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(LIV.)

She didn't make it far, though. He held her arm before she could take a third step.

"Not so fast, Jessica. We have things to discuss before you continue your morning walk." Though spoken calmly, there was an edge in his tone.

Jess gulped silently, and decided to comply. At least, to prevent him from touching her skin and dragging her to the café. Why had she worn a short-sleeved top today?

The owner of the shop greeted them with so much fervour. Well, it looked like they were her first customers. How lucky for her, Jess thought glumly.

They took seats facing each other at a table, inside. Jess had to fight off her discomfort from showing. She'd have preferred outside. If they talked in public and things happened to go awry, someone could come to her rescue. But inside, every other customer would be minding their business and wouldn't pay attention to her plight until things got worse.

Jess' tongue loosened when she had to give her order to the lady. There was no way in hell she'd let him order for her. "Why didn't you show up then?" she asked him.

"I did. You just didn't find me." He stared right into her eyes as he spoke.

Jess blinked rapidly. Since he had the same mind control abilities as Eric, she had to be careful about keeping eye contact with him. "Really? 'Cause I searched for you-"

"By aura reading." He saw her baffled expression. "I know what you are, Jessica. If I didn't, I wouldn't have sought you out."

"Where were you in the library that day?"

"Not really far, but close enough to see you argue with someone else."

She toyed with her headset that hung around her neck. It had come off after they'd entered the café. "Why didn't you at least show yourself when you saw me walk in?"

"I wanted you to find me yourself, but I learnt that you still judge things wrongly though you see beyond the surface." He draped an arm over the back of his chair, his other arm resting on the table with their fingers tapping the surface silently. "You have a gift that you use unwisely."

She folded her arms. Her face twisted into a frown. "You know nothing about my gift."

The arm on the chair moved forward and joined the other on the table, so he leaned towards her. "Not gift... gifts. You are a walking ball of untameable energy, do you know that?"

Her frown eased a little. "Have you been spying on me? Stalking me?"

He snorted. "You wish. I've been studying you."

"That's almost the same thing."

"And here I thought you're smart," he murmured.

Their breakfast arrived just as she was about to reach forward and slap his hand.

"Croissants and French toast with black coffee for the lady." The tray was set in front of Jess. "Pancakes and maple syrup with Earl Grey tea for the mister," the woman chirped, dropping the stranger's food. She beamed at each person's face. None smiled back. She whirled and hurried away like the breeze.

"As I was saying-"

"You weren't saying anything reasonable." She picked up her mug and sipped. The coffee was hot, thank goodness.

"I was, Jessica, even if you don't agree." He neglected his food, and kept on talking. "You have a lot of potential that needs to harnessed, a lot of gifts that cry to be used. Why don't you see what's right in front of you?"

"I'm seeing right now, and what I see is a nosy nutcase I need as firewood to practise my pyrotechnics on." She slurped her coffee long and hard.

His fingers curled up tight, but there was a smile on his face. "That'd be unfortunate for the both of us."