The Guardian (The Gifted Book 1) (10 page)

17
School

Daen sat on the back porch, sipping his morning coffee and soaking up the energy around him. The bite of January's cold air was not going to keep him from enjoying the peacefulness of the backyard one more time before they returned to the confines of their apartment complex.

Ander stepped out onto the porch and into the cold January air. "I'll never get used to your ability to withstand the cold." Steam drifted off the surface of his coffee as he took a sip. "When are you two heading back?"

"Once Randell is ready, soon, I suspect. My stuff is already in the car."

"You know you're always welcome back if Randell becomes a pain to live with ...," Ander gave him a wink
, knowing full well Randell would never do anything to make Daen uncomfortable "... or at least to visit, if you need time away from all the young students and parties."

"I know, so don't be surprised if I show up late one night."

They'd had this conversation each time Daen and Randell had visited. And each time, Daen had promised he might show up someday.

"I haven't noticed you experiencing any attacks lately. Or are they just coming at night?"

"They've slowed a bit. And when they happen, they aren't as intense as they were, early on."

The kitchen door opened and Randell slipped out onto the porch, letting the screen door slam behind him.

Daen continued, "I was just telling Ander that the attacks haven't been as frequent or intense in the last couple days. Although I'm thankful to get a good night's sleep, I'm starting to wonder if these episodes weren't a false sign."

Ander sat
down next to Daen. "What else could it be? Stay positive. It'll happen."

Randell nodded in agreement. "You ready to head out?"

"Yeah, let's go." Daen knew they were right but he didn't want to get his hopes up. He didn't want to believe fully and then be slapped in the face with disappointment. But disappointment could come in another form as well; a question that had needled him for a long time. If he helped this woman, would he then be able to return to Luxatra? That had always been the assumption, but what if he was wrong? Would he stay here for the rest of his days?

"Ander. Thanks to you and Pam for having us for the month. It's been great." Daen extended his hand to Ander.

"Our pleasure."

Randell hugged his father
. "Thanks, Dad."

More thanks and hugs were exchanged
with Pam at the front door before they left.

~~~

Once! Rhea had seen Grennal only once while she'd been home, and now she was leaving for school. It wouldn't be until the first or second week of February that the moon would be bright enough to cast a shadow for her to visit. And that was assuming she would make the trek to see her in her dorm room.

Something must have scared Grennal two weeks
before, for her not to return. Rhea had experienced this before. On most occasions, it meant that hunters were in the area and she couldn't risk being seen.

At first Rhea
had worried excessively for Grennal's safety. Over the years, however, she'd learned to temper her emotions and had convinced herself that Grennal would always be fine. It was easy for a child to believe the worst and then turn it around and believe the best, even if neither was real.

But Rhea wasn't a child anymore
, and she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something must have happened in the last couple weeks to keep Grennal away. She mumbled, "I'm imagining things. She's fine. She's fine."

Rhea had spent the last two weeks laying low, feigning the desire to relax
, when in reality she couldn't hold a thought beyond the information she had gleaned during her one evening with Grennal. The day spent shopping with her mother had been fun, but her mother had caught her several times not hearing a word she was saying. How could she go back to school when this world wasn't hers? Would she go back to her world? Could she go back? Was there anyone to go back to, besides Grennal and the king?

The dreams came each night, some repeats of previous nights, some new. When they woke her she wrote as much as she could remember before falling asleep again. Sometimes they were violent
, leaving her screaming or throwing items from her bed. Other times scenes of rustic towns flashed through her mind before switching to dark caverns with water dripping down the walls. Sometimes there was a blue light at the end of a tunnel. When she tried to walk towards it, the tunnel closed and it was gone.

The stress of facing another roommate less
ened each night her dreams didn't end in fits of terror and her violently throwing items across the room. The more she wrote, the more control her subconscious seemed to have over the dreams. She was beginning to distance herself from the scenes that scared her, lessening her reactions.

Christine stepped into Rhea's room and noticed the suitcase packed and sitting on the floor. "You ready to go?"

Rhea closed her journal and slid it into her backpack. "Yeah. Let's go."

"You've been spending a lot of time in your journal. I remember when we had to practically force you to use it."

"I was too young back then to see the benefit. I'm older and things are different. It's helping, though. I'm sleeping better. And it's given me some great stuff for the creative writing course I'm taking this semester."

"You look better than when you first got home." Christine picked up her suitcase
. "I don't recall you mentioning a writing course."

"It's an elective. I'm hoping it will be a nice distraction from my required courses in my last semester." Rhea followed her mom down the stairs.

Brian was already in the car, warming it up for the trip. Rhea checked the time on her cell phone. She would be back in the dorm in two and half hours, two if the roads were clear of snow.

18
Skateboards

The semester was starting out great. Her first bit of good news came when she was told she wouldn't have a roommate this semester. That never happened, so Rhea wrote it off as her guardian angel looking out for her or maybe just really good luck. Her required classes were looking good as well. Mostly project-based, only a few midterms, and so far, only one course would have a final exam. She had only one more class to check out, creative writing.

She entered the second
-story classroom in the English department's building. Just like many other classrooms on campus, this one had a shiny new white board on one wall faced by rows of student desks. The instructor's desk looked like an old wooden box and was set between the white board and the students. The windows were deep set, just deep enough to create a small window seat. She'd always wanted to sit on the deep window sill and people watch while listening to yet another lecture.

Rhea took a desk in the row next to the windows so that she could have something interesting to look at if the professor was boring. As she stared out the window, the lights went out. The effect was hardly discernible
, but it was enough to make her look to the classroom entrance.

In walked a slightly graying man in a t-shirt and jeans carelessly tucked into motorcycle boots. He had long hair and a long beard. His canvas messenger bag had an image of a dark elf on the flap
, possibly signifying his interest in fantasy writing. "I'm Professor Campbell. We will not have a text for this class and you can sit anywhere you like."

Rhea got up and tested his comment by sitting
on the window sill. Nothing was said. Yep, this was going to be a good semester.

~~~

Randell walked from the English department building towards town. He was meeting a couple other professors for a meeting. The walkways were busy with students moving between classes but the weather was still too cold for students to hang out on the various stone walls that riddled the campus, performing such duties as holding in planting beds, bordering staircases, or acting as guards preventing students from falling when the terrain got steep.

As promised, Randell scanned the groups of people as best he could without drawing too much attention to himself. As he neared the student center he spied two men leaning against a wall
, watching the students as they passed by. Normally this wouldn't draw his attention, given he was supposed to be looking for a woman, but something wasn't right with them.

The first thing he noticed was their age. Although one appeared to be the age of most students, the other was older, rougher.
Furthermore, they had a predatory way of looking at people, as if they were hunting for just the right mark.

Randell didn't want them to know they'd been discovered
, so he stopped beside a large tree, using it to block their view of him. As casually as he could, he focused on them in an attempt to read their intentions. It didn't take long to see they were Luxatrans.

He'd seen dark auras before
, but nothing like this. He fumbled for his cell phone to call Daen. As he pressed Daen's speed-dial number, the two men stepped away from the wall and followed a large group of students through the glass doors.

Randell stepped from behind the tree, phone pressed to his ear, and headed for the glass doors. He tried to appear casual as he entered the building, not knowing if the two men would be watching. He didn't want to draw attention to himself.

"Hello? Hello? Randell?"

Randell scanned the area but could
n’t see where they’d gone. "Sorry. I was following two guys." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Daen, I think they were Luxatrans, gifted Luxatrans if the intensity of colors is a measure of one's gift."

Daen tensed. "Where are you?"

"The student center, but I lost them." Randell stood near the entrance, still scanning the area around him.

Daen grabbed his coat and car keys and headed for the apartment door. "Describe them and the colors."

Randell turned to resume his walk to town. "One had a dull, charcoal-like coloring and the other looked like mud. They were rough looking, long hair, ill-fitting clothes, rustic leather coats. If I hadn't seen their aura, I would have guessed they were some Appalachian locals come to campus."

Daen exited the apartment building and ran towards his truck. "Think. Did anything about their attire seem out of place?"

Randell mentally scanned the scene in his memory. "Yeah, come to think of it, their coats weren't something you would buy in just any store and they each wore a pouch on their hip, similar to the one you wore when you first arrived."

He started the truck. "Do you think they were armed?"

"I couldn't tell. Their coats were open only a small amount. I couldn't see much other than the pouch and their clothes, which are from here."

Balancing his phone between his shoulder and ear, Daen back
ed out of the parking space. He could hear that the background noise on Randell's end had changed. "Where are you now?"

"Walking into town. I have to meet some colleagues. I'm already late."

Daen pulled out of the apartment complex. "I'm coming to town. When and where can you meet me?"

Randell glanced at his watch. "A couple of hours; let's say 4:00 at the lower entrance of the student center."

"I'll see you then." Daen closed his phone and headed for town, hoping to get a parking spot on the street. If Randell was right and these men were Luxatrans, what were they doing here? Given the recent changes in his sleeping patterns, he knew he couldn't ignore Randell's observations.

~~~

Rhea entered the student center with her fellow resident advisers, RA's for short. Money was tight, not an uncommon situation for students, but she had been lucky over the past few years and had gotten a dorm room. This year she was the RA and got a small stipend for being the authority figure on the hall. Lucky for her, because she didn't hit the lottery for a dorm room this year and without this job, Rhea would've had to find an apartment, something she couldn't afford.

As they walked towards the stairs that led to the meeting rooms, Rhea leaned towards her friend Beth. "I'll be right there; I'm going to get something to drink before the meeting."

"I'll come with you."

They broke from the group and headed for the food court. Rhea's stomach growled as the smell of fast food permeated the air.

Beth looked at Rhea with wonder. "Was that you?"

Rhea placed her hand over her stomach. "I didn't get lunch. I guess I'm hungrier than I thought."

Beth glanced at her watch. "We have time. Let's get something to eat."

They stepped up to Au Bon Pain cafe. As they waited in line, Rhea
began to feel uneasy, as if someone was watching her. She slowly glanced around the food court, looking for a familiar face or for some other reason for the strange feelings she was getting. As quickly as the feeling came to her, a moment later it was gone.

Rhea shuddered, chills running through her body. If she
’d been dead, she would have sworn someone had just walked on her grave.

Beth noticed Rhea's behavior and followed her gaze. "Are you okay? Do you see someone?"

"No. I just thought ... never mind." Rhea stepped up to the counter and placed her order.

~~~

Daen had spent the last two hours wandering the student center and the surrounding area, but saw no one meeting Randell's description. Now he paced to and from the edge of town on College Avenue, waiting for Randell to show.

He checked his watch, 3:55. He turned to walk towards town again,
and this time was rewarded with the appearance of his closest friend. Randell stepped into the street to cross to Daen's side.

Randell could see disappointment and frustration on Daen's face. "I take it you didn't find them."

"No." Daen stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and scanned the area once more.

Some activity at the student center door caught Randell's attention. A group of people exited just as a skateboarder raced by, startling a few members of the group. A flash of blue light sparked from the center of the group and then disappeared.

Randell grabbed Daen's arm. "I just saw something."

Daen spun around to look in the direction Randell was watching. "What?"

Randell answered, "A flash of a blue light. It was faint but it was there."

Daen scanned the area as the large group broke into smaller groups and headed back into campus. "Who was it?"

"I can't tell. There are too many people." Randell concentrated on each group as quickly as he could, but nothing stood out. Randell shrugged, "I got nothing."

Daen ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "Now what?"

A man and woman walked by as they were talking. Their sideways glances conveyed they were curious about the language they were hearing. Randell and Daen were used to the occasional stares but ignored them. Daen had always encouraged Randell to speak Aduraun in his presence, wanting Randell to speak it fluently, just in case it was needed. Randell didn't mind. If his hopes of going to Luxatra were to be met, he needed to speak Aduraun with ease.

Randell stepped towards the student center. "Come on, let's walk around a little. Maybe I'll spot them." They spent the next hour looking in every unlocked room in the student center they could find but didn't see them.

Next, they headed into town to check out the bars and restaurants. The men had to eat; maybe they would get lucky.

"Daen? What do we do if we see them or they see us?"

Daen stopped dead in his tracks. "Um." Daen was forgetting where he was. He wasn't a guardian here. He couldn't just capture and interrogate without getting the wrong kind of attention.

Randell asked, "And who do you think they are? Why would two Luxatrans be here?"

Almost to himself, Daen said, "Yes. Why would ..." As he considered Randell's question, he had an epiphany. "The two men; you say they were leaning against the outside wall of the student center and then followed a group of people into the building. Then, a couple hours later, a large group of people came out and that's when you saw the blue light."

"Yeah. What are you thinking?"

Daen asked, "Is there a way to find out what groups were meeting today?"

Randell shrugged. "I suppose I can. Why?"

"What if they didn't just decide to go into the building? What if they followed someone?"

Randell considered what Daen was saying. "Do you think they were following the person I saw?"

Daen rubbed a hand over his chin, scanning the street and walkway, as if looking for answers. "It's possible. If I was in Luxatra and my patrol saw two men meeting your description standing around, watching people, and then suddenly following a group into a building, we would assume they were trackers. Or I should say hunters. Some Luxatrans can sense other gifted Luxatrans. Sometimes they become what you might call guns for hire. Those who use their gifts for selfish reasons tend to have colors that are dark and flat."

"You're thinking they're hunters after someone from Luxatra?"

Daen shrugged. "I'm guessing, but I think it's a reasonable assumption for now. If I'm right and they're hunting someone, that person is in danger. Hunters are not the type you want to mess with if you're untrained."

Randell could read Daen's next thoughts. "They're tracking the woman you'
re here to help, aren't they? Do you think it's the trackers you've been sensing instead of the woman?"

Daen shook his head. "I don't think so. Tracking isn't an active power
, or at least not like what I've been feeling. If anything, it's her and she's defending herself."

Randell looked confused. "But in the middle of the night?"

Daen chewed his lower lip before sharing his thoughts. "You're right. That is odd." He threw his hands into the air. "Hell, I don't know. Nothing has felt right since I've been here. I've felt the Libraim twice, I've been crushed by an invisible force, I'm here to help someone I don't even know, and now you're telling me there are two Luxatran men in this world." Daen ran his hands through his hair and pulled.

Randell didn't know what to say. He didn't know how Daen managed his anger and frustration
, given what had happened, and what was happening. He checked his watch. "Let's go see if we can find out who had meeting rooms reserved or if there was a special event being hosted today. Then we can check out the town."

Randell and Daen headed for the administrative offices for the student center. Thirty minutes later they had a list of events that had taken place that day. The list was long. In some instances rooms were booked by organizations and
in others simply by a student's name.

Randell scanned the list as they walked towards the building
's exit. "I'm not sure this is going to give us what we want. Do you have any idea how many people have used the student center today? And this doesn't include groups that just show up and a use a room they haven't booked or camp out in one of the open spaces." Randell handed the list to Daen.