“Was that you caterwauling, Lana?” he asked.
I shot him a censuring glance. “Where have you been?”
“Talking to Coach Firestone. I had a hard time convincing him I wasn’t interested in rejoining the team, but I did it.” Regret laced his words. “If you’d bothered to check your phone, you’d have seen my text.”
His focus shifted to Syn, who’d gone quiet and was watching us. Wes tried to stare him down. He even puffed out his chest and squared his shoulders, but Syn was taller and bigger.
“Who are you, and why are you talking to my girl without my permission?” Wes asked.
“Wes!” I elbowed him.
“I’m talking to the man, Lana. Stay out of this.”
I was going to kill him. People who didn’t know us often assume Wes was my boyfriend instead of my brother because we looked nothing alike. My tawny complexion and curly hair showed my biracial African and Caucasian background while he was your quintessential rebellious white boy with long, wavy black hair and sky blue eyes. He was also taller, bigger, and looked older than most seventeen-year-olds, and he tended to be overprotective. Even his friends knew never to say a disparaging thing about my wardrobe or me. He’d punched a guy once for calling me weird.
“My name is Syn Shabaka. I’m a friend of Lana’s.”
I snickered at the overstatement, and Syn threw me a dimpled grin.
“Okay, more-than-a-friend, though I was hoping we’d take it slow.”
This time I laughed. Syn was so full of himself.
“I’m Wes, her brother, and all her boyfriends have to go through me.” This time, my elbow jab was hard. He oomphed and dropped his arm from my shoulder. “Quit abusing my ribs, Lana. I need to know where you met, how long you’ve been sneaking around and meeting behind my back, and why?”
He was a dead man. “Bye, Syn. See you around. You, in the car.” I pushed Wes toward the front passenger seat, but he wouldn’t budge. “I mean it, mister.”
Syn’s grin widened as they shook hands.
“Nice to meet you, Wes.” Syn glanced at me. “So about dinner? What time can I pick you up?”
“We’re going out?” Wes interjected. “Awesome. I’m starving, and a good meal will make you look good, Syn.”
“We’re not having dinner with him,” I said.
“That’s fine,” Wes said. “You don’t have to go. You’ll only spoil my fun.”
“Wes,” I warned, still trying to push him toward the car. At least most of the students were gone, or we would have given them something to talk about tomorrow.
“Sorry, Sis. I’m vetting him. Where’s your ride, Syn? The type of car and how you handle it says a lot about a guy. You and I can talk while following Lana and Talia. By the way, she got in trouble.”
I lost interest in pushing him. “What? When? Is she okay?”
“Oh, she’s fine.” He caught my arm when I could have hurried away. “She wiggled out of it. In fact, here she comes.”
Even after being detained, Talia had an entourage.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“But Syn and I are riding together.”
“No, you’re not.” Wes would go ballistic once he learned Syn was a reaper. “Bye, Syn.”
“Is she always this bossy?” he asked.
Wes nodded, and the two exchanged grins, bonding.
“Good to know. If you want to hang out and chow down, I can pick you up at seven,” Syn offered.
“Good. Be ready to impress me. If you do, I might give you pointers on how to gain her trust,” Wes called over his shoulder. “She’s a tough one. I’ve seen her reduce guys to a catatonic state.”
“See you at seven.” Syn sauntered to his SUV, but he didn’t drive away once he entered it. I knew he was watching us.
I punched Wes on the arm.
“Ouch.” He rubbed the spot. “What was that for?”
“For being a jackass. What’s wrong with you? Pointers? Tough one? I’ve never reduced a guy to a catatonic state.”
“Jimmy Giles. The dude stuttered every time you came near him.”
“He had a speech impediment, Einstein,” I retorted.
“No, he developed it after he met you. And Tony Muffoletto turned red every time you entered a room.”
I’d touched Tony by accident, and he’d blurted out his feelings. He’d had a huge crush on Wes. Afterward, he couldn’t look at me without blushing. I never told Wes the truth, even after Tony’s family moved.
“We were kids,” I protested.
“Didn’t matter. Both guys were crazy about you, yet they knew I’d knock out their teeth if they so much as looked at you wrong. Oh, then there was—”
“Shut up and get in the car.” I glanced at Syn. “Why isn’t he driving away?”
I didn’t realize I’d spoken out loud until Wes said, “He’s probably mentally undressing you. I mean, he got you to remove your jacket and sweater. That’s practically second base with you.”
I glared at him. He was disgusting. I opened the car door and slid behind the wheel. He raced to the other side.
“So how long have you been seeing him?” Wes asked as soon as he settled in the front passenger seat. “Why didn’t you tell me? You knew I’d have to vet him.”
“For starters, there’s nothing to vet because I’m not seeing him.”
“Why not? He was holding your hand and didn’t start telling you in nauseating details his darkest, deepest secrets. That’s first base.”
Holding hands would have been enough, but now Syn had planted ideas in my head. I wanted to kiss him. How would that feel?
“And I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh that loud before.”
“That’s not true.”
“No, I’m serious.” His expression grew thoughtful. “There was last week on Monday. Was he the reason why?”
Yes. “No.”
“So, you’re holding hands but not dating?”
The back door opened, and Talia slid in the car.
“Who is holding hands?” she asked.
“Lana and her boyfriend?”
“What?” Talia screeched. “Who? A real one?”
I had siblings from hell. I shook my head and started the car.
“You see that black SUV with tinted windows and new rims? That’s his.”
I threw the gear into reverse to back out when the back door opened and Talia jumped out. I cursed, rolled down the window, and tried to call her back, but she kept marching to Syn’s car. I shifted gears from reverse to park and dropped my forehead on the steering wheel.
“Why me?” I mumbled.
“Because you don’t date. Why wasn’t your man affected by your juice?”
“He’s just like me,” I mumbled and lifted my head to study the SUV across from ours. “I never thought I’d meet someone with the same abilities as me.”
When Wes didn’t respond, I glanced at him. He was frowning.
“Would you be okay with someone like you?” I asked.
“Hell no. I hate hearing people’s thoughts, and I don’t want someone hearing mine. I want to learn how to control that ability. You know, turn them on and off at will.”
Like Syn did with his. Mystic Academy could help us, and Syn had said he had invitations for Wes and Talia, too. My focus shifted to the other car. Syn had rolled down the window, and Talia was leaning on it. She threw back her head and laughed. “What are they talking about?”
“He’s probably under her spell.”
Over my dead body. I was sure my aura was turning green with envy and resentment. When she laughed again, my hands tightened on the steering wheel. Now she was pissing me off.
“Do you want me to go over there and drag her by her hair?” Wes asked, amusement in his voice.
“Stay out of my head, Wes.” I was drilling holes into Talia’s back when she turned and started for our car. She fanned herself the entire time. She slid in the back seat and sighed.
“Holy crap
! Does he have a brother? Please, tell me he has a brother. With dimples and that smile. I want one just like him, Lana.”
There couldn’t be anyone like him. He was Syn, Ancient Nubian and a soul reaper. One of a kind.
“I don’t think so,” I said, but it came out wrong. “He doesn’t have a brother.”
Talia laughed while Wes smirked. Annoyed with both of them, I backed out of the parking lot and pulled away.
“Where did you meet, and how long have you known him, and why are we meeting him today for the first time?” Talia asked. “He’s following us. Is he coming home?”
“No. What did you two talk about?” I asked.
“I introduced myself and asked him how you two met.”
“And?”
“He said you chased him until he couldn’t run anymore.”
I laughed. How like Syn to twist our race across the globe. I glanced in my rearview mirror. He was still there. Where was he going? Then I noticed the silent communication between Wes and Talia.
“What?” I asked.
“Talia was surprised to hear you laugh. Again. I told her he’s the reason.”
“I gave him an open invitation to dinner,” Talia said, glancing at the SUV on our tail. “Maybe he’s accepted.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
“Because he’s your boyfriend, silly, and he’s Immortal.”
Something shifted in my stomach. “How do you know he’s Immortal?”
“His tattoos. I asked him about them, and he said they were Nubian and he’d had them for centuries. Is he the reason you were asking me about whether I’d be serious about a Mortal or marry an Immortal? Are you two serious?”
I swear Talia was like a dog with a bone once she started on a topic. Made me want to beg her to bury her nose in her phone and get lost in social media. Wes didn’t speak, but I was sure he was following our conversation.
“We’re just friends. Are we running today or skipping?” I asked to distract her. “I have to go grocery shopping.”
“Running first,” Wes said. “I need an outlet after that talk with the coach.”
“I second that,” Talia said. “You saw what happened this morning. I tried on a skirt, and it didn’t fit. I think I’ve put on weight.”
In her head. She was skinny despite the cookies and the sweets. Wes was like a vacuum cleaner, but everything he ate turned into muscle. Me? Whatever I ate went to my ass.
“Lover boy is still following us,” Wes warned.
Syn stayed on our tail until we took the road heading toward our home. He continued ahead. I wondered where he was staying. If he meant to date me, as he’d claimed, he could have gotten a local place. The thought filled me with excitement.
The second we got home, we changed, filled water bottles, and piled back into the SUV for Tiger Mountain State Park. As usual, we chose an area off the beaten tracks so we wouldn’t meet anyone. I piled my hair into a messy bun and engaged speed, invisibility, and strength runes. So many runes at the same time felt like a shot of pure adrenaline.
“Can I go first?” Talia asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Go,” Wes yelled.
She let out a happy “Woo-hoo!” as she took off. She did that every freaking time.
Wes laughed. “Brat.”
“Eat my dust, little brother.” I cut through the brushes and darted around trees. Running had been my outlet for the last two years. To move without layers of clothing, with the wind brushing on my skin felt amazing, but it was nothing like the feel of Syn’s skin.
I jumped over rocks and decaying stumps from years of logging, then shot through a canopy so dense nothing grew on the understory. I caught a flash of red from the corner of my eyes, and I knew Wes was catching up. He was very competitive. We always stopped by one of the creeks, but he tended to pass it and run to the next one before looping around to join us. I picked up speed, zipping through areas that had recently been logged, and headed downhill.
I burst through the trees and slowed to a stop. Talia was seated on a rock, massaging her calf. I skipped over the rocks and joined her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I pulled a muscle.”
“Use your healing runes.” I twisted the lid off my water bottle and chugged.
“I’ve tried. The runes are not working. I think I need more.”
Our parents had said we’d need to etch more runes as needed, but this was the third time Talia had needed more in the last month. Syn’s warning about sharing an artavus flashed through my head. I fished ours from inside the special pouch on the waistband of my shorts and gave it to Talia.
She etched more healing runes on her leg and was almost done when Wes entered the clearing. He was limping.
“You, too?”
“That’s the second time I sprained my ankle and it didn’t self-heal.” He took the blade from Talia and added more healing runes.
Something was wrong. They seemed okay and back in form, but I wondered how long before they’d need more. Talia stood and stretched while Wes finished adding runes. I recognized speed runes, too.
“I slowed down,” he explained when he noticed me watching him. “That’s never happened before.”
My concern shot up a notch. I wish Mom and Dad were around to explain what was going on. Or Syn might. If I saw him again, I’d pick his brain. Something was happening to us, and it wasn’t good. Maybe this was what he’d meant by things going wrong when Immortals shared a blade.
“Can we take it easy going back?” I asked, and they both nodded.
Wes finished with the artavus and handed it to me. We started walking back. I felt Talia’s eyes on me a few times, but she always looked away when I glanced her way.
“What is it, Talia?” I finally asked.
“How come you never need more runes?” Talia asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m careful when I run. I don’t try crazy leaps or believe I can go through trees like some people I know.” I cut Wes a look. He punched trees sometimes.
“That’s because all work and no play make Lana a”—he threw me a glance and grinned—“boring girl.”
My jaw dropped at the insult. That dig was because I hadn’t allowed him to join the underground fight club. He’d pushed for days until he realized I wasn’t going to give in.
“Take that back, pinhead.” I reached out to punch him, but he darted away. He didn’t run far. I had a feeling he was scared of hurting himself again. Talia and I didn’t try to catch up with him.
“My gift is messed up, Lana,” Talia said. “And I’m not talking about being on-again, off-again.” She sighed. “I can’t glamour anyone.”
“Since when?”
“Since Mom and Dad left.”
“I’m sure worrying about Mom and Dad is messing with it. My sight is off, too.”
“Really? It’s not just me?”
“No, it’s not. I think our gifts are tied to our emotions, and because we are worried and scared about the future, they’re affected, too.”
She smiled. “Phew. I feel better. I didn’t want to lose mine. Do you think Wes’s are off, too?” She nodded at Wes, who was still keeping a healthy distance from me.
“Probably, but he’d never admit it. Watch this.” I cupped my mouth. “Hey, Wes. How are your powers? Are they wonky?”
He ignored us and kept walking.
“Stubborn,” I said. “Come on. Let’s catch up with him. I owe him a kick for calling me boring.”
He didn’t run from me this time.
“Listen. My abilities have been off the last week or so, and Talia said hers have shut off. We wanted to know if yours—”
“They’re off, too,” he said, surprising us. Talia and I exchanged a glance. “Sometimes I go for days without hearing anything. Do you think they’re going away? Dad said they’d disappear as we rely more and more on runes.”
Yeah, like centuries from now, not after two yea
rs. Until I got an explanation from Syn, I was going with what made sense. “I think they’re tied to our emotions.”
“It’s possible.” He sighed and glanced at me. “Listen, I’m sorry for what I said. You’re not boring. And you have a boyfriend, so you know how to play.”
“Damn right I’m not.”
He stopped and opened his arms. “Am I forgiven?”
I hugged him and pinched his side.
“Ouch!” he yelped.
“That’s for calling me boring, pinhead. I’m fun. Not ha-ha funny, but I have my moments. And Syn is not my boyfriend.”
“Can I have him then?” Talia asked.
“Hell no.” They laughed while warmth crawled up my cheeks. “He’s too old for you.”
They only laughed harder. Wes drove us home, but they kept teasing me about Syn the entire time. I didn’t mind. I liked the Grimnir, not that it would lead to anything. At least he was a good source of information.
“I’m going to go shopping after I shower. Anyone want to come?” No one volunteered. “Make sure you put anything you want on the list when we get home.”
I got in and out of the shower, grabbed the list pinned to the fridge, and headed out the door in under an hour. On the drive to the store, my mind kept going over our conversation during our run.
Wes and Talia were falling apart because something was messing with their abilities. I knew I wasn’t far behind, and I couldn’t help thinking it had something to do with the way our parents had turned us. The only person who could help us figure out what was happening was Syn. The problem was I couldn’t tell him the entire truth without revealing our family secret.
Chapter 7
I started with the fruit and then the frozen vegetable section before stopping by ice cream. The second I picked up a tub, I put it back. It was an unnecessary expense. I consulted the list and chose store brand to lower our expenses. I even ignored Talia’s usual baking ingredients and went cheap. She loved to try new, crazy recipes.
I turned into the next aisle, and my eyes went to the bags of baked snacks. My mouth watered. I had a weakness for anything spicy. The hotter and the crunchier, the better. It probably went back to when I couldn’t have them in foster homes.
My parents’ faces flashed in my head. Not the Longhorns, but my biological parents. Dad would buy me cheese doodles behind Mom’s back because she’d been into healthy living. We’d been so happy, and they’d been so loving.
[Mystic Academy 01.0] Fated Page 6
