Ungifted

by Kelly Oram

  “Time to crash a resistance meeting?”

  Russ laughed. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”

  Ethan glanced in the rearview mirror at me. “What about Grace?” he asked Russ.

  I didn’t appreciate not being given an opinion. “You’ll bring me with you, of course.”

  “No way.”

  “Yes way,” I insisted. “The resistance isn’t going to hurt me. They want me on their side, remember? You guys are a lot more likely to get some straight answers if I’m there.”

  Ethan sighed. “Fine. You can come.”

  “What’s the game plan?” Russ asked. “Do you trust them at all? Will she be safe? Will I?”

  Ethan was quiet for a moment and then nodded. “I’m sure you’ll be safe, but I don’t trust them entirely. It could get complicated if they figure out Grace’s connection to Dani.” He looked at me with a frown. “They’re going to try to persuade you to work with them. The connection to your father is too tempting.”

  “I don’t doubt they will,” I said. “That’s part of the reason I want to go. They won’t stop trying to get to me until they understand that I won’t help them.” I tried not to take offense at Ethan’s skeptical face. “I’m not a pushover like you think. There’s a difference between being afraid to stand up for yourself and choosing not to. I don’t say anything to the kids at school because they’re not worth it. It’s better for me to stay out of the spotlight. I don’t have a lot of friends because I refuse to let people use me, which, believe me, they always try to. You don’t know what it’s like to be somebody important. You’ll learn, though, if anyone ever finds out who your father is. You’ll see it’s not so black and white.”

  Ethan didn’t know what to say to that. He had that guilty look on his face again, as if he understood now that he’d misjudged me, but there was still a trace of doubt, too.

  “You don’t have to worry, Ethan. I’m probably a less trusting person than Russ, and considering what the Laytons did, I’m not exactly happy with the resistance. They won’t get what they want. We might, though, if we go, and it’s smart to know exactly what it is they hope to gain from me. I can protect myself better if I know what I’m up against. Even you can’t argue with that.”

  Ethan finally cracked. “Fine,” he said. “But will you at least try to trust me if I think you’re in danger? And will you keep things, like the fact that you’re the Ungifted One, to yourself? Knowing your enemy is one thing, but them knowing the truth about you is dangerous.”

  “I can do that as long as you stop trying to make my choices for me. I’ll let you keep me safe, Ethan, but I won’t let you control my life. You need to learn the difference.”

  Ethan didn’t look happy, but he gritted his teeth and nodded. “Fair enough. But if you try to make stupid choices, I’m going to let you know it.”

  I surprised us both when I smiled. “Fair enough.”

  . . . . .

  Russ spent the rest of the afternoon asking Ethan question after question about the resistance. Then the two of them sat around discussing “strategy” for this evening’s big meeting as if they were some sort of special ops team preparing to infiltrate rebel caves in Afghanistan.

  That evening, Ethan drove us to a beautiful upscale neighborhood in one of D.C.’s historical districts. The Washington, D.C., branch of the consulate library was based out of a privately owned Victorian-style house. It was beautiful with its turrets, widow’s walk, and dormer windows.

  “It’s amazing,” I said as we walked up to the front door.

  “Okay, Grace, stay right beside me. The library is open to the public, but I have no idea how they’re going to react to us bringing a human inside.”

  Russ laughed at my nerves. “Libraries give me the heebie-jeebies, too,” he teased, and then offered me his hand. I accepted it eagerly.

  We stopped about two steps inside the door. An older gentleman in a tweed blazer sat behind a desk, scribbling something with a quill pen. “Hello, young ones!” he greeted without looking up. “Welcome to the consulate library. How may I be of assistance?” He finally set his paper aside and looked up. The smile was startled right off his face when he saw us. “Lands, but you’re…you’re…”

  “Human?” I offered, and the man flinched again. “I’m sorry I’ve startled you. Yes, I’m human. I’ve recently discovered your world, and it’s been very overwhelming. My friends believe it might help me to learn as much as I can. Is it all right if we look around? Am I allowed to be here?”

  The librarian stood there, blinking at me. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

  “She is not a danger to us,” Ethan said quietly. “She has accepted the truth.”

  “As I see,” the librarian breathed. Finally, he was able to smile. “You must forgive my shock,” he said. “Of course you are welcome here. It is an honor to meet such an open-minded human. Anything I can do to help you, just ask.”

  “We’ll just look around for a while,” Ethan said, pulling me close to his side.

  We turned to walk away from the desk, but the librarian stopped us again. “Pardon me, but I must introduce myself.” This time he was looking at Russ, not me. “I am Marcus Courtney, High Warlock of Washington, D.C. It is an honor to meet you, young Master Devereaux.” Ethan and Russ both stiffened, but the librarian was still smiling. “I’d recognize you anywhere. You bear such a striking resemblance to your father.”

  “You know my father?” Russ sounded curious but hardly thrilled by this news.

  The librarian’s smile turned sad. “A long time ago. We were roommates in college. We were the best of friends until your father joined the council and became close with the Supreme High Councilor.”

  Russ looked taken aback by the revelation.

  “I was very sorry to hear the news of Alexander. I could hardly believe it.”

  “You and me both,” Russ muttered uncomfortably.

  “Yes, of course,” Marcus said quickly. “I’m sorry for your troubles. But it is good to meet you. You have such an impressive aura. I never would have imagined it possible that someone could be more powerful than your father, but clearly the Devereaux family line has not failed you.”

  Russ pretended not to be flattered by the warlock’s compliments, but he stood a little taller.

  “You are the strongest magic user I’ve ever met,” Marcus said. “Even compared to the Devereauxes I’ve known in my lifetime.” I believed him because he was looking at Russ with such admiration. “I wonder if you might do me the honor of letting me feel your magic? Would you do a spell for me?”

  Russ appraised the man, glanced at Ethan, and then reluctantly agreed. “All right. This is just a simple one my dad taught me.”

  Russ moved so quickly that the warlock in front of him never saw it coming. Russ raised his hand and shouted one word that sent Marcus went flying backward, completely unconscious. It was the same spell I’d seen him use on both Caleb and Andrew. Apparently it was a favorite.

  “Russ!” I gasped. “What did you just do?”

  “We have about fifteen minutes before he wakes up. Let’s go find us a resistance meeting.”

  When I frowned, Russ grabbed my hand and gently pulled me away. “He’ll be fine. We have to go.”

  Ethan scanned the building with a scowl. “I’m sure they’re on one of the upper floors. Look for the stairs.”

  Russ started to walk off in one direction and Ethan began to drag me off in another. “Uh, guys?” I asked, confused. I pointed at the giant staircase right in front of us. “Stairs?” I asked, dumbfounded.

  Both Ethan and Russ looked at the staircase and gave me odd looks. “That’s just a statue, Grace. What’s wrong with you?”

  “A statue? There’s no statue here. It’s a staircase. See?” I hobbled up the first two steps and waited for them to stop smoking crack.

  They both gaped at me, and then Russ joined me on the steps. He turned excitedly to a still stunned Ethan. “It’s a m
isdirection spell. She saw right through it!”

  “Of course!” Ethan whispered. “I would never have guessed.”

  “Me, either. I could feel the magic, but the whole building is so heavily warded I just assumed that’s what I felt. Gracie, you beautiful, little, magically-impaired genius!” Russ plopped a sloppy kiss on my cheek and I felt myself turn as bright as a cherry. “I bet you can walk us right into their meeting room, too, supernatural wards be dammed.”

  “That’s great,” I said. “What are we waiting for, then?”

  Ethan stared at me with wonder a minute longer, and then scooped me gently into his arms.

  “I promise you I can walk myself upstairs,” I said, a little breathless from the unexpected move.

  To my surprise, Ethan laughed. “Maybe, but we only have fifteen minutes before the High Warlock of Washington, D.C., wakes up very pissed off. We need to get to the top sometime this century.”

  I was shocked by the joke. I knew Ethan was capable of humor. I’d seen it several times since he and Russ decided they liked each other, but he’d never been so natural with me before.

  The fact that he seemed at ease for once ironically had me absolutely freaked out. “Ha ha,” I muttered awkwardly as he carted me swiftly up two flights of stairs.

  We reached the top and could hear voices on the other side of the only door on the floor. Ethan’s playful mood vanished. He sat me on my feet and motioned for me to stay behind him.

  We crept toward the door and Ethan hit an invisible barrier about a foot in front of it. He gave me a questioning look and I slowly reached my hand out. Just as Russ suspected, I could touch the door with no problem. I clamped onto Ethan’s hand and this time he was able to pass through the barrier with me.

  I looked back at Russ, who grinned and mouthed the word “Awesome!” I offered him my other hand, and then Ethan swung the door open.

  The two of them didn’t hesitate. They strolled through the door, as if they owned the place, into a room full of gasps and angry shouts.

  “Ethan?” a deep voice rumbled incredulously.

  “Uncle Logan,” Ethan replied coldly.

  Uncle? I tried to mask my surprise. Was this guy the leader of Ethan’s clan? The one who had shunned Ethan’s mom?

  “This is a private meeting, Ethan. You shouldn’t be here.”

  “Yeah, I never did get my invite. You must have mailed it to the same address you sent my invite to join your clan.”

  Yup. Definitely the clan leader. Ethan showed this guy more hostility than he showed me—and that’s saying something. This man might have even been below Andrew on Ethan’s list of favorite people.

  My curiosity got the better of me and I pushed myself forward, nudging in between Ethan and Russ so that I could see what was going on. Three tall, scary, beautiful men stood in front of us. The man in front was a good five years older than Ms. Dunn, though he looked a lot less worn out. But he looked related to her in all of the ways Ethan didn’t. Same brown eyes and a dark auburn head of hair.

  He stared back at me with calculating eyes. “The rumors are true, then,” he said, more to himself than to anyone.

  I didn’t like the way he was studying me, and apparently Ethan didn’t, either. “Her name is Grace, and, human or not, you will show her respect or I will force you to.”

  “Challenging a clan leader, Ethan?” one of the other nephilim asked with a disgusted smirk. “You think that would make the clan overlook your disgusting half-breed nature?”

  Russ’s hands clenched into tight fists. Considering he was half human, I could understand his anger. “I could be wrong,” he said to the jerk that insulted Ethan, “but aren’t all nephilim technically angel/human half-breed bastards?”

  The nephilim pulled out a knife, and I quickly grabbed onto both Russ and Ethan before they started a fight. I clamped on to each of their hands as tightly as I could. Russ’s hand curled around mine automatically, but Ethan was startled. He tried to pull away from me, but I only tightened my grip. “I’m not letting go until you calm down,” I warned him. “We came here for help, not to insult people and throw punches.”

  Ethan was surprised, but he reacted to my touch the same as anyone else. He stopped struggling against my grip and calmed down. After a moment, both boys breathed deep and shuddered. They were still angry, but now they were normal-hothead-teenage-boy angry and not violent-supernatural-killer angry.

  Without releasing either of them, I looked at the man in front of me. He was taking in the situation and trying to make sense of it. If he’d been talking to the wolves at all then he obviously knew I was different, but I guess hearing a rumor and seeing it in action aren’t the same.

  He was staring so hard that I almost asked him if he wanted to give it a try just to see what it felt like. Instead, I turned into my father’s daughter and became the diplomat. “Hello. I’m Grace St. Claire. I’m sorry to have interrupted your meeting like this, but someone keeps trying to kill me and I couldn’t wait for a formal invitation. I was led to believe the resistance would welcome me, but I can see that my humanity and the humanity of my friends is an insult to you. I’m sorry to have caused you any trouble.”

  I let go of both Ethan and Russ and turned to leave. “Come on, you guys. I guess we’ll just have to go to the consulate after all.”

  “Now hold on just a moment, please, Miss St. Claire,” Ethan’s uncle said quickly, just as I knew he would. “I assure you, you are most definitely welcome here. Please forgive the rudeness of my advisor.”

  “Yes,” I heard the guy who’d insulted Ethan mumble. “I’m sorry to have caused you offense.”

  I had to force the smirk off my face when I turned back around to face them, but I couldn’t help sending a quick wink at Ethan’s shocked face.

  Ethan’s uncle smiled coolly at me. “I am Logan Dunn. I’m Ethan’s uncle and head of my clan. These are my advisors, Dante and Gregory. You must forgive the animosity between Ethan and Gregory. There is a lot of history between them, I’m afraid.”

  “My assigned mentor doesn’t like the fact that his cousin can beat him in a fight even though I’m eight years younger and the half-breed bastard of a human,” Ethan explained dryly.

  Russ snorted a laugh and I sighed. Boys…

  “Will you not stay for a while?” Mr. Dunn asked me. “Both you and young Master Devereaux are very much welcome here. The resistance would like to become acquainted with you both. We feel it would be better for everyone if we all understood one another.”

  “And Ethan?” I asked sharply.

  Mr. Dunn’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he gave me a small nod. “As your hired bodyguard I suppose I cannot expect him to leave your side.”

  The arrogant jerk. No wonder Ethan had such a huge chip on his shoulder all of the time. “No,” I said, surprised by the need I felt to defend Ethan to this man. “You can’t. He’s saved my life several times and he has my trust, which, quite frankly, is something your organization has lost.”

  Underneath Mr. Dunn’s smile I could tell he was Mount St. Helens just waiting to explode, but somehow he kept his composure. “Well, let us hope that we might be able to regain it. Please, come in and have a seat.”

  I happily fell to the cushioned window seat offered me and had no problem accepting the hot coffee and cookies I was given. “What?” I grumbled in response to Ethan’s sour look. “You think they’re poisoned? You want to try them first?”

  “This isn’t a tea party,” he muttered. “We’re not here to make friends.”

  “Well, we’re not here to make enemies, either, and it’s rude not to accept your host’s hospitality. Believe me. If there’s one thing I know about, it’s proper etiquette at social functions. This isn’t much different than one of my father’s stupid dinner parties.”

  Ethan frowned, but Russ shrugged and grabbed a handful of cookies. “Works for me. Ooh, snickerdoodles. Awesome.”

  I looked around the room. There were less peopl
e here than I’d expected. I guess this was more of a VIP resistance meeting. I recognized about half of the people present and could pretty much guess at the others.

  Ethan’s uncle seemed to be in charge, and he sat next to his two advisors. Then there was Clara and Aimee sitting with a woman I assumed was probably Aimee’s mom. All three of them looked shocked to see us. Aimee threw us a nervous smile, while Clara’s reaction was confusing. She’d been icy toward me the night we met at Aimee’s party, but her face lit up when she saw me now. She greeted me with a friendly wave. I couldn’t make any sense of it.

  Preston, Caleb, a man that absolutely had to be their father, and another man—who was most likely the Alpha’s new second—were there, too. Preston watched me with an unreadable expression, but Caleb clearly looked miserable. His father whispered something to him and he reluctantly headed in my direction.

  “Come any closer and I’ll give Ethan permission to beat the tar out of you,” I told him in the iciest voice I could muster.

  Caleb stopped walking and grimaced. “Can we talk? Can I at least apologize?”

  “No.”

  Caleb looked back at his expectant father, then gritted his teeth. “I didn’t have a choice, Grace.”

  “I don’t really care.”

  Caleb let out a frustrated breath. “My dad wants to be introduced.”

  I felt Ethan and Russ both stiffen at my sides. I don’t know what their faces looked like, but they couldn’t have been good because everyone in the room froze at the sudden rise in tension.

  “If your father comes anywhere near me, I walk,” I said as calmly as I was capable. “No meeting. No answering questions. No playing nice. Ethan, Russ, and I leave and never talk to any of you ever again.”

  Mr. Dunn joined us with a patronizing smile that couldn’t quite hide his nerves. “The wolves will keep their distance,” he promised, gently nudging Caleb back toward his brother and father. “All of them.”

  Caleb’s dad was red in the face, clearly pissed off that I was calling the shots, but he didn’t argue. He met my glare with a stiff nod.