Channeler's Choice (17 page)

Every inch of Eren’s skin crawled as if she was being stung millions of times from the inside out. Each step up the stairs leading to school increased the burning sensation. With fury screaming through her every nerve, it wasn’t easy holding back her power. The way kids rushed aside made her think maybe more than a little was leaking out. She couldn’t help it, worse, she didn’t care to.

She was beyond sick of people lying to her and keeping secrets. When she came into her power last summer she thought the time for keeping her in the dark was over. From her family she could take it; had come to expect it in fact. But from Aiden it hurt too much.

The double doors to the school’s main entrance were sucked open by her power the moment she thought about reaching for them. Part of her was astounded that she could do such a thing, but another part was angry because it made her feel like someone other than who she was. The turmoil inside her made her power even harder to control.

Walking into the crowded main hall felt downright biblical. Everyone parted in two great waves, pressing up against the lockers to get out of her way. Those who weren’t paying attention or just didn’t move were shoved aside by the blue aura that preceded Eren.

She knew she should stop herself, try to control her power. But right and reason had fled sometime last night when she had decided she was sick and tired of secrets. It was one thing for her grandfather and Sylvia and Alin to keep this from her, but Aiden should have told her. Just thinking about it made her blood burn through her veins faster.

A girl squealed as Eren’s power shoved her aside and sent her crashing into a group of kids pressed against the lockers. People were scrambling to get away from her now, their faces filled with fear.

One person stepped away from the lockers, right into the onslaught of her power. Familiar hazel eyes cut through her anger and threatened to douse it, but she shrugged off their affect. Letting her power crackle across the handsome body hidden beneath the drab gray sweatshirt was easier than it should have been. By the tightness around his eyes, and the way his jaw clenched, it was obvious her power was hurting him. Still, she did not care, and that kind of made her want to die.

If this was what a channeler really was, why would anyone choose it? It made no sense to her.

“
How could you not tell me, Aiden?” Eren demanded.

Confusion clouded his eyes and his brow creased. Her anger flared hotter. How could he not know what she was talking about? Was there something else he was keeping from her? Power surged within her like a wave, ripping through the long sleeves of her jacket, and before she could think about stopping it, it washed over him. A gasp tore from him and he stumbled back a step, but amazingly, withstood the pressure.

“
Tell you what?” he asked, a bit breathless.

“
That I had a choice, that I don’t have to be this way,” she said, gesturing at the blue glow that leaked from her arms and hands.

Almost everyone had cleared out of the hallway, but a few lingered around the corner, peering around it to watch. Eren was beyond caring if they had an audience. It had never mattered to her what these kids thought—so she told herself—and it mattered even less now.

Aiden’s shoulders slumped and his gaze fell to the floor. “Oh, you mean the pills,” he said so quietly she could barely hear him even in the silent hallway.

The vulnerable tone of his voice didn’t take the edge off her anger. She advanced on him until there was scarcely a foot of space between them. Chest heaving with the deep, ragged breaths she was sucking in, she waited for him to look at her. When he wouldn’t, she used her power to force his chin up. Anger filled his wide eyes and she realized what she’d done. His adopted father had used his power on Aiden like that. Her anger faded a little beneath a wave of guilt.

“
How could you not tell me? And don’t say because it wasn’t your place,” she said.

A thrill of satisfaction shot through her as he flinched. His eyes narrowed and the skin between them pinched together. Hostility flowed off him in waves, biting along her skin.

“
How could you even consider it? It isn’t a choice, it’s who you are,” he said in an acidic tone.

The pressure coming off him, combined with his words, shoved her back a step. His face went smooth as glass as the anger drained from it, leaving him looking hurt. She couldn’t stand that look, no matter how mad she was at him. Shaking her head, she took another stumbling step back.

“
Who I decide to be
is
my choice,” she said, hating how her voice broke on the last word.

Sparks shot through Aiden’s power like pulses of lightning. It suddenly became unbearably hot and Eren couldn’t stand to be close to him. She spun and ran back down the hall. The pressure and heat eased with each step she took away from him. He didn’t call out to her, and he didn’t follow, she would have known, she would have felt it.

Faces leered at her from around corners and behind classroom windows. Her power flared out toward them and she couldn’t stop it so she ran faster. Shoved by her power, the doors flew open and daylight spilled into the hallway. Squinting against the glare and the sting of tears, she plunged outside. With no more than a thought, power poured into her legs and launched her from the top of the stairs to the sidewalk below. She hit the ground running and didn’t look back.

“
Any good Society has a foundation of honesty.

Like any family, secrets can destroy it.”

~from
Life In A Society

Chapter 14

Power built inside Aiden until he felt like an engine that had revved too high for too long. The energy wanted out so bad that every inch of his skin hurt from holding it in. But he couldn’t move, not even when the doors swung shut behind Eren.

A bell shrilled overhead, making him jump. Before the hall could fill with kids, he slammed his locker shut and ran down the hall after her. Someone stepped in his way and only his quick reflexes and a smooth side-step stopped him from plowing them over. Whoever it was started running after him. Fingers grasped at his shirt but slipped free as he sped up.

“
Aiden wait, let her go,” Bridget said.

Of course it would be her.

With a snarl pulling up one side of his mouth, he glanced back at her. “Stay out of this.”

She flinched and pulled back as if he’d struck her. But he hadn’t, or at least he didn’t think he had. The way his power was surging out around him, it was possible. All the more reason to get away from her. The doors blew open for him the same way they had for Eren. Her energy trail veered around the side of the school and went back toward the forest. Pushing power into his legs, Aiden tore across the grass, leaving the school, and Bridget, quickly behind.

The shade of the spruce trees offered relief from the sun but failed to cool the rising heat of his frustration. Already, Eren’s blue energy trail was fading into the ferns that huddled around the forest path. Soon it was hard to tell her trail from the shades of green energy the plants and trees gave off. She was just too fast for him.

“
Eren come back!” His voice echoed up through the tall trees but his call went unanswered.

Vibrations started deep inside him, growing until he was shaking so bad his steps faltered. Holding the power in was like trying to retain an inferno that was burning him up from the inside out. He stumbled into a clearing dotted with sapling trees and fell to his knees among them. There was no sign left of Eren or her energy trail. He had lost her. The only thing he had let himself love in sixteen years, was gone.

A sob tore from him. “Please don’t leave me!”

Green energy flecked through with gold, started to leak from his pours. The power, the pain, the fear, it was all too much to hold in. With the last bit of strength he had, he touched the place inside him that controlled the power and he turned it into a healing force. Falling forward, fingers digging into the grass, he focused as much of the energy as he could down through his arms and into the earth. Green and gold was all he could see as the power flowed out of him. Not a good sign. It meant his control had slipped considerably.

The ground shook, jostling him about. That had never happened before.

When his vision cleared, he looked down to see his sweatshirt in tatters. A short-lived relief filled the void inside him that the massive channeling had left. Once he could think again past the rush of channeling, he was left with only despair.

It was darker out than it should have been. Concern clawed its way up his back, leaving his skin tingling and his power stirring again. Shapes towered around him. Panic tried to crawl up his throat but he swallowed hard to keep it down. An irrational part of his mind thought of his adopted father hovering over him as he clamped iron shackles onto his wrists. It was stupid, he knew. The man was dead and couldn’t hurt him anymore. Still, the memory refused to go away until he blinked the remaining blurriness from his eyes and saw what surrounded him.

Spruce trees with trunks several feet thick grew all around him. They were so tall they looked to be hundreds of years old. Their needle-laden boughs blocked out all but a few rays of sunlight that managed to filter through. It didn’t make sense. He’d been in a meadow when he collapsed. Unless…

“
It’s not possible,” he murmured.

There had been
something
in the meadow; saplings. He withdrew his hands from grass that was now up to his elbows, and turned his palms over to stare at them. No one had that kind of power.

“
I couldn’t have done this.”

“
But you did,” Fane’s voice came from high above him.

Craning his head back, Aiden searched the trees. Were it not for the orange glow of Fane’s energy drawing Aiden’s eyes, he wouldn’t have found him. He was at least one hundred and fifty feet up a tree.

“
How did you get up there?”

“
One moment I was running after you, jumping over saplings, the next one sprung up like a fairytale beanstalk and caught me in it.” Though Aiden couldn’t see Fane’s expression, his incredulous tone told him it was comical.

“
Sure, it’s funny from down there.”

A flash of blue sky through the green needles reminded Aiden of Eren’s energy. His heart was so heavy he didn’t think he’d ever be able to stand again, despite Fane’s smart wit.

Spruce boughs rustled overhead and the tall grass was blown down beneath the force of Fane’s power as he landed. His hand came to rest on Aiden’s shoulder. Tears stung Aiden’s eyes. If he lost Eren, he also lost Fane. He’d never had a best friend and now he couldn’t imagine being without him.

“
You have nothing to worry about, you know. Even if she chooses to suppress her power, she’ll still choose you,” he said.

The led curtain of despair lifted slightly from him, but Aiden was reluctant to allow hope in yet. Unable to speak, he let the silence draw out.

“
Unless you don’t want to be with her if she isn’t a channeler.”

His wide eyes filled with the sight of Fane as he looked up. The black curls of hair around Fane’s face hid his expression for the most part, but Aiden could tell by his rigid posture that he was cautious.

“
That doesn’t matter, of course that doesn’t matter. I want to be with her no matter what.”

Fane’s shoulders relaxed and he smiled as he extended his hand to him. “Good, because Eren loves you and that isn’t something she gives out lightly. You’re like a brother to me and I’d hate to have to kick your butt if you hurt her,” he said.

Warmth filled Aiden. “Really? A brother?” he asked as he let Fane pull him to his feet.

Fane’s grin widened. “Of course, but you should know that all ready.”

And just like that, the despair and tension was gone.

“
Alright, little bro, let’s go get my lady an apology gift. What do you think she’ll like?”

“
That shirt is bound to impress her.”

They laughed and for a moment the weight of the world was bearable.

In only a few steps Fane turned around and looked back at the newly grown trees, shaking his head. “That’s amazing, I didn’t even know we were capable of such a thing.”

A different kind of weight came crushing back down on Aiden. His eyes were drawn to the massive trees that still hummed with his energy.