Like a Surge

by Olivette Devaux

  “Cooper. Are you okay?” Ash’s voice brought him back. “You faded out, I think. Are you feeling alright?”

  “I’m not tired,” Cooper bit back irritably. “I’m a distracted idiot.” He looked around. They were in the meridian, with the nose of their van pointed toward the ditch that ran down its center.

  Fifteen minutes of effort later, and with the help of a kind stranger who had a pickup truck and a winch, they were back on the road.

  “Cooper?” At the sound of his name, Cooper drew a centering breath, and put on his best game face. He just had to get hold of himself, and the world would stop spinning. It was his turn to drive... and if he breathed, in and out, everything would be okay. This was just a daydream... wasn’t it? He wasn’t feeling great, but the sense of disorientation would pass as soon as he got behind the wheel again. “Cooper, give me the keys,” Ash spoke again. “I’ll drive.”

  “I’m fine,” he answered thinly.

  “What are you feeling? This came on so suddenly, now I’m worried.” The uncompromising note in Ash’s voice gave him pause.

  “I, uh... I don’t know. A bit of a headache, I guess? Maybe it’s the glare. And I got distracted by thinking of, you know...”

  They had not discussed what happened at the solstice yet.

  “You and me?” Ash’s voice was tender now. “I know. I’ve been thinking about it too. And I’ll think of it next time we have a fight, just to put your socks on the floor into perspective.”

  “Eh.” The giggle Cooper had intended came out as a pained gasp. He reeled, then caught himself against the side of the van. “I guess maybe you should drive after all. And I have a headache. Like, a huge one.”

  “Must be the glare off the road,” Ash said. “And the light and shadow of the trees by the side make it unpleasant, don’t they?”

  Cooper shook his head, then winced. “Um... I don’t mind the trees, but I’m gonna throw up. And I think we had another earthquake.”

  AS SOON AS Ash pulled into the parking space in front of their brick rowhouse, Paul burst out the door and bolted toward him. His hair was wild, and he was dressed in sweats, a T-shirt, and was barefoot even though it was close to noon.

  “Where were you guys?” Ash winced. His voice came across as a high-pitched wail, and despite the double dose of Grandma Olga’s freshly-concocted reishi mushroom tincture, both he and Cooper were still suffering the ill effects of yesterday’s earthquake.

  Ash turned the engine off, pocketed his keys, and slid out the door. “Hi. You okay? You look like hell, Paul.”

  Paul measured him with a serious gaze. “Like you look any better! Shit, what happened? Did you feel that... that thing yesterday?”

  A car door closing on the other side was followed by Cooper’s forced cheer as he made his way to the back and opened the lift gate. “Hey, Paul! So how did you guys spend the Solstice? And aren’t your feet freezing?”

  Paul shifted his weight from one bare, pale white foot to the other as though Cooper’s words reminded him that 20 degrees Fahrenheit usually called for fuzzy socks and sturdy shoes. “It’s okay.” He shifted some more, now obviously cold. “Hey, you okay? That thing we felt – did you feel it too?”

  Ash nodded. “Yes. A power surge, and not a natural one.”

  “I almost crashed the van, is what happened,” Cooper filled in. “Once we figured out I got hit with an earthquake energy wave, we found a cheap motel and slept it off. How about you guys?”

  “We’re good. We’re out of reishi, though. You brought some, right?”

  “Yeah. Get in and get dressed and call everyone to Hank’s house. We’ll dose you sorry bunch with funny mushrooms, and then we can compare notes.” With that, Cooper settled a huge, hiking backpack on his back. He then picked up an old wooden chest and walked it up to the door.

  “Wait, let me open up,” Ash called after him and hustled to find the right key. “And I’ll unpack the rest.”

  Once their green-painted door swung in, the silence of their own space enveloped him like a soothing cocoon. Ash turned back and hauled two loads of bedding inside, thankful that they didn’t have to set up their own tent in the snow. Sharing a Mongol-type gher with Lucia and Mago was perfect, since the brother and sister had inherited the large, round canvas structure from their parents.

  Someday, he and Cooper would build one just like it, cylindrical and stable and ready to pack and go faster than he could fix a nice Sunday breakfast. Big enough to make a fire in the middle, with a smoke vent in the roof. Comfortable enough to sleep six along the walls, even including their necessary gear and food supplies. Luxurious enough to arrange an assortment of wool carpets on top of the layer of straw or green boughs, which would protect them from the two feet of snow that covered the ground. Painted with beautiful –

  “Hey.” Cooper pushed his back against the wall and swooped down for a soft kiss. “Are you okay? You look a little out of it.”

  “I’m good,” Ash said in a breathless voice. “Real good, and I’ll be even better when you toss me over your shoulder and take me to bed.”

  Their eyes met, but instead of the usual heat in Cooper’s brown depths, there was just concern and fatigue. “Yeah. I’ll do that, honey. Now, though... where were you?”

  Ash lifted his eyebrows at the utterly drained tone of Cooper’s voice. Somewhat ashamed, he let the corners of his mouth twitch in a smile. “Now that we’re going to these things with the clan, I’ve been kind of daydreaming about the perfect gher for us. You know, big and cozy and a real pain to pack up after we were done camping, but totally worth it!”

  Cooper gave him a tired smile. “I am totally up for that. And... and it will have enough privacy, so I can do unspeakable things to your perfect body.”

  Ash felt heat coil in the pit of his belly and spread out. “Y...you mean like, when we were with the others? In the sweat lodge? You’ll bend me over again?”

  “That and more,” Cooper said. The tired fog in his eyes burned off with want, and lust, and also with love. “I want to do so much to you, now that we know how to shield ourselves.” Somewhat shyly he smiled and pressed his forehead against Ash. “And you can do it right back, if you want.”

  Ash’s breath stuttered. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  He pulled him into a hug, feeling Cooper’s hard body yield into that relaxed contentment that told him Cooper was exactly where he wanted to be. The thought of him having his way with Cooper without any fear of earthquakes, flash floods, storms or any other unnatural repercussions had him weak in the knees.

  Finally – finally they could let go, even if only a little bit.

  “I will, now that we know how, Cooper.”

  Cooper kissed his nose. “I’ll hold you to it."

  CHAPTER 24

  The gravel of the newly-laid driveway bed crunched underfoot as Cooper inspected January’s progress on the new construction. He frowned as he tried not to stress over the painstaking data-gathering done over the last three weeks.

  Daily ground-and-center exercises, combined with hours of scanning the streets with the Jared sword blade gleaming in the early morning January fog, had yielded unexpected results. Between walking the streets of Pittsburgh with a naked blade like some deranged lunatic and what they now called the ‘driving survey,’ Cooper was starting to get a general idea of the shifting ley line patterns in the area.

  The word area covered more than just their neighborhood by the river, however. Once again, the Armstrong Tunnel was now closed for ceiling repairs due to the Winter Solstice earthquake. Because the tunnel was halfway to the skyscraper-covered downtown, he and Ash had agreed that finding out more about the underpinnings of the city they now called home was critical.

  Without knowledge, they couldn’t keep Pittsburgh safe.

  Cooper’s growing grasp on his earth-sensing gift, as well as its augmentation by the power-seeing ability which the not-quite-dead Jared transmitted through the ancient katana, let
him map the triangle of land that sat at the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers.

  Most of the survey had taken place in the van, with Ash behind the wheel, Cooper sitting in the middle row, with Mark and Paul cautiously feeding him power from the third bench in the back. Russ had been riding shotgun and entering Cooper’s verbal comments into some newfangled survey program on his tablet. Something he had ‘tweaked.’ Cooper was pretty sure that said ‘tweaking’ violated the software company’s Terms of Service, but due to Russ’ hacking skills, the elementalist community now had a surveying tool which could record what the sword let Cooper see.

  Then they could all see it.

  The concept was as simple as it was revolutionary.

  Sadly, the results were less so. As Cooper glared at the staked-out and graveled driveway ready for concrete as soon as the weather warmed up, he tried to make sense of what they knew.

  Aside from the unexpected fact that Pittsburgh’s underground was riddled by a network of interconnected tunnels, both used and abandoned ones, Cooper had discovered that the ley lines had the ability to shift, albeit very slightly. He wondered whether they were like creek beds, encouraged to change shape during times of high flow.

  The state of the node, the one which had turned into a little volcano last fall, caused him concern. It pulsed with contained power, and to his inexperienced eye, it seemed to be full to bursting. They would have to drain it safely sometime soon, which would be a big Working, and for which the whole clan would visit during the Spring Equinox.

  Even though the energy ran at a high level, it didn’t have that bitter, toxic flavor of fracking waste, though – and that was... interesting. As far as any of them could tell, Brian Clegg and his gang weren’t pushing fracking waste in their direction anymore and the power signature imprint, even though slight, had none of that malevolent intent which Ash had detected in the past.

  So where did all that prime, delicious energy come from? Ash had been the one to salivate over its quality, and he was already making plans for its use. Except Ash wasn’t here to consult with, because Ellen had dragged him and Mark off to check out the Gryphon’s Tea shop which just opened on Liberty Avenue, and the rest of the guys were at work.

  He ground the toe of his construction boot into the gravel again and eyed the house as he pondered the mystery.

  “Excuse me,” an unfamiliar voice broke the silence from behind him.

  Cooper spun so fast he almost tripped over his foot.

  The man before him was an inch or two shorter than Ash, but his hair was just as dark. He was wearing a black leather jacket, leather pants, and biker boots. Thick, cuffed gloves covered his fingers and his eyes were shielded by mirrored sunglasses.

  He looked like a hopped-up punk who paid too much attention to his spiky hair.

  “What?” Cooper’s rudeness was fully intentional.

  “Um. Sorry to disturb you.” The stranger glanced him up and down, and to Cooper’s amazement, the tops of his cheeks blushed. He ripped his glove off, pushed the sunglasses up his forehead, and offered his hand. “I’m Sigmund Harte, and I was wondering if I could speak with the property owner?”

  Automatically, Cooper accepted his handshake.

  His shields were up – the action was not automatic yet, and he still had to remind himself to raise them – but even so, the heat of Sigmund Harte’s power signature seeped into his half-frozen hand.

  The man was an elementalist.

  Cooper pumped his hand twice and let go as fast as he could to cover the shock of his discovery. “Yeah, sorry. You startled me.” He produced a grin. “I’m one of the owners.”

  Did the newcomer read him back as well? Were his shields strong enough? Cooper clamped down on his worries and focused on the man. He sounded polite, but with an energy signature like that, he was most likely an unwanted intruder.

  Sigmund scanned the property judiciously. “This is a historical site, right? Isn’t this where the arsenal explosion happened way back when?”

  Seeing the solid chunk of land with fresh eyes once again, Cooper followed Sigmund’s gaze. “Yes. Or so they say. What’s your interest?”

  The guy shrugged. “I like history. I love to read about things, and I was wondering if you’d let me walk around and check it out.”

  A few months ago, Cooper would’ve said yes. But a few months ago, Cooper had still been doubting his own rational faculties, and he couldn’t have detected a power signature if his life depended on it. A few months ago, he had not spent mapping the ley lines and power nodes under the city of Pittsburgh in an effort to figure out what made the local power centers remain in a safe and healthy balance.

  “Um, the area’s restricted. I’ll talk to my partner – we have some hazards on the property, and last thing we need is to have someone fall in an old hole and sue us.” He gave Sigmund a casual grin, like he had to turn people away all the time.

  “Is your partner around now?” Sigmund brightened with interest, and to his surprise, Cooper could see his aura as such, saw his aura flare. Waves of power rolled off him.

  Cooper bit back his gasp of surprise at seeing what he had not seen since he got hit with Paul’s lightning. He had been able to see auras for a brief time while in the hospital, but then they faded. He had thought it had been a part of his healing process.

  Why was he seeing this man’s aura? Was it because it was unguarded, so strong? Elementalists usually hid things like that. Cooper came to realize the man was wholly disinterested whether Cooper could see – or feel – his power or not.

  This probably meant he was strong enough to flaunt what he had without any fear of repercussions. Standing there like this, looking both casual in his body language and a bit of a tough guy in his black biking leathers, he represented a dire threat to the whole group, and perhaps to the whole city.

  “Let me give him a call,” Cooper said in an obliging tone. As he dug his cell phone out of his pocket, he made sure to feel the earth extend deep, deep under him. Hold him up, support him, protect him. Shield him. With careful deliberation, Cooper invited the wealth of energies to enter through his feet and into his being. As he waited for Ash to pick up the call, Cooper directed the power boost toward his shields, hoping against all hope this new intruder wouldn’t notice, and if he noticed, wouldn’t interpret Cooper’s actions as hostile.

  “Hi love, what’s up?” Relaxed and cheerful, Ash finally answered Cooper’s call.

  “I have a guy here who needs to talk to us.” He stressed ‘needs,’ hoping Ash would read his mind.

  “Oh yeah? A prospective tenant?”

  “Not exactly,” Cooper zigged while figuring out how to zag. There was no good way of saying A super-powerful elementalist is on our turf and I don’t think I can take him alone with the guy standing right next to him. “My uncle would be interested in his project. You know how he’s into the history of the area.”

  “Oh, really.” Ash sobered up right quick. “I’ll be over in a few minutes. Fifteen, tops.”

  THERE WAS NO easy way to rumble the old van over the old city streets any faster. Ash’s teeth grround together as his jaw tightened. He forced himself to relax and breathe.

  Cooper would be okay.

  They would be okay.

  As he careened down the hill and took the turn into their alley way too fast, he hit a pothole and felt something crunch deep under him. Slowly now, he hobbled the ancient minivan to the front of their house.

  Slowly, because the steering wheel was pulling to the side, he had no choice.

  He killed the ignition and burst out. A quick scan honed him in on the direction of Cooper’s power signature. He set his jaw again as he realized Cooper had it all bottled up behind shields that could have protected him from Armageddon.

  And no wonder. A bright, brazenly unshielded flame of a power signature danced happily way too close to his partner, too close to comfort and too close for his safety. Too close for the safety of thei
r newly constructed house, too. One emotional outburst, and this guy would set fire to the lumber of the walls, the plywood subfloors, and the lovely upcycled beams in the ceiling.

  “Cooper!” he called out, unable to hold it back anymore as he strode to him and their unusual visitor.

  “Hey, Ash.” Only someone who knew his partner well would be able to hear the well-disguised relief in Cooper’s voice. “We have a request.”

  Then he was by this side, facing a man few years younger than himself and so out of control, he wasn’t even aware of his own nature.

  When Sig Harte handed him his own business card, Ash was amazed it didn’t burst into flames.

  When Sig Harte shook his hand, skin on skin as good manners required, the man’s power rocked him despite all the shielding and ground-and-centering Uncle Owen had taught them.

  Their eyes met.

  “I’m so grateful you came out to meet me, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” Sig said, and there was warmth in his voice. “Truth be told, I’m new to this private investigator business, and I usually chase skips for bail money, or roust squatters out of condemned buildings or do the usual suspicious spouse work. So this is an unusual assignment.”

  “What does your client need to know?” Ash asked reasonably. “And what’s the history angle?”

  Sig grinned. “The history angle is all mine. I’m the history buff, and I’d really love to walk your land and get a better feeling for the place I’ve been reading so much about. I mean, a fire like that? Shit, man. That’s horrifying.”

  Interesting. Sig’s words rang genuine, and Ash couldn’t resist a poke. “You scared of fire, huh?”

  Sig looked away and nodded. “Been in too many as it is. Half the time, when I try to evict squatters from a warehouse, or an unsafe building, they set it on fire as we go. It’s as though they decided to burn it down if they can’t live there themselves!”

  Ash paused and pursed his lips in indecision. It was suddenly plain to him that the fires had been set by Sig. Was he here to threaten them? Was he so slick he’d talk about it, hiding from regular people behind his work and framing the squatters?