Undertow (15 page)

He gently touched my chin and I turned toward the mirror. My own reflection, so familiar, had altered. The chocolate of my own eyes was now rimmed in a shimmering, liquid copper.

My heart rate took off like a rocket, startled by my own face now so foreign.

I felt Raef’s hand touch softly between my shoulders, attempting to calm my heart. In the mirror, the blue of his eyes gracefully returned and my golden ring faded out like a dying flame.

I stared at our reflection, trying to process what I had just witnessed. Finally I turned to Raef, who sat with an eerie stillness, no doubt wondering if I was going to freak out on a nuclear level.

“What . . . was that?” I asked, the fear giving way to awe.

Raef lowered the mirror, content that I apparently wasn’t going to flip out. “The truth of what we are,” he replied.

“Which is?”  I whispered, leani
ng closer as if the walls would spill our secrets.

“Dangerous,” he replied.

It wasn’t exactly the explanation I was looking for, that’s for damn sure. But my need-to-know-what-sort-of-weirdo-mutants-we-were instantly fell to a distant second.

Dangerous? Me? That was just laughable. I must have been holding my breath, because Raef slowly reached up toward my face and tucked one stray curl behind my ear. “Are you okay?”

“I uh . . . have a lot of . . .” I shook my head. “Dangerous? Are you sure? There is just no way.”

I was arguing, but my train of thought skittered off the tracks as he took my hand in his. He slowly traced the lines that crisscrossed my palm, his pensive silence worrying me. His touch was electric; the voltage a lot higher than it had been previously.

“See this,” he asked me, his finger following a deep line that crossed my palm.

“Yes,” I croaked, as my skin seemed to spark under his touch.

“This is supposed to represent your life line. Yours is very deep,” he continued, but he seemed to be speaking more to himself than to me. 

He traced it softly again, and the sensation sent my nerves ablaze.  He reached out with his other hand and sandwiched my lifeline between his own, holding it there for several seconds. “Eila. I
am
trying desperately to protect this lifeline. Never doubt that, alright?”

I nodded as the gravity of his words hit me. From the look on his face, I began to believe that I might actually need to have a shield in the form of this handsome boy. A shield against what, however, I wasn’t quite so sure.

He took a deep breath, as if to clear his thoughts, and then smiled at me softly. “You have to be hungry. Let’s go have some breakfast.”

“What about the thing in the water? You never answered me.”

“I will answer all your questions, but you really could use some food first. Brain processing power, you know?”

I sighed. “Fine.”

Raef gently pulled me to my feet, but my leg throbbed and I winced, sucking in a quick breath. “Allow me,” he said and in one gentle motion, he picked me up and carried me out the bedroom door. I could feel the warmth of his strong arm around my back, cradling me softly to his heart. 

Once again, he carried me effortlessly. Apparently exceptional strength went along with black eyeballs. I noted that he had never sparkled nor fried in the sun, so I scratched “vampire” off the insane list of possibilities for Raef . . . and me.

“Do the others know? About you?” I asked.

Raef nodded, “They know about both of us.”

I was a bit ticked off, “Seriously? And no one wanted to clue me in? Well, thanks for nada.”

“We weren’t sure about you, at first. Last night confirmed some . . . stuff,” said Raef, finally reaching the first floor. I opened my mouth to demand further clarification, but Raef cut me off, “Food first. And we need to check your leg. That was the deal.”

I gave a small growl and Raef smiled. As we approached the kitchen, I could hear a whispered, but heated, debate raging between Ana and what sounded like Kian. Raef had slowed his walking, as if he too was eavesdropping. I could hear Dalca’s voice, followed by Kian’s, which was seriously short-fused.

“Like hell! You had no right to push her into this!  Ana, you can’t be here! It’s obviously not safe.” Kian was really pissed.

Ana’s angry voice rolled over Dalca’s attempted reply, “Don’t you dare think, for one second, you get to tell me what to do. I told you to stay the hell away from me, and yet . . .” Ana’s voice dropped so low I could no longer hear what she was saying.

When Kian replied, his voice had lost its biting edge, “I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I never intended all of this . . . of us, being . . . Look, I’m sorry, but I’m not leaving now.”

Raef shifted his weight and stepped forward. His movement caused a pine board under his foot to protest and the kitchen became silent. I looked at Raef, who was watching the kitchen entrance as we heard a chair slide along the floor and footsteps coming toward us.

Dalca appeared in the doorway. She looked at my escort coolly. “Raef,” she nodded to him stiffly.

“M’am,” he replied, equally formal. Okay. Obviously not super chummy.

Dalca turned her attention to me. “Hi Eila,” she said, he
r voice now comforting and kind. “How are you feeling? How’s the leg?”

“Loads better. I mean, it’s still sore, but nothing like last night.” I could feel Raef hold me tighter.

“You gave us quite a scare. Try not to do that too often, alright?” she said with a smile. “You need to eat and I need to redress your wound. Breakfast is already out. I will be there in a minute.”  She headed past us into the front room and Raef looked down at me, still snug in his strong arms. 

“So you guys are real pals, huh?” I asked, a twist of a smile on my face.

Raef rolled his eyes, “Oh yeah. Two peas in a pod.”

I snickered as he carried me through the kitchen door and sat me on a familiar chair. He once again lifted my leg up onto another chair, stuffing the same pillow from last night underneath my foot, then pulled a glass of orange juice and a selection of pastries towards me.

Across from us, Ana was still simmering. Kian, however, stood casually near the side door. I selected a cinnamon concoction and took a bite.

“Eila, you know my brother,” said Raef, nodding toward the tall blonde. I wondered if Kian and Raef shared . . . talents.

              I swallowed, my stomach clenching. “Uh, yeah. It’s good to see you again Kian.”

             
“You too. Word is you flirted with the darkside last night . . . and I don’t mean Raef. Though . . . ,” Kian, pulled out a chair to sit down, “ . . . perhaps the next time he talks about you - and he does so a lot, to the point of irritation - he will tell me what you two were really doing so far from the crowd.” He gave me a bold wink. 

My cheeks flushed hot and breakfast flipped in my tummy. I glanced at Raef who was staring at his brother, his jaw set. Kian flashed him a triumphant smile.  

Dalca returned carrying a bowl of suspicious green stuff. I took a sip of O.J., eyeing her concoction warily. She looked at Raef and flicked her head to the side, signaling him to get out of the way.  He looked at me, as if to get my approval, and then walked over to the counter to wait.

“Alright missy. Let’s put some more of this on you,” said Dalca, starting to unwrap my leg.

I realized then that I was wearing an over-sized t-shirt and an old pair of sweat pants, with one leg cut off. I pulled the t-shirt away from me in an attempt to read what was on it.  I was mortified.

“Vanilla Ice? Seriously?” I asked, my eyebrows raised, “Ana? Is this
yours
? And why am I wearing it?”

“Okay. First of all, have a bit more respect for my taste in music,” said Ana, crossing her arms. “That thing I found in with the Goodwill bag, thou
gh I will admit that I did like a couple of his songs when I was
five
.  And second of all, I needed to get you into some dry clothes. Your skivvies were soaked. I washed your stuff. It’s in the dryer now.”

 
              I mouthed the words “
You stripped me?”
to her without Raef seeing my face. She nodded and I sighed, relieved that a certain, heroic boy didn’t help in THAT department. Thankfully he was too focused on what Dalca was doing to notice Ana and I.

A sudden shot of pain radiated from my ankle and I jumped. Raef immediately stood up straight, no longer leaning against the counter. My fingers dug into the seat as I looked over to Raef. He looked concerned and I gave a weak smile.

“Sorry Eila. I’ll try to be more careful,” Dalca apologized. I nodded, nervous that her version of careful may not be up to my pain-free standards.

“Okay then, so this right here is where your ankle struck the decking of the bridge,” she pointed to a dark gash in the center of an odd-shaped burn. “It must have sliced open your skin, causing it to bleed.  It is also exactly where you were grabbed, resulting in this burn.”

She traced above a four-pronged wound that seemed to wrap around the front of my upper ankle. Another line extended around the back of my ankle. All five, thick lines were connected by a solid, circular burn on the outside of my leg.

“When I looked at it last night, it was hard to discern the outline, because the poison had spread so aggressively,” said Dalca, shaking her head.

I looked at the Gypsy, confused. “I don’t remember you looking at it last night at all.”

“You don’t remember Ana dressing you up like a dime-store mannequin either, dear.  You were unconscious.”

Yeah. Thanks for that reminder. I blushed at the thought of myself, floppy and unaware, being examined by this elderly lady. Maybe I even drooled in my unconscious state. My stomach twitched at my fertile imagination.

Raef walked over to look at my wound. Kian and Ana came around the table as well to inspect the damage. They were all quiet for a few minutes as they looked at the burn.

“I was under the impression that touch can’t cause such a severe reaction,” said Raef finally, glancing to Dalca.

“It can’t” said Dalca, “And I don’t think it did. I believe her attacker came in contact with her blood due to the cut on her ankle. Once that happened, his skin began to decay and bleed as well. She reacted when his blood made contact with her own. It’s a miracle she wasn’t dead inside of a minute. She must have some sort of blood tolerance that bought her some time.”

I have a blood tolerance? To what? And it sounded like they were referring to a person
,
not a thing
.
Any inclination I had toward my breakfast was long gone.

Raef looked almost ill at the mention of my near demise. He turned to his brother, “Did you find a body?”

A . . . BODY?  WHAT THE . . . ?

Kian nodded, “It got dragged out toward the west beach. MJ and I took care of it. Good work by the way.”

“Did you say MJ?” I asked, floored. Did my ice cream hurling pal help move a . . . BODY? I swallowed, a sickening feeling sliding through me.

Raef didn’t seem to hear me. He looked tense, “It wasn’t me. By the time I got to Eila, I could see he was already dead. His body was being dragged away by the current. It was stupid of me to have left her on the beach alone. He could have killed her.”

“Stop for a minute,” I interrupted. Food be damned, I wanted answers. “Who’s dead? Are you talking about the guy from the bridge?”

Kian looked at Raef, eyes narrowed, “I thought you brought her up to speed.”

“And what? Give her the low-down on centuries of history the instant she finally woke up? Of course not. I didn’t want to drop all this on her when she was . . .” he glanced to me, “ . . . in pain.”

“Well give her the abridged version now, damn it!” demanded Ana. “There is obviously more than one, since SOMEBODY shoved her. I warned you both! But does anyone listen to me? Of course not!” 

She grabbed the newspaper off the table and pointed to one of the stories on the front page, nearly jamming her finger clean through the headline. “Look! I knew this was way too many. What does that make? Eight? Yeah. I think it’s eight now. And no way there’s just one, picking off this many. There have to be at
least
two, if not more. We’re screwed,” she moaned.

Raef motioned for the paper and Ana shoved it into his hand. The headline read,
Beach-Goers urged to use caution: Two more swimmers assumed dead.

“Oh, come on now, think positive,” said Kian.

Ana glared at him, then burst into a huge, excessive smile. “We’re screwed!” she declared in an upbeat tone, completely the opposite of her current state of stress.

“Ah, see? Much better!” encouraged Kian.

I was sure Ana was going to flip out and slap him.

Dalca shook her head. “They may not have known. It could have been just horrible luck.  There were a lot of beach-goers out there last night and it could have attracted the
m. And it had to be a young one who didn’t understand the rules and grabbed her over her open wound. There’s one less in the area now though,” said Dalca, still looking at the oddly shaped burn.