“I was just on the second floor, sir, when the cleaner bumped into me. She wasn’t quite sure who I was.”
“I thought I had given her quite an accurate description.” He mused as he put the book back upon the shelf. I felt my cheeks burning. Had he really said to look for a pretty lady? I was no lady. A girl, perhaps.
“I think the, uh, ‘nervous disposition’ might have given it away, sir” I pursed my lips, fighting back the urge to grin. To sing. To dance. He thought I was pretty, with crystal eyes and flowing hair. It felt as though a giant bubble was swelling in my stomach. I was pretty sure that I could float away and out of the window.
“Never the less,” Noah said striding across the room to the opposite book shelf and picking one out at random, “I have some questions for you. But first, I thank you.”
“I’m sorry?” I said confused.
“I thank you, for last night. It was all terribly embarrassing, and I am grateful that you have not told anyone about it.”
“Oh. How do you know I haven’t told anyone, sir?”
Noah watched me carefully and took a few steps closer, “Your eyes betray you.”
I was very silent. Noah was just a meter from me now, looking down with an intense stare. I couldn’t seem to unglue my tongue from the roof of my mouth.
“They are honest eyes.” He clarified after seeing my confused expression, “I can see your entire personality shining out through them, like huge open windows.”
I wasn’t quite sure what to say. Was this his Power? Could he unpick people like stitches?
“I also see a secret.” He smirked, “But that’s okay. We all have secrets.”
I broke my gaze away from his penetrating stare and looked at my feet instead. I had no response for his true statement. My secret was that I was a run-away. I hadn’t even told Jack yet. I wondered if Noah was a mind reader. A personality reader.
“I’m sorry that I have embarrassed you.” He smiled as I looked back up at him, my cheeks burning.
“It’s okay.” I mumbled.
“It’s not what you think.” He continued, turning his back on me and looking at the books around him, “I am just extremely perceptive.”
“What is your Power, sir? If you don’t mind me prying-”
“Hypnotism.” Noah said bluntly, “Though I do not do it often. I cannot control people’s minds, just their bodies. It’s a degrading thing to do, so I refrain from taking away ones free will.”
It sounded frightening and wonderful. I was extremely intimidated.
“You can control people’s bodies?” I pressed, extremely aware of my own body as I spoke. My arms felt silly as they dangled at my sides, and I shifted my weight onto the other foot, “Show me”
“No.” Noah shook his head, “It is wrong. I wish I had not been given this Power. Though of course my father sees it as a great gift.”
Noah looked away, and frowned as though he had said too much.
“Does your family do the same thing?” I wondered aloud. How far would Noah allow my questioning to go? Surely this was not considered appropriate behaviour from staff.
“No. None of us share the same gift, which is quite unusual for a family. I assume you inherited your Power from either your mother or father?”
“Both sides.” I mumbled, “I didn’t have a chance.”
Noah smiled, “You do not like your gift?”
I frowned, “It causes more trouble than it’s worth.” I really wanted to change the subject, “What Powers does your family have?”
Noah looked out of the window, “My mother Winifred is an Illusionist. She can project images into your mind, make you see beautiful and terrifying things. When I was a child she would use it to help me sleep. My father Sebastian has the Power to uncover lies. He can see when people are hiding the truth, and he uses it to his advantage. So naturally you would expect me and my sister to take after our parents.
“For many years before I turned ten my parents assumed that I perhaps had the same gift as my father. It wasn’t until I was eight that I discovered I could make people do what I wanted. I wasn’t aware of it at first, but it made itself clear in due course.
“My little sister Rain abuses her Power, I believe. She can move objects with her mind. We used to fight a lot when we were younger. She would move objects with her mind in an attempt to try and hurt me, but I could control her body at the same time. On countless occasions I would make her lock herself in a cupboard.” He laughed, “But of course her mind was entirely her own, so she was aware of what was happening all the while. She just couldn’t stop her body from biding my orders.”
I gulped. The Forsythe family sounded quite frightening. How strange that a new gift had sprung up in Rain and Noah. I had thought it was an extremely rare thing to happen. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if this was why Noah had called me to his study. I didn’t care. I didn’t care about Jack and Camryn’s warnings either. It was all nonsense.