“I’ll figure this out, guys. But in the meantime, no talking about Allie with the parents,” Aidan instructed. “This could go badly for her if we make a rash decision.”
“I’ll give you one week, but then we’re telling our parents.” And that was why Quinn was his best friend. He had all the respect in the world for Aidan, but he would stand up to him when it really mattered.
“Fair enough.” Aidan nodded.
~~~
“I can’t find much of anything on her, man.” Graham let his hand fall away from the computer screen. He didn’t need search engines to find what he wanted. Since the moment of his Awakening, Graham could communicate with computers and gadgets through his gift.
“At least not in mortal records,” he sighed. “I wish I could do more, but this thing is so new, I’m still figuring out how it works.”
“Thanks for trying,” Aidan said. “Tell me what you got?”
“Just the bare bones of basic information on her and her family. It’s like someone went out of their way to keep her as far off the grid as possible. There’s nothing here but an incomplete record of her adoption and some school transcripts.”
“Alexis Ann Mareé Carmichael.” Aidan stared at the screen. “That’s a lot of names for such a small person. Adopted by Lily and Carson Carmichael when she was a few days old, but there’s no birthdate or address listed. Did you find anything on the parents? I’ve never heard that surname before.”
“Probably a fake one. I could find out more if I could access Immortal records.” Graham said. “Both are scientists, and they’ve lived all over the world. Her school transcripts read like a travel itinerary. Other than that, there’s nothing. No credit history. No major purchases—not even the house here. It’s like they pay cash for everything. It’s weird. Allie doesn’t even have a Facebook page.”
“Born in South Africa, then at eight months old they moved to Nigeria. Then to Egypt and The Sudan.” Aidan scanned through her transcripts. “She started school in rural Scotland, then spent several years bouncing around Eastern Europe. Nearly a year in Amsterdam, before a sudden random move to the Philippines, then across the globe to Brazil, and back to Egypt. Six months in Indonesia and then to New Zealand for nearly two years, then a sudden move to Sydney Australia just a few months ago and now … Cleveland?”
“I don’t know what these people are running from, but clearly something has them spooked,” Graham said. “No one races around the globe like that unless they have something to hide.”
“Can you imagine? Changing schools so many times? She must be so lonely,” Aidan muttered absently. Allie spent her whole life, cut off from their world, with only her parents as company. Parents who kept her true nature from her.
“Aidan, are you sure about this? Not telling Gregg?” Graham asked. “This could be dangerous.”
“I don’t know, man, but I have a very strong feeling that we need to be careful. I’m afraid Dad would just swoop in and take over. I want all the facts first before I tell him.”
“Alright, you know I trust you,” Graham said. “I like her. Probably more than I should so soon.”
Aidan shot him a less than amused look.
“Relax, not like that!” He rolled his eyes. “She feels like family to me, and we protect family. We’ll give it a few more days, but then we’ve got to figure out a better plan.”
~~~
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Aidan:
Aidan watched Allie from the cover of the darkly tinted windows of Sasha’s hybrid. He waited impatiently for the queue of cars lining up at the docks to move forward. She hadn’t sensed them yet and he was anxious to see her reaction when she did.
Allie was with a mortal woman, probably a neighbor giving her a ride. He watched as she made her way onto the ferryboat and up to the top deck where she leaned over the railing, her dark sunglasses glinting in the light, her spectacular hair shimmering like fire. She wore a bored expression as she gazed at the city across the bay, absently sipping her coffee. Just as they passed slowly beneath her feet, Aidan noticed a tremor of tension ripple through Allie’s body. Her head turned sharply in their direction. She knew they were close, but she didn’t seem to understand how she knew.
What in the hell am I supposed to do with this girl? He knew what his father would expect him to do, but he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to do it. The right thing seemed so wrong, so cruel. The right thing, in Gregg’s estimation, would be to step in and force the parents to tell her what she was. If that went badly, he would likely remove her from her home and place her somewhere far away from those who had done this to her.
Without a word to his friends, Aidan stepped out of the car and headed across the lower deck to the stairs.
Time to get to the bottom of this. I’m making all kinds of crazy assumptions. He took the stairs two at a time but paused on the top step to watch her. She seemed so calm and self-assured as she stood there, like there wasn’t a car full of strange Immortals just below her. She was way more relaxed with them than she should be. There were so many warning bells going off in his head, but Aidan was like a moth to a flame; he just couldn’t stay away. Looking at her now, he knew there was no way he could tell Gregg. Not yet. Not until he knew her whole story. He needed to have enough of a reason to convince his father to let her and her family stay.
“Morning, Lex!” He cringed when his attempt at a cheerful tone came out sounding fake and flat. He sidled up beside her, eager to experience the comfort and acceptance he felt when with her.
“Knock it off with the Lex crap!”
“Not a morning person?” Man, she has a really cute scowl!
“Sorry, I guess I’m not really the bright-eyed sort.” Her smile was breathtaking. He had trouble thinking straight when she looked at him like that.
“Dude … is that a violin strapped to your back?”
“Yeah. That supposed to be funny?”
“Band geek? Doesn’t really fit the whole tattooed-muscled-pretty-jock-boy thing you’ve got going on.”
“Pretty?” Did she really just make fun of me? To my face? He wasn’t sure what to make of the insult. “I do not play in the marching band, sweetheart. I’m first violinist and concertmaster with the Cliffton Orchestra.” It took Aidan a moment to realize she was just teasing him. He was used to it from the others. He’d known them all his life, but he’d never experienced anything resembling playful banter with a near stranger before. And definitely not with an Immortal.
“Eh, play me some Bach and this cranky redhead will shut up.”
She has such good taste in music! Aidan you’re a dead man. You cannot fall for this girl! But he was pretty sure that already happened back in the woods a few days ago.
“You’re all sorts of trouble, aren’t you?” he said dryly.
“Me? You might as well be holding a sign that says ‘WARNING: dark and dangerous. Keep out.’”
Oh, you have no idea how right you are, babe.
“Are you normally this mean or is it just me?” He was enjoying the hell out of the way she teased him.
“Sorry, it’s me. I haven’t slept in like a year, so I’m crabby. But I’m afraid the sarcasm comes with the package. You hang out with me long enough you’re bound to get burned.”
That can’t be right. She shouldn’t still be struggling with insomnia. Unless … no way. That’s ridiculous! She can’t be that young.
“Allie, how old are you?” He had to be wrong. It wasn’t possible, it would mean…
“I skipped second grade so I won’t be sixteen for another month.”
Aidan’s mind reeled with all the possibilities that simple statement meant.
“That explains it,” he said softly. So softly that even Chloe couldn’t have heard him.
“Explains what?”
How the hell did she do that? No one hears like that at fifteen! But there were things Aidan had been capable of long before his Awakening. He coul
d see it now—Allie reminded him so much of himself at that age.
“I’m just trying to figure you out.” How could she not be manifested yet? If it’s true, she’s going to be powerful. She could be my … equal.
“I promise I’m not all that complicated.”
“I beg to differ.” He had to be wrong.
“Enough about me. What’s with them?” Allie rolled her eyes at Sasha and the others. Quinn and Graham were pretending like they hadn’t been caught staring. Sasha waved and said something about needing to get to a basketball meeting before homeroom, but he really saw it when Chloe took a bashful step behind Quinn.
It’s true. Allie was crazy powerful—or would be very soon. His friends were treating her with respect and deference. The same way they’d always done with him, even when they were kids. It drove him completely insane. Most of the time they didn’t show it, but they were now. And not to him.
“They find you bizarrely intimidating.”
“Most people do, but could you make the staring stop?”
“I’ll talk to them.”
“It’s kinda strange how all your friends are adopted.” She was changing the subject because she was uncomfortable. He wondered if she even realized she was doing it.
“You know anything about your birth parents?”
“Not a thing.”
“Same here.” Aidan listened to her talk about her family—a family she obviously loved, but he wondered how they could do this to her.
What are they waiting for? Was it like Quinn said, they just wanted to spare her for as long as they could? Did they have any idea how powerful their daughter was going to be? He could sense it now that he knew she wasn’t manifested yet. Allie was close, but they had a few weeks to figure out what to do with her. How am I ever going to explain this to her? She’ll think I’m a freaking lunatic! Unless I wait to tell her after her Awakening. No, that’s cruel, I can’t do that. Aidan’s thoughts were a jumble of confusion as Allie rambled on about her family.
“So, who was that with you back at the dock?” Aidan asked, simply to have something to say.
“My mom.”
“What? How?” That woman was mortal? Then it all slid into place. Allie was fifteen, on the cusp of sixteen. She’d spent her life racing around the world with her mortal parents. It explained everything. But she should know how different she is from everyone around her. If she really was as powerful as Aidan suspected she might be, then she’d led a very lonely life, completely isolated from her kind. It’s so sad! At least I’ve had my family. Allie’s circumstances suddenly put his own into a much different perspective. He had spent much of the last few months wallowing in self-pity when he had so much to be grateful for.
“What do you mean how?” Allie laughed. “The usual way. Mom without a baby, baby without a mom. Sign some papers, instant family.”
“Right. I-ah … she’s an archeologist, huh?” He grasped desperately for some thread of the conversation he was only half listening to.
How to handle Ms. Alexis Carmichael? I can’t just spring it on her. It would be too much of a shock. It could send her into an early Awakening, and he refused to let that happen. She had a hard road ahead of her, she shouldn’t have to deal with that too.
You could let Dad send her somewhere safe where someone could make sure that wouldn’t happen. But Aidan didn’t think she was the type to sit back and let that happen. She loved her family, but they had no idea what she was. He felt like it fell to him to handle this. Allie was more comfortable with him than anyone … ever, and the overwhelming relief he felt just being near her was like an enormous weight had lifted from his shoulders. They would be good for each other. He just needed to convince the Governor that what was best for Allie, was for her to stay right where she was.
~~~
“So how’d it go?” Sasha asked when he returned to the car.
“Sure you guys are ready for this?”
“What?” Quinn frowned at the expression on Aidan’s face.
“Her parents are mortal.”
“Mortal?” Graham choked on a protein bar.
“And Allie’s only fifteen.”
Dead silence fell as Sasha pulled off the ferryboat at the Edgewater docks.
“But she feels so powerful already,” Chloe whispered in her small voice.
“Think about it guys. Think about how I felt to you before my Awakening.”
“Aidan! She’s your equal!”
“It’s only a possibility right now, Sash.” He wouldn’t know for sure until Allie was manifested, but it seemed likely.
“Alright, so how are we handling this?” Quinn asked.
“If we tell Gregg now, he might try to take her away from her mortal family. The only family she’s ever known. And if she’s as powerful as I think she will be, I don’t want to do that to her. She’ll have enough to deal with without losing her family too. I don’t see any harm in keeping this under wraps for a while. Let me get to know her better and I’ll figure this out. I’ll find out when her birthday is as soon as I have the opportunity, but I think we have a little time. My gut instinct is to keep this from her until after her Awakening.”
“Aidan! That’s cruel!” Sasha cried. “You can’t expect her to go through something so terrifying completely blind! She’ll have a tremendously powerful Awakening if she’s even remotely as strong as you. Don’t make it worse on her than it already is!”
“Okay, and if I somehow find the words to tell her what she is, without any proof, would she even believe me? And if by some miracle she did, the shock could send her into an early Awakening. And we all know how that could affect her for the rest of her life.”
“He’s right, Sash,” Quinn said. “Keeping it from her might be the kindest thing we could do. At least after she’s manifested, she’ll have proof that she is what we say she is. She won’t just have to take our word for it. And she’ll have the strength to handle such a revelation then. We tell her now—when she’s this close, she could fall apart.”
“There’s just no good way to deal with this, is there?” Sasha said. “Let’s just agree to keep silent for Allie’s sake. I’ve only known her a few days, but I don’t want to see her go either. She belongs with us, but we can’t let this go on too long, Aidan. We need to decide this together and we’ll tell Dad together.” Sasha pulled into the school parking lot just as the ferry shuttle arrived.
They all watched as Allie climbed from the van and headed through the gates.
“Don’t be weird around her, guys,” Aidan said. “She’s going to need friends. My guess is she’s never had any. She’ll need you guys to be there for her through this mess.”
“She’ll need you too, Aidan,” Chloe said softly. “More than she’ll need the rest of us.”
~~~
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
Aidan: Six weeks later
“You’re disgusting!” Sasha shrieked as Aidan rummaged through the fridge. He was absolutely ravenous after a hard afternoon of football practice. He still had to meet Jin in a few hours for their evening session, but he needed to eat now. These long days were his hungriest. He would be exhausted tonight and in desperate need of sleep, but he was resting so much better lately.
“Dude, you do stink.” Allie wrinkled her nose at him.
“Football practice got messy.” He stuffed half a club sandwich into his mouth. She would know about the gnawing hunger soon enough. If she really was his equal, she would understand what his life was like in a way no one else ever could. That thought kept him going these days.
“I might have tackled Vince a few times just for fun.” He was thoroughly convinced she would get over her little crush when she finally knew.
“Aidan!”
“The guy’s a douche.” Especially for the crap he pulled with Kayla. Granted, Aidan was pretty sure Vince had no idea about Kayla’s pregnancy, but he was still a total jackass for taking advantage of her feelings for him.
>
He knew it wasn’t his place to tell Allie the guy wasn’t good enough for her, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her choosing someone with such a bad track record.
“Want to stay for dinner? You can meet our parents.” He cast a glance at Sasha. She was pissed at him for telling their father about Allie. She would be in trouble too, but Aidan would be in it deep before the night was over.
“Sure,” Allie said.
“Shouldn’t you be discussing that with me?” Sasha hissed in tones Allie shouldn’t be able to hear. Except she did, and had no idea what she was hearing. She was doing that a lot lately. It was fascinating, seeing what she was capable of already.
“Uh, I can just go home, Sash.”
“Crap!” Sasha blanched. “I just meant … I … er, how does she do that?” She glowered so fiercely, Aidan couldn’t quite stifle his laughter.
She’s so my equal. Allie’s friendship meant the world to him and he couldn’t wait until there were no more secrets between them. She had changed his outlook on everything, almost overnight.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m just not surfing the same channels as you guys,” Allie sighed.
“Hey, it’s my turn to cook this week.” Aidan shrugged out of his muddy shirt. “Want to help? You can just watch, uhh … I’ll do the actual cooking.” The girl was an astonishing disaster in their Culinary Arts class. It was actually kind of frightening to witness what she could do to food.
He caught her staring at his chest when he ducked into the laundry room for a clean tshirt.
Too bad she only looks at me like that when she thinks I’m not watching. But her curiosity turned to confusion. That’s when he glanced down and saw Erin’s latest work. On her last visit, his cousin had removed a portion of the symbols that wrapped from his chest and over his shoulder to his back. Shit! She noticed.
“See something you like, sweetheart?” He grabbed her around the waist to distract her. With Allie, any kind of flirtation sent her reeling in the opposite direction. She was attracted to him, but she resisted it. His power set her on edge, but once she understood, all that would change. After her Awakening she would need someone who understood.
Immortals of Indriell- The Collection Page 43