She pulled out the necklace and gave it to me, then turned her back to me and lifted her hair off her neck. I cursed quietly to myself and struggled to attach the clasp. When it connected I shifted back towards the window behind me, needing to put some space between us, my emotions conflicted.
She pulled the visor down, illuminating a mirror, and examined the necklace. She turned to me with a smile on her face.
At that look, I started to speak quickly, feeling like I was sinking in quicksand. “I read somewhere that it’s believed that amethysts help seers open their minds, gives them focus and some sort of protection. And well, I thought you’d like it.”
When I was getting ready for the dance tonight, I saw the gift sitting on my dresser and grabbed it. I had bought it when I was really falling for Avery. Oh hell, who was I kidding, I had fallen for her. I ran a hand through my hair and focused on her.
“I think it’s beautiful,” she said, and she reached up to give me a kiss on the cheek in thanks. Just when her lips started to touch my skin, I moved my head so that I was kissing her lips. I just wanted this one perfect moment, it was too irresistible to pass up. I pressed a little harder and what started as a soft kiss of thanks became something a little more desperate. All of my anxiety and mixed emotions poured from me into her and as I lifted my head I gazed into her hazel eyes that were now a bright green and felt regret and pain. I kissed her gently on the forehead and looked away quickly, missing the look of confusion and disappointment on her face.
I had a knot in my stomach as I said, “You should go inside. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I faced forward, creating some distance between the two of us, and reached out to turn on the car.
I heard a confused, “OK,” and felt a cool brush of air as she opened the car door.
“Thanks for the fun night. And the gift.” Avery said and I responded with a quiet good night. I had a lot to think about and prepare myself for.
Chapter 23
Avery
The store didn’t open until 10 a.m., so when I heard a knock on the door at 8:30, I glanced down at my pink tank and pajama shorts covered in kittens and gave a mental shrug.
When I saw it was Devon, I cursed. I ran my fingers through my hair and opened the door, peeking out around the edge at him. I should’ve probably been nervous about meeting him alone, after last night, but at his smile, my nervousness fled.
“Hey.” I saw him glance down at my pajamas, his lips twisting into a smile. “Nice pj’s. You like cats, huh?” I shrugged, tugging my shorts down slightly as I opened the door wide, letting him follow me into the house.
As we passed a chair, I grabbed a sweatshirt off the back and slipped it on. “Did you eat some breakfast? I was just making tea and we have some blueberry-citrus muffins that Brenna made yesterday.” The kettle whistled, and at his nod, I got down another cup and some loose tea. I put the tea, cups, and muffins onto a tray and carried them to the back patio. It was a beautiful California fall morning, warm and crystal clear.
“I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the dance last night.” Devon looked at me anxiously, his blue eyes having turned dark in concern.
“Cole said you tried to mesmerize me?” Instead of accusing him it came out as more of a question. I peeked up at him as I sipped my tea, confused at my feelings I reached up and felt the amethyst pendant hidden under my sweatshirt and put my hand down when I thought how weird Cole acted after he gave it to me, kissing me and then pushing me away. I refocused on Devon when he leaped up out of his chair.
“No!” Devon paced a length in front of the table. He looked around at the backyard and sat back down again. As he sat, I noticed a few blackbirds fly into the backyard and land in the jacaranda tree behind him. Some purple petals fluttered down to the ground.
“That was an accident! I am a Mesmer, I mean, I inherited that talent from my grandmother, but last night was so strange! I mean, in order to Mesmerize anyone, you have to have intent. And I didn’t! Plus, I would never do that to you!” He spoke urgently into my eyes.
I thought about it and realized that I had never felt threatened by Devon. I nodded. “I believe you,” I said. “You have had so many other opportunities and never had before. What do you think happened?” I was honestly curious. Ever since last week’s assignment, Devon and I had been starting to act like we were friends.
“Maybe it was our rings reacting to each other in a new way, but honestly I don’t know.” He looked down at his hands and fiddled with his ring. “You’re not mad?” He asked curiously.
“No. Of course not. I mean, once I got home and thought about it, I remembered how upset you were. Although, Cole seemed pretty upset,” I said, frowning slightly when I thought of Cole. “Yeah. Well, he doesn’t know me as well as you do.” He looked at me hopefully and sat up straighter when I smiled at him.
I reached for a muffin and took a piece off the top and put it in my mouth and nodded my agreement. “True.”
“There was another reason why I wanted to talk to you this morning,” he said quietly, and at my nod, continued. “I found out a little more about our rings the other night, and, well, there’s a situation.”
“A situation?” I put the muffin back down on the plate and anxiously started to pick at the bottom of my sleeve. What else could go wrong? I thought.
“Yes, as you know, I’m also part Elemental, and well, my father has hooked up with some bad guys who are going to um, try to steal your powers, then inhabit my body and steal my soul.” He rushed through that sentence as if trying to get rid of it. I looked at him in shock.
“Wait, inhabit your body? Like possession?” I’m not sure why I focused on that instead of the stealing my powers part of his sentence. Devon nodded.
As he explained his father and Avdar’s plans, the beautiful morning started to turn chilly and I shivered at the abrupt change. I noticed the Jacaranda tree behind Cole was now filled with crows and the blackbirds had flown away. One of the crows dropped to the ground behind Devon and turned into a Daïmonid.
I stood up abruptly and squeaked out a warning, my chair scraping loudly against the concrete. Devon spun around to see what shocked me. When he saw the Daïmonid, his face twisted in anger.
“What do you think you’re doing here? Spying on me?” Devon flung a hand out and the Daïmonid was pushed back by a force of wind and hit the tree trunk, impaling himself on a low hanging branch. With a pop he disappeared.
Another Daïmonid dropped out of the tree and started forward. I put up a shield so that he slammed quickly to a halt. “What are they doing here?” Frantically, I looked at Devon, as all of a sudden three more dropped out of the tree. I moved to his side.
“Insurance, I guess. If Avdar is supposed to get my body, they need to make sure that I’ve accepted their plan. I didn’t leave the meeting last night in a very accepting mood.” I could see Devon looking around the backyard, and then smile.
“You’ve got a sprinkler system! Awesome, this should be quick.” He reached out a hand for me to grasp, and I felt power draw from him to me. Suddenly a vision entered my mind of a spray of water disintegrating a Daïmonid and I gestured to the side of the yard. A garden hose rose up on the other side of the lawn, and I sent a thought to the nozzle, which suddenly sprayed water all over the backs of the Daïmonids, making them scream and pop. Devon dropped my hand and the hose dropped to the ground.
“Did you feel that?” I squealed, reaching out my hand to him. Devon took a quick step away, and I shook my head calming down a bit. “We shared a thought too, well, at least I think that’s what we were doing?” I looked at him and he nodded, his hands shoved into the front pocket of his jeans. “You don’t need to be afraid of me, I won’t do it again!” I was amazed, and truthfully empowered by what had just happened.
“It’s not that, but that adds another level of danger to this situation,” he said to me and I nodded, seeing his point. He looked back over his shoulder to where the Daïmonid first landed
on my lawn, and then back at me with a determined look on his face. “They don’t just want to kill you, they want me to steal your powers so that I have this huge amount of power, and then somehow, they think I am going to give my body to Avdar to inhabit.” He looked at me grimly. “And we just found out that you and I can share power. With what just happened, I’m sure they’ve figured out I’ve told you their plans.”
I looked at Devon in sympathy. What kind of father would ask his son to sacrifice himself like this? Of course, my own isn’t father of the year, I thought grimly.
It’s just another thing we have in common. I held out my hand to him, and when he took it, I pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry Devon, this is just horrible.”
With my head on his chest, I could hear his heartbeat speed up. I felt a tug on my hair and I looked up at him, surprised at what I saw. Devon was smiling happily down at me.
“Don’t worry about it, I have had many years to get used to this disappointment from my father. But I appreciate that you’re concerned.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead and tugged me in for another hug.
“We have the whole day to figure out a plan, right?” I was convinced that with this new power we had a chance.
“Sure, let me call everyone. We were supposed to get together today for my birthday anyway. We’ll just make it a birthday war meeting!” He smiled grimly and let me go. I went inside to get the phone to make some calls.
Chapter 24
Cole
I was immediately irritated when I knocked on the door and Devon opened it. I could hear the sound of Summer and Avery talking behind him. As I stepped forward to push my way past him, he stepped into me pushing me back outside, closing the door behind him.
“I think you and I need to have a little talk before we go back inside.” Devon looked at me grimly and walked towards my car. He turned around and leaned against the hood.
Expecting something like this I ran a hand through my hair and nodded. “OK, talk.” I shoved my hands into my jeans pocket and looked him over. Devon didn’t look like he’d gotten much sleep last night, dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his expression was intense. I know I had that same grim look in my eyes, but for a different reason. I straightened my shoulders and faced him.
“You’re her Guardian?” He nodded towards the house, looking angry.
I gave him a slow nod, and he pushed off the car and stalked towards me. “You know more than what you’ve been telling her then.” I clenched my hands at my side and started gathering energy.
I nodded again. “I know that your family is mixed up with one of the factions that is against Avery keeping her powers tonight. I know that your father has had meetings with the Daïmonids, and I know that my father is mixed up in this somehow,” I said.
“Check. Check. And Check.” Devon stopped in front of me, his face an inch from mine and looked me directly in the eyes looking angry. “So which side do you land on?”
“What side do you think?” I released the energy I was holding and pushed his shoulder, making him take a large step back, and I took a step away from him. Shit. I didn’t need this guy coming at me, making things more difficult. “I’m going to be outside her house, in my car tonight, watching, just to make sure she’s safe when she starts her transition.” At least that was the plan I had told Avery.
“Outside her house isn’t going to help. My family has figured out how to get into her transition dream with her, and they plan on stealing her powers right after she gets them.” Well, crap, that changes everything! If his family is going to be in her transition, that means my duty to kill her has been sped up to today! My mind replayed the scene in the car last night, when I gave her the present. Our kiss. I locked those emotions down.
Devon swung an arm out, and I noticed that the tree across the street was filled with crows. “They have Daïmonids watching our every move today.” He lifted his head and looked at the Jacaranda tree next to the front door.
I nodded, and said softly, “The Sentinel also has the Elementals keeping an eye on us.” I motioned to the blackbirds lining that tree. A soft rustling filled the air and a bird flew down out of the tree and landed in front of us. The bird fluttered its wings and then started to shimmer, until the Sentinel stood in front of the two of us. I immediately straightened my back, standing at attention.
At the sound of wings behind us, I glanced towards the crows, and saw one fly out of the tree and land across the street.
“Shit. Avdar.” I heard Devon mutter under his breath. I turned back to Avery’s father.
“Sir.” I nodded at him, but saw that he was ignoring me, looking at Devon.
“Julian’s son, right?” The Sentinel looked at Devon briefly and then Avdar across the street. He turned his back to them, as if he wasn’t threatened by their presence.
“Cole.” As he started to speak, the front door opened and Avery stood there. She looked surprised when she saw the Sentinel standing in front of her, but that surprise quickly turned to pleasure.
“Dad!” She rushed forward as if to throw her arms around her father, but he took a step back, grabbing her hands instead.
I glanced quickly over my shoulder at Devon, then made sure Avdar had not moved from across the street. My hands clenched into fists at my side, and I started to gather power.
“Avery, you need to go back inside.” I said quickly, glancing at the Sentinel to see that he hadn’t dropped her hands, but had held them out, as if taking a look at her. This was the first time he’d seen his daughter in person, and he was looking at her without any emotion on his face.
“Avery. Wow, you look so much like your mother. Beautiful. Happy Birthday.” He leaned forward and gave her a small kiss on her check. At his words, Avery looked at Devon and me. I stared stoically back at her knowing she must be stunned by her father’s rejection, but not able to act. Devon pulled her toward him and whispered something in her ear that made her relax back against him.
“Dad,” she said, noticeably startled when Devon threw up a wall between them. Shocked, I glanced at the Sentinel to see his reaction, but he just stared at his daughter with a slight frown on his face.
“Avery. Go back inside, this is too dangerous right now!” Devon glanced towards Avdar, who had started to walk across the street toward us. Crows dropped out of the tree and landed on the ground as Daïmonids, flanked his position. In response, more blackbirds flew out of the jacaranda tree, and changed into Elementals. They lined up next to my car to face them.
Devon pushed past the Sentinel and me trying to hurry Avery through the door. Conflicted between my duty to the Sentinel and my feelings for Avery, I let him. Devon almost had her there but she shrugged away from him, back toward her father. She held out her hands in front of her, as if to grasp her father’s again, but stopped in surprise. Staring at her hands, I was surprised to see the Daïmonid and Elemental energy siphon toward her in strands of red, gold, and green. In her confusion, it seemed that she was collecting power. Shocked, I watched as that power disappeared inside her, her hair blowing out behind her and her clothes clinging tightly to her body as the power whipped around her.
The door behind her banged open and Summer and Brenna stepped out, quickly taking in the scene. Summer stepped forward to the empty space on Avery’s right. Devon, who was already on her left, reached out and joined hands with her.
As they did, that power she had been siphoning flashed, and with a loud pop, everyone went still, except myself, her father, Devon, and Avdar.
When I saw Avery and Devon’s joined hands, and realized that action joined their power together, my own hands clenched at my sides in preparation for something. Unsure, I looked up into Avery’s eyes and saw them flicker to mine also with uncertainty, but she kept holding Devon’s hand. Devon stepped forward so that he was blocking her from her father.
“Sir.” Devon’s eyes blazed an arctic blue, and his silhouette started to shimmer. “I don’t think you just dropped in to wish your
daughter a happy birthday.
Considering she’s been here a month, and you haven’t even tried to see her.”
Avery nodded slowly, and glanced from me to Devon, “You don’t think he’s here to help?” I shook my head just slightly, and saw Devon do the same. My thoughts were torn, I knew my duty, but didn’t want her blindsided by her father’s ambivalence.
“Now son, I am only here to wish her well on her journey tonight.” I saw her father gaze thoughtfully at his daughter and take a step forward. Then he seemed to change his mind and looked over at Brenna instead. He flicked a finger and she jerked forward a step. They exchanged a long look, then her father turned abruptly and he and his men disappeared in a flurry of wings. Blackbirds dived and flew off over the trees.
At their movement, the spell was broken and Avdar spoke up from the middle of the street. “I’m so sorry I interrupted such a,” and he paused, smiling grimly, “happy family reunion.” He chuckled softly. “We’ll see you soon, Avery. Devon.” After a glance at me, he and the Daïmonids disappeared with a pop.
Avery glanced around at the rest of us and said, her voice wavering with tears, “Is anyone going to fill me in on what that was all about?” She looked over at her aunt, whose eyes were also bright with tears.
Brenna nodded slightly. “I think it’s time I told you the truth, or at least what your mother wrote to me.” She disappeared through the door, and with a glance at Avery, Summer followed her inside. Avery, who was still holding Devon’s hand, looked at me questioningly. I had no idea what to say to her and I hated to disappoint her. I know we are friends and if we, or she were normal we could’ve been so much more. Even with those feelings swirling inside of me, how do you tell someone your own father wants you dead? And he wants me to be the one to kill you?
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Looking again at their joined hands I saw the threat their joined power would represent. I felt a burning in my chest and my resolve solidified. I had trained my whole life to protect my people, and I was not going to let my family, or them down.
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