Scorpion (11 page)

“Give up already.  She will have her way.”

I ignored Calum’s snide remark and continued on to my brother.  “We have the power to make this more than it is.  Two of us can sense danger coming, two of us can read every emotion we know of or have tested, and two of us have the power to go on without food.”  I rethought my line of thinking, “We have telepathy, alert systems, strength, sense of danger, better than normal hearing, heavy weapons training...we are all linked.”

“Correction again, you are linked to all of us. 
Kind of sick really.  What were these mothers thinking?”  Szar wouldn’t give up till I agreed with him.  Case in point-I was linked to four muscle-toned giants who could knock me to next Sunday if they were willing.

He was getting a bit annoying.  “I seem to absorb others powers.  Cas absorbed
mine some.”  I looked at Calum for answers.  “Did you start to get anything different?”  Intensely odd to ask, I felt like I was admitting in some kind of way more than a casual relationship with him by asking if we’d spent so much time together that perhaps he’d absorbed my powers in that vast amount of time.   I had the sudden urge to deny everything.

“Yes.  I can read some of your emotions now, but no one else.  I have since …the first picnic we went on.  I didn
’t know that’s what was happening until I found out who you really were,” he said despondently.             

My first thought was the reality that at that first picnic, where we first kissed, my first real kiss, I
’d felt a flood of emotion also.  I chalked it up to the kissing part.  Uh, oh.  What if it’s linked to the kissing?  

Which emotions?  The alarm on my face must have shown, not to mention I now knew he and Cas both could read my face if not my thoughts.  I tried
to block the memories but they were too strong.

“And knowing you remember that as much as I do helps.  Let
’s just say that if any of our enemies can read your emotions, we are in trouble,” Calum would try very hard to make all of this difficult.

I pushed my anger to the front knowing and hoping for the wanted results, “But we know it seems to be only us.  So for now, I think we should use what we have for good.   If we could work as a team, we could really do something awesome I think.  Cas, have you gained anything beyond what was mentioned?”  I wasn
’t sure I knew the person talking.  I mean, I know it was me, but I seriously was beginning to worry about my own sanity.  I sounded all authoritative.

Cas only grinned like a damn devil looking for a score to settle.  “I think we all know what I gained.”  Oh, this was directed back to Calum for his little stinging comment about the picnic and what happened there.  Arg!

“I have gained her emotional pull and the ability to sense her even more.  I can be as far as five miles and still now where she is.”

Szar came to the ruddy rescue with, “Wow!  That
’s just...damn.  That will come in handy.”

The indignation of the whole conversation was making me sick.  It did that a lot lately, but I
’d never let it show.

“I want to know why the hell he can do this and how it happened.” Calum was steaming like this was dig on him, for which it wasn
’t.  His implacable way of making me feel like I’d wronged him somehow tore at my heart.  I didn’t do anything wrong.

I blushed profusely at the implications of Cas and I that hung in the air, “Calum, it just happened.  Naturally.”  I
’m not embarrassed by the act, just the telling of it to another.

His face turned purple from holding his breath.  He needs to let this go.  “What exactly did you do to make it happen?”

Is he really doing this?

“Not that it
’s your business, but I think it just happened by being close to one another.  Nothing more.” I half screamed it trying to beat Cas to whatever sordid comment might have come net from him.

No one spoke for a minute or two.  I walked away from them pushing my foot in the dirt to appear unaffected.  Naturally, I know now that Calum and Cas were reading me. It bothered me a bit that I could read ALL their emotions now and knew they would hate it as much as me.

I heard their whispers and decided I’d let them talk alone.  I was the only dang girl in this little fours group of freak accidents in nature.

Come back Kissa?

I turned to show him I’d acknowledge him.  “Cas, it’s not like I couldn’t hear you.  And I’m glad you’re all in agreement, but I feel…I feel…alone.  I can’t do this alone.”

Never alone.

Yeah, cuz
’ men know everything.  The other two were bothered by the fact that I had answered his nonverbal message.  That just shows how freaky I am.

“She is the only one who can bring this to fruition.  Four knuckleheads making a plan will just end in disaster.  Without her, we lose.”

I don’t think I have ever once heard my brother say so many kind things about me in one sentence and yet really, he said nothing.

“We will do this.  For you,” Calum had his arms folded still.  I looked at Szar.  Arms still folded.  I looked back at Cas.  Arms folded.  Was this the standard male dominance position cuz
’ they all had it down well.  The wrong thing to be thinking, I realized at that time how good looking they all were.  Even my brother. They kind of looked like gods now that I think about it. 

Cas moved over in front of me covering the view of the three of them. 
Hearing your thoughts can be maddening sometimes. 

Agreed.

“We will do what you think is best.  One condition,” Calum said.

I
side-stepped so I could see all three.  “And?”  I’d heard but I wanted it said to my face.

“We will protect you at all costs.  You may fight if need be, but your ultimate goal should be relations.  People listen to you Stace,” Calum was adamant and determined to win this over me.

“Let’s hope your right.  I have a condition too.”  I was prepared for this.

“
Spill it,” Szar said.  He was afraid at the moment or something else, I wasn’t positive.  Boy, when they realize the mood reading is reciprocated and that I can read more than I let on, I’m in trouble.  It is only very recent and still not down pat now that I know what it is.  I needed time and practice.

“We practice together.  Work on our strengths, harbor it, and see what we can do.  If we can create an alliance among the factions with the four of us alone just think what it could revolutionize.  And with it, added our fifth man.”

“That’s you sis.  Always thinking big.  Thinking everything is possible.”

Feeling like a chastened child I led off with another thought provoking analysis
of what I hoped to never become. “It is as if you believe it.  Even hostility and anger can take over a person to the point they turn against the rest.  Their family.  Their friends.  Is that what you want?”

“No, but reality doesn
’t just go away,” Calum mused.

“Being a daughter or son of the gods isn
’t exactly the reality of most.  I think we’ve earned the right to think outside the box.”  I wasn’t backing down.

“She has a good point,” Calum finally helped me. 

“Now, we go back in there and convince them, we meet with the Weres, wage war, back ‘em down, or whatever is too come, and move on.”

The boys towering over me obviously thought me too confident, but I couldn
’t afford not to be with the sycophantically driven delusion that we could pull this off.  They all nodded and we headed back in.

“We will be ready.”

“With what?” my father asked as he heard us enter.

“We will reveal who we are to the
Were leader.”

“Outline it for us,” Lord Green asked wearily.

Now I had to show the fathers all this.   The growing powers and where it could take us.  The plan for the Were leader and his people.  And the future. 

Lee and Dr. Quinn will see. I eyed the Doc
’s unreadable prepped up face.  He just never looked evil.  If he was all bad, he’d have never given us the head’s up back in school detention that day. He was warning us...or baiting us.  I really didn’t think it was the latter, but either way what he didn’t know before or at the last meeting, he’d know now.  I'd overheard that his family would be moving to the Hunter school, but he was hesitant to do so for their safety.   I wanted to ask why, but felt it not my place.

Oh well, I might as well get the embarrassment over with if I intended to do this in front of a perfect stranger later.  And it
’s not like the factions will not know soon enough.

I looked at my three “male counterparts” and touched my stomach figuring the marks would be step one.  Thanking the gods I
’m young, never heard of belly button rings or the like, and having never been to a tattoo parlor, I felt fairly confident showing my stomach to everyone like a side show.  Because that’s exactly what we are, a circus freak show.  Calum and Cas flanked me with Szar beside Cas.

We all raised our shirts simultaneously facing altogether beside each other in a line.  The collective sighs across their faces was enough that we all four felt a little bashful with each of us reading each other
’s emotions.  Odd enough, we were doing that for days now and I just didn't recognize it as a whole.  We dropped our shirts and I proceeded with the demo knowing I wanted to show our emotional reading skills next.

“Dr. Quinn right now you
’re afraid, probably feeling the fear of what is to come.  Father, you’re scared also, most likely of what will happen to us today.  Lee, you’re in shock.  You can’t believe this is real.  Cas, you’re afraid to let others show what we know.  Calum, you’re angry still that I can read Cas’ thoughts.  Brother, you’re angry that I am still talking.  And Lord Green, you’re fearful every time you look at your son, and I know you worry sometimes that your son will become the lord sooner than you want.”

Everyone gasped at the last statement.  I stumbled over it not wanting to say it aloud but knew it would get the effect I needed.  I was right only because of all my spying while at the Hunter school, not because I can read all these people
as well as I said.  Though I am getting better at reading people’s body language alone.  I bit down on my bottom lip to chase the temper away.

“All four of us can sense some of what I
’ve said.  Am I correct?”  I waited while my male cohorts nodded in a bitter obedience.  I once was fearless, now I was the most afraid I had ever been.  The implications of what all we’d figured was worse than the reality TV I’d heard so much about.

“Not so much as you, sis.  You
’re the bomb.  Hell, even I didn’t know you could do all that!”

“Nor I,” Calum fumed.

“Language,” Cas admonished him.

“I
’ll do my best to not hear anything I’m not supposed to including the cussing I’m sure I can handle, but will ignore.  Now Cas,” I waited for his answer.

Everyone looked at Cas.  He shook his head no to being unaware of my skills.  Calum liked that too much.

I listed out some of the other things that combined, would make us stronger and explained that we needed to practice together. We would decide where later, but I thought the warehouse would be great neutral ground for all since I intend to include the Were leader.  He’s supposed to be with us if this whole prophecy thing is true since it said
ALL
the factions unite.  They were still hiding something from me and it was discouraging to know I couldn’t filter it out of their feelings. 

“For my next reality check I need Calum to go out the back door and Cas to leave out the front door.  Boys, return slowly from a different directions altogether.”

With a quick glance to be sure of my surroundings, I closed my eyes and waited.  After a minute or two I felt the familiar pain tingle up my spine.  “Calum, you are here, behind me.  I don’t feel Cas.”

I stood
erect feeling Calum directly behind me, too close.  “Calum, quit breathing down my neck.”  My father breathed too loud in surprise.  Just then I felt the warm feeling flutter in my stomach as Cas neared me.  “Cas, it’s okay.  Stay where you are by the windows.  He is just trying to get to you.”  My father sounded again. 

Cas moved closer ignoring my demand to stay where he was.  He was between Calum and I now.  “Cas, he is fine.  Trust me.  I can handle him.”

“It’s not you I don’t trust.”

Cas!  I
’m okay. 
He backed away.  I got the sense that Cas considered him a friend of sorts, but it changed by the day.

My eyes open now, I adjusted to the light again.  “So you see, we are capable of defending ours
elves if given the proper training to work together and find a way to get along.”  I eyed Cas and Calum.

Szar snickered.  I glared at him.  “Man in the middle.  Sucks to be me!”

Lord Green woke out of his stupor.  “I believe she might be right.  What I just saw, what I’ve known for so long, it’s all true.  And the kids don’t even know the rest Rander.”

Calling my father by his first name caught me off guard, but what Lord Green said next was way more important not to comment on.  “What do we not know?”