Travis turned and blew a kiss at me. I laughed softly and went to them. They made a space, so I sat between them. We watched the rest of the movie, and I joined in with my best impression as well. We were laughing so hard we didn’t hear the movie for most of it. It was exactly the afternoon I had needed.
Shortly after the movie ended, Sarah called us for dinner. I wasn’t hungry, but I followed them into the dining room anyway. Again, it smelled like Sarah had made a wonderful meal. I was starting to feel like a freeloader, since I wasn’t pulling my weight. After resolving to talk to Sarah after dinner, I sat down between David and Kait. They both looked at me with concern in their eyes. I waved my hand at them. “I’m fine, guys. What’s for dinner?”
David stared at me a minute before he shrugged. “I just show up to eat. I don’t know what’s for dinner.” He looked at Kait, who also shrugged.
Sarah came in the room with her hands full. She put a plate piled high with steaks on the table as well as a casserole dish of homemade macaroni and cheese. Travis followed close behind her with a basket of rolls and the condiments. They set everything on the table and sat down. “Dig in, everybody!” Sarah waited for everyone to get a plate before she helped herself. Kait took the opportunity to lecture us on strategies to work as a team and defend against multiple attackers.
“David and I are mind readers. We need to leverage that ability to synchronize our attacks. This will increase our chances of success and decrease the chance of serious injury. I propose one of us, most likely me, will act as a hub of sorts, taking everyone’s thoughts and broadcasting them to the team.”
I turned red. “All thoughts?”
He smiled. “Yes. In a battle situation, I can’t be sorting through them to decide what everyone should hear. I already share much of what I hear with Travis. It’s not fair to him if I don’t.”
“I understand, but I don’t always want you in my head and sharing everything. I deserve some privacy!”
“Yes, you do. Work on your block.” He just stared at me, and when I stared back, he sighed. “I understand why you feel that way, but I can’t just turn off my powers. If you don’t want me in your head, block me. That is the only way to stop it. I will warn you, though, as our relationship progresses, as we become closer to each other, it will be harder for you to keep us out. Trust naturally weakens mental barriers, and so does love.”
I decided to ignore the last part of his comment as I crossed my arms over my chest while focusing on building the wall. I arched an eyebrow at him. “There. Can you hear me now?”
“No. But you need to learn to keep it up. Eventually, even while you sleep. We also need to work on selective blocks. And this is for everyone. Planning and strategizing in our heads during battle doesn’t do us any good if the enemy can pick up on it as well.”
I gawked at him. I think my mouth was physically hanging open. “What? How do I do that? So, I would block from say, David, but not from you?”
“Exactly. When you build the wall, you have to keep in mind that you only want David and me to hear you. The rest should come instinctively.”
That made no sense, so I switched topics. “What did you tell the Svikari?”
“I told them we would be willing to meet, and I will let them know the location an hour before the meeting time, which I set up for Friday at 6 pm. That will give us the afternoon to secure the location and you won’t have to miss classes.”
I nodded. “Alright. Have you set up the dinner with Alarr yet?”
“Yes. That is all arranged, too. I would like you to wear the knife-proof clothes and have several sets of protective spells on you as well.”
“Okay. Is it going to be Monday night?”
“Yes. Work on your barriers tonight and tomorrow. We will do more training tomorrow, as well.” Kait was firm.
“Alright.” He gave me a look that said he didn’t believe my easy agreement. I raised my eyebrows at him, and said, “What? I don’t usually argue with you that much. Why are you looking at me like that?”
He shrugged. “Just because, Princess.”
Travis had been quiet, but he finally spoke up. “Does anyone know what the weather is supposed to be tomorrow?”
“According to the app on the phone, we should get about an inch of snow tonight, and tomorrow will be in the fifties.”
Travis snorted. “Gotta love the Midwest’s weather.”
“Why? Is there something you want to do tomorrow?” Kait was almost glaring at Travis.
“I was hoping we could hike some more. I have more spots I want to show Evalia.”
“Okay. We will make time for that.” Kait sounded resigned. I wanted to figure out why he sounded like that, but he got up and started clearing the table. I stood to help him gathering the dirty plates. We walked into the kitchen. After we put our dishes in the sink, I grabbed Kait’s arm.
“Wanna tell me what’s wrong?” I marched around him so he was facing me.
He looked away. “There’s nothing wrong, Princess. Why do you think there is?”
“You sounded funny when Travis mentioned hiking. Why don’t you want us to go?”
He stood up straight, and advanced on me. I backed up until the kitchen wall stopped me. He leaned in, until his lips were brushing my ear. Whispering,
