The Defender (The Elkavians Book 1)

by S. H. Magillian

  “We can have dinner later,” she held his hand and they silently went up the stairs.

  VIII

  Alexis jumped out of bed at 2 a.m. She had fallen asleep. She quickly got her phone. There was a message from Ethan wishing her a good night’s sleep. Frustration consumed her; she had no intention of meeting him only the next day.

  “Can we meet now?” she typed. It took Ethan a little bit longer than usual to reply, and that made her impatient and worried. She was used to have him ready for her in a snap.

  “Open your bedroom window.”

  She hesitated for some minutes. Alexis read the message several times. He had been too blunt which was unusual. She was afraid to open the window and let someone else in. What if he had been attacked? Kidnapped? Killed? “Tell me something only we know,” she typed but didn’t send. She didn’t know if there was something that only they knew. She walked to the window and unlocked it. She would have to take her chances. “It’s unlocked.”

  “I know.”

  She froze. He was cold. That was not him. It had to be someone else. She was about to lock the window again when she saw Ethan looking at her through it. She was relieved that he was not hurt, but there was something different in the way he looked at her. He opened the window and entered the room.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” she replied shyly. After her conversation with Denise, she couldn’t help seeing him in a new light. She didn’t take him for an enemy, but she couldn’t take him for a friend either.

  Ethan knew that there was something wrong. She seemed more cautious, less open to him. “Is there anything you would like to tell me, ask me, or talk about?”

  “No,” she said coldly. Talking to him about Denise would probably only generate conflict between them.

  “Okay. What then?” He couldn’t hide his disappointment. He felt her slip through his fingers.

  She was taken aback by his rudeness. “I need training, remember?”

  “Of course… Alexis, I’m an open book. You can ask me anything and I’ll answer. So please, no secrets. I’m here for you and you only.” He got closer to her. His voice was inebriating; it made her want to give herself to him. He touched her face. “I cannot bare your lack of trust. What do I have to do to show you that I’m on your side?” He was pleased that she didn’t push him away. The look in her eyes changed, they became softer, more loving.

  “Ethan,” she whispered. “Tell me about my father,” she demanded. The smoothness of her voice was gone.

  He swallowed hard, clearly uncomfortable with her request. “I’m afraid this is not the best time.”

  “What happened with being an open book?” she asked aggressively.

  “I’m not saying I won’t talk about him. I’m just saying that it is not convenient to have that conversation right here, right now. We can do that tomorrow somewhere else,” he tried to be as gentle as possible. He didn’t want them to start an argument.

  “Fine,” she said between her teeth.

  “Sit on your bed,” he said. She frowned. “I cannot train you if you don’t trust me.” She knew he was right, but that didn’t mean that she had to trust him completely. She sat on her bed. She was stiff. “Relax, Alexis.” He sat facing her. “Close your eyes and give me your hand.” She did as he asked although she disliked the feeling of being a marionette in his hands. “You need to surrender yourself to me.” She opened her eyes to look at him. He couldn’t be serious. “Being trained is all about relying upon someone’s good faith. If you can’t lean on me, we should find someone else.”

  There was a bit of resentment in his voice. She felt bad for hurting him. She didn’t conjecture that he would do her any harm after having saved her life twice. So, she closed her eyes back again and focused on him, on the warmth of his hands, on his smell, on her mental image of him. She was more attracted to him than what she presumed to be a safe extent. “Ethan,” she whispered.

  “Yes?”

  “How can I blindly trust you when I know nothing about you?” She kept her eyes closed.

  He swallowed hard. “You’ll gradually know more about me once we start working on your skills.” He waited to see if she would say anything; she didn’t. “Focus on my voice. Leave your mind empty. There’s nothing else, just my voice. Take a deep breath.” He pronounced each other softly and slowly. “Now there’s a field. Green grass. It’s a sunny day. You walk for a while feeling the heat of the sun caressing your skin. You walk until a cliff. You can see the ocean. You look down; there are many rocks. I’m right behind you. Turn around and look at me.” He stopped speaking for a while and admired her. In a few minutes, all he would get from her would be contempt. As he couldn’t miss the connection, he continued, “Tell me your feelings for me.”

  Completely under his control, Alexis didn’t hesitate, “I’m in love with you,” she said sweetly.

  His expression changed into scorn and aversion. “I’m not,” he said cruelly. Alexis was motionless; her eyes were taken by sorrow. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her off the cliff. He watched a desperate Alexis fall slowly. “Fight back,” he commanded. “You’ll die if you do nothing. Make it stop. Now!” he ordered.

  The rocks and the ocean disappeared. The sunny day gave room to darkness. Alexis was no longer falling. She was back to the cliff, and suddenly they were back to her room. Ethan was hurled across the room hitting the wall.

  A loud noise woke Anna up. "Alexis!" She jumped out of bed and ran into Alexis's room. “Al? Al? Are you okay?”

  Alexis was sitting still. She was looking at were Ethan was supposed to be. “I’m fine, mom. I fell off the bed.” She looked at Anna; she was not convinced. “I had a nightmare.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Anna was worried. She had never seen such a cold look on Alexis’s face. It had certainly been a terrible nightmare.

  “No, mom. Thanks. I’ll try to get back to sleep. You should do the same.” She walked to her mom and hugged her. “Love you.” Hopefully, that would be enough to make Anna leave.

  “Love you too, angel. You know where to find me.” Anna kissed Alexis’s forehead and left.

  When Anna closed the door, Ethan left the bathroom where he had hidden.

  “Leave, now,” she said in cold blood.

  “We need to talk about this, Alexis. If we don’t, it will all have been in vain.” He got close to her. “I know you hate me right now. I can understand it.” He questioned himself if he had chosen the right approach. There was no emotion in her eyes. Invaded by agony, he tried to explain himself. “The only way to start unlocking your skills is to release strong feelings and stir them up to cause a reaction from you.”

  “I get it,” she said bluntly. “You’ve already done that. Now you can leave.” She didn’t even blink. If she could choose, she would never see him again.

  “I didn’t mean it,” he said hopelessly.

  “What didn’t you mean? To hurt my feelings? To play with them? To be a completely inconsiderate jerk? To show no regard whatsoever for me?” She was almost shouting. She hated him so much that she could not control herself. She heard a cracking noise. He took his left hand to his right wrist. He didn’t scream, but his face was taken by pain. She didn’t know what to do. Her breathing got faster. She was startled. “Ethan,” she murmured. “Did I…?” She looked at his broken wrist.

  He nodded. “Don’t worry. It’ll heal.” He lifted her chin with the tip of his fingers. “It’s normal. You are full of anger, and you’ve just connected with your skills for the first time. It is hard to control them; I understand. Try controlling what’s in your mind, and you won’t do things you don’t want to. Although I know this is not the case right now.”

  “I didn’t…”

  “You did,” he said firmly. “I don’t blame you. It’s okay, Alexis. Try to get some rest.” He got up and walked to the window. He didn’t want her to misinterpret what he had said. “I didn’t mean when I said that I�
��m not in love with you," he said warmly.

  Alexis was going to go to him, but he didn’t give her time. He left through the window leaving her confused and sorry. She didn’t know what to do with that information. All she wanted for a moment was to be in his arms somewhere safe where no one could find them.

  She looked at her hands. She felt different. Something inside her had been awakened. There was only one certainty: things would never be the same again. She got her phone and texted Ethan, “Please, come back.” She would do as Denise had advised her; she would follow her heart. She waited, but Ethan neither came back nor replied her message. She insisted. “Ethan?” Again, she got nothing. She looked out the window and agony took her over. He was not outside. She didn’t feel him. She opened the window and walked to the edge of the roof. If both Ethan and her father could jump to the tree, so could she. Alexis hoped in vain that a protective Ethan would show up to stop her. She took a deep breath and jumped. She smiled when her arms embraced the tree trunk. Even though she was pleased with herself for having done something she had never thought she was capable of doing, the minute she set her foot on the grass, she knew she had made a mistake. She was all alone and vulnerable. Ethan was not there to protect her, and she had no idea of what she could actually do with her skills. She didn’t even know what they were.

  “Alexis,” a very low and charming male voice whispered. The calling came from the woods, and Alexis was ready to answer it when Ethan appeared.

  “Back to the house,” he ordered.

  “I texted you…”

  “Not now, Alexis. Get inside.” Alexis got the extra key her mother hid behind a rock and unlocked the back door. “What’s the matter with you?” he asked angrily when they got into the kitchen.

  “Excuse me?” Alexis was lost.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed? What were you thinking?”

  She didn’t remember having seen him so furious before. She was going to apologize, but an evil smile took Ethan’s face. “How can you be so naive?” The malice in his voice made Alexis shiver. “You cannot believe everything you see. Hasn’t he told you that?” As he started walking toward her, she walked backward until her back hit the kitchen counter. The man standing right in front of her was not Ethan. She had let an enemy in.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “I’m Samil, but you can call me Sam,” he smiled. “I’m a friend, not a foe as you will see.” Alexis tried to focus her mind on hurting Samil, but nothing happened. “I find it cute that you believe you can hurt me. Well, you can’t. Not yet, at least. Certainly not ever if you let Ethan train you.” He got closer to her. “You see, he has a very specific goal, a limiting one. He won’t let your skills flourish.” He didn’t take the malicious smile off his face. “Could you lend me a pen, please?” he asked politely.

  Alexis pondered. Samil was the second person to make her question Ethan’s intentions in less than twenty-four hours. The word person didn’t seem to suit him though. Creature would be better. Perhaps a shapeshifter. She stretched her arm and got a pen near the phone.

  “Thanks, and no, I’m not a shapeshifter,” he smiled. “And no, I cannot read your mind. It’s just obvious that you would think I was one. This,” he said pointing to his face, “is an illusion. Give me your hand,” he commanded.

  Alexis couldn’t take her eyes off his. He looked like Ethan, but his eyes were different. They were witty, devilish. He raised his eyebrows and stretched his hand asking for hers. She doubted he would kill her using a pen to write in her hand, so she gave it to him. He wrote a number down.

  “You like texting, right? You can text me if you have questions.” A more serious expression appeared on his face. “I’ll give you the answers he doesn’t want you to have.” Samil was going to tell her to keep their conversation a secret, but he believed she had no intention to tell Ethan about him. He was glad Ethan was screwing things up so badly, giving him and anyone else the opportunity to approach Alexis in a more appealing manner. “Have a good night.” He gave her a lopsided smile and left the house.

  She stared at his number for a few minutes. Things were out of control. She didn’t know in whom to trust. She was lost and scared. Not even in a billion years could she have imagined that school would be the least of her concerns. Samil and the Oren made dealing with Margaret child’s play. She got a glass of water and went back to her room. The fact that Ethan hadn’t replied her message worried her. She didn’t want him to get hurt. Before going to bed, she checked her cell phone once more. Nothing. She could only hope he was safe.

  Ethan opened his eyes and immediately took his hand to the back of his head. There was some blood. Whoever had hit him didn’t want him dead, and he was grateful for that. He was so distracted when he left Alexis’s room that he didn’t even see the enemy. “Alexis,” he murmured. If he was not the target, she was. He desperately got his phone and read her messages. “Can I go now?” It was almost 6 a.m. He had been out for several hours. The lights in her room were out. She was probably sleeping. He had to make sure she was safe though. He climbed the tree and jumped to the roof. His wrist was aching. It had healed a bit, but not enough to make the pain go away. He looked through her window and watched her sleep for a while. He regretted not having given her time to respond to his feelings for her.

  Denise was a little nervous to see Alexis. She hadn’t reacted well the day before, and Denise was not sure she would be willing to talk that day. Maybe she wouldn’t even show up for lunch. She sat and waited. She considered calling, but she didn’t want Alexis to think that she was demanding her presence. She would wait. It was almost noon. She would soon know whether Alexis would cancel or not. Denise was so impatient that it was impossible to stay on the couch. She started walking from one side of the living room to the other. Finally, the doorbell rang. Denise had to control herself not to run to open the door. She didn’t want Alexis to notice that she had been anxiously waiting for her. “Alexis?” she asked calmly.

  “It’s me, Denise,” said Alexis sweetly. She was glad to be at Denise’s. She already knew that Ethan was okay, so her major concern was to get information about her father. “Have you made lunch?”

  “Oh, I ordered. I thought that maybe you wouldn’t want to spend time cooking instead of talking.”

  “Sure. It smells great,” she said kindly.

  “It’s from Martha’s. I hope it’s good. I don’t know any other restaurants in town.”

  “Not yet, but I’ll change that this week,” she assured. She tried her best to sound relaxed. It was not in her plans to let Denise know that she would do anything to get the truth about her father.

  “Would you like to have lunch now?” Denise asked politely.

  “That’d be great.” It was better to have lunch before they started talking or else they would probably not eat anything at all. They sat and enjoyed a nice meal together. They talked about trivial things related to the house, the weather, and the food itself. Both avoided mentioning Scott during lunch. When lunch was over, Alexis washed the dishes while Denise remained at the table. An awkward silence preceded the beginning of the most meaningful conversation Alexis would have that day. She stalled a bit, and she promised herself she wouldn’t lose her temper like she had the day before. She got back to the table and sat. “How did you meet him?” she asked calmly.

  “Ten years ago, I lost control of my car and ended up in a lake. The door wouldn’t open. I was going to drown." Denise went deep in her memories trying to make her gratitude as palpable as possible. "He saved me.”

  “So, it was not magic that brought you together?” Alexis had made up a thousand different stories in her mind, and all of them involved magical skills.

  “Yes and no. Uh… he used magic to save me, but we didn’t have to meet again, right? We did because we both knew what the other was and that created a link between us.”

  “What are you?” Alexis frowned. She had focused so much on her father that she
hadn’t given enough attention to the fact that Denise was involved in all that as well.

  “I’m a Dorian,” she knew the word meant nothing to Alexis, so he continued, “a guardian of hearth, abundance and nature.”

  For some reason, Alexis was skeptical. “Why do I keep getting cute definitions? I suppose that if everyone was a good being, there would be no need to protect the amulet.”

  “I gave you the definition of what a Dorian is. I didn’t attach the definition to being good or bad. That’s your interpretation of it,” said Denise peacefully.

  “Right,” said Alexis sarcastically. She took a deep breath. She was going to lose control again if she didn’t keep her mouth shut. “I apologize. Please, continue.”

  “We kept in touch… He loved you very much, Al,” she said warmly. She knew Alexis had been questioning her father’s feelings. She needed to be comforted.

  “Why didn’t he tell me the truth?” Alexis asked, enraged.

  “You were not ready to know it. You were young. There was no need for him to tell you. He thought you would have a choice just like he did.”

  “Well, he was wrong. I don’t see anyone giving me a choice. Do I have any?” she rejoined.

  “Not really.” Denise pondered before continuing, “your father had an option because there was another Elkavian capable of protecting the amulet, so Scott did not have the obligation of assuming his role as a protector. That’s not the case right now. You’re the only one left.”

  “So, I’ve heard. What if I don’t want it?” She genuinely hoped that someone would come with a solution, a way out of that mess.

  “That’s not an option, dear. You’ll have to take that responsibility. Creatures will come after you nonstop. There is no running away from this. The more you connect with your skills, the more you’ll connect with the amulet. You will feel it calling you. This is who you are, Al. We can’t escape who we are.”