by Abigail Owen
Ellie wrinkled her nose. She was going to have to avoid Lucy.
“Right,” Griffin agreed, as he’d followed the path her mind had started down. “I think I can help you with that.”
Ellie tilted her head quizzically. “Have you decided to start helping me now?”
She caught a resigned look in his eyes, before he masked it with a mischievous quirk of his mouth. “How else am I going to make sure you don’t give us away too early?”
Ellie played along and grinned back, but that flash of apprehension in her brother’s eyes bothered her. Plus, he was still blocking her from seeing his thoughts. Something he only did when he knew something he didn’t want to share. Something that had him upset.
Griffin continued, “It seems like Lucy used her power to gather the family together. With her cunning sense of intuition, Lucy somehow knew when she was faced with one of their kind. She could sense their intentions and the heart of who they were. Everyone but their daughters she’s added to their group gradually.”
“Who else?” Ellie leaned forward, fascinated.
“There’s a woman named Charlotte Pierce. Her husband’s name I didn’t catch. They’re te’sorthene as well. There’s also another boy around Nate’s age whose name I don’t know either.”
“Jeez. Two sets of te’sorthene in such a small group. That’s incredible!” Ellie bounced in her seat in her excitement, knocking her homework onto the floor, which she then leaned down to pick up.
“Three sets.”
Ellie froze where she was, bent over the scattered papers on the floor. “Wait… what!?!”
“Adelaide and Nate as well.”
“Holy cow! I… I can’t believe it!” Ellie blinked. The odds of that many te’sorthene pairs happening in such a small assembly of Svatura were inconceivable.
“Did you figure out any other powers while you were listening?” Knowing that would be a huge help in her quest.
“Only one…Mostly, they were all concentrating on their discussion. But Charlotte has the ability to teleport. Although, as far as I can tell, she can only go short distances.” Seeing that Ellie was still frozen mid-action, Griffin moved to help her finish gathering her homework off the floor. They sat down on the couch together. Griffin picked up her legs and propped them in his lap.
“So what did they talk about?”
“Ummm… someone named Alex just arrived.”
Ellie nodded, blocking her true thoughts from her brother. “Yeah, I met him today. What about him?” She hoped she sounded casual, even though her heart bounced around a bit at the mention of his name.
“He’s been away at college, and Lucy asked him to come home. Apparently her power also includes some kind of general intuition. Feelings that something good or bad is going to happen. The family seem to take her feelings pretty seriously. And she’s got one now.”
That sounds pretty ominous, Ellie thought. Aloud she asked, “Good or bad?”
“A bit of both,” Griffin answered. “Based on what I heard, she’s not sure which. On the plus side for us, they think you’re just a normal high school girl…that you would’ve figured them out or approached them by now if you weren’t.”
Relief whooshed through Ellie as she released a big breath.
“But,” Griffin continued, “that does mean you’re going to have to be extra careful until we know for sure we can trust them.”
“We can trust them. I already know that.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do,” she insisted.
He looked skeptical.
“I could always use Lucy’s power to show you. You said she sees intentions,” Ellie suggested.
“Pass.”
Of course, Griffin hadn’t gone into any details about what he was really bothered about, but Ellie knew it would be useless to ask him. He tended to be a bit of a thinker, and would only open up when he decided it was best. If he decided it was best.
After a few moments of contemplative silence, Griffin ran his hands over his face and said, “If you’re sure you’re right about being able to trust them, then I think you shouldn’t avoid Adelaide, Lila, and Nate.”
“Seriously?” Ellie loved the idea of befriending the trio. It’d been a long time since she’d had anyone except Griffin as a real friend.
“Can you do it without their finding out?”
“Ummmm…” Ellie managed to momentarily put on hold her desperate wish for friends who truly knew who and what she was, to give that question the serious consideration it deserved. “Yeah, I think I can. Especially if I have your help,” she finally decided.
“Okay.” Griffin nodded and ruffled her hair. “You’d better finish your homework, young lady.”
Ellie stuck her tongue out in response. It felt so good to have Griffin on her side again. Ellie headed upstairs, her head full of what tomorrow might bring.
Chapter 8
Ellie woke bright and early the next morning. Hopping out of bed, she dressed in her warmest running clothes and headed out the door. She got in her car and drove down to Lake Estes. After locking up, she walked over to a path partially covered in snow and broke into a steady jog. Ellie kept her run fairly short this morning, circling the lake only once, and then jogging over to the downtown, stopping briefly at her car to grab her book.
Once downtown, she headed into a small coffee and pastry shop. Although she hadn’t been living here long, this was already one of her favorite places. The food was good, and the shop opened early. Ellie settled down to enjoy her breakfast and read more of her book for her English class.
“Ellie, right?” a deep voice resonated just above her.
Glancing up from the book, Ellie’s mouth dropped open. Alex Jenner was standing beside her, coffee in hand, also decked out in running clothes. Just as frickin’ gorgeous as he had been the day before. And all Ellie could think was I just finished running, and I look and smell like nothing very pleasant. Why, oh, why did he have to bump into me now?
Just barely resisting the urge to fix her hair or sniff herself, Ellie closed her mouth with a decided snap. With a concerted effort, she pulled it together, proud of her oh-so-casual, “Alex, right? Adelaide and Lila’s brother?”
“Good memory,” he toasted her with his coffee cup. “Mind if I join you?” he asked, nodding at the empty chair beside her.
“Sure.”
After seating himself, Alex looked over and caught Ellie watching him. With a blush, Ellie lowered her eyes to her book.
“Good book?” he asked, bringing her gaze back to him.
Ellie shrugged, showing him the cover.
“To Kill a Mockingbird. I’ve always liked that one,” he said.
“Me too,” she agreed, and kicked herself. Ellie usually wasn’t tongue-tied, but somehow the connection from her brain to her mouth seemed to have jammed up.
“You just finish working out?” Alex asked.
“Yeah…I run most mornings.”
He raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Even when it’s snowing outside?”
Ellie shrugged, tucking her feet under her. “The only time I won’t is when it’s pouring. I like to run. It’s when I do my best thinking.” Ellie frowned for half a second. She didn’t usually provide additional commentary when she answered people’s questions.
“Where do you run?”
“Around the lake, usually.”
“Do you drive down and park there?”
“On weekdays I do. But on weekends, I run from our house.”
Alex looked slightly surprised. “How far a run is that?”
“It’s about eight miles to run to the lake and all the way around it.”
“Does insanity run in your family? No pun intended.”
Ellie laughed at that bit of nonsense. She was a closet sucker for bad puns.
“Don’t your parents worry about you?” He tilted his head.
“Not anymore,” Ellie hedged.
“What do you mean by that
?” His eyes twinkled with curiosity.
“My family trusts me, and knows where I am,” she said. “What about you?”
“What about me?” he asked around his coffee cup as he took a sip.
“Did you just finish working out?”
Alex gave her his adorable lopsided grin, and her heartbeat picked up in response. “I also just finished a run.”
“In this weather?” Ellie teased. She was rewarded with a deep chuckle that danced up and down her spine.
“Hey, maybe we could run together some time,” he suggested. Ellie gave silent thanks that he hadn’t noticed her reaction to him.
“Maybe…” Ellie nodded and smiled to take the sting out of what could’ve been perceived as a rejection.
“You do that a lot, you know,” he said.
It was Ellie’s turn to raise her eyebrows in surprise. “Do what?”
“Answer with something vague.”
“Do I?” Ellie feigned surprise. Huh. Impressive. Most people don’t even notice when I’m giving vague answers, she thought.
“There you go again!”
“Huh.” Ellie grimaced and tried a different approach. “I don’t even notice I’m doing it. I guess I don’t talk about myself much in general.” Especially to hot guys, she mentally tacked on.
“Fair enough.” Alex let her off the hook with good-natured grace. “So back to that run?”
Ellie laughed. Clearly she wasn’t going to get away with keeping her distance. Not that she wanted to. She was just trying to avoid further complication. And Alex Jenner had the potential to be a rather major complication.
“Sure. Meet me at the lake parking lot tomorrow at five-thirty for a quick five miles?”
Alex froze with his cup half-way up to his mouth. “A.M.?” was his incredulous response.
“That’s my offer, take it or leave it.”
Alex regarded her for a moment, his eyes intensely focused. “I must be a glutton for punishment,” he muttered, almost to himself. “Five-thirty a.m. it is. What’s your cell phone number, just in case?” After they’d exchanged numbers, he said, “Well… See you tomorrow, Ellie.” And with another salute of his coffee cup he got up and started to leave, pausing to ask, “You want a ride to the lot instead of having to run back to your car?”
Ellie chortled, but waved him away. “No, thanks. I like to run.”
“Suit yourself, crazy girl.” And with a final sexy grin he turned and left.
“Ellie,” Griffin called her name the second she got home. Disapproval was running rampant through his voice, mimicked by his posture as she discovered when she found him in the living room where he’d been sitting watching TV.
“I know. I know. One more complication that we don’t need,” she answered, as she made her way over to the couch.
Griffin sighed in resignation.
“Okay. It’s done now. Besides, I don’t like you running by yourself anyway. Especially when it’s so dark outside.”
Ellie gave a mental eye roll. This was an old, well-hashed argument between brother and sister. “You could join me,” she suggested.
“I only run when someone is chasing me.” Turning his eyes back to the TV he grumbled, “At least use the time tomorrow to try to get more information.”
“You got it.” Ellie hugged him and then flew upstairs to shower and dress for school. She hugged the idea of seeing Alex again to herself, secretly thrilled... whatever the cost might be.
Chapter 9
Ellie headed to school, which she hoped would be an improvement over her first day. So much had occurred in such a short time, Ellie almost couldn’t believe it was only the second day at her new school. The night before, she’d spent the remainder of the evening working on her assignments. Since Svatura only needed a few hours of sleep each night, the extra time came in handy for keeping on top of homework. At least that’s what Ellie often thought. She often wondered how the normal kids managed to do everything with fewer hours available.
More often than not, however, the extra hours could become tedious. Lonesome. And these days Griffin was so grumpy, it wasn’t like he was great company.
Ellie pulled into a space in the school parking lot. Just as she was reaching for the door handle to get out, she caught a flash of movement in the distance.
“Griffin,” Ellie called her brother mentally.
“What?” he immediately responded.
Ellie remained silent for a minute. “Elle?” Griffin prompted.
“Nothing. It’s nothing”, she finally answered. “I thought maybe I saw something. I think you’ve got me spooked with all the talk about the Vyusher.”
“Good. You need to be spooked. You take too many chances.”
Ellie shot her brother a mental image of sticking out her tongue.
“You sure you didn’t see anything?” he asked. Even in her mind Ellie could hear his worry.
“I’m sure.”
“Better to be absolutely sure. I’ll go check it out just in case.”
“I’m absolutely sure. But you do what you think is necessary. I’m going in to school now.”
“Alright. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
The morning was a cold one, so she grabbed her backpack, huddled down into her parka, and made a dash for the building. As soon as she walked in the main doors, she saw Lila.
“Hey, Ellie!” Lila waved her over. “Delia, Nate, and I hang out in the cafeteria before school. Wanna come sit with us?”
Ellie smiled, hitching her bag into a more comfortable position on her shoulder. “Sure!”
When they got to the cafeteria, Ellie slumped into one of the chairs at the table. “Hi, guys,” she greeted Adelaide and Nate. They both gave her a generic but friendly greeting in return. The three of them concentrated on their homework.
Talk stayed fairly minimal until the starting bell. This high school revolved through a block schedule, five classes each day, but a different five classes every other day. Today, Ellie’s first class was P.E. Ellie liked most sports, so she usually enjoyed it, except for having to dress out in the mandatory ridiculous gym uniform.
Jill, the girl she’d sat behind in English the previous day, was getting dressed in the locker room. She’d seemed very nice, so Ellie decided to approach her.
“Hi,” Ellie said as she sat down and started pulling off her shoes. “Jill, right?”
The other girl gave her a big grin. “Yeah!”
Ellie didn’t need Griffin’s mind reading to know that Jill was pleased that she’d noticed her.
“You’re from Texas, right?” Jill asked, as she pulled her gym shirt on over her head.
Ellie’s eyebrows shot up. “How’d you know?”
“Small school. We don’t get new kids often.” Jill grinned. “Why’d you move to Estes?”
Ellie shrugged nonchalantly. “The usual reasons… family commitments,” she answered. “Have you lived here all your life?”
“Yeah. Born and raised. It’s too bad you moved here in the winter.”
“Why? It’s gorgeous!”
“But in the summer the tourists fill the place up.”
Ellie was confused. “And that’s a good thing because…?”
“Uh, hello! Boys!” Jill laughed.
Ellie laughed along with her as they finished dressing and headed to the gym, Jill chattering all the way. Today was basketball, so they didn’t have much time to talk any more while they practiced passing, dribbling, and shooting. After P.E. finished and they’d showered and dressed, Jill walked with Ellie to economics still talking a mile a minute. By the time they reached the classroom, Ellie had the low-down on practically the entire school.
At the door Jill paused and waved. “Hey, Brian!”
A good looking, red-headed boy returned her wave with a nod. “Hey, Jill.” He casually strolled over to the girls. “Who’s your new friend?”
“I’m Ellie.” Ellie held out her hand with a friendly smile.
Shaking her hand, Brian said, “The new girl in school, huh?”
“Yeah.” Ellie returned the smile as she surreptitiously sized him up. Cute, definitely cute…In that captain-of-the-football-team kinda way.
“How’s it going so far? You liking Estes Park High?” he asked.
“Can’t complain. Everyone I’ve met has been really nice,” she answered.
“Well, you let me know if anyone gives you trouble and I’ll set ‘em straight.” Brian winked and Ellie hid her amusement. Definitely the captain of the football team type. Probably popular.
Although Brian was in Ellie’s class, he didn’t sit near her. So Ellie was surprised when he waited while she gathered her books and then started walking with her to the lunch room.
“Would you like to sit with us?” he asked in a friendly, yet casual tone as he pointed to a group seated in the far corner.
As she approached the table, Ellie tapped into Griffin’s mind reading and quickly picked through the minds of those already seated. She grimaced inwardly. She’d somehow been befriended by some of the most popular people at the school, and while this wasn’t a bad thing by itself, it could be tricky given her situation. It would put her in a more public spotlight, which made it harder for her to just blend in. Most normal people—people without abilities—never suspected her or Griffin of being anything other than ordinary. But she’d learned through experience that they were less likely to suspect anything if she just remained in the background, unnoticed.
As she listened, a very subtle strain caught her attention.
“…Lila better be right, that this girl is nice,” from one girl.
“…Man, Nate was right. She’s hot,” a boy was thinking.
“…As long as she doesn’t hit on Brian, she’s cool,” another girl mentally decided. In fact several of the girls at the table had feelings along that line.
“…I wonder why Adelaide’s acting so weird. She’s too shy to approach someone she doesn’t know,” was a final train of thought Ellie picked up on.
Adelaide, Lila, and Nate clearly belonged in this high school clique. In fact, based on a few passing thoughts of the people at the table, it seemed as though Adelaide had orchestrated Ellie’s invitation to join them for lunch. Ellie silently gave Adelaide top marks for skills of subtle manipulation and decided to play along.