Twenty-two years ago, the world experienced a cluster of harmless earthquakes on every fault line known to man and then some. It took years for the geologists to yank their heads out of their respective butts and cough up some fib no one believed that a series of new ley lines—invisible lines of earth energies—had exploded from the tremblers. Supposedly, the “lines” spat out a ton of harmless energy, triggering latent ESP in people who hadn’t otherwise exhibited paranormal abilities. More and more cases of psychic sightings kept the police and governments busier than a queen bee serving her horny swarm. Most other scientists didn’t believe it and still searched for answers to this day.
Scientists and paranormal fanatics went berserk and had warned the governments what would happen if they didn’t slap shackles on the newly minted PSPs. They’d reminded the governments that pre-Abolishment days would seem like cake compared to the magical threats to the enormous 21st century population. They’d demonstrated mock horror scenarios of what would happen if PSPs were given free rein to use their increasing abilities at the drop of fly spit. It scared PSPs into hiding, even when the government couldn’t prove telepathy, telekinesis, or the like was Forbidden magic.
“Congratulations on the birth of the New Urban World.” I sighed as the history emptied out of my brain, leaving more questions than answers.
After what seemed like hours of pure pampering in the luxurious marble bathroom, I left it, refreshed and invigorated. I donned my favorite jeans with a hipster topping black and pink sweater. My stun gun accessorized a belt loop. Black riding boots topped off my ensemble of comfort. Maybe unicorns existed in this fantasyland and the boots might come in handy.
Fin and I stepped into a cozy reading loft overlooking the great room. I didn’t even remember passing through it last night. Male voices rose up from the first floor beyond the swirly wrought iron railing. I trudged down the hardwood stairs. The thirteenth step emitted a squeak loud enough to awaken the rest of the Forbidden.
Ronan peeked around an arched doorway. “She’s alive.” The darker color of his left eyebrow lent him a natural mocking expression.
“Funny, ha fricking ha.” A ghost of a smile passed my lips as I strode under the archway into the kitchen.
Adam waved his arm at the expansive table centered in the dining area. Afternoon sun streamed through the kitchen windows and set off a faint shimmer around him, transforming his skin tone to opalescent.
Burying my head deep, I pressed on my severely deprived stomach. Pancakes, sausage, toasted English muffins, and juice met my bulging stare. Adam might make a lucky lady very happy one day. I sat in the chair he pulled out. With a flourish, he set an empty plate in front of me and unfolded a cloth napkin on my lap.
French doors and floor-to-ceiling windows filled two dining room walls. Puppy nose prints smudged the bottom panes on the doors. The room overlooked a stunning redwood and conifer forest beyond a clearing of wintergreen bushes and a meandering creek. Maybe I’d get the chance to shoot pictures on my smartphone. I never knew what jewelry design a client might request. Flora and fauna were prominent in my enamel charms, the job that put food on my table while I finished college. I touched my handmade pendant, the small rose and the bigger rose growing out of a heart represented Mom and me.
Fin trotted into view along a bed of battered purple pansies bordering the circular driveway. She lifted her leg and oh so delicately watered them.
I heaped a bit of everything on my plate, smothering it with butter, jellies, and syrup. “Your dog’s got serious gender issues.” The smorgasbord beat the fruity protein smoothies I usually sucked down for my morning energy boost.
Adam chuckled. “Don’t let her hear you say that.”
A moment later, the swing of a doggy door creaked in the kitchen, and toenails clicked on the hardwood floors into the dining room. My new best friend sat on her haunches beside me.
As I grabbed the salt shaker, I accidentally rolled two sausage links onto the floor. Fin attacked them like a starved wolf in winter. I tested the holes in the shaker and the lid fell off, spilling a mound of salt on my palm. Crap on toast. I tossed a pinch over my left shoulder, hoping to ward off bad luck.
Adam handed me an empty plate to dump the salt on. “Sorry about that.” Eyebrows fused into a V on the bridge of his nose, he examined the shaker.
Stifling a smile, I looked at my watch. Thirteen after the hour. Enough said. Slowly, I cut my pancake into bites, waiting for the guys to start eating. Call me paranoid about eating meals prepared by paranormals. As soon as I saw them shovel food into their mouths, I inhaled two sausages, and drowned it with orange-pineapple juice. I pointed my fork at Ronan.
He clanked his coffee mug on the wood tabletop. “Suppose you want answers.”
Part of me did. The other part was halfway out the door. I studied Adam’s ethereal features and knew in my heart that whatever set off the hunt for me was linked to his…issues. I grew clammy just thinking about an unknown future and the things Ronan knew about my father and me. It was bad enough my life seemed to revolve around Ronan and Adam. Our auras had converged the moment I entered the dining room and continued to play hide and seek around us.
The bond with Adam and Ronan reached into every crevice of my aura. It was one bond with two similar halves, not two bonds, which freaked me out. How could two people have an identical aura? Or maybe Ronan’s aura overpowered Adam’s and I only sensed the one. If they weren’t twins, what were they? Cloning experiment gone haywire?
Thoughtful, I bit into a strawberry jam slathered English muffin and chewed. Swallowing roughly, I addressed Ronan, “Start at the beginning. How you knew my father. What he did and why. Who your father is and why you want to stop him. Why everyone is hunting me. Why you and I…” I skimmed Adam’s face, tried to gauge his knowledge of secret clubhouse things.
“Why you and Ronan have weird telekinetic powers?” Adam wiped his mouth on a napkin.
The question lingered in the air for a moment. “Right. Are there more of us? Why does Adam look like a half-human fairy corpse?” I gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, no offense.”
He chuckled, short and grim. “Like I don’t already know it.”
Ronan and Adam exchanged a sly meaningful look. I hated being in the dark. Honestly, I wasn’t a control freak or anything, but if something affected me, I needed to know about it.
“You want to know why the three of us are magically connected,” Ronan added in a gloomy voice geared to plant the fear of Hades in me.
And magically delicious. I licked syrup off my bottom lip. “Damn straight.” Spearing a sausage link on the serving plate, I left my fork sticking in the air.
Adam’s back tensed against the chair, his hair spiraling around him like smoke tendrils. Ronan muttered, his tangible aura causing my hair to flutter and crackle as though I’d stuck my finger in a light socket. I leaned back, my arms folded across my chest for the reality show of fairy tales.
Ronan’s fork clanked on his plate as he angled his chair to view me better. “Ever heard of a company called Dominion Research?” I shook my head. “My father’s pride and joy.” His nostrils flared in disgust.
Ronan’s aura suddenly erupted, jealously driving Adam’s energy off me. The tiny electrical zaps didn’t hurt much, but they bothered the heck out of me. I clenched my focusizer. Using my telekinesis, I slugged Ronan’s energy and coaxed Adam back into the ménage. I’d never done that before, but it worked. Relief coasted down my shoulders and relaxed the taut muscles in my arms.
Ronan wiped the nape of his neck. “What’d you do?”
“Your aura threatened.” I shrugged. “I deflected.”
Ronan looked bewildered. “No, I didn’t.”
My exasperation lashed out in a cool aural wave. “You projected stinging energy all around me.”
Adam plucked a lock of hair off his eyebrow. “I felt it too. You shoved my aura away from Aria.” His hand disappeared for a blink as it morphed into
his swaying hair.
Ronan leaned forward, his jaw thrust out. “I don’t feel Aria. I’m deliberately containing my spastic telekinetic energy. When she’s near, I have a tougher time controlling what little ability I have left.”
Obviously, you have no control. I pinned my sight on Adam. “You felt him, right? You feel me?”
Adam nodded, swatting at the lock of hair that swung over his eye again.
“I feel both of you, sort of.” I clicked my frosty pink nails on the table, looked pointedly at Ronan. “Who can you feel?”
“No one.” Sweat dotted his forehead. “I’m not projecting anything outward.” He shoved his chair back and stood as stiff as the redwoods outside. Caustic electricity bristled off him.
Then I guess your power’s slipping out your oh so fine ass. Suspicion flickered through my head. I channeled more energy to fight off his thorny aura, pulling the Aria Special off my belt loop. Nothing I did halted his intangible attack. It overpowered Adam’s aura again. “Are you sensitive to other ESPs?” A bead of nervous perspiration trickled between my breasts.
“No, just a plain telekinetic, like you.”
Proof is in the chocolate pudding. My agitation escalated as well as the heat up my neck. Thank my lucky charm I wasn’t absorbing his creepy energy or Adam’s tainted magic, for that matter, despite the bond we shared. Or was I and I just didn’t feel it?
As Ronan’s irritation swelled, it felt like he was dragging his feet in the desert, touching every inch of me.
Chapter 5
The hot prickles multiplied, causing me to sag in my chair. “Ronan, you’re not holding anything back. I feel your energy attacking me.” I scratched my neck and flicked on my stun gun. An idea bloomed. “Go outside for a sec.” I pulled myself upright, dipped a napkin in my ice water, and patted my face.
Ronan scowled his way out the French doors. The farther he moved away, the more he lugged his irksome aural energy off me.
Cool relief trickled through my fiery body. “Better.” I threw Adam a smug look. “You?”
A puzzled smile curved his lips, brightening his dull violet eyes. “It’s just you and me, babe” he teased.
My heart hitched. The last thing I needed was an immortal, sick fairy-whatever in my life. Can we say oxymoron?
I waved Ronan back, and he entered the kitchen. Tingles swept up my neck and I scratched them away as more gave chase. “I don’t get it. Your telekinesis didn’t go psycho on me last night.” I cut Ronan a sly look.
Adam went outside and nothing changed. I motioned for him to return. My pulse quickened in response to Ronan’s intangible attack.
Ronan gestured toward the living room. “See if you can deal with me from there.”
I nodded. “Adam can hang here.” Adam’s energy wasn’t strong, but it hinted of happiness and luck, overshadowed by something that mimicked a layer of soot. His paranormal makeup was seriously flawed. I hoped it was reversible. I’d go bonkers if I lost my telekinesis, flawed or not, illegal or not.
Ronan paced in front of the picture window looking out onto the front yard where a large black SUV with ebony-tinted windows had replaced the Cadillac.
Ronan’s barbs finally ebbed. Log one more item in my Book of Bizarre to muse upon later. “It feels better. What’d you do?”
Tolerance masked his confusion. “Nothing.” He sat at the table again and pushed his breakfast plate aside. “Tell me if it gets bad again.”
“Count on it.” I tapped my fingernails on the tabletop. “You returned the Caddy to the casino?” I asked Adam as I hooked my stun gun on my belt loop.
“They’ll never know it was missing.”
I flicked a couple of crumbs off the polished wood table. Fin chased after them, toenails clacking, and she skid underneath the table. “Tell me how you know my father.” Ronan earned my solemn stare. In order to concentrate on the rest of his tale, I needed to check my father off the list.
A prickle of Ronan’s energy mixing with Adam’s and mine tingled around me, but it appeared to be our new norm. Fortunately, my pinkie hadn’t balked before Ronan’s aura attacked me. The normal sensations I experienced before a bad luck occurrence were second nature, but the pinkie twitch always alerted me to danger…and also granted me time to turn it around by focusing on my telekinesis. With enough notice, I could raise my telekinesis to thwart unlucky thirteen’s threats.
Adam began clearing the table, flatware clanging against pottery, making a racket only a male could make in the kitchen. Steam rose from water splashing in the sink, adding to the feverish sheen on his mottled face. Ronan crossed his arms over his broad chest, his biceps bulging. I licked my lips, squirmed in my chair. Damn, I loved muscular arms. His were double divine.
“Your father was Patrick Walker from Cork, Ireland?”
“Did you think I doubted you?”
He shrugged. “He and my father were college buds. They attended Dublin City University together.”
“What’s your father’s name?”
“Richard Riley.” Ronan’s gaze pierced my face for a sign of recognition.
The name meant diddlysquat. I didn’t know who my father had befriended in adulthood, let alone his youth. Another chain of missing clues of my real identity. “Go on.” I stretched out my legs, crossing my ankles, the nonchalant act belying my inner turmoil.
“About all I know. I was hoping you knew more. I think they were doing research together. There’s bad blood between them. I know that from the way your father threatened mine, hoping to score a big payoff and walk away.”
Adam clattered pots and pans into the dishwasher, the noise echoing up to the twelve-foot ceiling. The air grew unsettled and Ronan’s energy turned tickly. An awkward introspective hush reigned. Even Adam’s movements quieted.
Light flickered in my brain and a truth dawned sunshine bright.
I snatched my legs back, straightening my spine against the chair. “So your father is after me because my rat snake father gave him a dose of his own medicine?”
“Not exactly.” A growl rumbled in Ronan’s throat. His booted foot hitting the hardwood floor resembled a clap of thunder, adding an ominous air to the story.
Adam returned to his seat, anticipation schooling his features. Our three auras tangoed wildly. My skin smarted, on guard from further attack.
I picked at the cuticles on my right index finger, a nasty habit I usually reserved for boredom or indecision. Guess that didn’t apply any longer. “What then?”
Uncertainty squeezed that part of my heart my parents—even my father—still owned. I tried to look away, but Ronan’s troubled eyes revealed an indecision that seemed to torment him, and I couldn’t break contact for fear he’d disappear and I’d never know. “What?” I fought down the scream in my voice. Just kill me now.
“Your dad came crawling to my father last year, couple million in debt. He said my dad owed him.”
My stomach contracted. I held up a hand to preempt the torture I sensed coming, but Ronan took sharing as caring to heart. I’d asked for it.
“Your father threatened to expose him, me, and my abilities to the authorities if my father didn’t pay up. My father broke him down and Patrick gave him the info he wanted to find you. Your dad walked away with four million.” His voice lowered. “Then my father had him killed. He thought Patrick too big a risk to his plans. He knew too much.”
I wanted to cover my ears, but sat on my hands to prevent them from exercising their independence from my brain.
“The dead man in your condo pulled the trigger.” He paused, as if waiting for a fencepost to speak. “And here you are.”
Abandoned and betrayed? And I didn’t even know why Dad had left us all those years ago. I dropped my head between my knees, battling sudden dizziness. Ronan thrust a glass of water at me, knocking it against my hand. I held the cool glass to my cheek.
“He’s a screwed up bastard, Aria. He’ll do anything to get what he wants.”
�
��Your slimy father or mine?” I patted my eyes dry with a napkin, lifted my head.
“Mine.”
Adam shot me a sympathetic look, but I didn’t get all warm and fuzzy about offing the enforcer in my condo, even though he was collateral damage that probably deserved to die.
Ronan leaned forward and picked at a scab on his palm. “My father was livid. I don’t know all the details of what happened between him and your dad. But that’s when he cranked up his efforts to locate you, supposedly with the intel your dad dropped on him.”
The remains of my heart splintered under the weight of too much knowledge. I threw up my hands. “What does your father want from me so badly that he’d pay my father a fortune, then bury him six feet under?” I asked the only question I might find an answer to from the dark and light twins in the room. “I’m a measly telekinetic. He didn’t even know it!”
Adam contemplated the dishes stacked on the counter, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. “You aren’t simply a telekinetic.”
Welcome to Tongue-tied City. “Excuse me?” My disdain not only leaked into my words, it painted the sneer of all sneers on my face.
Ronan shrugged his hands. “People with extrasensory perception became stronger after the earthquake event twenty-two years ago. Kids born with ESP within a year of the quakes are the strongest according to my dad’s extensive research. Not only can you and I manipulate mind, matter, and energy from our telekinetic ability, we’re pulling energy from everyone, everything around us, which enhances our telekinesis and gives us this abnormal ability to manipulate all the energy from external sources, people, the earth, and not just from our own brain wave energy. Makes our abilities stronger.” He paused and stared at my face as if waiting for the fencepost to burst into flames. “Like the ancient sorcerers. Like the Forbidden Thirteen.” His voice lowered to a stage whisper. Fin nosed Ronan’s arm, as if providing solace, and he gently pushed the dog away, rejecting her as if he didn’t want to infect her with his delusions. “Although I think you can manipulate a lot more energy than me.” He tipped his head, popped his neck joint. “Right now, I can barely bend a hair with or without you negating me.”
Myths & Magic: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection Page 153