“You think I’d overwhelm you?” he asked.
“We’d overwhelm each other.”
“I made so many assumptions about what would happen after your Awakening,” he said sadly. “I was so certain you would see how much we needed each other and you would forget all about Vince. I never stopped to consider he might be better for you. I know you better than anyone. I should have known you’d resist this life, clinging to your old one, doing this your way—not mine or anyone else’s.”
“About time you wised up.” She nudged him playfully.
“Our friendship means the world to me, Allie. I’m so sorry for pushing you away. I needed some distance. I still need distance,” he said. “I can’t go back to the way it was. I love the intimacy we have, but I clearly can’t handle it. Can you forgive me for acting like a jerk?”
“Don’t shut me out like that. Ever again, you hear me? I’ve missed you!” She hugged him tightly.
“I missed you, too,” he murmured.
“Does this fall under the intimacy category?”
“‘Fraid so.” He pulled away. “I just can’t, Allie.” He shook his head sadly. “We have to find a middle ground where we can be friends, but we need boundaries. In the last few weeks I’ve started sensing my Complement and that changes everything.”
“What’s it like?” she whispered, experiencing a bit of a reality check.
“I don’t think I can talk about it yet, especially with you. She’s out there just waiting for me,” he said in complete awe. “I’m not sure what to do with that, but I do know I’ll never recognize her as long as I resist the possibility of anyone but you.”
Allie forced a smile, feeling a stab of regret at the idea that some unknown girl had a claim on him so deep he couldn’t even tell her about it.
~~~
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
“Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff,” Allie moaned as she eased into the scalding hot bath water.
Now I know what Aidan meant about brutal training. She was bruised from head to toe almost every day, with near constant broken fingers, toes and ribs. It didn’t matter that she healed within days; she was still in a great deal of pain most of the time.
As the jets kicked on, she sprinkled the water with a heavy dose of the bath salts Aidan had given her for Valentines Day. He’d made them himself, but they weren’t the girly kind of bath salts meant to make her skin soft and fragrant—these were meant to ease sore muscles and give her some relief. They were the bomb. He was nervous about giving them to her, in case she got the wrong idea. Things were much better between them now, but not like it was before.
Resting her head against the cool edge of the tub, she inhaled the eucalyptus scented steam and listened to the gloomy lyrics talking about blame and escape. Allie’s eyes drooped and swirling masses of fog filled her mind. She drifted, slowly slipping beneath the water. Through the muddled cloud of her thoughts, something warm and familiar pulled at her. Her power stirred deep in her chest and she felt a sense of urgency, pushing her to reach for that elusive thing. Something she lost and desperately needed to find.
Night Kayla, thanks for listening, Aidan said as he leaned in for a kiss. Allie retreated into the fog, she didn’t want to see this.
What the hell? Allie? His voice echoed in her mind as loudly as if he shouted.
She jolted awake with a splash, spewing water from her lungs. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“Falling asleep in the bathtub, really?” she muttered at her stupidity. She climbed out of the tepid water and reached for a towel.
She rolled her eyes at the sound of Kashmir, Aidan’s self-imposed ringtone.
“Hello?” she croaked.
“What exactly are you doing, you crazy redhead?”
“Drowning in my bathtub. Why?”
“I’ll assume you mean that literally, since I just felt like I was drowning and now my mouth tastes like soapy flowers.”
“What?” Her brain was still fuzzy.
“Something weird just happened and I’m pretty sure I’m not the responsible party. I’m getting on the ferryboat now, I’ll pick you up in a few.”
“No, Aidan. It’s just a stupid fluke.”
“Alexis Ann, that was weird even by my standards,” he said dryly. “We need our mentors.”
“Fine," she relented. "I'll get dressed and meet you outside in twenty. She was starting to feel bad about sneaking out all the time, but her parents were too busy looking the other way to notice.
~~~
“I’m sorry, this could have waited.” Allie flopped onto a chair in the common room.
“This is why we’re your mentors,” Emma said. “Now tell us everything.”
It’s going to be a long night. Allie recounted all the evening’s events from her perspective and then it was Aidan’s turn to do the same. When all the details had finally been discussed ad nauseum, her head throbbed with a dull ache.
“I think it’s safe to assume this is Allie’s show,” Jin said. “But Aidan seems to be responding quite strongly.”
Emma nodded in agreement. “I’ve seen this before, although never in ones so young, but I’m almost certain she’s opened a telepathic link.”
“No.” Aidan shook his head, his voice barely audible. “No, no—please … no.” He ran his fingers through his hair the way he did when he was really frustrated.
“Your subconscious minds seem to be reaching out to one another,” Emma speculated.
“Like an unconscious desire to connect with someone who understands,” Jin added. “A coping mechanism.”
“I was only trying to take a step back, Allie!” Aidan’s voice was a harsh rasp. “You couldn’t just let me have a little distance? You had to pull me right back?” He rose to pace, his face white and his eyes wide.
“Aidan, you know she didn’t do this on purpose,” Emma said.
“What does it mean?” Allie asked miserably. Judging by Aidan’s reaction, this was really bad.
“It means we’re right back at boundary issues!” he snarled.
“Get it under control, kid,” Jin said softly.
“This is a very powerful and complicated gift. You guys need to learn to cooperate,” Emma said. “Whatever issues you’ve been having need to be left at the door.”
“What should we expect?” Allie asked. She sat in a daze, feeling like this was all happening to someone else.
“It will take many years of practice to attain a true telepathic connection.”
“Yeah, if we were normal!” Aidan doubled over, taking a deep breath. “She can’t be in my head like that!” She’d never seen him struggle for control like this.
“Deep breaths, Aidan,” Jin said, his voice full of compassion.
“You will likely only feel this connection when you sleep, but don’t fight it, just let it evolve naturally,” Emma said.
“And be respectful of each other’s privacy. Thoughts and dreams are not easily controlled. You may hear things you wish you hadn’t,” Jin added. “I want you both to start keeping a dream journal.”
“And maybe we should set some time aside every week to discuss your developments since it involves you both,” Emma said eagerly.
Allie glanced at Aidan, suddenly feeling like a lab rat they were dying to toss into the maze just to see what it would do.”
~~~
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
“Will you stop doing that?” Allie rolled her eyes when Aidan leapt from the couch in the middle of a movie.
“It’s just too freakin’ weird when someone wanders into your head.” He shuddered. “It’s like spiders crawling in your brain.”
“I’m familiar,” she said dryly.
“I don’t even know I’m doing it!”
“Like I do? Aidan, I never know what I’m doing!”
Since that first night, they’d experienced these minor telepathic incidents. It never lasted long, but whenever one of them re
alized the other had drifted into their thoughts, they lost the connection.
“I know you hate this,” she said, “but you do know I didn’t invade your privacy on purpose?”
“I know. I suppose if I have to share my brain with someone, I’m glad it’s you.”
~~~
This is so bizarre! Allie knew she was asleep in her own bed, but somehow she was also in Aidan’s room, and she definitely wasn’t dreaming.
Aidan, wake up, it’s happening again! She thought about beating him with a pillow and one was instantly in her hand.
Wake up! She slammed the pillow against his head.
Jeez, Lex! Not so rough, baby, he muttered sleepily.
Okay, that’s new. She hit him again.
What? What’s with the brutality? he moaned. I’m awake. Whoa, this is weird. I’m not awake, am I?
I think we’re asleep, but not really. She shrugged.
Progress, I guess. Wait, why did it feel like you were beating me to death just now?
Like this? She envisioned the pillow again.
Hey! Stop it, Red!
Power of visualization. She thumped him over the head again.
You’re so dead!
She immediately found herself lying on Aidan’s bed as he returned in kind.
Stop! she giggled. When he collapsed beside her, she noticed how underdressed they were. He was in boxer-briefs and she was in a tank and boy shorts.
This is definitely not helping our boundary issues. He sighed as a t-shirt covered his bare chest. Allie quickly made a mental adjustment to her own attire.
Sorry I’ve made it worse.
Sorry I’ve been a jerk about it. I know you didn’t want this either. You just missed me. He smiled.
And apparently, I used my power to force my way into your mind against your will.
I don’t even understand what’s happening right now. He changed the subject. But it’s kind of amazing.
Are we really just dreaming? She tried to wrap her brain around the anomaly.
It’s more than that. He frowned in concentration as his bedroom faded and they were suddenly sitting in their normal spot on the beach, although they now had separate lounges. It’s like we’re somewhere between awake and asleep, in a reflection of the real world.
Yeah, it’s distorted, like a fuzzy memory. Hold on a sec, I want to try something. Allie closed her eyes and focused on a vivid mental image. In a flash of green light, they were lounging in their chairs atop the ruins of Machu Picchu with a giant picnic basket between them.
You have quite the imagination, baby. He reached for a bunch of grapes.
Okay, what’s with that?
What?
I don’t know, pookie, you keep calling me baby.
What? No!
Yes, you most certainly have. She giggled, but her smile faltered when she caught a glimpse of the jumbled thoughts bouncing around his head. His loneliness was so painful. She sensed something dark and forlorn rising within him, something associated with his power.
Don’t get too close, Lex. My demons are all twisted up with my power.
Aidan, I thought I understood before. I wasn’t even close.
Wow, you do think like a mortal, he said softly. And you don’t see yourself clearly at all.
Back atcha. She reached for a plate of cupcakes she imagined into existence.
We better get our story straight, before the mentors have us in session for the foreseeable future, he said.
Cheers to that. They’ve been salivating over this, just waiting for something interesting to happen.
They don’t need to know everything. Let’s just tell them we had the same dream. It’s almost true... And just like that, Allie was back in her room. She rolled over and stretched, amazed by how well rested she felt.
Me too, Aidan said. She could still feel his thoughts but she could also see him in her mind’s eye as he stretched to his full height.
Uh, can we not turn this off? I have to pee, and I’d rather do that alone. Aidan stood uncertainly at the center of his room.
Crap, I have to take a shower! Are we stuck?
Dude, I am so dead. He groaned.
Hey, I do not like where your thoughts are going, mister!
No, no, this is not happening!
Aidan Loukas!
Allie, I’m a guy. You mention taking a shower and my brain immediately goes on naked girl alert.
Try thinking about another naked girl? she glowered.
I know, I know! We need to figure this out. Any ideas? If not, I’m going to the bathroom, so brace yourself for a whole new level of intimacy issues.
I am not watching you pee! So we’ll just try our best to ignore each other? And no peeking! she added firmly.
Yes ma’am.
Allie tried to concentrate on a strong mental image to keep her mind off Aidan as she raced to the bathroom.
“This is so ridiculous!” She let her focus slip for a moment.
Alexis Ann!
Sorry! She clamped her eyes shut and hummed to herself.
This has to stop! he snarled through mentally gritted teeth.
I’m sorry, Aidan. Let’s just try to get through the morning.
It took a Herculean effort, but Allie struggled the most when they were showering. It was distracting, catching quick flashes of his naked flesh and tattoos she didn’t know he had. But it was even more distracting when she caught the random thoughts he was trying very hard to control.
I must have done something awful in my past and I’m paying for it now! He dressed quickly and stormed out of his room.
~~~
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
Get out of my brain! Allie hissed.
Back atcha, Red!
“What’s with you two lately?” Chloe asked.
“Sorry, Chlo,” Allie said. It was proving very difficult to keep this latest development from their friends, but the connection they shared was such an intimate thing, neither felt comfortable discussing it.
“We have to tell them,” Aidan said. He was driving home from the girl’s first volleyball game of the season, which they lost.
Stay out of my head next time and we might actually win!
“It’s not my fault you can’t listen to instructions!”
I know how to play the game! “And we’re not telling anyone!”
“I was just trying to help!”
Think quieter next time!
“Quieter? Really?”
“Do you two have something you’d like to share?” Quinn gave them a puzzled look.
“What?” Allie snapped, completely oblivious of the strange, half conversation they were having.
We did it again. “Allie, we have to tell them.”
“It’s about time,” Graham said. “You two have been at each other’s throats for weeks.”
“Allie seems to be sharing an emerging gift with me,” Aidan announced.
Like I did it on purpose? “It’s not a gift, it’s a curse straight from the fiery pits of Hell!” she fumed. “Apparently, I’m telepathic, but only with this idiot.”
Retract the claws, will ya? “It started a few weeks ago and we’re having issues,” Aidan said with a patient sigh.
“Because someone has trouble telling the difference between my thoughts and when I’ve actually spoken aloud!”
“It sounds the same, you evil little harpy!”
“So, you guys are in each other’s heads all the time?” Chloe giggled.
“Not always.” Aidan lied. They don’t need to know how strong this is already.
“Dude, you have my deepest sympathy,” Graham said solemnly.
“Has she tried to dismember you yet?” Quinn asked with a straight face.
“Har, har. You guys are so freaking funny,” Allie muttered.
~~~
Do you ever stop thinking? Allie sighed.
Do you always ask stupid questions? Aidan replied.
Sorry, th
is is just so…
Exhausting?
Cheers to that, she agreed as Naeemah and Sasha chattered about their vacation plans for spring break.
“Allie, you’ll be going to Paris with us,” Gregg said casually. “If need be, we’ll have Daniel talk your parents into coming along.”
“What? No, we already have plans!”
“We can’t leave you unprotected. You know better than that,” Naeemah said.
“Seriously, Red? You’re complaining about going to Paris?”
“Seriously, Gregg? I’ve seen Paris a dozen times! I’m going boating with Vince and my parents. We’ve planned this for weeks!”
“Even if we weren’t concerned with your safety, you can’t take two weeks off training. I’m sorry, but you have to come with us,” Naeemah said kindly, but firmly.
“What am I going to tell Dad? He’s so excited about this trip.”
“Well, now, let’s talk about this, Nae. What if we sent the guys with her?”
“Babysitters?” Allie sulked.
“Aye, like Liam? And maybe Darius, too?”
“Really? Would they come?”
“For you? My boys would do just about anything. I’ve never seen anything like it. One visit and you’ve got them all wrapped around your little finger.” He winked. “We’ll even lend you our sailboat so everyone has a cabin, and the guys will go along to keep you out of trouble. It’s a win-win.”
“Alright, but I’ll handle my parents.” She hated the thought of Daniel messing with their minds.
~~~
“Little one!” Liam grinned when she rushed into the common room, not hesitating for a second when she flung herself into his outstretched arms.
Immortals of Indriell- The Collection Page 24