The Secret of Spruce Knoll (10 page)

“You were protecting me. Thank you for that. That boy will be okay, though, won’t he?” she asked.

Aiden dropped his head as if ashamed. “Yeah, he’ll be fine. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t let them talk to you like that,” he said.

Eren stopped and pulled him close. His eyes were glossy and filled with shame. It hurt to see that look on his face. Those kids were jerks and she hated that they had made him feel this way.

“Stop apologizing. They had it coming after what they said about your mom,” she said.

Pain flashed in his eyes, making her chest tighten. Rising up on her toes, she pressed her lips lightly to his. When she pulled away all traces of pain were gone from his face and he was smiling. It wasn’t easy to stop kissing him but she wanted to put more distance between them and those kids. Hand in hand, they started back up the hill.

Though part of her was afraid of his temper, the rest of her was so drawn to him that she couldn’t fight it, and she didn’t want to. There was a lot about him she didn’t know though and now she was determined to find it out.

Chapter 18

The next two weeks flew by way too fast. There were only a few days left until the full moon and only a week until school started. Eren had been too preoccupied with Aiden to think much about channeling. At least, that’s what she told herself. They split their time up between the bookstore, coffee shop, and the river. It was the most amazing summer of Eren’s life and she wasn’t ready for it to end. Aiden was not only helping her heal the gaping wounds left by her parents death, he was helping her find the joy in life again. But for how long?

As much as she wanted to, Eren couldn’t stop time. She had to face the inevitable and she had to do it now. On their way home from the bookstore she finally built up the courage to ask him.

“I can’t start school without channeling,” she said.

“It would be a bad idea,” he agreed.

Eren’s focus moved to where she and Aiden’s clasped hands swung between them in time to their steps. She decided if she spit the words out quickly maybe it would be easier, like tearing off a band-aid.

“Will you let me see you channel?” she asked.

Aiden was always incredibly dexterous, which was why it shocked her so much when he tripped. He recovered gracefully and just barely saved himself from going to one knee.

“You did that time at the temple,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, but that was different. You were mad. I want to see you channel when you’re relaxed, when it’s just us,” she said.

Was he blushing? It definitely looked like he was blushing.

“I still don’t have a lot of control. Believe it or not, anger helps you focus. Any strong emotion does. Without that focus I need to wear a lot less clothing,” he whispered.

For the first time in weeks, she thought back to the day they had encountered Claud and Aiden had come so close to losing his temper. But Aunt Sylvia had said channeling had nothing to do with anger. Her aunt had never given her a reason not to believe that, so Eren pushed the thought aside. She gave him a mischievous smile as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Well, it would ruin your clothes if you didn’t.”

“E!”

While the idea of seeing him almost completely naked nearly sent her into a panic attack, she knew she had to do this. There was no way she could share something so private with anyone else. Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to see him naked for another reason.

“Seriously though, you’re the only one I trust to share this with,” she said.

He went very quiet as he looked at her. There was a vulnerable look in his eyes that made him absolutely breathtaking. Suddenly the idea of seeing him nearly naked did seem like too much, like it might tip their relationship so far on the other side of the scale it would never be balanced again.

No, that was silly. She couldn’t let herself think that way. She had to be an adult about this.

“Thanks, E. That means a lot,” he said.

“Tomorrow then. Tonight we’ll just have fun and watch a movie,” Eren said.

Having made the decision and finally asked him, now she could relax. The stress could wait until tomorrow. He smiled.

“Your aunt got the new TV all hooked up?” Aiden asked. There was a surprised tone to his voice that made Eren laugh.

“Yeah, after reading through the manual four times and almost electrocuting herself. She’s still complaining about the new solar panel we had to install on the roof for it,” Eren said as she shook her head.

“Yeah, your roof is covered. It looks like you’re trying to contact aliens!” he said.

They laughed and joked all the way back to Eren’s house. After tomorrow things would be different and they both knew it. For now, Eren was determined to enjoy one more normal night with him.

Chapter 19

Aiden didn’t show for their morning run. Eren didn’t worry at first. She figured just like her, he had trouble getting to sleep and had probably slept in because of it. When noon came and there was still no sign of him, she began to worry. At first she feared he’d changed his mind and was staying away because he didn’t want to tell her. But she knew that wasn’t really it. He wouldn’t do that to her, would he? No, he had been encouraging her to channel all summer. He wouldn’t miss this. Concern began to eat at her as six o’clock came and went. Without a doubt, she knew, something was wrong.

There was no phone number she could call and she had no idea where he lived except that it was in the Romanian part of town. Even if she knew, she couldn’t go there. She’d promised her grandfather and Aunt Sylvia that she wouldn’t. Right now she didn’t care about the danger though. She was tempted to run down there and start wandering around the Romanians’ territory calling for him. At first it seemed like a silly idea, but it was becoming more and more appealing.

Bound by her promise, instead she paced the back deck. As the minutes passed, it was becoming harder to fight back the anxiety that was threatening to trigger her channeling. The evening was starting to cool off as the sun made its way down toward the mountains. She’d stopped looking at the clock, but couldn’t ignore the sun.

The shadows of the tree line were stretching their way across the lawn when she felt his energy approaching. It was definitely him—she would know the pulse and feel of that energy anywhere—and he was running. Also, he wasn’t coming up the driveway like he normally did. He was coming through the forest.

Alarmed, Eren jumped off the deck and started across the grass toward the trees. Her gut told her that something was really wrong. The grass grew cold beneath her bare feet as she crossed over into the shadows. Pine needles crunched beneath her toes. She was only five feet from the trees when a voice stopped her.

“Stop there, E.” It was Aiden’s voice and he sounded like he’d been crying. Hearing it hurt her and made her angry at whoever had caused it.

“What’s the matter? What happened?”

She took another step forward before stopping, she couldn’t help it—she wanted to go to him.

“I had a fight with my adopted father,” he said.

He always referred to him that way, never as just my father, or dad. Theirs was not a good relationship. Beyond that, Eren and Aiden hadn’t really talked about it. It was clear he didn’t see eye to eye with him and she hadn’t wanted to bring up something that was painful. Now she was very sorry she hadn’t. She wanted to know everything about him, the good and the bad.

A horrible thought occurred to her. “He found out you’re spending time with me, didn’t he?” she asked.

It wasn’t much of a stretch to make the connection. Aiden’s adopted mom had killed Eren’s grandmother. There was already bad blood between the families.

“Yeah,” Aiden sighed.

“What’s the matter? Why won’t you come out?” she asked.

He didn’t say anything. The only noise disrupting the silence was the birds singing in the trees overhead. The suspense was absolutely torturing Eren. Her body vibrated in response. She recited the names of paintings in her head until Aiden finally spoke.

“I lost my temper when I channeled, before I came here. It shredded most of my clothes.”

Fear worked at the edges of her control but the idea of Aiden’s clothes blowing to bits brought a weak smile to her lips. His head poked around the tree she was standing right in front of and it made her jump. He was smiling but there was so much sadness in his eyes that it took all of the mirth out of it. The long, bloody cut running from his temple to his chin didn’t help either. Blood had dripped and dried in trails down his cheek.

“That son of a bitch!” Eren snapped.

For a moment she forgot that he was hiding behind a tree because he was mostly naked. She stepped forward and reached out to gingerly touch his face. His eyes closed and he leaned into her hand, moving his body farther behind the tree at the same time. The fear disappeared, replaced by anger. No wonder he had lost his temper. Warmth worked its way up through Eren’s fingers. Blue mist started to seep from her hand. She ignored it. Right now all she cared about was that he was hurt. The blue mist sank into him and his cheek warmed beneath her fingers.

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks, he’s wrong. He’s always wrong,” he said, the last part an almost inaudible mumble.

“Come inside, I’ll clean this up,” Eren said as she moved her hand off the cut.

The blood remained, but the cut was gone. The skin had healed completely.

“Did you heal yourself?” she asked.

Aiden raised an eyebrow and gave her a confused look. “No, what do you mean?” he reached up to touch the wound. When his fingers didn’t find it he rubbed at his cheek, searching.

His eyes widened and he looked at her like she was something precious and rare. “You healed me,” he whispered.

“No, I…” she started to protest then remembered the blue mist and the feeling of heat passing from her fingers into him. “But I’m a warrior channeler, Grandfather said so,” she whispered.

Aiden’s eyes filled with awe and something else. Was it hope?

“Maybe you’re both,” he said. 

“Can someone be both?” she asked.

“I’ve never heard of it, but you do seem special,” he said.

The way he said special made her want to hide behind her hair. He lifted her chin and made her look at him. 

“After I channel for you, how about you channel and we’ll run down to the river?”

Eren’s first fear was of channeling, but her second fear was that he had an ulterior motive. If they channeled there was a chance she’d ruin her clothes, which meant they’d be going to river naked, or close to it. But there was no hungry gleam in his eyes and he didn’t look away when she gave him a long, hard look. No, his motives were not indecent. He was just trying to encourage her to channel.

“Don’t worry, I promise I won’t look,” he said.

When he smiled, she couldn’t help but smile back. He would peek. She had no doubt about that. He was a boy, after all. But she was confident that was all he’d do. These last few weeks he had continued to be a gentleman. He never pushed her limits and didn’t give her any reason to believe he would. More than his incredibly good looks, that was the most attractive thing about him.

“Okay,” she agreed with a deep sigh. “With one condition. You tell me how to stop the flow of energy first,” she added.

“No problem. Think of yourself as connected to the Earth. Imagine your legs are like the roots of a tree. Pour all that energy into the ground, then shut it off like a light switch,” he said.

It sounded so simple it made her suspicious. Things were rarely simple, especially in her life.

“One more thing. If you get scared by the energy do your best to think normal thoughts. Think about Davinci’s sculptures or paintings. It will help ground you and suppress the energy. But you don’t have to be scared. The energy is part of you, it won’t hurt you,” he said with an encouraging look.

She thought it over for a minute, a bit alarmed by his warning. But she trusted him, so she nodded. Aiden smiled wider, making the dried blood on the side of his face crack. Seeing this made Eren feel slightly better. Maybe she wasn’t a warrior channeler after all. Maybe her energy wouldn’t hurt anyone or anything.

“Let’s do it,” she said as she drew her hand away.

“Thanks for healing it. It might have scarred if you hadn’t. The jerk’s Society ring is vicious,” he said.

Anger flared through Eren. Had his adopted father done that to him? Suddenly she wanted very badly to be a warrior channeler. That thought made a convulsion ripple through her body. Seeing her reaction, Aiden gave her a questioning look. When she nodded he stepped out from behind the tree.

Though he was facing away from her it still wasn’t a sight she was completely prepared for. She tried not to look where the sun hadn’t tanned his backside, but her eyes gravitated there anyway. A pair of silk boxers covered most of what she wasn’t ready to see but they were tattered and barely held together. Eren’s breath caught as he started to turn toward her. But all she saw was a glimpse of a bare thigh before his body shimmered like the desert horizon on a blistering hot day. He held his hands out to his sides, palms up. The shimmering stopped and his hands started to glow. No, not glow Eren realized, but leak a green mist specked through with yellow.

Aiden brought his hands together and the mist formed into a swirling ball between his splayed fingers. The look on his face was one of intense concentration. His arms straightened and the ball of energy flew from his hands to strike the base of a nearby tree. The energy spilled out around it like green liquid then sank into the ground. A moment later green shoots thrust up out of the ground and unfurled to reveal tiny blue flowers that circled the tree trunk like a carpet.

Eren looked back at him. There was a vitality that seemed to be coursing through him. He stood up straight, chest held high, eyes practically glowing. Surprisingly, she felt no fear seeing him this way. She had expected to, but she had also expected the release of energy to be frightening and to bring about his anger. But the opposite seemed to have happened.

“You’re a healer channeler,” Eren said in a hushed tone.

He smiled and shook his head. “Not exactly. Come on, it’s your turn. Remember, dump the energy down into the Earth and it won’t hurt anything,” he said.

“All right, but turn your back,” she said.

There was a sparkle in his eyes and one corner of his mouth kept twitching as if he was struggling not to smile. She crossed her arms and glared down her nose at him. He turned around and walked a little deeper into the shadows.

Taking a deep breath, she turned her back to him and pulled her shoes and socks off. Should she take more than that off? She wasn’t sure. As her tank top fell to the ground she heard a loud thump behind her. A low, threatening growl chased a chill up her spine and made her stomach clench. It also made her body vibrate so badly that her muscles felt like they were on the verge of convulsions. That terrible sound made her pause and fight back the energy. What the hell had that been?

Feeling very vulnerable, she slowly turned around. Amber eyes and white teeth glared at her from out of the darkness where Aiden had been. Something big moved in the shadows and Aiden was nowhere to be seen. The shape moved closer and made a chuffing sort of noise that made Eren’s legs want to give out. It sounded big. As it stepped out of the darkness of the forest and into the starlit backyard she saw what it was, a black bear. 

Eren took a step backwards.

“Aiden? Are you all right?” she called.

The bear growled and took another step in her direction.

Could it smell or sense her fear? It didn’t really matter as long as she could keep it away from Aiden. The lips around those long, sharp teeth pulled up into an angry snarl.

“Aiden are you hurt?” Eren asked, her voice quavering. She felt stupid for asking the obvious but she didn’t know what else to do. His inability to answer was not a good sign.

She took another step back and her foot tangled in her tank top, making her stumble. Panic widened her eyes until all she could see were those frightening fangs. The moment she hit the ground, a fearsome growl tore from the bear and it lunged toward her.

All those years of track training suddenly seemed very worth it. Eren turned and launched herself to her feet, legs pumping in a desperate sprint for the back door. It was less than a second before she was flying across the deck and reaching for the doorknob. She flung the door open and threw herself inside, slamming it behind her.

A solid weight thudded against the door, shaking it in its hinges. Eren screamed and threw the dead bolt. Another massive impact shook the door again and knocked her back onto her butt. Crying and fighting back her rising energy, she scooted backwards as fast as she could.

“Eren what happened?” Sylvia yelled as she ran in from the kitchen.

Eren couldn’t speak, but Sylvia didn’t need an answer. She saw the look of horror on Eren’s face and her eyes were drawn to the back door as it rattled once again.

“A bear. Aiden is out there!” Eren managed to get out.

Anger filled her aunt’s dark eyes as she ran for the door. It flew open so fast that Eren never even saw her unlock the dead bolt.

As Sylvia stepped out the door her energy rose, creating an orange glow that was speckled with red around her hands. She was out the door as fast as a bullet. Apparently Eren wasn’t the only runner in the family. Snarling, growling, and snapping of teeth sounded far too close to the open door.

Eren stood and started to go toward it with the intention of slamming it and locking it. But she couldn’t do that to her aunt. Locking her outside with that kind of danger would be horribly selfish. She froze in mid-stride, undecided. Guilt sickened her stomach because she knew what she should do. She should raise her energy and go help.

A huge picture window to the right of the door gave her a good view of the fight. The bear stood on its hind legs, dwarfing her tiny aunt. But Sylvia showed no fear as she faced the thing down, hands held out to her sides as the energy built around them. The look in the bear’s eyes was almost crazed. Its movements were forced, as if it was fighting against its own muscles. It almost looked like something was controlling it, forcing it to attack. Energy shot from Sylvia’s hands, striking the bear in the chest so hard that it sent it toppling over backwards. 

One of the worst memories of Eren’s short life sprung into her mind. The policeman had said her parents had been killed by an animal attack. The urge to raise her energy was washed away as if she’d been doused with a bucket of ice water. It hadn’t been just wild animals that killed her parents. That wasn’t very likely. They were experienced hikers. But if the animals were controlled by someone like this bear appeared to be then it was possible her parents had been murdered by their own kind.