“Boss, your package has been collected and the vehicle is ready. We need to leave now, the traffic is starting to build and the chauffeur can't delay in a non-parking zone for much longer.”

He took a deep breath before responding to his immaculately dressed bodyguard in a calm manner.

“Go and wait for me by the car. I’ll be there in a few.”

If the fierce look in his eyes earlier was any indication it was obvious that had taken umbrage to Azalea’s curt words. 

Not the type to be easily goaded, he visibly suppressed his temper but the current look in his eyes screamed retribution.

The bodyguard that interrupted their conversation reminded Azalea of a penguin in a fancy black suit.

“Understood,” replied the bodyguard followed by a short bow.

Then the bodyguard returned to the black maybach to wait with the rest of the security detail until further instructed. 

Currently the maybach was sandwiched between two indestructible bullet proof black hummers for the bodyguards.

Suddenly the nameless young man grabbed a hold of Azalea.

Not liking the fact that her attention had been distracted by the bodyguard’s untimely interruption.

He didn't care that they had an audience as he acted out of impulse.

That crowd gathered nearby to gawk at the yet unreleased Maybach that was currently only available to be pre-ordered from the dealership.

She felt vulnerable and exposed and the crowd of onlookers only served to exacerbate those feelings.

Already labeled a pariah in the Meadowbrook community, her predicament was that she didn’t want to draw any more unnecessary attention to herself. 

She was tired of feeding the rumor mill and just wanted to spend her last few hours in Meadowbrook as quietly as possible.

Azalea who pretty much lived life as a regular human until today found herself under a mental attack. 

Just like her earlier mental collapse that morning her body wobbled as her legs became like jelly due to the mental energy radiating from his body. 

Having just come into her mental powers, she didn’t even know the basics such as how to guard against the rush of mental energy much less set up a defense.

The nature of his mental energy as it encompassed her body felt aggressive as if he was forcing it down her throat. 

What made it worse was the fact that no one intervened, they just watched and murmured amongst themselves. 

Her instincts made her struggle to to remove her hand from his grasp but he held on tightly while observing the crest on her wrist. 

Suddenly the crest on her wrist started to act up, the area started to swell and the blood veins became more prominent in response to heat radiating from his hand.

Everything about the situation felt wrong, her head felt like it was going to explode and her heart thumped erratically in her eardrums. 

He smiled with glee, “you have potential, youre taking my mental energy quite well.”

An unfamiliar feeling surged, it felt like she was a vessel being filled to the brim and overflowing with his mental power.

Even though it felt painful, she could feel her withered mental garden responding to his stimulation. 

Her little sprout shook and trembled at first and she wondered if it was going to be uprooted. 

Then it started to soak up some of the mental energy and even felt like it grew a bit.

She also got the feeling that he was searching for something in her mental garden but now matter how deep he dug he resurfaced empty handed.

Her lower region started responding and Azalea felt like he could smell her arousal; she wished the ground would open and swallow her whole. 

It didn’t and her pride would not allow her to beg him to loosen his grip on her wrist instead she brought her right knee up to do some damage to his crotch.

Not surprisingly he blocked it with his free hand but then his cell phone started ringing.

“I just did you a favor by injecting some of my mental power into you. You can thank me later.”

With her eyes glazed over from the pain, at first all she did in response was stare at him blankly.

Then she spat, “do you seriously think that I would be happy about feeling violated by your decision to force your mental energy on me.”

Are all of the gifted so arrogant to think that they should not be held accountable for their actions?

He muttered, “feeling violated? Seriously?”

“You obviously did your homework since you know so much about my personal life then you should have realized that I’m a novice at anything to do with mental powers. It might be all fun and games to you but your testing my mental aptitude without my permission hurts like hell.”

His phone rang again and he ignored the call.

“I’m sorry you feel that way but I promise to explain someday. Let’s not forget how blunt you’ve been and hurt my feelings in the little time we had to get acquainted. Unfortunately, I don’t have any more time to play today but there will be a next time.”

There was absolute certainty in his voice and he left her a parting smile before he spun on his heels while answering the call in a low, clipped voice. 

Azalea had not moved from the spot even as she watched the car speed down the lane overtaking a few other cars before disappearing from sight. 

She still felt weak in the knees and struggled to regain her composure. 

Focus Azalea, what do you need to do again? 

She needed to collect her package luckily the lines for each stall were still long and moving at a snail’s pace. 

Azalea examined the crest on her wrist and matched it to the correct stall to correct her package. 

She didn't even recognize the crest but surprisingly the line for Mercy Academy stall was empty.

Before she could take another step in that direction, a shrill voice said, “Azalea, are you okay?”