Damian's Immortal (War of Gods 3) (22 page)

Staring at her, Rourk squatted and rested
his hands on his knees, wondering what she saw through her lens. He
watched as she jumped from a rock and slipped, her arms flailing as
she almost fell into the water. His heart lurched. A strong need to
protect her filled his body, and if her laugh hadn’t echoed up to
him like music, he was poised to jump in after her.  But
instead, her face broke into a huge grin as she steadied herself
and continued to take photos. He relaxed, content to stand and
watch her for hours.

Rourk didn’t even know her name, but he knew
he’d never seen anything so magnificent in his life. Her wavy hair
glistened in the sunlight. She had a delicate face that was round,
with large blue-green eyes and full lips.  With her cheeks
flushed from the cold fall air, she reminded him of a porcelain
doll. He knew all too well, though, that looks could be deceiving.
She looked sweet and innocent, but it was her eyes that gave her
away. They were bold and daring, constantly observing her
surroundings. Rourk smiled to himself; she would soon belong to
him.

It took a lot of self-control not to
approach her, but Rourk knew that would be breaking the rules. He
accepted that they were in place for a reason. He had to be
patient. Their time would come. Unfortunately, she was over a year
younger than he, which meant he would have to wait longer than he
would like. He pondered this as he watched her pack up, lovingly
storing her camera away in its bag with her hair falling over her
face.  It wasn’t until she had disappeared down the path to
her house that Rourk finally turned and left.

***

Keegan sat at her small black desk looking
through the photos she’d taken that morning. Her hair had been
driving her crazy for the last hour, falling over her face with
nearly every movement, so she pulled it into a bun. Securing it
with a pencil, she continued to study the shots. She noticed there
were a few decent ones she could add to her Tumblr page; she had a
small circle of followers there who seemed to enjoy her pictures as
much as she loved taking them. She loved photography. Life was
nothing more than a series of moments and a picture could capture
that moment.

Her moments often felt empty. Sighing, she
turned her head to gaze out the window, her chin resting in her
hand as she let her mind wander. If she had Rourk, maybe she would
feel...more fulfilled.  All she knew about her partner was his
name.  Thaddeus, her brother, was a seer and he had told her
when she was younger. He said if she ever felt that she was in
danger to think of Rourk’s name.

Of course, she thought his name often, even
when she was not in danger. She loved the sound of it: Rourk. She
believed he would be a powerful warrior like her father, but she
wouldn’t know for sure until they met. It was possible he could
turn out to be a seer like her brother or a healer like her mother.
There were many powers passed down through their elfin
bloodlines.

Keegan smiled, leaning back in her seat to
prop one barefoot on the edge of her chair.  Most humans
automatically imagined elves as Santa Claus’ little helpers with
enormous ears and fuzzy green tights. This could not be further
from the truth. Seriously, she had never met an elf that worked for
Santa.

Evolution had allowed them to blend in with
the humans. The females tended to be smaller than average. Most
were only between 4’9"-5’2" tall. The part about pointed ears was
true. However, their ears were pointed in a cute way, and not
overly large like those in most mythology projects. Due to the fact
that their ancestors were from Ireland, the elves tended to have
reddish hair.

Her room didn’t look like an elf’s room that
was for sure. Two of her walls were pale lavender, a color
complimentary to the vivid emerald green of the other two. She had
posters of her favorite bands and several of her favorite snapshots
framed all around the room. The bed was large with a fluffy purple
comforter and four fat pillows upon which a few of her childhood
stuffed animals were propped.

And there was the light, lots of daylight
from her windows. Her room was her safe haven, almost as much as
her spot in the woods...

Keegan was startled out of her thoughts by
the sound of the door opening downstairs. It was too early for her
parents to be home and her pesky brother was at Sam’s house.
Quickly she closed her eyes and pictured the front door, and what
she saw brought a smile to her face. It was Anna, one of her best
friends.

Anna had been trying to sneak up on her
since they first met in the fourth grade. Keegan debated with
herself whether or not to let her succeed this one time. Smiling to
herself, she knew that was not an option. She focused her mind and
felt the familiar tingling throughout her body that came with using
her gift. She was in no hurry because Anna couldn’t see her--
invisibility was Keegan’s main power. Personally, she thought it
was the coolest ability in the family, but the others did not
agree. Her mom thought it was ironic that invisibility was her
ability because Keegan always wanted to be the center of
attention.

Down in the kitchen, Anna wistfully looked
around. She loved coming to Keegan’s house. It always felt so
inviting; there was a certain calmness about being there that
radiated throughout. It was probably the soothing sound of the
rushing water from the massive wall fountain, or maybe it was the
energy from the crystals collected by Keegan’s mother. Whatever it
was, the moment she stepped through the door a sense of serenity
washed over her.

The house felt empty of inhabitants. Only
the chirping of birds outside the open window broke the steady hum
of the refrigerator. The large wooden table was clean, all six
placemats perfectly spaced around a lovely centerpiece of
wildflowers Keegan’s mom must have picked. Anna put a hand to the
tabletop and closed her eyes, just allowing the peace of the home
to overtake her. She needed it.

Keegan crept up behind Anna silently, trying
not to laugh. Her best friend was off in space and had no idea she
was there. She focused her mind again and, amid the tingling, she
materialized before tapping her friend’s shoulder. “Gotcha!”

Anna turned and laughed, feigning
surprise.

Oh Keegan, I always know when you are there.
If you only knew that I have secrets of my own.

Anna never let on because she knew Keegan
enjoyed winning. It was a small price to pay to keep her best
friend happy.

As usual, Anna’s green eyes were outlined in
heavy eyeliner-- blue today-- and her lashes were long and thick.
She had shimmery pink lip gloss on her pencil-lined lips; she
looked like a rock star.

Keegan glanced over her eccentric friend’s
outfit to see what style she’d adopted for the day. Her bangs,
which she habitually pushed to the side, were now purple beneath a
black top hat that only Anna could have pulled off. The rest of the
day’s ensemble of choice consisted of a grey tank top, a blue
cardigan, and a pink skirt with bright yellow flowers that came
just above her knees. To pull the look together she wore sparkly
silver Converse shoes.

“
You know I hate you,”
Keegan said with a grin, bumping her best friend’s shoulder
playfully with her own.

Anna stared at Keegan indignantly, her
skinny arms crossing her chest. “Why would you hate me?”

“
Who else could pull off
that outfit and make it look natural?” Keegan said.

Anna gave a little curtsy and giggled.
“Thank you.”

“
You are not going to
believe what happened today!” Anna continued, grinning from ear to
ear and jumping up and down so that her skirt flounced and her
shoes caught the sunlight shining through the window. Sparkles
danced across the walls of the kitchen like a disco
ball.

Playing along, Keegan bounced up and down
and said, “Let me guess, Xavier finally asked you out?”

“
I wish!” For a brief
moment, the excited look vanished from Anna’s face and was replaced
with sadness. Xavier had been her friend since childhood. Anna had
recently realized her feelings for him were more than friendship,
but sadly, he did not return her feelings.

“
All right, just tell me
what has you so excited,” Keegan said.

“
Well, I was walking to
the bus when I saw a sign for a New Age fair tomorrow!” Anna jumped
up and down. “It’s a sign. We must go!”

Keegan grinned. “Anna, you seriously believe
in all that nonsense?”

Looking shocked Anna replied, “Certainly!
There has to be something more in this world than what the average
eye sees.”

If you only knew Anna,
there is so much more to this world than humans
know
, Keegan thought. However, she was not
about to reveal that knowledge.

“
Don’t forget to call
Lauren and fill her in,” Keegan told her.

“
But of course,” Anna
said, pressing a hand to her chest innocently. “If there were only
the two of us we couldn’t be called the three amigos.”

Keegan rolled her eyes, laughing.

The girls popped some popcorn and chatted in
front of the television for a while, muting the commercials and
blaring the reality show they both loved. When she had to leave,
Anna gave Keegan a hug and headed out.

With a little time to kill before she would
be tired, Keegan decided to look through her photos again. Her
favorite was a photo of a leaf blowing by itself in the wind. It
reminded her of herself. She often felt all alone, just floating
along. As much as she loved hanging out with her human friends,
like the time she had just spent hanging with Anna, she wished she
could tell them what she truly was.

Staring at her photos she realized her
favorite thing to photograph was the beauty of nature. There was
something fascinating about the outdoors. It amazed her that she
could document the seasons as they changed through photographs.
Elves loved nature and that was something she hoped evolution never
changed.

She put the camera and computer away; Keegan
knew she should go to bed. Time always seemed to get away from her
when she found herself caught up in the editing and uploading of
her photos. It was hard enough for her to wake up on time, not to
mention when she stayed up all hours of the night.

Keegan put on her favorite plaid pajamas and
crawled into bed, pulling her purple blanket under her chin. A
faint smile played on her lips as she thought of Anna’s eagerness
for the fair tomorrow. It would probably be fun.

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