United as One (Lorien Legacies #7)(27)

“This what you want?” he asks.

I study the way he floats. “It isn’t enough.”

He frowns at me. “You’ve got the copycat Legacy like Pittacus Lore, right? I saw what you did in New York with the new girl and her stone eyes. You just had to observe her Legacy. So, observe.”

It wasn’t as simple as Five seems to think. First of all, I was desperate. That always seems to help when it comes to mastering Legacies. I could also feel the power building when I tried to heal Daniela’s headache. My Ximic tapped directly into her budding Legacy, and I could actually sense how it worked. I think that’s why I was able to copy Marina’s healing Legacy without even knowing what I was doing and why I was able to re-create Six’s invisibility without too many problems. I’ve actually felt those Legacies before, had them used on me, touched the power. Watching Five float around like a sociopathic Buddha isn’t nearly hands-on enough.

“With Daniela, it was heat of the moment. Plus, I could sense how the Legacy worked,” I explain to Five. “Staring at you isn’t going to do me any good.”

“I’ve flown you around before,” Five reminds me. “Back on the first day we met. Don’t you remember what it felt like?”

“Probably like being carried around by a chubby ass hat,” Nine offers unhelpfully.

Ignoring Nine, I close my eyes and try to recall what it was like flying with Five. The feeling of weightlessness, my legs dangling, the idea that he might drop me at any second . . .

I look down at my feet, unsurprised to find them still on the floor.

“I remember what it was like to be carried,” I say. “That’s a lot different than actually propelling myself up in the air.”

Five gets a thoughtful look. It’s almost nostalgic. Not something I’ve ever seen before on his usually rage-filled face.

“Flying is a lot like telekinesis,” Five says after a moment. “Like how you visualize an object you want to move floating through the air. How you imagine making that happen and it happens. You guys did that crap a million times just like me, right?”

Nine and I both murmur agreement.

“Well, imagine you’re doing that to your own body,” Five continues. He jerks against his straitjacket suddenly and frowns. He was trying to spread his arms and forgot that they were strapped tight across his chest. “Hold out your arms and imagine strings underneath them, pulling you up.”

“Like a puppet,” Nine says.

“Like an actor in a show,” Five answers, glowering. “Rising up above the stage. Graceful.”

“Even lamer,” Nine says.

“Try it, John,” Five says gently. “Hold out your arms. Imagine you’re safely attached to the wires. Imagine your telekinesis can manipulate those wires and then stop imagining and do it.”

Even though I’m not entirely comfortable taking coaching from Five, I still extend my arms from my sides. I concentrate and try to imagine strings looped around me, connecting me to the ceiling, just like Five said. I pull at those strings with my telekinesis. I picture my feet leaving the ground, my body weightless on the air.

And then it happens. Something clicks, and I feel my sneakers lose contact with the floor. It’s only a few inches at most but still—it’s happening.

“Easy now,” Five says, his voice a whisper. “That’s good. Focus on keeping your body straight. Keep pulling yourself up on your strings.”

Even as Five says this, I can’t help but glance down at the floor to check on my progress. There’s a foot of empty space beneath where my feet dangle, and seeing that is somehow completely disorienting. My instinct is to wave my arms like I’m losing my balance. Suddenly, I’m pitched forward, still floating, but horizontal now, facing the floor.

“Focus!” Five snaps. “Remember the strings!”

The yelling doesn’t help. I do remember my imaginary strings, but instead of gently pulling on them to straighten back up, I give them a frustrated mental tug. I rocket upwards, feel my spine smack hard against the ceiling and then fall onto my face. Lucky for me the floor of Five’s room is padded.

Behind me, I hear Nine trying to stifle laughter. I push myself onto my hands and knees and glare at him.

“You could’ve caught me.”

Nine grins and mimes waving his arms in the air for balance. “Oh man, it was too good. I wasn’t thinking.”

I stand back up. Five still effortlessly floats in front of me. At least he doesn’t think my failure is hilarious like Nine does.

“It’s a start,” he says, and shrugs through his straitjacket. “I don’t recommend practicing where there’s a ceiling, by the way. I learned mostly over water, so the falls don’t hurt so much.”

“How long?” I ask. “How long did it take you to master?”

Five snorts. “It’s not like shooting fireballs, John. It’s more like learning to walk again. It took me months.”

I shake my head. “I don’t have months. I need to fly up to one of the warships as soon as possible.”

Five raises an eyebrow. “Well now, that sounds interesting.”

“You aren’t invited,” Nine says quickly.

Five sighs. “If you’re determined to do it yourself, there’s another training technique we could try.”