Channeler's Choice (27 page)

Aiden’s idea to take her to Ireland touched her more than she was willing to show. Impossibly, he became more amazing all the time. Maybe giving up her power wasn’t the right thing to do.

They talked about every imaginable detail of the trip from what they’d do in Ireland to where they’d meet up in Mexico. Then came the part Eren had been dreading.

“
How was your week?” Aiden asked.

She tried to stop it, but she couldn’t. Her face fell. All the happiness drained from her and dread rose up in its place.

“
E? Did something happen?” Aiden asked.

Eren opened her mouth and tried to speak but her voice caught in her throat. She shot Caitlin a desperate look and thankfully it was all the prompting she needed.

“
Someone was in Eren’s room while she was gone. They moved some things but didn’t take anything. Then, she was followed one night after she walked me home,” Caitlin said.

“
What?” Aiden demanded.

His power spiked, feeling like a tremendous pressure in the air, and suddenly his skin was hot against Eren’s. She refused to look up at him. Leaving the access hatch unlocked had been so stupid.

“
We think it might be Bridget. Well, not directly, but someone spying for her. The person’s energy signature is still on one of the pamphlets. It’s faint but definitely not Bridget’s. I still think she’s involved though,” Caitlin said.

“
It wouldn’t surprise me, and for her sake, she better not be behind it,” Aiden snapped.

“
We should have a chat with her after we check out that energy signature,” Fane said, sounding calm and collected compared to Aiden, even though his voice was on the verge of anger as well.

Both he and Aiden stood up.

This was precisely why she hadn’t wanted to tell them. Having one—or worse, both of them—talk to Bridget and tell her to back off would be kind of humiliating. It would make it look as if she couldn’t handle herself. The last thing she wanted to do was look weak in front of Bridget. It would only give her that much more reason to try and move in on Aiden.

“
No, please don’t. I can handle her. I never should have left the hatch unlocked. It’s alright, really.”

“
It’s not alright. I won’t have her terrorizing you after all you’ve been through,” Aiden said, his tone softer now.

Fixing what she hoped was a brave look on her face, she looked up at him.

“
She’s hardly terrorizing me. I can handle her. Let me, please,” Eren said, trying for arrogance and falling terribly short.

It was hard to lie to Aiden; she did feel terrorized. The intrusion and stalking had her losing sleep at night. The part of her that was still scared over all that had happened last fall wasn’t convinced all this was Bridget. She was a bitch, but she didn’t seem smart enough to come up with something like this. However, Eren didn’t want to cause Aiden any more stress either; she wasn’t the only one who’d been through a lot lately.

“
Alright. But only if you agree to let me talk to her if anything like it happens again,” Aiden said.

“
Of course,” she agreed, hating the words the moment they left her mouth.

As much as if pained her, she wouldn’t be able to tell him if anything else happened. She couldn’t take the chance of him losing his place to live because of her. No matter what, she would have to find a way to deal with Bridget on her own.

“
Train hard and fight hard, for the combat

circle will determine your place in the Society.”

~from
Life In A Society

Chapter 26

Leaning heavily upon the porcelain sink, Eren splashed water on her face and did her best to wash the taste of vomit from her mouth. At least she hadn’t got any on her uniform. That would have been too much. It was bad enough that two other girls in the bathroom had heard her retching. She wanted to crawl under the paper towel dispenser and disappear. Despite Caitlin’s reassurances that she was going to do stellar, she couldn’t kick this queasy feeling in her stomach. What she wouldn’t do to have Caitlin’s Zen-like attitude about fighting. And Caitlin wasn’t even a warrior channeler. It made Eren feel beyond inadequate.

Glancing in the mirror, she dabbed at her face with a damp paper towel and tucked a lock of long black hair behind her ear. More than a little of it had slipped free of the braid but she didn’t have time to fix it. Taking a deep breath, she turned from the mirror and rounded the corner to the dressing area of the girl’s locker room.

Caitlin stood in front of her locker putting the finishing touches on her lips. For her, the hard part was over. The Irish girls had already fought. The healer channelers barely made her break a sweat. She won all but her last match, which, unfortunately, had been with Bridget. By the deep crease between her eyebrows and the fire in her eyes, Eren could tell she was still pissed about that. It wasn’t that she had to be the best, Caitlin wasn’t arrogant, it was just that she had really wanted to kick Bridget’s butt.

While Eren felt bad for her, she wasn’t entirely disappointed. Bridget had to win so Eren could eventually fight her. After all the practice with Caitlin, she felt confident enough in the Irish style that she thought she could get the job done. She was already better than Caitlin. Problem was, she had to beat the champion of the Maya girls first; Patli. Just thinking about that made her stomach start to flip again.

“
You done hurling?” Caitlin asked as she closed her locker and turned.

“
God I hope so.”

Caitlin put her arm around her and led her toward the locker room door. As she pushed it open Eren’s stomach threatened to betray her again. Taking deep breaths, she willed the nervousness away. If she could control channeling with her mind, she should be able to control a queasy stomach. That thought helped, a little.

“
It’s like that the first time. Just seek your calm center,” Caitlin said.

That was precisely the problem. Her center was anything but calm. Eren tried to focus on her breathing exercises that helped control blood flow. Seeing as she couldn’t hold it together for a simple sparing match, she felt like a complete failure as a Rector. She didn’t understand how she could ever lead and protect others if she couldn’t even keep her lunch down.

The bleachers on the opposite side of the gym were packed and Eren tried not to think about why. There were two rings with matches already underway. A third, empty ring gaped at her like the mouth of the abyss. Her eyes flicked from it back to the bleachers. The people weren’t just here to watch their friends or classmates compete. They were her to watch her, the mixed blood who was rumored to possess the ability to control both sides of a channelers power. It kind of ticked her off. What was she, a freak for people to stare and point at? It’s not like she could use both sides of her power during a match anyways so she didn’t see what the big deal was.

Straightening her back and squaring her shoulders, she tried to look proud instead of scared as she walked across the gym. The anger helped fight back the nausea quite a bit. It also helped to imagine that everyone was looking at the stunning blond walking beside her instead of at her. She simply refused to shoulder the weight of their stares.

One set of hazel eyes among the crowd drew her attention; Aiden’s. He smiled and her stress dissolved beneath a wash of his power. How it could reach her from such a distance, Eren had no idea.

Beside Aiden sat Fane, a huge smile on his face, pride lighting up his brown eyes. Her power stirred at that look. This wasn’t about a sparring match, or even beating Bridget. It was about becoming good enough to protect the people she loved. Fane’s big, innocent smile drove that realization home. For the safety of her Society, she had to do this.

Feeling sure of herself for the first time all day, she strode up to the empty ring and bowed to the corner judges. When they acknowledged her, she walked into the ring and took her place behind a yellow line of tape on the floor. A moment later, her opponent entered the ring, a girl whose brown skin and black hair contrasted sharply against her white uniform. Unlike Eren, this girl was pure Mayan. Her face was more round than Eren’s, and her skin was several shades darker.

Fury twisted the girl’s features and Eren didn’t have to guess why. She’d heard other girls whispering in the locker room. None of them wanted to fight her. They considered it an insult that a mixed blood was even allowed to compete. That had more than a little to do with Eren’s hurling.

At the judge’s command, Eren and the girl bowed to one another then dropped into ready stances. Eyes fixed upon her opponent’s, Eren began to notice things about her. The girl’s clenched fists shook and she couldn’t keep her eyes still. Eren’s grandfather said roving eyes were the sign of an insecure fighter, not to mention they would telegraph her every move.

“
Begin!” the judge yelled and blew the whistle.

Practicing the patience she’d been taught, Eren waited for the girl to come to her. Eren threw a series of light-contact round kicks that hit the girl in the stomach. The girl moved to block but it was as if she was moving in slow motion. Before she could recover, Eren punched her in the kidneys, ducked below a clumsy swing, and struck her across the back with the blade of her hand. The girl spun, sweeping for Eren’s knees. Her arm was too high, leaving her side wide open. Leaping easily over her leg, Eren darted in and landed another light punch to her mid-section.

“
Match point!” two of the corner judges hollered as they whipped their flags high.

Eren and the girl returned to their places behind their lines and waited at attention. The five judges conferred briefly and the head judge came forward and took one of Eren’s hands and one of her opponent’s. The judge thrust Eren’s hand into the air. Among the boos and protests that erupted, she could hear the cheering of her family and friends.

The rest of the morning went pretty much the same way as Eren fought through one opponent after another. Few of them were even able to leave her winded. It wasn’t that they were totally without skill; Eren was just that much better. Being a Rector meant she was stronger and faster than most, so her grandfather had said. Turned out he was right.

Before the end of the morning, most people stopped booing.

Now she understood the look of pure pleasure on Aiden’s face when he fought. It felt like she was built to do this. Fighting came as easy as breathing. Her body moved to respond almost in time with her thoughts. It was amazing and exhilarating, and she never wanted it to end. Soon she had worked through every opponent until only one was left; Patli.

Anticipation pulsed through Eren as she waited during the mandatory break between matches. She wasn’t tired and she resented having to wait, but she tried to hide it as she took a damp towel from Caitlin. It felt cold and wonderful against the back of her neck.

“
You’ll need to use your head a lot more against Patli. She’s a Rector too, Eren. She won’t be so easy,” Caitlin warned.

Amid all the adrenalin, Eren searched for her calm center. She slowed her breathing and relaxed her body, muscle by muscle. Her eyes found Aiden’s steady gaze amid the press of the crowd. The pride and confidence pulsing in his energy relaxed her and slowed her heart to a steady beat. He smiled and winked.

The corner judges began to gather at the ring and Eren rose to her feet.

Caitlin took the towel from her and clapped her on the shoulder. Her dark red lips were arched up into a smile. “Go kick her ass!”

Eren smiled and would have laughed if she wasn’t so afraid of what her sudden explosion of nerves had done to her voice. Instead, she swallowed hard and entered the ring after Patli’s menagerie of swinging braids. They faced each other and bowed. Patli had the intense, almost blank stare of a determined fighter and her eyes never wavered from Eren’s. She exuded an air of confidence that would have been intimidating if Eren hadn’t prepared so much.

The command to begin was given and the whistle blew. Crouched in a fighting stance, Patli circled Eren, watching her every move. Eren did the same, waiting patiently as she studied Patli. She held her right hand just a little too high, leaving an opening, but that could be a ploy. One thing she couldn’t fake though was how she led with her right foot. Most likely that meant she wasn’t very good at protecting her left side. Eren was discovering that a lot of fighters weren’t.