Feudlings in Sight (3 page)

“Lewis! We have to get Charity out of here,” Shane snapped, angry. Hunter was too. Always,
always
, they treated Charity like a second-class nothing. Hunter growled, deep in his throat.

“Lewis!” Shane yelled again, but when the man didn't respond Shane glanced at Hunter, fury racing across his face before he turned on his heel and jogged after Lewis. An enraged Prodigy.
Interesting
. Shane wasn't angered easily, but Hunter could still feel the pull of battle with the Edren monster. And if he could feel it, he was sure it was that much stronger for Shane.

Charity raised her head, watching Shane. “What is that thing?” she asked between chattering teeth.

“It looks like the start of a building.” Curiosity bit at him, but he couldn't let Charity go. He was barely keeping the cold at bay as it was.

Shane ran back over. “I'm calling a friend. We'll get you out of here, Charity.” He dug his phone out of his pocket, standing behind Hunter.

“The Council didn't okay this call, did they?” Hunter asked, keeping his voice low as he glanced over her shoulder.

“Not exactly.”

“How do you even have cell coverage here?” Hunter asked, bewildered. He dug his phone out of his pocket. It didn’t have service.

Charity shook, and Hunter hoped it was laughter and not chills getting more violent.

“Don’t ask,” Shane said. Turning away from both Charity and Hunter, he said into the phone, “We need a
saldepement
.” Seconds later, Hunter felt the warmth behind him as Shane grabbed his shirt, dragging him backward through the portal. Charity stumbled with him. He just heard someone yell as Shane snapped the doorway shut.

Hunter gripped Charity tighter, spinning to make sure they were safe before he relaxed his grip. They were in someone's home, from the looks of things. “Thanks Michael,” Shane said, the discomfort clear in his voice. Hunter glanced over at the man standing near the doorway to the living room. He looked like an older, more tired version of Shane. His black hair was cropped short, but Hunter guessed it had the same reckless waves as Shane's. His eyes weren't the bright metallic blue that Shane's were, but they were fringed by the same long dark lashes. And the facial structure was the exact same. Charity raised her head.

“Hi, Uncle Michael,” she said timidly.

Uncle?
Hunter had known Shane since they were small, and he'd never met Shane's father. Shane had never spoken of him, or his mother, although he knew Shane had their phone numbers, just like he had his mom's programmed into his contacts list.

He also knew Charity
didn't
have her parents' numbers in hers.

They weren't supposed to have contact with family. It made them weak and put their families at risk. But apparently Shane had thought the situation warranted it.

“What are you doing here?” Michael asked.

Shane glanced away so Hunter spoke up. “We were running from the Edren Prodigy.

Michael's home was cozy. The furniture was dark leather and there was a roaring fire in the fireplace. An archway led to the kitchen beyond, and the doorway Michael stood in led to a hallway.
Is this where Shane would have grown up if he had been just a normal Carules?
The place seemed to fit Shane well. Hunter could see this being his home.

“You shouldn't be here. If the Council finds out…”

“The Council won't find out.” Shane cut him off, sounding more brusque than Hunter had ever heard him. “We just needed a place to escape to. We'll get out of your way as soon as it's safe.”

Michael watched him silently for several seconds. If Hunter had been more in tune with people's emotions, like Charity was, maybe he could have seen more — maybe regret or sadness in Michael’s eyes, but he wasn't in tune and all he could see was fear. Of his own son. Of the Council.

“Well, sit down. Would you like something to drink?” Michael asked slowly, sidestepping to the kitchen like he was afraid to turn his back on them.

“No,” Shane snapped, and then softened his tone. “Thanks, but we're fine. We'll be gone before you could get back anyway.”

They sat there in awkward silence until Hunter couldn't stand it anymore, which was an odd feeling for him because he typically preferred silence, awkward or otherwise. “What was that thing Lewis was looking at?” he asked quietly. Michael stopped in his sneaking away, straining to hear them.

Shane shook his head. “A giant hole lined with some kind of metal, as far as I could tell. I think it's going to be the Council's fortress one day but right now it's just one step away from a plummet to your death.”

“Deep?” Hunter asked.

“Yeah. Several stories deep. Maybe they're channeling comic book heroes and building an underground lair.” Shane tried to quirk his lips up in his usual grin, but failed miserably.

They fell back into the uncomfortable silence until Shane's phone vibrated in his pocket. He jerked it out, his movements aggravated and harsh. Michael, slowly inching backward down the hall, flinched like Shane had attacked him. “Yeah,” Shane said, putting the phone to his ear. “Just do the
saldepement
and get us out of here.”

Charity, with her gift, always seemed more aware of the emotions around her than everyone else, and now was no exception. Since Hunter could feel the tension in the room, he could only imagine what she was suffering. Which explained why she stood so stiffly in Hunter’s arms. He could feel her sharp, shallow breaths like she was afraid breathing normally would draw attention to her. When the portal lit up, she leaped for it, leaving the safety of his arms for the first time in several minutes. The absence of her made his skin ache, something that Hunter had to shove far away. He couldn't think about Charity like that. Not until the war was over.

He followed her through the doorway into the Council chambers. They both turned, waiting for Shane and ignoring Charles and Lewis, who paced angrily, ready to launch into their tirade.

Shane paused, his foot halfway through the door. Slowly, he looked to the side where Michael must have still been standing. “I'm not a monster, you know. I'm just your son.”

Before Michael could reply, Shane snapped the portal closed. He squeezed Charity's shoulder as he brushed past them. “What were you thinking? That was—” Charles exploded but Shane stormed past them.

“I've got packing to do.”

Charity looked up at Hunter, the worry evident in her big silver eyes. He wanted to brush the white, silky strands off her forehead. He wanted to tell her it would be okay and that she had nothing to worry about. But instead he shook his head. Grabbing her hand, he led her past the Council, shielding her as much as possible. He'd never looked forward to starting a new school before, but this time he couldn't wait to escape to the quiet boarding school in the mountains of Utah.

Chapter Three

The airport shuttle dropped them off in one of the most beautiful places Charity had ever been. Granted, she hadn't been a lot of places in her life — the Council headquarters in Detroit, surrounded by abandoned, falling-apart warehouses and factories, and a boarding school in New York. And wherever she'd been born, but she didn't remember that.

But Park City was beautiful. It was surrounded by soft rolling mountains, the air was clear and everything was so green. The school wasn't anything exciting — just a big, square building surrounded by short, rectangle buildings. But she could see trails branching off from the well-manicured lawns connecting all the buildings together.

“Wow.” Hunter’s eyes widened as he sucked in a breath.

Shane glanced around them, and Charity could see the pain in his eyes as he watched the students hurrying inside the main building. They had parents with them. Frazzled, teary-eyed parents lugging around huge bags. Shane had never had that. Neither had Charity.

Hunter's mom had fought the Council with everything she had when they came to take him. She had lost, of course, because no one wins against the Council. But at least Hunter knew he had a family who loved him. His dad had died after a particularly vicious fight with the Council when Hunter was twelve. The official report from the Council implicated the Edrens, that Sam had died fighting bravely.

Charity hadn't seen it. She had tried, but the vision wouldn't come. She wasn't powerful enough. But she knew Hunter had his doubts. She did too, but she didn't mention that. No one wanted to know that the Council they fought for was made up of heartless monsters.

“Should we go in?” Hunter asked gruffly, hiding under harshness. Charity threw her large blue duffle bag over her shoulder and hoisted her backpack onto her arm. Everything else had been sent ahead, luckily, because she was pretty sure she was already carrying more than her own weight in luggage.

There was a long line at the orientation desk for freshmen, full of students and nervous parents, and shorter lines at the sophomore, junior, and senior desks for new students. Charity wished momentarily that they were coming in a year late if for no other reason than she wouldn’t have to stand in that long line and watch all those parents care about their kids. But starting school a year or two late was social suicide — even worse at boarding schools. And starting as a senior was pretty much the worst thing anyone could do.

Charity didn’t care if she was popular. She had Shane and Hunter, so she was never alone. But it helped to have friends. It helped her to build an imaginary family when her real one didn’t want anything to do with her.

Shane ran a hand through his hair, one of the few traits he had that gave away his nervousness. Otherwise, he looked completely confident, maybe because of the stares he got from every female in the room. Stares that would make Charity completely uncomfortable, but Shane fed off them. Hunter got stares, too, and Charity had to squash the jealousy. Most of Hunter's stares were fear anyway.

No one noticed Charity. She was like a ghost in their shadows.

“Hey son! You play football?” A large man approached, clapping Hunter on the shoulder.

Hunter's golden eyes lit up. “Yeah, I play. We both do.” He motioned to Shane.

The man glanced at Shane, but he wasn't impressed with what he saw.
If you only knew,
Charity thought with an inward giggle. Shane was super-sorcerer fast and super-sorcerer powerful.

“We're looking into getting a school-sanctioned football team but so far we have a great group of boys playing every Monday. You come check us out. Having someone like you on the team might be just what we need to convince the board.” He clapped Hunter on the shoulder one last time and turned away, yelling at someone across the room. Hunter watched him, one eyebrow raised.

“Looks like you found your niche.” Charity smiled up at him. He shrugged and moved forward with the rest of the line.

It took over a half hour to get them all registered. Without a parent or guardian present, things got… interesting. Charity could see the sparks at Shane’s fingertips as he got more and more frustrated. She poked him in the side and glared pointedly down at his hands.

“Oh.” The sparks died abruptly.

After several long minutes of arguing Hunter finally snapped, “Let me call our
Uncle Charles.”
Once the woman seemed satisfied that they weren’t homeless hooligans trying to invade her school, she handed over their schedules and a map of the school and buildings.

“Charles made sure you had a room to yourself. In case your eyes start glowing in the middle of the night or something,” Shane told her as he hefted his bags and her backpack over his shoulder. Hunter grabbed her duffel and his bags, and they left the main gymnasium.

The lawns were trimmed with pretty stone paths leading from the large square main building to the outcropping of dorm buildings — four in all. Charity followed Shane as he led them to her dorm room.

The rules posted at the top of the stairs stated that boys were not allowed in the girls’ dormitory. Which meant that after they got her all set up and visiting hours were over, Shane and Hunter wouldn't be allowed in her room anymore. She would be all alone. The thought left Charity cold and frightened, but she didn’t say anything.

“You got the top floor, at least. Sophomores are downstairs, and there are no upper classmen in this building. That's good, right?” Shane seemed to read her mood and was trying to lighten it. Charity gave him her bravest smile.

“We'll be right next door, Charity. If you need anything…” Hunter said gruffly.

“Thanks, Hunter. I'll be fine.”

Shane pushed the door open and went inside, seemingly oblivious to the stares of nearly every girl in the hallway. Hunter glanced at Charity, rolling his eyes heavenward before he followed Shane in.

The room was bigger than her last room, with brightly painted walls, a plain bedspread, a desk, and a closet. Big windows looked out toward the closest building. “Look, that's our dorm, I think.” Shane pointed.

Hunter looked down at Charity, motioning across the lawns to the room directly across from hers. “We’ll be in that room right there. So you’ll always be close, okay?”

She smiled. “How exactly do you know that?” She tipped her head to the side, narrowing her eyes playfully. “Are you stealing my seer power?”

He chuckled, his lips quirking dangerously close to a smile of his own.

Shane, from his other side, raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you really think there’s anyone that’s going to tell him no?” Hunter looked smug. Charity laughed, shaking her head.

“Off you go. I’ve gotta unpack.” She shooed them out, following them into the hallway, trying not to choke on the loneliness as she watched them disappear down the stairs.

The door across the hall opened, just a crack, and a girl who looked like she was much too young to be at a high school peeked out. “Oh. My. Goodness.” She bounced, swinging the door wider. “Are they your brothers? Boyfriends?” She flung the door the rest of the way open and smiled at Charity, bubbling with excitement as she pushed her glasses higher up on her nose.

“N—no.” Charity felt blood rush to her cheeks. “No, um, the tall one is my cousin. The… the big one is his best friend. My best friend.”
The love of my life
.
Who has no idea I’m
female.