by Mia Castile
“We’ve got to train every day. You realize this, right?” Ben asked, more to Gideon than to me.
“I know, man. It’s just going to take me some time to get used to it. I’ll come along. I’ll just come kicking and screaming,” Gideon said. “I might be more about it when Moriah joins us next week.”
“You don’t want your girlfriend showing you up, do you? Because you know she’s been training like us her whole life.” Ben raised his eyebrows. I looked from Zeke to Gideon.
“I don’t have a male ego to worry about, dude. I know the only person’s butt I can kick right now is Ellie’s,” he chuckled.
“Oh, really?” I took a stance as if I had a shield in my hand and was ready to fight. He jumped up from his bar stool, and we pretended like we had our swords and were fighting. We even said, “Clank, clank-clank” when our swords were supposed to hit. Before it was over, though, he had kicked my butt, and Zeke and Ben were doubled over with laughter.
“I’m glad my misfortune is your comic relief,” I stated as I refilled my water and sat down on a bar stool.
“You’re hot, but you’re not a warrior yet,” Ben chuckled, as he put his arm around my shoulders. I stood up quickly, and he jerked away from me, pulling his arm back. Gideon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. I looked at Zeke. He was standing at the window looking into the backyard. He was lost in thought. We were all silent for a moment. Then he turned and faced us.
“Gideon, you’re going to be late for work, and Miss Ellie, you are still drenched with sweat. How about I port you guys home to get cleaned up and then we can work on some other stuff.” He stepped closer to me and pushed the wisps of hair away from my eyes.
“That sounds good, but waddup with the Miss?” I asked slightly unnerved as our eyes were locked. He just smiled at me.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Gideon cleared his throat. He came over and put his hand on Zeke’s shoulder. The room swirled and unswirled around us to become our living room. Zeke’s eyes never left my gaze. Gideon let go of Zeke’s shoulder as he left the room. “Don’t mind me. I’m going to take a shower.” We didn’t mind. I looked out the window to see two ravens perched. They were there watching us.
“We’ve gotta get you guys out of here. My mom is calling today to set up an appointment with a realtor. She will help you guys pick out a home.” He squeezed my hand. Gideon emerged clean and in his uniform. He was folding his apron and put it in a duffle bag he carried on his shoulder as he walked toward the door.
“Moriah and I will come over to your house this evening after our shifts. You guys be careful.” He looked out the window before he quickly descended the stairs. Zeke and I looked at each other as the door locked.
“My turn,” I smiled and left him to the living room and the ravens. I got ready as fast as I could, pairing tan short-shorts with a tunic blouse in a rainbow of reds. When I emerged, Zeke was still staring at the ravens.
“No matter where you guys go, they will follow you.” His arms were crossed as he stood at the window.
“How do you know that? Did you read his mind?” I asked, as I slipped on my shoes.
“Kind of. I have a strong feeling that my father won’t stop until his plan is realized.” He turned and faced me. “Are you ready?” He took my hand again.
Chapter 29
Moments later we were in his bedroom. “Now, it’s my turn.” He went to the bathroom. I lay down on his bed, and I was asleep before I realized. When I woke up later, the room was dimly lit from candles. His curtains were closed as was his bedroom door. Zeke was standing in the doorway of his closet with his back was to me. Wearing long shorts, he had drops of water glistening off his shoulders, and his hair was wet and messy. I watched him look for a shirt. He thumbed through his closet and found a thin, cream-colored button-up. He put it on and buttoned it as he turned around and caught me looking at him.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I guess I was. What’s going on?” I sat up. He stepped to his bookshelf and pulled out one of his leather-bound books.
“The Book of Light.” He opened it to a passage and quietly scanned as he began to explain, “You and I are connected. Throughout time we always find each other. Part of our connection is that we feel each other’s emotions, thoughts, memories, and feelings. We can’t lie to each other. We can’t hide anything from each other. As we grow closer, our Generation grows stronger. Gideon and Moriah are soul mates; you and I are soul mates.” He paused.
“That means Selah and Ben are soul mates?” I asked.
“Yeah. Once we all begin tuning into each other, we will grow stronger.”
“So how do we do that?”
“I’m glad you asked,” he said, in a voice that reminded me of my English teacher. He took both of my hands and stood me up, only to sit us both down on the floor. We sat Indian style, facing each other. He scooted close to me.
“You are going to see some memories I have. They might be with you; they might not. You can’t change them. Everything you feel, everything you say, I said. You will see it through my eyes, through my emotions. You won’t be able to change anything. It will be like you will only know what I knew at that time. Does that make sense? Do you understand what I’m saying?” He paused and searched my eyes.
“I think so. Will you see my memories?” We sat there holding hands.
“No, I’m opening myself to you right now. I’m not hiding anything, and you will share yourself with me when you are ready. This is really intimidating for me because you will see, feel, and hear this much. I’ve been preparing myself for this for weeks, but it is time. Do what I do. If you don’t want to see anymore, pull hands away from mine.”
“But if I’m in the memory, how will I know to pull my hand away?”
“You will.” That was all he said, as he held up his hands in front of me. His fingers were spread apart. “Only touch fingertips. Minimal connection.” He looked into my eyes. I took a deep breath, and I touched my fingers to his.
There was a blinding flash of light.
He sat at a patio table at the sandwich shop across from the card shop where I worked. His mother was speaking in a serious tone, but he was watching someone at the cash register through the window. He was watching me. He knew me. I was, in his eyes, just as beautiful as I had been in his dreams, and I was real. He’d thought I was some part of his subconscious over the years, but now here I was in the flesh. He had to know me. His heart skipped as I glanced out the window at the traffic for a moment. At first he thought I saw him, but I didn’t because I turned to a customer and was gone from the window.
“Zeke, are you listening? I’ve intercepted two different Sorcerer’s attempts to abduct this girl just this month. She’s significant, a member of your Generation.” Hanna glanced at him and down the street.
“How do you know she’s in my Generation?” Zeke leaned back, still gazing at the window. He was drawn to me. “What’s her name?” he asked, wishing I’d come back to the window, so that he could see me.
“Her name is not important. You are not to engage her, and she cannot know we are protecting her. She and your brother are matched.” He looked at her shocked.
“Mom, how do you know that?”
“There are things that you are still too young to understand. I don’t want you to engage her,” she repeated sternly. ”You haven’t received your gifts yet. You are skilled, but there are things that you will know as the time comes. But for now, I repeat, if anything happens, don’t engage her. Having the two of you open like that to The Noctem will only get you killed. She must not know who she is. As long as whoever it thinks she is innocent, they will not viciously pursue her. If it thinks she knows who she is, it will kill her, rapidly come after her, and destroy her before she has a chance. We can’t allow that to happen.” His mom reached for her coffee and took a sip of it. Softening her tone, she said, “She has a brother. He’s your age. I think you and he will be great friends. He’ll be
a fierce warrior.”
“So how am I supposed to shadow her?” he asked, eyes glued to the window.
“You have permission for late entry and early release from school, so you will follow her to and from school. I will cover her on days you have practice, but I need you on her for the days she works. The Elders and others are going to take shifts too. There will always be someone with her.” Hanna stood. “I have to go. Schad has you covered on refreshments. He said we can come here anytime we need to run our surveillance, so don’t feel like you’re overstaying your welcome. Call me when you’re on your way home.” She turned and walked away, leaving him sitting there staring at the window.
There was a sudden flash of light.
He propped his foot on the tub as he tied his sneaker. His hands were large and shaking as he re-tied his knot. He put his foot down and straightened his pants at his ankles.
“Dude, I can’t believe you’re going to port tonight. Mom said you’re not ready.” He turned to see Ben leaning against the door molding, his arms crossed.
“It’s been a week since my birthday. I will be fine, but I’m worried about her.” He looked at himself in the mirror over the sink. He was misleading in his worry. He wasn’t worried about my safety; he was worried I’d forgotten him. He moved his hair around with his left hand and looked back at Ben, pleading with him to keep his secret. He was already nervous. His mom couldn’t know.
“Is she hot?” Ben began.
“I don’t know; she’s a girl,” he answered a little too fast as he pushed past him and went to his room. Ben followed him.
“She’s a dog, isn’t she? I’m stuck with a dog of a soul mate. I’ll even have to learn a new language. Dog,” Ben said in disgust. Zeke turned and looked at him, not believing what he was hearing. Ben couldn’t know the feelings he already had for me, just by watching me. He wanted to tell Ben and his mother that he believed that they were wrong in their prediction that Ben was my soul mate. He wanted to be my soul mate. He believed he was my soul mate. No one could change that.
Just keep Mom away from my room. She’s supposed be back from the charity event around one. I’ll be home before then. It’s only eight now.” He looked at his watch. His hands, still trembling, were sweating now. He knew he wasn’t supposed to teleport. He knew there was a chance that he would go to the wrong place and could expose himself for who he was.
“You don’t have to do this. Besides it’s eight p.m. on Saturday. She’s probably at a party. Most teenagers are. I’d be if I didn’t have to cover your sorry ass. I still might go you know. You can’t stop me,” Ben snipped at him.
“I can’t stop you, but do what’s right. I need to do this. How many times have I covered for you?” Zeke raised his eyebrows.
“Regardless, you owe me dude. This is major.” Ben crossed his arms.
“Yes, I’m your personal chauffeur. What else is new? Get your license already. I’m tired of hauling your driveless ass all over the place.” They were now face-to-face with their voices raised.
“Whatever, man. Just go walk the dog.”
“I’m outta here. Do what you want.” With that, he thought about me. His image of me was prettier than I ever thought I was. He thought about my face, my long brown hair, my brown eyes sparkling in his imagination, light tan flawless skin, the mole on my neck just under my ear. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was standing in the backyard of my house under a large oak tree. Lights were on in three windows upstairs, and all the lights were on downstairs. He saw an older man watching television, sitting in what looked like a family room. In the kitchen, a woman was doing dishes. He looked up and climbed the tree. He wanted to see if he could pick out which room was mine. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. If he was caught, they could call the police. He looked toward the first window. The walls were pink. A young girl was talking to someone. She came to the window, closed the blinds, and he heard giggling. He looked to the other two windows, which were in the same room where the walls were a light-green color. He climbed out on a limb a little more to see better. I lay there along the bottom of my double bed. I was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top. My hair was pulled into a pony tail. His heart stopped, and he literally lost his breath. I was writing in one of my leather bound books. He could hear soft music playing. My back was to him. He thought he could port in and I wouldn’t see him. He hoped I wouldn’t scream. No matter that it was too late now, he was there. There was no turning back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to prepare himself. “On the count of three,” he whispered. As he opened his eyes to get ready to count, he already stood in my room. I didn’t turn around. He stood there a minute trying to think of what to say so that he wouldn’t startle me. Why didn’t I think about that first? He berated himself in his mind. What will I say?
There was a knock at my door.
“Yes?” I answered.
“We’re going to bed. Your brother will be home soon in case you hear stirring downstairs. See you in the morning, sweetie.” It was a woman’s voice.
“All right,” I answered, but I didn’t move. The door didn’t open or close. He heard two pair of footsteps travel down the hall, and another door closed. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath. He took a deep breath.
“Hey, you,” he said softly, as he took a step toward my bed. Really? he thought. Was that all I could come up with, ‘hey you’? His heart was pounding out of his chest. He thought that I had to be able to hear it. I sat up but didn’t turn around immediately; I pulled my hair out of the ponytail, shook it, and tried to smooth it. I slowly turned around and stood up. We were face to face. He couldn’t tell if my eyes were wide with fear or disbelief. Again, I was surprised at how I looked through his eyes. He thought my eyes were beautiful. He knew they would be. I looked exactly as I had in all the dreams we had shared. He was finally close enough to see that.
“Hey, yourself,” I said, almost in a whisper, as I smiled at him now. “Am I dreaming?” I asked just as softly. He reached out his hand, and I touched his fingers with mine, almost afraid to do anything else, imagining he might evaporate right before me. It was a possibility. We stood there examining each other’s faces, barely believing the other was really there. “You’re not dreaming.” he finally said. “How have you been? What were you working on over there?” He pointed to my journal.
“I was just writing is all. I do that a lot. I kind of have no life,” I said, a little embarrassed, as I sat down on the bed. I reached for my book and closed it. I wrapped the tie around it three times before I tied it into a bow.
“Yeah, it’s Saturday night. I figured you’d be out with friends or at a party; most teenagers are.” He felt stupid and questioned why he was using Ben’s logic.
“I’m not most teenagers. Besides you’re not out at a party; you’re here with me.” I nudged him as I stood and walked over to my night stand. I placed my book in the drawer and closed it. I turned and faced him with my hands behind me still on the drawer. “So why did you come to see me this evening?” I got right to the point. He had always liked that about me. My will only seemed to get stronger every time he was with me.
“The party scene isn’t me. I just wanted to enjoy some good conversation and took a chance that I might bump into you.” He was still nervous.
“Our conversation isn’t always good?” I tilted my head, pretending to be confused. His face became hot. He knew I was teasing him, but he wasn’t feeling very witty.
“Our conversations are always good. I just didn’t know how much time we’d get to spend together—if any.” He looked past me out to the tree he had been sitting in not too long ago. I would have been able to see him if I’d have tried.
“So, you’re like Cinderella. You turn into a pumpkin at midnight?” I asked, giggling. He realized that he loved my smile, and my rose lips shone. He thought about what it would be like to kiss me right then.
“Something like that.” He smiled back
to me.
“No, I don’t think so.” I tapped my chin. “I think you’re more like an angel. You’re on borrowed time. You almost always have a message for me. You visit my dreams, and now in an apparition. I could be dreaming. I was falling asleep before I heard you. How am I going to do on my math test on Monday? I hate algebra.” I crawled past him on my bed and lay down. I put my head on my pillow. He turned and faced me for a moment before he decided to lie down beside me. His heart began to race again, and he just looked into my eyes. He did love me, he realized. It was at that moment he knew I would be the only girl he would ever love. His next words he spoke carefully.
