gathered their children closer, though whether from fear of more falling debris or a protective instinct, Morelle couldn't tell.

She watched the scene unfold for a brief moment and then looked down at her hands, half expecting them to sizzle with an electric current, but they appeared entirely normal.

That power, though, she could still feel it under her skin, and this time she knew it was real, and she wasn't imagining it.

"Well, bravo," Annani said over the din of parents and children rejoicing at a disaster avoided. "It seems we have discovered what else you can do, sister of mine."

"That was telekinesis on steroids," Amanda said after verifying that Evie was unharmed and handing her over to Dalhu. "You are incredibly powerful, Princess."

Brandon's arm wrapped around her shoulders, steadying her as the adrenaline began to fade, and she felt faint. "Are you alright?"

Morelle nodded, wondering if she should ask whether anyone felt tired or drained in any way. If they did, they would ascribe it to the adrenaline spike. No one would suspect her of being a power vampire.

Was that how her nullification worked? She didn't block paranormal talents or deflect them.

She drained them.

Dear Mother of All Life. She really was a vampire.