The Secret Of Spruce Knoll: A Channeler Novel

by McCorkle, Heather

  She pulled her hand from his and placed it on her hip. “Wait, you’re telling me the Earth is prejudice?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “No, of course not. I’m not explaining this very well. When channelers hang out in an area a lot they leave traces of their energy behind. That’s what can be hostile. The Earth doesn’t care what race of channeler you are. It’s smarter than we are,” he said.

  That brought a smile to her lips. She took his hand and let him lead her to the temple. They walked through one of the many openings between the massive stone pillars. The power here was so thick it felt like stepping into water. This was the power that had made her feel like a tuning fork. There were more stones free-standing inside the structure and each had Celtic knots carved into them. Some were an intricate knotwork of animals, trees, and even people. At first glance the stones seemed to be randomly placed throughout the structure but then Eren realized the light and shadows around the stones formed patterns.

  “Wow, it’s like the legends say. This is some kind of ancient star observatory isn’t it?” she asked.

  Her reservations faded in the wake of her curiosity. She walked around each stone, looking at the sky from different perspectives, trying to imagine how ancient people would have used this to study the stars.

  “Yep. All channelers believe in the power of the planets and study them,” Aiden said as he followed her.

  Eren darted out from behind a stone and met his startled gaze. “Do other channelers have places like this then?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “I’d love to see them all.”

  His eyes dropped to the stone floor and he swallowed hard, making her worry. “Your aunt can take you to the Mayan temple, but you have to be invited to the others and it’s rare for anyone to do that,” he said.

  Regret dampened her excitement and made her feel a bit out of place. But then, was there really any place for a half-blood like her in this town?

  “Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

  The energy around her changed, became tense and uncomfortable, like standing too close to an electrical transformer. It didn’t quite hurt but it was bordering on it. Aiden stepped to her side and grabbed hold of her hand. His power flowed over her and pushed back the uncomfortable feeling.

  “You definitely shouldn’t be here,” a boy’s voice echoed through the standing stones.

  Holding tight to Eren’s hand, Aiden stepped around the stone they had been studying, out into the open. Two boys and a girl stood in front of a large stone slab that made Eren think of an elevated sarcophagus. It was an alter, the kind they used to sacrifice people on thousands of years ago. But this alter wasn’t covered in blood—thankfully—it was covered in purple and white flowers. The energy around it was so strong it made the entire thing glow with a white light. The boys and girl were dark shadows outlined by the brilliant light.

  “The energy welcomed her. She has just as much right to be here as any of you,” Aiden said.

  The girl blew air out through her teeth and crossed her arms over her chest. “Hardly,” she said in a thick Irish accent.

  The taller of the two boys stepped forward and said something in Irish. Though Eren didn’t speak the language, she understood it well enough, thanks to her dad. Being Irish himself, and stressing over the fact that it was a dying language, he had made sure she learned it. The boy had called her an unworthy half-blood and had insulted her parents. Fury churned her power to life and made it feel like it was boiling beneath her skin.

  “Don’t you dare insult my parents. They were good people,” she said.

  The boy’s eyebrows lifted and he reached back to smack his friend in the arm. “I guess I owe you ten bucks. She does know Irish,” he said.

  Eren’s stomach dropped but she thrust her chin up and did her best to hide her fear. She really hoped he didn’t try to get her to speak the language. There would be no fooling him then. She suddenly wished she had tried a lot harder to learn to speak it.

  “Good people don’t endanger our kind by living among normals,” the girl said. With the light behind her Eren couldn’t see her face but the girl’s snide tone filled with hate told her all she needed to know.

  “They never endangered our kind. Hell, they never even told me what we are,” Eren said.

  The three of them laughed. It was a cruel and humorless sound that sent arrows of pain into Eren’s chest. She shouldn’t have opened her mouth about that last part.

  “Wow, so your own parents didn’t even want you to be one of us,” the tall boy said.

  “Shut up, Patrick,” Aiden said in a calm voice.

  Somehow the calm sounded far more dangerous to Eren than a harsh tone would have. There was promise in that calm. The tall boy—Patrick, Eren was guessing—took a step closer and threw his arms wide. The movement put him only a few feet from Aiden.

  “Or what?”

  Energy pulsed around Aiden and his chest rose and fell as he sucked in deep breaths through his nose. By his red face and tense shoulders, Eren knew he was struggling to hang onto his temper.

  “That’s what I thought,” Patrick said.

  His hand flew up and red energy shot from his fingers like lightning, headed straight for Eren and Aiden. There was no time to move. Aiden didn’t even flinch, in fact, he squared his shoulders back. The bolts of energy hit something unseen inches before it reached them and then fizzled out. Though she couldn’t see it, Eren could feel what had stopped the attack. It was a sort of force field of Aiden’s energy that surrounded them. Patrick’s eyes widened then narrowed into angry slits.

  “Seriously dude, you’re going to defend her? Come on, even you can do better than a half-blood,” Patrick spat.

  Eren felt the shield protecting them drop as the energy around Aiden started to pulse and grow. Along with his anger, his power grew as well until it was so stifling Eren didn’t know how he held onto it. Even when her parents had died she hadn’t experienced such fury. Surely this boy insulting her couldn’t be the cause for it. It frightened her to stand next to what felt like a ticking time-bomb but she didn’t let go of his hand. He was defending her, she wasn’t about to abandon him.

  “Eren is a better person than anyone in this town. Your pure blood doesn’t make you any better than her,” Aiden said in a calm voice.

  If she couldn’t feel his energy, Eren wouldn’t know about the dangerous level of his anger. His face looked calm, even his posture had relaxed a bit. But his hazel eyes looked like they were on fire with the glow of his power behind them.

  “I think your brain boiled a bit when your mom burned up in the car accident,” Patrick said through a sneer.

  Aiden started to shake, his hand quivering in Eren’s. It infuriated her that he had to listen to this jerk because of her. She wanted to help but she had no idea what to do or say. From experience she knew that it was useless to argue with people who were prejudice. Arguing only seemed to give them power. Then she realized that’s what she could do for Aiden, calm him with her power. Her aunt had done it before so she knew it was possible.

  Just thinking about it caused an odd tingling sensation to spread from her core, down her arm, and through her fingers into Aiden. He let out a sigh and some of the pressure of his energy eased. Eren felt his anger fade as his hand tightened around hers.

  “No way! Did you just share energy with her?” the girl asked in a disgusted tone.

  “I’ve had enough of this crap,” Patrick said with a shake of his head.

  The boy and girl stepped up to either side of Patrick and each put a hand on his shoulder. At the same time, the three of them thrust a hand toward Eren. Energy shot from their fingers in bolts of purple, yellow, and red. This time Aiden wasn’t fast enough to protect her from the full attack. Several of the bolts hit her, zapping her like the charge from an electric fence. The pain took her breath away and the impact sent her stumbling back until she slammed into the stone pillar. Her hand had torn from Aiden’
s and the lack of contact left her feeling exposed.

  Letting out a wordless cry, Aiden strode forward, both hands extended toward the threesome. Energy exploded not from his fingers, but from his palms, bursting at the three attackers like a wave instead of a bolt. The sheer magnitude of his power scared Eren more than she cared to admit and made her kind of glad she wasn’t holding onto him just then. The wave of power slammed into the three of them—though Patrick took the brunt of it—and sent them tumbling back.

  The boy and girl to each side of Patrick rolled to the ground, but Patrick collided with the alter and slumped. He blinked several times and shook his head but didn’t look as though he was going to get up any time soon. Aiden strode to him and stood hovering over him, energy glowing around his outstretched hands. Eren pushed away from the pillar and hurried to his side. If he hit the boy again she wasn’t sure he’d be all right. After hesitating for only a moment, she laid her hand on Aiden’s shoulder, flinching as his power stung her. The energy surrounding his hands dimmed a little.

  “Don’t ever try to harm her again,” Aiden said.

  Patrick’s eyes filled with awe and fear as he looked up at Aiden. He shook his head.

  “Good. I’m glad we understand each other. Now you know why I was tournament champion last year,” Aiden said.

  Steeling herself against the pain she feared from his touch, Eren looped her arm through Aiden’s and pulled him back. Thankfully, it didn’t hurt. The residual energy sucked back into Aiden’s hands and with it the biting feeling of his anger disappeared completely. Eren didn’t relax until they had left the temple far behind and were hiking up the hillside though. The cool shade of the trees offered an escape from prying eyes.

  “Sorry about that. I over reacted,” Aiden said.

  Since he kind of did, she didn’t want to say he didn’t, but she didn’t want to sound like a nag either.

  “You were protecting me. Thank you for that. That boy will be okay, though, won’t he?” she asked.

  Aiden dropped his head as if ashamed. “Yeah, he’ll be fine. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t let them talk to you like that,” he said.

  Eren stopped and pulled him close. His eyes were glossy and filled with shame. It hurt to see that look on his face. Those kids were jerks and she hated that they had made him feel this way.

  “Stop apologizing. They had it coming after what they said about your mom,” she said.

  Pain flashed in his eyes, making her chest tighten. Rising up on her toes, she pressed her lips lightly to his. When she pulled away all traces of pain were gone from his face and he was smiling. It wasn’t easy to stop kissing him but she wanted to put more distance between them and those kids. Hand in hand, they started back up the hill.

  Though part of her was afraid of his temper, the rest of her was so drawn to him that she couldn’t fight it, and she didn’t want to. There was a lot about him she didn’t know though and now she was determined to find it out.

  Chapter 18

  The next two weeks flew by way too fast. There were only a few days left until the full moon and only a week until school started. Eren had been too preoccupied with Aiden to think much about channeling. At least, that’s what she told herself. They split their time up between the bookstore, coffee shop, and the river. It was the most amazing summer of Eren’s life and she wasn’t ready for it to end. Aiden was not only helping her heal the gaping wounds left by her parents death, he was helping her find the joy in life again. But for how long?

  As much as she wanted to, Eren couldn’t stop time. She had to face the inevitable and she had to do it now. On their way home from the bookstore she finally built up the courage to ask him.

  “I can’t start school without channeling,” she said.

  “It would be a bad idea,” he agreed.

  Eren’s focus moved to where she and Aiden’s clasped hands swung between them in time to their steps. She decided if she spit the words out quickly maybe it would be easier, like tearing off a band-aid.

  “Will you let me see you channel?” she asked.

  Aiden was always incredibly dexterous, which was why it shocked her so much when he tripped. He recovered gracefully and just barely saved himself from going to one knee.

  “You did that time at the temple,” he mumbled.

  “Yeah, but that was different. You were mad. I want to see you channel when you’re relaxed, when it’s just us,” she said.

  Was he blushing? It definitely looked like he was blushing.

  “I still don’t have a lot of control. Believe it or not, anger helps you focus. Any strong emotion does. Without that focus I need to wear a lot less clothing,” he whispered.

  For the first time in weeks, she thought back to the day they had encountered Claud and Aiden had come so close to losing his temper. But Aunt Sylvia had said channeling had nothing to do with anger. Her aunt had never given her a reason not to believe that, so Eren pushed the thought aside. She gave him a mischievous smile as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

  “Well, it would ruin your clothes if you didn’t.”

  “E!”

  While the idea of seeing him almost completely naked nearly sent her into a panic attack, she knew she had to do this. There was no way she could share something so private with anyone else. Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to see him naked for another reason.

  “Seriously though, you’re the only one I trust to share this with,” she said.

  He went very quiet as he looked at her. There was a vulnerable look in his eyes that made him absolutely breathtaking. Suddenly the idea of seeing him nearly naked did seem like too much, like it might tip their relationship so far on the other side of the scale it would never be balanced again.

  No, that was silly. She couldn’t let herself think that way. She had to be an adult about this.

  “Thanks, E. That means a lot,” he said.

  “Tomorrow then. Tonight we’ll just have fun and watch a movie,” Eren said.

  Having made the decision and finally asked him, now she could relax. The stress could wait until tomorrow. He smiled.

  “Your aunt got the new TV all hooked up?” Aiden asked. There was a surprised tone to his voice that made Eren laugh.

  “Yeah, after reading through the manual four times and almost electrocuting herself. She’s still complaining about the new solar panel we had to install on the roof for it,” Eren said as she shook her head.

  “Yeah, your roof is covered. It looks like you’re trying to contact aliens!” he said.

  They laughed and joked all the way back to Eren’s house. After tomorrow things would be different and they both knew it. For now, Eren was determined to enjoy one more normal night with him.

  Chapter 19

  Aiden didn’t show for their morning run. Eren didn’t worry at first. She figured just like her, he had trouble getting to sleep and had probably slept in because of it. When noon came and there was still no sign of him, she began to worry. At first she feared he’d changed his mind and was staying away because he didn’t want to tell her. But she knew that wasn’t really it. He wouldn’t do that to her, would he? No, he had been encouraging her to channel all summer. He wouldn’t miss this. Concern began to eat at her as six o’clock came and went. Without a doubt, she knew, something was wrong.

  There was no phone number she could call and she had no idea where he lived except that it was in the Romanian part of town. Even if she knew, she couldn’t go there. She’d promised her grandfather and Aunt Sylvia that she wouldn’t. Right now she didn’t care about the danger though. She was tempted to run down there and start wandering around the Romanians’ territory calling for him. At first it seemed like a silly idea, but it was becoming more and more appealing.

  Bound by her promise, instead she paced the back deck. As the minutes passed, it was becoming harder to fight back the anxiety that was threatening to trigger her channeling. The evening was starting to cool off as the sun made
its way down toward the mountains. She’d stopped looking at the clock, but couldn’t ignore the sun.

  The shadows of the tree line were stretching their way across the lawn when she felt his energy approaching. It was definitely him—she would know the pulse and feel of that energy anywhere—and he was running. Also, he wasn’t coming up the driveway like he normally did. He was coming through the forest.

  Alarmed, Eren jumped off the deck and started across the grass toward the trees. Her gut told her that something was really wrong. The grass grew cold beneath her bare feet as she crossed over into the shadows. Pine needles crunched beneath her toes. She was only five feet from the trees when a voice stopped her.

  “Stop there, E.” It was Aiden’s voice and he sounded like he’d been crying. Hearing it hurt her and made her angry at whoever had caused it.

  “What’s the matter? What happened?”

  She took another step forward before stopping, she couldn’t help it—she wanted to go to him.

  “I had a fight with my adopted father,” he said.

  He always referred to him that way, never as just my father, or dad. Theirs was not a good relationship. Beyond that, Eren and Aiden hadn’t really talked about it. It was clear he didn’t see eye to eye with him and she hadn’t wanted to bring up something that was painful. Now she was very sorry she hadn’t. She wanted to know everything about him, the good and the bad.

  A horrible thought occurred to her. “He found out you’re spending time with me, didn’t he?” she asked.

  It wasn’t much of a stretch to make the connection. Aiden’s adopted mom had killed Eren’s grandmother. There was already bad blood between the families.

  “Yeah,” Aiden sighed.

  “What’s the matter? Why won’t you come out?” she asked.

  He didn’t say anything. The only noise disrupting the silence was the birds singing in the trees overhead. The suspense was absolutely torturing Eren. Her body vibrated in response. She recited the names of paintings in her head until Aiden finally spoke.