Free River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte by Samantha Young Page A

mind that the brawny male lykan escorting her out of the motel
room was her mate.
    He waited five minutes
before jumping into his car and following their exit. He had
refreshed himself with the females scent by breaking into their
room and sniffing her clothes. He would be able to tail them until
their next stop...
    And then he’d make his
move.

    7 - New Friends, Old
Acquaintances
     
    Caia was in awe. The fact
that some of the students in the huge hall were clearly
uncomfortable with her presence didn’t even dispel how excited she
was to be watching young magiks and faeries learn communication
training from their elders. She could feel Marion beaming beside
her, Caia’s apparent enthusiasm rubbing off on the older
magik.
    “ Have you
watched enough, Caia?” Mordecai smiled. “You want to
try?”
    That morning, she had
opened her guest room door to Marion, a perkier Marion than Caia
had ever encountered - eager, Caia was beginning to realise, to
show off her protégé. Apparently Lucien had already gone with his
escort to check out the Second Unit. At first she had felt a little
anxious about being separated from him, but now she was too caught
up in the activities of the Centre. Their first stop had been to
pick up their ‘tour guide’, Mordecai. He was a stocky,
bookish-looking magik in his late twenties, with kind eyes and an
easy smile. From his warm reception, Caia was guessing Marion had
not only picked him as her escort because of his being a powerful
water magik, but because he obviously didn’t care about the fact
that Caia’s mother had been a Midnight.
    She beamed like a little
girl. “Can I? I mean, I wouldn’t know where to start.”
    He chuckled, enjoying her
keenness as much as Marion. “Well, we’ll keep it simple. You
haven’t seen much of the Centre so the furthest we can allow you to
travel is from here to your guest suite.”
    Little butterflies awoke
in her stomach, churning her breakfast back into action. “Wow. I
want to, you know, but... those guys make it look easy. I’m
guessing dematerialising and re-materialising isn’t exactly
popcorn?” Her wide eyes drank in the bright room, watching as
magiks and faeries popped in and out of the room at the quiet
instructions of their teachers. As if sensing she was about to
attempt the spell, some of them stopped what they were doing along
with their instructors to gaze across the space at her. She could
make out what the closer ones were whispering to one
another.
    “ She doesn’t
look like much. What is everyone afraid of?”
    “ I can’t
believe they let her in here. What if she’s a spy?”
    “ I heard she
eviscerated her uncle without any remorse. Apparently she was
smiling while she did it. Ugh.”
    “ I think we
should give her a chance. If Marion says she’s trustworthy then
she’s trustworthy.”
    Caia drew in a shuddering
breath, her eyes finding solace in Marion’s gaze.
    “ I don’t know
what you’re hearing with those ears of yours, but just block them
out, Caia.” Marion smiled gently. “Mordecai will talk you through
this.”
    “ But they’re
all watching.”
    “ Yes. So?
Just forget them. And remember, it can take many, many attempts to
pull off your first travel. No one here,” she sneered around the
room at them, as if sensing their disapproval of her for bringing
Caia, “Has ever done it first time.”
    Exhaling, Caia turned to
Mordecai, who was smiling reassuringly. “Let’s give it a
go.”
    He nodded, brushing his
thick locks off his forehead and pushing the frame of his glasses
further up his nose. “Now, Marion has explained that you can
differentiate with ease the two energies that make up your lykan
and your magik. Is that correct?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ OK. The
tricky thing for you in a communication spell is that other energy
bobbing in the background. You see, for any other use of your magik
you tap into the energy and expel it from whichever part of your
body you want... usually your hands.