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  “You kids never cease to amaze us. It takes most Societies years to develop the instincts and abilities the four of you have discovered in only months,” Zolin mused.

  “Which stirs up frightening possibilities,” Alin murmured.

  Normally, Aiden would have been very interested in hearing more about what was typical and why Zolin thought they were so unique, but all he could think about now was Eren. She was in danger and he couldn’t go to her.

  “Has anyone called Luke’s grandfather?” he asked.

  That he hadn’t thought to ask that earlier frustrated him. If Fane and Caitlin hadn’t helped calm him down it might not have occurred to him at all. He had to focus, for Eren’s sake.

  “Actually, Elisabeth just called and warned us that Luke has run away,” Alin said.

  Aiden flinched at his adopted sister’s name. Elisabeth had always tried to be kind to him, but only when no one else was looking. She had been the only respite for him during a harsh childhood. And here she was trying to help him again, at the expense of her real brother no less.

  “You should go clean up. All that blood will make airport security nervous,” Zolin said as he gave Aiden a gentle look.

  “You’re going to let me go after her?” he asked.

  Zolin put a hand on his shoulder. “We have no choice, my boy. You are the only one with a ticket to Edinburgh. It’s non-transferable. But we’ll be right behind you on the next flight. Now go get cleaned up.”

  Aiden’s whole left side was pretty much covered in dried blood. Looking down at it made him dizzy again. Had all that really come out of his arm?

  With Fane’s help he got down off the island and leaned back against it until the room stopped swaying.

  “There are fresh towels in the bathroom down the hall. If you hurry you have time for a shower,” Zolin told him.

  Zolin and Alin’s kindness puzzled him. He had expected them to be furious with him for letting himself be tricked by that stupid girl and putting Eren in danger. But they weren’t.

  “Thank you,” Aiden called back as Fane helped him from the room.

  He had no intention of taking a shower, but he didn’t really have a choice, there was too much blood for a washcloth to handle. When he stepped out, there was a pile of neatly folded clothes and a pair of shoes waiting for him. The clothes were a bit large—probably Zolin’s—but they’d do. Again their kindness struck him and he had to wonder, was this the way a real family worked?

  The new pink skin held up through the scrubbing and the wound already looked a week old. It was less than three inches long and on the back of his arm, making it nearly impossible to see without a mirror.

  The back door opened and he heard Sylvia’s voice. Grabbing the pair of shoes, he ran from the bathroom and down the hallway.

  “Glad to see you’re feeling better,” Sylvia said.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  She tried to smile but it didn’t quite reach her worried eyes. He sympathized. He couldn’t force a smile right now if he’d had to. Anxiety was starting to rise up and dig its claws into him again. Though it sounded impossible, he could have sworn he could feel Eren’s pain and overwhelming sense of betrayal. He needed to get to her while her problems were still just teen angst.

  Everyone followed them to the street where the Jeep was parked. Having Fane and Catlin close again helped push Aiden’s rising panic back a little. He felt like he could run all the way to the city. Hell, he wanted to. Knowing Sylvia could get him there much faster, he climbed in the passenger seat and put his seat belt on. Alin leaned in and handed him a large manila envelope.

  “This is your passport and reservations numbers,” he said.

  Aiden clutched the envelope. Giving him a genuine smile, Alin reached in and grasped his hand.

  “Be careful, Luke is ruthless. But I know you can do this,” Alin whispered.

  There was no desperation or false hope in his voice, only confidence and concern. Aiden found that under the gaze of those faith-filled eyes, he could actually smile. The Jeep shifted as both back doors opened and closed. Aiden felt Fane and Caitlin’s energy—the feel of family, of home. It helped drive back the darkness and fury that threatened to swallow him. Sylvia got in next, started the Jeep, and looked in the rearview mirror at her son and his girlfriend.

  “How long is your flight behind mine? And what about Fane and Caitlin?” Aiden asked.

  He was torn between wanting them with him and wanting them safe. If Luke had—he could barely think the word—killed Eren, he was pretty sure he wasn’t coming back. He didn’t want them there if that happened.

  “The earliest we could get was tomorrow. Caitlin has no passport and putting them in danger is out of the question. I fought to try and make Alin go in your place but he’s certain he couldn’t pass for sixteen,” Sylvia said.

  “And he’s right. We’re at least going to the airport with you. We can help keep Aiden calm, please mother,” Fane said.

  It sounded as though he added the last part as an afterthought. Aiden had never heard him sound so authoritative. It made him kind of proud. Fane was his second in command after all.

  Rather than answer what was clearly not a question, Sylvia put the Jeep in gear and drove.

  “Separate we are only lone energy in the universe.

  Together we can raise the moon.”

  ~from Life In A Channeler Society

  Chapter 36

  A succession of rapid knocks on the door roused Eren from a restless sleep. She rolled toward the door and sat up. Looking down at her rumpled clothes, she thought maybe she should have changed before she’d collapsed onto the bed. She hadn’t even bothered to take her shoes off or pull the blankets down. The only thing she had done was swallow two of the pills. Her eyes scanned the room for a clock as she wondered how long she’d been asleep. A bright green digital beside the bed told her it had been several hours. The sun must be setting.

  Another knock sounded. “Housekeeping,” a man’s voice called.

  Swinging her legs to the floor, Eren raked her fingers through her hair, trying to tame it. It would do for an anonymous stranger.

  “Just a minute,” she said.

  Something felt very off and it took her a minute to realize what it was. She couldn’t feel her power. Where it should have been there was nothing but a void. The feeling reminded her of not being able to hear when her ears wouldn’t pop after a plane ride. Panic rose at the horrible feeling of being cut off from one of her senses, but she stifled it with one thought; she was normal now. A smile filled with more pain than joy, pulled at the corners of her mouth.

  She stretched out cramped muscles as she stood and went to the door. After unlocking it she threw it open wide and stepped back out of the way. A man in a pale blue uniform with a ball cap pulled low over his eyes pushed a cart into the room. He looked almost subservient the way he hunched over the cart, refusing to look up. From the time she’d landed Eren noticed many of the help and maintenance workers acted this way. She figured it must be a European thing.

  Before she could turn away he held out a vase filled with red roses. “Delivery,” was all he said.

  Anger and hope warred within her as she accepted the delicate crystal vase with shaking hands. Part of her wanted Aiden to grovel at her feet and beg to have her back just so she could stomp on him while he was down. She picked the card out of the sweet smelling blossoms and tucked the vase against her side so she could open it. The fancy scrawl of her name on the outside must have been written by the florist because it wasn’t Aiden’s handwriting.

  It’s time you and I take things to the next level.—Luke

  The vase fell from Eren’s grasp and shattered on the tiled floor, sending shards of crystal and flowers everywhere. A moment later, the note fluttered down to land atop the glimmering ruins. Her heart pounded as adrenalin rushed through her body on a tsunami of fear. A dull throb started deep in her core, as if her power was trying to awaken and could
n’t. Not being able to touch it suddenly felt like she’d lost an arm.

  Reaching back, the housekeeping boy closed and locked the door, then pushed the cart aside. It seemed like he was moving in slow motion but Eren couldn’t react, she felt paralyzed. He stood up straight, took the ball cap off and tossed it aside, shaking out black hair. Eyes that looked like drops of obsidian and felt like windows to a black hole, stared at her; Luke’s eyes.

  “Miss me?” he asked with a look caught between desire and hatred.

  Eren stumbled back another step and ran into the bed. It caught her behind the knees and she fell back onto it. He started to advance slowly, as if savoring the moment and the sight of her. It made her skin literally crawl. Sprawled across a bed was the last place she wanted to be right now. She scurried backwards until she reached the other side of the bed. In a desperate attempt, she reached for her power, trying to call it up, but there was nothing there.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked in a high pitched voice. So much for putting on a brave front.

  She had to get him talking so she could figure a way out of this. From the look on his face this wasn’t going to end without a fight. Her stomach plummeted and she started to shake. Without her power, she didn’t stand a chance.

  “You’re all I think about Eren. It’s driving me crazy. I’m obsessed with a mixed blood, it’s wrong. You’re to blame for the death of my parents and still I can’t stop thinking about you,” he said as he stripped off his shirt.

  While his long-winded answer gave her time to think, him taking off his shirt made panic edge its way into her mind. The whole ‘no means no’ speech would be totally lost on him so she didn’t even try. Begging wouldn’t work either, she knew that from experience. Without looking back, she stepped off the other side of the bed. At least now it was between them.

  “This is crazy, Luke. You have a chance at a new life, a good life. Don’t mess it up by doing something you’ll regret,” she warned, though it sounded more like a plea.

  She took two slow steps back and bumped into a door knob. French doors that led onto a terrace overlooking a small garden lay right behind her. The trapped feeling started to subside a little, taking some of the panic with it. Luke shook his head and gave her a smile that made her shiver in a very bad way.

  “Oh no, I won’t regret this. We’ll finish what we started, then you’re coming with me. We have plans for you, world-changing plans,” he explained in a disturbingly calm voice.

  Fear tingled across her skin, making her stomach roil. Bile stung the back of her tongue and she had to swallow hard to keep from throwing up.

  “I’m sorry I led you on, Luke, but you weren’t truthful with me either,” she said.

  It was pointless to argue with him, she knew that. But it was working to distract him. One more tiny step to the side and she felt the doorknob beneath her hand. He smiled as his eyes trailed up her body. Though she was glad she couldn’t feel his energy, she desperately wished she could feel her own.

  “I understand. You did what you did because deep down you have feelings for me. You’re just afraid to admit it. We were meant to be together, Eren. Together we’re going to bring about a new beginning for the entire world,” Luke said.

  The fervent tone of his voice made her stomach churn even worse and she thought for a moment that she felt her power stir. God she hoped so, otherwise she was about to be raped.

  She’d rather die.

  Eren turned the knob, spun and threw the door open. The last flash of Luke’s snarling face she’d seen was enough to propel her across the balcony and over it into the darkness. The ground sped toward her as she struggled to draw on the faint thread of power that slumbered in her. A mixture of adrenalin and fear finally broke through the haze that blocked her from feeling her energy. It was still dull and slow to respond, but she managed to raise enough of it to push down at the ground and cushion her landing a little. Asphalt bit into her hands and knees, leaving them stinging, but the injuries felt minor.

  Thank goodness it had only been one story up. Only a few heartbeats later, she heard him land behind her, too close. Ignoring the pain in her hands and knees, she leaned into the wind and concentrated on her footing.

  Most of her power still slumbered which left her only one option; outrun him.

  Maneuvering around a few trees and over some bushes was easy enough, but then came a six foot fence. She leaped up, grabbed the top, and scrambled over. A horn honked and brakes squealed as she landed on asphalt. Headlights blinded her and she dove to the side. A heartbeat later a car barreled through the space she’d been in. She looked quickly left and right, then dashed the rest of the way across the street. Above her a stretched up seemingly to the sky.

  During the taxi ride over she remembered seeing a park and was pretty sure it was on the other side of this row of buildings. Rather than waste time trying to find a way through or around, she decided to go over. The street was mostly empty anyways. The angry motorist had sped off. Seeing Luke out of her peripheral vision was all the motivation she needed.

  She leaped for the fire escape ladder and missed. Footsteps pounding behind her sent panic shooting into her heart. A spark flashed inside her as her power struggled to awaken like a limb that had fallen asleep. It gave her enough energy to shove off the ground and reach the ladder. She scrambled up it and jumped up toward the next one. The angle was all wrong and she ended up barely grabbing the railing with one hand. Her power added just enough strength to her arms to allow her to pull herself up.

  This time, she jumped for the balcony up a story and over one room to the left, praying her power was awake enough to help her reach it. A small outcropping with a gargoyle perched upon it gave her enough purchase to launch herself to the peak of the roof. She started to run down the other side before she even saw the park stretched out below. To hesitate could cost everything because Luke was right on her tail. She didn’t remember him being so fast.

  There was no time to jump down balcony by balcony. Digging deep within herself, she tried to will away the dampening affect the prescription drugs had on her power. It stirred sleepily, trying to respond to her.

  “Wake up, please wake up,” she begged beneath her breath. A warm feeling started growing in the pit of her being.

  Terracotta tiles slid away dangerously close behind her. She jumped for the shadowy grounds of the park. She’d never fallen over three stories before even with full use of her power.

  The wound Aiden received on his hunting trip flashed through her memory. So did her grandfather’s words about not being impervious to injury until they reached a certain age.

  The warmth in her gut exploded out through her entire body and her power surged on the wake behind it. She felt like a drowning victim who had surfaced. By bending her knees she was able to absorb all the impact of landing. It felt like she’d jumped three feet instead of three stories. She’d managed to clear all the trees and had landed on one of the many sidewalks crisscrossing the park. It cracked beneath the impact, yet she felt nothing save for exhilaration.

  Off to the left, she could hear the soft murmurings of a couple as they meandered through the park. Not wanting to put anyone else in danger, she took off to the right, headed for the semi-cover of a line of trees. At least the increasing darkness would hide her mad flight from most onlookers. When she reached the trees she stopped for a second to try and judge how far behind her Luke was. By the press of his energy, she knew he was close, too close. The fact that she could feel his power brought tears of relief to her eyes.

  Digging in to take off, she turned toward the trees and found herself face to face with Luke. A surprised scream escaped her lips as she stumbled back.

  “You didn’t really think I wouldn’t prepare for this moment did you? I’ve been running, a lot,” he said.

  A chill flitted across her flesh that had nothing to do with the humid night. Then she remembered the sparring match at school. She could do this. She
was stronger than him.

  “I’m done running, Luke.”

  Long, dark lashes hit his face as his eyes fluttered closed. He leaned his head back and smiled. When he looked at her again, the desire that lit up his face made her cringe.

  “I’m so glad to hear that. I knew you’d come around and chose me,” he said.

  Ignoring the fear that clawed at her, Eren took a step toward him. “I would never choose you. You disgust me. I’m not running anymore because I don’t have to.”

  Pain flashed in Luke’s dark eyes. He recovered quickly and grinned as he stepped into her, now less than three feet away. “So you admit that you feel something for me.”

  The sticky feel of his power started to crawl over her. Lashing out with her own, she shoved his power back. The force sent Luke flying. He landed hard in the grass. Not willing to let him go this time, she stormed up to stand over him. Instead of the pain she had expected to see in his eyes, they were filled with desire.

  “I’m stronger than you are now. You don’t scare me,” she said, hating that her voice shook a little.

  He grinned. “Bummer, that part was so exciting.”

  Disgust gripped her and she turned her head away so he wouldn’t see how he had bothered her. Something dark flashed before her and suddenly he was pressed against her, his arms wrapped tight around her.

  “Hurt me all you want. I like it,” he said.

  Power surged into Eren’s hands and she struck him in the sides with it. His eyes widened as a cry of surprise and pain slipped from him. The pressure of his iron grip released her and he fell to the ground at her feet.

  “Oh yeah, well how do you like this?” Eren asked as she slapped her hand against his forehead.

  Puzzlement wrinkled his brow but he didn’t move away or fight her. Reaching inside herself, Eren turned her power into the force she had felt back at the high school, and started to pull his energy from him. It wiped the last fuzziness of the drug affects from her and gave her such a rush that she swayed. Luke laughed with delight, though he sounded exhausted. It was enough to make her stop and step away from him.