Extraordinary (20 page)

“See, safe and sound,” he said, pointing up the hill to James’s house.

I looked at Tristan with a raised eyebrow. His notion that a quick glance at the exterior of James’s home would reassure me was almost laughable. Thankfully, he was a fast learner and without a word he began the trek up the hill.

I walked behind him. There was no view of him not incapacitating. My eyes ran a path from his alluring bed head, down the insanely mesmerizing inverted triangle of his shoulders and torso, stopping as I reached his lower half, certain that my mind would wander off a cliff.

This was why he lived here and I lived in Knox; because being with him was a dangerous distraction.

Without much of a plan or a heads-up, our rag-tag group of mystical do-gooders was about to face an evil opponent who didn’t care if we lived or died, much less if we returned home. Our bodies were gradually weakening with each passing hour thanks to a discriminating atmosphere designed to kill Haliwick trespassers. There was enough against us without me getting sidetracked.

I hiked the rest of the driveway with my eyes on the ground.

“I’m going to use my key and try not to wake him,” Tristan said as we approached the front door.

Haliwick was silent in the pre-dawn hours. Our breathing was the only sound for miles until Tristan turned the key. Compared to the early morning hush, the bolt’s click was thunderous. Tristan pushed the door open without a creak.

I had yet to master the art of stealth, especially around Tristan, so I decided to stay put. I lingered in the foyer while he jogged upstairs to check on James. The impulse to peek behind the closed doors in the hallway was tough to resist.

Tristan sauntered down the staircase displaying a silent thumbs-up before my urge to snoop overcame me.

“I’ll bet you’ve never given a thumbs-up before in your life,” I said.

“Did I not do it right?” he asked, closing the door behind us.

“No, it was fine. I have done many unusual things lately. I blame Sadie for most of it. You know, I actually skipped the other day. Yep, just skipped right along behind her.”

“She seems to have that effect on people. Her personality is fascinating. Maybe we could all learn a bit from her.”

“I already have. I was in such a dark place when she arrived on my doorstep. Without much effort, she had me talking about my mom and acting like a teenager again. Of course, being rescued by a handsome stranger helped a little.”

Ugh. Why did I say that?

He smiled timidly reminding me of the first time I saw him in that field of flowers. I’d noticed rugged confidence in that stranger and now I could see it again despite his bashfulness.

I felt the tears begin to well up behind my eyes. I put a stop to them at once. There was no reason to cry. I had been through it before. One way or another people would leave. Only this time, it would be me.

“Now that you know James is safe, you should try to relax,” Tristan said. “We are almost home...”

A rustling in the trees diverted him. Quite frankly, I had stopped listening anyway.

Tristan maneuvered himself directly ahead of me with one arm extended behind him, holding onto my left side. I clutched his back and peeked over his shoulder, not because I was frightened but because he wanted to protect me and I wanted to let him.

I had the benefit of having a legitimate reason to be close to him without confusing things. Surprisingly, I liked how it felt to let go and lean on someone else for a change.

Even if the leaning was physical rather than emotional.

We shuffled towards Tristan’s house without a single stumble. His patio lights glowed dimly in the distance. We increased our speed from a shuffle to a full-on sprint. When we were nearly out of the tree line, several dark figures stepped onto the trail in front of us.

Our abrupt halt stirred a cloud of dust between our visitors and us. The sun had not yet begun to rise, which further impeded visibility. The faint outline of at least five people blocking our path emerged as the dirt began to settle.

“Do you think they saw us?” I whispered.

“I think they were waiting for us.”

From somewhere behind us, more brush crackled under the weight of unknown footsteps. My entire body twisted around to stand back-to-back with Tristan.

“Tristan, we are surrounded. What should we do?”

“How are you at throwing a punch?” he asked, hopefully joking.

****

Chapter Sixteen

Blaze pounced from his hiding place in the tree line without warning, like a Marine on a stealth mission. Tristan placed a hand over my mouth to quell the scream about to erupt from my lungs.

“Where did you come from?” I asked, slapping Blaze on the arm. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“I heard you guys leave,” he said. “When you weren’t back I decided to look for you.”

“That was stupid, Blaze,” I said. “You shouldn’t be out here alone. Wait! Why didn’t I see this coming?”

“What? Me jumping out of the bushes?”

“The attack,” I said. “Why didn’t I see this?”

“Katerina must have found a loophole,” Tristan said. “This is why some people are secretive about their abilities. It would be easy for someone to use it against them or work around their power.”

“Or she blocked my power,” I said. “Maybe that’s why I couldn’t see her coming when she attacked us at my house.”

Blaze extended his hand using his newfound ability to illuminate our path. The once dark figures were now clearly visible and their presence grew to be even more terrifying. Their stares proved they could see us too.

“Or maybe stop dwelling on trivial issues and make a plan,” Blaze said, noticeably annoyed by our irrelevant conversation.

“I’m thinking we fight them,” I said confidently.

Blaze and Tristan’s perplexed stares virtually bored a hole into each side of my face. I paid no attention. My sight was directed on the threat ahead of us. Maybe it was knowing that my injuries would heal at rapid speed or maybe I was tired of running, but either way, I would not go quietly.

“I’m with you, Alex,” Sadie said, emerging from somewhere behind us.

“Sadie? What are you doing here?” I asked. “Does anyone sleep anymore?”

“Relax. I just walked outside a minute ago and saw a commotion so I snuck over. Let’s see what we can do!”

Tristan and Blaze were still speechless. It must have been our display of bravery...or they thought we had lost our minds. I glanced up at Blaze expecting a disconcerting expression but instead received a proud grin.

I winked at him and Tristan, and then started the walk toward our foes.

Where I mustered the confidence to produce a wink much less orchestrate a battle was a mystery. This was a side of me I hoped to see more often.

“We don’t have to beat them we just need to hold them down long enough to get onto my property,” Tristan said. “Just get to my house.”

Full of confidence and enthusiasm, our small army marched in the direction of our opponents. Once the space between our enemies and us was reduced to several feet, my siblings, Tristan, and I spread out, positioning ourselves across the width of the dirt road, several feet apart.

The small sphere of energy hovering in Blaze’s hand grew to three times its original size. I wanted to stare in fascination but somehow managed to keep myself on task. Blaze hurled the blue glow at our attackers like a bolt of lightning.

Three men were thrown back several yards and landed awkwardly on the ground. The remaining men, seemingly unfazed, ran toward us as three more large men, who were hiding in the darkness, joined the fight.

Blaze easily removed one of them with a single punch. Utilizing his quick reflexes, Blaze ducked just as a second attacker leapt at him. Sadie ran to his side, hypnotizing the assailant within seconds. Blaze was now free to pummel the guy’s face.

“Blaze, that’s enough,” she said.

With a wave of her hand, the beaten man was released from Sadie’s spell. He collapsed onto the dirt with a thud.

Tristan fended off two attackers with his own strength and force. Even in battle, I found myself in awe of him. Like a perfectly rehearsed dance routine, Tristan bobbed, jabbed, and swayed. His opponent, unable to predict his next move, floundered and became sloppy. The man threw punches in the air, lunged but never hit, until he had tired himself out and Tristan ended it.

I spent a moment too many in awe and nearly missed one of the men lunging at me. I squatted and rolled across the width of the path hoping to escape long enough to regain my composure. My aggressor somersaulted over to me and was on his feet with no interruption. Before his brain could register what to do next, I heaved a punch with frightening force. Frightening, at least, to me.

“Nice, Alex,” Tristan said, running to my side.

It seemed Tristan found time to notice me, too.

I scanned the area, finding not one man left standing. Sadie and Blaze passed through the dust cloud concealing their position. All of us were intact and nauseatingly impressed with ourselves.

“N
ow run!” Tristan yelled.

No one challenged his command. We collectively dashed toward Tristan’s house at breathtaking speed. An opportunity for a foot race did not come around often for me these days, so just for kicks, I pushed myself to arrive before Tristan or Blaze.

Our swiftly moving feet hardly made a sound on the ground beneath us. I reached the patio, narrowly avoiding crashing through the glass door, when I heard Sadie’s scream. Twenty or additional men had surrounded us. Positioned several yards away, they did not seem to be moving any closer. 

“What are they doing?” I asked. “They are just standing there waving and screaming.”

“They can’t come through,” Tristan said, taking a seat. “My house is protected. We are safe here. They can’t even hear us through the barrier.”

“But what about James?” I asked. “Why isn’t his house protected? Won’t they go after him?”

“I knew you’d worry about that so did a spell while I was upstairs,” he chuckled. “I had started to yesterday but we had to leave before I could finish. James may be too frail to help us against Katerina but threatening him would bring more trouble than she or her minions care to deal with. Trust me, he’s safe.”

Of course, I trusted him. How could I not trust any of the three people next to me? In a few days, we had been through numerous intense situations and each of these people had more than proven themselves.

Tristan went from a stranger in my dreams to a stranger who took us into his home and risked his life for our safety. If he lived in Knox, the thought of him would have really frightened me. There would be no excuse to keep him at arm’s length and no reason to ignore my feelings.

That was almost as scary as the thought that we could die here.

“So can I just brag a bit on the little sis’?” Blaze said. “You two definitely do not fight like girls.”

“Who knew, right?” I said. “I just had a feeling we would win so I figured we should go for it. Not that we had much of a choice.”

A compliment from Blaze was the greatest compliment of all. To do so involved him revealing an actual emotion and meant he stopped brooding long enough to notice you. My ego soared.

“Tristan, you didn’t do so bad yourself,” Blaze said. “Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“You.”

The celebration came to a confused halt.

“How’s that?” Blaze asked.

Tristan rose from his chair and immediately committed to an angst-ridden pace around the patio. Had Tristan cracked a joke or simply laughed, I would have never thought anything about his remark. Instead, we waited in silence, sensing that this explanation involved contemplation and courage. Plus, now Blaze’s question was the only thing on our minds.

“When we met you asked what I could do,” Tristan explained. “Now that I am comfortable with you all, I can answer that.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” I said. “Your abilities are personal, please don’t feel obligated.”

“I don’t mind,” he said, then pausing. “Basically, I can take on abilities of those around me. I cannot use abilities specific to that person such as Alex’s visions or Sadie’s hypnosis but I can feed off your strength and speed.”

“Why were you afraid to tell us?” Sadie asked.

“At first it was because I did not know you but then James and I had a conversation yesterday. The only way to get you all home is with Katerina’s powers.”

“So you have to take her powers?” Sadie asked. “That doesn’t seem so bad, why do you look nervous?”

He resumed pacing back and forth across the bricked patio, one hand in his pocket and one nervously combing through his hair. I already feared the worst.

“Tristan, just tell us,” I said.

“There is a difference between good power and evil power; more so than just the obvious. Good is a genetic gift but evil is obtained through darkness and the two can’t mix.”