The Heretics

9: Absence

"I'm not sure what you mean," Emmet said, sounding sincere. My heart beat faster. So, Emmet hadn't told her about his gift? Cora quickly responded.

"Don't play dumb, Emmet, we're promised. There's something different about your family. I can feel it every time you answer a question and you're racking your brain for information. It's not just you being incredibly smart. It's more than that."

Emmet sighed. "Cora, we don't have time for this now. Can we please have this conversation someplace more private?"

Cora sighed too, though hers was accompanied by a sliver of annoyance that carried towards me.

I was annoyed that she was. I wished I could have told her to mind her own business, but then again, being Emmet's promised, it was her business.

Thankfully, the sound of footsteps traveled through the hallway made the whispering stop and cut off Emmet and Cora's private conversation. Though I felt bad for listening in, it made me question my own willingness to share that bit of information with my own promised. He knew of the existence of my gift­­––though I wasn't sure if we'd ever really spoken about it. He was not aware of what it really entailed. Could he feel the same thing Cora did whenever I used my gift? Maybe he could but didn't realise it, since not using my gift was something I had refrained from doing. Taking in everyone's emotion happened constantly. Then again––He was likely to have questions, considering I'd been able to bypass his use of the mantle back at the mansion when he'd wanted me to stay. Merely remembering that incident made me angry again. He'd wanted to control me so badly that he'd used force­­––the mantle! Reece had barely ever used the mantle.

"Catherine. Why the hell am I starting to get pissed off?" Reece muttered and I instantly stilled my ocean to keep the winds from turning. I hadn't noticed my anger had reached out.

"Sorry," I muttered and felt the general tension subside as I calmed myself down.

Reece took a deep breath. "You are getting better, though. You haven't had an outburst for a while," Reece noticed and I felt applauded. It was nice hearing that my efforts didn't go completely unnoticed.

Nodding, I tried to enjoy the compliment. But being on the outs with Kendra didn't quite let me feel it the way I wanted to. I still didn't master emotions, even though I'd had so many years to practice it. How could I remain being so bad at controlling them with so much 'experience'? Didn't experience make people learn things as the years went on? Was I just incapable of learning?

"Catherine. Don't overthink, you're fine", Reece whispered as the man that stalked towards us in a dark blue attire came closer and his loud steps nearly drowned out Reece.

I nodded again, albeit saying not to overthink was much easier than actually not overthinking. Reece's words reminded me of Reagan, which irritated me. He'd said exactly the same thing. Was I really that bad with overthinking? So bad that apparently, it was written onto my face for everyone to see and notice?

Annoyed, I tried to keep my emotions to myself and focused my gaze back onto the man approaching us.

He wore the same attire that Reagan had shown me. His scales were a dark blue, just like his eyes that scanned our group with interest and curiosity. His features were plain, especially since I unfairly compared them to Reagan's, but he still emanated strength like he bathed in it. When I briefly concentrated to see his emotional signature, I noticed the same white light hang around him. I'd come to realise that this phenomenon only happened with dragon shifters, who seemed to be made of magic and power. This, whatever it was, embodied and indicated it. Beneath the gleaming power was an interesting mix of colours. There were three, to be exact. Blue, meaning he was of calm nature. A green tone told me he was generous and the yellow glow that mashed the two colours together was compassion. His personality wasn't out of the ordinary, but it wasn't one I'd seen many people have. There was not a hint of red in his palette of a personality, which meant the guy barely got angry. His good nature intrigued me.

"You must be the shifter-pack I've been instructed to show around. I welcome you to Polla'Nisia," he said airily, a lightness in his tone that instantly calmed my frail nerves. His voice brought me back to the present and his emotional signature disappeared as I stared at him with clear eyes. This guy was the exact opposite of intensity. Like a breath of fresh air.

I noticed some of us nod. "Our sleeping quarters were mentioned," Reece said, filling the brief silence.

"Oh, okay. Then I'll show you those first, if you prefer that."

Reece seemed irritated at his friendliness. I nearly chuckled. The tension between us and the Thrakos men had been static most of the time, and words were only exchanged when necessary. This harmless conversation felt so surreal that it was funny.

"Please," Reece said simply with his brows slightly furrowed and the guy flashed us a pleasant smile.

I strained my stomach and every muscles it required not to laugh when I saw Reece's facial expression.

"I'm Leizer. It's nice to meet you all."

A few murmurs went through my pack though no one mentioned their names. It seemed Leizer expected someone to, for he paused a moment. When he realised that no one was going to speak, since Reece hadn't initiated anything, he turned on his heel and we followed him the rest of the way.