Symbiosis (Scintillate Series Book 2)

by Karen Tjebben

  He smiled back. “That’s good to know… that you’re sane. What was your imaginary friend’s name?”

  “Sarah. I’ve always thought Sarah was a pretty name. I think I heard it at church. You know, Abraham and Sarah.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and he slowly nodded his head. “Sarah is a beautiful name.”

  “Yeah, but if you think about it, Sarah’s story is a sad one. If love is supposed to be sacrificial, then I’d have to say that she was trapped in a loveless marriage. First, Abraham passed her off as his sister in order save himself. Then he gets her servant pregnant, and the drama just continues. Their relationship was one big ball of whack. Sarah may have been rich, but her life sucked.”

  “Not exactly the life every girl dreams of, but Sarah was strong,” Alex said. “She endured through disappointment after disappointment. She was a fighter, a survivor. When you think about it, people all around the world, of many different faiths, are familiar with Sarah’s legacy.”

  “True, but I still wouldn’t have wanted to be her.” I shook my head from side to side. “Thankfully, times have changed. In all honesty, there aren’t many women from ancient times I’d want to be. So much of their identity rested on the men in their lives. They had no power. If you had a bad husband, you were stuck. You needed him for food and shelter. Women back then were powerless to change their situation. What kind of life is that?”

  “Be thankful that isn’t your life,” Alex glanced at the mural and then back at me. “The two girls in the mural are not trapped by a curse. They are not powerless. You make your own choices. You decide your future.”

  I threw my pillow to the top of the bed and rested my head against it. “Do I?” I rolled onto my side and looked at Alex. “I don’t have a say about my Asteri heritage. I don’t get to walk away from this if I don’t like it. I’m stuck in this until death. I’m trapped too.”

  Alex’s lips pursed for a brief moment, and his eyebrows pulled down slightly. “You’re not trapped.”

  “You don’t see it that way because you like being an Asteri.”

  “And you don’t?”

  “I guess I like parts of it. I like going to the other dimension and seeing beautiful things, but I don’t like Nephilim, cerberi, and Dolums trying to kill me. I don’t like the parts that…” I looked away from Alex, up at the ceiling, “the parts that remind me that pure evil truly exists.”

  “You want to enjoy the good and forget the bad.” Alex leaned forward on the chair and balanced on two legs. “Don’t forget, every coin has two sides. The brightness of day must come to an end, and the darkness of night overtakes us for a time.”

  “Yeah. Yin and yang. I get it.”

  Alex reached across the space between the chair and the bed and took my hand. His fingers wrapped around mine, warmed my spirit, and awakened the butterflies in my stomach. No longer were their fluttering wings painful. Now their wings tickled and excited me.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “Once you wrap your head around this, you’ll love being an Asteri. You’ll get to see the world, experience new things. Sure, some of it will be scary, even dangerous, but you’ll realize how important it is. You’ll realize that your place in this world is critical and momentous.” He gently squeezed my fingers, increasing the flow of blood throughout my body. “Most people will never realize your true identity or worth, but you’ll come to realize it. You’ll come to realize that you aren’t a prisoner, not even of your Asteri heritage. You’ll alter the course of history with your actions. That’s a sign of your power. You are not a helpless victim of circumstances. You are not irrelevant.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “I know you’re right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” His thumb stroked over mine and I couldn’t concentrate. “I guess I have so many conflicting feelings that I’m not sure how to feel or what to think. I am glad I’m an Asteri. I just have to figure out how to navigate my new life and learn how to handle all the repercussions that come with it.” I stared at the way his hand held mine. My fair skin looked so pale next to his golden skin. “Alex,” I looked into his eyes, “I know that Nick is an Avenger, but what are you?”

  “A Guardian. My main job is to protect and heal.”

  I leaned forward and pulled his Rod of Asclepius out from under his t-shirt. “I guess that explains this.” Alex nodded. “Are you shirking your responsibilities now that you’re spending so much time with me?”

  “No.” He shook his head and gripped my hand that still held his amulet. “I find plenty of people to help without their knowledge at school and around town when I’m not with you. We watch you on shift and still do our jobs. Besides, there are plenty of full-blooded angels around who are working that you cannot see, unless they want you to see them.”

  “That’s creepy.” I wrinkled up my nose and withdrew my hand from his. “I’ve got a lot to learn.”

  “You’ll do fine. We’ll help you.” He stood up. “Just call if you need me. I’ll come running.” He smiled and flipped the chair around and placed it behind the desk.

  I nodded my head as he opened the window again.

  “Kate,” he turned back to look at me. “Do you dream about me often?” Hope beamed from his eyes, increasing their beauty.

  Nightly would be the honest answer, but tonight was the first time that my dream turned romantic. I’d never dreamed about him like that. I walked over to him and placed my hand on his arm in an attempt to help usher him out the window. “Good night, Alex.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” His smile spread wide across his face. He clearly liked my answer.

  I really needed to work on my lying skills. Or what did they call it? Balancing on the fine line between truth and lie. If Alex and Nick started asking me for details about my dreams I would be in trouble. There was no way I wanted to relay that information to them, and lying to them about my dreams was not really an option either. Alex and Nick were way too good at reading me. I’d never get away with lying.

  7. Monday

  “Did you do anything fun this weekend?” Meghan asked as I sat down at our table in the cafeteria. “I kept texting you, but you never replied.” Her blue eyes were trained on me like lasers as she cut through the small talk and got right to the point.

  “That’s not true.” I rearranged the utensils on my tray. “I texted you back. I said I was busy.”

  Meghan stabbed her fork into her salad, and the crouton crunched as it broke in two. “What were you doing?”

  “Uh…” Visited an alternate dimension, swam with incredible aquatic life, got attacked by a demonic creature that threatened to eat me, and dreamed about kissing someone who isn’t my boyfriend. “Stuff,” I said.

  “Stuff,” Maggie said slowly, accenting every syllable. “Sounds suspicious if you ask me.” She raised her eyebrows as she jabbed her fork into her spaghetti. She twirled the fork slowly and the long noodles twisted around the tines. “I think something’s going on with you.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Are you and Nick…,” she bugged her big brown eyes and tilted her head from side to side, making her spirals bounce, “you know?”

  “No!” I narrowed my eyes and looked over my shoulder at Nick. He stood at the counter, grabbing napkins from the dispenser.

  “Are you sure?” Meghan asked with a wicked grin. She tucked her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear and leaned in closely. “You know you could tell us.”

  “Come here.” I signaled them closer. They leaned forward and rested their arms on the table. “Look at him. Don’t you think I might remember?”

  Maggie leaned back, pursed her lips in a very dissatisfied way, and drummed her fingers on the table top. “There’s something different about you.”

  If only she knew. “Well it isn’t that,” I replied hastily. “Maybe it’s just that I’m spewing love.”

  “Hmm! You’re definitely spewing something,” Meghan said laughing.

  “Hello, ladi
es.” Nick set his tray down and sat beside me. “Have I missed any stimulating conversation?”

  I felt the heat rush into my face as his question clued me in on the fact that he was eavesdropping. “Nope.” My lips popped at the “p” sound. “Maggie and Meghan were just about to tell me about their weekend.”

  “There’s not much to tell,” Meghan said. “Ravi played awesome,” she sang the word, “at the basketball game. State tournament, here we come!”

  “The party at Matt and Meghan’s house rocked,” Maggie said. “Everyone was there.” She looked at Nick. “Why didn’t you two come?”

  “We’d spent the day at Jordan Lake. We were just too tired.” Nick twirled his fork in the spaghetti. “Maybe next time.” He shoveled the spaghetti into his mouth.

  “Too tired to party?” Maggie said before she took a long sip on her drink. “What are you, a hundred?” She set her drink down on the edge of her knife. The cup tipped over, and her drink spilled. Ice and sweet tea spread across the table. Maggie gasped as she grabbed napkins to sop up the mess before it dripped onto her clothes.

  “Here!” I threw my napkins onto the spreading puddle.

  “I’ll grab some more napkins.” Nick hopped out of his seat.

  The people next to us tossed us their napkins. “Thanks,” Maggie said. She clutched the napkins and placed them on the spilt tea. As she cleaned, her eyes darted up at me. “Kate, don’t let him control your every move. If you want to hang out with friends… hang out with friends. Don’t lose yourself to him.”

  I stared at her, shocked at her implication. Little did she know that I was being myself. Nick wasn’t dictating my social calendar; my Asteri heritage was. I had things to learn, a new dimension to discover. I wasn’t the free-spirited girl I was six months ago when my biggest problems were figuring out what to wear to the next party and that Matt didn’t like me as more than a friend. Now I had to deal with demons, the hounds of Hell, and other evil forces coming after me. I also had to keep those evil forces from attacking the people I love. I had to learn how to protect myself so I could also protect my family and friends. Part of me wished I could go back to being naïve and free spirited, but another part of me liked knowing the truth to this reality. The truth that life is big… really BIG. Our decisions are important, and what we do today affects what happens tomorrow. I’m getting that now. The decisions that Nick, Alex, and Zoe make are life and death decisions. I’ll be making those decisions soon. Going to parties sounded like fun, but it was irresponsible right now. I had more important things to do.

  “I have no intention of losing myself,” I said with a smile. “You should know me better than that.”

  “Yeah, well something’s changed.” Maggie scooped up the wet napkins and plopped them on the tray.

  Meghan nudged Maggie with her elbow. “Give it a rest,” Meghan said.

  “I’m just saying…” Maggie began.

  I interrupted, “You love me.”

  Maggie raised her brown eyes at me and tilted her head as chewed her bottom lip. “Yes, I love you. I miss you. Don’t disappear.”

  I wrapped my arms around Maggie and pulled her close. “I have no intention of disappearing.”

  Nick set the extra napkins on the table and settled himself on the seat beside me. “Who’s disappearing?”

  “No one,” I said defiantly. “Absolutely no one.”

  After school Nick offered to take me home. “Sorry about not taking you to school this morning,” he said. He looked over his shoulder as he backed out of the parking space. “I stayed too long at the lake. I looked in both dimensions and didn’t find either of them.”

  “So they’re still out there.” We pulled forward, slowly snaking our way through the parking lot.

  “Yeah.” Nick looked over at me. “But the one on this side is my main concern. He can do the most damage.”

  “Why is he so hard to find? Shouldn’t you be able to track him?”

  “Now that his lair has been compromised, he’s moving around a lot.” Nick swiped his hand through his hair. “Each time he possesses an animal, he takes on that animal’s scent. It makes tracking him very difficult. He’s making a kill to gain power, or so he thinks, and then he’s moving on.” Nick squeezed my knee. “But don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

  “I know.” I rested my head on my hand and looked out at the teens in the parking lot. They were so carefree and innocent. They stood around, joking with each other, texting, and listening to music as if they didn’t have a care in the world. I used to live like that, like I was invincible. The end of the school day was a chance to rehash the stupid stuff that happened at school before having to go home. Now, as I stared at them, all I could think about was what the Dolum might do if he captured one of them? Would he steal their hearts and souls? How quickly would he kill them? “It’s a big responsibility,” I said, looking over at Nick. “Maybe you shouldn’t have come to school. Maybe you should’ve kept looking for that thing. Screw school.”

  “I thought about it.” The engine purred as he accelerated in the turn off of the school property. “But Alex, Zoe, Evan, and Justin are looking for him. One of us had to be here with you.”

  “I think I could protect myself if I had to.” Would I be able to call up that power surge again? Would I be able to throw off an attacker?

  Nick’s blue eyes studied me. Was he wondering the same thing? “Just because you fought him off once doesn’t mean you could do it again.” He stared at the road as it snaked before us. “If the Dolum hadn’t waited, you’d be dead. He played with you, toyed with you, and that gave you a chance to build up your energy and fight him off. He won’t make that mistake again. It was stupid of Alex to let you go off by yourself, especially since he knew there was a Dolum around.”

  “It wasn’t Alex’s fault,” I shot back defensively. None of this was Alex’s fault.

  “No? Tell me, if you died, do you think Alex would agree with you?” Nick’s eyes shot through me, slicing away the outer shell I’d put up to protect myself from the reality that my death would negatively affect the others.

  “I wanted privacy. Alex respected that.”

  “Kate, privacy is a luxury. You’ll have privacy when you’re able to defend yourself.”

  In a way, I knew that made sense, but I was tired of being protected all the time. I wasn’t helpless. I was powerful. “I know. Don’t go off in the woods alone.”

  “I’m not trying to make you mad. I’m trying to keep you alive.”

  “I know,” I sniped. Why was I getting so frustrated with Nick? He was doing his best to help me, but a seed of indifference was taking root within me towards him. Alex was beginning to consume my thoughts, and I couldn’t stop it.

  We pulled into my neighborhood. Perfectly landscaped yards framed the large houses. Tiny buds were beginning to form on the trees. Green leaves would declare “spring” any day. The people who lived in these perfect houses had no idea what truly lurked in the shadows.

  Nick’s voice broke the silence. “You need to be more careful — to keep yourself from getting killed — and you’re angry at me for caring.”

  This wasn’t going the way I wanted it to. “No.” I dragged my fingertips across my forehead. “That’s not what I meant. I’m guess I’m just frustrated because you’re blaming Alex for something that wasn’t his fault. It was a…” I shrugged, uncertain what to call it, “a mishap, an unfortunate coincidence that our paths crossed. We didn’t know there was a Dolum in the area. Alex would never do anything that would put me in danger. You know that.”

  “Alex let his feelings cloud his judgment,” Nick said as we pulled up in front of my house. “At least he learned his lesson. He won’t make that mistake again.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “If you think I’m being difficult, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Nick chuckled wryly and got out of the car. I followed after him, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

  “Does
that mean Alex is going to be a pain in the neck now too?”

  “Yes!” Alex shouted as he marched across his yard. “I’m glad you’re home. We’ve got work to do,” he said as he joined us. “Nick, you can catch up with the others.”

  “Are the others still at the lake?” I asked.

  “Yes, they’re still searching for our friend,” Alex said.

  Nick touched my arm and said, “I’ll talk to you later.” He got back in the car and drove off.

  Alex stared at me, and my heart started to race as we stood alone in my front yard. “We should get busy,” he said. “We have a lot to do, and we’re running out of time.”

  “Running out of time?”

  “Yes, you need to be ready for whatever comes at you. What if one of us isn’t around the next time you’re attacked? You may not be so lucky the next time. Come on.” Alex headed back across the yard. “We’ll work at my house.”

  I looked across the lawn at his empty house. Everyone was on the hunt. We were going to be alone in that large house. What were we going to do? “Oh.” I lamely nodded my head. “Are you tutoring me?”

  “Sort of.”

  I followed in his footsteps across the grass. After the dream I’d had, I hoped that things weren’t going to get too friendly. I wasn’t sure I could trust myself alone with him. I hoped my body wouldn’t betray me and react to his presence. A small part of me wanted Alex, was intrigued by him, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop myself.

  Alex led me to the wide-open kitchen and family room. The sofa, fireplace, and the recliner seemed to shout at me from across the room. These spots were so significant the night I found out about my Asteri heritage. I could still envision Nick and Alex on both sides of the fireplace, watching me as I roiled in disbelief on the sofa as they explained my transformation. And then, later, Alex seemed so pained and concerned as he sat in the recliner, but Nick took it in stride, like he knew I’d come out a champion.