The Secret of Spruce Knoll (9 page)

Chapter 16

Tea leaves spiraled around the bottom of Eren’s cup as she swirled the last of her tea. An SPF thirty protected her mostly bared body as she lounged in the afternoon sun on their back deck. While her half-Maya heritage gave her a natural resistance to sunburn her mom had always taught her she still had to be careful of UV rays. She didn’t sunbath so much for the tan as for the way the sun felt warming her skin. She had almost mocha-colored skin and didn’t need to tan. It was much more of a pleasure than a necessity.

Next to her, Sylvia’s lounge chair scraped against the deck as she turned over. Her aunt’s energy felt relaxed and content. Feeling such things still shocked her. It was like she had been living her life under water and had just now come up for air.

“Sorry about that,” Sylvia said.

She closed the paperback she’d been reading and put it on the table between them. Eren’s eyes drifted out across the healthy green lawn and into the nearby forest. There was no privacy fence to keep the residents in and the creatures of the forest out. Eren figured this was mostly because of a channelers need to be connected to all that was wild. At times if felt like she belonged to two worlds instead of just one now. But then, she didn’t entirely belong to the other world just yet.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” Sylvia said.

She had that strained, almost embarrassed tone to her voice that made Eren think of the sex talk she and her mom had a few years back.

“If it’s about sex, don’t worry. Mom already covered that,” Eren said quickly.

Sylvia laughed. “No! No, not that. About releasing your energy,” she said.

Suddenly Eren wished it had been about sex, or drugs, anything but that. The idea of giving up control completely and letting go terrified her. Eren liked structure and control. A huge part of her wanted to embrace the channeler and her wild side. But she wasn’t ready. What would it feel like? And the biggest question, how would she be afterward?

“It’s only scary the first time and it’s much easier if you watch someone do it. Then it doesn’t seem so mysterious. You have to be careful, though. If you release too much energy and don’t focus it through your hands, then you will end up channeling through your whole body and can ruin your clothes,” Sylvia said.

Eren had a sinking suspicion she knew where this was leading. But it was too late. The conversation was like a bullet train that she had no way of stopping.

“I’ll do it so you can see what it’s like,” Sylvia said as she stood up.

“No! No! Aunt Sylvia, God no. It just…it’s too personal. Please, don’t worry. I’ll channel before I start school, I promise,” she said. It was more than that though. After seeing Aiden and Claud come so close to channeling it left Eren with a lot of questions, and even more concerns.

Sylvia had reached down to push herself out of her chair but Eren’s desperate pleading stopped her. She sighed and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I forget how over sensitive kids are about the first channeling. You were raised among normals so it’s not your fault. That will fade once you start channeling. Just remember it’s best to do it the first time when you choose, not when instinct forces you too,” she warned.

Thankfully, she sat down and picked her book back up. Eren relaxed slightly back into her lounger. If anything she was even more nervous now. What if she couldn’t focus the energy to her hands and destroyed her clothes? Or worse, what if she hurt someone?

“I know, and I will, I promise,” she told her.

It was good advice and she intended to follow it, soon. But there was something she had to know first. “Does channeling make people aggressive?” she asked.

Sylvia’s brow creased until her eyebrows nearly touched. “No. Why would you ask that?”

“No reason. I’m just curious about how it will affect me,” Eren said, doing her best to sound casual. She did
not
want to have to tell her aunt about the encounter with Claud.

Sitting back in her chair, Sylvia smiled. “It makes you feel connected to the Earth,” she said.

Eren laughed. “Don’t go all hippie on me,” she said.

Her aunt laughed with her and the tension dissolved, most of it at least. While it made her feel better about channeling it still left the spike of Aiden’s temper a mystery. Eren hadn’t realized he’d had such rage in him. What could have caused it, and did it make him dangerous to her? More importantly, did she even care if it did? She wasn’t sure she did.

“So, is Aiden coming over tonight?” Sylvia asked.

Eren hid a smile behind her teacup. She couldn’t help it. Any time she thought of him or someone mentioned his name it sent a rush of pleasure through her.

“Yeah,” she answered, trying to keep the dreamy sound out of her voice.

“Mind if I order pizza?” Sylvia asked.

“That’d be great,” Eren said.

An idea occurred to her as she laid back and prepared to sun worship again. Seeing her aunt channel seemed way too personal, but seeing Aiden channel would be altogether different.

***

Sylvia did a wonderful job of making herself scarce once the pizza arrived. She claimed she had work to do on the computer, but Eren knew she was really just giving her and Aiden a bit of privacy. Since Sylvia’s computer was in her office above the detached garage, it was actually a lot of privacy.

Each carrying their last slice of pizza, Eren and Aiden went up to the loft. As always, Aiden stopped to look at the canvas on her easel. Today it was blank, though. It wasn’t that she hadn’t had any inspiration—she had plenty of it standing right there—she just hadn’t gotten to it yet.

A breeze blew through the open window above the desk and rustled his black tank top. As it moved she caught glimpses of his defined chest and felt her heart speed up. Reacting to the sight of him was automatic, she couldn’t help it. The crooked grin that pulled at his lips made it obvious that he felt her energy spike—he always did. That smile, coupled with his alluring scent on the breeze, made her reaction even worse.

“It’s blank,” he complained as he sat down at the stool in front of the canvas.

Since he was enjoying her discomfort so much, she thought it was only fair that she get a bit of revenge. She walked up behind him and rested her head on his shoulder. The pulsing of his energy sped up to match hers, making her smile. It was nice to know she had the same effect on him.

“Let’s paint something together,” she said, her breath upon his ear.

He shivered. A thrill of triumph shot through her and she laughed as she moved away. They’d been ‘testing’ each other in these small ways, building their control. Really, it was just an excuse to be near each other, but neither of them was ready to break that illusion just yet.

Eren dashed out of the room and came skipping back in with her arms full of paints and brushes. She laid them out on the floor and looked them over as she thought about the sudden inspiration. For some reason the pink paint called to her, so she grabbed it along with a wide brush.

“Really?” Aiden asked.

“Yeah, come on. It’ll be fun!” Eren said as she pressed a bottle of blue paint into his hand.

“All right, but I’m no artist. It’ll be like mixing Picasso with Michelangelo,” he warned.

Eren put her hands on her hips and gave him a scalding look. “You did not just insult Picasso, did you?” she asked.

“No! No,” he laughed as he held his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Uh huh, sure. Start painting, critic,” she teased as she tossed him a wooden pallet.

As he caught it she was already squirting paint onto her own pallet. Laughing and teasing, they began to put brushes to canvas. At first, Aiden was hesitant and unsure, but as Eren encouraged him really got into it. They started out working on their own halves of the canvas but eventually worked inward until they were literally painting around one another. They fell silent as inspiration took over and flowed through them.

It was a long time before they stepped back to take a look at it. Most of Eren’s art was traditional: landscapes, people, and animals all realistic to the point of looking like they could walk off the canvas. This was completely different. It was a modern, impressionist type of piece, and it was surprisingly stunning.

At first glance, it made Eren kind of think of a yin and yang symbol. Aiden had painted the blue figure of a kneeling man leaning backward with his chin tilted up. Eren had painted the shape of a woman leaning down, her forehead pressed to his, a hand touching his face. The woman’s hair billowed out behind her as if caught in the wind. Neither had distinct features, they were just a pink and blue shape flowing into one another.

“Wow,” Eren whispered.

“We make an excellent team,” Aiden said as he came up behind her and casually put his arms around her.

But there was really nothing casual about it. He had never done this. Holding hands was one thing, but this was a whole different level. Eren froze for a moment, not wanting to do or say anything that might make him let go. But after a moment it was obvious he had no intention of letting go. Resting her arms on top of his, she relaxed back into him. It was like leaning back into an oven he was so hot. She didn’t care. This was one fire she wanted to be burned by.

“We really do,” she agreed.

“You bring out the best in me, E,” he breathed against her ear.

A shiver ran down her neck all the way to her navel. There had been a husky tone in his voice that made the sensation all the more powerful. Without realizing just how close their faces were, she turned to look at him. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers for a tender, passionate kiss that was everything she’d hoped it would be.

“Wow,” he muttered as he drew back.

“That seems to be the sentiment for the night.”

She looked down at their paint splattered hands and laughed.

“Come on, let’s go get washed up,” she said as she dragged him into her bathroom.

After a water fight that resulted in having to clean up the bathroom, they relaxed on the daybed in front of the bay window. Eren slid one of the windows open and breathed in the scent of spruce trees and lavender. Aiden lay down on his back and looked dreamily up at her.

A blush worked its way up to her cheeks but she fought the impulse to look away. There was no point. They had crossed a threshold in their relationship and she didn’t need to hide her feelings now.

“I love your creativity, it’s one of the most amazing things about you,” he told her.

Now she did look away. Aside from her parents, she wasn’t used to anyone complimenting her on anything but her athletic prowess. Especially guys. Most of them just told her how beautiful she looked or how cool she was—meaningless, thoughtless comments. It meant so much to hear Aiden truly compliment her that it brought tears to her eyes.

Aiden reached over and turned her chin back to him. His gorgeous hazel eyes grew wide and he pushed himself up onto his elbow.

“What did I say wrong?” he asked as he stroked her cheek.

The motion sent an electric thrill racing through her and she shivered again. Her eyes fluttered closed as she contemplated leaning into his hand. At this point she was pretty sure he wouldn’t pull away or freak out, but doubt still made her pause.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked in a dreamy tone.

Aiden laughed and shook his head at her.

Everything Eren had feared in taking this step with him had proved false. He was the same funny, thoughtful Aiden. Nothing was awkward. In fact, things were better. It was as though he had dropped a wall and was really letting her see him for the first time. He didn’t want to paw all over her and make out all night, he wanted to talk. Unlike the other boys she had kissed, he was happy with a tender touch or a long, deep look into her eyes.

It was completely refreshing to be around a gentleman. Her mom had told her they were all long dead, save for her father, and she had believed her, until now. But it scared her. Keeping her guard up and stopping herself from getting attached, was becoming harder and harder. School would be starting soon and she was afraid he might ditch her then. It was one thing to enjoy a summer with the exciting new girl, but another thing entirely to be dating the half-blood everyone hated.

Chapter 17

The view of Aiden’s backside as he hiked up the hill before her made it hard for Eren not to stare. The muscles of his back flexed beneath his tank top as he grabbed at trees and rocks to pull himself up the hill. It was still early in the day but it was already getting hot and the rigorous hike was only making it warmer. Then again, maybe it was just the view. The blush that burned her cheeks made Eren very happy Aiden’s back was to her.

“You didn’t say where you were taking me,” she said between deep breaths of the clear mountain air. She wasn’t winded yet but she was getting there. While the air felt and tasted better in Colorado, it was a lot thinner at this elevation than it was in California.

“Nope, I didn’t,” he said.

“Well I’ve got to warn you. If you’re dragging me out in the middle of the woods to have your way with me then kill me, I’m a bit of a scrapper so you might want to reconsider,” she teased.

Aiden laughed and shot her a curious—one eyebrow raised—look over his shoulder. “Don’t worry Miss L.A. Most of the stories you’ve heard about us country folk aren’t true,” he said with a badly faked back-woods accent.

Eren laughed until she was out of breath. He had a way of making her forget about all the bad things in her life. It felt strange to laugh again but it also felt kind of good. A big part of her wanted to fight the urge to like him but he made it almost impossible. Just as she considered asking him to stop and rest they crested a hill and an amazing view stretched out below them.

The forest of spruce and aspen trees parted to reveal a green valley with a structure in it that looked like something out of Arthurian times. Her first impression was that it looked like Stonehenge. But this was so much more elaborate than the pictures she had seen. This wasn’t old ruins that had been left to decay. The circle of standing stones was complete and whole, what Stonehenge may have looked like before it had been destroyed by invaders and time. Unlike the one in England, this structure had a domed roof made up mostly of thick glass that made it hard to see what lie inside from this angle. Even from this distance Eren could feel a slight hum of energy emanating from the structure.

“What is this place?” she asked.

It looked totally out of place in the middle of the Colorado forest.

“It’s the Irish temple. Come on,” Aiden said as he grabbed her hand and started down the hill.

The stone and glass structure was so fascinating that Eren had a hard time taking her eyes off it to watch where she was stepping. Each time she stumbled or tripped Aiden was quick to catch her. She glanced at him, shooting him a smile of thanks. By the knowing look on his face it was clear he understood her distraction. As they grew closer it became even more interesting. Intricate knotwork carved into the stone wove up and around the pillars that made up the round outer structure. They were like the Celtic knots Eren had seen in her dad’s copy of the
Book of Kells
.

The air thickened and started to feel strange, but not in a bad way. It felt like the air at a really loud indoor concert, sort of vibrating and pushing against her. Her power pulsed in response to it, warming her core and making her feel a little light-headed. She was reminded of when her dad had taught her to tune a guitar. It sort of felt like that’s what this place was doing to her.

“I feel strange,” she said.

Aiden stopped and turned her to face him. The concern in his eyes freaked her out a bit.

“How do you mean? Does it hurt?” he asked.

At first the alarm in his voice scared her and made her wonder if this strange sensation was pain. She didn’t want to panic on him and make him think she was a total loser. A few deep breaths helped her focus on the feeling.

“No, not at all. It feels like it’s in tune with me or something,” she said, hating how crazy it sounded out loud.

Relief washed the worry from Aiden’s face. “That’s good,” he said.

“It is?”

“Yeah. It means the energy of this place accepts you.”

“The energy? Of this place?” It came out sounding judgmental.

“This is a place of power, where the energy of the Earth is strong. Because its druid land the energy they leave behind can sometimes be hostile to channelers who aren’t Irish,” he explained.

She pulled her hand from his and placed it on her hip. “Wait, you’re telling me the Earth is prejudice?”

He laughed and shook his head. “No, of course not. I’m not explaining this very well. When channelers hang out in an area a lot they leave traces of their energy behind. That’s what can be hostile. The Earth doesn’t care what race of channeler you are. It’s smarter than we are,” he said.

That brought a smile to her lips. She took his hand and let him lead her to the temple. They walked through one of the many openings between the massive stone pillars. The power here was so thick it felt like stepping into water. This was the power that had made her feel like a tuning fork. There were more stones free-standing inside the structure and each had Celtic knots carved into them. Some were an intricate knotwork of animals, trees, and even people. At first glance the stones seemed to be randomly placed throughout the structure but then Eren realized the light and shadows around the stones formed patterns.

“Wow, it’s like the legends say. This is some kind of ancient star observatory isn’t it?” she asked.

Her reservations faded in the wake of her curiosity. She walked around each stone, looking at the sky from different perspectives, trying to imagine how ancient people would have used this to study the stars.

“Yep. All channelers believe in the power of the planets and study them,” Aiden said as he followed her.

Eren darted out from behind a stone and met his startled gaze. “Do other channelers have places like this then?” she asked.

He nodded.

“I’d love to see them all.”

His eyes dropped to the stone floor and he swallowed hard, making her worry. “Your aunt can take you to the Mayan temple, but you have to be invited to the others and it’s rare for anyone to do that,” he said.

Regret dampened her excitement and made her feel a bit out of place. But then, was there really any place for a half-blood like her in this town?

“Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

The energy around her changed, became tense and uncomfortable, like standing too close to an electrical transformer. It didn’t quite hurt but it was bordering on it. Aiden stepped to her side and grabbed hold of her hand. His power flowed over her and pushed back the uncomfortable feeling.

“You definitely shouldn’t be here,” a boy’s voice echoed through the standing stones.

Holding tight to Eren’s hand, Aiden stepped around the stone they had been studying, out into the open. Two boys and a girl stood in front of a large stone slab that made Eren think of an elevated sarcophagus. It was an alter, the kind they used to sacrifice people on thousands of years ago. But this alter wasn’t covered in blood—thankfully—it was covered in purple and white flowers. The energy around it was so strong it made the entire thing glow with a white light. The boys and girl were dark shadows outlined by the brilliant light.

“The energy welcomed her. She has just as much right to be here as any of you,” Aiden said.

The girl blew air out through her teeth and crossed her arms over her chest. “Hardly,” she said in a thick Irish accent.

The taller of the two boys stepped forward and said something in Irish. Though Eren didn’t speak the language, she understood it well enough, thanks to her dad. Being Irish himself, and stressing over the fact that it was a dying language, he had made sure she learned it. The boy had called her an unworthy half-blood and had insulted her parents. Fury churned her power to life and made it feel like it was boiling beneath her skin.

“Don’t you dare insult my parents. They were good people,” she said.

The boy’s eyebrows lifted and he reached back to smack his friend in the arm. “I guess I owe you ten bucks. She does know Irish,” he said.

Eren’s stomach dropped but she thrust her chin up and did her best to hide her fear. She really hoped he didn’t try to get her to speak the language. There would be no fooling him then. She suddenly wished she had tried a lot harder to learn to speak it.

“Good people don’t endanger our kind by living among normals,” the girl said. With the light behind her Eren couldn’t see her face but the girl’s snide tone filled with hate told her all she needed to know.

“They never endangered our kind. Hell, they never even told me what we are,” Eren said.

The three of them laughed. It was a cruel and humorless sound that sent arrows of pain into Eren’s chest. She shouldn’t have opened her mouth about that last part.

“Wow, so your own parents didn’t even want you to be one of us,” the tall boy said.

“Shut up, Patrick,” Aiden said in a calm voice.

Somehow the calm sounded far more dangerous to Eren than a harsh tone would have. There was promise in that calm. The tall boy—Patrick, Eren was guessing—took a step closer and threw his arms wide. The movement put him only a few feet from Aiden.

“Or what?”

Energy pulsed around Aiden and his chest rose and fell as he sucked in deep breaths through his nose. By his red face and tense shoulders, Eren knew he was struggling to hang onto his temper.

“That’s what I thought,” Patrick said.

His hand flew up and red energy shot from his fingers like lightning, headed straight for Eren and Aiden. There was no time to move. Aiden didn’t even flinch, in fact, he squared his shoulders back. The bolts of energy hit something unseen inches before it reached them and then fizzled out. Though she couldn’t see it, Eren could feel what had stopped the attack. It was a sort of force field of Aiden’s energy that surrounded them. Patrick’s eyes widened then narrowed into angry slits.

“Seriously dude, you’re going to defend her? Come on, even you can do better than a half-blood,” Patrick spat.

Eren felt the shield protecting them drop as the energy around Aiden started to pulse and grow. Along with his anger, his power grew as well until it was so stifling Eren didn’t know how he held onto it. Even when her parents had died she hadn’t experienced such fury. Surely this boy insulting her couldn’t be the cause for it. It frightened her to stand next to what felt like a ticking time-bomb but she didn’t let go of his hand. He was defending her, she wasn’t about to abandon him.

“Eren is a better person than anyone in this town. Your
pure
blood doesn’t make you any better than her,” Aiden said in a calm voice.

If she couldn’t feel his energy, Eren wouldn’t know about the dangerous level of his anger. His face looked calm, even his posture had relaxed a bit. But his hazel eyes looked like they were on fire with the glow of his power behind them.

“I think your brain boiled a bit when your mom burned up in the car accident,” Patrick said through a sneer.

Aiden started to shake, his hand quivering in Eren’s. It infuriated her that he had to listen to this jerk because of her. She wanted to help but she had no idea what to do or say. From experience she knew that it was useless to argue with people who were prejudice. Arguing only seemed to give them power. Then she realized that’s what she could do for Aiden, calm him with her power. Her aunt had done it before so she knew it was possible.

Just thinking about it caused an odd tingling sensation to spread from her core, down her arm, and through her fingers into Aiden.  He let out a sigh and some of the pressure of his energy eased. Eren felt his anger fade as his hand tightened around hers.

“No way! Did you just share energy with her?” the girl asked in a disgusted tone.

“I’ve had enough of this crap,” Patrick said with a shake of his head.

The boy and girl stepped up to either side of Patrick and each put a hand on his shoulder. At the same time, the three of them thrust a hand toward Eren. Energy shot from their fingers in bolts of purple, yellow, and red. This time Aiden wasn’t fast enough to protect her from the full attack. Several of the bolts hit her, zapping her like the charge from an electric fence. The pain took her breath away and the impact sent her stumbling back until she slammed into the stone pillar. Her hand had torn from Aiden’s and the lack of contact left her feeling exposed.

Letting out a wordless cry, Aiden strode forward, both hands extended toward the threesome. Energy exploded not from his fingers, but from his palms, bursting at the three attackers like a wave instead of a bolt. The sheer magnitude of his power scared Eren more than she cared to admit and made her kind of glad she wasn’t holding onto him just then. The wave of power slammed into the three of them—though Patrick took the brunt of it—and sent them tumbling back.

The boy and girl to each side of Patrick rolled to the ground, but Patrick collided with the alter and slumped. He blinked several times and shook his head but didn’t look as though he was going to get up any time soon. Aiden strode to him and stood hovering over him, energy glowing around his outstretched hands. Eren pushed away from the pillar and hurried to his side. If he hit the boy again she wasn’t sure he’d be all right. After hesitating for only a moment, she laid her hand on Aiden’s shoulder, flinching as his power stung her. The energy surrounding his hands dimmed a little.

“Don’t ever try to harm her again,” Aiden said.

Patrick’s eyes filled with awe and fear as he looked up at Aiden. He shook his head.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other. Now you know why I was tournament champion last year,” Aiden said.

Steeling herself against the pain she feared from his touch, Eren looped her arm through Aiden’s and pulled him back. Thankfully, it didn’t hurt. The residual energy sucked back into Aiden’s hands and with it the biting feeling of his anger disappeared completely. Eren didn’t relax until they had left the temple far behind and were hiking up the hillside though. The cool shade of the trees offered an escape from prying eyes.

“Sorry about that. I over reacted,” Aiden said.

Since he kind of did, she didn’t want to say he didn’t, but she didn’t want to sound like a nag either.