Read Online Breaking Through by D. Nichole King - Free Book Online
Authors: D. Nichole King
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It’s pure. It’s not saltwater.”
“Do you know why this created itself?” he asks, gesturing around him. “We couldn’t even get in to give you medical attention.”
I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. “My best guess—and that’s all it is, a guess—is that it’s protecting me.”
“From what?”
I try to think back to the last memory I had before everything went black. Had I felt threatened? Scared? Angry?
No. The last thing I recall was the way Barton’s eyes studied me in the weapons room when I held the knife. How the warmth of his skin flooded over my palm as he opened the hilt.
“I don’t know,” I finally whisper. “What happened before it formed?”
“We were in the weapons center, and you said you couldn’t remember if you’d ever shot a gun before. Do you remember now? Have you ever shot before?”
A memory flashes through my mind—a finger on a trigger—but it’s there and gone so fast I can’t even identify if it was my finger.
“I…don’t know,” I stammer. “Then what?”
“We went to the dummies to practice. I was speaking to Kray when I heard you collapse.”
A jolt of hope sparks in my veins at the mention of my best friend. “Where’s Kray? Did he hear my thoughts before I crashed?”
“I spoke with him afterward. He says there’s a wall in your head. That when you—”
“Yeah, I know,” I say, interrupting him with a sigh. “When I lose it, all he sees is the wall. Anything before that, though? Before I fainted?”
Captain Barton motions to the mattress. “Mind if I sit?”
“No, go ahead.”
Barton sits close enough that if I reached out I’d touch him. As he does, the bed creaks and I’m surprised I hear it over the sound of the water. “Kray said he heard nothing, but I don’t believe him,” Barton says.
I half grin. “You don’t believe Kray? What, are you a human lie detector or something?” I ask, recalling that Kray had said he didn’t know our captain’s special ability.
Barton chuckles, relaxing into the change of conversation. “Not exactly. I’m not a mind reader or a psychic, and I can’t manipulate anything, move anything, or create anything.”
“What got you into Brighton, then?”
“I’m…intelligent.”
I let my arms fall from around my knees and cross my legs on top of the bed. Right now it’s like the hierarchy between us has thinned out, putting us on an equal level. I like it. “You’re a brainiac? I didn’t realize being smart was a superpower. I thought people like that went to Harvard or Yale, not Brighton.”
Again, he lets out a small laugh. “Yeah, well. It is when you can read a set of encyclopedias and commit them to memory.”
“On the first read-through?”
The corner of his mouth curves up. “On the first read-through.”
“You know everything ?”
“Only if I read it or hear it somewhere. For instance, I know nothing about how to knit or do papier-mâché.”
“But if I gave you an instruction manual?”
He smiles at me, his golden eyes brightening like the sun, and I decide I like this informal side of him more than his captain counterpart. “Well, I may not be able to knit you a bonnet, but I could tell you how to do it,” he says.
I snicker, enjoying the lightness in his tone. Makes it seem like all the reasons that put us together don’t exist.
“Let me ask you a question, Nautia.”
“Sure.”
He pauses for a second. “Your file says you controlled your ability when you were admitted to Brighton. You were at the top of your game. And then it stopped. What happened?”
Revealing myself completely to Barton had never been on my to-do list, but he’s making it too easy. Smiling, laughing, asking, not like it’s his job, but like he’s concerned about me.
I suck in a breath, noting how the air is thinner now. “I don’t know. Kray believes the wall in my head blocks memories. The summer two years ago and everything before that is
“Do you know why this created itself?” he asks, gesturing around him. “We couldn’t even get in to give you medical attention.”
I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. “My best guess—and that’s all it is, a guess—is that it’s protecting me.”
“From what?”
I try to think back to the last memory I had before everything went black. Had I felt threatened? Scared? Angry?
No. The last thing I recall was the way Barton’s eyes studied me in the weapons room when I held the knife. How the warmth of his skin flooded over my palm as he opened the hilt.
“I don’t know,” I finally whisper. “What happened before it formed?”
“We were in the weapons center, and you said you couldn’t remember if you’d ever shot a gun before. Do you remember now? Have you ever shot before?”
A memory flashes through my mind—a finger on a trigger—but it’s there and gone so fast I can’t even identify if it was my finger.
“I…don’t know,” I stammer. “Then what?”
“We went to the dummies to practice. I was speaking to Kray when I heard you collapse.”
A jolt of hope sparks in my veins at the mention of my best friend. “Where’s Kray? Did he hear my thoughts before I crashed?”
“I spoke with him afterward. He says there’s a wall in your head. That when you—”
“Yeah, I know,” I say, interrupting him with a sigh. “When I lose it, all he sees is the wall. Anything before that, though? Before I fainted?”
Captain Barton motions to the mattress. “Mind if I sit?”
“No, go ahead.”
Barton sits close enough that if I reached out I’d touch him. As he does, the bed creaks and I’m surprised I hear it over the sound of the water. “Kray said he heard nothing, but I don’t believe him,” Barton says.
I half grin. “You don’t believe Kray? What, are you a human lie detector or something?” I ask, recalling that Kray had said he didn’t know our captain’s special ability.
Barton chuckles, relaxing into the change of conversation. “Not exactly. I’m not a mind reader or a psychic, and I can’t manipulate anything, move anything, or create anything.”
“What got you into Brighton, then?”
“I’m…intelligent.”
I let my arms fall from around my knees and cross my legs on top of the bed. Right now it’s like the hierarchy between us has thinned out, putting us on an equal level. I like it. “You’re a brainiac? I didn’t realize being smart was a superpower. I thought people like that went to Harvard or Yale, not Brighton.”
Again, he lets out a small laugh. “Yeah, well. It is when you can read a set of encyclopedias and commit them to memory.”
“On the first read-through?”
The corner of his mouth curves up. “On the first read-through.”
“You know everything ?”
“Only if I read it or hear it somewhere. For instance, I know nothing about how to knit or do papier-mâché.”
“But if I gave you an instruction manual?”
He smiles at me, his golden eyes brightening like the sun, and I decide I like this informal side of him more than his captain counterpart. “Well, I may not be able to knit you a bonnet, but I could tell you how to do it,” he says.
I snicker, enjoying the lightness in his tone. Makes it seem like all the reasons that put us together don’t exist.
“Let me ask you a question, Nautia.”
“Sure.”
He pauses for a second. “Your file says you controlled your ability when you were admitted to Brighton. You were at the top of your game. And then it stopped. What happened?”
Revealing myself completely to Barton had never been on my to-do list, but he’s making it too easy. Smiling, laughing, asking, not like it’s his job, but like he’s concerned about me.
I suck in a breath, noting how the air is thinner now. “I don’t know. Kray believes the wall in my head blocks memories. The summer two years ago and everything before that is
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