Unforgiven Read Free Page B

of the mats.
    “I’m going to start training again tomorrow.”
    “Mmm,” he said as he curled the twenty-pounder to his chest.
    “I don’t want to.”
    “I know.”
    Instead of getting upset at his simplistic response and lack of encouragement, I only felt relief. He did know how I felt, but he didn’t judge me, try to tell me I should be ready, or encourage me to refuse.
    In that moment, it was enough. At least, it was enough to get me through to the next day.
    In the morning, I met Tracy promptly at eight in my designated training room. I hadn’t seen the tiny space for a few weeks, and when I walked in, it made me long for the days before I’d been consumed by grief, the days when I had simply been eager to learn. I wondered how well the new me would do with training. The old Mac had excelled, but the person in the training room at that moment couldn’t summon the will to care. My attitude should have disgusted me, but it didn’t.
    Tracy didn’t acknowledge my struggle or any of the things that had happened to me in the previous weeks, which I appreciated. Everyone else looked at me like they didn’t know what to say. Tracy knew exactly what to say, and it was all business.
    “Today, we begin working on entering other people’s minds. Now, I know you’ve already done that, with a ranger or something?”
    “A trail guide, yeah.” I thought back to that day at the park with Owen. It seemed like it was years, not weeks, ago. Searching the guide’s mind for information about the caverns we were exploring had been so easy—natural, almost. Now it felt like something someone else had done.
    “Fine, you obviously know how to reach out. That’s great. You’re ahead of the ball game. But, it’s a whole different sport to do it with someone who has defenses like yours in place.”
    I hadn’t really thought about it. In fact, I’d never considered forcibly entering someone’s mind. All the minds I’d ever read had just been there for the reading. But going into someone’s head when he or she didn’t want you there? “So, how do you get past someone’s defenses?”
    “Creatively.” I didn’t think she was going to elaborate, but for once, she threw me a bone. “It’s best to craft your tactic based on how the person has constructed his or her defenses. Some people, like Owen, just go charging in.”
    I chuckled without smiling, remembering how he’d come barreling into my mind on the stairs the day I’d told him I could push people out. His approach was less than elegant to say the least.
    “Indeed. You’ll find that his approach doesn’t work for everyone. Subtlety can take longer, but it can prove to be a valuable skill if you are able to master it.”
    “Subtlety…” I said, trailing off. How did you go about subtly entering someone’s mind? Particularly someone who didn’t want you there?
    “I can talk to you about it until I’m blue in the face, but like everything else, you need to experiment with it for yourself.” Her blonde hair bounced as she shrugged her shoulders. “What works for me might not work for you, Owen, or David. Everyone’s different. If you learn nothing else, remember that adaptation is vital.”
    I nodded and took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. But Maddie remained. She smiled at me from the corner of my mind. Really, I didn’t even want to push her all the way out. What if I couldn’t get her back? Deciding to proceed with my mental companion, I closed my eyes.
    “Whenever you’re ready,” Tracy said.
    Reaching out, I found her easily. I couldn’t tell if she’d done that on purpose, or if it just came naturally to me. But I could still feel her in the room when I closed my eyes. It wasn’t like I could hear her breathing or moving around; I could feel her mind working, and I moved toward the feeling.
    “Good,” she said. “What do you see?”
    Looking around, I found myself in a battlefield. Smoke or fog rose around me, but through the