Intended Series Collection: Books 1-6

by Abigail Grant

  Alexa releases an amused chortle. "Hey, you came to me first, so you can't really hate me." She turns to Kassy. "Nice to meet you. Are you working out with El, or watching?" She gestures for us to follow her as she asks the question.

  We head toward the back of the house and Kassy marvels at her surroundings on our way. "I thought I'd try but I'm not sure I can keep up. I'm not a demi-God person like you guys," she says, smiling.

  Alexa laughs softly at her terminology. "Well, I'm glad that El told you about us. She was pretty stressed about not including her best friend and now we can all be together, with no secrets. Even us ‘Demi-God People’ get depressed when we don’t have our loved ones around us.” She looks away shyly, likely thinking of her father.

  She perks up again with that evil glint in her eyes. “Anyways, feel free to try out some weapons and it will be good for you to stick around for the history lesson too, so that you can understand things better. Lesson one though, I’d steer clear of the name Demi-God. Believe it or not, they were actually the bad guys. ‘Seers’ are what we go by.”

  I let out a long breath. "This is going to be a long day," I say, already wishing I were in bed.

  "I know! It’s going to be so fun!" Alexa says, clapping her hands together. She unlocks the gym door with her index finger on the print scanner.

  "Wow, intense," Kassy says, watching the door unlock and open.

  “That’s my brother for ya. Always the intense one.” She winks at me.

  "Are you flippin’ kidding me?" Kassy shouts as we enter the gym. Kassy rushes to a bow that she finds on the weapons wall. “This place is insane!” She knocks off some arrows and hits the bullseye multiple times while I stretch before my run. I smile at her, glad that she is taking everything so well and it seems she is enjoying some part of the situation we’re in.

  Alexa pushes some buttons on my treadmill when I hop on and after a few minutes, I’m already sprinting at full speed. She grins and leaves me to make her way over to Kassy. “You are really good at that. Who taught you?” she asks.

  Kassy smiles and places the bow back in its spot on the wall. “My dad started teaching me when I was really young. It’s a major hobby of his and he is also an avid hunter.”

  “It’s a good skill to have. Why don’t you try some other things?” She hands Kassy a small crossbow. “Have you ever used one of these?”

  Kassy shakes her head. “No, but I’ve always wanted to try.”

  Alexa shows her how to load the weapon and then points to the targets at the far end of the room, inviting Kassy to give it a shot. Kassy aims and shoots one arrow, missing the target completely but reloads and then hits bullseye twice in a row. I slow my pace, feeling like I might collapse if I keep sprinting.

  Alexa claps, hooting and hollering excitedly. “You are awesome, Kassy! You should teach El the bow because she is pretty weapons challenged.” Alexa covers one side of her face with her hand as if telling Kassy a secret.

  “Hey!” I shout from my side of the room, out of breath in my slow jog. “Just because I suck at wielding a longsword does not mean I won’t be good at other things,” I say, officially offended. “Those things are heavy!”

  She shrugs and heads back over to me. “Don’t worry. Soon, you will be so strong and fast that you won’t always need weapons. But they do come in handy a lot of the time.” She turns off the treadmill. “How was that run?” she asks.

  “I’m not sure. It was a lot harder than yesterday. I actually feel kind of sick,” I say, panting. “Is this another side effect to my body changing for the abilities?”

  She shakes her head, brows furrowed. “Usually it’s just mood swings and some joint and muscle discomfort.” She looks at me with concern in her eyes. “Why don’t we try to do some weights and if you feel too sick, we can skip weapons today.”

  I nod and follow her over to the weights. Kassy and I lift weights together for a half hour before I feel drained and exhausted. I sit down, my stomach cramping, and turn to Alexa, wondering what to do next.

  She studies me for a moment. “Do you feel like you’re going to be sick, El?” she asks.

  I shake my head. “No, it’s more like an achy feeling in my abdomen and kind of in my chest,” I say, rubbing the sore spot above where my heart is.

  She looks like she is thinking for a moment and then helps me up off the floor. “Let’s head back to the house and do some studying on the couch. I’ll give you a break today but next time we’ll just have to work even harder.”

  Kassy comes to my side and links arms with me to help me out the door. She gently bumps my shoulder. “You okay?” she asks.

  I shrug. “I think so. I’ve just been feeling kind of off today. Maybe it’s the weather changing. I probably caught some flu.”

  We make our way to Gavin’s spacious living room and relax on his comfortable leather couches. Alexa leaves for a minute and returns with granola bars and some old-looking pictures. I devour my granola bar, suddenly feeling like I haven’t eaten in days.

  “I guess you must not be sick, because you ate that bar like a beast,” Kassy says, giggling and raising her eyebrows at me.

  Alexa laughs along with her. “Actually, that is a part of the change. You get extra hungry. It’s sort of like we turn into teenage boys for a while and want to eat everything.”

  “Great,” I say, groaning. “How long does this last, exactly, because I don’t want to be picking fights with some guys over a hot babe anytime soon.”

  Alexa just laughs harder and shakes her head. “Everyone is a little different, but the sooner you develop each of your abilities, the symptoms should all start to go away.” She sits next to me on the long couch. “How’s that for motivation, huh?”

  I sit up straight, ready to learn all I need to know in order to move this tiring process along. “Let’s do this, then,” I say and snag another granola bar.

  Alexa lays most of the pictures out in front of me on the cherry wood coffee table. They are all old paintings of ten different men and ten women in robes. All of the people are wielding various weapons as if preparing for a battle.

  She points to a few of them. “These are some of the men that we have already mentioned to you, like Tiresias.” She points to a man with a long beard, and he carries a wooden staff. “He was born gifted with the ability to see the future. He was also supposed to be really strong.”

  “He was one of your ancestors,” I state, remembering what Gavin told me.

  She nods. “Maybe, as well as all of these other people. We aren’t sure of our exact individual descendants, before about eight hundred years ago, but we do know that these ten men and ten women were placed together to create powerful children. Which women were mated with which men is a mystery as well, but according to legend, they didn’t stray to the others once they chose a mate.”

  “From what I’ve been taught, the Seers were originally supposed to be a race of gifted humans capable of overpowering any evil demigods. As they matured, and our race grew, they became more and more integrated into human life and started being overcome with visions of neighbors and friends, that protecting humans became their main cause.” She watches me for a moment to make sure I’m following.

  I nod so she can continue. “Back then, I guess demons didn’t walk the earth like they do today. But when the Gods and demigods all left and started to become merely a myth, the demons learned that they could get away with a lot more. The Seers at that time gathered their ten best leaders and separated into ten families across the globe, with the goal to stop all demons and protect the human race. The people in these pictures started our entire race.”

  Kassy and I sit stunned during Alexa’s lesson. I am the first to speak. “So, could you and I possibly be related, Lex?” I’m surprised that it’s my first reaction to the amazing story.

  She smiles at me and shakes her head. “We could have some of the same ancestors hundreds and hundreds of years ago, but we really are not related.”
>
  Kassy finally clears her throat. “That is insane, guys! You are superheroes, created with a true purpose!” She makes a Superman pose and looks off into the distance. She points to the pictures of the women. “So, who are these women? Why were they chosen to have the special babies with the gifted men?”

  The women each have long white robes on, and they are strikingly beautiful. They each also have different drawings surrounding them that I can’t make out.

  Alexa points to one woman in particular, who is surrounded by drawings of blue swirls. “This is what we call an air manipulator. We know that the women in our history had the ability to manipulate the elements, but for some reason, there were no specific women named. All we know is that they were beautiful and they each died of old age.” She pauses to study my reaction, but I train my face so as not to look completely freaked, so she continues. “Like I’ve said, we all have the abilities of speed, strength, hearing and foresight, but each woman also has the ability to manipulate the elements.”

  Kassy smacks her hands on her legs. “Wow, girl power, huh?” she says and leans into Alexa. “You can create water, earth, fire and air? Seriously?”

  Alexa smiles at her excitement. “Well, we can’t just conjure it out of nowhere. Us women have the ability to manipulate all four of the elements, but we each can really only master one of them, which I’m sure is passed from one particular ancestor. Also, some of the women are better at it than others. As far as I know, nobody has ever mastered more than two, which is very rare.”

  “Which one have you mastered?” I ask, really interested in her answer.

  She gives me a wicked grin and then throws both of her arms to one side, sending a huge gust of air through the house, knocking Kassy and I onto the floor from the force of it. As quick as the windstorm starts, it stops, and I climb back onto the couch in awe.

  Kassy laughs loudly from the floor opposite Alexa and me. “That was ridiculous!” She shouts, small giggles still escaping her mouth. “I mean, I know I heard you guys telling me about these abilities and what you are, but I hadn’t actually seen any of it.” She sits back in her seat and stares at Alexa. “Can you manipulate the others at all?” she asks.

  Alexa swipes her hand through her wild red curls. “I can do little things, but nothing of consequence.” She looks around the room and her eyes land on my bottle of water. She focuses for a moment until a little whirlpool forms inside the bottle and reaches the bottom, then returns back to normal. “That’s pretty much the extent of my expertise with the other three elements. Air is my thing,” she states with pride in her voice.

  I take a moment to ponder what she's saying. All of this new information is so overwhelming. "So, am I going to be able to do what you just did?" I ask.

  She nods. "You will be able to master one of the elements, yes. I don't know if it will be air like me, but time will tell once your strength comes in." She studies my face. Probably seeing how nervous I am about how much I will change. "El, everything that’s happening to you will be wonderful. I know right now it's uncomfortable and especially confusing for you because you weren't raised in our world, but it will all come together. I wish I could explain just how amazing it feels to have these abilities and do good with them.”

  She places a hand on my shoulder, and I force a small smile. I look over at Kassy and she is watching me too. I am so lucky to have them in my life. Even though everything is so crazy and unfamiliar, I still have people to get me through it all.

  I sit up straight again, schooling my features so that we can continue with the lesson. "All right, what's next? Any more abilities I need to know about? Am I going to sprout wings and a tail soon and start sniffing butts?" I ask, hoping to lighten the mood, but secretly praying with all my might that she says no.

  Alexa and Kassy laugh. "No, you're good there. I think I’ve told you all of the abilities. If you have any questions about our culture, now might be a good time for me to answer a few."

  "Good," I say and think for a moment. "Okay, so Gavin mentioned that there are other families of Seers in the world. Why don't you all just live in the same area and stick together?" I ask.

  "Each family has its own ancestry line. We’ve moved around due to wars and climate change and demon activity but for the most part, we each like to stick around the burial place of our past family members. It's why my family has been in this area for so long."

  Kassy crinkles her nose. "That's kinda creepy, isn't it?"

  Alexa turns to answer her. "Do you guys know of stories about witch covens who stay near their dead to feed off of the power that stays with their consecrated bodies?"

  I nod. "I've seen it on TV but that's all just fantasy, isn't it?"

  She holds both hands palm up like a scale and weighs them up and down. "There's fantasy and there's truth but a lot of it goes hand in hand." She smacks her hands together. "There may not be zombies or vampires, but a lot of their legends are derived from truths about other beings, like us for instance, and actual witches, who we just call Wicca.” My eyes widen at that bit of information, but I sit quiet.

  “Humans tend to over dramatize the things they see and hear, hence the vamp legends. When we are in a family unit, our strengths and abilities are ten times more powerful. We are able to feed off of each other's energy like electricity, only we can't really feel the shock, it's just there, flowing between us."

  What she is saying hits me hard. My mind races because I know exactly what electricity she is talking about, only I’ve actually felt it with Gavin. Is that not normal?

  She continues talking, seemingly unaware of my internal freak out. "Most of us stick to where our families are so that we can stay strong, that includes staying near the bodies of our loved ones that have passed. We don't dig up bones and cast spells off of them or anything though, so no worries. It's more about tradition than anything."

  "That's so cool. So, your family must be really close, then," Kassy says, sounding intrigued.

  Alexa nods, her head bobbing and smile stretching wide.

  "So, what about the ones who do leave? What happens to them?" I ask, thinking about my parents.

  "Well, usually it will be a woman who leaves her family unit when she finds the man she will marry. The woman will move to wherever the man is. It's not always the case and it’s not a rule, but it is rare that it happens the other way around." She pauses for a moment. "On the other hand, if someone just leaves or runs away, the strength of their abilities will lessen over time and they won't be able to fight or defend themselves as well as if they stayed with their family."

  Maybe that's why my parents were killed. They weren't strong enough to fight back. "But, what about the women who leave their families to move in with their husbands? Wouldn't they become weak, being away from home?" I ask.

  Alexa shakes her head and takes a moment to find her words. "In our 'culture' when a person finds the one they are destined to be with, a bonding ceremony is performed, and the couple is able to share everything with one another. They give the other their strengths and they are immediately attached to the others ancestry line, making them twice as strong as before they were bonded. It's supposed to be pretty amazing," she states, sounding almost envious of it.

  I squish my eyebrows together, having multiple questions flood my mind. "What do you mean the one they are destined to be with? Do they not have a choice? Is a bonding ceremony like a wedding? What exactly does one of those entail?"

  Alexa holds up her hands. "That's not all important right now, you are still learning, almost like a child. We do have a choice, though Seers have what you'd probably call soul mates, we call it an Intended. There is another Seer out there that we are meant to be with, and even though it is basically fate, we can choose to not be with that person. I have never heard of someone not choosing their Intended though."

  I ponder on her words, thinking about Gavin. We could never be together. If we became a couple and ran into his Intended one day, I would just
be forgotten. I don't think I could survive finally being that close with him and then getting my heart broken like that.

  Alexa watches me, looking concerned. "El, do you still feel sick?"

  My shoulders slump forward a bit and I struggle to even nod. "Yes, but it’s a little better since we came inside. I think it's these comfy couches," I say, trying not to sound so defeated after learning that last bit of information. I rub my chest though, still feeling the ache.

  Kassy comes and sits by me. "Thanks for bringing me here. All of this is so intense, but it sounds kind of wonderful, don't you think? To be a part of something so amazing."

  I nod again and lay my head on her shoulder, getting a facefull of guava shampoo scent. "Yes, but it's still ridiculously scary."

  Alexa looks torn about something, but I'm not sure I can handle any more information for today and I’m too tired to ask.

  I stand, deciding that I need to stretch my legs, but immediately regret my decision when I am hit with a pounding vision. I fall back on the couch and faintly hear Kassy call my name before everything becomes dark, far away and quiet.

  Chapter 5

  Kassy and I pull up into the Henderson’s driveway, singing along to one of Katy Perry's latest hits. We hop out of her little bug, laughing about something. I am aware that I'm in a vision and everything is so crisp and clear. I look around for any signs of danger and can't see anything out of the ordinary, so I follow Kassy through the gate to the back of the house, where our pool house is. She filters through her loaded key ring, looking for the house key and is talking about something funny that Liam texted her. I laugh, even though my present self is not sure what exactly she said. Kassy looks up at me when she finds the right key and her eyes go wide in fear. I am about to ask her what's wrong when something hard slams into the back of my head, knocking me to the cold grass. My eyesight becomes blurry which is surreal as I sit in a vision, but I look up to see Thrane grab Kassy from around her waist and throw her over his shoulder. She kicks him and struggles but he doesn’t even flinch. I try to scream for help, but nobody comes. Thrane winks at me and says something that doesn't register before disappearing into the dark with my best friend. I look around the yard for Gavin but remember that I wouldn't even be able to see him in a vision. Something is laying on the other side of the pool in the dark, so I squint my eyes, trying to make out its shape. I quickly realize what I’m looking at and my heart stops. A scream escapes my throat when I make out the elderly couple’s bloody bodies lying dead by their own pool.