“It wasn’t a pickup line, and he’s not playing me. His people have powers. They told me I have powers too.”
Reese raised her eyebrows pityingly.
“Fine, you need proof?” Elena shoved aside the papers on her nightstand and centered the glass of water she kept there. Focusing on the liquid, she read the molecules and commanded them to re-form, her hand passing over the glass.
The water bubbled.
Reese jerked back. “What the…?” She pointed. “You—what did you do?” She unlocked her legs and scooted off the bed, walking backward toward the door.
Elena might not understand her ability, but it was freaktastic—freak being the operative part.
“Simmer down, Reese. You didn’t believe me, so I’m giving you proof. You just got done telling me you wouldn’t wig out. What happened to your hardened Hollywood experience?”
Reese waved her hands around wildly. “That was before you went all hocus-pocus on me. I thought you were going to tell me your family was part of a Mexican drug cartel, not this.” She glared at the glass. “How did you do that?”
“Remember how I told you I never knew my mother?” Reese nodded. “Well, she’s a Fae. That’s why she left me and my father all those years ago.”
Reese’s jaw dropped and she stared without blinking.
“Tell me about it,” Elena said.
Reese looked around. “Shit, Elena. What the hell? That guy on the couch, can he do this too?”
“No.” Elena shook her head, then reconsidered. “At least, I don’t think he can. I don’t know what Keen’s abilities are. They assigned him to protect me.”
“They?”
“The other Fae. On Dawson campus. They live inside an alternate realm in the physics building.”
Reese walked forward and sank onto the bed. “You realize you sound psychotic, right?”
“Oh, I’m well aware. Why do you think I didn’t tell you sooner?”
“If I didn’t just see you hocus-pocus that glass of water, I’d be checking you into a mental health institution.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Her mouth twisted. “Let’s say that I believe you about realms and whatnot. Why is Keen protecting you? Is it about your mom?”
Elena spent the next thirty minutes telling Reese what she knew about the virus and why the Fae had come to her for help. She also explained who her maternal grandfather was, and how she could be in danger—from the man who created the virus, from her grandfather’s enemies—kind of terrifying when she laid it all out like that.
“You’re a princess?”
“My mother is, I’m not. And Reese, you utter a word of this to anyone and I will take my hocus-pocus hands and incinerate your designer wardrobe.”
She cocked her head. “Did you just stereotype me? I come from a wealthy family, so all I care about are clothes?”
“Why are you being touchy? I’m the one with—”
Reese waved her hand in an all-encompassing manner, then more pointedly at the glass. “What do you expect? The world’s gone psycho!”
Some of that drama Reese had grown up with in Hollywood must have rubbed off.
“Relax. Everything’s going to be fine,” Elena said. She hoped it would be fine. “But I do have a favor to ask.”
Her cousin’s call this evening had hammered home what deep shit she was in. Mateo was the voice of her family, and they were counting on her not to fail. No one in her family had made it to college. Shoot, most of them hadn’t finished high school. Elena couldn’t blow her chances at Dawson, no matter what Leo had said.
“Can you take notes for me tomorrow?”
“Um, yeah-h-h,” Reese said cautiously. “I can help, but I can’t promise I’ll understand a word of your nerdy science lecture.”
“That’s okay. Thank you.” Elena reached across the bed and squeezed her roommate so hard she squeaked.
“Ouch, Elena. Did you gain muscles along with those powers?”
“I don’t think so, but I have been working out. Can you tell?” She flexed.
“Nope. Same wiry arm.”
Elena twisted her head to stare at her biceps. Damn, all that training with Keen for nothing.
“I could help in other ways too.” Reese glanced at the bedroom door. “He’s watching reality television,” she whispered. “Maybe I’ll join him.” She waggled her eyebrows. “See what I can discover.”
Oh, good God. Elena pressed her fingers to her temples. “I just finished telling you he’s a Fae. As in, another species. Do you really think it’s a good idea to be alone with him? Keen seems harmless, but it’s not like I know him that well.”
“But he’s H-to-the-O-to-the-T. Besides, in addition to giving me free shopping rein, my parents booked me in extracurricular activities.” She ticked off her fingers. “I’m a decent gymnast, I play the piano, and I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I can drop a man twice my size.”
“I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that the Viking is three times your size.”
Reese snorted. “Viking? Is that what you call him?”
“Sometimes. He has all those Nordic features. Stick to the point.”
“First of all, you worry too much. Second, I doubt he’s three times my size. Two and a half, at most. And anyway, it won’t come to a fight.”
Elena looked to the ceiling and sighed. “Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me.” She scooted further under the sheets and stifled a yawn. “But I’m too tired to argue. It’s been a rough day, and I have to wake in a few hours. Just be careful…” She thought about it for a moment. “And scream if you need me. Derek will probably come running too.”
“Yeah—what was the deal with him tonight?”
Elena frowned. “I don’t know. I think he’s upset he got dragged into my problems. He sort of stumbled upon me with the Fae. That’s why he’s involved in all this.” Elena left out the part about Derek’s ability. It wasn’t her secret to share.
She pointed at Reese. “That’s why it’s important you not get too involved. I couldn’t see how to keep you out of it entirely with us living together, but I don’t want you to become a target, Reese. I don’t trust them, so don’t provoke Keen.”
Reese pressed a hand to her chest. “Me provoke? Never. I’ll simply work my own little magic.” She waggled her fingers.
Several things worried Elena about that statement, but Reese had a way with men. Considering the way Keen had stared at her earlier, even the Fae weren’t immune.
17
The next morning, Elena walked out to find Keen relaxing on the couch, his legs spread in a wide guy sprawl. In contrast, Derek sat next to him, tension and annoyance radiating off his body. His hair was damp from a recent shower and ruffled like a rat’s nest. He avoided her eyes when she walked into the kitchen.
She didn’t understand why he’d gotten so upset at Keen last night. Keen was just doing his job. He might have slipped up yesterday, and she wasn’t happy about that. She still didn’t understand how Beatrice had convinced Keen to leave. But even though Keen had screwed up, Elena didn’t think it warranted Derek’s animosity when the Fae had said he’d stay the night.
If Derek’s frustration was about getting caught up in this mess, she couldn’t blame him there. But no one had told him to follow her onto campus that day. He was as much to blame for being ensnared by the Fae as she was for unknowingly leading him into danger.
“Do you want to take a shower?” she asked Keen. “Towels are in the hall closet. Just make sure you lock the bathroom in case Reese forgets you’re here.”
Keen stood and smirked at Derek before walking away. Derek peered hard at the Fae’s back, then rocked his head from side to side, as if releasing tension.
What was with these guys?
Keen wasn’t making it easy. She’d have to have a little talk with him later.
Elena went into the kitchen to make breakfast and calm her nerves. After yesterday, who
knew what Emain would bring today?
Maybe she could pull Derek aside later and ask him if he discovered anything at Marlon’s lab. He’d left last night before she got the chance. She didn’t think Keen could hear with the shower on, but that conversation would need to be top secret, and she didn’t want to risk it.
Elena handed Derek three egg sandwiches and he mumbled his thanks, then ate a third of the first one in a single bite. The tension in his face didn’t go away, though.
She rinsed out the sink and peered at the hard lines of his expression from beneath her lashes. “You don’t have to do this, you know—help me.”
His mouth twisted in a cynical smile. “They didn’t give me a choice, Elena. They threatened my family too, just in a different way.”
She braced her hands on the counter. “You could go home. Take a few months off. My family’s lives are on the line. There’s no reason to put your life at risk just to spare yourself a difficult conversation with your parents.”
“It’s more than that.” He swallowed and looked at her intensely. “I can’t walk away.”
For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Suddenly this didn’t seem as though it was about getting caught in something he never wanted to be a part of. It seemed as though it was about her. And him.
Them.
He hoisted his backpack on his shoulder. “They told me to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Okay. But if that’s the case, you need to get along with Keen.” She nodded toward the hallway. “He screwed up yesterday, but he’s here to help too.”
Derek grunted and popped the rest of the sandwich in his mouth.
Keen emerged from the hall, his hair wet like Derek’s, but combed and slicked behind his ears. Keen didn’t have an overnight bag, which begged the question of whose comb he’d used.
Probably best not to think about that.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
Keen nodded, and Derek opened the door, letting Keen pass first. He seemed to have lightened up somewhat, which was a good thing, because they all needed to work together.
But she hadn’t forgotten what else she’d read in his eyes—longing and maybe more. And that was dangerous, because she felt it too.
There was no room in her world for longing like that.
Derek sat in the corner of the Allon Library, flipping through a book on plant alchemy, the tang of leather and aged furniture filling his nose. Hundreds of books, spanning modern science to a fourteenth-century edition of The Travels of Marco Polo, covered every wall surface inside the octagonal room. The oldest texts, written in some archaic language, had been printed on clay tablets and sat within glass cases. They had to be worth a fortune.
“Come on.” Elena threw up her hands, leaning forward as she stared at the Tertullian Codex—a crusty old book they kept under lock and key. “‘Blood of thy nobleman, in thy land trust. What is ancient breeds growth. Cross thy barrier and strengthen thy bond.’ What is this, poetry? I can’t interpret this crap. I’m a science geek.” She propped her elbow on the pedestal that held the book, sinking her chin on her hand.
She was talking to herself again, frustrated with the book Leo said held all the answers.
“What do you think it means?” he asked. “Leo said it’s up to the reader to determine the meaning of the Codex.”
Beatrice wasn’t involved in their trip to the Allon Library today. Portia had escorted them and cast the glamour over the Codex so Elena could read it. She had excused Beatrice’s actions yesterday by claiming a miscommunication.
A miscommunication? Derek called bullshit. But the Fae weren’t talking about what really happened. Or why someone had intentionally frightened Elena and delayed any progress she might have made in building her powers.
The more he thought about his discovery in Marlon’s lab regarding the virus, the more he wanted to keep it to himself. Oh, he’d use the information to help Elena find a cure—he’d already started schooling her on viruses, particularly flu viruses. But he wasn’t telling the Fae what he knew about Marlon. He didn’t trust them not to use it against him.
Elena’s pretty mouth twisted. “Deirdre said Tirnan is divided into three kingdoms. She said something about my mom being a Fae princess—which I’m having a hard time believing, but if it’s true, it would make me a part of their nobility. When the Codex says, ‘Blood of thy nobleman, in thy land trust,’ I think it’s saying Fae nobility will find what they need to improve their powers in the land—in Tirnan.”
Derek pushed aside his book and folded his hands, his knuckles locked in a death grip.
He didn’t want Elena inside Emain, let alone Tirnan, the Fae’s home base. Maybe she hadn’t read far enough. “What else does it say?”
“More about something ancient, but it doesn’t say what it is.” She shook her head. “A lot of what I’m reading is confusing, but there’s one thing my instincts keep screaming. Our world is old, but the Fae are really old. I don’t think the lines about something ancient are referring to anything on Earth. I think I need to go to Tirnan.”
18
Elena worked with Leo on transmutation all afternoon. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t advance from elemental manipulations to transmutation—and she couldn’t stop thinking about the words in the Codex.
Blood of thy nobleman, in thy land trust.
What is ancient breeds growth.
Cross thy barrier and strengthen thy bond.
Interpretation of the book was about instinct, and to her the passage meant the land would help with her powers. The land in Tirnan.
While she worked, she told Leo about the Codex, but not what she thought it was saying, because that was a dangerous interpretation. Traveling to Tirnan would put her life at extreme risk. But as she inserted her key in the door to her apartment just before midnight, she felt certain her instincts were right—that she had to travel to her mother’s homeland.
The notion wasn’t all bad. There was a chance she’d meet the woman who’d left her and her father all those years ago.
To meet her mother after all this time… What would that be like? Would her mom be happy to see her?
Keen and Derek trailed behind her as she jerked her key out of the lock and pushed the door open—to find Reese sitting on the couch watching television. With Mateo.
All thoughts of Tirnan and her mother vanished at the sight of her cousin in her living room. “Mateo, what are you doing here?”
He rested his arm over the backrest behind Reese’s shoulders. “I have a pinche cousin who doesn’t return phone calls. Dragged my ass up here to check on you.”
He was using his authoritative voice, which was annoying as hell, because he was only a couple of years older. Mateo went overboard in looking out for her while she was away at school.
He grinned at Reese. “Your roommate has been sweet enough to keep me company.”
A low hiss sounded from behind. Keen walked around Elena into the room, waves of aggression rolling off him as he stared at her cousin.
Derek stepped between Keen and Mateo, thank God, because some kind of Fae shitstorm was brewing. What was wrong with Keen? Her cousin wasn’t a danger.
Elena looked at Reese, who had a bit of a smug expression on her face. Reese inched closer to Mateo.
Reese wasn’t interested in her cousin. What was she doing?
Keen growled.
Wait—was Reese baiting her Fae bodyguard? Keen had seemed oddly interested in Reese last night, and Elena had never gotten the scoop on what happened after her roommate had gone out to watch television with him. Elena had been too busy passing out, then waking up at the crack of dawn, to question her.
“Reese.” Elena grabbed her roommate’s hand and pulled her up. “Can I talk to you?”
Reese trotted behind her. “Uh, yes? Back in a minute, Mateo.”
Mateo patted the couch. “Got your spot saved right here.”
Elena dragged Reese into her bed
room and shut the door. “Is there something going on between you and Keen? What happened after I went to bed last night?”
Reese crossed her arms over her chest. “Nothing. We watched television.”
“Then why is Keen acting like a jealous lover?”
Reese’s chin notched back in shock. “Jealous? No, that guy is an ass who couldn’t see a good thing if it slapped him in his hot Viking face.”
Elena might be going through some sort of magical adolescence, but she’d swear everyone around her was hormonal. “Soooo, there’s nothing going on?”
“No. He’s just a big Fae ass, is all.”
Okayyy. “’Cause you’re not making a lot of sense. And you’ve called Keen an ass twice now.”
“Thinks he’s so superior,” she muttered, and threw up her hands. “Like he’s the last man on earth and all women want him.”
“Um, he’s Fae, Reese. Not a man.”
“Whatever. He’s an arrogant, self-righteous—”
Elena held up a finger. “Wait a minute. Do you like him?” The notion was kind of out there, given that guys chased Reese, not the other way around. But when Mateo liked a girl—really liked her—he acted all contrary… kind of the way Reese was behaving.
Reese squinted. “Are you kidding me?”
Hmm, she hadn’t said no. “Reese, how do you feel about helping me with something? Again.”
Okay, so she’d been asking for a lot of favors from her roommate lately. But really, with the Fae nipping at her heels and murderous virus-creating Halven out there, she kinda needed the support. Elena would make up for it in food prep for the rest of the year. Not a bad deal for Reese.
This plan was on the fly, but Elena’s best idea was to go to Tirnan to gain the power she needed to create a cure. Not the most prudent solution. The Fae weren’t telling her everything. If she knew more, would she be able to come up with a cure without traveling to Tirnan, a land where an entire race of beings hated her? The few disgruntled Fae in Emain, even Beatrice, were preferable to the hatred of an entire population.
Fates Divided Page 11
