Authors: Lindsay Payton
“Whatever,” I mumbled to myself, going down the stairs and still running my fingers through my hair. No one asked where I was going, but I left Rene a note on the kitchen table saying I’d gone to the orchards to see if Meryl needed any help.
I tried to keep an even pace as I walked up the road. My heart was going a little fast, sending adrenaline through me when I spotted the line of the trees. Already I could see Linden’s car parked on the side of the road, his face pointed towards his radio. He looked up when he saw me and smiled slightly, starting his car. I took a deep breath as he slowly drove forward, stopping a few yards in front of me. He leaned over the seat and unlocked the door before I reached it. I sat down and gave him a meek smile before I shut the door.
“Thought I’d be here a little early,” he said as he put the car in reverse, “and I don’t think we should drive by your place.”
“Probably not,” I agreed as he turned around. He headed back in the direction of his house, turning off onto another road that would go around the town to the highway.
“How was your night?” he asked as he exited onto the wide, busy road. This was good; he was paying attention to traffic rather than meeting my eyes.
“Fine,” I replied. “Yours?”
He shrugged. “Pretty good.”
It felt odd just having small talk, but I guess we had to start somewhere.
“Were you okay when you got home?” he asked, glancing at me. I nodded, explaining that I’d just been in the swamp for a little while. I didn’t specify what I was doing, but he could probably guess. I’m sure he had some idea of what projecting was, or what I could possibly be doing.
“You really tired yourself out,” he commented.
I laughed, “Only a little.”
I reined myself back then; I was getting too comfortable with him again.
Remember what he is,
the Anti side of me stated.
Elemental.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes, staring at his arm. He was wearing a short sleeved white shirt, fitted to his slim frame and—
Elemental!
Right. I looked at the tattoos on his arm, all of them water-themed. That made sense since he was an Undine. Still, all the images there were so pretty . . .
I looked back at the highway, disappointed with my Pro side, the one that seemed to be dominating all of my thoughts. I had to remember; things couldn’t ever be the same as before.
“Well, we have a good hour ahead of us in this traffic,” Linden commented as he slowed down to 65. “Shall we proceed?”
He looked at me pointedly, and I stared back, confused. “With what?”
“Talking. Questions.”
Ah. He was ready to get right down to business. The Anti liked this idea.
“Okay,” I started, feeling business-like. “How about we start with Twenty Questions?”
“Fair enough,” he replied. “Who’s first?”
“You are.” Might as well have him get the ball rolling.
“All right,” he said, and paused, thinking. I watched him squint slightly as he bit his bottom lip. “Favorite color?”
I frowned, looking at him to see if he was serious. “Color?”
He nodded, waiting.
“Um . . . I don’t know, green, I guess,” I replied.
“Good choice,” he said, apparently satisfied. “Your turn.”
I took a few moments to think, immediately deciding that I couldn’t back down and ask him what was
his
favorite color. “Did you really come to our town because you inherited that house? Not just because of us?”
“That’s two for you,” he pointed out first. “And yes, I came to the town because I inherited the house. No, it was not just because of you and your family.”
“Was your great uncle an Elemental, too?”
“That’s three. Yes, he was.”
I looked at him in disbelief, closing my jaw with a click. “And he knew about Rene? And the others that lived there before her?”
“Four, five. You’re going to waste all your questions, Riley,” he said, grinning. My heart gave a pathetic jolt when he said my name. “Of course he knew about Rene, your kind always sort of emanate an aura, whether you mean to or not. We can just pick up on it easily. Yes, he knew about all other witches that lived there before you or Rene.”
“Were you taught to call us ‘witches’ or is that a personal preference? Because it’s kind of offensive,” I said, not meaning to sound so harsh.
“It’s a habit, I guess. I was sort of taught, if you want to call it that. I haven’t heard any other common names. What’s your preference?” he asked, looking at me.
“Something else . . . gifted maybe.”
Linden snorted and nudged my shoulder. My skin burned where he touched me. “Gifted? Come on, I think witch is a little more up to par.”
“Well you seem to cringe at being called an Elemental. How’s
Undine
for you?” I retorted.
“Seven! I don’t care what you call me, it’s what I am, and it’s the truth. I can’t deny I’m an Elemental, or an Undine either. Whatever you want,” he said.
I went quiet then, feeling a little defeated. He was still laughing to himself at how many questions I had asked, whereas he had only gotten in two. He insisted I sit back and let him be the interrogator for a few minutes.
His next five questions were menial and completely unrelated to our predicament. He asked what my favorite season was, my favorite genre of music, and three other meaningless things. Grudgingly, I answered them all truthfully, waiting until I got a chance at questioning again.
“Okay,” he sighed, flexing his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m done for now. Shoot.”
“Are you aware of the history between our . . . kind?” I asked, not sure what word accurately described us.
“Yes.”
I waited. “And?”
“I’ll let that one slide because it wasn’t a complete sentence.”
“Linden!”
He laughed at my annoyance, a sound that sent my Pro side into a silent thrill. I wasn’t amused for long.
“Fine,” he said when he stopped laughing. “I think I get what you’re asking. I know about the history, and I don’t care about it. That was the past, and this is now. There are no ground rules.”
“But there
are,
Linden,” I replied. “People like me—gifted—are supposed to stay away from Elementals. You’re spirits, you hover between the worlds and . . . we’re just supposed to stay
away.
”
He seemed to close off after I spoke. He looked angry, but he didn’t say anything.
“You have to know that,” I said, quieter.
“Of course I do,” he replied lowly. “But once again—don’t care.”
This put a damper on our questions, and I fell silent as he drove. He didn’t bother to go on for the moment, and I felt tension building up between us. I tried to come up with some kind of apology, but my Anti thinking assured me that this was the appropriate thing to do. He had to see the stupidity in his thinking.
I had almost forgotten what the city looked like when we finally reached it. Buildings seemed so tall even though the largest was only about ten stories. I was entranced with the sights as we exited the highway, stopping at a light at an intersection.
“You hungry?” Linden asked, the first question in a long while.
“A little,” I replied, then added, “Eight.”
He smirked a little and turned right, saying he had a particular restaurant in mind. He said he’d been there a few times before, so I trusted his word.
Turns out, it was a small diner with a 50’s feel to it complete with red vinyl booths and a black and white checkered floor. I stared through the glass as Linen parallel parked a few doors down, asking me to take a handful of change from the cup holder between us. I picked out the silver change and got out first, plugging up the meter while he locked the car.
“Hour and a half,” he said when he looked at the time the coins had given us. “Should be fine.”
“Do all Ele—people like you eat normal food?” I asked as we approached the door.
“I’d pick your questions wisely if I were you,” he suggested, holding the door open for me. “You’re running out.”
“Are you saying—” I stopped myself before I completed the question. “You’re not going to answer any questions after that.”
He smiled at my statement. “I don’t know, depends on the question I guess.”
I decided to go along with his game and was careful how to answer him thereafter. Standing in front of the counter, I had no idea what to order. I wanted to ask him for a suggestion, but instead told him to order for me as I went to search for an empty booth. Luckily, there was one left in the back corner, and I sat down immediately, facing the rest of the room. I fiddled with the mini jukebox at the end of the table, looking through the list of songs before I settled on Earth Angel. Putting in a remaining quarter I’d kept, I punched in the song code, knowing we probably wouldn’t be here to hear it.
Linden approached with two tall cups in his hand, and he slid one to me before he sat across from me.
“Chocolate malt,” he said. “You’ll like it.”
“I’ve had it before,” I said, pulling the cup closer. “I’m not that sheltered.”
He smiled around his straw as he struggled to sip the thick shake. He gave up after a second, and I resorted to taking off the top of mine, spooning it into my mouth with the end of the straw.
“Does everyone in your house know about me?” he asked, suddenly, folding his hands on the tabletop.
“I guess we’re back to questions then,” I replied.
“Right.”
I glanced around the room, for a second nervous to talk about these things. That was a caution deeply embedded in me. “I think they do. Rene was suspicious after a while, and when it was confirmed, I think she told everyone.”
Linden nodded thoughtfully, absentmindedly rubbing his arm. “And she completely hates me.”
I hesitated before answering, “Not really
you,
just what you are.”
“Which is me,” he corrected, smiling almost sadly.
We sat in silence for a few moments as Elvis hollered over the speakers. “Um—are there anymore of you in the area?”
“No Undines that I know of,” he replied. I glanced around nervously when he mentioned Undines, but no one had taken any notice. “I don’t keep tabs on anything else, just my own
kind
.”
I nodded, ignoring his emphasis.
“Why did you decide to talk to me today?”
Now he was getting into the things that would really make me feel pinned. But I wanted to tell him the truth. “I don’t know. Have you been hiding out at your house?”
“Not really,” he said, kneading the back of his neck. “I don’t really have anyone to talk to besides you.” He paused and looked at me thoughtfully. “Are you afraid of me?”
My voice hitched in my throat when I wanted to immediately answer no. My answer came out in a whisper. “Yes.” I moved on quickly before he could react. “How long will you stay in town?”
“As long as I want,” he said, grinning a little. “Am I allowed to talk to you after today?”
“I don’t know.” The truth, at least, and I kept the questions coming. “Do you want to still talk after today?”
“Yes.” An instant answer. “Is it going to have to be a secret though?”
“Yes. Can you do that?”
“Of course. Will Rene personally kill me if she knew?”
“Only after she killed me. Am I the first ‘witch’ you’ve ever talked to?”
“This personally, yes. Why did you kiss me last time I saw you?”
I felt my face pale and blush at the same time. With the slew of questions coming and going nonstop, I hadn’t even thought this might come up. Now, it felt horribly embarrassing. I couldn’t even look at him.
Thankfully a waiter appeared then to drop off our order. Linden wasn’t even phased and said thank you and asked for ketchup to go with the sweet potato fries he’d ordered for the both of us. I was still caught in mortification.
You can’t be silent forever,
I reminded myself fiercely. He was still waiting for an answer.
“I—I don’t know,” I finally said, my eyes flicking to his face and back to the table. I couldn’t read his expression.
“Hm. You don’t know . . . were you repelled in any way?” he asked.
“How many questions is that? Aren’t we done by now?”
“Don’t dodge the subject,” he said quietly. “In truth, this has really been bothering me.”
Bothering him? In what way? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t dare.
My teeth were clenched tight together, and I was torn between the truth and what I
needed
to say.
“No—I wasn’t repelled,” I replied, going with the truth.
He mulled over this for a minute before pulling a small basket of the fries towards him. “All right. But you thought it was a bad thing to do.”