Revival (The Variant Series, Book 1) (13 page)

He plucked another blade of grass and began ripping it into smaller pieces.

“Declan,” she said.

He turned to face her.

Alex grimaced. “I… I just realized I never said thank you.”

“For what?”

“For saving me yesterday,” she said. “For getting me out of the bookstore. I owe you more than I can ever repay you, Declan. You saved my life. And I never even
thanked
you… You must think I’m awful.”

His mouth opened and closed, then opened and closed again. He couldn’t seem to decide upon a reply. Finally, he gave up and became very interested in the herd of sheep grazing off in the distance.

No wonder Declan couldn’t stand her. He’d risked his life to save hers, and she’d been so caught up in her
own
drama, that she’d failed to even acknowledge it.

“You ready to start training?” he asked suddenly.

“Train?” she said. “Here?”

The edge of worry that had crept into her voice had less to do with her fear of jumping and more to do with the possibility that she would end up in the middle of a fog-covered lake, three thousand miles from Declan, on her first attempt.

“We can practice here just as easily as we can at home, so why not?” he said, once more on his feet. “And as an added bonus, there’s this really great pub in town we can hit up when we’re through.”

She looked at him askance.

“What?” He feigned innocence. “They serve food, too, y’know. By the time we finish, that second muffin’s going to be a distant memory. Jumping tends to work up an appetite.”

 He offered her a hand. Alex tried to ignore the electric current that spilled through her palm as she accepted his help and climbed to her feet. She wasn’t sure what was more unsettling—the sensation itself, or the fact that she was starting to enjoy the feel of it.

Not that she planned on admitting that to Declan.

Ever.

“Okay,” he said, stepping back a few feet. “Jump.”

“That’s it?” she asked, incredulous. “Just ‘jump’? No advice this time? No words of wisdom?”

“Try not to fall in the lake again.”

“That’s so helpful, Declan. Thanks.”

Alex selected a location at the bottom of the hill and tried to call up the memory of how it felt when she teleported. The ensuing jump forced her eyes closed and she surrendered to the pressure.

As she started to disappear, she congratulated herself. See? She totally had this down.

That was easy enough
, she thought.

Something was wrong. The cool, dry air of the pasture now held an added weight. Everything felt damp.

Alex landed with a stumble, opened her eyes and groaned. She was standing in the middle of the training field again. How was it that Declan made this look so easy?

Remembering what she’d been told about selecting a destination, she closed her eyes and tried again. This time she concentrated on making it back to Declan.

Seconds later, she landed in a heap on Declan’s unmade bed.

Alex sat up, looked around, realized where she was and swallowed hard. She prayed Declan wouldn’t find out about this little side-trip. The smug smile it would elicit wasn’t something Alex wanted to see at the moment.

The room looked roughly the same as it had yesterday, minus the signs of destruction.

Band logos lined the walls, a mixture of punk rock, metal and alt-country. Among them, Alex noticed souvenir concert posters from bands like the Dropkick Murphys and Avenged Sevenfold, Flogging Molly and Lucero.

It was an odd mix, but somehow, it was all so very Declan.

The locations of the concerts ranged from Alaska to Ireland, from Tupelo to Tokyo. She supposed when you could zap yourself there in an instant, no concert could ever be
too far
.

The thought made her smile.

Her gaze traveled to the bookshelf next to his closet. Alex was of the belief that you could tell a lot about a person by the books they kept within reach, on the shelf closest to eye-level.

She skimmed a few of the titles. Pirsig’s
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
, Sun Tzu’s
The Art of War
, Milton’s
Paradise Lost
… Definitely not what she’d been expecting.

The door to the adjoining bathroom stood open. She could still smell whatever cologne it was Declan had used after he’d showered this morning.

She closed her eyes and inhaled. It was dark, it was musky, and it smelled like… Like Declan. The scent was intoxicating.

It had his room smelling much better than most of the guy’s bedrooms she’d been in, in the past. Not that she’d ventured into the bedrooms of all that many guys. Just quick sojourns into those of Cassie’s brothers and Connor’s, really. And their rooms had always reeked of gym clothes and stale pizza.

This was almost heavenly in comparison.

Alex snapped out of it. She was supposed to be doing something right now.

Jumping. Ireland. Right.

What was
in
that cologne? Geez. It was like a drug. She took another appreciative sniff before she could stop herself, nearly jumping out of her skin when Declan’s bedroom door creaked open.

“Hi, Alex.” Brian was smiling shyly at her from the doorway.

“Brian!” Alex scrambled off the broken bed, looking guilty despite her relative innocence. “Hi. I was just—”

“It’s okay,” he said, still hanging onto the doorknob. “I know you guys are training and that you got here by accident. I saw it all last night.”

It took her a moment to realize that he was referring to one of his visions.

“Can you do me a favor and tell Declan that my dad called and wants him to call him back as soon as he can? He’s called three times so far and he’s getting angry about Declan not answering his cell,” he said.

“No problem,” she said. “I’ll make sure he gets the message.”

He started to leave, but then paused. Turning back around, he smiled and said, “I’m glad you’re finally here, Alex. I always knew I’d like you.”

“Finally here?” she echoed. It was obvious he wasn’t referring to her sudden arrival in Declan’s bedroom. “You had a vision that I was coming?”

Brian’s grin faltered. “Erm. I mean… Well, yeah. It was a long time ago. Couple of years, I think.”

Curiosity had taken hold. “Can you tell me what you saw?”

The boy shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down, swaying back and forth on his heels. “It wasn’t much. I was in a park at night. You were there. So were Nate and Declan. We were… We were having a picnic!” he said. “That’s what it was. A picnic.”

“A picnic?” Alex repeated. “At night?”

Brian shrugged.

Whatever it was Brian had seen, it hadn’t been a picnic. Alex was hardly a human lie detector, but it didn’t take much to realize Brian had fabricated that last part. She decided to let it be. It was obviously something he didn’t want to talk about.

“I didn’t think you could see your own future,” she said.

“Dad can’t,” he admitted. “But I can. I haven’t seen much. And most of it hasn’t come true yet. But I still see things sometimes.”

Alex appraised the boy standing in front of her. He was, what, ten? Eleven, maybe? And his powers had started manifesting years earlier.

The others seemed to have a decent command of their abilities as well and Kenzie looked to be the same age as she was. What, exactly, did that make Alex? A late bloomer?

Well, that was embarrassing.

“You should probably get back to Declan before he starts to worry about you,” said Brian

“Declan? Worry about me? Somehow I doubt that.”

“I don’t know. I think you’re starting to grow on him.”

She looked at the boy, bemused. “How can you tell?”

Brian’s smile returned as he reached for the doorknob. “See you later, Alex.”

“Bye, Brian.”

The door closed and Alex once again found herself alone in Declan’s bedroom. Time to go. Hoping the third time would be a charm, she readied herself to try again.

It’s okay
.
You can do this. Just concentrate. Ireland… Green fields… A chilly breeze…

Alex jumped… and found herself on the lakeshore.

Crap.

This might take a while.

*   *   *

“Yo, Nate!”

Thunk!

“Son of a…” Nate rubbed his forehead. The sudden shout had caused him to drop the wrench he’d been holding—the same one that had just been hovering a few inches above his face as he tightened the final bolt of a newly installed exhaust tip. He reached for the fallen tool with a grimace.  “Dammit, Kenzie.”

A chuckle came from somewhere near the open garage door. With a sigh, Nate slid out from beneath the car.

Using his gift, he slowly lowered the rear end of the vehicle back to the ground. He was simply lucky he hadn’t lost his concentration and let the car fall when Kenzie startled him.

From now on, he’d be doing his repairs the old fashioned way. With a floor jack.

Kenzie was resting on the hood of his half-restored, black 1970 Dodge Charger, arms crossed, looking way too amused for his liking.

“I’m sorry,” she said, still grinning.

That’s funny. She didn’t
sound
sorry.

He looked pointedly at Kenzie. The Charger was the only thing in this world that was truly his own. It was his baby. His love. His pride and joy.

And Kenzie was sitting on it.

“Off the car.”

“Sir, yes sir!” She gave a mock salute and slid off the hood.

“What do you want, Red?” he asked, making his way to the work bench and hanging the wrench back on the peg board with a little more force than necessary. “Shouldn’t you be in the house doing homework right now? Surely Brian’s in there somewhere for you to annoy.”

She harrumphed. “I see
someone’s
in a good mood.”

Nate closed his eyes and exhaled. Kenzie wasn’t the one he ought to be snapping at.

Declan, on the other hand…

He flashed back to that morning, to Declan slipping his arm around Alex’s waist before teleporting them both to God knows where, and the smug smile on his face as he did it.

“Catch you later, Nate
.”

Jackass.

Nate opened his eyes again. “Sorry. I’m just a little… frustrated.”

“I see. And would that frustration be of the emotional variety, the professional…” Kenzie paused for effect. He turned to face her and she waggled her eyebrows. “Or the sexual?”

Nate rolled his eyes. He was not having this conversation with Kenzie.

“Oh, come on, Nate,” she said as she sidled up next to him. She snatched a lug nut from the worktop and threw it in the air.

Toss, catch. Toss, catch.

“I don’t have to be a telepath to see that you like her.”

Toss, catch. Toss
—

He plucked the lug nut from the air and placed it back on the workbench.

Nate was finding himself more and more grateful, of late, that he’d mastered the art of keeping Kenzie out of his head. If she ever learned the truth about what he felt for Alex—if she ever found out what
really
happened during that year he’d spent in Seattle—they’d
all
be in trouble.

He busied himself with putting away tools. “Even if I did—and I’m not saying I do—it wouldn’t make a difference. She’ll just end up falling for Declan, anyway.”

“Why, did Brian see something?” she sounded incredulous. “Or are you having visions now, too?”

If she only knew.

Kenzie shook her head. “Honestly, after the way he reacted last night when he found out who she was… Well, I don’t think wine and roses are exactly on the agenda for those two. If anything, he’ll probably do everything he can to drive her nuts.” The look she gave him was beseeching. “You know how Declan can be. And I
like
Alex. I’d prefer to keep her around, not drive her away. Which is why
you
need to be the one to step in and sweep the little lady off her feet.”

He gave a laugh.

There wasn’t much humor in it.

“And how would I go about doing that, exactly?” He walked back to the Charger and popped the hood, trying to appear disinterested.

He probably shouldn’t be humoring her. It wasn’t like it could actually work.

Unfortunately for Nate, his treasonous heart couldn’t resist the urge. 

Kenzie smiled. “You just be your charming self and leave the rest to me.”

— 12 —

N
early five minutes had passed and Alex still hadn’t reappeared.

Great. Now Declan was going to have to go searching for her. He really hoped she hadn’t landed in the lake again. The prospect of helping her back to shore in that dense fog wasn’t exactly an enticing one.

Although… such an act of heroism wouldn’t be without its perks.

A small voice in the back of his thoughts suggested that the sight of an angry, soaking-wet Alex wouldn’t be
entirely
unwelcome. And she was kind of cute when she was annoyed with him. There was something about the way she held her mouth and the fiery look that shined in her eyes…

He smiled at the mental image before he could stop himself.

That was a road he really shouldn’t be headed down.

Still, every moment that passed made it more and more likely she’d fallen in the lake during an attempt to return.

He sighed.

Why had he even brought her to Kilkenny in the first place?

It had taken him a grand total of five seconds to mull it over and a split-second to make the trip… Followed by the last twenty minutes, every one of which he’d spent trying to explain to himself
why
he’d done it.

These fields were his refuge. His home.

And she was…. Well, she was
Alex Parker
. The girl who’d destroyed his family. The girl who had taken his home away from him.

He’d spent the last twelve years hating her—a girl he hardly knew.

In that respect, it was easy to despise her. And it was even easier to blame her for what had happened.