Channeler's Choice (8 page)

“
Nice trick with the porch light, Grandfather, subtle,” Eren teased as she skipped over and kissed his mocha-colored cheek. He grinned but didn’t say a word.

A glance across the hall at the dining room table showed it to be bare. Loading her arms up with plates, silverware, and glasses, she set the table. The sound of her grandfather’s humming haunted her, tugging at her memory. Something about the tune was so familiar. As she placed the last fork on the table, it hit her like a slap. He was humming the same tune her mom used to hum while she cooked. Chills settled over Eren like cold rain.

The song. Her mom’s murder. The eyes in the forest. Her parents had been killed by wolves that had been under the control of Virgil and Camilia Moldovan. What if that animal in the forest was under someone’s control?

The chills grew so severe that she shuddered, making the glass in her hand clang against a plate.

“
Oh Eren, there is a letter for you on the shoe bench,” her grandfather called.

Rubbing her hands along her arms, Eren walked back into the hallway to the shoe bench. An envelope sat upon it, a bright white square against the brown leather. There was no return address on it and the postage said it came from Denver. Odd. She didn’t know anyone in Denver. More chills raced up her arms.

“
Hey Grandfather, do I have time for a shower before dinner or do you need my help?” she asked.

A hot shower was the best way she knew to kick the chills that accompanied her bouts of fear and paranoia. Whether it was the warmth or the water, it always worked to help her ground herself and get both her imagination and her power back under control. And right after that she’d call Aiden, just to make sure he made it home okay.

“
I don’t need any help, dear. You go ahead,” Zolin called from the kitchen.

Fingers working at the letter’s flap, Eren started for the stairs. She pulled the single sheet of lined paper out just as she reached the second story of the house. Wow, an actual letter. She didn’t think anyone wrote these anymore. The penmanship was a nice, flowing script, the kind people had once used in formal letters.

Dear Eren,

I’ve been an idiot of the worst kind. You are more important than you can possibly know, to me, to everything. I was jealous and out of control and for that I’m sorry. But there was something powerful at work that stopped me from ruining everything. I understand that now. You and I will be together again soon, even if only for a little while, and things will be different, so different. The future of our kind is at hand. You and I will bring about the end and the beginning. Until then, I’ll be watching.

~Lucian Moldovan

Screams built up inside Eren, but nothing would come out. Her power rose along with the unvoiced screams until her arms and hands were glowing blue. The letter crumpled as her fingers closed into a fist that shook with the effort of holding back her anger. Blue tendrils of energy wrapped around the letter, encasing it. The energy flared brighter and the letter disintegrated. Fascinated, Eren opened her hand and stared at it.

Not even the smallest trace remained. If only she could get her hands around Luke’s neck and reproduce that. Would he never leave her alone?

“
Once the bond between Society members is made,

there is nothing stronger—not even blood.”

~from
Life In A Society

Chapter 7

The girl across the ring from Eren looked like the Mayan version of an Amazon warrior. Her hair was styled into dozens of little braids that were all pulled back into a ponytail. Though she wore a typical, white martial arts uniform, it wasn’t hard for Eren to imagine her in furs and leather. The spear in her hands was tipped with a blunt end instead of a sharp point, but it looked authentic enough.

The girl lunged in and swung the spear like a staff in a sweeping arc at Eren’s legs. She jumped it easily, clearing it with over a foot to spare. Letting the momentum of the staff carry her, the girl continued to spin and brought the spear swinging down toward Eren’s head as she completed the turn. Eren lifted her own spear to block. The shock of the impact reverberated down her arms. Damn, the girl was strong. She kept up for a few more blocks and thrusts until the girl finally disarmed her.

Arms thrown out wide, frustration burning her eyes, Eren remained motionless with the other girl’s spear pointed at her neck. It wasn’t that the gym was filled with other high school girls in their different classes that bothered her, nor was it that most of them were watching her. It was that her skill level was so outrageously far behind the others that it made her want to scream. Much to her surprise, her maestro walked up behind her and clapped her on the shoulder.

“
Very well done. Again.” he said.

Eren’s opponent stepped back and allowed her to retrieve her spear. When she picked it up and took a defensive stance, the girl’s brown eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t really expected her to give up, had she?

This time, Eren lasted a bit longer and even got a few strikes in. By the fifth round, sweat was beginning to bead on her brow and she was having trouble holding the spear steady. She took more than a little pleasure in watching her opponent shake with exhaustion as well. Finally, their maestro called an end to class, his announcement echoed by the other three teachers in the gym. The Mayan girl surprised Eren by extending her hand to her.

“
While you may not be able to beat me yet, it took me years to get as good as you have in months. You’re a natural,” she said as Eren shook her hand.

Eren managed to mumble a shocked thank you before getting swept up into the press of sweaty bodies headed for the showers. The girls in the locker room treated her as if she was invisible, but she didn’t mind. At least they no longer sneered or made rude comments. Compared to being discriminated against, anonymity was something she could handle.

After a quick shower, she found Caitlin at the lockers and they went to have lunch with the guys.

“
You should have seen Eren in fight practice today, she was brilliant. Patli beat her like five times and she just kept coming back for more.” she exclaimed.

Groaning, Eren crossed her arms on the table and dropped her head into them. “Thanks, Caitlin,” she mumbled.

Aiden laughed as he rubbed her back. “That’s a bigger compliment than it sounds like, E. Patli is the reigning champion of the Mayan girls, and she’s Rector material. Most girls can’t get up and fight once—let alone four times—after they’ve been defeated by someone like her,” he said.

“
I don’t understand,” she said as she lifted her head and fixed him with a confused look.

“
When you’ve been defeated by someone whose power is greater than your own, the will to fight them again all but disappears. It’s nature’s way of keeping peace within our own Societies. Only Rector’s retain the desire to fight no matter what,” Fane explained. He was smiling and giving her an impressed look.

“
Told you it was wicked awesome,” Caitlin said.

Eren smiled at the enthusiasm in both of their voices. This would explain the surprise she had seen in Patli’s eyes, because Eren knew it sure didn’t have anything to do with her talent. In that department, she had a long way to go, despite what Patli said.

The bell rang, calling them off to their afternoon classes. Aside from a torturous hour of Calculus, the rest of the day flew by. During the walk home, the rain drizzled down but none of them really cared. They were too busy discussing which fighting style was the best and laughing at Fane and Aiden as they demonstrated different moves on each other. Before Eren knew it, they were approaching the bookstore.

“
Do you guys want to come in?” she asked.

“
Sure,” Caitlin said.

Fane’s disappointed gaze shot briefly in Caitlin’s direction. “I can’t. I promised my mother I’d cook tonight,” he said.

Eren laughed. She knew all too well that his mom could not cook unless it came out of a box or can, and even then it was iffy.

“
I’m really sorry, I can’t. Your Uncle Alin and I are going to talk about the Rector book,” Aiden said. He chewed his bottom lip as he gave her a regretful look.

She could tell he wanted her to come along, but it was a guy’s night and she didn’t want to intrude. It was too important to her that Aiden and her uncle got along. Alin was the closest thing she had to a dad now and his approval of Aiden meant everything to Eren.

“
You guys have fun,” Eren said as she rose up on her toes and kissed him lightly.

“
Yay! Girl time,” Caitlin exclaimed.

Aiden kissed the back of Eren’s hand like a gentlemen before stepping away. She giggled, knowing he must have picked up such an old romantic notion from being around Fane. Watching the boys disappear into the misty rain, she marveled at how wonderful her life was. When she first came to Spruce Knoll, she had no family or friends and the entire town shunned her. While she was still somewhat feared by most, no one outright shunned her anymore and she had both family and friends.

So why did she feel like she was still bracing for a blow? No doubt her old school counselor would tell her it had to do with residual trauma from losing her parents.

Shrugging off such thoughts, she relaxed and let herself enjoy the company of her new friend. The bell over the door to the bookstore rang out as they walked in. Caitlin oohed and aahed as they passed by the shelves, commenting on some of the more obscure titles. No wonder she and Fane were drawn to each other. The sweet, enticing aroma of brownies drew Eren through the aisles to the back of the store.

“
Mmm, that smells great.” Caitlin said.

Eren followed the aroma to the hallway that connected the living quarters to the store. Within the hall, a door stood slightly ajar. The brownie aroma was coming from the door at the end of the hall, but Eren paused at the open door.

It was a massive, solid steel thing with three dead bolts almost as big around as her wrist. It looked like it could survive a nuclear assault. For any normal bookstore it would have been overkill, but this was no normal bookstore. Within that small room, and below in the basement, were priceless books and scrolls from all four cultures in Spruce Knoll, some of them dating back to the 11
^th
century.

Pushing the heavy door open a bit farther, Eren peered inside. There was no sign of her grandfather in the small bookshelf-lined room. An expensive Asian rug was rolled up and the hidden access panel in the floor was open, a faint light emanating from within it.

“
Grandfather?” Eren called.

Footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs and her grandfather’s head emerged through the hole in the floor. Wrinkles gathered around the corners of his mouth as he smiled at them.

“
This is Caitlin, Caitlin, this is my grandfather, Zolin Yaretz,” Eren introduced them.

“
It’s nice to meet you, Sir,” Caitlin said.

“
As it is you, my dear. There are fresh brownies in the kitchen, you girls help yourselves,” he said.

“
Thanks, Grandfather. Just yell when you’re ready to start dinner and I’ll be down to help,” Eren said.

“
It will be a while, I’m looking up some old documents for Aiden,” he said as he turned and disappeared down into the floor.

That was curious. Aiden hadn’t mentioned any old documents. She’d have to ask him about it later. Following her nose, she turned and led Caitlin down the hall with its bookshelves looming over them like weeping willows lining a drive. The open and airy kitchen, with its window over the sink, contrasted so sharply against the dark hallway that Eren had to squint against the brightness. Once she saw the brownies sitting beneath the glass lid on the island, her rumbling stomach drew her to it. She and Caitlin got glasses of milk, a few brownies, and went up to her room.

“
Wow,” Caitlin said as she looked around Eren’s room.

Like everyone who came up here, she was drawn to the huge, round window. Munching on a brownie, Eren followed her and watched as her eyes grew, taking in the view. Then Caitlin turned around and saw the paintings hung all over the walls and froze, the half empty glass of milk slipping from her hand. Quick as lightning—thanks to a touch of her power poured into her legs—Eren shot forward and caught it, not even spilling a drop. Caitlin seemed oblivious of the near accident as she stepped forward to examine the paintings. Her fingers traced Eren’s signature in the corner.