Channeler's Choice (15 page)

The massive weight that had settled upon her disappeared. He was right. She’d spent too much of her life already worrying about what other people thought. Back in California she had worn all the right clothes, dated all the ‘right’ guys and she’d ended up alone and friendless. It was sort of liberating to hear him say other people’s opinions didn’t matter. If he felt that way, maybe she could too.

Putting her arm around his waist, she snuggled in close against him, breathing his wonderful scent in until it filled her lungs. “Thanks.”

Finally, the urge to cry passed and she turned her attention to the sky. They were so close to the bright city lights that the stars were hard to see. It almost looked like a completely different sky out here, as though it had only a fraction of the stars they did back in Spruce Knoll. Funny, when she thought of it that way, it seemed like cities made the universe feel smaller. A year ago she never would have believed that she’d see the world this way. It was kind of disorienting how fast her life had changed.

Aiden started naming the planets and constellations he could find and she joined in.

“
I learned most of this from your grandfather,” he admitted.

“
Really? When?”

“
I worked for him at his store the last couple of summers. Before you came here.”

Once Eren got him talking about it, he didn’t stop. Guilt had been the main reason he applied to work there. Since Eren’s grandmother had been killed fighting against his parents’ murderers, he felt like he owed Zolin. But he was quick to tell her that after he started working for him, he got attached to the old Mayan channeler.

After almost an hour of talking, Aiden slid from the hood, threw his hands out, and channeled energy down into them until they were glowing green with specks of gold. His hands looked like a beacon in the darkness and Eren realized it was meant to call Fane and Caitlin back.

Flushed and grinning, they came jogging into sight a moment later. Aiden turned and gave Eren an unnecessary hand down. She wasn’t about to go all liberal and pass up the chance to touch him.

“
I’ll drive if you want to sleep on the way home,” he said.

“
That’d be great,” she admitted.

As she moved to open the door she couldn’t help but laugh at the huge smile on Caitlin’s face. Without an ounce of embarrassment, Caitlin winked as she climbed in the back seat. Since Caitlin was staying the night with her she knew she’d get the whole story later.

“
Glad to see you didn’t ruin your clothes,” Aiden said as he clapped Fane on the shoulder.

“
I’m not going to live that down am I?” Fane asked.

Eren and Caitlin laughed and the dark mood that had fallen over the night vanished. The subtle, sweet smell of columbine flowers filled the car, relaxing Eren. One of the lavender and white blossoms was tucked behind Caitlin’s ear. It reminded Eren to enjoy the simple things in life and let the bad things go. Her father taught her that. She thought of the lessons her parents had taught her a lot lately. It made her feel like maybe they weren’t completely gone.

As much as she wanted to stay awake and talk with her friends, she couldn’t. One moment she was talking about how great dinner was, the next her eyes were fluttering open as they drove into Spruce Knoll. The solar street lights glowed softly, a stark comparison to the bright lights of the big city. Eren smiled; she was home.

“
The energy of one Society member

has the ability to affect the energy of the others.

Always remain aware of this.”

~from
Life In A Society

Chapter 11

The garage door hummed as it slowly slid open, the light from within pouring out and illuminating the drive. Aiden pulled the car into Zolin’s garage and shut off the engine.

“
I can drive you guys to Aunt Sylvia’s,” Eren said.

“
Naw, it’s a nice night. We need the walk,” Aiden said.

There was a twinkle in his eyes as he looked in the rearview mirror and caught Fane’s gaze. They were up to something. Aside from Aiden staying over at Fane’s house, Eren didn’t really know what their plans were for the rest of the night. Before she could ask him, he got out of the car and came around to open her door.

The door hadn’t even latched when he took her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. It dawned on her that this was the first time he’d kissed her all night. Damn, they’d wasted all that time, she could kick herself. His lips were so soft and sweet. He was being extra gentle with her which made her think he was probably still worried about her reaction over the night’s interruption. While it was something she would be processing for a while, she didn’t want him to think it had ruined the night for her.

“
I had a great time,” she said when he pulled away.

“
You sure? I could stay a while and make you forget all about human prejudice,” he whispered against her ear before kissing it. A wonderful sensation traveled down into her navel and made her shiver.

“
I’m sure you could. But if you stay and my grandfather finds out, he might seriously think about bringing flogging back into style.”

“
If you’re holding the whip I’m open to that,” he teased

Pushing him away, Eren laughed and slapped his arm. He shot that gorgeous half-smile of his at her and lifted eyebrows. Eyes fluttering closed, he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. When he opened them again he was staring at her with a look that kind of made her think about testing her grandfather’s reaction. Very slowly, he pulled away, his fingers clinging to hers until the last possible moment.

“
Time for us to go,” Aiden said.

Fane sighed. He and Caitlin had been engaged in their own whispered conversation on the other side of the car so Eren wasn’t sure if they’d heard any of that. She knew that should make her blush, but it didn’t. Caitlin was quickly becoming the best girlfriend she’d ever had and Eren knew she could tell her everything. And, undoubtedly, that’s how the night would end.

“
See you tomorrow morning,” Aiden said as he and Fane walked backwards through the open garage door.

She watched them until they disappeared into the darkness. Since she could see the glow of their energy, it was a long time. Laughing and shaking her head, Caitlin leaned in the car and pushed the button to close the garage door.

“
Come on, let’s go drown our hormones in ice cream,” she said.

She grabbed Eren’s hand and pulled her up the stairs and into the house. Silverware clanked together from the kitchen down the hall where Zolin was humming to himself. Hearing his voice made Eren’s reluctance to leave the garage—and Aiden—fade a little. It was getting close to midnight; she could barely believe her grandfather had waited up this long for them. From the sound of his tune he didn’t seem angry, but then they were back before the curfew he’d set.

Eren skipped ahead of Caitlin and led the way into the kitchen. Three bowls and a pile of spoons were stacked on the island countertop and her grandfather had his head in the freezer. He turned around with a half-gallon of ice cream in one hand, and a can of chocolate syrup in the other. A huge smile pushed up his darkly tanned cheeks.

“
Ladies, good evening. I was just getting ready for an almost-midnight snack. Care to join me?” he asked.

Knowing full well he’d heard them come in and had probably heard Caitlin’s comment about ice cream, Eren laughed and nodded.

“
You read our minds, Mr. Y,” Caitlin said as she climbed atop a barstool.

Zolin laughed as he set the ice cream down and removed the lid. “No, my dear. I’d be a highly sought after man if I could do that.”

Once the ice cream was scooped into the bowls, they dug in. At his insistence, Eren and Caitlin told him all about the movie and dinner, leaving out the part about the woman they’d helped. That wasn’t a story Eren wanted to rehash, not yet. So far the night was ending on a good note and she wanted to keep it that way. Besides, she was pretty sure her grandfather would not be happy about such a display in front of a normal woman who could see their energy.

Before Eren could really ponder whether or not to lick the chocolate from her bowl, her grandfather deftly snuck it out from under her and added it to the others in the sink.

“
I’m sure you girls want to reminisce about the night, so you go on upstairs. I’ll clean up,” he said.

Caitlin was already on her feet but Eren was slow to rise. “Are you sure?”

Zolin leaned over and kissed her forehead. He smelled faintly of flowers. Odd, Eren didn’t remember any flowers in his green house. “Of course, dear,” he said.

Too tired to ask about it, instead Eren jumped from the barstool and followed Caitlin upstairs. When they reached the second floor, Eren smelled the sweet scent of flowers again, this time much stronger. As they came to the attic access ladder she realized the smell was coming from up there. She and Caitlin exchanged a wide-eyed look.

She followed the thick scent all the way up the ladder and into her attic suite. Sitting on the coffee table were two beautiful vases each packed tight with a dozen roses. One vase was a deep gold—nearly the same color as the striations in Aiden’s eyes—and was filled with dark red roses. Eren knew that one had to be for her. The other was a black vase filled with pink flowers; Caitlin’s beyond a doubt.

“
No way,” Caitlin cried as she went straight for the pink roses.

Colors aside, it still wasn’t hard to tell which was meant for each of them. Traces of Aiden’s green and gold power clung to the red roses and Fane’s orange energy clung to the pink roses. Eren’s hand shook as she reached for the card. This wasn’t her first bouquet of flowers from a boy, but they were the first flowers she had ever received from a guy who could be her soul mate. That made it a lot more momentous than flowers from some guy who just wanted in her pants. The words on the card brought tears to her eyes.

I love you E. You are my world. – Yours forever, Aiden

The words sank into her and clutched at her heart until her chest almost hurt. She was humbled that he cared so much about her, and completely exalted that she cared just as much about him. It amazed her that she could love someone with every atom within her.

Beside her Caitlin uttered a huge sigh as she read her own card then fell dramatically back onto the loveseat.

“
Oh Eren, we have the best guys ever,” she said.

“
Yeah, we do,” Eren agreed as she tried not to sniffle.

“
Let’s go up on the roof where your grandpa can’t hear us talk,” she suggested as she leaped back to her feet.

If she didn’t know Caitlin better she would have assumed she had also fallen asleep on the way home. But experience had taught her that Caitlin had boundless energy all the time. She had yet to find something that could wear the girl down. Tired as Eren was, the fresh night air did sound really good. She dragged herself over to the roof access ladder and followed Caitlin up.

The night air smelled and tasted wonderful, so clean in comparison to the city air. But as they walked over to the chairs beneath the pergola Eren felt something strange; no, not something,
someone
. Stopping, she scanned the area, looking for traces of energy. There it was; a faint trace of red and yellow energy that she didn’t recognize. Chills raced up her spine as she followed the trail.

Someone had jumped from another building, landed on the roof, walked to the access hatch, then left. From the pattern of the energy trail, whoever it was looked like they had been trying to find a way to get into her room. Her throat tightened and she started to shake. The night in December when she had walked Aiden home flashed through her mind. The night she thought she was being followed. And then the day she had encountered the cougar. And the letter, that dreaded letter that she hadn’t told anyone about.

“
I see it too,” Caitlin said.

Relief at Caitlin’s words flooded through her. At least that meant she wasn’t imagining it. This energy trail was proof that someone had been here, someone who had intended on entering her room.

Once they checked the roof thoroughly to make sure the intruder was gone, they collapsed beneath the pergola and Eren told Caitlin everything about the letter and being followed.