“Six hundred and fifty thousand,” Ash clarified. “It’s not unreasonable, if you’re from out of town and don’t know much. Except they aren’t from out of town. It’s not exorbitant enough to make it look like they want it too much, but an amount like this would solve our cash flow issues for quite a while. Get us a bit of breathing room.” From the way Ash was talking, half a million bucks was a convenient amount, but not a vast fortune. Despite his apparent ups and downs, Cooper wondered how much money Ash’s transactions typically carried.
Still, though. “Are you thinking about selling?” Cooper asked in a hesitant voice.
“No. I can’t possibly, not with the rogue node underneath. And that’s what’s suspicious, too. Had they wanted to buy the renovated row houses, that would’ve made some sense. Find out the original purchase price, estimate what it has cost us, add a bit of profit. Come up with a number.”
Despite Ash’s distress, Cooper noted the way he had said what it has cost us. The warm fuzzies at the sense of inclusion almost, but not quite, distracted him from his line of questioning. “You sound like you’ve done this before.”
“I have,” Ash said.
“And now they want just the overgrown parcel of contaminated soil, with an old railroad running through it.” Cooper nodded. “Which is an issue in itself, because the railroad still has an easement on it, right?”
Ash shook his head. “No. That railroad is a spur. They used it for loading and unloading, which is why it’s next to the river dock. The thing is... the railroad still owns it. I’m just adversely possessing it.”
“You... what?” The term rang a very small, faint bell in the recesses of Cooper’s memory. He had to pass that course on real estate and deeds and permits and such – but that was back in Rhode Island, and course material was so remote, he might as well have read that book a lifetime ago.
“When you use land that’s not yours, and you use it OCEANA.” Ash’s look was both expectant and impatient. “When your use is Open, Continuous, Exclusive, Actual, Notorious, and Adverse? If you do that for the right period of time, which varies from seven to twenty-one years, depending on the jurisdiction, that property then becomes yours.”
“But I don’t see how this matters,” Cooper said with a frown. “You’ve owned that land for just a few months!”
“Sure,” Ash said with a nod. “But the prior owner had been there for seventeen years, and that adverse possession was part of the sales agreement, so if things go well, we get the old spur – except that’s not public knowledge. So... as far as they know, it’s been just a few months. It makes no sense to want to buy it. The part that must be officially accessible by the railroad company is maybe a third of the property, if you include the railroad set-back. And they won’t be using it again, not for trains, anyhow. And whoever is willing to pay for this land just doesn’t care that the railroad company could show up and turn the waterfront into a public trail.”
“Do you care?” Cooper asked.
“Yes. I want to make sure the node is neutralized before anything happens.” He lifted his eyebrows, his grin now wry. “If somebody puts a public bike path out there, you just may get your wish for a nice, big stone wall, beloved, but when I bought the property, I understood that this might happen.”
The both chuckled, but that didn’t answer the question. Who wanted Ash’s land, and why?
THE DOOR BELL rang, and when Cooper opened it, he was greeted with a short woman dressed in jeans, a black leather jacket, and carrying a motorcycle helmet. Cooper remembered her as a little, freckle-faced girl with pigtails who had perpetually skinned knees and who liked to climb the trees for the apples that were highest up.
“Hey, Ellen!” Cooper picked her up, towering over her five foot three, and spun her inside the hallway. “Good thing you’re riding a motorcycle,” he said. “If more people show up, you’ll be out of parking space. Here, I’ll show you where to park in the backyard, under the porch.”
Ellen went on like a babbling brook, talking about her fun ride from Michigan and not minding the curious neighbors, who lifted their heads from reading, or watching their kids, or enjoying their after-work beer on their front stoop. Curious activities at 518 Mary Street had, apparently, become a new form of neighborhood entertainment.
“I heard you guys would be moving to some real houses?” Ellen glanced up and down the street, apparently searching for something that would be at least close to Cooper’s original description of the row houses by the river, where all the cousins and friends of cousins might end up living.
“Long story. Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you.” He hoisted the duffel bags which Ellen pulled out of the panniers of her Harley, waited for her to park the bike in the nook under their little kitchen balcony, and held the door open for her to come in. Only once the front door to the house was close, Cooper began his tale of woe. Out spilled the story of ley lines, the contaminated property, and the beautiful and fully restored houses which were now too close to a rogue node. A node, which was an unfettered and currently growing power source, the kind that had already proven dangerous to people with more than just a noticeable level of talent.
“So what you’re saying is, we have nowhere to live until we fix it?” Ellen had always been a straight shooter and spoke to the point.
“Maybe?” Cooper didn’t shrug. Her question was genuine. “Everything depends on how you react to those energies. Jared has no problem being around it, but I do. So does Ash. You go visit tomorrow, see how you react.” He narrowed his eyes and peered a few inches below her chin.
“Hey, buster! My eyes are up here!”
Cooper grimaced in his effort to suppress a laugh. “I’m not checking out your boobs,” he said. “First of all, they do nothing for me, and secondly, I knew you when you was a kid. Don’t get weird with me. I was just wondering, do you have a ground-stone?”
“Oh.” Ellen shook her head. “Nope, never needed one.” She gave him a quizzical look. “Why, do you?”
And now, Cooper was standing in the middle of his kitchen, feeling like an illiterate idiot who didn’t even know how to ground and center by his own self. He cleared his throat self-consciously. “As a matter-of-fact, I do. I... I don’t know what you have heard about me, but it’s probably all true.”
“That you are pretty much untrained? And that your lover is half-trained and dangerous? Yeah, I heard all about that. It doesn’t scare me, if that’s what you were wondering.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. I worked with Uncle Owen, too. Everybody has an issue or a problem here and there. Everybody learns differently! You’ll be fine, and I trust you. And if you trust Ash, then I guess I’ll have to trust him, too.”
Cooper was tempted to point out that Ash was always a perfect gentleman. Then, like a slow child on a bad day, he realized that Ellen had been referring to Cooper’s Ash not as a man, or a lover, or a plain another human being. Rather, she talked about both of them like about guys who just might blow her up.
Suddenly, their adventure took on an entirely different and more sinister spin.
CHAPTER 11
Ash wedged his old, beat-up minivan into the parking space two houses down from their front door. As soon as he thought he had figured out the parking pattern in this particular neighborhood, somebody changed one little thing, and the tidy layout of available spaces went to hell. Maybe somebody got a bigger car, or a neighbor had family visiting.
His eyes fell on a funky, Volkswagen hippie van that was messing things up. A sneaking suspicion dawned upon him – it was probably him and Cooper who had visitors, because he couldn’t imagine anyone outside Cooper’s family driving an old relic like this one. It might’ve been Cooper’s grandma’s. He wouldn’t put it past Auguste Sorensen to hold onto such a “valuable antique.” Or maybe Cooper’s parents, except the last time they visited, they drove a vintage Volvo.
Ash walked up the street with a spring in his step as he reviewed the progress that
was being made in Lawrenceville. The last of the wood floors, of the last house, gleamed with the last coating of polyurethane. Not only that, but Jared was getting properly settled in the key house, and he had even used his van to run out to the Construction Junction for used furniture.
The thought of Jared in the key house settled the nervous hum in Ash’s mind. The key house was the one with the secret basement entrance that led down to the catacombs.
Jared knew about it. Jared was also prepared to guard it, with his life if need be. Most importantly, the wild energies that dwelled underground didn’t seem to affect him one bit. He was unable to manipulate them, but conversely, they couldn’t touch him.
Jared was the perfect guardian.
For the first time in a week, Ash realized he hadn’t bothered to knock before entering. This was his home now, his and Cooper’s, and they both contributed to its financial upkeep.
Ash couldn’t wait to take a shower, put his feet up, and snuggle down with Cooper now that Jared was getting all settled in his new digs. He passed through the carpeted hallway, turned off the fancy chandelier that gleamed overhead, and let himself into the apartment.
A wave of laughter washed over him, hitting him in the chest like an unexpected tsunami.
“What the hell?” He peeked around the corner, only to be greeted by another bout of raucous laughter. “And then grandma had caught us wanting to go to the kimberlites,” he heard Cooper’s voice drifted in from the bedroom, “and she told us that that was a very, very bad idea, considering...” Cooper’s voice quieted into a secretive hush.
“Honey, I’m home!” Ash called out cheerfully, hoping that his earlier outburst would be at least forgotten, if not unheard.
“Come in, sexy, I’m stuck under Mark!” Cooper’s voice resonated through the two little rooms, but he certainly didn’t sound like he needed any help. With a grin, Ash kicked off his construction boots, dumped his keys in the bowl, and sauntered through the study into their bedroom.
A short, blond woman in pigtails was settled on the carpet where the small bed used to be, leaning her back against the wall next to a guy as big as a house. Cooper was pinned by two freckled, messy-haired guys in their thirties. They looked like twins.
“Won’t you help me, Ash?” Cooper grinned at him and lifted a half empty bottle of beer in his direction. “Hank brought a house warming gift. It’s in the fridge. How about you help yourself, and we can order out for pizza? I have to introduce you to everybody, but only after after you have settled in.”
MARK AND PAUL were the wrestling twins, Ellen was the little cutie who had arrived on a Harley, and the big guy was Hank.
“Hi,” Ash said, and shuffled his feet. The bedroom had hardly any spare oxygen left with all these people crammed into it, and the easy banter and unrestrained laughter had him feeling like the family outsider he was.
“So you must be the amazing, corrupting, and thoroughly disreputable Ashton Ravenna we have been warned against,” Mark piped up. Or was it Paul? They had switched places, and Ash couldn’t tell them apart.
“Give him a break, Mark,” Cooper said sharply as he fixed a searching gaze on Ash. Ash, naturally, wanted to hide his face. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was showing vulnerability.
“No need,” he said, forcing the words to flow easily. He leaned against the door jamb with his shoulder, going for a casual, unconcerned look. Mark was the one in the green shirt, Paul was wearing something brown and abstract. “So you’re the reinforcements grandma Olga was talking about all those weeks ago?”
“Yep,” Ellen piped up from under the wall. “There might be more coming, depending on if you have space. And if there’s work. We’re here to scout out the situation, and to report back, ’cause, y’know,” she stammered a bit, “there’s no sense in having people getting excited to move, just to find out there are no jobs, and the housing is a big apartment with lots of air mattresses!”
“I’m afraid the housing is a small apartment with lots of air mattresses,” Ash commented as he gave Ellen an apologetic smile. “Jared is settled in, and he has an extra bedroom available. How you divide the space is up to you guys. The other four houses are two bedrooms each, but two of them need to wait two more days for the polyurethane on the floors to harden.”
“Yeah?” Hank spoke up for the first time. “Are we paying rent?”
“Eventually,” Ash said. Asking helpers to pay, especially if they were Cooper’s family, was beyond awkward.
“Hell yeah, you’re paying! Of course you are, and don’t tell me you didn’t bring your whole war chest with you. I know you better than that, Hank,” Cooper shot off, softening his language with a smile. “Ash put all he had into making this housing nice, and we worked our asses off. All you have to do is put up the curtains, get some furniture, and you’re good to go.”
The guy in the brown shirt, Paul, stood up and crossed over to Ash. “Hey, good to meet you. And thanks for this opportunity. The lot of us have been itching to experience something other than living in the middle of the woods.” He offered his hand, and Ash took it.
A sharp, static charge leapt between them as soon as their fingers touched. Ash jumped and yelped with pain.
“Shit, sorry, sorry!” Paul was wringing his hands now. “I’m working on it, I swear. I didn’t know you’d be this conductive.”
Cooper was by his side without Ash even realizing that he had moved. “Are you okay? Did he shock you?” As soon as he felt Cooper’s palms run down his shoulders, Ash was grounded once again. Then his struck him: grounded.
He gave Paul a sympathetic nod. “I’m a water whisperer. That’s my element. And you are...?”
“Lightning,” Paul said miserably. “It’s not as bad as it used to be.”
“Touch me again, now that Cooper’s grounding me, okay?” It was worth a try.
Paul touched his palm against Ash’s. The crackle of a discharge had been there, true, but this time he didn’t feel any pain at all. With a victorious smile, Ash leaned into the solid wall of Cooper’s chest. “He’s Earth and he is grounding me,” Ash said. “That’s useful to know.”
Their audience began to stir. “He doesn’t affect me either,” Hank said. “That’s also good to know.”
Mark grinned. “I’m the thunder, he’s the lightning. I do the sound effects.” More seriously, he jutted his chin at his brother. “Don’t let him near your electronics. We don’t even let him touch our cell phones.”
Ash gave an uneasy laugh. “Again, good to know. But let’s get down to business. If we get a move-on, we can settle you in the first two houses temporarily, okay? We can do that tonight, and you’ll be essentially camping out. While we do that, we’ll assess how all of you react to the ley lines and the node, and if you’re not safe staying there, you’ll stay here with us.”
Cooper squeezed him from behind. It was an approving squeeze, but he could tell Cooper also had something to say.
Ash turned in his arms to face him. “Yes, Cooper?”
“We’ll all need to eat, and I can’t stand the idea of another pizza,” Cooper said. “What kind of food do you guys like to eat?”
THEY MADE IT to Smallman Galley by nine o’clock. The restaurant incubator had four small kitchens, governed by a vision of four up-and-coming chefs. This was, everyone got a dinner to their individual taste. The bar was well-stocked with local beer, which seemed to be a big hit with the twins. The temperature had dropped enough for the whole group to be hungry enough. Once they ate, Hank gave a satisfied grunt, and looked around.
“We’re in good shape,” he said. “Nobody has a wild reaction to what’s underground, and if you do, you can come stay with Ellen and me.”
“What’s your talent, anyway, Hank?” Ash asked the giant quietly.
Hank shrugged. “Nothing. They say I’m the Void.”
“It’s better than just nothing,” Cooper whispered to Ash. “I’ll tell you later.”
Ash sett
led onto his backless stool, took another sip of beer, and observed them all. These were the people Cooper grew up with. Jared, with his bad-boy good looks and mischief all around, who’d remind them gently when they were leaking power. He couldn’t help seeing these things any more than Ash could help noticing when Cooper wore mismatched socks.
The thunderstorm twins were a wild-card asset, because the control they had over their powers seemed to be as erratic as weather itself.
Hank, who claimed to be “the Void.”
Ellen, who claimed to be a wind whisperer, and who could dowse for water wells the old-fashioned way. Not a surprise – Ellen came from Cooper’s dad’s side of the family, where water ran strong.
Plus, Cooper and himself.
He had a team of seven – a lucky number. If they all joined them in sword practice, they’d be like the Seven Samurai.
Ash bit back a grin, savoring the thought as he observed the group as though from afar.
Few meditation practices, and they might even function as an organized unit. He’d skype uncle Owen and find out more about how teams worked in these situations, but the way things stood right now, Ash’s chest filled with something hopeful and light. A premonition of victory, heralding that all-important belief that they could do this thing. They could pull it all together and neutralize the rogue node.
They could win.
CHAPTER 12
The morning dawned well before Cooper’s six-thirty alarm, and the twittering of birds outside pulled him out of a flying dream. He resented it, because the dream was excellent as such dreams went, and he wanted to savor the feeling of soaring through the air.
Even now, just lying in bed quietly with Ash, who was curled away from him, the details of his nighttime adventure began to dissipate. There had been a city, and he’d been flying to catch a train... or a plane?
And just like that, his adventurous dream world was replaced by a quirky bedroom in a small rented apartment that had a bathroom in the basement. He drew a breath, both to organize his thoughts for the day, and to anchor himself in the here-and-now.
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