"Again."

"I'm comfortable here, thanks," I growled into the scuffed blue training mat. Anna stood over me with her pale, muscular arms crossed. I'd quickly discovered that her hipster persona hid a core of steel. She was all smiles while we'd changed into our yoga pants and tank tops, but the moment her feet hit the mat, she was a pink haired Hitler.

"Up."

I pushed myself up, wincing at the soreness in my muscles. The pain from my injuries was long gone, but no amount of whining could convince Fleur to heal the tenderness I'd earned after a week of training. "Healers are only here to save lives. We don't interfere with the body's natural processes unless a life is at stake. That soreness you're feeling is your body's way of setting limits. If I remove that, you might push yourself too far, too fast. Sorry."

Calum had organized a fast exit from Avalon. We boarded a plane the same evening we'd run into Gavin, and I woke up on a mystery island.

Balmy sea air caressed my face and a blazing sun heated my skin as I stepped off the plane. Anna explained how they cloaked the location from the outside world and used it for training. Her words barely registered as I locked eyes on the cerulean waters surrounding my new home. I had no memory of seeing the ocean before that day, but a deep thrumming resonated in my chest as I laid eyes on the shore. Behind my navel, the place I associated as the core of my power erupted in a bouquet of butterflies and purple streaks glowed beneath the skin of my hand.

I didn't have time to investigate this fresh development. When Calum mentioned creating a routine, I'd not quite grasped what he meant. Now I did.

I had spent the first week on endurance training. I didn't believe Anna when she said I could run a marathon in a week. But after doing beach sprints and treadmill runs, I could keep up with her while jogging. Increased physical stamina was something all the Children were gifted with.

Children.

On my first day on the island, they had informed me of the special title given to people like us. Of course, no one would tell me anything else, though I'd asked repeatedly. Calum, who'd been infuriatingly distant since those first few nights, would only tell me I'd get my answers once I was a fully trained team member.

The team he referred to was much larger than the four people I'd met in Avalon. I shared a bungalow with Anna, Fleur, Percy, and Calum. The soft blue building was nestled between four other beach houses, all on stilts. They filled the remaining cottages with individuals who played various roles on the base. Percy, Calum, Anna, and a set of twins named Andre and Alex appeared to be in charge of security. Fleur was the resident doctor, but one cottage housed several healers in training. She spent most of her days working with them, but she returned to the central house to sleep.

After much prying, I learned they used the remaining two buildings as a dormitory and a student training facility. No one suggested I move into the dorms with the other students, and I wasn't pushing the subject.

"You're not on your feet," Anna snapped. She moved towards me with lethal grace. While she seemed to be walking casually, I could detect the tension in her arms and the slight bounce in her step, suggesting she could strike at any moment.. In fact, she was going to lunge towards me as soon as I stood up.

"Geez," I whined, hoping to keep her off guard as I struggled to stand, putting a little extra wobble in my legs. The moment before she moved, I stepped to the left and grabbed the fist she' aimed at my head. I smiled in victory and prepare to pull her towards me and return the favor of a busted lip; instead, her free hand wrapped around my wrist and she dropped to her knees, using the momentum to throw me over her shoulder.

"That was much better."

Considering I was wheezing and flat on my back again, I failed to find her enthusiasm. "I still got beat."

"True, but you actually anticipated my movement. You have the instincts. You need practice.. Plus, I'm pretty awesome." She winked as she snagged her water bottle. "I guess we can call it a day."

"Hallelujah. I'm just going to stay here for now. In fact, I'll still be here in the morning."

Anna laughed, her electric pink eyes dancing. I'd wrongfully assumed she wore contacts to achieve that color, but when I asked her, she shrugged and said it was a gift from her mother's side of the family. When I pried for more information, she'd launched into a series of complicated kicks and punches that left me doing all I could to keep my teeth and head attached.

Taking the hand she offered me, I let her lift me from the mat. Various bruises dotted my arms and legs where Anna had landed hits, but I felt a sense of pride in knowing there were less sore spots today.

A quick glance at my watch revealed we were stopping much earlier than usual. Since I'd agreed to Calum's offer, I'd been kept too busy to contemplate changing my mind, but I was lacking any serious regrets so far. My natural inclination to distrust people reared its ugly head every time someone was less than forthcoming, but knowing I had my own secrets kept me from pushing too hard. I also appreciated that they had their own interests to protect. No one was going to tell the new girl with the strange power of all of the industry secrets until she was fully screened.

"Anna, how do they test the new Children?"

"Test them?"

"You said they were sorted according to gifts. Do most people have just one gift? And how do you know what your gifts are?"

Anna snatched a towel from a nearby bench and patted her face. I didn't see a single drop of sweat on her porcelain skin, which meant she was stalling. Was it really that hard of a question? So far I'd witnessed Fleur's skills at healing, Percy's illusion, and Anna's lightning fast reflexes and ability to run for days. Besides being sinfully attractive, Calum's abilities were also unclear.

"It's a little more complicated than a simple test," she finally answered.

"Do all new Children get this kind of run around or just me?" I demanded. Secrets were one thing, but I felt like I was being denied basic information that all other newbies received day one.

"Look, I don't have the clearance to tell you much. Yes, many Children have multiple gifts, though most have what they consider their primary Talent. It's something inherited. If you know what family you come from, then you have a pretty good idea as to what Talent you'll be inheriting. And before you ask, my Talent is Matter Manipulation."

She hadn't told me much, but she'd told me more than I'd learned the entire time I'd been here. "Care to expound upon that last part?"

"Here, I'll just have to show you." She exited the building, clearly expecting me to follow her.

Anna didn't stop until we reached the shoreline. I bounced in the sand as I waited for her to demonstrate her ability. This close to the ocean, I struggled to keep my new power in check.

"Watch the water," Anna snapped, jerking my focus back to her. She'd stretched out one hand in front of her, palm up, and fingers curled towards the sky. A sparkling globe of salty water separated from the ocean and floated until it hovered above her cupped hand. I clapped, amazed by the sight. Anna rolled her eyes. "Keep watching."

In the next instant, the water froze solid and then exploded. I threw up an arm to protect my face from the ice missiles hurtling my way, but it was a wasted effort. Warm water splattered my lifted arm. Anna was laughing at the shock on my face, and I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face.

"That was freaking amazing," I shouted.

The pink-haired girl shrugged nonchalantly, but I could see the blush staining her cheeks. "Water is always a fun one because it has three states of matter. Mostly, I can just manipulate the size of the matter or the speed of the molecules in it, hence the explosion."

"So you can't make it something it can't be. Like water to milk, for instance?"

"Nope. I can't think of anyone who can pull that off. Most of the known Talents are elemental in nature. My Talent is rare that it allows me to work with all physical elements to some extent."

"There are non-physical elements?"

"Fire, earth, air, and water are physical. Spirit is the las element. I suppose a lot of the psychic Talents would fall under spirit."

We were walking back towards the houses, but I couldn't get what I'd just seen out of my mind. "How long did it take you to learn how to control it? I mean, you turned it back to liquid at the last possible moment. That has to take some serious control."

I was talking like a valley girl, but I couldn't contain my excitement. I'd seen pretty nifty gifts during my time at Anton's, but nothing compared to Anna's ability.

Once again, I could tell she was searching for a way to answer my question without giving away too much information. "It wasn't something that happened overnight, that's for sure. Like I said, our gifts are hereditary, which means the people in a family all share the same type of Talent, but they're still unique to the individual. My gift pleasantly surprised me. My mother could only manipulate certain elements. When I was little, I thought it'd be cute to run from her when she called me. She made the air so thick I couldn't move an inch."

Imagining Anna as a precocious child wasn't difficult. Even as an adult, she always looked like she was one step away from mischief. "That's a rather useful gift for raising children."

"I don't know if she could've managed otherwise," she chuckled. "My brother," she started to say but sobered up as something drew her attention towards one of the training houses. I tracked her gaze and frowned. Percy stomped across the sand, his permanent frown even more severe than usual.

"Anna, what are you doing out here with her? You know the orders."

"Excuse me," I snapped, "if you have orders to keep me confined to the house, then you'd better share them with me. Especially since the offer I was given didn't include those said orders."

"Camille," Anna cautioned, her tone soft, but I could see that Percy's attitude was having a similar effect on her. "Percy, she's been with me the entire time. She was out here all last week when we were running."

"Yes, well, you weren't running today. Someone saw you demonstrating your Talent out on the beach."

"It's my Talent to demonstrate, and you'd be wise to remember that," she growled, grabbing my hand and tugging me past the red-headed brute.

"Damn it, Anna," Percy shouted.

I turned to see him tripping over his combat boots, the bottoms looking like they'd been melted. He cursed as he tried to tug them off. One hop. Two hops. Three hops before he jerked so hard he landed on the sand with a thud.

"That was even better than the beach," I whispered, closing my eyes so I could replay the scene again in my mind.

Anna couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped as she responded. "He'll try to make me pay for it later, but it was totally worth it."

"What is he going to do?" I snickered, thinking of his Talent, "send imaginary clowns after you?"

Anna turned her pink eyes towards me. They were still dancing, but her tone was completely serious. "Don't ever underestimate a good illusionist. Besides, clowns give me the heebie jeebies. Real or fake."