Leo looked up at their entrance and appeared relieved. Portia cut off her heated conversation with Deirdre and proceeded to look on with a calculating intensity that had Elena’s skin rising in gooseflesh.
“I am sorry, Elena,” Deirdre said, speaking to her for the first time. “This must all come as a shock to you. There’s nothing we can say that will make it better.” Her tone was soft and gentle, but Portia flashed an annoyed glance her way.
“We are pleased you returned of your own accord,” Portia said. “That makes it easier.”
Of her own accord? Would they have forced her?
Portia stood and walked around the wide table. “We mustn’t waste more time. You will need all of it to master your abilities.”
She turned to the odd map on the wall Elena had noticed the first time she entered this room. “The disease is killing our people within a human week. It is unheard of in our realm. We do not get diseases.” Portia punctuated the last sentence, as if humans were inferior for their contagions. “Those of us in this realm are safe, but the others…” She gestured to the map. “Soon only a few will remain in our land. We will do whatever is necessary to stop the virus. Even work with a Halven.”
Ouch. Portia had hinted at it earlier with the abomination comment, but it was still a shock to witness prejudice between species, not just skin colors.
“I’m sorry your people are suffering, but how can I save them? I’m a first-year college student, not an immunologist.”
Portia yanked on the wrist of her immaculately pressed sleeve. “With your bloodline, you’ve inherited a rare gift. You will tap into your ability to manipulate matter and create an antidote to the virus. You’ve already commanded your elemental ability with disconcerting ease.”
Portia said this like it was a bad thing. Considering they needed her, that made no sense. And hello? Elemental ability? “Technically speaking, I’ve only blown things up.”
“Yes.” She peered over at Leo, who didn’t meet her gaze. “That is distressing. Perhaps with training you’ll be able to master your powers,” Portia said indifferently.
Portia didn’t seem like much of a believer, and Elena couldn’t blame her.
She rubbed her temples, her fingers shaking. “How much time do I have?”
“As I’ve already stated, we have but one human week to create a cure before the rest of the realm is infected.”
“A human week? That differs from a Fae week?”
Portia’s mouth compressed as if she were irritated, but Elena wasn’t trying to annoy the woman this time. She was serious. Time mattered. Particularly when she had no idea how to control this elemental ability they said she possessed.
“Of course, if your mother is not careful, she could be exposed sooner,” Portia added.
Another threat? “Look, I’m not even sure I believe my mother is still alive, or who you say she is. Stop trying to bully me. It won’t work.”
“Not even if the lives of your precious Mateo, Aunt Leti, or grandfather are at risk?”
Elena swallowed. Hard. Portia had listed Elena’s entire remaining family—everyone she cared about, save Reese. She didn’t know what they could do, but the magic door, the little healing trick Keen had pulled off—she wouldn’t risk finding out.
“Help us,” Leo said, “and we will do our best to keep your mother and family safe.”
Was he telling the truth? Elena stared at their stoic faces, then at the map on the wall that looked genuine, and absolutely foreign. Even if they weren’t telling the truth, she wasn’t willing to take a chance on the alternative.
And if her mother was out there somewhere, Elena might be able to find her.
“Fine, yes, whatever you need. I’ll help.”
Deirdre blanched. Portia’s mouth curved up at the edges.
A sense of doom filled Elena’s chest. She thought she understood what they had asked of her, but now she wasn’t so certain.
Portia focused on something off to Elena’s right, her eyes rolling up in annoyance. “You may show yourself.”
A faint ripple flickered in Elena’s periphery. She jerked to the side as the pixelated image of a large man slowly formed a few feet away.
What the hell…
Derek?
He grabbed her arm while she gaped. “What have you done?” he said.
7
Derek—her hot, possibly pothead neighbor—could make himself invisible? Of course he could, because that went right along with magic doors and self-healing Fae.
Elena sank to the floor, her head bent between her knees, breathing slowly so she wouldn’t hyperventilate.
Derek stepped up next to her, his leg a steady presence against her side. “What the hell is going on? Who are you people?”
Elena blinked and rolled her head against the firm surface of his thigh, looking up. He could make himself invisible, but he didn’t know Portia and the rest of them? If he wasn’t Fae, what was he?
“I asked you not to follow me,” she said.
A look of chagrin crossed his face for a split second before he stared back at the Fae. He laid a strong hand on her shoulder, his face furious. “I overheard one too many threats directed at her.”
Regardless of Derek’s overbearing streak, he seemed to be on her side. Sensing the tension building, she pulled herself together and stood.
Portia slowly returned to her seat. “Derek O’Brien, how fortuitous of you to join us. I see from whom you inherited your temper.”
If Portia knew Derek’s parents, and he wasn’t a Fae, was he a Halven like Elena?
Portia tapped the side of her chin. “It is an interesting pairing, but you may be of use. You live next door to Elena. We do not anticipate a problem, as long as she draws no attention. But an extra guard would not hurt. With your ability to disappear, you have an advantage over other protectors. And your grasp of the sciences is an asset—your knowledge of immunology particularly useful.” She nodded. “Yes, this could work out nicely.”
Derek stabbed Elena with a glare.
What? She wasn’t responsible for this. And anyway, he’d kept secrets too, considering his invisibility trick.
Portia cut off their silent exchange with a wave of her hand. “Enough. Elena must begin her training. You will go with Leo to one of our laboratories.”
Portia stood, along with the other two Fae, and opened a door on the back wall. Keen’s presence pressed at her and Derek from behind, and they followed the Fae out.
Elena paused just outside the door, her breath catching. The corridor beyond the classroom resembled the hallways of the palaces Elena had researched for her art history paper. Fine plasterwork, hardwood parquet floors, intricately painted ceilings. How did this place exist at Dawson without anyone knowing about it?
They continued down the hallway until Portia and Deirdre split off to enter a separate corridor.
Portia stopped and turned to them. “Follow Leo. And Derek, should you decide to abandon Elena, you will find your secret is no longer a secret. I wonder what your father would think of his brilliant son if he discovered the truth? Do conventional parents stand beside a child who is truly different? They accepted your school preference, but will they accept who, or what, you are?”
With that parting shot, Portia walked away.
Derek’s breathing grew loud and unsteady, tension radiating off his body.
Up ahead, Leo went through a door in the middle of the hallway.
Elena wrapped a palm around Derek’s balled fist and urged him forward, but he shook her off.
He lowered his mouth to her ear. “What is all this? Has it got something to do with your experiment last night? How do these people know who I am?”
Elena glanced at Keen, following a discreet distance behind them, and nodded. “How long have you been able to turn invisible? Did”—she winced—“did my solution do that to you?”
Derek blew out a breath and shook his head. “No. I lied about it making me see things
. I wanted to find out what you were up to.” His humility didn’t last long. With his next breath, he glared down at her and said, “Now, tell me the rest of it.”
His tone grated, but she reeled in the urge to snap back at him. No matter how angry he sounded, Derek had stood up for her to the Fae, and he’d paid a heavy price. “I woke feeling off yesterday, my hands shaking. I didn’t think much of it until I made the solution boil in chem lab—without heat.”
“Go on,” he said cautiously.
“The same thing happened at home with water. I went to you yesterday because I was searching for someplace safe to experiment and figure out what was going on.” Her face heated. “You know how well my experiment went.”
He shook his head incredulously.
“I’m sorry about what happened in your lab. I thought that if I could just test out a few things, I’d figure out why the liquids were boiling.”
“Seriously?”
She threw up her hands. “What? It’s not like I knew any of this was possible. Not until these people confronted me today.”
“I get that part, but why are you making deals with them?”
“They’re dying. I can’t just walk away if I can help.”
“Yes, you can. I followed you and the giant into the room. Those people threatened you. If you were smart, you’d stay away from them.”
“My mother is a Fae. If I don’t help, they’ll make sure she’s exposed. Granted, I don’t know my mother—she left me when I was young—but she’s still my mom and I don’t like the idea of anything happening to her. More important, they threatened the family I do know, which you heard if you were sneaking around. They’re serious, Derek. I can’t risk it.”
She grabbed his arm and made him face her. “What they said makes weird sense—about my mother. They told me I inherited abilities from her and that I’m a Halven.”
“Halven. Portia called you that.” He turned to Keen. “Is that what I am? This Halven thing?”
Keen nodded.
Derek tilted his head to the ceiling, his face strained, eyes blinking.
“You didn’t know?” she asked quietly.
He looked down and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. If you’ve had your ability for a while, you must have wondered.”
“You think?” His tone was sarcastic.
She tried to come up with something to say that would make him feel better. She’d only lived with not knowing what she was for a day, and that was long enough. She couldn’t imagine waiting years.
“I know it’s hard to take in. I don’t fully understand it myself, but we have to try and move forward—because we have a very big problem on our hands. The Fae want me to use my magic to cure them of some Frankensteined virus, and you just agreed to help.”
Her words must have gotten through, because Derek started walking again, then he suddenly stopped. “Wait—did you just call what you did last night magic?”
“I don’t call it that, the Fae do. Why? What do you call your invisibility thing?”
He gave a closed-mouth grin. “Useful.”
Elena couldn’t breathe, let alone respond when he smiled at her like that.
She forced her gaze from his sensual lips, back to his arrogant eyes. “So useful, you’re afraid to tell your family?”
His grin faded. “Fine. What do we need to do?”
“Help them come up with an antivirus to the disease.”
“Oh, that’s all?”
“Supposedly they think I can. I don’t know much about the virus. Honestly, I’m getting the impression they don’t either. It couldn’t have been a Fae who created it. Not when it puts all of their lives at risk. Portia and Keen didn’t say so, but it’s possible a human made the disease.”
Derek’s face paled. “I wonder…” He didn’t finish his thought.
“You wonder what?” she asked.
He shook his head, but his eyes darted away. “Nothing. We better catch up to Leo.”
8
Derek glanced back at the large Fae they called Keen, and let out a frustrated breath. Right now, the blond giant was the least of his worries.
It was an understatement to say that discovering what he was after two years of fear and confusion was a relief. Ironically, the idea of a link to the Fae loosened a string of nerves taut inside him. The Fae’s existence meant he wasn’t as big a freak as he’d thought he was.
What bothered Derek wasn’t his link to the Fae—it was his potential connection to the virus they spoke about.
Unlike Elena, when Derek had turned eighteen two years ago and had gone through “the change,” it was beneath his parents’ roof, a few short weeks before he was to leave for college. Derek’s father wanted him to study cardiology and partner in research back home, and Derek had been on board, until the day he changed.
Professor Marlon St. Just came calling around that time, promising an interesting research project, and a private, well-equipped space in which to work while Derek finished his degree. Derek saw it as a way to add distance between him and his parents—and everyone else. Because if anyone ever discovered what he could do, they’d never understand, especially his adoptive parents.
Portia was right. His parents were conservative. He didn’t have faith they’d accept him if they found out the truth. He’d already lost one set of parents the day he was born; he didn’t want to lose the people who’d raised him.
Derek had agreed to attend Dawson and work with Marlon, changing his college plans at the last minute. In light of current events, however, and the fact that his mentor had disappeared without a word, he wondered… Was Marlon’s super-flu virus connected to the Fae virus? Had his mentor known Derek was a Halven?
He glanced at Elena next to him. As much as Marlon’s virus concerned him, he had other pressing issues to deal with. These people thought Elena could cure them. Were they paying attention? Obviously, the Fae hadn’t seen her use her “magic.” Unless there was something he was missing, there was no way Elena would achieve anything close to a cure if her efforts in his lab last night were any indication. She wasn’t even close to mastering her ability.
Derek opened the door to the lab Leo had entered, and walked in behind Elena. An old-fashioned room, like the other rooms inside this place, had been converted into a fully functional laboratory.
Leo was waiting for them in front of a counter, his arms crossed. “What do you know of your magic?” he asked Elena without preamble.
“I can make liquids boil. I’ve practiced with water.”
“Elemental manipulation, yes, but what of your experience with transmutation—changing one substance with specific properties into something else entirely? Something that does not exist?”
Derek caught Elena’s sheepish glance, and stifled a groan. She’d better not be considering the experiment she’d performed in his lab last night. That had been a disaster. He didn’t think she knew what she’d done, and he certainly didn’t. He shook his head, and she frowned.
“Not much,” she finally answered.
“Strengthen your magic and perform transmutation and you will have the power to create a healing serum for anything, including the Fae virus. The speed at which the disease spreads means we have but one week to create a cure before our entire realm becomes symptomatic. Nothing less than magic will stop it in time.”
“A whole week?” Derek said, and shook his head. Were they nuts? No way would she be able to do it in that short a time. Most likely never. “Why haven’t other magic users found a cure? I’m assuming all of you are capable of transmutation.”
Leo turned his back and began aligning glassware on the counter. “Fae powers vary. Most may be traced through lineage. Half of our people possess mental powers, such as spirit reading, persuasion, and telepathy. Others possess control over the elements.” He stopped what he was doing and looked up. “You, Derek, manipulate your body atomically to make yourself invisible. Though it appears an elemental ability, like E
lena’s, in that you commune with the atomic structure of, say, water, your magic is actually mental. You cannot change what isn’t connected to your body as an elemental magic user can, and that is the ability we need.”
“I get it. I’m not as talented as the rest of you, but why Elena? She’s a Halven. Why not recruit your gifted Fae brethren with her ability?”
“Most Fae possess mastery over one of nature’s elements, such as air or fire. So far, Elena can manipulate liquids with ease, but she comes from a line of those capable of manipulating multiple elements. A rare gift few possess. We believe that with training, Elena will master several skills.”
This conversation was about Elena, but considering she’d turned into a pale statue at some point during the discussion, Derek continued to grill Leo for answers on her behalf. Someone had to find out what was really going on.
He decided to say the words Leo appeared to have difficulty admitting. “And that makes her special.”
“Yes.” Leo’s gaze flickered toward the door. “Though not all would agree.”
“If her Fae family possesses these powers, why not go to them for help?”
Leo’s eyes cut away. “The creator of the virus made certain the first exposed were those capable of curing it. A clever tactic,” he muttered. “Those in her family with the ability are gone. Consumed by the disease.”
Derek glanced at Elena, who seemed to sway at Leo’s words. He pressed his hand to her lower back. She may not have known the people who died, but she was related to them. Leo’s news would be difficult for anyone to hear.
Elena’s breathing seemed to even out and she straightened her back. She glanced at him, a fire burning in her hazel eyes, and turned to Leo. “I’m ready to get started.”
Elena had been freaking out while Leo explained her powers and how rare they were. Then he spoke of her Fae relatives who’d died because of their powers—murdered so that they couldn’t stop the disease. Well, the murderer hadn’t counted on Elena being around and she was ready to help.
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