Channeler's Choice (29 page)

With a thought, Eren sent power humming through her body. She wasn’t allowed to use it to heighten the strength of her strikes, but it was legal to use to increase speed and to push and pull with.

Patli exploded with a combination of strikes, forcing her to react instead of think. Wood rang solidly upon wood as they danced back and forth, blocking and striking, neither landing any points. Patli faked a thrust and turned it into an attempted sweep, but Eren saw it coming and leaped easily over the swinging spear. In mid-air she kicked out with her front foot and hit Patli in the chest, pushed off her and into a back flip. As she landed, she swung her spear to catch Patli hard on the left shoulder. It all happened so fast it felt like one incredible movement, as if her body was water and Patli was gravity.

Several judges yelled point and a whistle was blown.

Patli looked impressed and frustrated as she stared at Eren from across the ring. It wasn’t hard for Eren to guess what that look meant. Patli probably hadn’t expected her to improve so much with only a month’s practice, which now meant Eren had lost her element of surprise.

Oh well, she hadn’t really been relying on it anyways. Now maybe the match would get interesting.

She was awarded one point, half for the kick and half for the spear strike. The command to begin was given again. Excitement shot through her at getting the first two scores, but she stifled it and maintained her focus. Now was not the time to get cocky, especially since Patli looked like she was about to take the gloves off and get down to business.

This time, Eren advanced first, faking a swing to Patli’s left and then going in hard to her right. But Patli was ready and she batted it aside and came back strong. For a few moments it was all Eren could do to block both the flesh and wood that flew at her from all directions. Somehow Patli got around behind her back and too late Eren saw a sweep coming. Rather than try to jump it and risk getting the back of her ankles smacked, she bent to absorb the strike. Using its momentum along with her power, she did a back flip and came down across Patli’s back with her spear before landing. Patli thrust for her ribs and she had to whip sideways to avoid it. When she did, Patli caught her in the side with a kick.

The blow of the whistle gave them both a moment to catch their breath. Patli was awarded one point and Eren was given half. Eren cursed inwardly. Patli must have landed a strike Eren hadn’t felt because the kick was only worth half a point. She would have to be more careful, she didn’t want to blow it when she was this close.

At the whistle they moved in and began again. Patli attacked with a ferocity that drove Eren back a few steps. Eren moved and blocked calmly, waiting for the opening she needed. She started to realize the reason for Patli’s near desperation. Eren’s skill level had surpassed Patli’s, not by much, but it definitely had.

Patli’s spear slipped through her stunned defenses and glanced off her chest as Eren spun away. The judges called the point.

Eren used the moment behind her yellow line to refocus and calm herself. One more mistake like that would blow this for her. All she had to do was maintain her control and she had this. Taking a deep breath, she released her worries and brought all her focus in on this one moment. Her power hummed beneath her skin, tickling slightly.

Kicks and spear strikes flew at Eren in rapid succession as Patli advanced. But each one was a little too rushed, a little too sloppy, and Eren had no problem blocking. As she blocked Patli’s latest thrust, Eren wove her own spear around Patli’s and whipped it up and out. Patli’s spear went flying and she grabbed onto Eren’s, trying to yank it from her grasp. Eren let her pull it, but hung on as she kicked herself up into the air and over Patli’s head. Like she had figured, Patli didn’t let go. Pouring a bit of power through the spear, Eren flung Patli over her and to the ground. With an easy pull, Eren freed her spear from Patli’s hands and thrust it at her, stopping less than an inch above her heart.

“
Match point!” the judges yelled, one voice echoing after another.

A collective gasp resounded from the crowd in the bleachers. Their shock sank into Eren. It took her a moment to withdraw her spear and step back. When she did, she offered Patli a hand up. Dark eyes wide, Patli stared at it for a second before taking it and letting Eren pull her to her feet.

Though she knew the outcome, Eren was still astounded when the judge came forward and raised her hand high. Only six voices cheered, but that was okay. Those six were the only ones that really mattered to Eren. Following them, she found Aiden’s adoring gaze and basked in the smile he gave her. The pride on the faces of her family and friends brought tears to her eyes.

There was another face Eren searched for as she left the ring. The crowd was starting to file out the exits, making it difficult to find anyone in the turmoil. Eren’s maestro and Caitlin congratulated her and patted her on the back, but she hardly heard them. She smiled and thanked them, all the while searching.

Finally, she saw Bridget, standing off to the side of the crowd that was making its way out the door. Her glossy pink lips were pushed out in a ridiculous looking pout and her arms were crossed. She somehow managed to look furious and frightened at the same time as she glared at Eren from beneath her short blond hair. Eren smiled at her and didn’t try to hold back the satisfied look that was spreading across her face.

“
You’re next,” she said.

Though she said it at a conversational volume and the gym was buzzing with commotion, she knew Bridget understood her. Fear swallowed Bridget’s eyes before she spun and hurried into the crowd. Eren threw her head back and laughed. After she defeated Bridget, no one would dare threaten her Society.

“
We should never forget that we are

part of the Earth. Abusing it, or her creatures,

is to go against our very nature.”

~from
Life In A Society
.

Chapter 28

Head buzzing with thoughts of battle and the world as they knew it ending, Eren couldn’t sleep. She really had to stop listening to grandfather’s stories before bed. Tossing her legs over the edge of the mattress, she sat up and stared out the big round window that overlooked the town center.

It was one thing to spar in a tournament, but she didn’t think she could ever actually hurt someone, let alone kill them. A long sigh slid from her. There would be no sleep tonight.

The sanctuary of her rooftop terrace called to her. She stood and put on a silk robe that was covered in a pattern of cherry blossoms—a Christmas gift from Aunt Sylvia. It wasn’t so much to keep the chill off as it was to cover her cotton shorts and plain white tank top. The chance of Aiden seeing her would be slim, but even with a slim chance she wanted to make sure she wasn’t parading around in boring sleepwear. He’d been patrolling her roof at least once a week that she knew of.

Going around the floorboards that creaked, she made her way across the room to the roof access ladder. The memory of the intruder that had left an energy trail across her roof only a few months ago flashed through her mind. There was no way she was going to let Bridget’s games keep her a prisoner in her own house. The girl was no match for her, and chances were, neither was anyone she sent to spy on Eren. Pulse quickening with each rung, she crept up and slowly pushed open the hatch.

This was her home and she was powerful enough to defend herself if need be. It sounded good in her head, but her inner bravado failed to slow the rapid rhythm of her heart. Hands shaking, she climbed out onto the roof and paused to scan it for energy trails. The faint green glow of the plants around the roof’s edge peeking out from a layer of frost was the only energy around. Eren’s shoulders relaxed as she let out the breath she’d been holding.

The end of the breath turned into a harrumph. Some fearless Rector she was turning out to be.

Ignoring her unease, she walked to the edge of the roof where her grandfather’s telescope was. The terracotta tiles beneath her feet were freezing, forcing her to push energy down to keep from feeling it. It was a minor amount of energy, and easy now that she knew how to do it. Such a thing made her wonder about a channeler’s energy and what it may be able to do. All her grandfather talked of was battle and yet she knew she was capable of so much more.

Lowering her eye to the telescope, she looked at the stars he had been studying last. He had told her he believed there was more out there, maybe even other worlds where their kind didn’t live in secret. Lights of hundreds of stars fought for her attention. She longed for those planets, places where there may be no war and channelers lived freely in the open. But she feared such things were fairytales and their lure couldn’t sustain her hope for more than a few heartbeats.

The weight of a pair of eyes with an intense energy behind them, settled on the back of Eren’s neck. Her skin crawled with the insidious feel of it, calling up her power. Without turning, she reached out with her power to touch the energy, attempting to identify it. It was like stepping into black ink, or tar, unnerving, sticky, and eerily familiar. There was only one person she knew with energy like that. Her heart stopped then sped up as if trying to make up for the interruption.

It was Luke’s.

Eren froze, unable to even draw a breath. Only her mind could move and the direction it was going made her anxiety worse. He was supposed to be in Romania. How could this happen? The sight of the telescope blurred as her vision started to go white. Then she realized she could jump from the roof and probably get away. She was faster than him, after all. But that would leave the lunatic here with her grandfather sleeping in the house below, oblivious, vulnerable.

No. She couldn’t let another person she loved get hurt, no matter what it cost her. The thought broke her paralysis and she turned. Her eyes were drawn by the feel of that energy like a light in the darkness. It was coming from something that stood on the roof of the building next to hers. Though the feel of the energy was definitely Luke’s, the yellow eyes and slanted pupils were not. Air slid from her lungs, taking tension along with it. An animal controlled by Luke she was pretty sure she could face. Pushing away from the telescope, she walked toward the middle of her roof.

“
You get a good eye full, Luke because that’s all you’ll get. You’ll never touch me again,” she said.

Whether or not he could hear her through the creature didn’t matter. Confronting him felt good either way. The creature ran forward, leaped from the neighboring roof, and landed on Eren’s. Light from her grandfather’s solar lamps pooled around it, revealing a tawny brown coat covering the muscular frame of a cougar. Her heart hammered against her breastbone and her feet refused to move. A bird or even a raccoon she could have handled, but this was too much.

There was no way it could have made that jump without the power of a channeler to help it. Could Luke do such a thing all the way from Romania? And if he could, what else could he do? Or worse, what if he wasn’t in Romania?

Yellow eyes filled with an intelligence that could only be human stared at her as the cougar approached, claws clicking on the tiles. That stare pinned her like a butterfly to a collector’s board. Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled in vain to move. This close up the cat was huge, nearly eye level with her. But it wasn’t the cougar she feared so much; it was the boy behind its eyes.

Only a few feet separated them and still Eren couldn’t move. Power rose up from her core, called by her anxiety, seeking a way out. Focus was a slippery thing that she couldn’t grasp while under the scrutinizing gaze of the beast/boy. Blue mist started to surround her arms and hands and tainted her vision.

Something off to her right creaked and the cougar’s head snapped in that direction. Eren’s grandfather shot from the roof access hatch, landing between her and the cougar. An aura of yellow and blue power glowed around his fists.

“
Get away from her!” As he bellowed, he pointed a hand at the cougar and his energy snapped at it like a whip.

It roared at him but stepped back from the lash of his power. Fangs exposed in a snarl, it attempted to sidestep around him. The intense, almost hungry look it gave Eren made her tremble.

“
Don’t make me hurt this cat, boy. I will if I have to,” Zolin said, raising his glowing hands.

Eren’s breath caught as she realized he was talking to Luke. Those yellow eyes snapped from her grandfather back to her. The look of dark delight within the slitted pupils was all Luke’s. Snarl morphing into a macabre grin, the cougar turned and bound across the rooftop. Without a moment’s hesitation, it leaped over the wall and disappeared. Concern for the creature gripped Eren and propelled her to the roof’s edge. It wasn’t the poor animal’s fault that Luke was controlling it and she hated the idea of it getting hurt because of her.