Olivia listened wordlessly while he finished recounting the tale of his past in a wooden voice, her eyes full of sorrow once more.
Her gaze dropped to his hand. ‘Can you only control metal?’
Ethan hesitated. ‘I can manipulate earth, water, and air to a lesser degree.’ He looked at Asgard. ‘Your uncle has been training me, but I still can’t control fire.’
‘Can you show me?’ she said after a thoughtful pause.
Ethan hid his surprise at the question. He wavered for a moment, raised his left hand, and concentrated on a polished rock lining a path just beyond the limestone decking.
It trembled slightly before slowly levitating a foot in the air. Olivia drew a sharp breath.
He lowered the rock and focused on a spot above the path. For a moment, nothing happened. Then dirt rose from the ground in a tiny vortex. He made the dust devil dance around Olivia’s legs before carefully disposing of the spinning cloud. He moved his attention to the pool.
Ripples broke across the flat surface. A small wave surged through the water and tumbled past the vanishing edge into the trough below.
Olivia’s eyes glazed over. ‘Oh.’
A quiver suddenly skittered across the inside of Ethan’s skull. He froze. Heat filled his veins. He felt power surge through his body and choked on his breath.
A column of water spouted from the middle of the pool and soared twenty feet in the air. The funnel spun rapidly on itself until it resembled a glittering twister. Asgard and Howard jumped to their feet. Ethan heard their alarmed cries dimly through the blood pounding in his ears; he gritted his teeth and tried to lower his arm, fighting for control of his gift. An invisible force kept his hand aimed at the swirling mass.
Asgard grabbed Olivia’s shoulder and pulled her back from the edge of the pool. The woman blinked.
The alien sensation inside Ethan’s head disappeared. He shuddered and bent over, clutching his hand to his chest while he gasped for air. The pillar of water unravelled and crashed into the pool. The resulting tidal wave washed across the decking and drenched them.
Rapid footsteps sounded from above. Rosa’s head appeared over the edge of the metal railing.
‘What was that?’ she snapped. Her tone turned suspicious. ‘And why are you all wet?’
She started for the metal stairs that connected the upper terrace to the swimming pool deck.
Bernard appeared in one of the doorways leading to the patio. There was a gun in his hand. ‘Is everything all right?’
Ethan slowly straightened, his eyes never leaving Olivia’s face.
‘It’s you, isn’t it?’ he said hoarsely.
She paled.
Asgard scowled. ‘What do you mean?’
Ethan ran a trembling hand down his face. ‘She’s the reason that just happened. She…got inside my head somehow.’
Asgard turned to stare at Olivia.
‘It was the same, back at the motel.’ Ethan faltered. ‘And the woods, just after we fled the abbey.’ His gaze focused on Olivia once more. ‘I have never been able to physically move a living being until last night, but I—somehow, I heard her and felt her fear. I still don’t understand what happened next. All I know is that I—’
‘You snatched me from the abyss when I started to fall,’ Olivia completed in a low whisper.
Howard gave them a puzzled look. ‘What are you talking about?’
Asgard stiffened. Understanding dawned in his eyes. He swore.
Chapter Eleven
Olivia opened her eyes. Golden beams danced across a white ceiling high above her. She bolted upright, her heart hammering inside her chest.
Sunlight filtered through sheer, cream curtains at the end of the room. Beyond them, a wall made of smart glass offered dazzling views of green canyons overlooking the crystal-blue Pacific. Her pulse slowed its wild tempo as she studied the clean lines of the unfamiliar space around her. She was in one of the guest rooms in the mansion. Recollections of the previous day’s events filled her mind.
Olivia was surprised she had managed to sleep after the explosive scenes she had witnessed and the extraordinary accounts she had been privy to in the last twenty-four hours. Although she was coming to terms with the fact that her life was now forever changed, she still found it hard to believe that she would never be able to see Mother Edwards or the nuns again, or return to the abbey where she had spent all her life.
She also could not quite grasp that she belonged to a race of supernatural beings whose origins were older than the Bible.
Pulling down the nightshirt Rosa had given her, she rose from the bed and padded barefoot into the bathroom. It was twice the size of her former bedroom at the abbey and incorporated a walk-in wardrobe and dressing area among its luxurious fittings. She stopped and stared at the racks.
At some point since she arrived at the mansion, they had filled her closet with clothes and footwear. The garments were of a simple yet elegant design and seemed tailor-made for her. She peeked at a label and winced when she recognized an exclusive brand.
She brushed her teeth, showered, and slipped into the clean underwear she found inside a drawer in the wardrobe. She ignored the expensive products arranged on the gleaming dressing table, wrapped a towel modestly around her slender form, and paused undecidedly in front of the clothes racks. She studied the new dresses with pursed lips; they were mostly sleeveless and had low necklines. Her gaze shifted to some jeans.
The denim clung sinfully to her legs when she slipped into them. She shrugged a plain white T-shirt over her head, dried her hair, and put on a pair of canvas shoes.
She stepped outside the room and walked along a gallery with a glass ceiling. She passed a sun deck lined with potted azaleas before reaching the landing with the spiral, steel-and-glass staircase. A delicious smell greeted her at the bottom of the steps. She followed the fragrant aroma to the state-of-the-art kitchen overlooking the infinity pool.
‘Good morning,’ Rosa said brightly. The woman stood at a chef’s range cooker set in an island in the middle of the pale stone floor. She flipped a pancake expertly onto a serving plate and indicated a French press. ‘Would you like some coffee?’
Olivia smiled back shyly. ‘Hi. Yes, I would love some.’
There was a noise from the terrace. Ethan came up the stairs from the pool deck, opened a sliding door, and walked in.
Olivia stared.
The Crovir immortal was rubbing his hair briskly with a towel. Water clung to his bare arms and chest, the crystal drops highlighting his golden skin and well-defined muscles. Her eyes dropped to the dark swimming shorts hanging low on his hips and his long, toned legs. A slow heat suffused her cheeks.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw her.
Rosa sighed. ‘Mr. Storm, how many times have I told you not to traipse in here when you’ve just been swimming?’
Ethan nodded stiffly at Olivia and strolled to the island. He grabbed a piece of bacon from a plate before walking out of the room.
‘Breakfast is in fifteen minutes,’ Rosa called out after him. ‘Tell Mr. Titus, will you? He’s in the bunker.’
Ethan poked his head around the doorway. ‘Howard’s up?’
Rosa scowled. ‘He never went to bed. Bernard said he’s been glued to his computers the whole night.’
Ethan frowned and disappeared.
Olivia swallowed. It looked like the Crovir immortal had still not forgiven her.
‘Have you seen my uncle?’ she asked Rosa.
The cook grimaced. ‘He returned in the early hours of the morning.’
Olivia bit her lip.
After Ethan explained what had transpired during the episode at the poolside the previous night, Asgard had stormed off into the darkness beyond the terrace. They’d stared after him for a stunned moment before Olivia made a move to follow in his steps. Howard had stopped her in her tracks.
‘He’s obviously upset about something,’ the Crovir immortal had murmured. ‘Let him be
. He’ll talk to us when he’s good and ready.’ He had sighed at her expression. ‘Don’t worry, he knows this land like the back of his hand.’
Ethan had avoided looking at her and headed wordlessly into the house.
Rosa’s voice interrupted her dismal musings. ‘Hey, are you okay?’
Olivia looked at the steaming drink the woman had placed in front of her.
‘Yes,’ she murmured.
The cook did not look convinced. Still, she left Olivia alone and returned to her range.
Olivia took the cup and went exploring. Although Howard had promised her a guided tour of the mansion the night before, what had happened on the deck had put a dampener on their plans.
She came across three more lounges, two formal dining rooms, a fully-equipped gym featuring a boxing ring and a fencing area, a heated indoor swimming pool, a sauna, an impressive library with a reading room built into a glass tower, a study, a home-movie theater, a games room, and a cavernous underground garage containing a range of expensive-looking cars, SUVs, and motorcycles. A number of steel doors and lifts guarded by digital security displays appeared in her path. She inspected them curiously before slipping through a pair of sliding doors and onto a patio. She walked past a tennis court and through the terraces and gardens tumbling down the hillside to an observation deck overlooking a gorge. She shielded her eyes with her hand before studying the mansion at the top of the slope.
Olivia had not fully appreciated the deceptive scale of the building and its grounds the evening before. In the harsh light of day, she saw how the clever design allowed the structure to blend into the landscape. The mansion was also strategically positioned on the crest of the rocky elevation and would prove a tough target to breach for hostile forces. Aside from the safety measures she had already seen, she suspected it was brimming with cameras and security sensors.
Although she was grateful for the hospitality and protection of her hosts, the entire set-up made Olivia uneasy. The three immortals living here were clearly used to danger and primed to do battle at the first sign of a threat. The whole thing spoke of a world as far removed from the one she had known her entire life as the moon was from the Earth.
Olivia turned and gazed out over the canyons. She still could not explain what had happened the previous night. When Ethan related the unsettling feelings he had experienced on the three occasions where he seemed to have lost control of his powers, Olivia had been dumbfounded. There had only been one instance when she had deliberately lowered the barriers she had built over the years to shield her mind from the consciousness of others. It had been during their escape from the motel, when she helped the Elemental destroy the sniper’s rifle aimed at them from the other side of the valley.
It was only now that she realized the sin she had committed. So great had her focus been on the perils they faced at the time, she had completely ignored the feelings of the man whose mind she had invaded. Guilt filled Olivia when she recalled the fragments of emotions she had perceived during the precious seconds she had been inside Ethan’s head. She had had little regard for his confusion and alarm, and had used him as one would use a weapon. No wonder he was angry with her. She had violated the sacrosanct space that was his consciousness and made him doubt his own sanity.
But what shocked her even more was how easy it had been and how right it had felt.
In all the years she had tried to suppress her curse, Olivia had never fathomed the extent of her abilities. The very thought was anathema to her. Her actions at the motel had been born of fear and desperation. Had she been in a state to consciously analyze what she had been about to do, she would never have attempted it.
That she had breached Ethan’s mind as smoothly as she had done was uncanny. It was unlike the episodes at the abbey, where her perception of the nuns’ innermost reflections had felt like sneaking into a room and spying on someone’s private conversation. With Ethan, she had not been aware of the usual maelstrom of feelings, needs, and expectations that was the constant state of the human awareness. Instead, she had been drawn to the source of his powers, like metal to magnet. She could still see it now, the shimmering, golden tangle of lines deep inside his body that she had touched with her mind. Had he not been so unnerved, she doubted she would have sensed his thoughts.
Olivia shivered despite the heat of the sun. What had transpired with Ethan Storm terrified her almost as much as the incidents at the abbey and the motel.
Footsteps sounded behind her. She turned and saw Bernard coming down the stone steps.
‘Mr. Godard wishes to speak to you, miss.’
A flutter of anxiety twisted through Olivia’s belly. She followed the man up the slope.
Bernard guided her to a side terrace adjacent to the kitchen and disappeared into the mansion. Olivia ignored the mountain of food laid out on the breakfast table and watched the man standing at the edge of the slate patio.
Asgard was looking out over a wooded valley, hands tucked in his pockets. He had a defeated air about him. He turned when he heard her light steps. An apologetic grimace twisted his lips.
‘Hi,’ he said huskily.
Relief flooded Olivia. She blinked back tears, stunned by the strength of the feelings coursing through her.
In the short time that she had known this man, he had come to mean the world to her. They were bound by bonds that had been forged in love and blood, over centuries filled with heartache and the desperate need to hunt down the immortal who had wrought havoc in their world.
To Olivia, Asgard Godard was the father she had never had.
Ethan walked out onto the deck. He stopped when he saw them and scowled at Asgard. ‘What the hell was with that stunt you pulled last night?’
Asgard eyed the Crovir noble darkly. ‘Sit.’
Howard strolled out behind Ethan. His clothes were rumpled and his hair tousled. He yawned, scratched his chest, and rocked to a halt.
‘Er, should I leave?’ he asked after an awkward pause.
‘No,’ said Asgard gruffly. ‘You should listen to this as well.’
Ethan and Howard pulled out a chair each. Asgard joined them slowly. Olivia took the seat next to her uncle and perched nervously on the edge.
A clatter broke the palpable tension filling the air. Howard paused with his fork in midair, a pancake dangling precariously on the tip.
‘What?’ he said. ‘I’m hungry.’
Ethan muttered something unsavory under his breath and looked at Asgard. ‘So, care to tell us what’s been bugging you, old man?’
Asgard propped his elbows on the table and scrutinized Ethan over his interlocked hands. ‘You said Olivia was in your head?’
Ethan startled. His gaze shifted briefly to Olivia’s face. ‘Yes.’
‘What was it exactly that you heard?’ said Asgard.
Olivia stared at her uncle. She sensed anguish behind the coolness in his voice.
‘The only time I heard anything was in the woods. I sensed her fear. She cried out for someone to help her.’ Ethan faltered. ‘On the other two occasions, it was just something…alien inside my head. Like a presence. But I knew it was her.’
‘How do you know for certain?’ said Asgard. He leaned across the table and pinned Ethan with a sharp-eyed glare. ‘Don’t think, just answer!’
‘Because I recognized the shape of her consciousness,’ he blurted out.
Olivia went still. The cadence of her pulse accelerated at the Crovir noble’s words.
‘It was a brilliant white, tinged with the colors of a rainbow at the edges,’ Ethan murmured self-consciously in the face of Asgard’s intense look. ‘And it was warm, like water heated by the sun.’
A precognitive frisson raised the hairs on Olivia’s arms.
Asgard’s shoulders drooped. He lowered his forehead to his fists. ‘Shit.’
‘What?’ snapped Ethan.
‘Soulmates,’ Asgard replied through gritted teeth.
Howard gaped, a half-chewed strip of
bacon hanging out of his mouth. ‘Huh?’
‘The two of you are soulmates,’ said Asgard. His eyes shifted from Ethan’s puzzled expression to Olivia’s blank one. ‘Immortals’ souls are linked to their destined mates’ for eternity. It takes some several lifetimes to find the one they are meant to be with but, when they do, the bond can be instant. It is also absolute.’
Olivia shook her head. ‘I—I don’t understand.’
Ethan snorted. ‘He’s saying we’re meant to be together. In the biblical sense.’ He glared at Asgard. ‘I don’t believe in that bullshit.’
Olivia flushed. She could feel heat radiating off her cheeks in waves.
‘Also, I really want to know why you look so pissed, old man,’ Ethan added. ‘What, you think I’m not good enough for her?’
‘No, as a matter of fact, you’re not,’ Asgard replied bluntly.
Ethan opened and closed his mouth soundlessly.
‘The fact that the last descendant of the Ashkarov bloodline will end up with a notorious skirt-chaser brings me nothing but grief.’
A bark of laughter rang across the table.
Ethan gave Howard an icy look. ‘Is this amusing to you?’
Howard shook his head, eyes sparkling with mirth. ‘Yes. The nun and the playboy. Who would have thought it?’
Olivia hunched her shoulders and wished she could sink right into the floor.
‘Whether you believe in it or not makes no difference, Ethan,’ said Asgard. ‘Sara Ashkarov was my soulmate. There was nothing either of us could have done to stop the wheels of fate turning on the day we met. To not be with her would have been akin to not breathing.’ He paused. ‘And Natalia Ashkarov was Kristof’s intended mate. In the time that they were together, he mentioned that he sometimes sensed Natalia in his thoughts. They were attuned to each other’s feelings in a way that even Sara and I weren’t.’ He narrowed his eyes at Ethan. ‘The reason you felt Olivia in your mind the way you did can’t be anything else. And I think she augmented your powers.’
Olivia inhaled sharply.
Ethan grunted. ‘Augmented my powers? How?’
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