Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy) (16 page)

             
"
Just when I think I’ve seen the last of you,
"
a man said behind her. She turned and looked up at Blake. He was tall and muscular, with cold dark brown eyes that sent a chill right through her. She frowned at him and looked away.

             
"
Not your lucky day,
"
she said with sarcasm.

             
"
When did you get here?
"
He came closer, so he stood next to her.

             
"
Yesterday. Terra didn’t tell you?
"
She stood up and crossed her arms.

             
"
No she didn’t.
"

             
"
Does this hurt your feelings?
"
She turned to him.

             
"
Honey, it takes a lot to hurt my feelings. Actually, I haven’t talked to her since yesterday morning.
"
He looked away from her.

             
"
Well, at least you know we didn’t come here for you.
"
She turned back to the lake.

             
"
We?
"
He sounded surprised.

             
"
El too.
"

             
"
Great,
"
he grumbled. Anger was radiating off him like a space heater. His brow was creased, and worry darkened his eyes.
"
Just don’t go messing with her head anymore.
"

             
She whirled on him now.
"
Messing with her head? You are unbelievable! Your sister is happy and comfortable in her own skin now. And you accuse me of messing with her head?
"
She balled up her fists and stuffed them in the pockets of her sweater. She could feel the heat in her palms. She took a step closer to him so her face was very close to his. He looked down at her.
"
I understand you’re upset that you couldn’t help her like I can, but trying to make me feel bad about it isn’t going to work.
"
She leaned away.
"
I think it’s best if we stay away from each other while I’m here.
"

             
"
Yeah, whatever. No arguments here.
"
He turned around and stormed off toward the trees that led to the beach. Her eyes narrowed at his back, and her fingers twitched in her pockets. Blake lifted his foot to take another step, and a tree root sprouted out of the crack in the stone, lifted high enough to catch the toe of his boot. He scrambled to catch himself, his arms flailing around, and his hands slammed onto the ground as he pitched forward.

             
He stood quickly and brushed his hands off, looking down at the tree root. He stepped his foot on it to push it down, back into the crack, but it bounced back up when he took his foot off. She heard him mutter an obscenity and then continued to storm off, watching where he stepped carefully.

             
She took her hands out of her pockets and looked down at them. They were trembling and her palms were glowing. She quickly stuffed her hands back in her pockets and felt like stomping her feet. No one has made her this mad, especially not a human. Sure she gets irritated with the witches, but they have never gotten her to this point. She actually wanted to hit him. Hard.

             
El was becoming restless sitting around the house. She had fingered through one of the thousand books of Terra’s, baked a large batch of spiced ginger cookies, brewed a pitcher of iced tea, painted her toenails, and organized her clothes for the second time. She tended to get jittery when she had been cooped up too long. Normally, this would be the time she would dabble in her herbs and find new concoctions to make. However, her herbs remained back home, so instead she changed into her running clothes and stepped out into the cool air.

             
It was a perfect day for running because the sky was clear and the sun felt good on her skin. She could feel it warming her through the layers. She headed toward the opposite direction of town, and played loud, bass pounding music on her mp3 player. Her feet pounded on the pavement in rhythm with her music, the harder it pounded, the faster she ran. The narrow road was lined with trees, and every once in awhile she would pass a gravel driveway that led to somewhere behind the protection of the trees. It gave El the impression the residents here were private people.

             
Deep in her running trance, she almost missed it. She had gone up the hill and circled around, passing the road to Terra’s house, coming close to town. She kept jogging, but changed her direction to moving backwards until she had a clearer view of the back of a log home. She took the ear buds out and stopped jogging. A man stood behind the house, close to the woods, with his shirt off and appeared to be made of pure rock hard muscle. His back was to her, and from this view she would be tempted into having a few dates with him.

             
What he did next stopped her heavy breathing. He leaned down to a large tractor tire, wrapped one arm around it and lifted it off the ground. He put his other hand underneath it and carried it over his head. The tire was taller than she was.

             
El couldn’t believe what she saw right before her eyes. She took a few steps closer and crouched behind a thick shrub that was in the front yard. He had disappeared out of sight around the house. As quietly as she could, El moved toward the back to see what else this guy could do. Shortly he came around the side of the house and the sight before her threw her backward to land hard on the ground. She had to have been mistaken because she knew there is no way that the man was Blake. Absolutely no possible way.

             
She pulled herself back up on her haunches and peaked around the shrub. He wiped his face with his shirt, and then tossed it onto a tree stump. He walked back toward the backyard again, heading toward a large boulder near the edge of the woods. The boulder was as tall as he was. Placing both hands on it, he planted his feet and pushed. Just when El figured she must have been mistaken with the weight of the tire the boulder rocked. Her mouth dropped open and she quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from gasping. Before her eyes he rolled the boulder onto its side.

             
Once he was out of sight again she scrambled to her feet and ran at full speed back to Terra’s.

             
Aylin was washing dishes when El came bursting in the door. She was so out of breath that she couldn’t speak for a full two minutes.
"
What is it El?
"
Aylin frowned.

             
"
Blake.
"
El was still breathing hard.
"
Not normal!
"

             
"
Tell me about it. He just doesn’t give up-
"

             
"
No!
"
She grabbed Aylin.
"
I saw him. He moved a boulder Aylin!
"

             
"
What?
"
Aylin looked at her, doubtful.
"
It must have been a pretty small boulder.
"

             
"
It was taller than him. Aylin, he’s not normal!
"

             
"
Who isn’t?
"
Terra asked, walking into the kitchen. She was dressed for work.

             
"
You’re brother.
"
El turned to her.
"
I saw what he can do!
"

             
"
What do you mean?
"
she asked, pouring coffee into a thermos. It was
almost noon
and her mom had said not to rush into work today since she had company.

             
"
Don’t play dumb with me.
"
El hitched her hips up onto the counter.
"
You know what I’m talking about.
"

             
"
No, I really don’t,
"
Terra shook her head.

             
El glared at her. Terra was really pulling off the innocent look; her cheeks weren’t even flushing from knowing a secret.
"
I saw him move a boulder.
"

             
Terra’s mouth slacked.

             
"
Yeah!
"
El pointed at her.
"
You do know what I’m talking about. How long have you known that he is so strong? I mean, it’s not physically possible for him to be that strong.
"

             
"
I, uh…
"
Terra chewed on her lip for a moment and then sighed.
"
I’ve had some suspicions. He is careful around people, making sure he looks like he’s exerting himself. But I’ve caught him a couple of times, lifting things like they were as light as a piece of paper. Things like tires, furniture, and so on. I’ve never talked to him about it though.
"

             
"
Maybe he’s just strong,
"
Aylin said.

             
"
Jesus Aylin.
"
El rolled her eyes.
"
Are you really going to take that route? He is not normal, he’s something more.
"

             
"
You are blowing this way out of proportion.
"
Terra tightened the top of her thermos.

             
El jumped down and ran to the door to block Terra in and glared down at her.
"
I’m not crazy. You just admitted to seeing what he can do to. You need to ask him for an explanation. Ask him what he is!
"

             
"
Okay El.
"
Aylin stepped between them. El was beginning to radiate more heat than normal, meaning she was getting pretty mad.
"
We’re not calling you crazy. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to confront Blake. How on earth would Terra explain that she understands there are beings in the world that aren’t normal?
"

             
"
I could tell him what I am,
"
Terra said matter-of-factly.
"
Maybe being not so normal runs in the family.
"

             
"
Absolutely not,
"
Aylin snapped.
"
He never gets to know. That’s not even up for discussion.
"

             
Terra looked down at her hands.
"
But he might understand, considering that he has exceptional capabilities.
"

             
"
I said no, Terra.
"

             
"
I’m with Terra.
"
El walked around Aylin to stand by Terra.
"
If he’s something other than human, than we might be able to use him.
"

             
"
Yes!
"
Terra perked up.

             
"
No. He’s not one of us. If you want to confront him about what he is,
you’ll have to find another way,"
Aylin said with finality. Terra opened her mouth, but shut it quickly when Aylin glared down to her. She sighed and turned to walk out.

             
"
I’m going into the store for awhile. I’ll be back later this afternoon,
"
Terra said over her shoulder and left the kitchen, toward the stairs that led to the lower level.