by Allie Burton
A dresser drawer slid open. Something was slipped out. The drawer closed again. Steps turned and headed toward the door.
My shoulders relaxed. Jeb had come in the room for something, not someone. He wasn’t looking for me or Xander. I let out a large breath.
Jeb’s footsteps stopped. I pictured him turning toward the sound. Toward me. I should’ve learned my lesson from the museum guard. I held perfectly still. Held my breath. Didn’t blink. Tried to make my heart stop its pounding.
The steps continued toward the bedroom door and into the hallway. The door swung closed.
I collapsed onto the floor and held my head in my hands. If I had stayed in the cramped space, I wouldn’t have almost been caught.
“Olivia.” Xander whispered into the room. He sounded worried, upset. “Olivia.”
“Over here.” I pushed at the curtain with weak hands.
“Where?” His voice was closer.
“Behind the curtain.” I controlled an urge to sob. He couldn’t see me like this. Bad enough I’d freaked and scurried out of the closet.
The curtain was pushed aside. “What happened?”
“Jeb almost caught me.” I hung my head. I’d risked everything.
“What happened to make you go berserk?”
A choked laugh escaped my throat. Berserk was an appropriate term. “Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.” Concern softened the edges of his eyes.
“I don’t like small spaces.” I chewed out the words hating to admit any kind of weakness.
“Claustrophobia?” Of course, Xander knew the medical term.
I had to look it up online at the library. “Yes.”
“How can a thief—”
“It doesn’t matter.” I forced my voice to sound strong, already regretting sharing that side of me. No one knew about the claustrophobia, not even Fitch. “Let’s get out of here.” Walking to the door, my legs trembled from knees to toes. I opened the door a crack.
Voices came down the long hallway from the front of the house.
Xander gripped the edge of the door and opened it wider. “This way.” Leading us in the opposite direction, we passed more closed doors, and entered a small sunroom. He slid the back door open. “Hurry.”
The stone patio hung over the cliff. The area was surrounded by a wood railing. A dead end. “What?”
“This way.” He opened a gate that matched the railing.
I must be still shaken from the enclosed encounter for me not to notice any kind of escape details. I followed him to a wooden staircase set off the side of the patio. The stairs led down to the ocean, their private stairway to paradise. “We’ll get trapped if we go down there.”
“We can follow the edge of the water to a public path a few houses down.” He took the steps, his body moving in one fluid motion. “This way, Jeb and the Society won’t see us on the roads.”
“Good idea.”
We ran down the zigzagging steps until we were level with the sprayed wet rocks and out of view of the mansion.
“Hold up.” Xander slipped the backpack from his broad shoulders and reached inside.
Leaning against the wood rail, I paused to catch my breath. We’d escaped. Relief washed over me like the waves below. My body relaxed, practically sinking into the ground. My gaze roamed the distance. White caps foamed off shore. The waves rolled in between the rocks and patches of sand. The rocks formed a natural barrier like protection. Could they protect us?
I glanced back up the stairs. No voices on the patio. No footsteps on the stairs.
Relaxing even more, I looked at the inspiring sight before me. Best view ever.
Then, I turned and saw Xander stripping off his dirty borrowed shirt. Trim waist with six pack abs. Defined chest. Dusky skin tone I wanted to run my fingers across.
Best. View. Ever.
My eyelids flickered, and my heart fluttered, and my tummy flipped. This was the guy who’d almost kissed me. And I’d burped. I dropped my head and shook it back slowly. The burp had been embarrassing and I wished I could go back and have a do over. What would it have been like to kiss Xander? My chest hitched and I peeked at him under lowered lids.
He tugged a clean T-shirt he’d taken from his closet over his chest covering the most incredible specimen I’d ever seen.
Bummer.
And would never be able to touch.
Double bummer.
Turning away, I watched the surf hit the sandy shore in the small cove below. The water rushed in and then back out. A four-inch round pole with markings on the side stuck out of the water. The markings were picture-like.
Hieroglyphics? My mind was now wired to think Egyptian.
“What’s that pole sticking out by the boulders?” I climbed over the railing and balanced on a rock, wanting to get closer.
He stepped beside me still wearing the borrowed homeless man’s pants but his own T-shirt. The black shirt hugged his chest like I wished I could.
It’s only because I can’t touch him that I crave to hug and kiss him.
Yeah, keep trying to convince yourself.
“It’s a Nilometer used for measuring water on the Nile.”
The guy had everything—intelligence, good looks, and an incredible personality. He’d lived in a house the size of a palace while I’d grown up with nothing, and now had less than nothing.
“Learn that in your training lessons?” I couldn’t stop the snark squeaking through. If he got the training, he should’ve gotten the soul. “Why is one here? This is the Pacific Ocean not the Nile.”
“The Society said they needed to keep track of the tides.”
“So when they changed the water level of the ocean with the power they’d know?” I jumped to a lower rock. The partially submerged column had markings at even intervals. “There are websites for that.” I scrambled closer to the Nilometer and my foot slipped on the wet rocks. Rebalancing, I moved closer.
The markings were definitely hieroglyphics. I could read the picture words talking about the inundation of the Nile.
I moved even closer. The rocks spread farther apart the further down I went. I jumped from outcropping to outcropping. The water rushed in and out around the rocks with the tide.
The Nilometer was situated near a large boulder that had just been sprayed by surf. A wave returned to the sea. Measuring the distance, I jumped to the rock.
My foot slipped. My body pitched forward.
Toward the ocean.
“Aaagh!” I waved my arms, trying to recover and struggling to hold my breath. Blood pounded behind my eyes. What would happen to the ocean if I touched it?
Not just with my finger but my entire body. Would the entire Pacific evaporate?
A wave rushed toward me and crashed against my flailing feet. I completely lost my balance.
I was about to find out.
Chapter Fourteen
Olivia
My gut churned like the ocean below. My ears clanged. Air rushed by, cooling my skin. Spray stung my arms and legs as I flew into a spread eagle position. I tasted salt on my lips. Like a slow-motion video, my fall lasted forever though I’d been only a few feet above the water.
In a last desperate attempt to stop myself from tumbling, I reached out and grabbed for the Nilometer. Maybe the pole could stop my forward momentum. My hand grasped the wood taking the full force of my body. The top of the pole broke off and hung from the side.
Breath whooshed out of my chest. I continued to fall forward. Beige and brown sand gathered at the bottom of the turquoise green water. Green seaweed and tiny plankton floated with the current. Jagged rocks stuck out which I needed to avoid. Right before contact, I closed my mouth and held my breath. My body hit with a large splash. The water sizzled. Steam rose all around engulfing me in a cloud. It was like entering a deep fog that enshrouded the coast in the early spring.
Face down, I laid on a wet, but steaming sand patch. Dazed, I gently rolled over. Heavy white vapor su
rrounded me. I didn’t see the nearby rocks or Xander on the stairs. I didn’t feel the water. My clothes weren’t wet. “Super-sarcophagus.”
I twisted the cotton of my shirt between my fingers. Not even damp. I patted my black jeans, which should’ve been soaked and uncomfortable, but I only felt the rough material against my fingertips. I’d fallen into the ocean. Knew my body hit a wave. Heard the splash. And yet, I wasn’t sopping wet.
“Olivia!” Xander’s voice sounded like a foghorn in the middle of a dark night. Like he was reaching out to me. Like he cared—about me.
I found it difficult to breathe even knowing I wasn’t drowning.
A wave retreated around my body clearing some of the fog and mist. The water avoided my body like stripes should avoid plaid. The water circled as if I stood in the middle of an air vortex. My head spun. The dizziness spiraled down my throat and into my stomach. I gagged.
“Here.” I waved with a limp arm.
The after-effect from the fall, the water’s reaction, and visualizing what I could do to the ocean made me weak. I should have drowned. But with water shunning me, drowning would be impossible. Guess learning to swim was a big waste of time.
He jumped from rock to rock and then slipped into the water getting the bottom of his borrowed pants wet. “You okay?”
“I think so.” I checked my arms and legs for broken bones or scratches. Nothing seemed damaged.
I struggled to my feet, wiping the dry sand off my hands. I needed to get out of the ocean before I lowered the water depth. I didn’t want to help the Society’s cause and prove their blackmail accurate.
He trudged closer, the knee-length depth of the water slowing him down. “You broke it.” He moved in front of the pole and reached for the hanging piece of the wood at the same time I did.
Our hands touched.
We both stared at each other holding the wooden piece in our hands. Together. At the same time.
Skin-to-skin.
I snatched my hand back and held my breath waiting for him to fall. To be dehydrated. To become limp with weakness.
He didn’t.
My skin tightened. “Why weren’t you zapped?”
“I don’t know.” His green gaze questioned what we’d both observed. His head tilted at an angle. He touched his chest and abs as if testing their strength.
Another wave rushed up to Xander’s thigh and avoided me completely.
At least I hadn’t sucked the ocean dry. Maybe I wasn’t as powerful as we’d thought. Maybe I’d used up all of Tut’s power. “Did I lose the power?”
But then I’d be dead.
Xander raised both eyebrows. “I don’t think so.” He pointed to the non-existent water around my black gym shoes. “That is totally sick. It’s like that guy in the bible who parted the Red Sea.”
“How do you know about Moses? I thought you trained for Tut’s beliefs.” Another wave rushed in, avoiding me.
“I studied all religions so when I needed to argue I’d know what I was talking about.”
Weight added to my bones. Xander had studied for this role. He had intelligence and good looks. Yet, I still had the power. I wanted to sink to the ground.
I glanced at the mansion, knowing we should get far away, but curious all the same. “Should I touch you again?”
He firmed his lips and his eyes flashed a touch of bravado. “Do it.”
I touched his hand, lightly skimming my fingers across his skin. A shiver passed through me. His muscles bunched under my touch. My chest lightened. I could touch him. We could hold hands and hug and kiss.
A satisfied smile bloomed on his face. “I didn’t feel a thing.”
Was that good or bad? Because I’d felt plenty.
Felt the warmth of his hand, felt tingles on my skin, felt a connection like I never had before.
Had he experienced any of those things? When he said I didn’t feel a thing did he mean he didn’t get zapped by my power? Or had he really felt absolutely nothing? Felt nothing for me?
“I can touch you?” My voice quivered.
“I think you can.”
Like a science experiment, I was taking advantage of the opportunity. For me and for a test. I held my arms up and moved toward him. The distance between us appeared like crossing a trip-wired floor of a highly secured building. I took a step closer. My arms went around his broad shoulders and my hands connected behind his back. My heart brushed against my ribs like a caged bird. I tightened my arms with a squeeze. Our chests touched. His heart against mine.
His nostrils flared slightly. He leaned toward me a half an inch at a time.
I gazed into his eyes, falling into the greenness like I’d fallen into the ocean earlier. Taking in his unique scent of lotus and palm. My heart thrashed so loudly in my chest I’m surprised he didn’t hear it. My throat went dry.
I embraced Xander in his first ever hug.
The waves continued to come and go, but of course I didn’t feel the water. Didn’t hear the surf. Didn’t see the sun or the sky. I was completely focused on him. On the strength of his arms as they wrapped around me. On the broadness of his chest. On the length of his legs.
On the sudden stiffness of his body.
Each and every muscle I touched tightened in rejection. I stilled. My mushy body straightened, firmed. My arms holding him seemed awkward and out of place. Maybe he didn’t want me touching or hugging him. Maybe he didn’t like being touched. Or maybe he didn’t want his first hug to be from me.
Too late.
I dropped my arms from around him and took a step back, letting his arms fall. I went for a casual approach. “I can touch anyone.”
Like it wasn’t a big deal I’d hugged him even though my skin still tingled. Even though my tummy twisted in confusion.
“Guess so.” He looked at the sky, then at the five inches of water he stood in, then back at the sky as if trying to avoid my gaze.
Mortification scratched beneath my skin. I looked away and climbed onto a rock that jutted above the water. He didn’t need to see my yearning for his touch and the ocean didn’t need my dehydrating presence.
He ran his hand over the broken spot of the Nilometer. “It’s not broken. It’s hinged.” He stood on tiptoes and glanced inside. “There’s something here.”
If I tried to peer inside the column we’d bump heads. More touching that he didn’t want. I tapped my foot on the slippery rock waiting for him to do something. Apologize? Come running to me? Or just look in the stupid Nilometer. “What?”
He reached his hand inside and pulled out a shiny gold object. The round-shaped jar had pictures etched in the side. “Another vessel.”
I tried to contain my excitement by whispering, “Do you think it’s one of the oils?”
“Our clue said nothing about a Nilometer or water.” He pinched the object between two fingers. Was he still afraid of my touch or did he not want contact with me?
“It talked about pyramids.” And lovers united, but I didn’t bring that up. Not after my embarrassing over-reaction hug.
He removed the stopper from the top of the vessel and smelled. “Juniper.”
“Like a tree.”
“It’s an oil meant to calm and cleanse.” He put the stopper back in and climbed over the railing.
I could use some of the calming part. Besides the big chase that has become my life, and let’s not forget about having a boy’s soul inside my body that seemed to rebel at the oddest times, I’d just fallen into the ocean and didn’t get wet, hugged Xander, and almost shared a first kiss.
And, I’d been rejected.
My shoulders slumped. I did not want to think about that. I needed to worry about the oils and what they meant.
Shaking my non-wet clothes, I hopped to the next rock and climbed over the rail to stand next to him. “Let me read the hieroglyphics.” He handed me the bottle and I read, “Gateway to gold. Lights behold.”
“Haven’t a clue what that means.”
&n
bsp; “We have two of the essential oils. Now what?”
“We should go to the police.” His voice was flat, resigned.
“What? Why?”
“This is too big for us to handle. I can’t protect you by myself.” He twisted his lips together. “The police can help.”
My breath hitched. “No. I can’t go to the cops.” I didn’t trust cops. They’d never give me a fair chance. In the past, I’d run away and they’d find me and send me to a worse foster home.
“The police are the only answer.” At least he didn’t believe the Society was the only answer.
“They’d take us into custody.” Especially me. “And I’d slowly burnout in jail.”
“What do you suggest we do?” He took the vessel and placed it carefully in his bag. “The Society plans to rule the world by threatening governments with mass destruction. We have to do something.”
“The cops wouldn’t believe me.” They knew me, had records and suspicions.
“We can’t run forever.”
True, but it’s what I did best.
“Do you have a better idea?” His smirk made me bristle.
He might know about the Society and the power, but I knew about this world. The real world and how it operated.
“You should go to the cops.” He’d be better off without me and they’d believe him. “Tell them about the Society’s plans.”
I was the problem, the person with the power. The person who would burnout and die. I couldn’t run from myself. I had to take action. Do something. Not wait for the cops who would take their sweet time, if they even believed the problem existed.
“I need to find all the oils.” My voice came out strong, assured, even though I quaked inside. Maybe the Society knew a way to stop the burnout. “Then, I’ll have something to bargain with the Society so they might be willing to save my life.”
“I?” Xander lifted a dark brow. “You’re not doing this alone.”
A thrill coursed through me that he wanted to help. But he’d rejected my hug, rejected me. I didn’t want to be responsible for him. “It’s dangerous. If you stay with me, you’ll probably get yourself killed.”
“I’ll take my chances.” His mouth lifted into a short smirk. “I thought we were partners.”
