Savor

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  “Yeah, still doesn’t sound great.”

  “I’m not going to actually try any of it on you.”

  “So all those Pteron questions were out of curiosity and not experiment prep?”

  “Pteron questions?” Vera asked.

  “He thought I was hitting on him, but I was just learning.”

  Vera grinned. I’d been right she had been jealous. “Of course he thought that. He’s so full of himself. He’d think anyone was hitting on him.”

  I let her have her fun, at least she was smiling. After talking to Gareth about finding my mom and the potential job, I knew we might be staying a few days—if I could keep Vera from running that was. “I think we should probably turn in. Your parents wanted to see you before bed.”

  “I can escort you back,” Jaythan quickly offered.

  “We’ll be fine, but I appreciate the offer.” I held up a hand.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely, and don’t worry, Gareth doesn’t mind me walking her home alone either.”

  Jaythan scowled.

  “Nice meeting you, Gemma.” Vera ignored the two guys and started walking away.

  “Bye.” I waved and hurried after her. “Leave it to you to start a fight at a party.” I still couldn’t shake a feeling that things weren’t as they seemed. Everyone seemed friendly on the surface, but there was something else going on, and my gut was that Gemma and all that healing arts stuff was at the center of it.

  “I didn’t start a fight.”

  “Ok, not a fight, you just kicked a guy so hard he was on the ground.”

  “He deserved it.”

  “I don’t doubt it.” I bit back a smile. Vera was impressive.

  “You know you think it’s cool.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do say so.”

  We walked back to the house in the darkness, but it didn’t bother either of us. Her night vision probably wasn’t quite as crisp as mine, but it worked, and in some ways it was nice. Sometimes it’s good to have a break from worrying about people.

  “What did Gareth talk to you about?” Her voice was level, but I knew she was asking for more than conversational purposes.

  “My mom. The dangers in looking for her.” I decided to focus on that. There was no reason to mention the job offer yet.

  “What kind of dangers? What would you be afraid of?”

  “It’s not dangers for me.”

  “It better not be about me.” She crossed her arms.

  “No, about her. My mom. It’s why Gareth didn’t look harder for you. If you think someone’s in danger, you don’t want to attract the wrong kind of attention to them. It’s not worth finding her if it means getting her killed in the process.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “I hadn’t really thought any of this through. I knew I had to leave, and I did.” Leaving New Orleans was my biggest and most impulsive decision in my life.

  “Are you usually a planner?”

  “Yes and no. Yes when it comes to my job, no when it comes to my personal life.”

  “Yet you up and left your job without warning. You can’t say that was planned out.”

  “It wasn’t, but it was necessary.” I was going to snap otherwise.

  “I’m not a planner.”

  “I can tell.”

  “Yeah.” She looked at me, slowing down her pace in the process. “I’m not exactly what I appear on the surface though.”

  “Are any of us?”

  “Some are. Some people are exactly the way they appear.”

  “Or at least you think they are. Even the shallowest person has a story.” That was a lesson my father taught me at an early age. It went along with never underestimating an opponent. You never knew what their hidden strength could be.

  “What about all those girls you’ve used, huh? They were more than they appeared?”

  “Of course they were. And I didn’t use them. They wanted exactly what I did.”

  “At least you think they did.”

  “And you just proved my point. We can make assumptions about people’s true motivations and feelings, but it’s impossible to really know. Sometimes it’s hard to know what you really want.”

  “This is way too introspective for tonight. It’s been an insane day already.”

  “Gotcha.” The night was silent except for the rustle of leaves and some sort of bird chirping. I found comfort in having birds near. It was a reminder of where I came from.

  “You think you’ll get some sleep tonight?” Her eyebrows drew together in worry.

  “Yeah, I don’t need much. I’m looking forward to having a little down time to myself though.” I needed to think things through, and that was hard to do when I was with Vera and her parents all the time.

  “Is that your way of telling me you need space?”

  I laughed. “No. And honestly, I wouldn’t mind if you were with me as long as you stopped asking questions.”

  “I’ll hold you to that when I sneak into your room later.”

  “You just want an excuse to break the rules.”

  “I don’t know if it is actually the rules.”

  “Still, you want to buck the system.”

  “And is there something wrong with that?”

  “Not at all. We’re far too alike.” I still hadn’t decided how I felt about that.

  “That might not be a bad thing.” She read my mind, once again proving my point.

  “It won’t be if we don’t set each other off. I’m trying to rein it in for your sake.”

  “I’ll try too.” She smiled.

  We reached the empty courtyard and started up the steep stone steps that were dimly lit by torches lining both sides.

  “Ready for this?” Vera hesitated with her fisted hand a few inches from the door to Gareth’s house.

  “Go for it.”

  She knocked, and the door was pulled open by another guard. “Miss Astrella.” He bowed slightly.

  “Uh, it’s Vera.” She skirted past him, and I started to follow.

  The guard held out an arm to stop me. “I don’t believe you are allowed inside.”

  “Gareth insisted on it.” I wasn’t letting Vera go inside without me. My protective side had kicked in whether I wanted it to or not.

  “I’ll have to check.”

  Vera rolled her eyes. “He’s coming in.”

  The startled guard watched as Vera tugged on my hand and pulled me inside.

  I shrugged. “You heard her.”

  The main sitting area was empty. “Think they went to bed?”

  She shook her head. “I doubt it. Mom always waited up for me.”

  I smiled. “Sounds like a good mom.” I walked all the way into the room.

  She ran her hand over the top of one of the couches while we stood. “She was. She just annoyed me a lot.”

  “Sounds like most parents.”

  Light laughter had us both turning around to find Taliana and Gareth walking into the room. My senses must have been dulled, because I hadn’t anticipated their arrival.

  “How was the glade?” Gareth asked.

  “Interesting.” Vera tried to bite back a smile.

  Gareth turned to Vera. “I heard you got quite a shot in on Eon.”

  “Word travels fast here.”

  “Well, when my daughter gets herself in a fight, the guards think it’s important to tell me.”

  “There are more young people than I expected.” I shared my observation.

  “Did you think we were small in numbers?”

  “No, but not this large.”

  “Our clan is one of the largest.”

  “Your numbers are more equal than most.”

  Gareth smiled. “Yes, which is why it’s easy for us to mate within our own.”

  “What can you tell me about your healing arts?” Gemma had piqued my curiosity. If I was going to help Gareth I needed to make sure no one here was involved in ma
gic.

  “Taliana would be better at explaining it. She was born with the gift.”

  “The gift?” Vera asked.

  “I assume you have it too.” Taliana took a seat on one of the couches and gestured for Vera to join her. “You haven’t been instructed on how to use it yet.”

  “And Gemma has the gift too?” Finding information was all about asking the right questions. At least usually. Other times it involved brute force, but that wasn’t what I was going with this time.

  “She’s slated to be our next Healia, the head of our healers.”

  “Why? I mean is there something special about her?” Vera asked. I wasn’t sure if she was asking out of jealously from earlier, or if she also sensed what I did. How important this was. Something about it worried me, but I didn’t know whether that worry was warranted.

  “She was selected when she was only a child.” Gareth sat down on the love seat. “Our current Healia, Rayen, always selects the best of the next generation to train. Generally they come from only a few families.”

  “Oh.” Her face fell into an unreadable expression.

  “Gemma seems to be taking to it well, although Rayen complains that all she does is ask questions.”

  I laughed. “There’s nothing wrong with questions, but I’m not surprised to hear that.”

  “Did she grill you?” Taliana asked.

  “Something like that. She is very eager to learn.”

  “She’s ambitious and dedicated.”

  “Who are her parents?” As much as I wasn’t proud of my parentage, you could find out a lot about someone by looking at their family.

  “Why are you so curious?” Gareth asked. “Does little Gemma interest you much?”

  “Not in the way you are implying.”

  “She struck a nerve,” Vera jumped in, and I didn’t know if she was about to help me or make things worse. “Jared’s had a bad experience with a witch, and he wants to make sure it’s not witchcraft she’s doing.”

  “I assume you know my story?” Taliana asked.

  “Yes. At least what Casey and Toby knew.”

  “Then you understand my feelings about magic match yours.” She looked off at some indeterminate spot in the distance.

  She met my mom when a witch used her to seek revenge on the king. The only thing good that came from it was Casey, but she was also a weapon. “You’re right. You have even more of a reason to hate them than me.”

  “You have nothing to fear here. Our shores are secure, and you are one of only a select few outside of our people to ever step foot on this island.” Taliana stood and walked over to me. “You can rest assured, you and Vera are safe.”

  “Thank you for the assurances.” I wasn’t going to learn anything else that night. Gareth hadn’t made any motions of trying to talk to me.

  Taliana took Vera’s arm. “We thought we’d put you in your old room.”

  “I hope there’s no crib in there anymore.”

  “No crib. I updated it over the years as you grew older.” Gareth’s voice sounded far off. No doubt he was reflecting on the effect her absence had on him.

  “It better not be pink.”

  “No pink.” He laughed. “I assumed you’d like more pale blue and yellow.”

  “I’m impressed you even thought about it.”

  “You don’t have a very high opinion of men do you?”

  “Not of most,” she mumbled.

  I caught her eye across the room. She shrugged in response.

  “Jared, you’ll be right down the hall from her.” There was something about the way Taliana said it that made it seem like she was telling Vera as much as me. But it’s not like her mom would want us sleeping together. Would she?

  Despite the warmth of the summer night, Gareth’s home was cold. I lay between the silky sheets of my bed. I was never one to struggle with the cold, but with everything else going on it bothered me. I was hit by a desire to go home, but I didn’t know where that was anymore. It wasn’t my old bedroom on Long Island, and it definitely wasn’t in any of those places I’d stayed with Murphy. Thinking about him made me sick. I couldn’t believe I’d let someone that evil touch me. Whatever gift mom said I had didn’t apply to knowing who someone really was. Or did it? Had I stayed with him because I knew he was so horribly wrong for me and that was what I deserved? Now I was overanalyzing things. I tried to shake the negative feelings. They weren’t going to help anything.

  I glanced around the sparsely furnished room. The bed dominated the space, with a long bench set in front of it. Otherwise there was a large armoire. No desk, nothing to signify who lived there. I guess that was the point. No one lived there. Gareth couldn’t match the interests and tastes of someone he didn’t know. None of it could have been easy for him either, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something important. Why did everything feel off? Was it just nerves? Jared felt it too. I could tell by all his questions. Was it something Gareth had said? I knew he was holding some sort of information back from me, but I didn’t know what.

  After tossing and turning for an hour, I slipped out of bed. I was wearing an old t-shirt and cotton shorts, having refused to accept any of the other clothing they offered me. I had a feeling my mom was going to insist I wear something other than my shorts and tank top the next day.

  I slowly pushed open the door to my room, relieved that it didn’t squeak. I knew that no one could tell me what to do, but I didn’t need to announce to Mom and Gareth that I was visiting Jared. They’d assume I was doing it for a very different reason than I was.

  I didn’t bother knocking on his door. That would attract more attention. I slowly turned the door knob, relieved that it wasn’t locked.

  “Didn’t take you long.” Jared watched as I closed the door behind me.

  “Yeah, well. I don’t have the energy to come up with a snappy retort.”

  “Couldn’t sleep either?” He sat up slightly, giving me a nice clear view of his bare chest. There I went again. I could never think straight when a partially dressed Jared was involved.

  “Nope. Mind if I hang out in here?”

  “By all means.” He held open the sheet.

  I hadn’t actually meant in the bed, but physical contact didn’t sound so bad.

  I slipped in beside him, and he settled back down against a pillow. I rested my head next to his. “Comfortable bed.”

  “I assume yours is pretty comfortable too.”

  “It is, but the sheets are cold. They’re silk.”

  “You wanted to slum it with the high quality cotton?” There was something so spot on about Jared’s humor. It wasn’t pretentious or gross. It kind of hit the perfect line.

  “I guess.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “Meaning?” I pulled the sheet up a little. I was still cold.

  “Are we leaving tomorrow, staying another night?”

  “What do you think?”

  “My feeling is that someone here knows more than they’re telling us.”

  “About your mom?” I rolled onto my side.

  “About my mom and maybe some other things. Something is off.”

  “I feel the same way. This might be my family, but I don’t like it.”

  He glanced at the closed door. “If I tell you something, it has to stay between us.”

  “I promise.” If Jared was being serious, I could be too.

  “Against my better judgment, I actually believe we’re on the same side here.”

  “The same side?”

  “There’s one person in the world who you trust more than anyone and would do anything for, right?”

  I nodded. “Casey. You know that.”

  “Exactly. And she’s tied to Levi who is kind of like a brother to me.”

  “Got it.” I understood that blood wasn’t the only thing that defined family. It was why Chris would always be my dad.

  “So since keeping our special people safe is p
aramount to our interests, we should be able to trust each other.”

  I nodded again, waiting for him to continue.

  “Gareth offered me a position.”

  “A position?” I leaned up on an elbow. “What kind of position?”

  “Helping him with something. It’s security related. On the surface it sounds fine, but the more I think about it, the more I think he’s hiding something.”

  “So you’re going to say no?” When I’d brought Jared along with me I’d thought we’d get info on his mom. I hadn’t expected him to be pulled into some crazy plan of Gareth’s.

  “That would be a mistake. If I say no I shut out any possibility of gaining more information.”

  “So you say yes to get inside information…” I tried to follow his logic.

  “Yes… at least I’m considering it.”

  “And your mom?” I knew he couldn’t forget the reason he was even on Norco Island.

  “That’s where getting to know Gemma is key. I have a feeling she’s all tied in. I just don’t understand how yet.”

  “I do too. It’s weird.” The petite girl definitely seemed more than she appeared to be. And what about all the healing powers and the gift? That couldn’t be ignored.

  “It’s not weird. Your mom said you have a gift. It’s probably starting to work since you’re here.”

  Yeah, a gift. Great. That’s all I needed, something else weird to deal with. “So what do I do?”

  “For now?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You try to get to know Gemma and learn about your gift. You act like you’re considering staying, and you listen instead of talking 95% of the time. That last part is key.” He rolled onto his side.

  “In other words you think I talk too much.”

  “No, I mean you need to listen.”

  “And at night?”

  “At night you do exactly what you’re doing—what you did. Come see me so we can share notes.” He patted his bed.

  “If I find out all of this is just a ploy to keep me returning to your bed, you’re going to get it.”

  “Don’t you think I’d be trying to get you naked if that was the goal?”

  “Maybe you haven’t started the seduction yet.”

  “The seduction?” He arched an eyebrow.

  “Yes, when you smoothly break down my walls and get me willing.”