by Jillian Neal
“You still takin’ up with his sister? Why don’t you ever bring her by?” Stan leered.
Rainer clenched his jaw as, “I wonder,” breathed from his lips indignantly.
“My brother’s a real piece of work...not having his money released and will read ‘til you turn twenty-one.”
Though that was only partly true, Rainer didn’t correct his uncle. The will had been read; the estate just hadn’t been released.
Rainer glanced around the two-bedroom apartment; there wasn’t much to it. Stan had filled one bedroom with backlogs of dirty magazines and magic tricks that he used for the kids’ parties. Most of them he still managed to bungle, even though he was actually Gifted. Stan had always fancied himself a regular playboy. The master bedroom sported a king-sized bed with cheap satin sheets and a red suede bedspread. The kitchen was tiny, and filled with trash from every available take out restaurant within a ten-mile radius.
Rainer decided to start there, and spent several minutes locating trash bags. He began tossing out food wrappers from the past two weeks. Logan helped him as he gave Rainer a distinct eye-roll and shook his head. Stan reclined in a worn leatherette recliner and began inhaling his microwave meal. After the kitchen was once again inhabitable, Rainer took inventory of the rest of the small apartment.
The bathroom was disgusting. He cursed under his breath the entire time he scrubbed it by hand. By then, they were more than ready to leave.
With a slight shudder, Rainer moved in front of his uncle, who’d slopped the tray that had contained his food onto the table beside him, while he clicked endlessly through the channels on his ancient box set television.
“I’m, uh, going on vacation for a little while, so it’ll be a few weeks before I can get back,” Rainer stammered uncomfortably.
“What do you mean, you’re going on vacation? Where’d you get money to go somewheres? What about ‘The Academy’?” Stan drawled in a singsong voice as he sneered the words ‘The Academy’. Rainer instantly decided to bend the truth, just a little.
“It’s summer...school gets out Friday; I’m going with the Haydenshires,” he ended his story there, not wanting to mention that he was only going with one of the Haydenshires, or where he was taking her.
Stan turned to Logan, and narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t your family ever get sick of him hanging around?” Logan smirked and shook his head.
“Rainer? Hell,no,we love this guy! Plus, there’s so many of us, we can’t really tell which are Haydenshires, and which aren’t anymore.” Rainer chuckled and gave his best friend an appreciative grin.
Stan rolled his eyes.
“Whatever...have a nice time. Next time you come, bring that girl of yours. Be nice to have something pretty to look at while you’re here.” Logan scowled as Rainer clenched his jaw and his fists simultaneously.
“Bye, Stan,” Rainer spat as he moved towards the door. Stan didn’t offer them any farewell gesture, so Rainer flung open the door and stepped out onto the darkened stoop. Logan was right behind him.
“Ugh, I always feel like I need a shower after I come here with you.”
“No joke,” Rainer agreed as they moved quickly towards the small parking garage. Two of the three outdoor lights in the entire complex had been shattered, so they trekked carefully through the small parking deck. As they approached the Mustang, Rainer discreetly formed his hand into a cup again, but rotated it the other way to release his shield. He and Logan entered the car quickly, and Rainer squealed the tires as he made his hasty retreat.
Three Eggs Over Easy
“So, I take it you and Em are actually going to the beach house?” Logan had him cornered in his own car no less.
“I thought you didn’t want to hear about it?” Rainer bristled.
“I don’t, but as long as I only think about it as your best friend and not about what you’re going to be doing to my baby sister, then I’m better with it.”
They both laughed at the cost of the truth that Logan had just uttered. Rainer took a left. They headed away from the interstate on-ramp and further into downtown Norfolk.
“Don’t guess I’ll ask if Adeline and I can come with?” Logan joked. Rainer glanced his way with a wry smile on his face as he chuckled.
“You take that up with your sister.” Logan chuckled, but then scowled.
“Trust me, as much as I don’t want to be there for that, I really don’t want to ask Em about it. Don’t tell her, but I am actually a little afraid of her.”
Rainer laughed as he signaled and waited to turn into the parking lot of D’eggs. It was getting on towards seven o’clock, but traffic was still heavy. Rainer was thankful that Logan seemed well aware that Emily was the one steering this ship, and that he would never push anything on her.
“She can be quite fierce when she sets her mind on something,” he commented as Logan grinned.
“And what’s her mind on now?” Logan drawled with a smirk.
Rainer knew he didn’t actually want a response to that question. He raised one eyebrow as he shot Logan a cocky grin, and watched him back down instantly.
He pulled the car into a spot near the entrance of the diner. Logan moved between Rainer and the large plate-glass windows that constructed most of the diner. Rainer set his hand on the hood of the car and tried to look nonchalant. He leaned down and pretended to check the tire as he summoned and then quickly dispersed his shield from his hand.
The Non-Gifted couldn’t see the color change. They couldn’t see the Earth’s energies all around them. So, as Rainer’s Mustang tinged green, all they saw was a red convertible. Several of them shot Rainer appreciative glances as he followed Logan into D’eggs.
They took a booth in one of the back corners. The smell of bacon grease and pancake syrup hung thickly in the air. Truthfully, the diner was only slightly cleaner than his uncle’s apartment. The table was as sticky as the floor, but the food was phenomenal. Silas, the cook, had been there for as long as either Logan or Rainer could remember. He always had a kind smile when they came there.
A heavy-set waitress moved towards them. She was wearing an apron-dress that was a size too small, but she looked pleased to have customers.
“What can I get you handsome fellas tonight?” she drawled in a thick Southern accent.
“I’ll have one of Silas’s specials with bacon and toast, and coffee with cream and sugar,” Logan answered immediately.
The waitress smiled and nodded as she scribbled on the short-order pad. Rainer was feeling a little queasy as he glanced over the menu he knew by heart. This was probably due to the fact that he’d never actually had lunch, but had consumed three Dr. Peppers and a tremendous amount of junk food over the past few hours. Visiting his uncle always seemed to make him feel nauseated.
“I’ll just have a Coke and three eggs over easy, with toast,” he handed the laminated menu, slick with grease, back to the waitress. She filled in his order before she returned behind the counter. After sliding their orders onto the metal clamp rings and spinning them back to the kitchen for Silas to read, she began preparing Logan’s coffee.
Logan gave his signature wry grin.
“So, I’m thinking your speech should go something like, ‘I, Rainer Lawson, son of Joseph Lawson, decided to run for head of Ioses because I wanted to stick it to Mitchell O’Ryan, who is, in fact, a prick, and so that the guys would stop messing with Fergus, the bird-brained goober who hangs around with me and Logan Haydenshire, the coolest guy I know, and to whom I would like to dedicate this speech,” Logan wiggled his eyebrows as Rainer guffawed.
“All of that is actually true, except maybe the part about you being the coolest guy I know,” Rainer goaded as Logan feigned insult. A few minutes later, the waitress returned with their food and drinks and Logan dug in feverishly.
“Ah, Mitchell...” Rainer laughed. “I’m gonna miss him.” Logan nearly choked on his gargantuan omelet.
“Yeah, I mean, he sure as hell w
on’t be coming to work for the Senate. None of the O’Ryans has ever actually worked,” Logan chanted as he mimicked Mitchell’s nasally drawl. Rainer laughed again.
“Well, worked legally,” Rainer scoffed as Logan nodded.
The O’Ryans were one of the Realm’s elite families, at least in their own minds. They were extremely wealthy. It was all old money. Rainer assumed that, at some point at least, some of the original O’Ryans had actually put forth effort in some capacity to acquire all of their vast funds. It was more likely that the O’Ryans had used their abilities to make most of their gains ill-gotten.
He shook his head as he thought about what a tremendous jerk Mitchell was. He plunged his fork into his eggs to break the yolks, and then scooped up the warm yellow liquid with his toast.
Mitchell had been named head of the Visvirees Order when they were sophomores, and he had made everyone’s life hellish as he wielded his power over those he hated.
The final straw had been when Mitchell keyed Emily’s newly-acquired Jeep. It was her sixteenth birthday present from her parents, after she’d been named one of the youngest heads ever of Auxiliary Order. She’d laughed in his face when Mitchell had asked her to go to the Spring Formal with him. Mitchell had asked her just to get Rainer to lose his temper and get into trouble.
The following year, Rainer had won head of Ioses Order by a landslide. As Ioses was one of the three higher-powered orders, he’d held Mitchell by a string the entire year. He’d forced a confession out of Mitchell over Emily’s car, with a plethora of witnesses, in front of the school Governors, and he’d been redacted as head of Visvirees.
Rainer smiled as he recalled the look on Mitchell’s face as he’d given up his title. Not that it really mattered. Mitchell would fall into the long line of O’Ryans that contributed little to the world, but still managed to escape any real consequences by sitting by idly. They only made enough trouble to get what they wanted, but not enough to call attention to themselves. Mitchell’s father had recently been taken to a Gifted prison, however. He’d been charged with tax evasion and ties to insurance fraud. So, at least one of them had actually been caught.
Logan inhaled his omelet and toast, and waited while Rainer took the last few bites of his eggs. They both threw down enough cash to cover their meals, with a generous tip, and then sauntered out of the diner.
Take It Slow Around the Curves
Rainer ran his hand over his car lovingly. Most Non-Gifted people would feel that Rainer was just proud of his automobile. They had no idea he had just released the protective cast.
They slid into their seats, and Rainer made his way back to the on-ramp. It was a quarter to eight, and the interstates were relatively empty since most everyone was home from work by now. Logan grinned.
“Wanna pick it up a little bit?” he urged.
Rainer chuckled, “I don’t know, man. We nearly got caught by the police the last time we did that.”
“Aww, come on, if we get home soon, we can see the girls before they fall asleep,” Logan bribed.
As he pretended to scoff, Rainer actually let his mind travel to the feeling of holding Emily while she slept against him; the way it felt to have her safely in his arms, and the intoxicating feeling of her luscious curves wrapped around him.
As much as he wanted to be with her, just to hold her while she slept was a pleasure like he’d never known. An image of that night in his tiny flat in London, with her deep auburn hair splayed across his bare chest and her hands on him as he cradled her in his embrace, formed in his mind.
His breath came faster as he cupped his hand slightly. He harnessed the speed of the large engine under the hood of his car. Then, he gathered the energy from the air around him and willed it forward in a glowing red light. He pushed it from his hand into the engine. The car jolted and then shot forward.
A broad grin spread rapidly across Logan’s face; his eyes twinkled as they watched interstate signs and billboards for everything from restaurants to strip clubs, fly by them in a blur.
Logan summoned immediately and cast the engine to keep it cool. Rainer concentrated; he probed the night for any sign of police or cars he may need to avoid.
After a little while, they edged closer to the exits for Arlington. Rainer released the speed cast. Logan was fidgeting; Rainer knew something else was on his mind.
“So, you know when Adeline healed me, when I got thrown off the tractor?”
The Haydenshires had always had a large garden on their property. It bordered the apple, peach, and cherry trees they grew. Mrs. Haydenshire’s Predilection for Occamy made it an extremely fruitful garden, of course, but the boys usually worked the tractor for her.
Two years ago, Logan had been plowing and wasn’t quite watching what he was doing. He’d been staring at Adeline, who was lying out by the pool with Emily. Rainer knew this, but he had never let on. Logan had been thrown off and injured his leg badly. Adeline had rushed to him, and healed him before Mrs. Haydenshire had even realized what had happened.
Adeline’s Predilection for healing was rather extraordinary. This was another reason the entire Gifted Realm would love to know who her father was. Rainer nodded as he came back to the conversation.
“Right,” Logan agreed, although with what Rainer wasn’t yet certain. “So I’ve felt her, right? I’ve felt her energy or whatever?” His face colored again. Rainer considered, but he didn’t actually have an answer for the inevitable question that was about to pour from Logan’s mouth.
“So, do you think that’s what it will be like? You know, if we...sleep together?”
“I don’t know. I mean...I guess,” he tried hard not to glance at Logan and further his embarrassment. Logan nodded as he drew several steadying breaths.
“It was kind of incredible, after I could walk again.” Rainer nodded and took the turn to exit off of the interstate. “I mean I’ve been healed loads of times by my parents, and even the Medios at the hospital. Remember when you and I decided to put our bikes on the trampoline?”
He laughed at the memory, and Rainer joined in.
“Yeah, we were idiots,” Rainer declared as Logan guffawed. They both recalled the center of the Haydenshires’ trampoline splitting, and them landing in a tangled heap with their bikes, on the hardened ground. They’d both just turned ten, and had received new bikes for their birthdays. Logan had broken his wrist, and was bruised head to toe. Rainer had shattered three ribs and his foot.
“We really were,” Logan agreed. “They worked on us for a while, until, you know, we were relatively healed up, but when Adeline fixed my leg, it was different.” He stared steadfastly out the window up to the star-strewn sky. They could see the stars now that they were out of the city, as they made their way to the Virginia farmland.
“Different how?” Rainer wasn’t certain he should ask. Logan shrugged and seemed to clam up before Rainer’s eyes. It must have really been something, Rainer assumed.
He remembered sitting in the room he’d shared with Logan. He’d stayed with him to make certain he was all right. Logan had lost a fair amount of blood and everyone was very concerned. Adeline had been in there as well. She’d sat on Logan’s bed with him and kept him casted. After a few minutes, Rainer had left the room. The energy between the two of them, after she’d healed him, had made Rainer uncomfortable. He felt like he was viewing something so intimate it felt voyeuristic.
Logan’s parents had sensed it as well, and the Governor had attempted to talk with Rainer and Logan about what had happened. At barely eighteen years old, they hadn’t quite understood what he’d been trying to explain.
Adeline had been thoroughly confused as well. She was an excellent healer, but her abilities that day had been stronger than she’d ever felt them before. When it had been Logan on the ground bleeding, with his body contorted in pain, as he’d strained in an effort not to cry in front of her, she’d summoned a vast amount of energy to heal him. The bond between them had strengthened tremendou
sly.
Rainer slowed the car as he turned down the two-lane road.
“I mean, you feel it when you kiss her, right?” Rainer hoped Logan wouldn’t be upset he’d asked. Logan looked relieved.
“Yeah, of course.”
Rainer’s mind spun instantly back to Emily. The feeling of her energy as he dipped his tongue into her mouth was incredible. He couldn’t imagine what actually joining their bodies would feel like.
“Is that what it felt like when she healed you?”
Logan smiled, but never met Rainer’s eyes; he was too lost in his own recollections.
“Kind of...only it was so much more,” the awe was evident in his tone.
“Well, then, I guess that will be what it’s like.” Logan looked terrified, but then nodded as he drew a steadying breath.
Can’t Fight the Feeling
As he made the turn onto the gravel drive of the farm, Rainer waited for the gate to open. He eased the Mustang forward and carefully worked his way toward the barn.
A smile instantly lit his face. Emily was lying on the porch swing on the side of the farmhouse. She’d been waiting for them to arrive home. He put the car in park and got out quickly. She sat up and grinned at Rainer as he neared.
“Hey there, beautiful,” he drawled. Logan rolled his eyes.
“Where’s Adeline?”
Emily’s smile faded.
“Her mom called a few hours ago, and made Adeline call the pizza place to see if she could get another shift. She did, and they told her she could work until midnight, if she wanted. So, of course she had to. Mom and Dad dropped her off at work.”
Logan’s face scowled furiously.
“I’ll be back later.”
“Here,” Rainer threw him the keys to the Mustang. “You’ll get there faster.”
“Thanks.” He looked extremely appreciative. The pizza parlor was only about a ten minute drive from the Haydenshires’ farm, but Logan could make it in three if he played his cards right. “Why did Mom and Dad both go?” Logan turned back to face Emily. He walked backwards towards the barn as he made his inquiry. Emily shot him a look that said if he thought about it, he could figure it out on his own.