Arise (Awakened Fate Book 4) (3 page)

The woman nodded.

Ellie glanced to us. “He… well, he did. And he, um… he hurt them. Because Chloe and Zeke are dehaians.”

Olivia’s brow climbed. Her gaze went back to us.

“Well, Zeke, really. And Chloe… she’s half-landwalker. But also dehaian. She survived the change.”

The woman’s brow rose higher as she stared at us. I tried not to fidget under the scrutiny.

“Grandpa tried to take that away from her, though,” Ellie continued. “Well, I mean, her parents wanted – her landwalker parents, that is. Sort of. They adopted her. I think that’s what Grandpa said. Her mom was the sister of the man who raised her, and then she died so he and his wife adopted her. Or…”

Ellie’s tangled explanation failed her and she looked to me.

I hesitated briefly and then nodded.

She exhaled, echoing the motion. “Yeah, so they wanted him to take the dehaian stuff away. But Olivia, she
survived
. She actually
became
one of them.”

The woman didn’t respond. I couldn’t read her expression. Without taking her eyes from me, she accepted a mug of cocoa from Ellie and stood holding it for a long moment in silence.

“You
saw
her change?” Olivia asked Ellie.

My face darkened at the implication.

“Well, she…” Ellie looked to me. “Could you, like, maybe show your, um…?”

She gestured haltingly to my forearms.

I hesitated again before making the spikes come out.

A breath pressed from Olivia’s chest. She glanced to Zeke. “And you?”

Zeke didn’t respond.

“He’s full-blood dehaian,” Ellie supplied in a tiny voice. “And Grandpa… he wanted to do testing.”

Olivia paused for a heartbeat, and then her gaze returned to me.

I couldn’t stop myself from shifting under her study this time. It just didn’t seem to end.

“What about your friends?” she asked finally, her focus moving to Baylie and Noah.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Noah tense while Ellie opened her mouth to speak.

“Just friends,” I answered.

Ellie closed her mouth, appearing uncomfortable.

I didn’t look away from the woman. There wasn’t anything particularly important about keeping Noah’s greliaran identity a secret – except that if Olivia turned out to be a threat, having someone around whom she’d underestimate might save our lives. She’d already gotten more information from us than we’d gotten from her, and there was no telling what she’d do with it all.

A shiver moved through me. I couldn’t believe myself for thinking like this. A few weeks ago, the worst things I had to worry about were jerks at school. But life had changed, and the long drive here had sharpened a few things. I couldn’t trust anyone except Noah, Baylie, and Zeke. The jury was still out on Ellie, the fact she’d helped save me after what my parents and Harman had done aside.

But other than that… other than them…

“And him,” Olivia continued. “The fact he’s here…” Her head leaned toward Zeke, though she didn’t look away from me. “That has something to do with you?”

I gave a tight shrug. She exhaled again.

“What else have you been able to do?”

My gaze twitched to Zeke. I didn’t know what to say, and I was starting to feel like a circus performer being asked what tricks they knew.

“Look,” Noah cut in. “Ellie said you could help us. A whole lot of weird stuff has happened since Chloe found out she was dehaian, and a good chunk of it has tried to kill her. But Ellie said you’d know about it, and maybe even know what we have to do to stop it. So…?”

Olivia’s brow drew down. “What kinds of ‘stuff’?”

I hesitated and Noah did the same.

“Possessed water,” Baylie answered before Noah could speak. “In California. It attacked our boat.”

Olivia glanced to Ellie, who shrugged helplessly.

“Did this happen every time you went in the ocean?” Olivia asked me.

I paused. “No.”

“Most of the time it just feels like the water is electrified when she’s in it,” Zeke said. “Though how much varies.”

“I don’t know what that is,” I added before the woman could ask.

Olivia looked away and her dark gaze slid back and forth across the checkered tile as though reading something there.

Ellie fidgeted. “See? And I mean, I’ve watched the news about the storms hitting the coast and those earthquakes underwater. Olivia, if this is–”

“I’ll need to look into it,” Olivia interrupted. Her gaze found me again. “But yes. Yes, I’ll help you.”

Tension seemed to leak out of Ellie, though the woman’s words didn’t do much for the rest of us.

Harman had thought he was helping me too.

“It’s late, though,” Olivia continued. “And you…” Her gaze flicked to Zeke again. “You had a long trip. I have an extra room upstairs, and the couch down here isn’t bad either. Why don’t you all get some rest and we can talk more in the morning?”

A heartbeat passed, and then we pushed our chairs back and rose to our feet. Olivia motioned us toward the hall, and followed when we headed for the stairs.

The ceiling was lower on the second floor, as if it dated from a time when people were shorter, and it made me feel claustrophobic. Olivia directed us to a room at the end of the hall, where we found a queen-sized bed covered in a checkered quilt.

“Bathroom is on the left,” Olivia said, “and my room is by the stairs. I’ll get some blankets together and then you all can decide who wants to take the couch. Ellie, could you grab the sleeping bag in the closet there? And, um… there should be a second one downstairs somewhere.”

Ellie nodded and crossed to the twin folding doors on the left wall of the room. The woman returned to the hall closet, where she set to pulling out blankets and sheets.

I hesitated, and from the corner of my eye, I could see the others do so as well. Reluctance was written all over Baylie’s face, along with a fair measure of awkwardness, and in varying degrees, Zeke and Noah’s expressions were the same.

“Um… I can take the floor, I guess,” Baylie offered.

“That’s alright,” Noah said.

Her gaze twitched to Zeke. “No, it’s fine.”

She went to help Olivia before anyone could say anything further.

I bit my lip. Noah and Zeke didn’t quite look at each other, and having them both in such proximity was starting to make the air feel like it might explode.

“I’m going to stay up,” I told them quietly. “We should probably keep an eye out… you know, in case.”

“Chloe,” Noah protested. “You need sleep as much as–”

“I’ve gone longer without it before, and it isn’t like I’m tired anyway. It’s not a problem.”

“That last time wasn’t good either,” Zeke pointed out in a low voice.

I shifted my weight uncomfortably. “It’s not a problem,” I repeated.

Without another word, I hurried after Baylie. The last thing I needed was those two ganging up on me, and I didn’t want to argue any more than I wanted rest.

After Harman and the Sylphaen and everything else in the past few weeks, I could only too easily imagine the nightmares that were waiting.

~~~~~

In the end, Zeke took the couch.

Tucked in the shadows behind the screen enclosing the porch, I sat on a swing and watched the street. The others were upstairs, asleep most likely, though Noah hadn’t looked happy about it. For her part, Baylie hadn’t said a word about my plan to stay up. Instead, she’d just given me a weird look, like the news upset her somehow, and then she’d gone to bed.

I’d need to talk to her eventually. There just hadn’t been time. Or privacy. Or, on my part, any idea of what to say.

Though she wasn’t the only one I needed to talk to.

A moth flew past my face. I waved it off.

It felt pretty crazy, though, sitting out here on watch like some sort of soldier. Odds were, my parents wouldn’t figure out where we were and couldn’t really pose a threat if they did. I wouldn’t let them drag me home again, after all. But then, if the police showed up, or even Harman…

I shook my head, driving the worries away. We could have gone anywhere. They wouldn’t just automatically know we were here.

The front door creaked.

I jumped a mile.

Noah hesitated, one hand on the door handle. “Sorry.”

Swallowing, I motioned dismissively.

He closed the door behind him and then came over to the porch swing.

A heartbeat passed after he sat down. “You doing okay?” he asked.

I nodded.

Silence fell.

“You?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t quite bring myself to look at him.

“We should talk, eh?” he tried.

My gaze slid toward him, making it about halfway before giving up. “Yeah, I guess.”

A second stretched like a rubber band, ready to snap.

“So… you and that Zeke guy.”

My stomach sank.

“How, um… how long’s that been going on?”

I hesitated, suddenly feeling as though I’d prefer having Noah’s cousins to deal with than this non-conversation. Maybe, anyway.

“Not long.”

He was silent at the words.

“After the beach that last time,” I managed. “A… a while after that.”

I waited, not quite looking at him and feeling like he could see through the lie. It’d been minutes after Noah drove me off, threatening me and saying all sorts of horrible things, that I’d kissed Zeke.

And it’d been an accident.

Though everything since then hadn’t been.

“Ah,” Noah replied.

My gaze lifted to him.

He was watching the street. “I didn’t want to do that. Say… what I said that day. I hated myself for doing that to you. I just–”

“I know.”

He glanced back at me. I dropped my gaze to the wood slats of the porch.

“I really thought I was making you safer,” he continued. “Even if I didn’t want you to go. I’d wanted to see you again. I’d hoped we could, you know…”

He let out a breath, so much more than frustration in the sound.

I couldn’t look at him. I knew what he was saying, though, and the realization sent quivers running through me. He’d kissed me the moment before I left for the ocean that first time, and in the days after, I’d wondered what it meant to him, and that maybe it hadn’t mattered all that much. I hadn’t wanted to get ahead of myself, after all, or make a fool of myself if everything I’d felt hadn’t been reality on his side. But I’d wanted to come back and find out if this guy I’d liked for so long actually felt the same way about me.

Now I knew.

“Me too,” I whispered.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him turn to look at me.

“And now,” he continued. His hand moved over, and I tensed when it brushed mine. “Now, I just want to know if you can forgive me.”

Noah’s fingertips strayed across the inside of my wrist. I drew a halting breath, my gaze lifting again to his.

“I’m so sorry, Chloe. For all of it. Everything that’s come down on you because of me. I’m sorry.”

I trembled at the look in his dark green eyes. At the feeling of his hand on my own, and the memory of how he’d held it all those weeks ago when the dehaian stuff was new and the worst thing in the world was finding out I wasn’t human.

“Of course I forgive you,” I said.

His other hand came up, brushing back my hair from my cheek. Warm shivers ran through me, like electricity that didn’t hurt at all.

“I missed you,” he continued softly.

I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice. “I missed you too.”

He came closer and my gaze fell, tracing the line of his cheek. I could feel his warm breath on my neck, his lips barely an inch from mine.

And my own breath caught. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t… not with Zeke asleep in the living room only a few yards from us. I wanted to. I wanted that day when Noah had kissed me back again, and all the days with him that’d come before. I wanted to feel his lips on mine.

But things were so much more complicated now.

I turned away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him straighten, his brow furrowing.

“I-I’m sorry,” I managed. “I just–”

“No,” he said tightly. “Yeah, I…”

I looked back when his hand left mine. He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I get it,” he continued. “I… I’m sorry too.”

He hesitated and then pushed to his feet, heading for the door.

“Noah…”

“Goodnight, Chloe.”

He disappeared back inside.

It took me a moment to pull my gaze from the door to the empty street. My fingers rested on the place where he’d held my hand, the skin so much colder now for the loss of his touch.

Air pressed from my chest, threatening to turn into a sob, and I fought to keep it from emerging. It wasn’t fair. I liked Noah. For years, I’d liked him. But Zeke was wonderful too. There weren’t words for the way he made me feel when he looked at me or when he held me in his arms. Both he and Noah were incredible, and I couldn’t stop myself from being drawn to either of them any more than I could break the hold of gravity.

My eyes closed as tears burned. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair.

And I didn’t know what to do.

Chapter Two

Zeke

The shadows of the study were deep, swallowing all but the small lights blinking on the computers nearby. Beneath my back, the sofa sagged in odd places, as though some parts had worn down farther with time than others.

I knew I should sleep. Exhaustion pulled like weights attached to my muscles, driven partly by the unidentifiable drugs that bastard had put in my system, though the dull buzz of pain didn’t help either. My legs had stopped the worst of their aching a few hours ago, and my scales had long since been able to turn into skin. But within my arms, phantom pain still pulsed strangely from the spikes that Harman had cut off. I didn’t know how it was
possible
for them to hurt – the spikes grew because of magic more than a physical presence beneath our skin – but my body didn’t seem to care.

As if responding to my thoughts, a space on my forearm began to ache worse. Distractedly, I rubbed at it.

I hadn’t said anything to Chloe about what happened. There wasn’t any point. What was done was done, and I didn’t want her worrying about me. I was feeling better than I had been, after all, and the spikes would grow back. Eventually, anyway.