I closed my fingers around the green core.
It softened immediately, its hard surface melting into my palm until the power trapped inside rushed through my skin.
The first bit of energy was stronger than I expected.
It flooded up my arm and spread through my chest, hot and sharp enough to steal my breath from my lungs. My senses dropped through the warehouse floor at the same time, following the thin roots hidden inside the cracks beneath the concrete.
For several seconds, the power stayed with me.
Then the plants reached for it.
Not the distant trees surrounding the mansion. Not the vines covering my walls or the roots buried beneath my garden.
These plants were here. They had always been here.
