A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(78)

“You can use us to block out the world around you. It’s all about moving your own consciousness slightly, so you’re still aware of your surroundings but also oblivious to them. You need to concentrate on the pin and feel your mind drifting off toward one of your spirits.”

That sounds ridiculous.

“You’re essentially using magic to try to push a pin through a bench. You really want to tell me what sounds stupid?”

Point taken, Layla conceded.

“Just relax and feel your mind slipping, feel it shifting slightly.”

Layla jolted. “I felt it,” she said aloud.

“Felt what?” Chloe asked.

“Umm . . . Rosa, my spirit, told me to shift my consciousness. I felt it.”

“Ah, you’re finally using your spirits to learn on a regular basis. That’s a large portion of how we learn. It’s also why you gain so much power once you’re bonded fully with them. Try again.”

Layla nodded, now enthusiastic to try. She concentrated on the pin and did as Rosa had instructed, and began to move her consciousness to think of Rosa. The pin began to spin, slowly at first, but it soon gathered speed, moving faster and faster until it was a blur of motion. Layla pushed a fraction harder and the pin shot out of the bottom of the wooden bench, imbedding itself in the concrete slab beneath it.

Chloe switched off the music, and Layla stopped concentrating. She looked under the bench at the concrete, which had a neat hole where the pin had burrowed in. Chloe reached down and picked up the third of the pin still showing, pulling it out of the concrete. It looked pristine. She touched the point to her finger and it bled.

“You sharpened it,” Chloe said, sticking her finger in her mouth. “Also, ouch.”

“Yeah . . . not really sure about that one.”

“I’m impressed. Honestly. I half expected you to shoot the pin out the side of the bench and into the wall behind us. This is some serious progress, Layla. You should be proud.”

“This will help with keeping Terhal at bay until I can accept them all?”

“I hope so.”

“Because I want to accept them. But then Terhal makes me think that accepting her really will bring about some sort of apocalypse, and I just can’t.”

“I know it’s difficult. Jared had trouble too. You keep up your training, though, and I’m certain you’ll be able to keep Terhal in check.”

Layla didn’t feel so sure, but it was nice to feel like she was getting somewhere. “You know, we haven’t really spoken about everything since Grayson had to help me the other day. We’ve been so busy practicing all of this that we’ve barely had time to talk properly.”

“I know, it’s all a bit crazy at the moment.”

“I don’t want it to feel awkward between us. I get why you did what you did, I really do.”

She was about to say more when Kasey came over.

“Sorry to interrupt, but my dad wants to see Chloe.”

Layla cursed Kasey’s bad timing, but Chloe assured her they’d talk once she was back, and she went off with Kasey, leaving Layla alone.

“Long day?” Harry asked as he sat down beside her.

“Something like that, yes. I can’t believe it wasn’t that long ago I was just thinking about finishing up at uni and trying to find a job. Now I’m fighting monsters and learning how to deal with spirits that live in my head.”

“When you put it like that, it just sounds weird.”

Layla spent a few hours with Harry. They hadn’t really had the time to chat since coming to the mansion, at least not beyond both being driven to an early grave by Diana.

“You think you can control this Terhal?” Harry asked.

“So far, I’ve been trying to, yes. If I can keep my emotions under control, she has less chance of doing anything to hurt me. Or anyone else for that matter. It can’t go on indefinitely, though. I need to figure out a way to accept her without thinking she’s going to use me to destroy everyone.”

Layla and Harry got up and walked into the mansion, where they met Tommy, who was walking back to his office with a large plate of food.

“All of this still weird?” Tommy asked after Harry had left.

“Getting less and less so every day.”

“Yeah, I understand. Lots to take on board. I’m not sorry I had Chloe lie to you about what she was and who she was. She needed to be safe too, and there are people out there who would use people like Chloe to get to me. She’s been through a lot of training in the last three years, and more intensively than most people her age. Hell, even the LOA don’t accept recruits under thirty.”

Layla understood that. She hoped she could put everything behind her and move forward with her friendships. “It looks like you’re building an army.”

“I know, that’s why we’ve been careful with our numbers and who we accept. Anyway, that’s not why you’re here. I wanted you to know we did a full sweep of the compound they kept you in. I was going to tell you earlier, but it’s been one thing after another since Elias arrived. We found a lot of traces of them, but don’t know where they’ve gone.”

“They would have had a back-up plan. Elias wanted to get me on a plane to America.”

“Yes, Nergal is there. Where, we don’t know, but I’m sure he’d take great delight in having you help him. The ogre went too. We found his cage. Wherever they are, the ogre will need to be kept secure, otherwise it’ll just do what it wants, and usually that’s destroying things.