Love lines (11 page)

“It needs more color,“ I thought to myself. But as soon
as that thought formed clearly in my mind my hands themselves raised up in the
direction of Christian’s patterns and began to repeat his own motions.

My heart was drowning in the ocean of pure delight and
happiness. My veins were burning with the fire running through them and my
hands were tingling with the unknown power I had never felt before. Even while
standing with my eyes closed, I could clearly see our painting. The lace lines
became brighter, filling the room with magical brilliance.

I smiled, feeling an indescribable joy. I didn’t know
where that feeling came from, but it overwhelmed me like a river running over
the banks. I felt incredibly good. I felt the warmth covering my hands, but it
wasn’t painful, it was pleasant. I felt Christian’s powers complementing my own
strength, and the flow of our energy filling my body with already familiar
warmth.

I opened my eyes, and saw it - the beautiful golden
pattern, spreading the entire space of the room from the floor to the ceiling,
like a fine picture, on the other side of which stood Christian.

And he was smiling too. His arms were stretched out,
palms up, just like mine. And we both just stood there and stared at each
other, not understanding what was currently happening. But the feeling seemed
to be so right…  It was completely different from the way we both felt on the
lake.

I let my hands down, but the pattern remained in its
place. When Christian put his hands down too, the image disappeared.

“You already possess the power of fire, Eileen!” Evan
exclaimed admiringly. “And not just possess, I would rather say – in
perfection!” he added even more surprised. “To connect your energy to
Christians’, you must at least be as strong as he is. And I've never seen a
freshman with such a strong power!”

“Neither have I,” agreed Christian, coming to us. “Well
done, Eileen. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to try to do what you were
doing.”

We didn’t mention however, where the idea of creating
this particular picture came from. I didn’t say a word as well about how
exactly
I managed to do that. Thinking that there were too many unnecessary witnesses,
I decided to tell Christian about all the details later. As if knowing what I
was thinking about, he nodded quietly.

“Well, I think your presence here, Eileen, was a good
beginning of your training,” he said aloud thoughtfully (or did I just imagine
it?).

“Absolutely!” instead of me replied Evan, whom
Christian, at the same time, gave a hard look (or did I just imagine that too?).
“It's only our first practice lesson, and we have already learned about
Eileen’s ability to possess the power of fire! What will happen when she visits
the other training classes?..” asked Evan rhetorically.

At that moment I looked at Christian. His eyes were full
of horror and his fear reflected in me, making my knees tremble. Oh. My. God.
That's why he reacted so strangely on my first attempt to show the power -
he was afraid that I could just as easily possess the power of other nature
elements. Knowing how much strength and energy was needed to control at least
one of them, he was horrified to imagine what could happen to me in such a
rapid development of my abilities.

All the joy of our recent success disappeared without a
trace. I sat on the nearest chair and tried to calm down. After all, possessing
the power of fire wasn’t uncommon for Fairey. That didn’t mean that I would be
just as easily able to operate with water or air, right? But the problem was
that I wasn’t a Fairey in a usual meaning of the word. I didn’t have to make
any effort to help Christian today. Could that mean something?..

“Eileen, are you okay?” Evan asked, sitting on a chair
nearby.

“Yes. Just shocked a little. I didn’t expect something
like this to happen to me,” I confessed.

“I know,” he nodded sympathetically. “I was once a
beginner as well. All those new sensations and powers. You just need some time
to get used to your talents. I think that’s enough for you for today. You’ve
spent a lot of energy, so get a rest, and we’ll continue tomorrow,” he said,
rising.

“Thank you,” I said, heading for the exit. “I really do
need to rest.”

 Hearing the announcement of a text message, I looked at
the screen of my cell phone.

 “
I'll come as soon as possible”
, I read the
message from Christian. I didn’t bother to turn around so as not to attract too
much attention. I knew that he didn’t need the answer. Christian knew perfectly
well everything that was going on inside me at that moment.

Back in my room, I began to count the minutes before his
coming. I thought that if I didn’t tell him everything, my brain would just
explode. The phone screen lit up again, one more message came. This time, it
was from my grandmother.

“My dear girl! I’m very glad that you are all right.
Ms. Wilde told me everything. Hope we’ll discuss that soon. I'm coming back
next week and will be able to visit you. See you there, sweetheart!”
  

That was, perhaps, the only good news over the past few
days. I didn’t even want to think how much my grandmother knew from Alexis.

After half an hour someone knocked on the door. Thank
God! Christian stood in the doorway.

“Tell me everything from the very beginning,” coming
right down to business, he said.

After listening attentively to my rambling speech, he
needed some time to comprehend the words he’d heard. He shook his head in
disbelief and ran his hands through his perfectly messy hair.

“As soon as I felt the burst of new energy, Eileen, I
knew that you had done it. It was exactly like in the dream. It was so easy to
combine my energy with yours. I just knew that doing that was the right thing.
I must say, it was quite weird.”

“I don’t know how it’s all connected, Christian, but
there, on the lake, I felt something completely different, like being there
with you was wrong in itself. I think I should go there alone and...”

“Don’t even think about it, Eileen!” in the blink of an
eye coming next to me, said Christian. “Don’t you realize how dangerous it is?”
he put both his hands on my shoulders.

“I know, Christian, but… Damn this stupid tingling!” I
said irritably, rubbing my shoulder.

“What tingling?” he asked confused.

“It’s on my shoulder. I’ve had
it for a long
time, but it was more like a slight tickle before, now I feel real pain,” I
said gloomily.

“Can I have a look?” holding out his hand, asked
Christian.

“Sure,” I said. I turned my back to him, taking my hair
away from the right shoulder. There was a moment of silence.

“Oh, my God!” in a barely audible voice he said, lightly
touching the place where the pain was throbbing.

“Is it so awful?”I asked frowning.

“No, it's... amazing!” he said stunned. There wasn’t a
shade of humor in his voice. He was dead serious, his eyes glitter with
something mysterious.

“Christian, what are you talking about?” I wondered
worried.

Without saying a word, he turned me to the mirror and
gave me the other one, much smaller, so I could see my own reflection from the
back.

“Look at this,” he said.

Turning the small mirror so that I could see the
reflection of my right shoulder, I finally saw what Christian was talking
about. And it was so beautiful that nothing except
“Unbelievable!”
popped
into my mind. There was a tattoo on my shoulder - an elegant intertwining of
two fire-red hearts with amazing glowing golden shades around them. Those
beautiful heats were joined in one, and crowned with a golden crown. It was
shimmering in the rays of light with thousands colors.

“Look at this,” added Christian quietly, touching the
place where the tattoo
was on my shoulder. It seemed as if the heart
came to life with his touch, and the red lines of a lace pattern, began to show
all over my back, making my blood boil in my frozen body. And
that
was
the very same pattern! But this time it looked like a real fire, imprinted on
my back. It looked like a magical combination of thin red lines drowning in the
waves of bright sunlight. But the moment Christian removed his hand, the
picture vanished, leaving behind only a light imprint of a red heart.

“It's incredible!” I whispered, without taking my eyes
off my beautiful heart.

“I didn’t just ask to look at it for no reason, Eileen,”
he said.

Christian stood in my place, back to the mirror and took
off his shirt. Since he was taller than me, I had to bow a little to the side
to see what he was trying to show me.

“You have the same tattoo!” I couldn’t believe my own
eyes.

“I bet that if you touch it, there will be the same
lines as on your own back,” he noted.

And so I did…

Christian was right. The moment my fingers touched his
back the heart came to life and the pattern appeared on his back. It was the
same as mine. I couldn’t take my eyes off. It seemed that the lace lines looked
even more beautiful on his broad shoulders than on mine. I didn’t want to stop
to admire their beauty when I saw it on my own shoulder.

“How is this possible?” I asked finally. But Christian
didn’t say anything. He was watching me carefully. I didn’t realize that his
silence was caused by the proximity of our bodies. My hands were still on his
back, and from an outside view it might seem that I was embracing him. My
breathing quickened and my heart skipped a few beats. I felt everything that
Christian was feeling at that moment. His eyes were glowing with passion, his
bare skin felt like melting lava under my palms and his breath was warming my
lips. Our feelings were the same...

Without saying a word, he embraced me with one hand
while with the other one he touched my cheek. When his lips met mine, I thought
I was flying in the sky. His kiss was sweeter than any nectar, his warmth
enveloped my entire body, and his proximity made me lose my mind. I didn’t want
to step back. It felt so good, so right, like I was finally home again after a
long absence. Even without opening my eyes, I knew that in those moments lacy
lines on our backs were shining like a pure sunshine, and we both could feel
their warmth. His lips were perfectly smooth and delicate and our kiss was so
sensual I was ready to sacrifice everything I had just to make it last forever.
There was just a thin piece of fabric separating our bodies but I could feel
Christian’s bare chest pressed against mine as if there was nothing at all. We
were a perfect math and our bodies and minds were totally agree with that
conclusion.

I didn’t know how long our kiss did last when suddenly I
heard a quiet coughing coming somewhere from aside. Amanda! We both stepped
aside so fast that I almost lost my balance.

“I knew you would be waiting for me,” as if nothing had
happened, she said. “But you found something to do meanwhile,” giggling, she
added, walking past me.

Christian and I exchanged a look. Our eyes were a
reflection of each other’s emotions – we both were sorry. Not about the kiss,
of course, but because it ended so soon.

“Christian, I hope you’re going to get dressed before we
go?” asked Amanda, smiling and handing him a T-shirt. He took it silently and
put it on.

“I think I'll wait for you in the car,” he said
awkwardly, and left.

“Don’t say anything,” raising a warning hand, I said to
Amanda. My heart was still racing from the kiss and I really doubted I was able
to say anything intelligible.

“I wasn’t even going to,” she replied with a grin.

I didn’t know how much Amanda managed to see before we
noticed her presence, but judging by the fact that we hadn’t immediately paid
attention to it – she saw
enough
. Anyway, I didn’t want to talk about
that. So I got dressed quietly and took everything I needed for a shopping
trip.

On the way to Christian’s car, I remembered that we
hadn’t found anyone else to accompany us.

“Don’t worry. I’ve talked to Evan myself,” guessing the
cause of my embarrassment, said Amanda. “Geez, he's such a sweetie! He agreed
at once,” she said with that dreamy smile on her face.

“When did you manage to talk to each other?” I wondered.

“Well, while you and Christian were uh...
busy
, I
accidentally ran into him in the hall and asked if he wouldn’t mind coming with
us,” she explained innocently.

“I see. So you haven’t lost your chance my dear friend!”
I noted, surprised. Amanda wasn’t usually the one who made an acquaintance first.

“It’s just because you can’t take care of your beloved
friend,” she said reproachfully.

I just shook my head in response, smiling.

Chapter 13. Gloster
(
Christian)

I knew that there would
be one more attendant
going to the town with us. But I didn’t think that it would be Evan! Of course,
I had nothing against my best friend, but not in
this
case.