Torn Read Online Free PDF Page B

practice. It’s the only way I can get stronger.”
    Despite Matt’s obvious reservations, Rhys went along with it. It felt very odd to have someone witnessing persuasion, especially someone clearly against it, but I had no choice. I couldn’t send Matt into the next room or something.
    Matt watched me intently, and I could see him out of the corner of my eye. It was distracting, but that was probably better practice for me. I doubt I could get one of the Vittra to step aside to a quiet place so I could try to use a bit of mind control on the guard.
    I decided to start simple. Rhys and I were standing, facing each other, so I started repeating in my head, Sit down. I want you to sit down.
    His blue eyes met mine evenly at first, then something foggy passed over them. His face seemed to slack, and his expression went completely blank. Without any acknowledgment, he sat down on the floor.
    “Is he okay?” Matt asked, growing nervous.
    “Yeah, I’m fine.” Rhys sounded like he’d just woken up. He looked up at me, his eyes dazed. “So, are you gonna do it or what?”
    “I already did it.” I had never talked to anybody after using persuasion on them, and it felt strange to be open about it.
    “What are you talking about?” Rhys’s brow furrowed, and he looked between Matt and me, trying to understand.
    “You sat on the floor,” Matt attempted to explain.
    “Why did you sit down?” I asked.
    “I…” His face scrunched up in concentration. “I don’t know. I just… I sat down.” He shook his head and looked up at me. “You did that?”
    “Yeah. You didn’t feel anything or sense anything?” I asked.
    I had never known if what I did hurt people. They never complained of pain or anything, but maybe they couldn’t. Not if they didn’t understand what was happening.
    “No. I didn’t even…” He shook his head again, unable to articulate what he meant. “I expected there to be a blackout or something. But… I knew that I was sitting. It was more like a reflex. Like, I breathe all the time, but I don’t think about it. This was the same.”
    “Hmm.” I looked at him thoughtfully. “Stand up.”
    “What?” Rhys asked.
    “Stand up,” I repeated. He stared up at me for a second, then looked around. His eyes hardened and his eyebrows pinched up.
    “What’s going on?” Matt asked, moving closer to us.
    “I… I can’t stand up.”
    “Do you need me to help you up?” Matt offered.
    “No. It’s not like that.” Rhys shook his head. “I mean, you could pull me up. You’re stronger than me, and I’m not physically pinned to the floor. I just… forgot how?”
    “Weird.” I watched him with fascination.
    Once before, I made Matt get out of my room, and it’d been awhile before he’d been able to go in there. But he had been able to this morning, so it meant my persuasion did eventually wear off.
    “Weird?” Matt scoffed. “Wendy, fix him!”
    “He’s not broken,” I said defensively, but Matt glared at me in a way that made me want to crawl under a rock. I crouched down in front of Rhys. “Rhys, look at me.”
    “Okay?” He met my eyes uncertainly.
    I wasn’t even sure if I could reverse the process. I had never tried to undo persuasion before, but I didn’t think it’d be that hard. And if I couldn’t, then he’d just have to sit down for a week or two. Maybe.
    Instead of worrying about the possible repercussions, I focused all my energy on him. I just said Stand up in my head over and over again. It took longer than it did last time, but eventually his face started to fog over. He blinked at me a few times and got to his feet.
    “I am so glad that worked.” I let out a sigh of relief.
    “Are you sure it worked?” Matt asked me, but his eyes were on Rhys. Rhys stared blankly at the floor, looking more out of it than he had last time. “Rhys? Are you okay?”
    “What?” Rhys lifted his head. He blinked at us, as if he’d just noticed we were here. “What? Did