Page 17 of Shadow Weaver
“All right.” Latrou clapped her hands again. “Let’s start the session by reaching out to the weave and giving our thanks.”
The cadets all closed their eyes.
Was this some kind of prayer thing?
A tingle ran across my skin, and gooseflesh sprang up. No. Something was definitely happening.
“You need to close your eyes and focus,” Fiona snapped.
What? When had she joined me? “Focus on what?”
She rolled her eyes and then touched the spot just below her breastbone. “We’re all tethered from here. From our solar plexus. If you focus, you can feel the burn, the buzz that’s the connection. Follow it, and you’ll find the weave.”
I did as she instructed. Closing my eyes, I focused on the spot below my breastbone. The spot that had flared angrily when Fiona and Kash had accosted me in the foyer a week ago.
A light buzz filled my head, and then gentle warmth bloomed outward. Darkness surrounded me, and then I was inside my head, looking down at myself, at the orb glowing in my chest. A thick golden rope unfurled out of it and whiplashed out into the dark.
Follow it, Fiona had said.
I grabbed on and began to pull myself along the rope. The darkness turned gray, and then millions of tiny lights flicked on, like stars but not stars. Like diamonds but not diamonds. They clung to silver and gold threads that spanned the gray, weaving together a web that was more a tapestry than a net. My gold thread flowed into that tapestry, linking to it, becoming a part of it, pulsing and glowing with life. And there were others, so many others spinning out of the tapestry and into darkness.
More weavers. More connections.
This was the source of magic.
This was the power that flowed through me.
It was infinite, vast, and unfathomable, and it was mine. I needed to know it, to touch it, to claim it. Closer, closer. Please. I needed to bathe in the warmth that skimmed over me, seductive and perfect.
Back. Come back.
What?
“Justice, snap out of it!”
There was a sharp sting on my face, and the weave rushed away. My eyes snapped open to Fiona, red-faced and bright-eyed, staring down at me. And she wasn’t alone. The whole gang was here.
What was I doing on the floor?
“Back up.” Latrou’s voice drifted over their heads. “Give her room to breathe.”
Raj held out her hand, and I took it, allowing her to haul me up.
Someone handed me a glass of water, and it was only then I realized how thirsty I was. The water was gone in seconds.
“Sit,” Latrou ordered.
My legs were rubbery, and it took two attempts to park my butt on a stool.
“Now, this is the difference between a shadow caster and a regular weaver,” Latrou said. “The allure of the weave is stronger. Miss Justice will need to learn to shield herself to control her interaction with the power, or it will consume her.”
She sounded matter-of-fact, as if it was an everyday thing, but the look in her eyes told me that was far from the case.
Someone yawned loudly.
“Are we boring you, Genevieve?” Latrou asked.
“No, Miss Latrou,” a voice piped up.
