Carrier 02: Shadow of the Mark (7 page)

Dad followed me out. “Thanks for last night, Meg. You were completely right about not rushing things, and Petra loves the idea of us all getting to know each other better. This is going to be great.”

“Sure it will, Dad.” It seemed I’d just witnessed my advice exploding in my face.
Score one for Petra
.

Chloe was all smiles that morning in school, and I could guess why.

“Well,” I asked, nudging her, “how were the movies last night?”

She flushed a little. “Good. We had fun.”

Sure you did
.

Caitlin came down the hall, beaming from ear to ear. “Chloe, I hear you were getting hot and dirty down at the pier last night.”

Chloe’s eyes opened wide. “Oh shit, that’s just wonderful.”

I half laughed. “It’s a small town, Chloe.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You knew too?”

“Adam and I might have stumbled across you guys last night.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes. “Then why ask me about the movie?”

“I was giving you a chance to come clean, which you totally failed at, by the way.”

Caitlin looked confused. “What’s the problem?”

“I’m guessing it was supposed to be a secret tryst,” I said.

Caitlin put her hand to her mouth, trying to smother her laugh. “If you want to get off with someone, don’t do it on the pier. And what on earth do you want to hide it for? Rían is a ride.”

Chloe fixed her eyes on me. “I know how it must have looked, but not that much happened, honestly.”

“Hey, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s just . . . I don’t know how long I’m staying, and if . . . my . . . my dad finds out . . . well, he’ll kill me.” She shook her head. “Rían and I were going to keep this secret.”

I couldn’t bring myself to feel too sorry for her. “Well, you should have picked a more discreet location if that’s the case.”

Caitlin crossed her arms. “I still don’t know what all the fuss is about. So you kissed a gorgeous guy in public. I’d take your place in a heartbeat.”

The strain on Chloe’s face eased a little. “He
is
gorgeous, isn’t he?” She sighed and then giggled. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Doing what?” I asked.

“Going out with a . . .” She stopped and cleared her throat. “With a DeRís.”

“Oh, so you’re going out now?” I asked.

“I think we are.”

I smiled and laughed but was struck with a twinge of jealousy. I suddenly understood how Adam felt last night. It seemed too easy for them.

That twinge grew into an uncomfortable, curdled mass in the pit of my stomach at the end of the day. Rían, who obviously did not share Chloe’s thoughts on secrecy, stood outside the school gates waiting for her. As soon as she passed through, he swooped in and gave her a kiss that left onlookers blushing. I was horrified to find myself brimming with resentment . . . and something else.

Adam curled his arms around my waist and put his chin on my shoulder. He sighed into my ear. “Watching only makes it harder.”

I nodded and leaned into him. I knew he was referring to our limited physical relationship and our growing desire for more. What he didn’t know was that at that very minute, all my body craved was Rían.

Through March, we kept up our steady elemental practice. We all got stronger and more precise. I now had air manipulation nearly perfected, and moving stuff was child’s play. The same went for Adam and Rían, though after each session, they were drained, while I felt invigorated. I could sense my element growing more and more powerful.

Áine was the only exception. Her element wasn’t growing at the same rate as the rest of us. If anything, she was getting weaker.

Today’s session was grueling. The guys had already finished up and gone in to shower, but Áine wanted to practice some more. “What is wrong with me?” she asked, dropping to the ground in exhaustion. “I feel like my power is seeping away, and what’s left is trapped in here.” She poked herself in the chest. Her fingers inched closer to mine, stopping when our fingertips touched. Randel fluttered to the grass beside us and jumped onto Áine’s knee. “I’ve been trying to stop my overdependence on my power so I can defend myself in the presence of the amulet, but the more I try to separate myself from the element, the weaker I feel. I can see you guys growing, but I feel left behind.” She petted Randel’s head absentmindedly with one finger. He hopped onto her shoulder and snuggled into her neck. “If it comes to another showdown with the Knox, I don’t want to be the weak link.”

“You’ll figure it out, Áine,” I said.

She arched her long neck over the bird, her dark hair falling onto his black feathers, and sighed. “I hope so. It’s only three months to the alignment, and we need to all be at the same level for it to work.”

I was itching to move my hand. The feeling of her fingers brushing mine left me with a fizzing sensation, like the blood supply had been cut off.

“Anyway, tomorrow’s another day,” she said, getting up. “I’ll figure it out.”

I watched her walk back toward the house, then looked down at my still-tingling hand. Beside my fingers, where Áine’s hand had rested, was an imprint of where she had leaned. A perfect handprint of daisies and buttercups. She had more power than she realized.

I leaned over to brush off my jeans. As I did, I noticed another outline, right beside Áine’s, where my hand had been. It was another perfect print of daisies and buttercups, identical to hers—only smaller. I gasped and put my hand back over it.

“What’s up?” Adam asked, looking at my shocked face as he approached me.

“The flowers!”

“Yeah, looks like Áine’s work.”

I lifted my hand. “Yes, but what about this one?”

“What exactly am I supposed to be seeing?”

“The flower print.” I pointed to where my hand had been, but all that remained was crushed, scraggy grass. “I . . . there was another one.”

“I think someone’s been working too hard. You’ve got double vision.” He leaned down to kiss me, and within seconds, all thoughts of flowers were gone. I was enveloped by a tidal wave of energy, and this time, I was able to keep Adam conscious. I pulled him onto me, and as our hips connected, I felt him give in. His mouth left mine to explore my neck. He gently pulled open the top few buttons of my blouse, and his lips rested on the hollow of my collarbone before moving downward. I enjoyed every tantalizing sensation. His hands worked their way under my shirt. I followed suit, allowing my own to creep up under his shirt, reveling in the hot smoothness of his back. I ran a finger under the waistband of his jeans and built the courage to reach for the top button when his hand grabbed mine.

“Stop.”

“Why?” I said breathlessly, trying to pull my hand from his grip.

“We have to stop.” His voice softened as he took my hands in his.

“But I’ve got the power under control.”

“I know, but we’re lying on the grass behind my house!”

“So what?” I asked, pulling away and tugging my shirt back over my shoulder. “You said you wanted this. You said you wanted what Chloe and Rían have.” Leaves lifted off the ground, along with loose, thin blades of grass, dust, and dirt. They floated around us in an eerie dance.

“Megan, I’m not saying no. I’m saying not here, not now.”

All the energy swirling around me came to a complete halt, like I’d stopped time itself. The debris surrounding us froze, suspended in the air. My element pulsated in my chest, demanding that I continue.

“Megan, look at yourself—you’re barely in control.”

“I’m in control,” I whispered.

“If you could look at your eyes, you’d see you’re not.”

Anger flared inside me. I needed physical contact with him more than I cared to admit. The tightness in my chest threatened to crush me. I closed my eyes, pushing back the tears that gathered. It scared me how much I wanted him.

“Megan, please don’t be upset.”

I nodded, still not opening my eyes.

“Look at me.”

I couldn’t.

“I need you to look at me.” He took my head in his hands and rubbed away my tears with his thumbs.

“Please?”

I finally gave in to my tears and leaned into him. As soon as I did, everything that had been caught in frozen stillness fluttered for a second before falling to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Adam mumbled into my hair. “I’m so sorry. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

I pushed myself up and gasped as I lifted my hand. There, where my palm had been, the grass was dead, earthy brown, and rotted. I quickly stepped on the dead patch and averted my eyes, pulling Adam toward the house before he noticed. Something was wrong with me, and I didn’t want him to know. I didn’t want any of them to know.

A
s the weeks passed, Chloe and Rían got even more intense, but Chloe remained freaked out about her dad finding out, so she and Rían were always slinking off for secret trysts. The sexual tension they oozed when in each other’s company was hard for me to stomach.

Because Chloe insisted they try to keep the relationship semi-under wraps, Fionn didn’t realize how involved Rían and Chloe had become. All the same, maybe he wouldn’t have cared—as far as I knew, he hadn’t found anything suspicious in Chloe’s background. It also meant that she was never at the DeRíses’, which left our daily elemental training blissfully free of tension. I still found myself drawn to Rían when Chloe was around, as much as I tried to pretend it wasn’t true. It was comforting in a strange way, though. It meant it had to be some sort of weird jealousy thing.

With April came the Easter break—two whole weeks off. Chloe had gone to visit family in the UK, leaving Rían lolling around the house, feeling sorry for himself. He was sprawled out on the sitting-room floor talking to her on his cell. Adam rolled his eyes in exasperation and stepped over him on the way into the kitchen.

“Couldn’t he spare us and make the call in his room?” Adam said loud enough for Rían to hear him.

Áine glanced up from her laptop. “There’s a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black. We’ve had to put up with you and Megan mooning over each other half the time and groping each other the rest of it. Give him a break.”

“But Chloe is the subject of an ongoing investigation, which he is failing at miserably. Am I the only sane one around here? What the hell’s next? Oh, I know—maybe we should invite her and her family over for the alignment!”

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” Rían said, walking into the kitchen balancing what looked like a white-and-brown baseball on a strange wooden club. “Honestly, bro, you have to let it go. I haven’t come across anything dodgy.” He started tapping the ball in the air with the club.

“Except maybe her taste in men.” Áine laughed.

Adam scowled. “Your relationship puts us all at risk.”

“Jesus, bro! Why do you have to take something fun and make it sound so . . . middle-aged? It’s hardly a relationship, it’s just been a couple of weeks.”

“Try six.”

“I like her. And if you made any effort at all, you’d see she’s pretty cool. So stop bad-mouthing her.”

“Rían, we need to be sure.” Adam put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Look, Meg and I have to go; we’re doing the airport pick-up.”

“Who’s arriving?” Rían asked, scratching his head.

“Your head is so up your arse, Rían,” Adam snapped. “It’s Thursday! Hugh is coming down to start preparation for the alignment.”

“So we have another exciting holiday ahead of us?”

“Sulking is a very unattractive trait, Rían,” Áine said, sounding just like Sister Basil, the school principal. “Besides, Matthew is coming too, so you can be entertained as we put on a lovey-dovey act for Hugh.”

Rían perked up. “At least there will be someone to poke fun at. But why is Matthew coming here for Easter? Doesn’t he have his own family to bore senseless?”

Áine giggled and then gave him a reproving look. “He wants to make sure he’s playing his part sufficiently well by showing how ‘committed’ he is to our relationship. I promised him I’d put on a good show.”

I doubled up laughing. “The poor guy doesn’t know what he’s in for.”

“So do you think you’re ready for the alignment?” Adam asked as we pulled into the parking lot at the airport.

I shrugged. “I suppose so. You don’t sound too excited.”

“To be honest, I never thought it would happen. I don’t know if I’ll ever really be ready.”

“It’s what we were given these elements for. I’m sure we’ll be able to pull it off.”

“It’s good that you’re confident. I guess I’ve had more time to doubt myself than you have.” He sighed. “Come on; Hugh should have landed by now.”

We got out of the car and walked toward the terminal. Even though it was crowded, Hugh was easy to spot, looking more like Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes than ever.

“Adam, Megan, hello,” Hugh cried with outstretched arms. He gathered me up in a bear hug.

“Hugh! It’s great to see you,” I said when he finally released me.

“And you too, my dear. I hope you have all been keeping well.” He turned to Adam and clamped his hand down on his shoulder in a fatherly gesture.

“We’re fine,” Adam said. “Have you any news for us?”

Hugh frowned. “All in good time, my dear boy, all in good time. Tell me, where is the strapping young Matthew? We hear he and Áine have hit it off better than anyone could have hoped for.”

Adam smirked. “Oh, they hit it off, all right. Áine can barely control her excitement at seeing him today.”

When Matthew’s flight arrived twenty minutes later, he loped over to us with a smile.

“Megan, hi,” he said, wrapping me in a cloud of alcohol fumes.

I took in his glow. “You’re looking well.”

His eyes crossed for a second, and he staggered a bit. “Having a generous trust courtesy of the Order has its advantages,” he stage-whispered in my ear. “I’ve been skiing in Austria for the past week.” He must’ve caught the look of death Adam was giving him, because he pulled away from me and nodded in Hugh’s direction. “Tweed suit, pink bow tie, and an old leather bag full of books. . . . I’m guessing you’re Dublin Order?”