“Of course not,” he insists. Then he takes a deep breath. “Look. If it’ll make things easier for Lizzie, could you maybe . . . do something to make me not talk?”
“Don’t say that!” Lizzie rotates in his embrace. “You don’t mean that!”
“I don’t plan on telling,” he says to her. “But sometimes stupid things happen—like talking in your sleep, or in anger . . . or . . . I don’t know. Anything. I don’t want to betray you, but how can someone make that promise? When so many things can so easily go wrong?” He looks at Kellan. “She’s told me about you, about what you can do. You can manipulate people to do exactly what you want by reprogramming their feelings. If it makes you and Chloe feel better, if it reassures everyone that I won’t betray you, do something now. Make it so I’ll never have the ability to let this secret go.”
“No,” Lizzie interjects quickly. “You don’t want that. It’ll change you—”
“But doesn’t your kind do that anyway? Isn’t that what you’re going to do to some artist in Spain in a few years? Change him so he can change art? What’s the difference?”
“It’s different,” Lizzie wails.
Graham shakes his head. “It’s not, though. All it’ll do is make sure I never tell. And that’s what I want anyway.” He looks back at Kellan. “Can you do it?”
“It’s done,” Kellan says, looking bored once more.
“Did you really do something to Graham?”
We’re in the kitchen, making tea. Kellan is standing at the counter, dipping my tea bag over and over again in the cup. “Yes.”
“Do you mind me asking what?”
“I did exactly as he asked.”
“I figured that part out,” I say, sliding up behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist. “But what’d you do?”
He turns around to face me. “I did it the moment he walked into the room. I didn’t want to take a chance. I like Graham, and . . . he’s freaked out, yeah—but he truly loves Lizzie and wants what’s best. He loves you, too, and doesn’t want to risk anyone. So I simply heightened his senses of protectiveness and guilt toward the whole situation. He’ll do anything to protect the secret. And there’s dormant guilt that will spring at the first hint of him attempting to tell anyone, consciously or unconsciously. It’ll be so overwhelming that he won’t be able to get three words out.”
“So nuanced,” I marvel.
He shrugs and reaches for my tea. “You love your friend. I made sure that she’s safe for the time being.”
I’m overcome with love for this person. It rocks me to my core and then explodes until every last nook and cranny is filled with it. I want to tell him this, want to explain what he’s come to mean to me, but I can’t. Because it’s so much, so overwhelming, that speech isn’t necessary.
Chapter 22
“Have you missed me, mi amiga?” Raul is standing in the doorway, a sly smile on his face.
I leap off the couch and receive a huge, albeit far too friendly, hug. “What are you doing here?”
He motions behind him. “I come bearing gifts.” A short girl with dark skin, curly, dark hair, and dark eyes appears. Everything about her is so darn adorable and friendly that I’m instantly drawn to her.
“I was wondering if you’d show up!” Karl says from behind me.
“And miss out on meeting the Creator? I think not, mate,” the girl says. She’s got an accent . . . Australian, maybe?
“Let them in, Chloe,” Karl says. I step aside and Raul and the girl come into the living room. Karl motions to her. “Kiah, this is Chloe Lilywhite. Chloe, this is the Dreamer I told you about. Kiah Redrock.”
It turns out Kiah is Aborigine, hence the accent, and extremely bubbly. She talks a mile a minute, is whip smart, and cracks so many jokes that she’s got the guys laughing the entire time. She insists on cooking us dinner but, missing some ingredients, sends the guys to the store. When Raul protests, she quickly reminds him that she’s a Guard, too—and one that can alter any being’s perceived reality, and wouldn’t learning from her technically serve me better than someone who can create a tornado or shake the earth?
Humbled, the guys leave for the store.
She gives me a wink. “Now then. I figured it’d be nice to have a bit of privacy without those boys listening.”
I lean against the counter as she begins preparations for making vegetarian lasagna. “What does a Dreamer do?”
Of course, this confuses Kiah, so I lamely offer the truth of how my parents have kept me pretty much in the dark.
“Wow.” She sets a wooden spoon down. “Well. Let’s see. I can infiltrate someone’s mind asleep or awake, causing them to see and believe things that may not necessarily be true. Much like an Emotional, I suppose—but rather than causing an actual feeling, I alter the reality of the mind.”
“Is that your main purpose as a Magical?”
“Oh, no,” she says, smiling. “It’s just one aspect. Not all Dreamers are on the Guard, you know. I do a lot of that because it’s necessary for my job. Mostly, a Dreamer deals with just what you’d expect—dreams. Let me explain it from the Aboriginal viewpoint, since that’s what I was raised to understand. There are two parallel planes of consciousness, if you will. The time you are awake, and the time during which you are dreaming. Some people believe dreams are just images we make in our heads. But there’s also the belief that during some dreams, whatever happens affects the events of the opposite plane of consciousness. We call this Dreamtime.”
I nod, urging her to continue.
“We Dreamers help manipulate that sort of stuff for our constituents,” she continues. “But we also can tinker with other Magicals, too. Like you. You’ve walked Dreamtime most of your life, right?”
Surprised, I ask, “You can tell?”
She’s quiet for a moment as she puts wide noodles into a pot of water. “There’s no real easy way to tell you this other than just to say it. When you were an infant, my mum erected a door to your dreams, to the place where you walked. You were on her caseload.”
“She built . . . a door?”
“It’s gone now,” Kiah says, stirring the pasta. “But yeah, you had a doorway. The closer you’ve gotten to Ascension, the more unstable the door became. I’d be gobsmacked if it was still functioning nowadays.”
“Why would a Dreamer build a door for me?”
“Think, Chloe.”
Astrid Lotus had told me that some Magicals meet through their dreams. And Karl had asked if I dreamed about Jonah . . . . “Are you saying that we were meant to find each other?”
She knows exactly what I mean, no clarification necessary. “Of course. Fate wants you two together.”
Like you didn’t always know, deep down, the little voice murmurs.
“Lucky girl, having a Connection and all! So many of my mates are always trying to buy me off, find ways to connect them off with doorways to some bloke they fancy.”
I grab hold of the counter to steady myself. I’d assumed I had one, but now . . . Now I know for sure. And I am inexplicably blown away by this.
She stops stirring and looks up at me. “You didn’t know you have one?”
I think back to what Karl’s told me about Connections. How it’s true love. “I . . . uh . . . .” I drag a stool over and sit down on it. “How do you know?”
“Dreamers know,” she says, grinning while tapping the side of her nose. “When we’re in Dreamtime, we find out if a person needs a doorway, if they’re meant for a Connection. And then we go build one. My mum knew you had a Connection, so she built you a doorway to find him. I’m taking it you did?”
My mind races so fast that it’s a miracle I can grab onto any coherent thoughts at all. I already knew I was in love with Jonah, have been since day one, because . . . he’s my Connection. It’s so obvious! Why didn’t I see this before? Does Jonah know we’re Connected? Is this why he’s so angry all the time? And—he sees me with his brother. He knows I’m dating . . .
kissing . . . doing gods know what with his brother, and if he knows, then he knows it’s his true love, his soul mate doing these things. What kind of monster am I?
“Does . . . uh . . . Fate ever make a mistake?” I croak.
She gets me a glass of water. “Never. Are you telling me you didn’t fall in love?”
I drink it all in four huge gulps. “I fell in love.”
“Well, that’s good,” she says brightly. “That’s the way it’s supposed to work.”
“Is it real?”
“Pardon?”
“My feelings. Are they real? Are Connections—I don’t know—byproducts of Magic? Did someone make us fall in love?”
“No, Chloe. Connections just are. You fall in love because that person was created to be yours.” She pulls a stool over and sits down across from me. “My mum once told me that it was like identical twins. You know how they start? As one? And then they split and become two? Connections are like that. Puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. Two halves which make a whole. Sounds rather co-dependent, doesn’t it? But all the people I know with Connections—and it’s not many, because it’s a rare gift from Fate—say it’s not like that. It’s hard to explain, which is why you should talk to Karl about it all.”
“You know Karl has a Connection?”
“Yeah,” she says quietly, grimacing. “I know.” She sighs and looks off to the side.
I’m intrigued by her reaction, but smart enough to not put my nose where it doesn’t belong. I swallow hard and ask, “Do people with Connections ever fall in love with other people?”
“Nope. Not possible.”
“Never?”
“Oh, sure—you can love someone, but you can’t ever be in love with another person.” She stands up and stirs the noodles again. “Trust me. I know.”
“Do you have a Connection?”
“No, mate. I’m not one of the lucky ones.”
The front door slams and Karl and Raul’s voices fill the air. Kiah closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When she opens her eyes, her face is relaxed, happy even. All of the pain I’d just seen has disappeared. “It’s about time!” she says when the men come into the kitchen with their bags. “The noodles are just about to go soggy. Get to work, boys. I want a sauce.”
“Giules is so jealous of us right now,” Raul says once the sauce is on the stove. “She’s having Top Ramen tonight.”
“She loves my lasagna,” Kiah says. “Calls me an honorary Italian.”
Raul steals a taste, ducking when Kiah swats at him. “We invited her over, but apparently she’d promised Jonah he could go surfing.”
I look out the windows into the dark sky. “At night?”
“No one said it’d be here,” Raul winks. “Kellan was tempted to stay, wanting to come see his girl here, but I guess Jonah insisted he come with.”
Kiah looks up sharply from the dish she’s laying noodles in. “You’re dating Kellan Whitecomb?”
Raul cuts himself a piece of mozzarella. “They are disgusting together. You won’t recognize our Kellan. He’s gone soft around her. Even threatened me once, saying I had to keep my hands off Chloe or else.”
“He was just joking,” I mumble.
Kiah’s eyes are wide in surprise. She knows, I realize. She knows it should be Jonah. “I can hardly believe it,” she says carefully, going back to her noodles.
“Me too,” Raul says, elbowing Karl. “Who’d have thought—”
And . . . Karl comes to my rescue, cutting Raul’s words off. “You should talk, what with your horrible dating track record and all.”
“We can’t all be Connected like you and Moira,” Raul laughs, but a burst of awkwardness explodes in the room. He quickly changes the subject, but I witness a brief, agonizingly uncomfortable glance between Kiah and Karl.
When we’re setting the table, Kiah brushes up against me as she lays down a napkin. “Kellan Whitecomb doesn’t have a doorway.”
I plead with her silently for answers, but she has none to give.
Kiah may not have any answers to give, but Alex does a few days later. His victory yell fills the house as he runs from the office into the living room. “I’VE DONE IT! I’VE FIGURED IT OUT!”
“Whoa,” Karl says, turning off the TV. “What are you talking about?”
Alex doubles over, panting even though it’s a short distance down the hallway. “I know what . . . who have been attacking our kind.”
“Well?” I demand. “Are you going to tell us or what?”
“Oh, I’m going to tell you, little Cousin. I’m going to tell everyone.” He turns to Karl. “Can we set up a meeting?”
“Between you and Guard brass?” Karl asks. “Sure.”
“No. I want to do it here. If the Guard wants to know, they can come here.”
This so doesn’t fly with Karl. “Excuse me?”
“Well,” Alex says, looking a bit flustered at Karl’s scowl, “I’d rather do a dry run here, maybe with all the Cousins and the parents . . . and then, if it goes well, I’ll do it for the Guard.”
“How about you just tell me now,” Karl says firmly.
Alex literally puts his foot down. “No. I’m confident in my results, but if it’s all the same, I’d like to . . . .”
“Practice,” I offer. He’s an Intellectual—this is his sort of thing. But he’s young, hasn’t Ascended, and is terrified of looking like a fool in Annar without the backing of acceptance. I get it.
He nods gratefully at me. “Can we do it or not, Karl?”
“Remember,” I say to my Guard friend, “none of us are as seasoned as the rest of you.”
He shakes his head in disgust, but Karl pulls out his phone and calls Annar anyway.
Once word got out amongst the different species that there was going to be a quorum, local representatives began clamoring to come. Caleb explains this to me one night as I’m doing homework. “You’re going to get a ton of Faerie and Gnomes at this shindig. They don’t want to be left out.”
“No pressure on Alex,” I joke, setting my pencil down.
“No kidding,” he laughs. “Kid better have his ducks in a row, know what I mean? But Alex has always been a bit cocky. I just hope this doesn’t come back to bite him on the ass.”
“Meaning?”
“Well, rumor is Karl got his ass majorly chewed out for not forcing Alex for the intel. It took a lot of favors being called in for the Guard to agree to this meeting. And even then, there’ll be a contingent of Guard present—more than just Karl, Giuliana, and Kellan. At least six big guns are coming, including a Hider. They want no chances being taken with this information being disseminated on the Human plane.”
“What do you know about Karl?” I ask, glancing at my shut bedroom door.
“Karl Graystone is one of said big guns,” Caleb tells me. “He’s well liked, very smart, and very influential. It’s widely believed that he’ll be Guard brass sooner rather than later.”
“Seriously? But he’s so young.”
“Think about military units, how there are regular soldiers and then there are special teams? Like Navy SEALS and whatnot? Well, the Guard is sort of like that, too. Everyone in the Guard is good—the best, really. A lot of people believe the Council is made up of the most powerful beings, but really they’re sort of split between the Council and Guard. But the Guard has its elite, and they’re, well, revered, actually, in Annar. Karl is one of those people. And he managed, for you, to pull together a meeting that technically shouldn’t be allowed. Which should tell you that, despite your parents, you’re starting to make the right allies you’ll need to navigate Annar.”
Kiah and Raul return the next day, accompanied by two other Guards. The woman is tall, exotic and clearly Hawaiian. Karl introduces her as Iolani Popolohua, the Volcanic he’d mentioned a while back. I am in awe of her the moment she comes into my house. She moves with an alluring sense of self-confidence that I desperately wish to possess.
The man i
s introduced as Kopano Melesi-Yellowbird. He’s a Hider—the Guard’s best, apparently. He’s extremely tall and so dark that his skin nearly matches the black leather coat he’s wearing. He’s to build a shield around the venue we’re using for the quorum.
I am humbled and excited at the same time to be around these Magicals. And unlike my parents, they don’t send me from the room so they can discuss matters. It’s simply assumed I’m part of the group, that as a Creator, and thereby soon a first-tier Council member, my input is just as valid as everyone else’s.
But then, they also feel the same way towards the Whitecombs. A call is placed to Giuliana on speakerphone. “Everyone’s present but you three,” Iolani says to her. “Get your butt over here.”
“I want to,” Giuliana grumbles. “But I am afraid it is not possible.”
“Oh?” Kopano asks. He has a soft, attractive accent. “Why not?”
“It is a long story,” Giules sighs. “Hold on. Let me put you on speakerphone on this side so Kellan and Jonah can hear you, too.”
Kiah gives me a pointed look that makes me squirm on the couch.
Karl gets right down to business. “To review the basics, Alexander Himura, an Intellectual, claims he has determined the identity of the beings involved in the September attacks. These are the same beings suspected of the many attacks and murders on six planes. Scant eyewitness reports we have from survivors corroborate this.”
Iolani flips through a folder on her lap. “This says that he’s refused to tell anyone his findings so far. Why weren’t they taken?”
“This is a very good point,” Giuliana says. “I’d suggested that either Kellan or Jonah compel him, but Zthane asked us to wait due to not wanting to possibly anger certain Magicals.”
Everyone in the room looks at me.
“I wouldn’t have been mad,” I offer weakly once I realize by certain Magicals they mean me.
Raul rolls his eyes. “Himura is typical of most Intellectuals. He’s grandstanding, and Zthane’s humoring him because of his associations. That’s all.”
I lean close to Kiah. “Does this happen often?”
“Politics are a messy business,” she whispers back. “And the Guard doesn’t want to get off on a bad foot with you.”
A Matter of Fate Page 17