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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

With her ponytail swinging and her earbuds dangling around her neck, Liv steps out for an afternoon run. “Hitting the gym afterwards,” she says.

I smile and wave. “I’ll probably be at the library when you get back.”

As the door clicks shut behind her, I let out a long exhale. Yet another lie. But I can’t very well tell her, I’m going to my new goth friend’s apartment to learn witchcraft.

Ten minutes later, I stuff the M I was picking up strange vibes even as a kid. But nowhere near to the degree I do now .

Avery drains the last of her tea. “Some weird-ass synaptic pruning, I guess.”

“So you’re clairtangent, Aaron’s clairaudient, and I’m clairsentient.” I struggle to wrap my brain around it all. “Leo says he isn’t psychic.”

“He’s not, but he has other gifts. He saved my plant.” Avery points to a lush, trailing vine sitting on the nearest windowsill. I recognize it immediately because of its distinct, colorful pot. It looks like something you’d find at a South American open-air market.

“Was that the plant that was in your kitchen a couple of weeks ago?”

“The very same. I was gonna try giving it some sugar-water or Miracle Gro or something, but now I don’t need to.”

Slowly, I place my teacup on the coffee table, afraid that in my shock, I might spill it. “Leo was talking to it.”

“Yep. It was at death’s door, and now look at it.”

Holy shit.

I get up from the couch to take a closer look. The leaves are firm and healthy, and new yellow-green shoots peek out between the older stems. Leo hasn’t saved it, he’s resurrected it.

“He did the same thing with my chamomile.” Avery directs my attention to a leggy plant with small, white flowers. “It used to be such a fussy little bitch.”

“Wow.” I breathe.

She laughs. “I’m starting to wonder if he isn’t some kind of healer.”

A healer? My hand goes unbidden to the spot on my head where, just yesterday, I’d smacked into Leo’s chest. There’s no tenderness whatsoever.

No, it’s impossible. No one can do that. Besides, we’re talking about plants, not people. He’s a plant healer.

I tell Avery, “He can identify every tree in the forest.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“Leo the healer,” I murmur to myself. How does he do it? Knowing what I know now, it probably has something to do with energy. The plant’s and his. I’ve felt them both—that hemlock brimming with life and Leo, who’s so calming and— “Is that why it feels so good to hug him?”

Avery fights a smirk. “I wouldn’t know.”

Oh god, did I just say that out loud? My face is on fire. “I mean… I don’t…It’s not that…”

“Hey.” She holds up a hand to stop my bumbling. “You don’t have to explain.”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“So I hear.” She smiles and nudges my tea closer. “Finish up. We have a ritual to do.”

At her request, I tell her, in more detail than Leo apparently did, about what happened to me at the ghost town.

“You’re powerful,” she asserts.

I squirm. “I don’t feel powerful. I feel like a neurotic mess.”

“That’s because you haven’t learned how to protect yourself. With some work, you’ll be able to control your reactions and harness that power.”

I frown. Harness? As in deliberately seek out and invite in the energies I feel? I can’t for the life of me imagine why I would do that. What purpose would it serve, other than turning me into a shaking, bawling, crumpling mess?

“I just want it to go away.”

Avery’s sympathy surprises me. “Oh, believe me, I get it. That’s exactly how I used to feel. Like, am I cursed? Why am I such a freak? ” She smiles and opens her arms wide, as if presenting herself to the world. “But now, I totally embrace it.”

Could I ever be like Avery? I want her confidence so badly, but all I feel is vulnerable and small.

“What changed?” I ask.

“Ownership,” she answers, without missing a beat. “Your ability belongs to you. You’re the boss. You get to decide when and where and how you use it. ”

Wow. What would it feel like to arrive at that point?

Avery reassures me, “It’s not gonna happen overnight, but it will happen if you put in the work.”

“Okay, then—” I set down my empty cup and smile, “—let’s do my very first ritual.”