Alora: The Wander-Jewel (Alora Series Book 1) (5 page)

“What’s so funny?” Charles asked, pulling to a stop beside the bus.

“I’m just glad I’m not on the swim team.”

“Yes, I guess that could be a problem. Especially if one of those guys showed up in bodily form.” He smirked, hugging her goodbye. “Seriously though, I hope maybe we can find a way to avoid all those visits. I’m thinking about you, okay? Have a good day.”

“You too, Uncle Charles.”

She jumped out and ran to greet her best friend on the bus. Close buddies for as long as she could remember, they were almost inseparable, although she’d outgrown her friend by about eight inches over the last four years.

“Hey, Beth.”

“Hey, Alora. Are you going to the dance on Friday? I know I said I wasn’t going, but Mom changed her mind and said I could go. So now you’ve just got to go. Please say
yes
.” Her imploring brown eyes, dancing with excitement, were framed by shoulder-length auburn curls.

“Maybe I can go. I’ll check with Uncle Charles.”

“You know your uncle will let you go. He’ll do anything you ask him to do. And guess who’s going to be there?” She lowered her voice. “Wesley Franks.”

“I don’t care whether he’s going to be there.”

“Last week you told me you thought he was the hottest guy you’d ever seen. And Riley said he said the same thing about you.”

“He said I was a hot guy?”

“You know what I mean.” Beth’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on? You don’t like him anymore? Did you hear something bad about him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I changed my mind. I think maybe I’d like an older guy.”

“But doesn’t your uncle have a rule that you can’t date a guy more than a grade ahead of you?”

“I’m only talking about what I like, not who I want to date.”

“There aren’t that many guys to choose from at our school. I guess maybe Justin; he’s a cute senior. I think he’s going with Shanna Wallace right now.”

“Uhmm, I don’t know. I think I’ve decided I like longer hair.”

“Like Eric Matheson?”

“No. Even longer than Eric’s. Long enough to put in a ponytail. And wavy. And green eyes.”

“Okay, now I know you’re just making someone up. Or are you talking about a movie star or some guy you saw in a magazine?”

“No, it’s just someone I dreamed up. And don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“Okay, but unless you’re on a date with Dream Boy, will you go to the dance Friday night?”

“Sure. Why not?” But she’d rather be with Dream Boy if she actually had the option. Kaevin. She’d never heard the name before, but she really liked it. She wondered, not for the first time, where he lived. And why wasn’t he surprised he kept materializing in front of her? Her life seemed a bit surreal after her strange weekend. On the one hand, she was a normal fifteen-year-old girl, awkward and embarrassed, having crushes and gossiping with her best friend. On the other hand, she’d been miraculously visited twice by some cute guy and once by her supposedly evil father, and had discovered she wasn’t related to her aunt and uncle. But that episode in the snow... now that was something.

“So, what’s his name?”

“Who?”

“You were smiling. You must have been thinking about your dream boy. Why did you suddenly decide you liked long hair? You’ve always said you liked it short before. Were you watching some movie that made you change your mind? No, forget that—you never watch movies. It must have been some book. Why am I not surprised?”

“You know me too well.” Alora scrambled to change the subject. “So, what are you wearing to the dance?”

*****

“Listen to me, Jireo. She must be my soulmate,” insisted Kaevin. “Why else would it spark when we touched?”

Jireo’s gaze rose to the sky as he crossed his arms. “Did anyone on the council say that’s what it meant?”

“No, but perhaps they simply weren’t paying attention. They were all excited about her being Wendelle’s daughter.”

“Yeah, about that. Who’s her father?”

“Well, no one said it out loud in the council meeting, but everyone thinks her father must be—”

“Vindrake? That’s what I thought, too. Who else could it be? Will that make her partially evil? Can you inherit that?”

“It’s not possible. She’s totally innocent.”

“And you know this because she spoke, what?
Five
words to you?”

“Seven words, actually. But I can sense these things with my gift, you know. And I could tell by looking in her eyes.”

“I thought you said her eyes were a weird color.”

“Not weird—just unusual.” Kaevin tried to squelch the urge to punch his friend. He imagined Alora in his mind and added softly, “Beautiful.”

“I think you like her because she’s the first girl you’ve ever seen without clothes on. And I won’t pretend I’m not a little bit jealous.” Jireo grinned. “Please, please... can’t you simply do a description so Darielle would add a little more to that sketch she drew?”

Kaevin started to give an angry retort, but when Jireo dropped to his knees and clasped his hands in prayerful pleading, he laughed instead.

“I don’t even think about that,” he lied, bending over to pick up a rock, hoping to hide the rush of blood to his face. He threw the rock as far as he could. “I’m angry they won’t let me go on the expedition to find her. I believe I should be the one.”

“You know why they won’t let you go. For one thing, you’re the next clan leader, so they have to keep you safe. And, if she transports you again, they need to question you. Anyway, we both get to go question the shires close by, even though we don’t have the minimum eighteen years. Arista threw a fit over that when I announced it at supper last night.”

“Ha! Your little sister could never stand being left out of a quest. Perhaps it’s because we teased her all her life with impossible stories of the great adventures we encountered every time we left the house together.”

“What? After she tormented me at every possible opportunity? You don’t believe she deserved a bit of teasing?” Jireo adopted an expression of deep injury, before bursting into laughter. Kaevin knew, for all his harsh words and bantering, Jireo was deeply attached to his sister.

“She shouldn’t be jealous of this particular journey, for we will find nothing in the nearby shires. I already know she’s located somewhere with a lot of snow on the ground. Alora can’t possibly be in any of the close shires. Wendelle probably hid her somewhere as far as possible from Vindrake.”

“Well, Master Soulmate.” Jireo bowed in mock humility. “We’d best get these snares set and hurry back, or we’ll miss the chance of going on even the close scouting trips. And I, for one, plan to make up a grand story to tell Arista if we don’t experience one in real life.”

*****

Alora made a new habit of wearing a swimsuit when she took a shower—just in case. But Kaevin didn’t appear during her brief showers on Monday or Tuesday night. She kind of missed him, although she was relieved her father hadn’t reappeared. She planned to wait as long as possible before deciding whether to meet with her father. After all, she was only a sophomore in high school. She wasn’t even close to being a grownup. She had plenty of time to make these adult-type decisions.

All this stuff hadn’t helped her confidence at all. She was already taller than all the other girls and most of the boys in her class. Her uncle wouldn’t let her date a boy who was more than a year older, so dating one of the tall senior boys was out of the question. Discovering her mother and father had a strange, violent background and she had some freaky power she didn’t understand only added more insecurity. Kaevin was the first boy who’d ever made her feel special, and he’d done it with hardly any words. It was in his eyes.

She’d developed a pounding headache that hadn’t responded to repeated large doses of ibuprofen. It seemed to be draining her appetite and energy as well. She reasoned that a long relaxing shower might make her feel better. If there was the added benefit she might get to see Kaevin’s beautiful green eyes again, that was okay with her.

She stood under the hot water, letting it pound on her tight shoulders. Then she moved to let the water flow over her head, trying to relax her body. She tried to empty her mind, but she couldn’t do it. Her head was flooded with memories of Kaevin standing over her in the snow and reaching out for her hand. She could picture him in exacting detail. The waves in his hair. The deep green of his eyes. Abruptly, she realized she was actually seeing his image, not imagining it. She kept her eyes shut, knowing he would disappear if she opened them.

She knew the moment he recognized her. His gaze was intense and she thought she read her name on his lips. But something was wrong—she could tell. His eyes looked glazed-over. His face was pale. His eyelids closed.

“Kaevin!” she called. His eyes fluttered open again, and he blinked as if trying to focus. “What’s wrong?” Again his eyes flashed open, but immediately drifted closed. In a panic, she opened her eyes, but he was gone. Her heart was racing and her headache was back with a vengeance. He was sick and he needed her.

She tried to reason with herself.
Why do I think I can help him if he’s sick? I don’t have any medical knowledge.
But she couldn’t overcome the conviction she needed to bring him back to her.

*****

Graely felt a tug on his arm.

“There’s nothing else you can do right now.” Laethan pulled him away from his son’s bedside. “Nordamen has warded him, so he can’t be transported. I’m certain he’ll recover with enough rest, as long as Alora can’t move him. Tell me again how the symptoms started.”

“Two nights ago, he complained of a headache. By last night, his head hurt so badly he refused to eat dinner; he went to sleep early. And this morning, he didn’t have the strength to get up. I thought it was simply a lack of energy because he hadn’t eaten. So I forced him to sit up and drink a bit of broth. He slept most of the day, and whenever he woke up he’d swear he was feeling better.”

Graely glanced toward Kaevin and lowered his voice. “But I don’t believe it was true—I think he said it so I wouldn’t worry. By this evening, I couldn’t rouse him. He keeps muttering about Alora in his sleep.”

“Well, the last thing he needs now is another visit with Alora. In his debilitated state, that might be enough to kill him.”

“But what’s wrong with him? Do you believe it’s the plague?”

Laethan shook his head slowly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I simply don’t know. He doesn’t have the rash as of yet. But he has the headache and fever, and he’s weakening steadily. Still, he’s young and strong—he should recover.”

“I fear I shouldn’t accompany the expedition. We leave in two days. If he’s not improving by then, I cannot take the risk.”

“We’ll do everything we can. Surely he’ll show some signs of recovery.”

“His friend, Jireo, is begging to see him. Do you believe Kaevin is contagious?”

“I truly can’t be certain. I shouldn’t even allow
you
to be with him, but I cannot deny his own father. However, I recommend you bathe in the sulfur springs when you leave here. I’ll allow Jireo to visit as soon as we’re confident it isn’t the plague.”

“I wonder if Alora has attempted to transport him again.”

“We’ll never know. Nordamen’s wards will prevent the transport. He’s spoken her name several times, but I believe that’s delirium.”

“Please. You must save him. He’s all I have, since Denalae died giving birth to him.” He blinked at his threatening tears. “If I were to lose him, I don’t believe I’d have the will to carry on.”

“I’m doing everything I know to do. But the clan needs you.” Laethan gripped his shoulder. “Especially knowing we must prevent Vindrake from obtaining Alora as a weapon. Little good will result from saving Kaevin from this illness should Vindrake find Alora before we do. If that happens, his life will surely be forfeit, along with the rest of the clan.”

*****

Wednesday morning, Alora woke with her head pounding so hard her eyes refused to focus.

“It started maybe Monday night. It wasn’t too bad until last night,” she told her uncle. “I’ve been taking ibuprofen like crazy. That usually works for me, but this morning it’s even worse. I can’t see straight, and I feel kind of dizzy.”

“Maybe it’s a migraine,” said Charles. “I’ll go to town this afternoon and get something from the pharmacy. You stay in bed today and try to rest. Are you missing anything crucial at school? Maybe a test?”

“I’m okay as long as I don’t miss on Friday. I’ve got a big Chemistry test. Actually, the review is on Thursday, so I really need to go tomorrow.”

“I already called the school. Did you call Beth?”

“Yes. She’s coming by after school with my assignments so I won’t get behind. I think I’m going to try taking Tylenol with the ibuprofen and drinking something with caffeine. That’s what Beth said she does when she gets a migraine.”

“Beth can’t drive yet, can she?”