“Shaney!”
Shaney’s head whipped around to Caleb. The furrowed brow, thin tight lips, and hunched shoulders put Shaney on alert. All eyes were on the diminutive man. “This is bad.”
Three one-syllable words. Caleb had made his point with three one-syllable words. That could only mean the world—Shaney’s world—was going to end.
“What’s new?” Shaney snorted. “Now are you going to tell me that some foreign energy is going to tear me apart?”
Caleb cocked his head. “It seems that, in times of extreme stress, you have developed the maladaptive coping mechanism of humor.”
“Hey! There’s nothing maladaptive about it,” Shaney insisted.
Caleb waved his hand, dismissing Shaney’s claim. “What is bad is that you destroyed the cup at the molecular level. Even with Hudson grounding you, your powers fluctuated to the point of destruction. And that little show you just put on with Hudson was purely driven by your emotions.”
“Wait, you just said ‘powers.’ Don’t you mean energy?” Shaney asked, as Hudson once again molded himself to Shaney’s back. The man loved to touch and Shaney adored every moment of the contact.
Caleb shook his head. “Hyrum told me specifically that your construct was focused on the energy of creation. It’s a building energy, not a destructive power. There’s a difference. You shouldn’t have the capacity to render objects into dust.”
“Maybe I wanted to change the energy pattern to dust.”
“Impossible, given basic geometric principles, the laws of physics—on which Sacred Geometry is based upon—and more complex theoretical sciences such as Quantum Physics. It’s almost as if you’re wielding some other form of power. Something implausible. Of course, as I said earlier, any theory about your special abilities is purely speculative. However, there are those pesky scientific laws.”
Shaney leaned back onto Hudson, loving the warmth. “When I focused on the cup, I was getting angry about what you were saying about Silas wanting my powers. If felt like something was pushing aside the energy inside of me. Something...I don’t know...dark, something the anger was calling on.”
Caleb gave him another this-is-not-good look and then shook his head as a mournful pall cast over his face. “There’s a possibility that you are unable to control the energy of creation.”
Shaney snorted. “Great. Here I am, a powder keg ready to go off, and you’re boo-hooing because I might actually not have the ability to manipulate the energy of creation with my mind. Seems like your focusing on the wrong problem here, buddy. I blew up a cup and a shelf. What if I had missed and blew up Mr. Anderson?”
Mr. Anderson’s eyes widened and he scooted behind Todd. “Don’t piss him off,” he heard the man whisper, a little too loudly, to Todd.
Shaney smirked. That’s right. I’m dangerous. He quickly lost his joy. He didn’t want to be dangerous.
“So you’re saying that Shaney doesn’t have the power to manipulate the energy of creation? Then what does he have?” Mr. Anderson asked, still hiding behind Todd, who was smiling a little too widely. Shaney narrowed his eyes.
Caleb rubbed his pale hand over his chin. “There’s not enough data to discount the theory of his ability to manipulate the energy of creation, but, with a greater certainty, I can extrapolate that what we’ve experienced here today doesn’t fit within the parameters of Hyrum’s model.”
“He sure likes the big words,” Todd whispered to Mr. Anderson. Why couldn't anyone actually whisper?
“You need Hyrum’s research and notes,” Maximus said.
Eyebrows rose around the room upon hearing Maximus utter something other than promises of violence and pain.
Caleb nodded and turned to Hudson. “Do you have your grandfather’s papers?”
Hudson shrugged. “He used the loft in the barn for his work after he left the state university. I haven’t touched anything since that day when...”
Hudson lowered his head, his anguish palpable. Shaney gathered his boyfriend—giddy with joy over the word ‘boyfriend’—into his arms and Hudson buried his face in Shaney’s neck.
“You, okay?” Shaney actually whispered.
Hudson nodded, his arms tightened around Shaney, as if he were soaking in comfort. Shaney reveled in his ability to give something back to Hudson. When Hudson finally looked up, he placed a gentle kiss on Shaney’s lips. Hudson ran a thumb over the base of Shaney’s throat. “Thank you for making me so happy.”
“Ditto,” Shaney said. Despite his world going to hell, he still walked on air. Even Caleb breaking the magic moment didn’t faze him.