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The moment he switched his attention away from using his aura to focus on her, the information dump stopped flooding into Secret’s mind. She felt completely drained of energy, like she hadn’t eaten in days, even though they were currently in the middle of a meal. Unable to hold herself up, she slumped against her keeper.
Talon wrapped an arm around her securely and rested his hand on her forehead. “The fever isn’t back. Maybe we rushed your recovery—”
“It’s not that,” she assured him. She tried to sit up but didn’t have the strength to fight him when he refused to let go of her. “Winston? Do you happen to have a pink dartboard on your wall?”
Winston gaped at her. “How the hell did you know that?”
“Because I saw it.” She turned back to Talon. “It seems like my seeker ability came out to play the moment your aura touched Winston’s.”
“What?” Yumi gasped. “But you weren’t touching him.”
“I know, which is why I said this is a whole new development.” Secret sighed heavily. “And now I have to figure out how the fuck to use it.”
Chapter Seven
Hours later, Secretdeclared defeat.
She was exhausted and suffering from depleted energy reserves from attempting to learn how to use her newly expanded seeker ability. It was exciting to know she no longer had to touch someone to view their memories, but the downside to that was just how drained she felt after struggling to read someone from a distance.
Discovering that her gift could work in combination with Talon’s ability had been completely unexpected. She’d never even considered such a thing could be possible, but perhaps she should have.
They were fated mates, after all.
While their abilities were vastly different, the way they worked together made sense. Their individual powers had definitely experienced an upgrade, but they both had a lot of work to do in order to be able to use them together properly.
Secret’s brain wasn’t used to downloading years’ worth of someone’s memories in the matter of mere seconds. Because of that, it was natural to experience some backlash. The debilitating effects from receiving such a massive transfer of information weren’t just mental, though. It also left her feeling physically ill, shaky, and suffering from a pounding headache.
Following her accidental reading of Winston during dinner, he hadn’t been angry, just surprised. Actually, everyone at the table had been, but no one had been more astonished than Secret herself. In order to assess the new limits of her seeker ability, Yumi had offered to be the next test subject. Since Secret already knew most of the good and bad moments of her life, Yumi hadn’t been afraid of sharing those memories with her for the sake of practice.
Winston had been adamantly against that idea, claiming that he’d gotten a headache from Secret’s reading of him. Until they were sure of the repercussions of the readings, he’d stressed that Secret should continue to practice on him. Yumi had argued against that, but Secret and Talon decided to stick with Winston as her test subject for the evening.
It had quickly become clear that Secret needed Talon as a catalyst to make her gift work from a distance. He needed to either be touching that person or using his own aura to connect to them. Like Talon’s struggle with stretching his aura, she needed to learn how to expand her mind.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
It wasn’t like she could simply upgrade her own brain to increase the processing speed. It would take time and patience, two things she had far too little of. She’d also have to figure out how to overcome the debilitating fatigue that hit her after using her gift.
After reading Winston a few more times, she knew far more about the male than she’d ever wanted to. They’d tried to keep each session short, but the effects were still overwhelming. One good thing to come of that was she now trusted him more than she ever would have without seeing his memories.
She was grateful Talon had such a loyal and honorable second-in-command. She appreciated their steadfast friendship that had started back when they’d been in the academy, and she even gained a better understanding of the other team members through his memories.
She’d also confirmed that Winston had developed feelings for Yumi. He might not be ready to admit it, but he’d fallen hard and fast for the Tarin. If Yumi ever decided to give him a real chance, Winston was a male she could depend on.
Secret sat back in her chair, her hunger finally sated after consuming a stack of fluffy pancakes slathered in rich syrup and a side of scrambled eggs and sausage. It was something the staff at Exodus indulged in on the regular after they closed for the night. Comfort food, they’d told her. She still wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but it had become a favorite of hers.
Next to her, Talon pushed aside his own empty plate. Both of them had expended a lot of energy using their gifts, and they now needed rest. He’d tried just being the bridge for her ability without trying to alter Winston’s aura in any way. That had taken less energy from him, but more from her.
Winston had gone to bed shortly after the last reading attempt, and Cedric had returned to his workroom to dig up any and all information the Alliance had on the slaver network. It had been Teale’s turn to keep watch on the command deck while Fadi got some sleep, so both of them had left hours ago. Only Yumi and Laken remained sitting at the table to keep Secret and Talon company while they ate.
“You guys look like you’re about to fall over,” Laken pointed out. “You should go get some rest. We’ll clean up.”
“Thanks.” Talon practically dragged Secret out of her chair. “We’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“Are you going to want to do your brain scan thingy on me tomorrow?” Yumi asked. “If I’m not awake, just come pound on my door.”
Secret chuckled. “I guess it depends how I feel. Don’t worry. Just sleep in, and we can decide when we’re both awake.”
She fought the urge to lean against her keeper as they started down the hallway to her quarters, then smiled to herself when she heard Yumi talking to Laken behind them.
