Free The Madness Project (The Madness Method) by J. Leigh Bralick Page A

you waste it.  But Kantian is right. 
Clearly you need some work controlling your ability.  That comes with much practice. 
You do practice, don’t you?”
    I bit through my shame and said, “I’ve tried.  But it scares
me because I never know when or where I’ll come out of it. So I don’t do it
much.  But today I got where I wanted to gan and Shifted back right away, so…” 
If I were Jig, I’d toss my head and let them know how amazing I was, but I just
stared at my hands and mumbled, “I’m getting better.” 
    “I know you didn’t intend it, but you put us all at risk
today,” Rivano said after a bit.  “For now Derrin will teach you his skills. 
You may be useful yet, while you learn to manage your Shifting powers.”
    My heart wilted.  What would Derrin think of me now, if I
got stripped of the only usefulness I had?  I was back to being a rookie,
untrained, unschooled.  Worthless, just like Vim said.
    “Tell me,” Rivano went on.  “What is your animal nature?”
    I shrugged, digging my thumb against a wrinkle in my
trousers.  “A crow.  Just…an ugly old crow.”
    “Crows are intelligent birds,” Rivano said.  “And
inconspicuous in their way.  Hm.”
    He leaned forward again, the firelight shining full on his
face now, glinting on the silky darkness of his hair.  He didn’t wear it
cropped short and slicked back like the society dandies, but tied in a low
braid, just long enough to fall over his shoulder as he brooded over his knees.
    He didn’t seem keen on speaking anymore, so I turned back to
Kantian.
    “How long do I have to stay at my bed, sir?”
    “Hm, what?”  Kantian studied me through a frown, then waved
a creased bit of paper at me.  “Not necessary.  Report to Derrin.  He’ll be
your mentor now.  No more reporting to me until he tells you.  Now get out of
here.”
     
     

    Chapter 8 — Hayli
     
    I slipped outside to sit on the old stone wall round the
west side of the complex, where no one else liked to go.  Something like a city
park spread out past the wall, only it wasn’t the nice kind for picnics and
courting like they had found up northside. 
    Trees, gnarled and naked in the cold, clustered about little
caged-off flecks of land that none of us could figure out.  Far as I could
tell, the chicken-wire fences were only good for herding together the strange
skinny pipes that stuck up from the ground.  Sometimes they hissed.  Sometimes
they stank.  I never went near them.
    I watched them through the darkness, though, crouching there
on the wall with my knees tucked up and my arms tying them together.  Sleet and
cold, cold rain scattered over me, but I just hunched my shoulders and tried to
ignore it.
    My head couldn’t quite get around what had happened back in
the Boss’s room.  Rivano knew about me.  That thought got my gut all
twisty with a pang like excitement or fear.  I wondered if Kantian had told
him.  Everyone knew the Clan kept the mages all separate and special in the
east wing—or at least the ones who’d proved themselves useful.  Most every mage
dreamed of getting invited into that inner circle. 
    Except me.
    After losing my mum and dad, I’d only ever wanted a place to
sleep that mostly kept the rain off and the cold out.  I knew only as much
gossip about Rivano as anyone in the Hole did, and up till tonight, I’d never
really wanted to know more.  He’d always just been the kind and shadowy
gift-giver who doled out food and beds to the wee skitters that Kantian
collected over the years. 
    Now I hadn’t a grobbing clue what I wanted to know, much
less what I wanted to be.
    “Not a nice night for stargazing, Hayli.”
    I flinched so hard I almost fell straight off the wall.
    “You ganna teach me to sneak about like that?” I asked,
turning to face Derrin.  Some bitter taste like guilt filled my mouth. 
“Kantian…” I started.
    “I know,” he said.  “I told him to let me mentor you.”
    I stared