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And maybe a little in love with him. That she could feel love at all was a miracle, and probably wholly due to her family’s unyielding love for her.
“Is his sister okay?”
Daisy shrugged. “She’s sick. Probably dying. And instead of spending her last hours together, he was with me.”
Parker stared at her, long and hard. “He was with you through his own choice. And he was doing good things. There are a lot of people relying on us right now. Not just one.”
She gave another half lift of her shoulder.
“He won’t fault you for that.”
He already has, she wanted to say but didn’t want Parker’s pity.
“All right. Back to work,” Parker clipped, adjusting himself in his sitting position. “Tell me in detail about the times you accessed your gift.”
She bit her lip. Definitely wasn’t going to share the shower scene, but she spilled about the others. She told him how Axel suspected her of helping push the grate out. How she fit her awareness into the gaps between the attic window and then added more. How it felt like she was going to explode herself from the effort. By the time she was done, he scrutinized her with such curiosity that she felt on display in a museum.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
He rubbed his bearded chin. “I’m thinking you have some kind of connection to the molecular space between atoms.” He rattled off some other scientific explanation about quarks and neurons and photons that she couldn’t quite grasp until he said, “… and of course, the way matter moves is through exacting a force on it so if you wanted to expand the space between atoms, you’d be doing exactly that.”
Aaand… he lost her again.
“I don’t understand how that’s supposed to help me control my gift,” she said.
He gave an indignant raise of his brows. “Unless you’ve studied quantum physics, it won’t.”
“Right. Well, you’ll have to excuse me. I didn’t have the opportunity.”
Parker had the grace to look ashamed. “I guess I was just thinking aloud. From what I gather, with your gift, if you want something to come to you, contract the space between atoms. You want to exert force, you expand it.” His eyes lit up as his thoughts turned inward again. “The possibilities are remarkable, really. Anything from explosions to implosions to theorized access to alternate dimensions.”
“What kind of animal is my gift from?” she asked agape, because Gloria had taken DNA from creatures all over the world to give her siblings gifts.
“That’s the thing,” Parker answered, his eyes narrowed. “There was nothing in Gloria’s research. To be honest, I half disbelieved you would gain any gift until you did. Like I said, Gloria started with perfect. Something so perfect she refused to replicate it in any of us.”
And Daisy couldn’t bring herself to reveal the fact she could sense hope and joy. “I’m far from perfect, Pigeon.”
“Aren’t we all?” He gave a wry smile, then tapped the shuriken. “Try thinking on that differently. Remember how you expanded the space between the atoms at the window, so for this, don’t think of the object but the space between you and it.”
Daisy returned her focus to the throwing star. Okay… not the star. The space between. She let her focus glaze over a little and shifted it to the side. To the front. And back. Immediately a feeling of connection grew within her body. It thrummed along her skin like electricity… only it didn’t spark. It wended and rolled. It pulsed. She drew some of it in instead of pushing it out, and lo and behold, the shuriken wobbled. As did the fabric on Parker’s clothes. And his hair.
“Um…” His lips pursed. “Try and focus more tightly. Like a tunnel.”
Daisy huffed. She’d always hated exercises Julius would make her complete. But she knew she couldn’t skip this part. So she tried time and time again until her head started to hurt and the shuriken slid an inch toward her on the mat.
“Good work, Daisy,” Parker praised. Then he gestured at her nose with a frown. “You’ve got a little—”
She wiped her nose. Blood came away. Again. “It’s nothing.”
“You’re tired,” he conceded. “Using your mind like this is taxing, and you’re still recovering. It will get easier the more you practice.”
“Great.” Sarcasm dripped off her tone. She was a little miffed people kept telling her to rest when she just wanted to be useful.
Raised voices drew their attention to Griffin’s cell. Daisy and Parker walked closer to the workout room’s door so they could get a better view. The cell door was opening. Shit. Parker opened his mouth as though about to stop them. He hadn’t given permission. But the cell door swung wide and slammed back against the wall. Lilo jumped back. But only for a step, and then she rushed forward… into Griffin’s arms.
Daisy wasn’t the only one teary as they watched the lovers embrace like someone would pull them apart. They couldn’t get close enough. Tight enough. He clawed at her and buried his face deep in her neck.
Alice’s hand covered her mouth. Her eyes glistened. Mary and Flint hugged. Elation inflated the atmosphere and all around, even from her older stoic brother, tears flowed. Parker grabbed Daisy roughly and dragged her into his arms, suffocating her with his big frame as he pulled her into an all-consuming bear hug.
