Channeler's Choice (34 page)

“
Everything you need is in there; spare cash, reservation numbers, and your passports. That envelope is yours and the other is Aiden’s,” Aunt Sylvia said.

Eren ran an almost reverent hand over the envelope that contained Aiden’s information. Getting his passport had been no small task considering his real parents and his adopted parents were dead. Aunt Sylvia used all the connections she had and cut through a lot of red tape to get these, which earned her a massive amount of points in Eren’s book.

“
Thank you, Aunt Sylvia, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Eren exclaimed as she jumped up and embraced her aunt.

Sylvia laughed and squeezed Eren so tight she could barely breathe. The dainty Maya woman was trembling, which dimmed Eren’s excitement a little. Sylvia’s power oozed concern and it was a bit of a damper. Especially considering Eren knew she wasn’t worried about them surviving their European tour unscathed. She was worried about Eren’s virtue. No matter how many times Eren tried to tell her aunt she wasn’t ready for sex yet, Sylvia remained fearful.

“
Aunt Sylvia, don’t worry,” Eren said for like the thousandth time.

Sighing, Sylvia pulled back and stroked Eren’s hair while giving her a forlorn look.

“
Yes, Sylvia dear, for God’s sake stop fretting before you pester the girl to death,” Zolin said.

He closed the dishwasher, walked over, and put his arm around Sylvia. Shaking her head, Sylvia let go of Eren and reached up to pat her father’s hand. Watching them reminded Eren of her dad and it made her smile. He would be happy to know she had such loving people watching over her.

“
Alright, off to school with you then,” Aunt Sylvia said with a sigh. She was doing a lot of that lately.

Not wanting to give her aunt the chance to change her mind and start worrying again, Eren scooped up the envelopes and started for the hall.

“
No, honey, wait! Why don’t you leave those here for safekeeping?” Aunt Sylvia called after her.

She’d waited so long for these she was afraid of something happening to them, which was exactly why she knew her aunt was right.

Her grandfather took them and laid them on the island. “They’ll be right here. You can pick them up in the morning when you leave.”

“
Okay, thanks,” Eren called over her shoulder as she dashed for the hall. The look in Aunt Sylvia’s eyes had promised another lecture if she lingered.

The warm, almost magnetic energy of her Society members pulled at her from the bookstore. A smile worked at the edges of her mouth. The strange sensation was something she was slowly getting used to, and knowing what it represented almost took the fear of the strangeness out of it.

Voices floated to her before she had worked her way through the shelves of the bookstore. Through the glass door she saw three figures. They were sitting on the bench waiting for her. Aiden was perched on the backrest, elbows on his knees. He wore a pair of dark brown cargo shorts and an army green tank top that showed off his shoulders and biceps nicely. Seeing him made her think of the suitcases in the trunk of her car and her heart sped up for more than one reason.

Long before she reached the door, Aiden looked up and smiled at her.

“
Hey,” he said as she walked out.

The huge smile spreading across his face took him from good looking to gorgeous. It had such a powerful effect on Eren that she had to look down less she be drawn like a star into a black hole. As tempting as he was, she couldn’t allow herself to lose focus today, not with such an important match coming up. Tomorrow was another story, though. . .

Aiden offered to carry her backpack and Eren refused with a smile. Though she was charmed by the offer, she wasn’t about to act like one of those girls who couldn’t do anything for herself. Most days Aiden took her refusal with a smile and a shrug, but today he looked a bit stressed. He barely spoke a word the whole way to school. Eren told herself he was just nervous about their trip but she wasn’t entirely convinced that was it.

In contrast, Fane and Caitlin chatted all the way to school. Nervous energy radiated off them like heat from a furnace. Eren couldn’t blame them. This would be the first time the four of them had been apart for any length of time. She’d miss them terribly and hated the idea of being away from them, even if it was only for two weeks. More than anything she wished they could come, but it wasn’t possible. Not only did Caitlin not have a passport yet, she hadn’t told her parents she was dating a Romanian boy and was best friends with a mixed blood. Eren didn’t mind, there would be time for that in the fall.

Since it was the last day of school, they only had a few classes to attend. The day went by so quickly that Eren felt like she was stuck on fast forward. It was hard to believe her junior year was pretty much over. Aiden remained distant and quiet the entire day. Eren started to worry that maybe he was rethinking going on their trip. But whenever she said anything about it he sounded excited enough. Between preparations for the fight and the trip, she couldn’t get a moment alone with him to figure out what was wrong.

By the end of the day, she had to rush to get to the gym on time. The girls fought first and that was fine by Eren. This time she didn’t feel sick or nervous, she was looking forward to it, which kind of disturbed her. While this was just a tournament, it was still about fighting and fighting meant hurting people. She forced herself to swallow the bitterness the thought raised and focus on getting ready. She had to do this to get to Bridget.

The traditional white uniform was heavy but it allowed for ease of movement both for her limbs and power. Still, tonight it felt constricting. After braiding her hair back she forced her reluctant legs to carry her into the gym.

Tonight was a Champion’s fight only, not a drawn out competition, so she wouldn’t have to wait long.

Eren’s first match would be against a Tibetan girl, Meiling. The Tibetans were some of the most amazing fighters, possessing unearthly calm and focus. Eren knew because she’d been watching them for over a month, Meiling in particular. It was a beautiful art, but just like any, it had its flaws.

Standing across from the perfectly poised Meiling, Eren worked hard to recall all the flaws she’d seen. In the book,
The Art of War
, Sun Tzu said ‘Know thy enemy’ and she had taken that advice to heart. The book had been a gift from her grandfather, one she had read many times now. While she didn’t agree with her grandfather’s archaic belief in the Mayan apocalypse looming on the horizon, she did believe in the need to be the best Rector she could be. And that meant knowing how to protect her Society.
The Art of War
had been almost as enlightening as the book on life in a channeler Society.

They bowed to one another and Meiling’s calm demeanor changed into a predatory readiness. Hiding a smile, Eren dropped into a fighting stance and tightened her fists. The calm center she had reached so hard for last time was hers now, she had mastered it. She settled into it as though it was a favorite sweater.

From punches with her fists to thrusts with her power, the girl did everything she could to shake Eren’s calm. She had fast hands and was wicked good at throes. But Eren’s secret observations of Meiling’s training had already told her that, so she was prepared. Since she knew what throes Meiling favored and how she’d execute them, it wasn’t hard to flip out of them or avoid them altogether. As for her lightning fast strikes, Eren just had to concentrate on blocking. Unfortunately, it didn’t give her much of a chance to land any of her own strikes. Using her legs to block, she forced Meiling back.

The girl began to wear down, not from exhaustion by the pinched look on her face, but from frustration. Several beautiful spinning kicks and two throes later, Eren had scored three points while Meiling had only managed a half.

With a grudging respect in her eyes, Meiling bowed but refused to shake Eren’s hand. The moment the judge announced Eren the winner, Meiling disappeared into the crowd. Sadness dampened Eren’s excitement. Part of her wanted to be mad about the disrespect, but she couldn’t bring herself to be.

Caitlin practically came skipping from the sidelines and leaned in close to whisper in Eren’s ear. “Bridget beat Cici,” she said.

A thrill raced through Eren as her eyes flicked to the other ring. That fight must have ended before hers because the referees had already left. Bridget’s friends hovered around her chatting excitedly. Cici, the Romanian champion who had fought Bridget, was already on her way to the locker room with her head hung, whether in shame or exhaustion it was hard to tell.

Eren had half expected Bridget to throw the fight so she wouldn’t have to face her. The reason she chose not to didn’t really matter, all that did was Eren was going to have the chance to fight her.

The mandatory wait between matches was agonizing. Caitlin practically forced water down her while she helped her stretch. Eren didn’t want to rehydrate and she didn’t want to stretch. She’d been waiting all school year for the opportunity to fight Bridget and she wanted to get to it. She was afraid that any moment one of the judges would change their minds and not let the fight occur. It was silly she knew, but she couldn’t help thinking it. Outwardly she forced herself to look calm and relaxed. Bridget would use anything she could to win this fight, even Eren’s over eagerness, and Eren knew it.

Finally, the judges took their corners and called for the two of them. Forcing herself to rise slowly, Eren finished off her water and high-fived Caitlin before entering the ring. It killed her to act so casual, but it was necessary. She and Bridget bowed but neither reached their hand out. Bridget’s eyes were filled with a mixture of hatred and confidence but Eren felt fear corrupting her power. It made her smile.

It was all Eren could do to maintain her calm and not lunge at Bridget when the whistle was blown. Fighting her desire to pummel the girl, she waited, the picture of Zen-like patience—or, at least, she hoped she was. Bridget threw a few cautious punches and kicks, nothing that gave Eren the opportunity to score. They were easy to block or sidestep but Eren wasn’t fooled. She was showing her false openings and weaknesses. Bridget was better than this or she wouldn’t have made it so far in the competition. It was offensive that she thought Eren would fall for it.

Bridget’s eyes narrowed and her fists tightened. Now they were about to have some fun. Eren worked hard to keep her own poker face intact, not wanting to give Bridget the same advantage she’d just handed her.

Stepping into Eren, Bridget whipped around backwards, leg cocked for a spinning kick. Knowing kicks were not the strength of the Irish style, Eren blocked it but didn’t focus on it, certain it wouldn’t be the primary attack. She was right. Bridget followed up with a barrage of punches aimed at Eren’s midsection. While she lacked a bit of power, she was easily as fast as Meiling. Eren almost didn’t see the punch headed for her face until it was too late. Instead of blocking it, she threw her body back and her right foot out in a front kick aimed at Bridget’s stomach. It landed hard enough to knock the wind out of her as her punch sailed over Eren’s head.

Unfortunately, Bridget had time to catch her breath while the referees conferred and awarded Eren the point. Of course, Eren wanted the point, but she wanted to fight more. This time when the whistle blew, she moved in for the attack.

Striking with her hands, Eren got in close, knowing it was Bridget’s comfort zone. Just as she hoped, Bridget started throwing punches. Blocking left and right, Eren got in closer until their chests were almost touching. Twisting her hip, she thrust a leg behind Bridget’s and swept her legs out from under her. To ensure she went to the ground nice and hard, Eren shoved her shoulders with a touch of power.

Caught in the heat of the moment, Eren followed her to the ground, still swinging. The referees broke them up, but not before Eren split Bridget’s bottom lip open. The sight of blood was like a slap in the face, stunning Eren and making her draw back. More disturbing than the blood, was the mixture of joy and fury that it stirred in her.

Eren struggled to get her anger back under control as she stepped behind her yellow line. Following her to the ground had been a mistake, it was against the rules. Seeing her blood was disturbing, to say the least. Worse was the desire to see more. Eren breathed a sigh of relief when the judge awarded her the full point for the throw and only warned her to keep the fight clean or she’d be disqualified.

Dammit, she hadn’t meant to lose it like that. Now Bridget had seen the anger she was hiding. But, seeing that Eren only needed one more score to win, it hardly mattered. The problem was it wasn’t the points she was after.

Bridget dodged and leaped away as Eren threw an impressive volley of different kicks. She was much more cautious and calculating now and Eren didn’t like the smile on her face. The next kick she threw, Bridget spun around and into Eren’s back, landing a punch around her right kidney. It hurt, but Bridget’s whispered words were worse.

“
He doesn’t want to go with you.”

It slowed Eren’s reaction time enough for Bridget to slip a punch into her stomach. Stunned and furious, Eren was forced to wait yet again while the referees awarded Bridget a point. Was she talking about their trip to Europe? Had Aiden said something to her?

Forcibly clearing her head, Eren moved into the fight, feeling considerably less focused. They engaged in another exchange of strikes and blocks, neither landing any.