The Talented Read Online Free

though, and I almost dropped my beer when I realized that I was not picking up anything from her: no thoughts, no feelings, no images. That has rarely happened to me. I can read the final thoughts off a corpse, can feel the emotions of a termite, yet this woman was completely inaccessible. I could not help but push and probe a little, and as I did, she subtly grimaced, put down her glass of wine and said, “Stop that. Where I come from that’s considered incredibly rude.”
    I blinked. “You…know?”
    She smiled and replied, “How could I not? Just being in the same room with you makes it difficult to concentrate. It’s alarming to find so much power in someone so young and apparently untrained. I hope you know how to handle it.”
    Trying to suppress my excitement over meeting someone who might know more about what I am and why, I offered my hand and said, “Adam Sharpe.”
    She returned with a firm but gentle handshake, “Kate Scott”.
    What do I say now? I was not accustomed to just talking and listening without the added benefit of knowing the thoughts and feelings behind it.
    Kate rescued me. “I think I like you Adam, and my first impressions are never wrong.”
    “It must be the split lip,” I replied, “It gives me a pouty look that drives the girls wild. Either that or the terrific bump on my head. That’s another one of my irresistible features.”
    “No, I don’t think that’s the reason,” Kate smiled back at me, “but now that you mention it, how did that happen?”
    “It happened at work,” I answered, technically telling the truth. Sort of. “Occupational hazard.”
    “Ooooh,” she purred, “and what is this dangerous, exciting job of yours?”
    She was flirting with me, that I knew even without my abilities, and a small part of me wondered about her motives while the rest of me was getting lost in her smile. I felt my pulse begin to quicken, and for a moment I felt a flutter in my stomach. Oh my God, I thought, she was using the power of her mind to seduce me. So this is what it felt like to be on the receiving end. It felt really good on the surface, but underneath I was uncomfortable, and I knew I had to stop it. Having no experience at defending against attacks from others, I followed some advice that Gus once gave me. In my mind I conjured up an image of a huge, heavy vault door closing, pouring all of my focus into it. As it slammed shut I heard a sharp clang in my head, and immediately Kate gasped and pressed her fingertips to her temples. Then her eyes rolled back as she started to fall from the stool. I quickly wrapped my arm around her, holding her up.
    Ken, the young bartender with the sandy blonde hair, looked up at us and frowned. I bent his thoughts, making him believe that she had too much to drink and that I was helping her. I used my left hand to pull out my debit card and pay for our drinks, then slowly stood, supporting her weight with my right arm, and pulled her up to a standing position. She had begun to regain consciousness, if barely, and was able to walk with my assistance. It was then that I saw some drops of blood on her dress, and looked up to see her nose bleeding. Now I was really scared that I had hurt her badly, and thought of Gus unmoving in his hospital bed. As we made our way to the elevators I willed everyone around to avoid us and not notice or remember our passing.
    Once we got to the door of my condo, I fumbled my keys with my left hand, dropping them once before succeeding in opening the door. Shutting the door with my mind I laid her down on my leather sofa, then dampened a washcloth with warm water and began to clean the blood off her face. It appeared that the nosebleed had stopped on its own, and I had her cleaned up shortly, apart from her dress which I’m sure was ruined. I sat down at the sofa and rested her head on my lap with my left hand gently stroking her hair. I have always had large, strong hands and her head looked so small next to