See How She Falls (18 page)

“Do
my eyes do that when I get all zappy?”

“Yes.
I believe that is part of the reason that the Council members banished you. You
are an anomaly, something which they cannot control. Damali and Francesca have
been power hungry for decades. It is a wonder they waited as long as they did
to rid themselves of you. I am just sorry that it was me that ultimately became
your undoing.”

“Meh,
you saved my butt. Even if that means I have to learn to control my temper, I’m
still grateful. Maybe I could do some meditation exercises or something. Do you
have any tricks?”

“Well,
with you I clench my teeth and count to fifty. I found that counting to ten was
not nearly long enough to keep me from wanting to throttle you.” Aberto full on
smiled, almost knocking me over. That smile was dangerous.

“You
are becoming quite the comedian.” 

“I
have a great teacher. Now, you need to rest. I will stay in the dreaming and
keep guard, but I am blocking you.” Aberto lifted his hands to my face, gently
holding me as if I would break at a moment’s notice.

“Okay.
See you tomorrow?” Tears still threatened to flow, but I knew that Aberto was
ultimately right, just as he always was. Not that I would be admitting to that
any time soon.

“We
have much to accomplish.” Just like that the calming blanket of nothing sank
in.

Arguing
pulled me from my deep sleep. I opened my eyes to see light creeping through
the curtains and realized I’d slept straight through the morning. It was almost
noon. I sat up trying to find the source of the argument only to find Conall
and Sena having a heated discussion, in my room, with no one else in sight.

“Umm,
hi?” I muttered groggily.

“See,
I told you she was fine. There is no reason in the world to go waking up an
exhausted, marked up, prophesized one when you don’t need to. She woke up just
fine on her own.” Sena stomped her foot petulantly causing Conall to roll his
one good eye.

“Well,
you guys arguing sort of woke me up.” I yawned loudly trying to rub the sleep
from my eyes.

“Oh,
sorry," Sena mumbled quickly as she headed toward the bed to sit on the
edge. “Since you are up, perhaps you can tell Do…, I mean Conall, that he is
out of his mind if he thinks I’m going back to the Council with him. This is my
home, these are my people.”

“Sorry
to tell you, but none of us are welcome there, Conall. Didn’t Kennan tell you?”

“Tell
me what?” Conall stood, rooted in place. A look of trepidation replaced his
indignation.

“Umm,
we were banished?” I half asked.

“What
did you do, Izzy?” Conall looked at me like I’d intentionally gone in there and
caused a ruckus.

“I
just showed up. Blame those crazy old bats that deposed me," I said, doing
my best not to get angry. Sena was sitting awfully close to me, and I didn’t
want to zap her into a smoldering pile of ash. Conall would be even madder if I
did that.

“What
was said, exactly?” Conall still had the “this is totally your fault, Izzy”
tone. It was really irritating how he always blamed me for the mess. Even if it
was normally my fault.

“There
was mention of me being an abomination, which caused me to zap the desk into a
pile of ash. Oh, and then they pretty much told me what I told Elaine. The
whole, none shall give you shelter and any found harboring you will be
banished. So, since you were on team Izzy, you got banished by association.
Didn’t you wonder why Eleanor was here?”

“She
is a lot like my mother, she often shows up in surprising places.” Conall moved
further towards the bed but paused as a thought crossed his mind. “Do you mean
to tell me that Ian stood with them against you?”

“Yeah,
right. No, he and Molly are in Chicago.”

“Why
is he not here?” Conall seemed angry that Ian wouldn’t come to our aid.

“Because
he doesn’t have to be, and I won’t force him to return to the Order until it is
on his own terms. There are some things that can’t be rushed, Conall.” 

“But
we need his help to protect you!” Conall practically screamed as if I were
being completely dense.

Sena
rose from the bed and moved towards him slowly as if he were a caged animal. I
could suddenly see the wolf in him, chomping at the surface. When she got close
enough, she placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered something lyrical that
managed to draw his anger back. The animal disappeared and he breathed heavily.

“Sorry,
Izzy," he muttered before giving Sena a wary look and disappearing.

“Should’ve
known I would end up with the wolfman," Sena said thoughtfully as she
returned to sitting on my bed.

“Why
in the world would you say that?” I scooted over to give her more room as she
flopped back against the pillows next to me.

“My
name, and my talent.” She shrugged as if it were nothing exceptionally strange.

“What
does your name mean, exactly? And what sort of talent do you have, what did you
just do to Conall?”

“My
name means ‘the moon'.” She paused as I burst into laughter. “Yeah, yuck it up,
Izzy. At least I have a full name.”

“Hey,
my name means something, too. So don’t get all high and mighty over there or I
will zap you into a pile of ash and let wolfman pee on it when he wolfs out.”

“That
is just plain mean.” Sena glared at me. “Well, Miss Prophecy, what does your
name mean?”

“Eleanor
looked it up. She thought I should know that my destiny had been written from
birth. Ultimately, it just made me want to smack her. My name means ‘God is My
Oath’.” Sena stared at me, wide eyed. “Yeah, I know. Talk about being
predestined for something. At least you aren’t alone, right?”

“True.
As for the other question you asked, my talent is calming. Mona says I am like
the moon itself, helping to control the ebb and flow of people’s emotions.”

“Can
you just stay close to me until I get this X-men power crap under control?”

“Promise
not to turn me into a pile of ash and let Conall pee on me?” She looked at me
wary for a moment.

“Promise," 
I smiled. “Now, I really need to get up and get dressed. Oh, and pee. I REALLY
need to do that," I said standing up. It hadn’t hit me until then.

“Well,
do you need help getting dressed again?”

“No,
I think I can handle it this morning. Just stay close today, if you don’t
mind.”

“I
honestly have nothing better to do, and it beats facing Conall and his
relentless questioning.”  Sena made no motion to get up from the bed.

“Okay,
well I will meet you in the hall then, if you don’t mind.” I tried to give her
a pointed look, but it was probably coming off a bit wonky what with the desperate
need to use the bathroom.

“Don’t
fall in," she said, getting up and leaving the room.

I
slowly made my way over to my bag, pulling out a pair of stretchy yoga pants
and a slouchy sweatshirt. I hoped that I could fight the darkness in comfy
clothes, otherwise I was hosed. The thought reminded me of Cait, as she
approached the demon in her flowing white dress. There was something beautiful
about it that made me rethink the whole dying in yoga pants thing. Nah, yoga
pants were way more comfortable. I wasn’t going out in style, but at least I
would be cozy. By the time I left the room, after cleaning myself up in the
bathroom, there was a small group waiting for me.

“We
have much to discuss," Aberto said, holding his arm out for me to walk in
front of him.

“What’s
going on?” I asked Kennan, who had been talking to Sena as I left the room.

“Eleanor
and Mona have something they wish to discuss with you. It pertains to you being
so tired. They think it may help.” Kennan seemed hesitant, as if whatever they
had planned wasn’t going to be all that pleasant.

“Will
it hurt?”

“No
more than your other markings," Aberto supplied.

“A
simple yes would have sufficed," I quipped.

“I
thought that the rest would put you in a more pleasant mood," Aberto said
solemnly. The man had no appreciation for sarcasm.

“Well,
where are we going? And does everyone really need to be there?” I looked behind
at the trail of people. Not only were Conall, Sena, Aberto, and Kennan with me,
but there were a whole host of other Guardians. Some I recognized from the
Division and some were obviously part of the Order.

“We
feel it is best to be with you at all times from here on out, in case the
bridge is completed," Conall answered.

“Right,
well this will be a ton of fun.” I turned my attention back to where I was
going. I was just letting Kennan lead me, with no idea of where he would take
me. Trust was a glorious thing sometimes.

“Wait
here. I need to see if they are ready.” Kennan moved into a hazy room, leaving
me standing awkwardly in the hall with everyone staring at me.

“What?”
I finally blurted.

“Is
it true that you carry an electric charge within you now?” one of the Guardians
asked.

“Yes,"
I muttered before turning my back on them to face the door. I was getting tired
of being looked at like some sort of oddity. I was absolutely not an
abomination. Nope, no siree, I was completely normal. No need for the stares.
If they kept it up, I may just run away and join the circus. At least there I
would get paid for people staring at me. Oh, maybe I could start charging
admission to the Izzy show. Just as I started to formulate my amazing costume
and backdrop, Kennan came back out into the hall.

“They
are ready. Just Izzy and Aberto.” Kennan motioned us in.

“Um,
Sena should come, too," I said nervously. Now that I knew she could keep
my crazy in check, I was going to cart her around like a security blanket.

“You
can’t scream or react in there, do you understand?” Kennan leveled her with a
stony gaze.

“Okay,"
Sena said, wide-eyed.

“Let’s
go, then. The rest of you wait out here, please?” Kennan pinned Conall with his
eyes. He knew that if he were in his place, he’d be trying to charge in with
his Seer.

“Alright,"
Conall said, turning his back to the door to guard it. 

Chapter
Twenty Three
 

A
hazy room filled with fragrant smoke enveloped me as I walked into the
darkness. I struggled to gain my bearings in the dim light. The vision of my
aunt and Eleanor sent chills down my spine. They were both seated perfectly
still, with their eyes closed muttering something over smoking coals. I was
starting to get nervous about whatever this was. Whenever there was chanting and
smoke, it couldn’t be a good thing. It reminded me of some voodoo witch-doctor
stuff. Well, at least the stuff I’d seen in movies.

“What
do you people plan to do to me?” I wasn’t jumping in blindly. No Siree Bob, not
this time.

“They
are going to blunt the impact of the runes. This is our Hail Mary, a last
resort," Kennan whispered, but my confusion was obvious, making him
continue, “It should provide more clarity so that the darkness doesn’t seem
quite so appealing.”

“Pray
tell how do they hope to do this?” I looked down at the glowing coals and had a
sinking suspicion of what was about to come. My fear took over and a blue spark
shot up my arm. Sena moved toward me quickly, whispering something in my ear.
My fear disappeared as if on the wind. I was left feeling amazingly calm.
“Thanks.”

“Just
don’t zap me, and we’re good," Sena promised.

“I
can handle that.” I paused. “Probably.”

“Izzy,
this is a last resort. Our last chance to intercede on your behalf. This will
not cut the tie, only dull its effects on you. If you wish to continue on as
you are, you may.” Eleanor had opened her eyes, only to pin me in place with
her stare.

“You
know I’m going to do go through with whatever this is.” I paused looking at the
coals hesitantly. “I just wasn’t exactly mentally prepared for the whole being
grilled like a brisket thing. A little heads up next time would be super
awesome.”

“Do
not be melodramatic, young lady. We intend to do no such thing.” And there it
was, my mom’s ‘You’re in trouble’ voice right out of my aunt.

“Fine,"
I huffed, sitting heavily on a floor pillow. “What do I need to do?”

“You
will need to change into this.” Aberto handed me a dress that eerily resembled
the one Cait had died in. I tried to tamp down my panic but it got the best of
me. Sena yelled something from across the room that managed to bring my angst
into check.

“Do
you come in pill form?” I asked Sena, only half joking.

“You
wish. You wouldn’t need me around if that were the case," Sena said,
causing me to wonder what her story was. She seemed terrified that I would fade
away at a moments’ notice. I just hoped that I would be around long enough to
show her she was wrong.