Siphon (Siphon Chronicles, Book One)

by Cyndi Goodgame

  There were a few questions that arose in my mind’s eye despite my enthusiasm. What if the council got her? What then? A fuse popped in my brain. That could not happen.

  It had to be an element of surprise. Something my father could not see coming. And safe for Lark and her mother. With that, the beginning of a plan was in motion. I would have to involve others and Jock was the best I had. His friend was with him. And I thought I'd never speak to the Jason guy again promising myself it would be when Hell froze over, but I guess this counts as frozen. The dude will do anything for her. She has no idea how he fought or what he was enduring to get try to win her back. Or what he is going through to be here...with her. Only to lose her to me. I wish I could say I was sorry, but I'm not.

  I can’t tell her now, but soon. For the time being, I would search out followers and guide her towards gaining confidence in the abilities she owns. The power she exudes from one kiss is more than the most powerful electrical surge of any live wire I’ve ever played with as a child. And that is saying a lot since most of our kind cannot handle touching electricity at all. I was an odd exception with no reasoning for why I owned the skill.

  The only time I did was in grade school when the power line fell across the street from the house my mom once took me too. Visiting her human friend from her younger years, I’d been toted along to her repeated annoyance, I did not obey the stay close rule, and wandered into the front yard. When the wire fell into the grass, I did not think twice. I picked it up…and moved it. My mother was agape with a flush of emotions and little answers for my doing. The friend of my mother was easy to sway due to my mind erasure ability; my father was not. From then on, I was the golden boy of extra powers. My mother kept them hidden till her dying breath. If he knew some of the other abilities I have kept hidden since then, he’d use me as a destroyer of mankind itself. I would never let him know my capabilities. Ever.

  But involving Lark's mother might just be the missing link we need to get back the siphon order of her day. My smile spread as I looked at her sleeping form. Lark was the key. It might just work.

  Appendix A

  Sylph- a magical being that can persuade others to do their bidding using their appearance and voice as tools

  Siphon- a magical being that can take a human’s years of age away to gain energy

  Ciphor- a term formed by the young to describe a siphon who is unaware of what they are, but knows they have an unidentifiable magic

  Siphon Council- group of people who hold court to make decisions about the livelihoods of all siphons

  Nexus- a term coined by the young siphons to describe the one female found in a prophecy who would possess great power and come about to save the siphon breed from becoming a cursed among humans; known by her sylph abilities, as well as extra sensory siphon abilities and unable to hide from the Siphon Lord

  Siphon Lord- not appointed leadership of the siphon line who possesses a set amount of abilities like no other siphon; ability to seek out his mate

  Enchanter/enchantress- one who holds magic ability without reason or skill

  Siphon Omnibus- Handbook for students of the Headquarters to know the siphon history; covers all creations within it’s history—i.e. siphons, ciphors, sylphs, electros, the nexus, etc.

  Electro- sylph with the ability to strike another; most often associated with electricity but owns the ability in multiple ways

  Spirit- sylph with the ability to revert any amount of energy back into themselves; varying degrees

  Siren- sylph with the ability to call to the opposite sex with more than just a magical appeal, but a degree of pheromones that make the being under their control; varying degrees

  Original Council Members (eighteen years ago)

  Motto: For the good of all, we serve only others.

  Mark and Jodi Lyn Spur – Head of council leaders (Lark’s parents)

  Phoenix and Jenna Crawford (Daniel’s parents)

  Brady and Tara Haltler (Jason’s parents)

  Justin Blakely

  Carlton Regions

  Joel Heartgood

  Melissa Rowan (Kristy's mother)

  Siphonic Laws 1951

  Permission is asked of another siphon before any energy can be provided.

  The number of years must be spoken aloud to the giver of energy, per a siphon.

  Permission is granted to take from any unspecified human as long as no more than three years are taken from the individual.

  Preference over old and young will not be punishable, but it is advised to take only from those who have the ability to give or give it willingly.

  It is the expectation that all siphons use discretion in who is aware of our kind.

  Communication within the siphon council will be expected from all siphons via letter or telephones. (Lucy Phone preferable)

  At no time can a siphon have interrelations with any type of sylph or enchanter.

  Siphon Council (now) For the good of all, we serve only ourselves.

  Phoenix Crawford- Head of Council and Security

  Marion Bartlett- Counselor

  Jared Heartgood- Public Relations/Ambassador

  Matt Dearling- Magic Control/ Erasure

  Jones Finnegan- Housing and Property Control

  Kelvin Dauharty- unknown

  Daniel Crawford- Retrieval

  Locations of Siphon Branches World Wide

  Siphon Headquarters- located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States

  Siphon Branch # 2- located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States

  Siphon Branch # 3- located in Los Angeles, California, United States

  Siphon Branch # 4- located in London, England

  Siphon Branch # 5- located in Rome, Italy

  Siphon Branch # 6- located in South Africa, Africa

  Siphon Branch # 7- located in Brazil, South America

  Siphon Branch # 8- located in Sydney, Australia

  Siphon Branch # 9- located in Moscow, Russia (supposedly disbanded)

  Dear Reader:

  Thank you for reading Siphon. If you enjoyed this book, would you consider leaving a review? If you would like to find more young adult paranormal romance stories, please check out the Goblin’s Kiss Series. Turn the page for a sneak peek of Cyndi’s other series…

  Sneak Peek at Denial, book one of Goblin’s Kiss Series.

  AMES

  I let the girls crowd around cuz’ well...I was a guy. They were each telling me their names.

  When I turned to the sound of one talking about another girl approaching, there she was.

  If l could have prepared myself for what I would be confronted with, I’d have never believed it. My body shook at seeing her, feeling her burning energy. The last time I saw her she was seven, but up close and made into a woman now...

  Almost dropping my notebook, I stopped for a brief second before continuing my stride in her direction. The closer I came, the stronger it got. At some point it became so strong that I planted my feet to the ground and waited for her to ascend upon me rather than get any closer.

  She kept on. Closer. Two feet. The tips of her shoes knocked mine. Her hand clamped down on my arm. Heat flooded me, grounding me to the floor.

  The groupie cheerleader named Christina barked something at her I didn’t quite hear since my insides were barbequing and roasting to a good 100° above even the unusual scorching Tennessee heat. The girl taunted her with her words finding it seriously easy to downgrade her self esteem in front of me. Were these human girls even more evil than I? I doubted it, but it was a close second.

  Jem was toying with the girls as her emotions were doing a flip-flop motion with a combination of anger and and desire.

  I don’t even know how I know how she was feeling it. It’s a power I’ve never held.

  She actually liked me. I didn’t know how to compute this information. She wasn’t repulsed by me and she didn’t siphon anything from my own emotions to help herself. Processing this was beyond jacked up muc
h more than the fact that I was even feeling her emotions in the first place. All of this was just wrong.

  After the initial shock that she didn’t use any of her own pain inducing powers on me, I decided to let go of my own and see how it fared. She didn’t seem to be the queen of evil I’d expected of her. She didn’t have an ounce of malice in her body at the moment. But I did have an overwhelming urge to search her body for scars and other distinguishing differences that would make me know her better than any other man on this earth.

  The girls stepped up their fowardness. They pressed even closer in as I moved towards Jem. She had the same piercing eyes that matched my own as she did years ago. Her blue to my odd green. Girls have always dug it. Human ones. My own kind counted me as the odd man out more so than even the humans.

  Jem’s hair was long and had shiny waves of golden brown even in the florescent light. Not really a guy thing to notice, but I did. She was cute and beautiful all in the same way. She bit her bottom lip as if nervous, but tossed her hair back in confidence. She was fun to watch.

  During the initial greeting, the Christina girl leaned against Jem’s body and I suddenly went ape. She was too close to her. I reined it in and held my fists to my clawing body. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was of my own people, I would have to wonder why I felt the urgent need to protect her. It wasn’t healthy for dang sure.

  It gave me the same disgusting feeling it always did. Human girls were cold, clammy.

  Jem didn’t like the groupie girl doing what she did. Interesting.

  Groupie girl pressed in more and I let it be to see what Jem’s next reaction would be. I was fascinated to say the least but I hated it too. I had a job to do.

  When the girl ran her fingers up and down my arm Jem visibly scrunched up her face and a soft whimper left her lips. Was she in pain?

  I stepped away from both of them wanting this girl’s inhuman pain to disappear. I didn’t want her to hurt. Yes, I did. No, I didn’t.

  I bit back a small smile, but she saw it. Not able to take my eyes off her, I nodded to groupie girl and held out a hand to Jem unable to control what I was doing. I swallowed back the bile that my throat caught from wasting energy on the bubbly cackling chatter behind me now. If they weren’t following due to the magic within me before, they were now.

  This girl, I got nothing. It was like she cut it off. She didn’t give an ounce of emotion over to me on purpose though I was trying like everything to get it.

  Groupie girl Christina barked a comeback and then said my name, “...Ames here will find out how taken you are all too soon.”

  Taken? Did that mean she was already claimed? By a filthy human? I shook my head enough she didn’t catch it. I didn’t care if she were claimed or not. It only made it harder if she were attached to someone to have to embrace this new world she would have no choice in turning to.

  Christina laughed a little like a guy on steroids and took her little fawning guy traps away from us.

  Ring!

  Great! I was alone. With her.