Free Awaking (The Naturals, #1) by Madeline Freeman

reveal.”
    They sat in silence until Corbin and Tesin walked into the room. Corbin was looking over his shoulder. Tesin placed a hand on Corbin’s shoulder to keep Corbin moving toward the couches.
    “She’s fine,” Tesin was saying. “Kellen’s going to dance with her a little, maybe get her to eat something.”
    Corbin stopped walking when he reached Morgan’s couch. When he sat down beside her, she could feel the unease he projected. She patted his knee a couple times and offered a small smile.
    “How much has she had to drink?”
    “A couple since you left,” Corbin said. “I’ve had a few at this point, too—that was the only way to keep her from drinking.”
    Unbidden, information floated to the surface of Morgan’s mind. Corbin didn’t drink. He’d seen his brother come home after too many parties sick-drunk and had vowed years ago that he’d never be that way. He’d even been uncomfortable at his own party the other night when some guys showed up with a keg. He hadn’t drunk a drop the whole night.
    Tesin resumed his seat beside Wen and cleared his throat gently before launching into the same basic information they had already shared with Morgan. Then Wen joined in, and the two of them took turns explaining the different ways abilities manifested. There were Feelers, which Wen seemed to think Morgan was: people who could sense and influence the emotions of others and who could interpret what the feelings meant. Related to Feelers were Seers, who could look into a person’s mind and thoughts or see what was going on in a different location. Knowers, as Morgan already knew, had visions of future events. Movers could cause objects to move, while Pushers could influence a person’s actions and behavior.
    When Tesin and Wen finished speaking, Corbin just sat quietly, staring blankly at a fixed spot in space before him. Morgan could tell he was processing, so she just let him sit.
    Finally, Corbin shrugged. “I guess that makes sense.”
    “Really, that’s it?” Morgan asked, surprised.
    “What am I supposed to say?” Corbin asked. “Last night I would’ve said you were crazy, but…” He looked meaningfully at Morgan. “A lot’s happened since last night.”
    “So,” Tesin said, suddenly businesslike. “Any questions?”
    Corbin nodded. “Um, yeah. How can people not know about this—about you? About us?”
    “They don’t know because we don’t want them to know,” Tesin said simply.
    “But why?” Corbin pressed.
    Tesin opened his mouth to reply, but Wen held his hand up. Tesin sighed. “By all means,” he muttered.
    Wen leaned forward and looked at Morgan. “Have you ever seen the X-Men movies?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Think about it: If regular people knew about us, they’d probably react the same way—with fear. People wouldn’t trust us. Worse—some people might want to study or destroy us.”
    “It wasn’t always that way, though,” Tesin said, almost to himself.
    Wen nodded in agreement. “Legend says that centuries ago, the Veneret lived out in the open, and they were revered. They lived side-by-side with the common, and the common knew what they were and what they could do, but they didn’t fear them.”
    “The common?” Corbin asked.
    “Regular people,” Wen clarified.
    “Well, if that’s the way it used to be, what changed?” Morgan asked.
    Wen shrugged. “A lot of little things. There was a time in human history when anything at all beyond the abilities of the common became something to be feared. And in order to survive, the Veneret went into hiding.”
    Corbin looked around. “This doesn’t look like hiding to me.”
    Wen shrugged. “What can I say? Given our… particular skill set, success tends to come easily to us. We just don’t let people in on the secret to that success.”
    Morgan sighed. “I still can’t believe that Orrick Williams is one.”
    “It makes sense, though,” Corbin said. “I mean, he’s made most of his money being one