Discovery (26 page)

Star turned and smiled seductively at Dave, “Of course, dear Dave. It's time I freshen up a little anyway.” She smiled at Ben and touched his hand before walking straight through the middle of the dance floor, her glow becoming true to her name as it reflected off the large disco ball and caused a million dancing lights to suddenly bounce around the room. She was her own one-woman galaxy and an obvious professional when it came to capturing attention.

“What are you doing?” Dave confronted Ben as soon as Star was out of earshot.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what are you doing flirting with Star? You are supposed to be Grace's Guardian. You're on duty, young man.”

Ben stood straighter, his eyes scanning the room. “Why? Is Grace okay? Did something happen?”

“No, you idiot! Grace is fine. She's hanging out with Petra and Rebecca and a bunch of ladies back there. But you didn't answer my question. Why all the flirting?”

“I'm not flirting.” Ben laughed incredulously.

“You're not?”

“No. Of course not. Star and I are just talking about old times. We used to play together as kids. Remember?”

Dave rolled his eyes at Ben's naiveté. “Get over here,” he said, yanking Ben's arm toward the table where Dave's plate of food was waiting. “Sit down.”

Ben did as he was directed.

Dave sat down opposite him and leaned in, his face inches away from Ben's. “Son, I had hoped that by leaving you alone all day you would have had this figured out by now.”

“Had what figured out?” Ben felt like he was being scolded but had no clue what he did wrong.

“The whole Grace thing, that's what.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Ben pretended to study the closest wall tapestry he could find.

“Now, I know you're smarter than that. And I know you know I'm smarter than that. So stop pretending to be stupid and let's get to the point. What did you decide to do about Grace?”

“There is nothing to decide, Dave, remember? I'm her Guardian, end of story.”

“So.” Dave raised his eyebrows.

“So?” Ben shook his head.

“So, I can't believe you're this dense! I saw the past. I know you love her and she loves you. Petra has tried, but your future is not as easily seen. But despite all that, we still have the present. You two are here, in the safest place in the world for Grace, where you don't have to be on guard one hundred percent of the time, where you all can take the time you want to be yourselves, to love each other.”

“But Tom — ”

“Forget Tom. He's not here right now. You are! Take this time to be with her because it will probably be the only time you ever get. Who knows what will happen when you leave this place? But the least you can do is leave this place with no regrets!”

Ben sat frozen. As scary as it seemed, Dave actually made sense right now. He looked at Dave and whispered, “You're right. What am I doing? I've already broken every Council law out there. What's one more? I may never get another chance like this.” Ben was now musing more to himself than Dave.

“So fix it. Now,” Dave sternly said, repeating Petra's earlier instructions.

Ben left Dave shoveling the now-cold food into his mouth and headed to talk to DJ just as Grace exited the bathroom.

She had taken enough time to compose herself so that her reddened eyes had turned back to their original blue. They were not sparkling yet but at least they no longer revealed the sadness that had engulfed her earlier.

“Better?” Petra asked as Grace sat down beside her.

“I will be.” Grace half-smiled.

“Rebecca, why don't you get DJ to play something fast?” Birch asked. “You know, maybe one of those old disco songs that gets everybody on the dance floor?”

Rebecca, now tuned into Grace's emotional state, smiled at her sympathetically and said, “Sure.”

But just as Rebecca started to stand, a familiar beat floated from the sound system, causing Grace to suddenly grab Rebecca's arm and yank her back down into her seat.

“What?” the shape shifter gasped at Grace.

“Shhh!” Grace replied, her hand still clutching Rebecca's arm.

The entire table froze at Grace's command.

The familiar beat grew louder and soon Grace heard Peter Gabriel's voice join in with the rhythm. The singer belted out the chorus of “In Your Eyes” just as Grace slowly turned. There, walking through the middle of the dance floor, staring directly and purposefully at her, was Ben.

“You know, you never did get your birthday dance.” He held out his hand and smiled.

Grace's heart pounded as she placed her hand in his and followed him. He guided her to the middle of the dance floor and tenderly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body tightly against him. Oblivious to the entire room watching her, Grace simply and silently stared up into Ben's eyes and allowed her body to be enveloped by his. She drowned in his blueness and for the longest time she was lost in his eyes.

“I love you,” was all he finally said.

“But what about Tom?” she murmured, her eyes never leaving Ben's.

“I don't care. Right now, I don't care about anything but being here with you,” Ben whispered. He leaned his head down until their foreheads touched and Grace could feel his sweet breath on her cheek. “Just be with me right now.” His voice was soft. “It'll be just us. Just us for right now.”

Grace nodded as Ben softly pulled her closer and deeper into his strong embrace. Her head rested against his chest and she could feel his heart beating with the rhythm of Peter Gabriel's drums. His arms surrounded her with a sweet and gentle peacefulness she had never known and Grace knew that everything she ever wanted was in that moment. Everything she ever wanted was in Ben's arms. In his eyes. In his warmth. In his tenderness. And when she closed her eyes, she couldn't see everyone in the room staring at her. Instead, all she saw were the twinkling lights of the disco ball. Even with her eyes closed.

He sat in his tent, head in his hands, choosing his words carefully. His team was assembled outside, waiting. Waiting to receive the day's instructions. Waiting to be inspired.

Waiting for him to prove himself. To them. To his brother. To his father.

This was it. All or nothing.

Andrew poked his head through the tent's front flap. “They're ready for you, brother.”

Gregory looked up, still lost in his thoughts. “Why do you think Father stayed home? Why do you think he wanted us to do this alone?” he asked. The question seemed posed to himself as much as it was to Andrew.

Andrew immediately closed the tent flap behind him and whispered, “Shhh! What are you talking about?” He thought he heard a slight note of self-doubt in Gregory's tone but that was impossible given his younger brother's ego.

“Why do you think Father sent us on this mission without him? This is the most important thing the Anti-Powers have tried to accomplish in decades and he didn't want to be a part of it? Don't you think that's a little strange?”

Andrew shook his head. “But he
is
a part of it. He's back at the lab getting it ready and will come meet us at the cabin once we have the girl. Stop being so melodramatic and get out here. The troops are getting restless.” Andrew left the tent in a huff. He didn't have time to deal with his brother's weirdness right now. Ben's glaring blue eyes were burning a hole through Andrew's brain and the troops were not the only ones getting restless.

Gregory stood and took a deep breath, shaking off any lingering misgivings. He did know what he was doing. His father wouldn't have sent him on this mission if he didn't think he could complete it. All he had to do was capture one little human and take her to the cabin. Simple.

He exited the tent, broad shoulders squared and head held high. He smiled at Andrew and walked slowly to stand with his brother before twenty or so men and women who were assembled in a wooded clearing only a half mile away from the Misfit community entrance. Dressed in soldiers' camouflage, the team was anxious for battle. Gregory could tell by the look in their dark emerald eyes.

“Fellow Anti-Powers!” Gregory's voice boomed from his taut, muscular chest. “Our time has finally arrived. We have trained for this day. We have studied our opponents. We have memorized their maps. We know everything we need to know to conquer these supporters of peace. The Misfits are no match for our great powers. This, I am certain. We will capture the girl and we will complete our mission. Our success today will secure the Anti-Powers' rightful place in the future and we will no longer have to hide the immense powers we possess!”

“Anti-Powers! Anti-Powers!” the soldiers shouted in unison, thrusting their fists high into the air. Their adrenaline had been building for days and each was anxious to use their powers in combat.

“I could get used to this,” Andrew whispered in Gregory's ear.

“All in good time, big bro. All in good time,” Gregory smiled as he too thrust his fist in the air, egotistically joining in the soldiers' chant.

Out of the woods to their left, a solider appeared and approached Andrew with his head bowed. “Excuse me, prince?”

“Yes?” Andrew did not like being interrupted in the middle of their pep rally.

“My partner and I just returned from our scouting mission as Prince Gregory had instructed and we found something you should see.” The scout kept his head bowed as if he knew he was bothering Andrew.

“Well? What is it?” Andrew's voice boomed at the scout. By now, the other soldiers had ceased their chants and, along with Gregory, directed their attention to the scout with the bowed head.

At Andrew's command, the scout waved to his partner behind him. The partner emerged from the woods leading a young man with wire-rimmed glasses and a young woman with tight, blonde ringlets and ruby red lips. Their eyes were midnight blue and full of fear.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Gregory grinned as he crossed over to the couple.

“Misfits,” the first scout stated proudly, sounding certain that his find would please the princes. “They were in a somewhat compromising position in a clearing about a half mile away. All lovey–dovey and sweet on each other. They didn't know we were there until we were standing right over them.”

Andrew eyed the couple and marched in a circle around them, inspecting them with his trained eye. “What's their power?”

“The guy is some sort of Mental. He hasn't put up much of a fight,” the second scout replied. “But the girl here, well, she's a wild one. She can turn invisible, but if you hit her here,” the scout punched Carrie in the stomach, hard, “she becomes visible again.”

Carrie doubled over in pain, her face crimson red, but her blue eyes never left Gregory's face. “My brothers will find you. All of you,” she gritted through her teeth.

“Well, you see, you are wrong on that Miss Lovebird,” Gregory hissed. “Because we already found them first.”

• • •

Grace leaned back in the grass and took a deep breath. “I love that smell.” She looked at the lilacs surrounding her, memorizing the placement of each flower's petal, each leaf, and each branch. The clearing created by Ben's mother was now her most favorite place in the entire world.

“And I love
you
,” Ben leaned over her and smiled. His hand reached down and caressed her temple.

Correction. The clearing created by Ben's mother
with Ben lying beside her
was her most favorite place in the entire world.

“Why do you think she did this?” Grace asked without moving from beneath Ben's soft caress. She loved his warm touch and the gentle way he held her in his arms.

“I don't know. You were like part of her family. Like her daughter. I'm sure she missed you when we were all here so maybe this was her way of feeling close to you. Did she really have to have a reason other than she loved you?”

“No. I guess not,” Grace softly smiled. She reached up to touch Ben's face, her fingers caressing his forehead before gently entwining in his dark, wavy hair. She wanted to pull his face down to hers, to quickly stretch her lips up to meet his before she could even close her eyes. The thought of having their first kiss, of the slowness of his lips moving with hers as their mouths embraced, left her body feeling like gelatin and her heart racing with anticipation. But this time she could not bring herself to make the first move. Her last attempt at their first kiss in the middle of these lilacs did not turn out as planned and Grace was afraid that any overt gestures on her part might ruin what was turning out to be a perfect day. So Grace had decided there would be no first kiss until Ben's need outweighed hers.

“You know, at some point we have to return to reality.” Ben smiled down at her.

“I know,” Grace sighed.

“Vector and Birch are pressuring me to deal with the Anti-Powers and get you back to the Council.”

“I know.”

“But I'm not ready to give you up yet.” Ben's voice was almost a whisper now.

“I know. And I'm not ready to be given up either.”

Ben leaned back on the grass beside her and stared up at the sky. He pulled her hand to his lips and softly kissed it. “Look, Gracie,” he sighed. “I've thought about it and I don't think I'm too worried about the Anti-Powers now, but the Council … well, that's another story. I don't know what they'll do when we get back but I'm pretty sure I'm in a lot of trouble. And I'm most definitely sure you're still supposed to be with Tom.”

Grace did not respond but turned her head to join Ben's gaze up to the sky. A breeze pushed the lilacs around her peripheral vision and their smell swirled around her head.

“So.” Ben continued to stare up at the sky. “I've been thinking, whatever the Council decides to do, I'm just going to hang on to us. Like I said the other night … just us. Even if the Council won't let us be together, they still can't take away what we have right now, the way we feel. We have each other, together or apart. We have us and, I promise you, no one will ever love you like I do. No matter what happens, remember that, okay?”