Flutter (The Discover Series) (61 page)

I didn’t actually expect that to work.

I was born the opposite of normal, and because of that I couldn’t be normal if I tried. I had abilities for freakin sake! What sort of abilities, I was still unaware of, but I knew the answers were waiting for me in the other room.

I could feel Andres’ presence all around.  It could have been my imagination playing tricks on me.  Maybe because I was aware of the so-called power I only
thought
I could feel Andres, except the harder I tried to focus on what I was feeling, the more I doubted that it was just in my head.  I could feel the hurricane of emotions spinning around on the other side of the door. He was anxious, nervous, scared, sad, happy, excited. The impact of his reflections was making me dizzy; he was all over the place.

Sitting up, I tried to block out Andres and his emotional rollercoaster ride, and just focusing on preparing myself for everything he was about to unleash on me.

Getting out of bed, I walked into the bathroom and examined what was left of my clothes. I touched the frayed edges of the handprint and pieces of the fragile fabric crumpled, falling away. Pulling the shirt over my head, I tossed it to the ground, no hope left that it was salvageable.

My breath caught as I examined the marks across my belly and arms. They were faint in color, even the one from a couple of weeks ago, but they still were disturbing to see. I ran my fingers over the ones on my stomach and there was only a slight reaction from them, the pain lessening as time went by. After turning on the shower, I quickly discarded the rest of my clothes and slipped under the water.

Forty minutes later I stood in front of my bedroom door, dressed, and ready to face Andres. There was no flutter igniting under my skin and I knew that Andres was alone. I didn’t know if I was relieved or upset about that fact. In my head I was upset with Adan, but my body was betraying me, aching for Adan, making it hard to be a hundred percent angry with him.

Turning the door knob, I walked out of the room in search of Andres. He was exactly where I thought I would find him; the kitchen. He was standing by the counter, staring out the window above the sink, gazing out into the woods. I was afraid to look in that direction. Afraid that maybe he would be staring at the horrible black fog.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore.”

Placing one knee on the table’s bench, I placed my hand on the edge, and leaned into it.

“You can hear my thoughts too?” I asked, annoyed at yet another intrusion.

He turned to look at me. “No, but I can sense your…fear.”

I felt embarrassed. It was basically the same. My feelings were no longer private.

“Is there anyway to not do that?
Sense
my emotions?” I fidgeted with my hair, pulling it over my shoulder, twisting it.

“I can work on it. I’ve spent most of your life doing it.”

             
I folded myself on the bench. “Why?”

             
“It was my job to make sure you were always okay.” He said simply.

             
I nodded. “Maybe you can just limit it. Only…
sensing
,” it was hard to wrap my mind around that, “when I’m in trouble?”

             
“Of course. It will be easier once you learn to control what you want, and don’t want, to share. Right now, your feelings are very loud.”

             
I blushed. “Awesome.”

             
He let out a little chuckle. “It will get easier.”

             
I didn’t know how to respond to that. “I feel like I’m in shock.”

             
“That’s understandable.” He said.

             
“Once the shock wears off, I won’t be so calm about this.”

             
“I know.”

             
As long as we were on the same page
, I thought.

             
“I know you have a lot of questions.” He started.

             
I blew out a breath. “Understatement of the
century
.”

             
“I promised I would explain everything, and I will.”

             
“Good.”

             
“I should have done it weeks ago,”

             
It probably wasn’t the time to tell him ‘DUH!’

             
“How are you feeling? Stronger, I hope?”

             
“A lot stronger, actually.”

             
It was true. I hadn’t felt the nagging exhaustion that haunted my body the last few weeks.

             
“Good.” He said.

             
“Well, we might as well get the elephant out of the room. I don’t know if I can take much more of this awkward back and forth.”

             
He laughed. “Let’s go into the living room.”

             
I went to get up, and at the same time the door bell rang.

Adan
.

My heart skipped a beat at the thought of him.

             
“No, it’s not him.” Andres said.

             
Grrr, that was going to get old, like yesterday!

             
“Sorry.” He said, drawing my thoughts back to what he said about controlling my emotions, trying my hardest to reel them in.

             
Of course it wasn’t Adan. There was no flutter.

             
“Are you expecting someone?” I asked him.

             
His face looked tight, and I got the impression he already knew who was on the other side of the door.

             
“No.” he said.

             
“Who is it?” I asked, looking between him and the door. How long were we going to let them wait? I wondered.

             
“This is not how I wanted to tell you Sara, but it doesn’t look like I have a choice anymore.” He was walking into the living room and
toward
the door as he spoke.

             
I followed him, feeling an uneasiness warming my belly. “What are you talking about?”

             
“I’m sorry,” was all he said before pulling open the door. I walked around until I could see who was standing on the other side.

             
“This is a surprise.” Andres said, and I frowned at his tone of voice. “Please, come in.”

             
I leaned against the wall, not sure why I had an attitude for the obviously unwanted guests, but I did.

             
Andres moved aside, an older woman stepping inside. I couldn’t explain the need to stand up straight, or the need to look prim and proper. She was beautiful. Her long, auburn hair was braided over her shoulder, and I swear there wasn’t a strand out of place. Her skin was tanned and flawless. I couldn’t explain the familiarity of her eyes. Her clothes seemed ordinary, a baby doll pink sweater, with pearl colored buttons, and grey slacks, but they looked out of place on her, like she needed to be surrounded by extravagant layers of lace and silk.

             
I didn’t feel comforted by the way she looked at me. The minute our eyes met it felt as if she already hated me without an actual reason. She turned away, breaking the eye contact, looking to her companion.

             
The girl who followed was younger, my age if I had to guess, and was just as beautiful. Her hair wasn’t as long, bangs covered her forehead, layers framing her face, but the color was considerably similar. Same flawless skin tone, she was average height, petite, and she exuded the same sense of being half-dressed.

             
Andres shut the door behind them and move to stand next to me.

             
“Sara this is-” he started to introduce, but the older women cut him off.

“I’m Maria Delacruz,” Her
exotic
tone was cold,
mystifying
me. Hearing the foreign pitch in her voice
, only confirmed my thoughts.
“and this is Ana Marquez.”

The younger girl’s stare matched the older woman’s, and was equally as cold. I knew who she was, having seen her before, but
where
had I seen her? And then it hit me, she had been the girl in the limo. The girl I had seen Adan with-

“Ana is Adan’s
fiancée.
”

“
I guess all the king’s men
could
put the Princess back together again.
”

Nicolas said, examining the new position of the sun, smirking at his own lame joke.

“I’m guessing that’s your
handy
work up there, big brother.” He said, pointing up at the sky.

He was lazily lounging against the wall of my hotel building. One leg crossed over the other, his arms folded across his chest.  It had been months since I had seen him last, but he hadn’t changed one bit.

“Sara said she saw you in town a few days ago. What are you doing here Nicolas?” I suppressed the urge to cross my own arms over my chest. It would be like looking in the mirror.

“Sara?” He said, ignoring my question and pushing himself away from the wall. “Since when did you and her highness become aquatinted on a first name basis?”

             
“I asked you a question.”

             
“And I ignored it and asked one of my own. Please tell me you haven’t gone and fallen for the enemy, Adan.”

             
I rolled my eyes. “Since when did Sara, and her people, become our enemy?”

             
“Since they-”

             
“What are you doing here Nicolas?” I sighed, repeating my question, unable to hide the annoyance that laced my voice. I didn’t want to hear his idiotic ideas right now. My head was already pounding.

             
“Your mother sent me. She wanted me to check on you.  Apparently, she doesn’t trust you, and it looks like for good reason too. She’s not going to be too pleased when she finds out you’ve been fraternizing with the Princess.” He said, examining his fingers nails as he spoke.

             
“You’re as dramatic as a teenage girl, Nick.” I told him, brushing past him to get to the door of the hotel.

             
“She’s here you know.”

             
His words stopped me from entering the building.  I turned around to face him again.

             
“Who’s here?” I said slowly. I could feel my muscles tensing as I waited for him to answer me.

             
“The Queen.” He answered nonchalantly.

             
“Just the Queen?” I held my breath until he answered.

             
“You know better than that Adan.”

             
“Damn it!” I ran my hand through my hair, angry the anger and frustration causing me to pace. “When did they get here?”

             
He shrugged. “A couple of days ago. I don’t know why she has me play messenger boy, especially when she knew she was going to end up coming down here herself.”

             
“That’s who Sara saw you with.” I said, as if a light had suddenly clicked inside my head.

             
“If I had to take a guess, I’d say yes.”

He didn’t seem too concerned about it, and that made me want to punch him in the face.

             
“None of you should have come out here.” I said angrily.

             
“Sorry to ruin your royal romance brother.” He said sarcastically. Laughter reigning down from his mouth.

             
“You could have been followed.”

             
“Believe me, I wasn’t. Now mom on the other hand…” He made a face of doubt.

             
“This isn’t a joke Nick! You’re putting her life in danger!” I turned away from him before my fist could connect with his nose.

             
“Calm down Adan.” His tone took on a more serious note. He sighed. “I don’t know what you’re doing brother, but I don’t see it ending in your favor. There are rules we have to follow. You, more than anyone, knows this. Why are you letting her distract you from that fact?”

             
“I don’t need your words of wisdom right now.”

             
“Yeah, I can see it’s not going to do any good.” He sighed again, running his hands through his hair.