Flood Rising (The Water Keepers, Book 4)

by Christie Anderson

  He walked to the front of the Threshold and stopped just before it, letting the silvery blue light reflect off his skin. He wondered hopefully for only a moment and then stepped into the light, straining to hold himself at the center.

  He couldn’t hold it any longer; the undulating power all around him compelled him forward to the other side.

  Once he was through, he looked immediately to his wrist, expecting a rapid sign of change, but there was no change to be seen.

  Only seconds later, the vision of Orion went black in my mind. The connection was gone.

  I tried to steady myself as Violette spoke muffled words of concern. But the room was spinning… the lights and the dancers and the music all whirled around me.

  I tried to balance my legs but it was no use. I collapsed to the ground.

  ***

  The next thing I knew, I was on my back looking up weakly at a crowd of unfamiliar faces, all except for Violette.

  “What’s wrong with her?” one of the guys asked Violette. His tone sounded more annoyed than concerned.

  Violette ignored him and helped me up to my feet.

  “Can you walk?” she asked.

  I took a few practice steps until I felt sure. “I’m okay,” I finally said. “I think I just need to sit down for a minute.”

  Violette led me out of the crowd and found some chairs near a table of snacks and drinks.

  “Do you want me to call Rayne?” she asked.

  Talking to Rayne sounded like the best thing in the world at the moment, but if he knew I had passed out right in the middle of a crowd he might never let me go into the city again.

  “No, don’t call him,” I said. “I think I’ll be okay.”

  “How about something to eat then?” Violette said. “Would that help? I can go get you something.”

  I nodded. “That would be great. And maybe some water...”

  “Sure,” Violette said. “I’ll be right back.”

  As I watched her walk toward the snack table a voice came from beside me. “Are you okay?” the voice said.

  I glanced up and found a woman with deep blue eyes looking down at me with concern. She seemed older than most of the people at the party, maybe even a few years older than Rayne.

  “I’m fine,” I answered. The last thing I wanted was to bring more attention my way.

  “Mind if I sit?” the woman asked. I hesitated, but before I could even answer the woman sat right in the chair next to me. “You must have fallen pretty hard,” the woman continued. “I’ve never seen anyone take so long to heal from a bump on the head before.”

  “I guess so,” I said. I wasn’t sure what else to say. All I knew was that I didn’t want any questions, especially questions about my apparent inability to heal the same way other people in Banya did.

  The woman squinted and stared at my face. “You look… familiar. Have we met before?”

  Her question made me pause. It didn’t make sense. I had only met two people at the party thus far, and somehow, both of them seemed to think that they had seen me before.

  I tried to act as casual and uninteresting as possible. “No, I don’t think so,” I answered.

  “I’m Naples,” the woman said, holding out her hand, “Naples Dupree.”

  I took her hand without thinking and said, “Naples? Like the city?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” the woman said, amused. Then, she smiled shrewdly and said, “But most people say… Naples? Like the Threshold…?”

  I realized my mistake immediately. Naples was a city on Earth, not Ambrosia. Anyone from Banya would know that Naples was one of the Thresholds at the Hall of Clocks.

  I swallowed hard. “Oh, uh, I just… know a lot about Earth, you know, because I’m training to become a Water Keeper.”

  The woman smiled again, but it felt more like she was smiling to herself rather than at me.

  I couldn’t believe my own ears. How could I let something so important slip out like that? How could I be so careless?

  I must have bumped my head even harder than I thought. It didn’t help that all I could think about was the vision I just had of Orion at the Threshold.

  “Wait, now I recognize you,” the woman said. “You’re the girl everyone sees with Rayne Stevens when he comes to the city.”

  I practically choked on my own tongue.

  “Have the two of you known each other long?” she went on. “Where did you meet? Are you a couple?”

  I didn’t answer. It suddenly became clear that this wasn’t a casual conversation; it was an interrogation.

  I stood from the chair to make my escape just as Violette returned with a plate of food.

  At the same time, the woman also stood and with a wicked grin said, “Well if it isn’t Violette Stevens… Rayne’s beloved little sister…”

  Violette scowled. “I see you’ve found someone new to harass.”

  The woman’s grin never left her face. “We’re just having a friendly conversation… that’s all.” She looked at me then back at Violette. “I assume you two know each other, right? Since you both spend so much time with Agent Stevens…”

  Violette handed me a plastic cup and motioned for me to follow her. “I think that’s enough questions for one day, don’t you?”

  I followed her quickly as we left the woman behind us.

  When we were safely across the room, back near the front of the building, I finally was able to ask Violette who the woman was.

  “Naples Dupree,” Violette said. “She’s a reporter—a very nosy reporter. She’s taken more photos of Rayne than his own mother.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand how she knew I would be here.”

  “She probably didn’t know,” Violette said. “It’s not unusual for the media to find out about these parties and lurk around in hopes for a good story. It didn’t really help that you were out cold for almost ten minutes. It attracted a lot of attention.”

  I sighed. “I guess we should probably go home then.”

  “Yeah, we probably should,” Violette agreed. “But don’t be surprised if there are pictures of the two of us plastered all over the tabloids tomorrow.”

  I winced at the thought. If there were photos of me and Violette posted all over the city Rayne was bound to come across at least one of them. Who knew if he would ever let me go to the city without him again?

  At this point I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. There was too much at stake. If the media people started snooping around they could end up jeopardizing my future at the Academy.

  We left the party quickly and made our way to the train platform to wait for the next to arrive.

  “So,” Violette said, “am I allowed to ask what happened to you in there? I mean, I know you explained to me how you pass out after healing people at the border, but has this happened to you right here in Banya before?”

  “Sort of,” I replied. “But it just started today, so I’m not really sure what it means yet. I keep getting these weird flashes in my mind, like images of people. Then afterwards, my energy feels drained. The one at the party felt different than the others though. I’m not really sure what happened.”

  “After you passed out I looked at your Watermark,” Violette said. “It was so dark it was almost black. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  I pulled up the edge of the leather cuff on my wrist to check. My Watermark looked clear white and glowing just as it always did these days.

  “Well, it looks okay now,” I assured her. “It always goes dark after I heal someone. At least, that’s what Orion tells me. I’m usually not awake enough to see for myself.”

  “But, you didn’t heal anyone tonight, did you?” Violette asked.

  I took a long breath. “No… you’re right, I didn’t heal anyone.” I paused, feeling confused. “I have no idea what happened tonight, and to be honest, I’m too tired to figure it out right now.”

  After that, the ride home was pretty quiet. I was exhausted, so
I didn’t have any questions to ask like I did on the ride there. By the time we got home I was ready to crash. My energy was completely drained. All I could do was throw on some pajamas and collapse into bed.

  11. SATURDAY

  The next morning, as soon as I opened my eyes, a single thought came to my mind—I missed Rayne.

  This was the first time since I came to Banya that I didn’t get a goodnight kiss from him before I went to sleep. Even when I was staying at the Court of Ambassadors with my parents Rayne would always drop by if he wasn’t already with us, just to say goodnight.

  Without even getting out of bed I grabbed my phone off the night stand and dialed Rayne’s number.

  Rayne answered after only one ring. “Morning, sunshine,” he greeted.

  “I missed you last night,” I said.

  His tone was sweet. “I missed you too. Did you have a good time at the party?”

  “Um…” I hesitated. “It was… interesting.”

  “Good interesting? Or bad interesting?” he asked.

  I laughed and said, “Both, I think. I couldn’t believe how much energy those Academy kids have. They all seem so… confident, and strong. I didn’t really feel like I fit in.”

  “If it makes you feel any better,” Rayne said, “I never felt like I fit in there either.”

  It was a strange feeling, not fitting in. I had never once felt that way at my school in Newport Beach.

  “I just don’t know how I’m going to keep up with them,” I went on. “They’ve all been training for the Academy for years. They’re like a bunch of junior Olympians or parkour addicts or something. I feel like a tired old lady compared to them.”

  “First of all,” Rayne said, “you’re not even close to being an old lady. And second, those kids may have a lot of training, but you have something more important—you have inner strength. The things I’ve seen you do… the power you have within you… it’s insurmountable. None of them can do the things you can do.”

  “I know,” I agreed quietly. “But the whole thing just made me feel so… inadequate.”

  “I promise, you’ll do fine,” Rayne assured me. “If I can make it through the Academy, then you definitely can. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “You always know the right thing to say to make me feel better.”

  “It’s what I live for,” Rayne said with a chuckle.

  “So, what do you want to do today?” I asked. “Will you help me try out my locating skills again?”

  “If you’re feeling up to it,” Rayne said. “I’m ready to help any way I can. I’ll be over in a bit.”

  “Sounds good,” I said.

  By the time I finished showering and eating breakfast, Rayne was already at my doorstep. After all this time, I still couldn’t help but grin every time I saw his beautiful face.

  He gave me a big hug and kiss. “How are you feeling?” he said. “Did you sleep okay?”

  I smiled. “I slept like a rock. I was completely exhausted, but I feel much better now.”

  “Good to hear,” Rayne said.

  “So, what did you end up doing last night?” I asked.

  He took my hand and led me to the couch. “Not much. I mostly just thought about the conversation I had with Ash yesterday.”

  “That’s what you were doing at the Court?” I asked. “Visiting Ash?”

  “Yeah,” Rayne said. “He kind of… asked me to join his team. The Council is finally letting him help track down his father.”

  I sat forward with interest. “Really? So what did you tell him? Are you going to go?”

  “I just told him I would think about it. But he needs an answer pretty quick. I don’t think I’m going to do it, though. It just doesn’t feel like a good time to leave.”

  Without even trying I could sense that the reason Rayne didn’t want to go was because of me. Ever since we moved to Banya, he basically had centered his total existence around me. I loved him for it, but I didn’t want to be the reason why he stopped doing the things he loved, especially his work as an agent.

  “You should go,” I urged. “You have a lot of experience with Voss. Just think how good it would feel to be there when they finally find him and take him into custody.”

  “Believe me,” Rayne said, “I’ve thought about that a lot. I want more than anything to see Voss behind bars.”

  I squeezed his hand. “So then, you should go,” I said again.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “For all we know, I could be gone for several weeks.”

  “You don’t need to worry about me,” I insisted. “I mean, I’ll miss you like crazy, don’t get me wrong, but this is Voss we’re talking about. They can use all the help they can get.”

  “That’s true,” Rayne agreed. “But… I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

  Just thinking about all the reasons why Rayne should go, made me suddenly want to go with them.

  “Maybe I should come too,” I said. “Do you think they would let me?”

  “You want to come on a mission?” Rayne said. He paused. “Um… I don’t think that’s the best idea. I doubt the Council would let you go anyway. You haven’t even started classes at the Academy.”

  “But if one of you got hurt,” I protested, “or your Healing Water ran out or got lost or something, I could be there to help heal someone. And it’s not like we need to worry about me getting hurt since I can just heal myself.”

  I could feel Rayne’s concern and hesitation.

  “Just think about it,” I went on. “If you remember, the Council let me into the Academy even though that was against the rules, so who’s to say they wouldn’t make an exception in this case as well? I bet if I talked to Orion he could pull some strings for me.”

  Rayne sighed. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to ask.”

  I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll talk to Orion first thing on Monday.”

  I couldn’t help but feel excited. “Just think how nice it would be,” I said, “if we could go back to Earth again.”

  “You do realize that Ash is going to be there, right?” Rayne said.

  I grimaced. “Oh, right. Well… I’ll just keep my distance then. It’ll be fine.”

  Rayne didn’t look convinced. “Just try not to get your hopes up, okay?”

  I grinned. “I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.”

  Rayne smiled and pulled his face close to mine. “You’re adorable,” he said. Then he gave me a sweet little kiss on the lips.

  “So, are you ready to get started with some locating?” he asked.

  My eyes brightened. “Definitely. What do you think? Who should I try first?”

  “Maybe you should start with your mom again,” Rayne suggested. “If it works, then you’ll know it wasn’t just a one-time thing.”

  “Good idea,” I said.

  I tried to locate both my mom and my dad, and both times, it worked without a problem. It was even easier than the day before. They were together again, but it didn’t look like they were doing anything interesting. They were just walking and talking to each other someplace outside, surrounded by grass and trees.

  I did still get tired after locating them, but not as bad as the day before. All I had to do was rest lying down with my eyes closed and channel the healing power inside myself. It took maybe ten minutes and then I was ready to go again.

  I also tried locating Jax and Violette again, but just like the day before, I was only able to get a few flashes of their faces. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I couldn’t understand why it worked with my parents but not with them.

  Then I remembered the strange vision I had of Orion at the party the night before and decided to try locating him next. I closed my eyes and focused. Within only a second I saw Orion immediately. It came more easily than even my parents.

  Not only could I see Orion, but I could see almost the entire room. He was talking to an elderly man who was lying on a ho
spital-type bed. It didn’t look like a hospital, though. It was a large, finely-decorated room like one you would expect to see in a mansion.

  I couldn’t hear anything they were saying, but I could see exactly what they were looking at. It was a picture of me… of me and Violette at the party.

  I opened my eyes and broke the connection.

  “What happened?” Rayne asked. “Did it work?”

  “It definitely worked,” I said. “It worked so well I could see the entire room.”

  Rayne shook his head. “That’s seriously amazing. I can hardly believe it.” He paused to think. “I don’t get it, though,” he said. “Why would it work with Orion but not with Jax or Violette?”

  “I have no idea,” I said, “but I could see Orion just as good as I could see you yesterday. It doesn’t make sense. Maybe it had something to do with that vision I had of him at the party last night.”

  Rayne went suddenly tense. “Wait, you had a vision? Of Orion? At the party?”

  My eyes shifted. “Oh, um, I guess I forgot to tell you about that. Don’t worry, though. I only passed out for a few minutes.”

  His tone went rigid. “You passed out?”

  “It wasn’t a big deal,” I said quickly. “I think only a few people saw me.”

  Then I remembered the reporter and all her questions. I was tempted not to tell Rayne about her, but he was bound to figure it out eventually, especially with my face posted on every tabloid in the city.

  “I guess there is something I should tell you,” I said. “I’m not exactly sure what all she saw, but there was a reporter at the party.”

  “Did you talk to her?” Rayne said.

  “Well, yes,” I began, “but I’m pretty sure I didn’t say anything important. I mean, I guess I did let something slip about her being named after a city on Earth, but I definitely didn’t mention my father or anything like that. I think she was just interested in finding out if we were a couple.”

  “It was Naples Dupree, wasn’t it…” Rayne said. I could tell by his tone that even saying her name annoyed him.