Channeler's Choice (11 page)

Fane stood and helped her to her feet. The way the two of them stared at each other made Eren smile.

“
Thanks for the run. It works wonders to clear the chaos from my head. I’ll call you tomorrow, Eren,” Caitlin said.

They turned to leave and Fane glanced back as he said, “I’ll meet you guys back at my place.”

Giving in to that magnetic pull that was ever-present with Aiden, Eren turned her attention back to him. Even with no shirt on, stretched out on his back with his hands behind his head, he seemed oblivious of the cold, wet grass. Eyes traveling across his hard abs, the cool grass no longer felt cool enough.

“
So we’re a Society are we?” she asked.

“
It feels that way,” he said.

Eren hadn’t realized she’d been tracing lines along the muscles of Aiden’s chest until he made a slightly strangled sound. Her finger halted atop his abdominals. His thin t-shirt couldn’t keep their energy from mingling.

“
It’s so hard to be good when you do that, E,” he whispered.

“
Well, we can be a little bad, can’t we?”

Aiden answered by pulling her down for a kiss. His mouth tasted like river water and his tongue had the most wonderful, familiar texture to it. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her against his chest. One of his hands worked its way into her hair while the other slid beneath her shirt to touch the bare skin on the small of her back.

Caught up in the feel of his body beneath her hands and the taste of him upon her tongue, she let things go farther than she ever had before. It didn’t matter that the rain was falling steadily upon them and dripping down from her bangs onto his forehead. The part of her that wanted him to stop seemed to be getting smaller all the time.

Finally, she decided where to draw the new line and breathlessly pushed back. It wasn’t easy. He put his hands under his head and smiled as he closed his eyes. He was always like this, never pushing her farther than she was willing to go, and never upset about it. She was pretty sure he may be the last guy on earth who was so patient and understanding.

After a few deep breaths, Aiden stood, and shook the water from his hair. Laughing and holding her hands up to block what she could of it, Eren jumped to her feet. Not that it did much good considering how hard it was raining now. Had she really not noticed that before?

“
If we don’t get back by the time Fane does, your uncle might kill me,” he said.

Knowing Alin would do no such thing, Eren laughed. Her uncle trusted Aiden and treated him like a second son. And as long as they got their power back under control, no one would know they’d gotten carried away. It hadn’t taken Eren long to figure that out after kissing him her energy was harder to suppress. The basic concept had been taught by a Tibetan monk in health class, one of the many strange things about Spruce Knoll High.

Aiden bent and reached for his jacket, but Eren shot forward and grabbed it first. Laughing, she held it behind her back and dodged him as he tried to grab it. He soon gave up and took her face in his hands, planting a very long, distracting kiss on her. The game forgotten, she melted against him. His hands worked their way around her waist. When he took the jacket from her, she didn’t resist.

Eren sighed as he pulled away and slipped it on. Her own blouse now clung to her like a second skin. She looked up to see that Aiden hadn’t missed that detail. His eyes were fixated on her as he chewed on his bottom lip.

“
Maybe it would help if we ran back,” he suggested.

“
Let’s, but not with our energy raised.”

“
Of course,” Aiden said with that mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Eren took off at a pace that would soon have her eyes watering. She had to. That’s what it was going to take to get her mind off Aiden.

The forest flew by in a green and white blur, the scents of spruce and earth clearing her head as they flowed down her throat. By the time they reached her aunt and uncle’s backyard, she was able to think about things other than putting her hands on Aiden, which was good because Fane was leaning against a tree waiting for them. There was a grin on his face so huge that the corners of it seemed to disappear into his black curls.

“
You kissed her didn’t you?” Eren asked.

Fane’s smile got bigger.

“
Way to go, Bro,” Aiden exclaimed as he reached out to clasp hands with him. “So. Do tell,” Aiden prodded.

“
A gentleman does not speak of such things,” Fane insisted.

“
You don’t have to. She’ll tell me all about it tomorrow. If she can wait that long,” Eren teased.

Fane groaned and pushed away from the tree, shaking his head as he led them to the house. Eren and Aiden laughed and followed him inside. They stopped teasing him as Alin, Sylvia, and Zolin turned to look their way. The adults were sitting in the living room hovered around a book that was open on the coffee table. On one of the pages, Eren could see a channeler glowing with power that flowed into him from dozens of other channelers around him. It didn’t look like any page from the book grandfather had given them.

“
For heaven’s sake. It can’t be thirty degrees out there and you three are soaking wet,” Sylvia exclaimed.

Pulling her wet, freezing blouse away from her body, Eren realized her aunt was right. How could they not have noticed how cold it was? Oh yeah, their body temperatures had been a bit elevated. She dropped her head to try and hide a blush with her hair but it was stuck in wet clumps that wouldn’t cooperate.

“
Boys, upstairs, get into something dry. Eren, come with me,” Sylvia said as she stood.

Throwing Aiden a smile, Eren fell into step behind her aunt. She followed her past the wonderful smelling kitchen, up a flight of stairs, and into her and Alin’s huge bedroom. Sylvia disappeared into the closet and came back out with a dark blue sundress that matched Eren’s eyes.

“
There’s a towel hanging in the bathroom, get dried off before you put this on,” she instructed, pointing to the attached bathroom.

Not wanting to drip on the hardwood floors, Eren took the dress and hurried into the equally spacious bathroom. Sylvia leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed. There was an intense look on her face, like she wanted to say something and was trying to figure out how to word it. Eren was pretty sure she knew what it was about.

Rather than help, she let her aunt work it out while she toweled off and put the dress on. It was a little tight across the bust. Aside from that, it fit pretty well. Eren blushed as she realized how much she’d filled out over the last year. She’d have to go shopping soon.

“
So you and Aiden are getting pretty serious,” Sylvia said.

Eren froze with the brush halfway through her hair. Oh, so that’s what it was about. She had no idea what to say to that. Everything she thought of would probably lead to the sex talk, so she said nothing.

“
It wasn’t really a question. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Don’t worry I’m not going to lecture you. I like Aiden. We all do,” Sylvia said.

Finished with her hair, Eren put the brush down and sat on the expansive marble-top vanity. This might be a long conversation.

“
What is it then?” she asked.

“
Our kind have a difficult time having children. Part of that is because we can only have them with the right person, our soul mate, some like to think. Most of us take a hundred years to find each other and our Society.” Sylvia paused, brows scrunched together.

This was starting to sound like it was working up to the sex talk. Damn. She had to say something to derail it.

“
And you’re afraid Aiden will break my heart if he’s not the one,” Eren said.

“
No! I’m afraid Aiden could be the one, and if so, you need to be very careful because you’re way too young to get pregnant,” Sylvia blurted out.

That stunned Eren so much that she had no idea what to say.

“
Can you feel him?” Sylvia asked.

Eren’s eyes widened until she felt her eyebrows disappear into her dark hair. “If you mean his energy, yeah. But I can also feel Caitlin and Fane’s, so I thought that was just another channeler thing,” she said.

Sylvia cocked an eyebrow up, but she didn’t miss a beat. “Does Aiden’s feel different from theirs?”

“
Yeah. It feels more intense, almost magnetic,” Eren admitted.

Aunt Sylvia’s eyes went all distant and her mouth gaped open. For a long, uncomfortable moment she didn’t move or say anything. Eren was starting to think she’d have to shake her out of her stupor.

“
What does that mean?” Eren asked.

Slowly, Sylvia’s eyes blinked back into focus and she met Eren’s gaze.

“
It means you have to be very careful. Come on, we need to go talk to Alin and your grandfather,” Sylvia said as she reached out and grabbed her hand.

This was
so
not something she wanted to talk to them about. Regardless, Eren let her aunt lead her downstairs and back into the main house. Her head spun with everything Sylvia had said. Did this mean Aiden could be her soul mate? That might explain their close connection to one another.

Eren found she couldn’t meet Aiden’s eyes when she walked into the room. The red shirt that Fane had loaned him was so small it clung to him, helping to distract her a bit from her heavy thoughts.

The guys were all seated at the dining room table, gathered around the same book Eren saw when they’d walked into the house. Aiden and Fane were taking turns talking about the run they’d had, describing in detail how they could feel each other’s energy. Alin peeled his eyes from Fane to give Sylvia a stunned look. Eren was starting to get that the way they felt each other’s energy was not something the adults had expected.

“
What’s it mean, Father?” Fane asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

Alin’s mouth opened, and then closed again. Zolin reached over and put his hand atop Fane’s. “It means you’re parents and I have to talk. Would you kids set the table?” he asked.

“
Of course, Grandfather,” Fane said.

Zolin and Alin stood and followed Sylvia out of the room. On his way past, Zolin gave Eren a huge smile and squeezed her shoulder. Deep lines of concern surrounded his eyes in contrast.

“
What do you think it means, Aiden?” Fane asked once the door had closed behind the adults.

Eren went to the cupboards and started taking plates down.

“
I think it means we’re a Society,” he said.

“
But why do they seem so shocked?” Fane asked.

“
Maybe because Aunt Sylvia just told me that most Societies take a hundred years or so to find each other and form,” Eren said without turning around. She wasn’t ready to tell them what else Aunt Sylvia had said, the soul mate part was still processing.

She could feel the press of Aiden’s power as he walked up behind her before he even put his arms around her. This time it was more than just his touch that made her heart race, it was also the thought of what being able to feel him without seeing or hearing him meant. Soul mates.

Despite the spike in her blood pressure, his touch soothed her instantly. Whatever they called it, it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that she and Aiden were together.

“
Well, I guess we’re just special,” he said.

He was definitely right about that. They were special and Eren would do anything to protect them, all of them. With Luke lurking in the shadows promising dark things, she couldn’t just sit by and let her Society be in danger. Sure, maybe they were just empty threats, but she couldn’t take that chance. She would hone her fighting skills until she was the best she could be, no matter what that entailed, she had to. There were people who depended on her now.

“
A Rector can draw the power of their

Society members to them,

using it to strengthen their own.”

~from
Life In A Society

Chapter 9

By the end of the week when the tournament arrived, Eren didn’t exactly have mad skills. Her maestro wouldn’t allow her to compete yet. But that was alright. She was perfectly happy to sit with Fane and Caitlin and watch Aiden compete.