Channeler's Choice (38 page)

“
I know how lame it sounds, but that wasn’t what it looked like. Bridget tricked me. I’m so sorry, I never should have let her near me,” Aiden said in a desperate flow of words.

“
I know. I beat the truth out of her. You have to get to Europe. Luke isn’t coming here, he’s going there. His whole plan was to get Eren to go without you,” Caitlin said.

Aiden didn’t want to process her words. This was heading somewhere very, very bad and he knew he wouldn’t like understanding it. But he had to, for Eren’s sake.

“
How could he know we were going?” Aiden asked. A horrible realization struck him. “Bridget told him.” The cold, merciless tone of his voice sent a thrill of fear through him. The dark thoughts of what he wanted to do to her were followed by a wave of guilt. But he had no time for guilt.

“
Where’s Eren?” he demanded.

“
Already on a plane to Edinburgh,” Fane said.

“
I have to get there, now.” He tried to leap to his feet, but Zolin and Alin restrained him.

“
We’ll get you there, son, but calm down, you’ve lost far too much blood to move yet. We couldn’t get an earlier flight so there’s no point in rushing. Sylvia will be here soon and she’ll drive you to the airport,” Alin explained in a placating tone.

“
No!” Aiden roared as he dropped his head into his hands.

Both Caitlin and Fane surged forward and touched him. Their energy poured over him in a wave that cooled his anger and helped him focus. A few deep breaths later and his panic was all but gone. He nodded at them then turned his attention to a very shocked Alin and Zolin.

Alin closed his gaping mouth and shook his head. “How did you kids know to do that?” he asked.

“
Instinct,” Fane answered with a shrug.

Caitlin grabbed Fane’s hand and nodded to Alin. Zolin and Alin looked at each other with wide eyes. In that moment, Aiden was so proud of them that it hurt.

“
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 couldn’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.