by Amber Garr
We drove through the elaborate iron gates at the entrance in the early afternoon. The sun floated high in the sky and I welcomed the warmer temperatures and constant sea breeze. Especially since there was a deep chill in my bones at the reminder of where we were. Kain, Carissa, and I had visited Jeremiah as our first stop in trying to find the selkies that attacked Brendan and stole his skin. It was the incident that set the stage for everything else that followed. My parent’s death, discovering my powers, and Brendan leaving all occurred because I had run away from home. And now I was coming back to train with a man who embodied everything I vowed not to become. Someday I hoped I’d finally make the right decisions that led to a better path.
“I see he still has the fountain,” Graham said while bending forward to look through the front window.
“You’ve been here before?”
“A long time ago,” he said without looking at me. I wanted to ask more but the sight of the fountain sent a wave of dread through me. Would Jeremiah be angry about Abhainn?
“I stole his sprite,” I blurted out, thinking that maybe if I confessed, the fear of facing my punishment would go away. It didn’t work.
Graham chuckled. “You what?”
“I stole his water sprite. From the fountain. Jeremiah trapped him here and I felt bad so I stole him and then set him free.” The look on Graham’s face was priceless - a mixture of shock and pride.
“Nice going.” He sat back in the seat and looked at me with an intensity that sped up my heartbeat. “I never would have pegged you for the kleptomaniac type. I’m impressed.”
A small smile spread over my lips before I could stop it. Why was it so important that Graham liked me? I needed to stop acting like a stupid school girl right now. “Thanks, but I’m sure Jeremiah’s going to have something to say about it.”
“I’m sure he will,” Graham replied before opening the car door. I hesitated another moment then climbed outside. The three men were almost on the front porch before turning around to see where I was. Without saying anything, I hurried to their sides and waited to face my wrath.
To my pleasant surprise, one of the human staff members opened the doors and ushered us inside. She immediately directed us upstairs to our guest rooms and told us that we were to meet Mr. Williams for dinner promptly at six. He was apparently out and about, so that gave me a few hours of reprieve. It felt nice for a while, but after thirty minutes I was bored out of my mind.
Graham and the protectors had disappeared somewhere behind the numerous bedroom doors in the upstairs living quarters. The house was a mansion and I had already counted at least ten bedrooms on this floor alone. Jeremiah had once been a famous Hollywood actor and probably still lived comfortably off the royalties and endorsements he’d managed to negotiate before being shunned.
My shoes clicked on the wood stairs and the sound echoed through the open foyer area. I sensed the water coming from the indoor pool Jeremiah had built in the back of the house, but I certainly didn’t want to go there. Too many bad memories. There was no one around, so for lack of any other ideas, I went out the front door and walked over to the large fountain.
Three small concrete ponds interconnected to a larger, higher one in the center. The water constantly trickled out over the fourth pond and sprinkled down against an array of lily pads and faux boulders like a magical landscape. I sat on the edge of the closest pond and ran my hand through the water, letting the microscopic droplets seep through my fingers like sand.
I suddenly missed Abhainn, which made me miss my friends, which made me not want to be here at all. Not knowing what was in store for me was not a feeling I was accustomed to anymore. I liked having a plan and I liked being the one in control of that plan.
Deciding that my thoughts were too depressing, I changed my focus. I remembered our practice session with Abhainn and decided to try again since I didn’t have anything else to do right now. Looking out over the property in front of the house, I made sure that no one was around. This was something I really didn’t want anyone else to see.
Shifting so I sat completely facing the water, I closed my eyes and tried to conjure up a few water balls. Abhainn had done that part for me last time but I hoped I was strong enough to do it on my own now.
In my head I envisioned three glistening globes of water rise from the pond and hover over my hands. Although when I opened my eyes I was only partially satisfied. There was one ball of water and it had barely breached the surface. At least it was a start.
For the next twenty minutes or so I tried to move that water with my own commands. I managed to get it to circle around my hand a few times before plummeting back into the pond, and forcing me to start all over again. By the fifth or sixth try, I had two balls of water and they hovered at eye level.
I wanted to do so much more. Having control over water could mean so many different things. For me, it meant that I could probably hold my own in a water fight, but for someone like Kain who seemed to be a natural, he might be able to control an entire fountain or even the rain. Then I realized what kind of damage someone could do if they really could control and dictate water flow. It was such an important element to so many. Directing water away from nature could be devastating.
The water splashed in my face as the ball fell back into the pond. I certainly wouldn’t be disrupting the natural balance of water and earth anytime soon. Controlling this element was definitely not my forte.
But since I was alone with nothing better to do, I kept on practicing. I don’t know how much time passed before I thought I was finally getting the hang of it. A small column of water had risen up before me and I squealed in delight as the formation moved from side to side in time with my hand. I drew circles and waves and squiggly lines through the air and watched in fascination as the water mimicked my every move. When it shot straight up out of the pond and began to form a tiny tornado, I hesitated to believe that this was of my doing.
The water spout danced around the lily pads and jumped from pond to pond, growing larger with every passing minute. The water level in the ponds noticeably dropped and I could no longer hear the trickling fountain. I stared in awe as the spiraling water stopped moving and spread out across the width of the fountain to form a translucent wall. The particles continued to flow toward the ground and seemed to be recycled as they rose to the top and fell to the earth over and over again. It reminded me of an infinity pool where the water supply seems to be never-ending. It was breathtaking.
If I hadn’t been so enamored, maybe I would have heard him walk up to me. The sharp crunch of gravel nearly gave me a heart attack and when I turned around to see Graham staring up at the wall of water with a smirk on his face, I really wanted to punch him. Not just for scaring me but also for letting me think I had actually achieved something.
“You’re doing this?” I asked incredulously.
He shrugged and winked at me. “Maybe.” His hands were in his pockets and he had looked away from the water for a few seconds. I needed to have all of my attention on the water balls in order to get them to even rise. Graham seemed to be controlling this monstrous display without trying at all.
“How?” I breathed in awe.
“It was natural for me.” As if I needed another demonstration, Graham flicked his head slightly to the right and the wall exploded into millions of tiny droplets. But instead of falling, they moved in slow motion like someone had literally stalled time. They spread out wide across every pond in the fountain and then as leisurely as snowflakes, fluttered to the surface and disappeared. He must have noticed me smiling.
“Pretty cool, right?”
I turned to look up at him. Those dark brown eyes glimmered again and the shadows from his stubble only enhanced the strong line of his cheekbones. I swallowed hard. “It is.”
He stared at me in that intense way again before finally turning his back to the fountain. Leaning against the edge, he twisted his head so that he could still talk to me. “Why are
you out here all alone?”
“Am I not allowed to be?” I said with an attitude.
Graham held his hands up in surrender and chuckled. “Of course you are, luv. Just trying to make polite conversation.” I arched an eyebrow. “What?” he asked. “Can’t I talk to you?”
“You can. It’s just that you’ve made it all but clear that you want nothing to do with me. I’m a burden and you’ve been sent to babysit. You’ve barely said five words to me in the past twelve hours.”
“Hmm,” he sighed and crossed his arms. Tilting his head up to the sky, he closed and eyes and continued. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” He smiled down at me and I’m sure that my breath caught yet again. “It’s not you exactly. It’s this bloody place…and Jeremiah…and I just really didn’t want to come back here ever again.” He picked up a small piece of gravel and threw it toward the house. I didn’t say anything hoping he wouldn’t make me ask the silent question. “Adele sent me here when I was fifteen. It was just after Jeremiah had been shunned so nobody else even knew about it. In fact,” he said while giving me another wink, “you’re the only other person that knows. Well, except for Jeremiah of course.”
“And now you’ll have to kill me,” I stated with sarcasm. That earned me another laugh.
“Maybe. We’ll see how this week goes.”
“Why did you come here?”
He paused for such a long time that I didn’t think he would answer. “My parents sent me to Adele because they didn’t know what to do with me. I was out of control but that was mostly because I didn’t understand what was happening to me.”
“Your powers?”
“Yes, my powers. It seems as if nature played a cruel joke when she created me. An adolescent teenage male should not be allowed to control the minds of all those around, manipulate water without a second thought, and be a natural lie detector. It was too much at once. I acted out, partied all the time to dull the effects, and my parents simply couldn’t take it anymore.” He shuffled his feet and I worried he might leave. “So they shipped me overseas and I’ve been here ever since.”
I thought about that for a minute. In a sense, it was kind of like Brendan’s situation. Being forced to leave home and live on his own at such a young age had to be heartbreaking. They never really had a chance to be normal kids. Well, I guess none of us were really normal, but at least I didn’t need to face that truth until recently.
“How did you get a seat on the Council?”
“Adele. She knew how powerful I really was and once I gave them a demonstration it didn’t take much convincing.” I wondered what that demonstration could have been, but decided it was a conversation for another time.
“They don’t seem to like you much.” I don’t know why I said it but thankfully he didn’t mind.
“They’re just afraid of me. Fear is a big motivator of hate. They know what I’m capable of and I don’t go out of my way to make their lives easy.” He pushed away from the wall and held out his hand toward me. “We should get ready for dinner.”
“Do we really have to stay here?” I groaned.
“Yes, luv we do. But I promise that we’ll try and make the best of it all right?” I smiled and grabbed his hand, allowing him to wrap his warm fingers around mine. An electrical current shot through my arm as I remembered Kain’s warning about Graham’s reputation. Sure, he was attractive, but I didn’t need another complication in my life right now. Perhaps we could just be friends. Graham laughed.
“You’re too much, Eviana Dumahl.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re attracted to me,” he said with certainty.
“No I’m not!”
He stopped walking and stepped in front of me, face serious with concentration and focus. “Natural lie detector here, remember?”
I gulped and he smiled again. “So, you’re an attractive guy. That doesn’t mean I want to marry you or anything.”
He cocked his head to the side as though listening to my inner thoughts. “Partial truth,” he stated. “You don’t know me well enough yet to declare that you want to spend the rest of your life with me.”
“I don’t!” I protested but he covered my mouth with his hand. I resisted the urge to bite down.
“Plus, your heart is elsewhere right now.”
“How do you know that?”
“Told you, luv. I’m talented.” With that, he ushered me into the house, holding my hand all the way to my bedroom door. He placed a gentle kiss against my fingers before winking and telling me he’d see me downstairs at six.
I needed that time to calm my nerves and my racing heart. Perhaps it was because I really missed Brendan or maybe it was because I’d been watching Kain and Carissa’s relationship bloom into something that I no longer had. Whatever it was, I need to clamp down on these feelings because Graham Forrester was not someone I should be with. Ever. And I needed to stop imagining his soft lips against mine when he scoops me up into his arms and we ride off into the sunset together. What a cliché that was anyway. Not to mention that Graham was off limits and as soon as I got through this trip, Brendan and I could be together again.
Jeremiah outdid himself with dinner preparations. The room had been transformed into an elegant fine dining experience complete with candles and a live violinist. For about a half a second I thought maybe he went through all this trouble for me, but when he greeted Graham, I knew Jeremiah could care less that I was present.
“Master Forrester,” he said with a grand bow. “It is such an honor to have you back in my home. I hope your travels were uneventful, mate.”
“I’m not your mate Jeremiah, and yes, so far the company I’ve traveled with has made this trip bearable.” I was flattered by the compliment even if it was a backhanded one.
“Ah, yes. Who wouldn’t be privileged to travel with the beautiful Miss Dumahl?”
“It’s Mistress now,” Graham said and detangled himself from Jeremiah’s grasp. “I expect you to show her the respect she deserves.”
Jeremiah threw back his shoulders and feigned shock. “Why, I would never disrespect Mistress Dumahl. She is way too valuable to us all.” That last comment was directed at Graham and it had an undertone of sarcasm. I didn’t have time to digest it because Jeremiah began pulling me to the far end of the table. “Eviana, may I call you Eviana? I’m so privileged to work with you. If I would’ve known what you were capable of, things may have been a little different the last time you were here.”
My eyes darted across the table toward Graham to see if he knew what Jeremiah was referring to. His face remained perfectly blank as he sat down in the chair opposite me. Jeremiah claimed the head of the table and as soon as we were seated, individual wine glasses and a small cheese platter was placed in front of us. Jeremiah reached for the cheese and Graham downed his wine in one swallow before speaking.
“Yes, we all heard about your demonstration when Eviana and your cousin came to visit.” Graham shook his head. “Poor taste, mate. Poor taste.”
Jeremiah let the comment slide, but I did notice a slight tensing in his shoulders. His long blond hair hung freely down his back and the red robe he wore over his clothes reminded me of a pimp more than an actor. “Ah, don’t be so critical. I hear that’s nothing compared to what our Eviana showed the Council.”
At first I wanted to cringe at the term “our Eviana” and then panicked a little when I realized how much Jeremiah knew. He might officially be shunned, but he certainly had eyes and ears all over the place.
“No, it wasn’t even close to the same thing,” I spat out.
“You made them dance. And you stole them from Adele.” He placed his hand on top of mine. “That is no easy feat.”
Quickly jerking my hand away, I yelled, “You almost killed your staff! That is hardly in the same caliber as making them do the chicken dance!”
“Tomatoes, tomahtoes,” he flicked his hand at the old saying and I wanted to argue more about how we were nothing alike. I might have this power but I didn’t want to dominate humans like Jeremiah did. No, we were two totally different people with dissimilar ideas on how best to use our compulsion skills.
The rest of dinner seemed to evolve around the same few conversation topics. Jeremiah was apparently extremely interested in Graham’s rise to power and he used that position to try and find out more about what Lucian Sutherland was doing. It had been almost two hours and I’d had enough.
“He’s killing our kind!” I finally blurted out. They’d been talking as though I wasn’t in the room and my patience had expired. “He killed my mother right in front of me. He snapped her neck like a bird and then forced me into leadership hoping I would side with him.”
“Oh no dear, he didn’t force you into leadership. It was your birthright. He just happened to hedge the wrong bets.”
“What do you mean, Jeremiah?” I asked, tired of his sing-song voice and cryptic tongue.
“He knew what you could do, he just bet wrong when it came to you siding with him.”
“Well, regardless. He must be stopped and that’s why I’m here. I need better control and I need it now.” The crooked smile that appeared on Jeremiah’s lips was enough to make me down the rest of my wine like a regular drinker. I caught Graham’s amused expression and gave him a look that dared him to challenge me. He smiled and refilled my glass.
“We’ll start in the morning. Meet me at the pool at ten.” Jeremiah looked behind him at one of the scantily clad female wait staff and pulled her arm closer to his face. I didn’t know what he was going to do until I saw him glance at her watch. “It’s time for me to go. Please enjoy the dessert and wine and treat this house as though it were your own,” he said as he rose. Grabbing the hands of two human females, he started to make his way toward the foyer. “On second thought, you might want to avoid the pool tonight. The sprites have been mating again and that might get a little too intense for you.”