Concealed (Unbound, Book 4)

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Are you okay?" Calin asked, ducking his head so that no one at nearby tables overheard.

"Fine." I pressed my lips together.

I raised my feet to rest on the metal support under the table and crossed my arms, darting my eyes around the room to see that most of the students still stared at me. It was worse when I was with Calin, though I was thankful that Duvessa had stayed true to her word and wasn't here. At least, with her absence, the overheard whispers I caught weren't as mean. Now, all I picked up was how awesome what I'd done was and how everyone wondered what else I could do.

It reminded me why I didn't want to accept my abilities before.

Now, I didn't know if I wanted to live without them.

"I'm just tired," I said, sighing as I turned back to Maible and Calin. "Unbinding people is tougher than it appears, you know."

"I'm sorry, Nora." Maible sat up straight. "I forgot to tell you how grateful I am and now all I'm doing is whining, which you don't deserve. Whenever you're ready to study, let me know."

Finally. I shook the thoughts from my head, knowing that wasn't why I had helped her, though it felt good to hear her appreciation instead of her despair. "You're welcome."

"Do you want to go for a run?" Calin asked.

"No. I want to go back to the Manor."

They both looked up and Calin asked, "Really?"

I nodded. "I'm tired and afternoon classes are pretty much a wash for me right now, so yeah. I want to go and sleep."

"Okay, let's go." Calin stood and pushed his chair out of the way, holding his hand to help me up.

"Are you coming back?" Maible asked quickly.

"I can run home," I said, taking Calin's hand, and he furrowed his brow as he shook his head as though it was a stupid suggestion.

"I have your car, Nora," he said. "You aren't running home. I will drive you, pick up my car, and be back in time for class. Easy."

"You sure?"

He nodded and placed his hand at the small of my back as we started out of the cafeteria. Maible said a quick goodbye as we left, though I didn't respond. Right now, I didn't want to. Perhaps it was because I was overtired, but Maible seemed... ungrateful. It was like the more she received—rides to and from school, secretly unbound powers—the more entitled she became. Again, I couldn't tell if that's how I truly felt and decided I shouldn't think about it until I had another eight hours of sleep in me.

"You're sure you're okay?" he asked when we got in the car.

I nodded.

"Do you want to try call Nancy?"

I shook my head and then leaned it against the cool pane of the passenger window as I stared outside. "No. She's in class. I really just want to go to the Manor and get some sleep."

"Okay." He nodded, keeping his eyes on the roadway. "I talked to my mom. She'll help, but she has some business to attend to over the next few days. After that, we can go to my house."

"That sounds good." I closed my eyes.

*****

Three and a half hours later, Onyx licked my face until I stirred because she had to be let out and I'd forgotten to leave the door ajar. After taking her to do her business, I laid on my side on the floor and played fetch with her favorite toy for another forty-five minutes.