“What you saw in Agra was not what you thought you saw.” Allie’s ears turned bright red and she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. That night was the most embarrassing thing. Ever.
“You have far too many admirers.”
“Poor Kahlynn.” Allie shook her head. “You're going to ship my niece off to a nunnery, aren’t you.”
“I already have pamphlets.” His toothy grin was only a little bit terrifying.
“I’ve got training. See you at dinner?” Allie darted to the pantry for a handful of cookies to tide her over.
“You might want to double-fist those cookies, little one. Naeemah has a new regimen planned for you and you aren’t going to like it. I’m going on record now saying I had nothing to do with it.”
~~~
Is she serious? Allie asked.
‘Fraid so, Lex.
“A diet? You want to put me on a diet when I’m half-starved already?” Allie glared at Naeemah through her ankles as she grasped her feet.
“It’s not that kind of diet, Allie. You’ll have plenty to eat, as always,” Naeemah said.
Is she crazy?
Certifiable. She’s been starving me with this diet crap half my life. Run, Lex. Run while you can.
“Don’t listen to whatever garbage my son is telling you. I’ve never starved him a day in his life.”
Oh, she’s such a liar!
Go on, momma’s boy. I can handle this. I don’t live with her. She can’t monitor every bite.
Ha! Just wait—and I’m a McBrien; we’re all momma’s boys.
“It’s not about limiting what you eat or reducing your calorie intake. You’ll actually eat more. But you’ll be eating lean proteins: chicken, turkey, and fish only; healthy carbs and lots of vegetables, with healthy fats, like avocados or coconut oil.”
“It’s not that bad, Allie,” Sasha said from her Sirsa Padasana pose, where her feet nearly touched her head. “It just takes a little self-discipline and you’ll get used to it.”
Don’t listen to her either. Her diet isn’t nearly as strict.
“You can still have some of your favorite foods in moderation.”
But say goodbye to butter, babe.
Like hell.
“You’ll have lots of fruit and kale smoothies for breakfast with whole grains,” Naeemah said.
Don’t let her fool you. ‘Smoothie’ sounds good, right? It’s not. I’d rather munch on the front lawn.
How does she get you to stick to this? Allie couldn’t imagine Aidan giving up cheesecake or steak or going anywhere near anything with kale in it.
She’s a dark witch. She’s gonna get you, Lex. Just wait.
“But why?” Allie stopped Naeemah and Sasha before they could continue rambling on about all the merits of a gluten-free, fully organic diet. “What is the point of taking away the only clearly awesome thing about being Immortal? I can eat whatever I want. Why take such a strict approach to food?”
“You are a powerful girl,” Naeemah said. “Your seventeenth birthday is just around the corner and you’re going to be experiencing a lot of progress, quickly. I don’t want you struggling to maintain control at such a crucial time. A clean diet will give you the added strength and stamina you will need in the coming months. Honestly, until you are Proven, a clean diet really should be an essential part of your training.”
“Please, Naeemah.” Allie clasped her hands together as she moved into the Buddhist Stupa pose, begging. “Please don’t take chocolate cake from me.”
“You can have small treats here and there. Trust me, I know Aidan sneaks whatever he can at the first opportunity he has.”
Damn straight.
“I promise, Allie, you’ll feel better,” Sasha said. She was never one to watch what she ate, but over the summer, she’d changed her tune. “You’ll feel so much stronger and more focused.”
Unfortunately, they have a point. I do feel better when my diet is clean. Just don’t EVER tell Mom I said that or we’re screwed for the next century.
“Naeemah.” Allie sighed. “I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”
“You’ll get used to it.” She chuckled.
“Can I have the rest of the week to stuff my face?”
Naeemah tried unsuccessfully to hide her smile. “Try to do so with restraint. We’ll start on Monday.”
I’m going to eat my way through a mile of pizza and then I’m gettin’ nachos.
Only if you share.
“All right, I’ll concede to your crazy diet for the next few months,” she finally agreed.
You do know she’s not going to let you have coffee, right?
“What?” Allie lunged to her feet with clenched fists.
“Ah, I see Aidan’s dropped the no-coffee bomb.” Naeemah laughed as she rolled up their yoga mats for the day.
“Not happening, Naeemah.” Allie drew the line at messing with her coffee.
“We’ll wean you off with a little decaf-caf-soy-milk blend until you’re only on decaffeinated coffee.”
“Decaf tastes like feet and I’m not drinking soy milk.”
“Then I’m cutting you to one cup a day—black. And I mean one eight-ounce serving.” Naeemah crossed her arms.
She means business, Allie.
“One extra-large iced coffee with whole milk,” Allie countered.
“One small coffee with almond milk. Take your pick.”
“Fine.” I’ll just sneak it on the way to school.
Well, don’t be surprised when the barista serves you something you didn’t order. Naeemah’s a sneaky ninja like that.
~~~
CHAPTER
SIX
Allie shuffled through the common room early Saturday morning. The place was eerily quiet without the usual hustle and bustle, but her training sessions with Daniel were always early.
“How’s it going, Red?” he asked as she entered his bright sunlit office. He was much too cheerful for such an ungodly hour.
“Coffee. Cranky. No-talkie.” Allie flopped onto the well-worn sofa across from his desk, grateful for once that their sessions were usually more academic than physical.
“I’m way ahead of you.” He handed her a steaming chai latte.
She took a careful sip and decided it wasn’t so bad. “Et tu, brute?” She set the non-coffee on the table beside her and scowled at him.
“Trust me, the diet will help you, Allie. I eat a pristine diet myself. It’s a challenge for any of us, so you have my sympathy.”
She had dreaded this training session with Daniel. After her first week back at school, life was settling down to business as usual, but she still hadn’t dealt with her relationship with Vince. She was tempted to let things continue in limbo, but she knew that wasn’t fair.
“We’ve been back for over a week,” Daniel began. “You’ve had some time to think about it now. How have you decided to handle the Vince situation?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Now that we’re home, maybe things will calm down and it’ll be okay.”
“That’s what I thought you might say. I want to show you my only experience with loving a mortal. I’ll be brief. I can’t manage much more than a memory or two, but it’s something you need to see.”
She'd never visited Daniel's memories before. He'd shared stories of his past with her, but after nearly three centuries in a Coalition prison, cut off from his power, Daniel was practically an invalid.
“You know much of my past and the years before my imprisonment that I spent as an explorer,” Daniel began.
Allie felt the familiar tug pulling her into his memories. She closed her eyes and gave in to it, not wanting to make this more difficult for him than it already was.
“I was a young fool out for adventure when the age of exploration was just beginning. It was an exciting time and I was so eager to set out on my own.” Daniel’s voice echoed around her as Allie fell into his memory. The world was a swirling mass of colors, land over
sky that made Allie so nauseous, she thought she would vomit.
“Sorry about that. I have very little finesse when it comes to sharing memories,” Daniel said, looking a little green himself.
She was startled to see him standing beside her, but she didn’t say anything. Daniel’s abilities were so limited, playing tour guide through his memories was probably the best he could manage.
Allie felt the sway of the rough wooden dock beneath her feet and when she gazed around, she found herself in the midst of a bustling Spanish port city.
“I came here about a year before I was taken,” Daniel said.
“Where are we?” Allie asked.
“Palos de la Frontera, Spain,” Daniel replied. “This way, I think.” Daniel set off across the wharf and ducked into a sketchy-looking building on the corner.
The light inside was dim and Allie blinked. It was a bar, but a richly appointed one with sleek, dark wood polished to a shine. The place was empty, but she heard voices upstairs.
“I met here with the Spanish conquistadors,” Daniel said as they slipped into a stifling hot room, filled with smoke and the stench of unwashed bodies.
Allie eyed the young Daniel at the center of the activity. He seemed so much stronger than the man who stood beside her now. She got a glimmer of what he might have been had he not been captured by the Coalition.
She listened as the men talked excitedly about the upcoming expedition, but she couldn’t grasp much of what they said with her limited knowledge of Spanish. Her other teachers were always able to show their memories in English, but Daniel’s limitations often held him back with the simplest of tasks.
“The expedition was an attempt to discover what lay beyond the Atlantic.” Daniel pointed to the fourteenth-century map on the table before the group of men. “We would set sail as soon as the funding was approved, so I lingered here to await the launch of the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria,” he said with a flourish.
“You helped discover the New World?” Allie gasped, but she knew that wasn’t possible. He was taken captive before that expedition ever set sail.
The world churned again, but briefly this time. Allie stumbled like she’d just stepped off the Tilt-A-Whirl at an amusement park.
“Let’s just watch here.” Daniel took a step back into the shadows.
They were at a ball where the young Daniel danced with a lovely young mortal woman. Both clearly besotted with the other.
“Who is she?” Allie asked.
“She was Niña Pinzón. Her father was Captain Vicente of the Niña. He was visiting the Spanish court with Christopher Columbus, seeking royal permission and funding for the voyage. While they were away, Niña and I fell hopelessly in love. Of course, I sensed Emma from time to time, but Niña was far more real to me than some idea of a woman I’d meet in the distant future. We were young and in love and determined to marry as soon as her father returned. Only when Captain Vicente granted me an audience, I was in for the surprise of my life. Vicente was Coalition, and he would never allow his daughter to consort with an Immortal.”
Allie watched the happy couple dance the night away, feeling a surge of fear for what their future held.
“He gave me a chance to leave and never come back,” Daniel continued, “but I was stubborn and didn’t fear him as I should, so I persuaded Niña to run away with me.”
Allie felt the sway of the ship beneath her and her stomach roiled until she found her sea legs. With the wind in her hair and the images of the ball fading from her mind, she watched as Daniel’s ship sailed at a fast clip, trying to outdistance the larger vessel quickly gaining on them.
The fight that ensued was a furious sea battle. Allie and Daniel watched in a world without sound as his crew was executed until only Niña and Daniel remained.
“He was more furious with Niña than with me. To him, I was nothing. A creature he would stomp under the heel of his boot. I did not know it at the time, but Niña knew what I was. She had been taught to hate Immortals, but she loved me.” He gestured at the scene before them.
Niña threw herself in front of Daniel, crouched in an attack stance with a sword clutched in her hand. She screamed at her father, but with a host of Coalition at his back, the lovers didn’t stand a chance.
“I wasn’t prepared for how my actions would affect Niña,” Daniel said sadly. “I was taken prisoner but I assumed she would return home to her loving family. In our world, our children are precious and rare.…”
Allie gasped as the Captain struck his daughter, turning her over to his men for punishment. Suddenly, Niña’s screams echoed in the darkness of the void.
“I won’t ask you to watch what happened next,” Daniel said, back in the comfort of his office.
Allie felt dizzy and sick to think of what the Captain must have done to his own daughter.
“They tortured Niña as a traitor to their kind. I watched as they beat her—by her father’s command—until she could no longer stand. Then they hung her for the simple crime of falling in love with the wrong man and then they threw her body to the sharks.” Daniel’s voice was flat and lifeless as if the memory still haunted him.
“They are pure evil.” Allie shuddered at her own memories of the Coalition.
“I’m not suggesting that Vince’s association with you could lead to such an end, but for some of us, when we love a mortal, it just never works out well for them.”
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Allie said. Seeing Daniel’s story was just the kick in the pants she needed to do this.
“You can get past this situation with Vince and he can be safe with you, but you have to be sure your feelings for each other are strong enough to be worth the risk.”
“Nothing’s worth that,” Allie insisted. “I never realized what being with me could do to him. I can’t use him like that. I just need to get it behind us and hope we can still be friends.”
“Believe it or not, Aidan has an idea that might work.”
“Of course he does,” Allie scoffed.
“That’s why he asked me to help convince you. He’s waiting for you in the yard.”
“This ought to be good.”
“He may have an ulterior motive here, but it’s a good plan,” Daniel said.
Allie made her way through the maze of hallways and stone corridors of the underground until she reached the huge cave opening that led into the yard. She and Aidan had been spending most of their sparring time here since they returned.
“So what’s your brilliant plan for my big breakup?” She flopped onto the ground beside him. “It’s so elaborate you needed Daniel’s help?”
“No, I just needed Daniel to give me some credibility because something tells me you wouldn’t believe me,” Aidan said.
“So spill it.”
“There’s something about Vince you should know. Something that might make this breakup easier for both of you.”
“Something you’ve neglected to tell me over the last year?” Allie felt her temper flare—an impulse she couldn’t seem to control lately. She balled her fists and took a deep breath, stamping out the irrational anger.
“Exactly,” Aidan said, nonplussed by the flickering in her eyes. “That’s right, babe, you’re not scary.”
“Sorry. I’m listening.”
“Dad has this gift with mortals. He can see their equivalent of the Complement bond. Your parents share a very strong Complement-like connection.”
Allie nodded dumbly. It didn’t surprise her to learn her parents were perfect for each other. She’d watched other married couples fall apart after years together, but her parents never had those troubles. They belonged together and she didn’t need Gregg’s gift to tell her that. But it was nice to hear the proof of it.
“So he sees Vince’s match?” she asked, finally making the connection.
“It’s Kayla.”
“What?” But Aidan had always said Kayla was in love with someone else—with Vince.
/> “This whole time? She’s just sat back and watched us together? And she’s still been my friend?”
“She’s an incredible person.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“It’s high school. I guess Dad didn’t see any harm in letting you and Vince have your time together. Vince and Kayla will end up together eventually.”
“But I’ve hurt him. I’ve put his life on the line. Twice! I’ve wasted the time they could have been together.”
“They’re young. They have plenty of time to be together—”
“No they don’t! Can you people no longer comprehend what death means to them? How fleeting their lives are? What if Vince had died at the ball? What if he never got to be with Kayla? What if this last year was the only time they had and I took it from them?”
“None of that happened. And now you’ve come to the realization on your own that your relationship isn’t good for him.”
“I should have never been with him at all.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, you two were good for each other. You’ve given Vince and Kayla some time apart—allowed them to experience other relationships, and that is a good thing.”
“But now it’s time to end it.” Allie sighed, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders.
“And I have an idea how you can do it,” Aidan said.
“Really?” The only plan she thought might work was to tell Vince she’d met someone else, and the only way he would believe that was if that someone else was Aidan.
We could run with that.
“How about you tell me your idea?” she said.
“About a year before you moved here, Kayla and Vince were headed toward a relationship, but the timing wasn't right. It was just after his mom died. He was a mess and Kayla was his closest friend.”
“And then I came along and screwed it up?”
“No. Not for about nine months.” Aidan let his words hang in the air between them and the revelation hit Allie like a ton of bricks.
“Oh, God! You’re serious?” They had a baby together?
“No one knows. I don’t think Vince even has a clue. She went away. Gave the baby up and then came home like it was nothing. I only know because my gift tells me she’s given birth and it’s torn her apart on the inside. I’ve tried to get her to talk about it, but she pretends like it never happened.”
Immortals of Indriell- The Collection Page 59