When she was satisfied Eden’s feet had crossed the threshold, Alena turned to Alec. “Alec, she can sense our emotions.”
Alec’s expression shifted into confusion. “Yeah?”
Alena groaned. “She can tell when you’re aroused, you big lout.” She kept her words quiet even though they couldn’t be overheard. His eyes widened dramatically, sparkling blue. Echoing her groan, he ran a hand over his face.
“Well, I can’t just turn that off. She’s beautiful, Lena, and when she bites her lip like that…” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. Alena didn’t need empath abilities to know what Alec was feeling or thinking.
“I know; it does the same to me. But she’s going through so much. She just found out she’s not a mundane. She might have magic and tech, mage-haters are targeting her, she had to leave her home, and quit her job…”
“All right,” Alec halted her tirade with a tinge of amusement. “I get it. I’ll just think of my mom when I’m around her or something.” He grimaced, and Alena laughed. She had met Alec’s mother while undercover in Brenville. The woman was a battle-ax and built like a horse. How Alex had turned out so handsome and sweet, she had no clue.
“I shouldn’t be gone long,” Alena soothed him, patting his knee. “If she starts having difficulty with the tech, get Bette or call me.”
“I may not be an empath, but I’ll know if she’s getting upset. I won’t push her.”
Alena stood, gently kissing him on the forehead. Eden’s feet echoed down the stairs, and she met the woman in the hall. Eden handed her the keys. “I don’t have many things so just grab what you can. My jacket is hanging near the door. I really appreciate it, Alena. Actually,” Eden’s tone turned serious, “I really appreciate everything. I wouldn’t have unlocked these parts of me without you, and I didn’t come easily. Be careful; that guy might be watching.”
Alena nodded and swallowed around the tightness in her throat. Other mages had been grateful, but Eden was so sincere, a wave of emotion poured through her. Impulsively, she leaned forward and embraced the younger woman. Eden stiffened before returning the embrace nervously, her half arm remaining firmly at her side.
Alena pulled back, but not before noting how amazing Eden felt in her arms. She was soft and smelled sweet despite day-old clothes and a layer of tension. Debating for only a second, she did something she might regret. “Eden, this - your arm - it doesn’t bother me at all.” She squeezed Eden’s bicep on her half arm. Eden flinched but didn’t pull away, and Alena tried to read Eden’s emotions. It seemed like hope, but she wasn’t sure. If Eden didn’t want Alena’s touch, she could have destroyed their budding friendship. She didn’t think Eden would ever approach the subject if she didn’t though.
“I’m just,” Eden stuttered, “I’m just…” Her voice cracked and she stepped backward. “Thank you.” The words were a mere whisper before she fled to her room.
Alena sighed; she might have ruined everything after all. Alec watched from the doorway of the sitting room, leaning against the doorjamb. Alena waited until her senses picked up the click of Eden’s door closing before she addressed him. “She might need a couple minutes before she comes to you.”
“You did the right thing.”
Alena shrugged, uncertain. “I don’t know if I did or not. She needs to know people accept her, but she’s not used to being acknowledged. Shallow people have probably been rejecting her because of her arm since the accident. I wanted her to know I accept her as she is. It will take some time for her to adjust, but she’s strong.”
“People are idiots.” Alec’s blue eyes flashed with uncharacteristic anger. He was remarkably even-tempered; only injustice and inequality actually irritated him.
Alena’s lips quirked. “I would have used a different word, but I still agree with you.” She shoved the keys into her pocket. “While I’m in town, I have to check in at the police station.”
Alec embraced her and planted a kiss on her mouth. “Be careful,” he directed needlessly. She nodded and mentally called for Zar. She wanted him with her on this trip. She was uncertain whether the man or the mage killers were still in town, but she didn’t want to go without backup.
Chapter Fifteen
Eden
Eden paced across the blue room’s floor, her mind whirling with thoughts. Not only did she have magic now, and possibly tech, but Alena and Alec affected her strongly. They were both so attractive; Alena was full of fire and impulsiveness while Alec was comforting, humble, and sweet. Alena had hugged her and touched her half arm! Not many touched her stump willingly. When Alena told her she accepted it, Eden had only sensed sincerity and nervousness.
In the sitting room, she had sworn she caught lust from both Alena and Alec. Her emotional radar was either faulty, or they were thinking of each other, which made more sense. She knew she wasn’t ugly, but they were sleeping together which meant they were taken. She wouldn’t be the other woman to either of them. She wasn’t even sure if Alena liked girls. She shook her head, attempting to focus on something other than her raging hormones and fanciful imagination.
She shouldn’t have run away, but Alena had made her anxious and she wasn’t quite ready to meet with Alec. She waited a couple more minutes, calming herself by thinking of ordinary things. Her bed had already been made. She didn’t know how Bette managed everything unless she had a horde of tiny elves living in her kitchen.
Standing at the window, Eden looked over the forest again. It still called to her, but not as powerfully as when she had arrived. Tearing her eyes away, she sat on the rocking chair so she didn’t wrinkle the newly made bed. Closing her eyes, she focused on the lifeforms in the house. Alena’s bright green power was no longer within her range. She concentrated on building a small wall around herself, picturing the visual representation in her mind. Shields should be her first priority, especially if she was going to be spending time alone with Alec. She didn’t want to sense his emotions because it just confused her. The wall rose, brick by brick, in her mind. The glows of the other mages dimmed, but her wall didn’t stay upright. The moment she stopped concentrating, it toppled. She sighed. She would need Alena after all.
Although the exercise hadn’t worked, she felt calmer and located Alec. He was down the hall in his office. She walked toward him, keenly aware of her bare feet, messy hair, and day-old clothes. The desire hadn’t been for her, not with the way she looked right now.
Gideon had been conspicuously silent during the meeting with Alec and Alena, merely watching, listening, and inserting a comment here and there. Gideon, will you attend this tech test? She asked along the mental link.
No, I am a creature of magic. My presence may interfere with your test. I will rest while you perform this task. Being a nocturnal being is difficult when I’m partnered with a daylight being. If you need me, just call.
Eden sent an affirmative to him and considered his words. Could they work together if he wanted to hunt and live at night? Her factory shift had kept her awake all night, but she already felt her body adjusting to a normal circadian rhythm. That phase of her life was over. She couldn’t return, and she was reasonably sure she had already been replaced. Alec’s office door was cracked open, and she knocked tentatively.
“Come in,” a deep voice called.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she began as she nervously pushed the door open.
“It’s quite all right.” He beckoned her closer. “Do you want to do this now? We can wait.” His concern was a crisp scent laden with flowers.
“No, I want to know.”
“Then have a seat, please.” She sat in the indicated chair and studied the room. His dark, soft energy filled every corner of it, from the bookshelves to the green curtains. The desk’s surface was immaculately clean; clearly labeled folders sat in very precise piles, and everything else was filed neatly away.
Discomfort tugged at Eden, though. A strange evil emanated from the top of one of the bookcases. It seemed to
reach toward her, creeping sinuously. She released an involuntary whimper and shrank back in the chair. Her heart beat hard in her chest.
“What’s wrong?” Alec asked, watching her curiously.
“What’s up on that shelf? I don’t like it,” she whined, fully aware she sounded like a toddler pushing away offending food. Alec moved rapidly. He retrieved a cloth wrapped package from the top shelf.
“I’ll be right back.” He left the room, taking the evil object with him. Every step of increased distance relieved the danger upon Eden’s senses. He stopped somewhere and put the item down, and then he moved back without it. It hovered on the corner of her consciousness. She might never be able to ignore it completely, but having it farther away comforted her.
Alec re-entered the room and closed the door. “Did that help?”
Eden nodded in relief. “Yes. What was that thing?” Her voice trembled with disgust.
“That,” he said with a long exhalation as he sat in the chair next to her, “was your necklace.”
Eden recoiled in shock. “My necklace? The one I’ve been wearing most of my life? It felt evil,” she protested. How could she have worn such a malevolent object without knowing it?
“It makes Alena feel sick, and the other mages wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. I wonder if it’s changing since it’s no longer touching you. Later, I’ll put it in an iron box; that should contain it.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled, revealing the dimple Eden found so attractive. “No problem. I’m sorry it was even in here; I didn’t think about it.” She shrugged, and he continued. “Do you remember undergoing the technical test as a child?”
“Not really. I remember being asked a lot of questions I didn’t know the answers to. After that, they had me mess with a computer and look at a couple pictures full of lines and numbers.”
Alec nodded with an easy grin, and Eden evaluated his emotions. A spark of nervousness bothered him, but he was mostly filled with the soft contentment she related to him. He was in his element; his office and tech comforted him.
“That’s the extent of the test to someone that doesn’t have techie ability. Since I’m partial to keeping my computer and we know you have magic now, I’m not keen to repeat the computer test. I don’t want to fry all my records. But, we can go over some of the other questions. If you get tired and feel like stopping at any time, just tell me. You’ve been through a lot, and I don’t want to push you.”
“Ok,” Eden responded, forcing a calm bravado into her voice.
“We should probably start with a baseline. Have you been to university? What classes did you take in high school?”
“No, I never attended university. High school was the usual curriculum for mundanes and low-level techs. The teachers administered placement tests in chemistry, advanced math, genetics, and engineering, but I didn’t pass any of them. I got through basic math, science, and English as well as the other mundanes. That was it.” Alec nodded. If he went to university with the owner of Rennert Industries, he probably thought she was an uneducated bumpkin. She couldn’t read his thoughts, though, and his emotions didn’t reveal his impression.
He clicked a key on the computer and questions glowed on the screen. Eden perched on the edge of her chair but didn’t touch the machine; she didn’t want to ruin his electronics. She frowned, examining the first question. “Hmmm, well that’s easy. The square root of 576 is 24. I must have learned that in math.”
Alec clicked another link. “What about this one?”
Eden leaned closer, acutely aware of Alec’s soothing pine scent. She focused on the question, trying to ignore his nearness. The string of numbers and symbols should have looked like Greek to her, but she quickly calculated the equation. The numbers rearranged themselves in her mind and the answer rose to her lips. Alec clicked on a button at the bottom of the screen that showed she was correct. Eden’s heart beat faster.
They continued through more questions about all sorts of things: the correct arrangement of trusses to create a bridge capable of holding a certain amount of weight, an elaborate theory of ions and neutrons surrounding individual elements, the first string in a line of code for a complicated surveillance program, and the location of the main arteries in the body and how the heart processed blood. Eden didn’t falter on a single question. In each circumstance, she found the answer without any manual computation. The result rose in her mind like a balloon; she just had to reach out and grasp it.
Chapter Sixteen
Alec
After a particularly difficult question regarding the velocity of a planet moving around the sun, Alec sat back in amazement. Eden remained in a semi-trance, having slipped into it after the third question. Alec recognized that single-minded focus. All techies experienced it at one point, no matter what level they were or what they worked on. Everything disappeared except the questions and answers, revealing the correct code, the position of organs, or the location of a supporting beam.
Alec waited patiently. Her beautiful eyes, flecked with gold, had glowed while she answered questions. He’d never seen a techie’s eyes glow, so he attributed it to her magic. She seemed to surface like a whale rising slowly from the ocean, shaking off the trance - like water sluicing off the whale’s body. She blinked, returning to the present. Her hair was adorably disheveled and her smile shy as she redirected her attention to him.
“I believe we have the answer to why you were spelled. You are definitely a Magitech.”
“Oh,” Eden breathed softly. Her gaze focused on his face and Alec had a difficult time not tracing the outline of her mouth with his eyes. She was so close, he could see the rise and fall of her small breasts beneath her shirt and watch her pulse flutter at the base of her neck.
“What does it mean? Why would someone want to hide that?”
Alec pulled himself from his admiring thoughts. “It might have been for protection, but it could have been a selfish reason. Magitechs are elusive; neither the mages nor the techie community has much information on their natures. The information we do have isn’t the most reliable or current. If there are Magitechs, they stay hidden. I doubt any of them have special amulets, but a loving family environment could teach them enough control that they appear to the world as a mage or a techie. Some probably succeed, and some don’t. The myths and legends concerning Magitechs in both territories are fueled by fear. Someone capable of manipulating tech and magic is powerful and valuable.” Alec didn’t want to frighten her, but he did want her to understand the problems of revealing her nature.
Eden studied him while he spoke. Her assessment traveled up his legs, lingered on his hands clasped over his stomach, and grazed over the muscles in his arms. He recognized appreciation when she looked at him, and he didn’t know how to respond besides mutual desire. Women made him uncomfortable the majority of the time; the techie women he had encountered in university had been greedy, avaricious, gossipy, and grasping. He had avoided dating for a long time because of their personalities. When he met Alena and encountered her blunt authenticity, he fell hard. He was attracted to Eden for the same reason. She was real; she was genuine, sweet, and vulnerable.
If Davin were here, he would tease Alec about his hero complex, but someone needed to be on Eden’s side. Unfortunately, their situation wasn’t as simple as mutual desire. Alena liked her as much as he did, and it wouldn’t be fair if Eden only wanted him. They’d dated the same girl once before, but there had been multiple issues. Margie had tried to break them up a couple times. After hours of discussion, they decided it had more to do with Margie’s nature than the composition of the relationship, but he wanted to talk to Alena before he jumped into anything similar.
“I still don’t understand,” she said, bringing his attention back to the present. “If I’m this smart, shouldn’t I be able to formulate a reason why someone would suppress my magic and tech? Whoever created that amulet was very powerful. Why didn’t that person just keep me w
ith them if they were so concerned?”
She was asking the right questions, but Alec wasn’t entirely certain how to answer. “Tech smarts do not equal common sense or real-world smarts. I know many techies that could build a spaceship, but not understand the repercussions of their behavior toward other people. Some techies have difficulty empathizing or problem-solving any matter that doesn’t involve numbers. There is also a score of reasons we’re not considering. Other Magitechs exist, but they hide. Being a Magitech is dangerous in a country fractured between mages and techies.” He didn’t mention Davin. He wouldn’t give away his friend’s secret until he absolutely had to. The necessity may arrive soon, but not now.
“I’m not dangerous to anyone.” She laughed. Combined with her smile, the beautiful sound made Alec’s groin tighten. He forced himself to think of her words and not her beauty.
“I agree that you’re not dangerous, but many believe otherwise. One of those people uncovered your Magitech nature when you were young, before mandatory testing at age ten. Do you remember your parents? Alena and I tried to trace them, but they appear to have been erased from the system.”
Eden sat back, her gaze thoughtful. “I barely remember them, and I’m uncertain whether they were my real parents. I don’t remember them looking like me, and I’m certain they were both mundanes. My dad died when I was really young. I don’t remember it, but my mother told me. When I was five, my mom left the house and never returned. The police told me her body washed up on the shore of the Mighty River; you know - the border between West and East. I never found out why she left or how she was killed. The police ruled it a suicide, but my intuition says otherwise. She loved me, even if she wasn’t my real mother.”
Alec frowned. “I wonder if the amulet has a lingering effect on your memories.”
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