Page 143 of The Lost Ones

I trust him.

He picks up a spare soda can that we brought in and throws it at Erin.

“Erin!” He yells at the last second.

Erin’s eyes widen as it comes soaring towards her and I itch to stop it but I hold firm in my trust in Cole.

Less than a second before the can makes contact with Erin’s face and no doubt knock her the fuck out, she flings her hands out and a dome of gold and red magic surrounds her, the can hits with a harmless thud but dents, showing exactly how hard Cole threw it, I turn and raise my eyebrow at him.

“I had to throw it hard or her shield wouldn’t have come out to protect her,” he explains and I nod in agreement.

“Fair enough.” I smirk, “You’re fucking lucky I trust you though.” I chuckle making him blanch.

“Guys!” Erin yells and my attention switches back to her, still surrounded by the red and gold dome of her magic. “What the hell just happened?”

“You have one of the rarer gifts. Which we should have expected from the beginning really.” I answer her grinning.

“Yes, ok, great. But what is it?”

“Shielding. You’re actually kicking off enough power that you could have put up the protection shield around the school all by yourself and that took four of the strongest shielding supernatural’s in the realms to do.” Cole explains looking impressed. “You can drop the shield now though, I promise I won’t throw anything else at you.” He says frowning as worry fills his eyes.

“I know that stupid,” Erin says in her blunt way and clears the worry from his eyes immediately, “what if I release it and then I can’t get it back?” She asks frowning.

“Oh!” Cole exclaims, as he fills with understanding.

I let him take this one as I know nothing on the subject and he has been in this world and the academy a lot longer than I have.

“That won’t happen. Now that your gift has been triggered you’ll be able to create a shield whenever you want to. The rarer gifts are tricky like that. Some supernaturals have been known to go for years and years not realising they have another gift because they haven’t been in the right circumstances to trigger it.” He explains and it absolutely fascinates me, there’s so much about this world that we don’t know. “Trust me?” He implores her and even from here I can see the venerability that accompanies that seemingly simple question.

Erin takes a deep breath and drops her shield. Cole’s blue eyes light up with joy as he grins wide enough to bring the dimples out in his cheeks.

“Now try to bring your shield forward again.” He instructs.

Erin looks at him nervously and he nods smiling encouragingly. She takes another deep breath and then brings her shield back out and once again it surrounds her.

“Yes!!” She exclaims excitedly before we can warn her to calm down.

“Thank god your gift is less destructive than mine!” I chuckle as her shield spreads out to cover both me and Cole.

“Holy fuck! You are really strong!” He says again.

“Whoops. My bad!” Erin chuckles and pulls her shield back the magic seeming to absorb back into her.

“That’s going to come in handy.” I say, “Are there any limitations to what it can protect from and how long she can hold it?” I ask Cole.

“I’m not entirely sure. No one here has the shielding gift, like I said it’s rare.” He shrugs.

“Do you want a break?” Erin asks.

“Sure, coffee?” I offer walking towards the door.

“Fuck yes!” Cole exclaims behind us making us laugh.

“Another coffee addict. Thank god, you fit right in!” I chuckle.

I make us coffees and we settle down on the couch.

“I wonder what your third gift is?” I mutter and they both turn to lookat me, confused frowns on their faces.