Change (Kitsune) by Melissa Stevens Page B

moment. By the time I gave up and went home I had a massive headache."
    "I'm surprised you didn't walk in and turn around and walk right back out. Those places are hell on normal hearing, much less our more sensitive ears."
    "I know that now, but I wasn't thinking about it when I went, and I didn't want to back out on Izzy again," I said defensively.
    "So instead of letting down a girlfriend, who would probably understand if you had just told her you didn't feel good, you tortured yourself. Sometimes, Girl, I wonder about you."
    "Yeah, I know. So does everyone else." I grinned.
    "You were saying before I interrupted you, that Saturday night, at the club you were hearing things?"
    "Yeah, and now that I think about it, most of it was things that few people would say out loud. One girl didn't like her date and couldn't wait to escape him. Another was determined to find someone to sleep with as revenge on her cheating partner. I just thought the noise was wreaking havoc with my hearing. But it happened again last night at dinner."
    "Sundays are the big family dinner, right?"
    "Yes, Sir." I replied, reverting to the respectful phrase my parents and grandparents had made sure all of us learned as children. I don't always use it with my friends, but I do with anyone not my age.
    "Only you, Nickie" He said, shaking his head at me as he rolled his eyes skyward, "Only you. Anyway, all of that means yes, you're showing signs of being able to use telepathy in both directions. To both plant your thoughts into someone else's mind, and to pull thoughts from other people's minds as well. I'll work with you myself on learning to use those gifts but I’ll have Karen work with you on your shielding so that others with the same talents can't use them on you, unless you choose to let them. Telepathy can be very useful in some situations, but also a nuisance and an annoyance if you're not prepared to deal with it."
    He offered to fix me some breakfast along with his own, but I told him I had already eaten, just in case I ended up not getting the time off and staying at work all day, and I wasn't hungry but I did accept a cup of coffee and I sat with him while he finished cooking and ate.
    "I did have something I wanted to ask you though, if you don't mind." I said.
    "What is it?"
    "Well, you know Raine as well as you know me right? I mean, not that I think he's Kindred or anything. But in the fact that he's my brother and one of Dad's kids. You've been around him and are familiar with him, right?"
    "Yes, of course. What about Raine?"
    "Well, I noticed it last night, at the family dinner. There was something different about Raine. I couldn't place it, and I still can't figure out what it was. But it's like I am feeling something different from him all of a sudden. I couldn't see anything different and he insisted nothing had changed, not even his soap. But I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining it. I'm at a loss for what it is that's triggering this reaction from me. After a few minutes I figured out it wasn't something had changed with him, but with me, and I was just sensing something that had always been there. I told them I must have imagined it, but I'm certain I didn't."
    "I doubt you're imagining it, but let me look into it and see what I can find. It may be that he has some strength or talent that you're sensing. I would guess from just looking at him, that he has some kind of Native American blood, and there may be some talent or power that he inherited from it that you are sensing."
    "Will you let me know if you find anything?"
    "If I find anything that might explain it, I'll be sure to let you know," He said kindly.
    "Thanks, I'd really appreciate it."
    Bill picked up his dishes from breakfast and rinsed them in the sink before he loaded them into the dishwasher situated next to it. We moved into his office to start what he called my lesson for the morning.
    We worked on picking thoughts from each other’s minds on purpose and projecting