Emerge- The Heir

by Melissa A. Craven

  “What do you know of yours?”

  “Lots of little things. Nothing important.”

  “What’s it like when you know you’ve seen something about her?”

  “It’s like a little reward.” He smiled. “I could see how you might dismiss it as something related to your clairvoyance. Sometimes, I see a hint of her face, but it’s hard to really see anything recognizable. Or I feel her mood. See different versions of her at different stages of her life. Nothing that tells me who she really is. But it’s a comfort knowing she’s out there somewhere living her life.”

  “I don’t like the thought of you having a Complement.”

  “Let’s not let that come between us now.”

  “I won’t. I still don’t have to like it, though.” She smiled up at him.

  “Still stubborn. Still with the mortal brain.” He returned her smile, brushing an errant curl from her face.

  “Always.”

  “And until we all complete our partner bonds, we’re going to have to deal with the wild jealousy as best we can.” Aidan scowled toward the room where his brother and his Syntrophos were.

  “I want to go in there and tear her face off," Allie said cheerfully.

  “Please don’t. I like her face.”

  “Ugh. You would.”

  “This isn’t going to be easy. Jealousy ran rampant among the Syntrophos training with the Initiative. But we dealt with it and learned to be respectful of the relationships forming around us."

  "You have a lot of experience with the Syntrophos bond. Would you consider teaching a class? We could all use as much insight as we can get."

  “I was actually thinking about taking some classes myself this fall.”

  “College?”

  “Yeah, I never finished.”

  “What about music school?”

  “Maybe in another life.” He smiled. “I’m out of practice. I kind of thought I’d start with a degree in education and maybe next time, when things settle down, I can pursue the music dream.”

  “You will still play, won’t you?” It bothered her to think he’d give up on music all together.

  “Music is in my blood. I’ll always play.”

  “Good. And what about teaching that Syntrophos class?

  "Madame director, your mind is always on business, isn’t it?” His voice took on a familiar teasing tone.

  “‘Fraid so.”

  “I suppose I'd have to teach my brother, too?"

  "Yes, you big goof." Allie gave him a playful punch.

  “You know we can hear you guys, right?” Darius leaned out on the patio. “Might as well come inside and hang out with us before faces get unnecessarily torn off for no reason.”

  “Was he always such a smart ass?” Aidan took Allie’s hand.

  “Always.” Allie laughed. “It’s what I love about him.”

  “Ugh. You would.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  "Allie-girl." Alexander stepped into her office. "Navid says there is a young girl outside asking for entrance."

  "Bring her in, Grandpa. We don't turn anyone away." Allie looked back at her desk. New students arrived on a daily basis. They were nearly at full capacity, but Allie refused to send anyone away.

  "She is asking for you. She won't come in until you come out to talk to her."

  "Who is it?" She looked up from her work.

  "It's Chloe Long."

  "Chloe!" Allie jumped from her desk and charged out of her office. She hadn't seen Chloe in more than two years. The death of Ming Lao had changed her. Allie had seen the hard road that lay ahead of her friend, and she'd tried to help Chloe through her loss, but she didn't want it. Chloe drifted away from her family and friends. And when she graduated high school, she disappeared without a trace. Liam tried to keep tabs on her, but she never stayed anywhere long enough for him to find her. Jin Jing had spent the last few years chasing his daughter's shadow.

  For Chloe to show up out of the blue was a miracle.

  Allie raced into the lobby where Navid waited for her. "Take me to her."

  "She's changed, Allie," he said gently. "Prepare yourself, she's not the girl you once knew. Losing someone the way she did ... it breaks something inside you. She'll never be the same."

  "Take me to her, please?" Allie didn't care who Chloe was now. If she came here, she needed help, and Allie would give her whatever she needed.

  "Just be cautious. She's probably second guessing her decision to come here, so try not to spook her." Navid opened a rift in the barrier and Allie rushed inside. She walked carefully, following Navid's steps, ignoring the voices calling to her from the dreamworld. She'd done this a thousand times now. She knew to keep a straight and narrow path to the other side. The way was slow and steady. And it killed her to think Chloe might leave before she could get to her.

  "Careful, Allie," Navid said as he breached the rift into the world outside of Sterling Tower.

  "Chloe." Allie managed to keep her voice steady as she approached the girl who vaguely resembled the one she once knew. Chloe was taller, curvier. Her long, dark hair was pulled back in an elaborate style with streaks of blue highlights, a pair of expensive looking headphones holding her hair back from her face. Her eye makeup was dark and thick, her eyebrow pierced, and her arms tattooed.

  "Allie." She nodded.

  "It's good to see you," she said.

  "It's been a while." Chloe shifted nervously on her feet. “I hear you’re some kind of princess now.”

  “Something like that,” Allie said dryly. "Would you like to come inside? See what we're about?"

  "You train people here? People with modern gifts?"

  "We do. And we guarantee your safety while you are here. The only way in and out is through Quinn's barrier." She gestured over her shoulder.

  "Yeah. I forgot he's a dream walker, right?"

  "Right." Allie nodded. "Why don't we just sit here?" She gestured at the bench along the sidewalk, which was a new addition to the front of Sterling Tower, just for this reason. "You can tell me about whatever you're struggling with."

  "It's too much," Chloe said, taking the seat Allie offered. "I can't handle it anymore."

  "What is it? Your path of least resistance?" She could imagine how that particular gift might become overwhelming. Chloe could see the decisions people struggled with, and she could see the path they should choose. It was a branch of Clairvoyance and likely a manifestation of her father's probabilities gift she'd inherited from him.

  "Yes. I forgot you called it that." She gave a lukewarm smile. Something told Allie that Chloe hadn't smiled much in recent years. "It was always more of an intuition when I was a kid. Now, it's evolving into a physical manifestation of my gift where I can actually see all the decisions the people around me struggle with, and how all those decisions are connected. And the sheer volume of the voices is more than I can handle. I used to be able to silence them, but I can't seem to control it anymore. I'm back to wearing headphones all the time now."

  "So it's more information than you can possibly process at once?" Allie asked.

  "Yes. That's it exactly. I haven't had a mentor in a long time, but I've always been able to handle my progress on my own. Until now."

  "Graham and I are in a class that would probably help you."

  "Graham's here?" Her voice shook with emotion. She and Graham were once close friends.

  "He just arrived a few weeks ago after his graduation from MIT. We're all here, actually. Right where we need to be. And we'd love to have you join us. Graham and I are both struggling with the same thing you are. Our gifts are overloading us with too much information that's made it almost impossible to function. My visions are constant. I see them everywhere I go. Even now, they are swarming all around you, demanding my attention. Some days I can hardly handle it. But I'm coping. We have a new teacher who is helping us learn to process what our gifts are trying to tell us faster, so we aren't crippled by what we see and hear."


  "That sounds like exactly what I need." Chloe leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. "But can I really come back? To the family?"

  "Of course, you can. But here, it is mostly just old friends. The family comes and goes frequently, but Soma is a place for the young."

  "Dad's going to come find me here if I stay too long."

  "And we would let him in with open arms. But you don't have to see him if you don't want to."

  "It's too hard. Seeing him without Mom."

  "I actually understand how difficult that is for you. The man who greeted you is my natural father, Navid. My mother was killed the same way your mother was. I never knew her the way you knew and loved Ming Lao, but knowing I won't ever have that chance is painful."

  "It still hurts, Allie. So much," she whispered.

  "I know. But maybe we can offer you a respite from the pain. And if Jin shows up, then maybe my father could help him, too." Allie knew she needed to tell Chloe about Livia, but she feared if she did, she'd never see her friend again. She would have to send Livia away for a while. Until Chloe found some healing. "Will you come inside with me?"

  Chloe nodded. "I can't promise I'll stay."

  Allie draped her arm around Chloe. "You can leave whenever you want. All you have to do is ask."

  Epilogue

  Four months later

  "Don’t linger, Graham," Gabe said. "You, too, Allie. Watch Chloe, how her eyes move rapidly. She’s taking in everything at once, cataloguing it for later. This is what we must do when our gifts bombard us with too much information."

  "Right, sorry. I was distracted by something impossible to ignore." Allie flushed a shade of red to match her hair. A rather delightful vision of Aidan swimming demanded a long pause. All wet and ... yummy. And not constantly turning her down.

  "Keep moving," Gabe said. "Catch up and don't miss anything. It's important, Allie."

  "Right." She scanned through the visions drifting around the room. There were more than ever now that she lived inside Sterling Tower where the things they did and learned were shaping the future of all their lives. She catalogued everything she saw and heard, sorting through the faces, sounds, random snatches of conversation, and even the clothes her visions wore. She placed single words, noises, and phrases that tended to crop up often into small, manageable bits of information like Gabe taught her. That way she could sift through it all later, keeping the relevant bits and discarding the junk. A familiar process, but on a much larger scale. Allie spent the better part of her training time these days dedicated to the process.

  Gabe was a lifesaver for her and Graham and now Chloe and a few others, too. Jayesh found him among the Soma trainers from before the takeover—one of many who stayed. He was brilliant with the kind of gifts that overwhelmed students. His own gift was similar to Graham's tech gift. He was bombarded with computer code wherever he went, and he'd had to learn how to translate and process all of that information, so he could use it to his advantage. Now, he was one of the leading techs at Soma, and his classes filled up quickly.

  They were all making such progress; it astounded her every day when she heard the stories of the students in residence here.

  "Good job, everyone," Gabe said. "I have another class this afternoon, so I need to run. But keep practicing, and we'll meet again next week. If you need me before then, catch me during my office hours."

  "Bye, Gabe, thanks!" Allie waved as he left them to their practice. It was Allie's idea to structure the new Soma to be more like a college with scheduled classes, qualified instructors, and various levels the students could work toward. That was one thing she liked about the old Soma. The reward system. She'd made changes to the system, so it focused on the accolades and pride for a job well done.

  "See you next time, Allie," Chloe called as she left with Graham for their next class. It was good to see them so close again.

  Allie made her way back to her office for her meeting with Emma. Her mentor spent a lot of time traveling back and forth from Cleveland to Atlanta. And Allie made the trip home as often as she could. It was important for her to still see her family on a regular basis. She missed her mom and dad, as well as her niece. Livia still couldn't bring herself to let Kahlynn spend time in Atlanta, but Allie thought she might eventually see how much good Soma could do for Kahlynn's training when she was a little older.

  "Emma." Allie smiled as she greeted her mentor with a hug. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting long?"

  "No, we just got here. Daniel's off looking for Quinn and his girls."

  "Daniel's back again? I just saw him two days ago." Allie stored her yoga mat and gym bag in her private bathroom.

  I swear that man's favorite thing these days is chartering people back and forth in his new jet."

  "Well, it sure makes the commute a lot easier."

  "Two hours here and back and I'm home for dinner with Parker." She took her seat on the gray suede sofa.

  "How do I know when I've seen or felt something about my Complement?" Allie kicked off her shoes and sank down on the sofa beside her mentor. The question just rolled off her tongue before she could even consider it.

  "Way to get the ball rolling," Emma said. "We've talked about this before, Allie. It's going to be difficult for you to recognize. I'm not even sure you ever will. What's brought this on? Do you think you've seen something?"

  "No, it's just something Aidan said about the way he can sense her mood sometimes and gets a flash of all the different versions of her. I just ... I don't know if I've seen that myself or not."

  "Her?"

  "His Complement. He seems to be able to recognize her so easily. I guess I'm just feeling the need to prepare myself for the inevitable. Sometimes, I think he's so open to the idea that when she does come around, he's going to fall so hard and so fast."

  "Well, she has to find him first. And that might take her a good long time. And when she does, she might not be ready to see him yet."

  "That would make him crazy." Allie laughed at the idea.

  "I imagine so," Emma said, picking at a loose thread on a throw pillow.

  Her expression reminded Allie of a vision she’d meant to ask her mentor about.

  “I saw a vision of Aidan during my graduation ceremony,” Allie began. “It was years ago, right before he left for Germany. He came to you for help.”

  Emma nodded. “He did.”

  “What was that about?” Allie played with the hem of her yoga pants, avoiding Emma’s gaze.

  “He needed some help convincing his parents to let him go to school in Germany. I saw how much it meant to him, so I agreed.”

  “He was hurting.” Allie looked up.

  “He wasn’t in a good place, Allie. He came to me in confidence. I won’t break that confidence now.”

  “It’s okay. I was just curious.”

  “Just be patient with him. Coming back to his family and starting over, it’s a lot for any twenty-three year old kid. I imagine he’s struggling to pick up the pieces. And I imagine you two are probably struggling to find your place as a couple. Try not to rush into anything too serious too soon.”

  "Oh, no, you have your scary mentor face on." Allie leaned back in her chair. "Don't rock my boat, Emma. I'm in such a good place right now."

  "That's probably why," Emma said softly.

  "Why what?"

  "It's time, Allie."

  "For what?" She swallowed, her throat going dry.

  "Time for your Proving."

  "What?" Allie's heart skipped in her chest as panic set in. “I’m not even twenty-two yet.”

  "I've been watching you so closely this year, and I’m sure of it."

  "How can I possibly be ready?"

  "All the signs are there, Allie. The way you took on the Senate all by yourself. How you were prepared with those questions ahead of time, reacting to events as they unfolded around you. You were confident and completely in control of your judgment gift, embracing the mantle of authority Alísun
passed on to you. The way you’ve really learned to trust in your gift and your intuition, even when you can’t see the forest for the trees. The sheer amount of progress you've made with your visions. First on your own and even more so with Gabe. The work you've done here at Soma in such a short amount of time is remarkable. You are ready."

  "I don't feel ready." Allie's blood ran cold with fear. “Not even a little bit.”

  "We have to get you prepared for this." Emma bent toward her, taking Allie's hands in hers. "And that means I have to tell you what a Proving is really all about."

  Allie nodded, too scared to speak.

  "You remember how difficult your Awakening was, how you had to battle to gain control of your power before it ended?"

  "I'll never forget the struggle," Allie said.

  "We were so worried to prepare you for it. Afraid it might send you into an early Awakening. You've seen how hard Lennox has had to work to come back from that. It's been a long road for her, but she's recovering, and the harder she works, the easier it will get for her."

  "Why are we talking about early Awakenings? If I’m Proving early, as we always suspected I would, shouldn’t it be like Darius’s?"

  "Yes, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make." Emma sighed. "An early Awakening is a difficult thing to come back from, but it is possible. But a failed Proving ... that you can never recover from."

  "What does that mean? A failed Proving?"

  "When you fail to pass your Proving, your power will slowly begin to die. You will always be Immortal, but an Immortal with no power and no means to protect yourself. These Immortals tend to live in small colonies together, isolated from the rest of us. It’s not something people talk about."

  "And why is this the first I'm hearing of it?" Allie's hands trembled as her mentor held them tightly.

  "The early years of an Awakening are hard enough. We do not tell our children of this possibility until they are near their Proving. It's an effective means to help young Immortals focus on one hurdle at a time."

  “That’s a big hurdle.”