Ethon (The Other Worlds Series Book 2) (12 page)

Were they under the rule of the Old Ways, the era before Balinorre, they could have been considered betrothed. Even though that tradition was no longer kept in the Other Worlds, the thought of them as future husband and wife made Olinia’s cheeks flush.

With one hand, Will pushed back wet strands of her hair that clung to her forehead. His touch made her heart race. “I still love you, Olinia,” he whispered.

As he leaned in to kiss her, she turned her head slightly – guilt and panic sweeping over her. “I can’t, Will.”

He chuckled. “Not even for my birthday?”

She shook her head, too ashamed to hold his gaze. “No, I-”

The world once again slowed down for her. She watched as the rain shifted to small, frozen pellets of hail. She noticed a vein of lightning fork through the clouds above her head. And she saw into the mind of Porter. He was staring at his own reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall of
her
bedroom.

“Porter?” Olinia gasped as thunder erupted.

Will blinked. “What?”

She spun around toward her house. “Porter’s inside. He’s in my room!”

“That guy from your class?”

“He thinks everyone is gone,” Olinia exclaimed. “He’s been watching us. He saw Legann drive off in my car and figured I was with him.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Why did Legann take your car?”

“It needs gas.” Olinia began for the house, and Will fell into step beside her.

“Wasn’t his car the one that needed a part?”

She grunted. “No, his car is fine. I asked him to take you away.”

“When did you ask him?”

“During dinner,” she returned. “We had an internal conversation.”

They were almost to the edge of the trees now. Olinia paused behind one as Will came up next her, slipping one arm around her middle. Goosebumps spread over her arms, but not from the rain.

“Where is he now?” Will asked into her ear.

“He’s still in my room, looking for something,” she answered.

“Are we going inside?”

“Yeah,” she said, “but we’ve got to be careful so he doesn’t hear us.”

“Why? Just pause time.”

She cocked her head to the side to look up at him. “I can’t do that anymore either, not that I’d be able to pause time long enough to get up there anyway. If you remember, I couldn’t ever do it for more than a couple minutes at a time.”

More lightning and thunder cracked from somewhere near them. Will glanced up at the sky. “I guess we won’t really have to worry about being that quiet in this storm.”

“True.”

Will grabbed her hand and led her back inside, half-running to the door. Once on the back porch and under some cover, Will shook out his hair as Olinia stepped through the door into the kitchen. He went in after her, closing the door behind him.

“Where is he?” Will whispered.

“Upstairs still.” She frowned.

Will watched her. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to confront Porter about breaking into my house,” she grunted.

“What if it gets messy?” Will asked. “You may have to use your gifts.”

“I don’t care,” she retorted. “This is the second time he’s trespassed.”

“Alright.” Will slipped his feet out of his wet shoes. He would be quieter without them. Olinia headed toward the staircase. “Wait for me,” he called out softly.

He shouldn’t have said anything. Olinia spun around to face him again, but her foot caught on the edge of the rug beneath her. She fell sideways, hitting her shoulder on a side table between the two couches. The lamp on the table toppled over.

“Ecknreef,” Olinia blurted the Eveon curse from her spot on the floor, rubbing her injured shoulder with one hand.

“Are you okay?” Will dropped to one knee beside her.

“No.” She grimaced. “Porter heard me. He jumped out my room’s window.”

“Can we catch him?”

She allowed Will to help her up into a sitting position. “It’s too late. He’s running to his car. By the time we can get to him, he’ll be driving away.”

“I’m sorry, princess.”

“Don’t be. It’s my own fault.” She let out a short laugh. “Sometimes I wish I could be as aware of my surroundings as I am of everyone’s thoughts.”

Well, with one exception,
Will mused to himself. By now, he was fairly certain that Olinia still couldn’t hear his thoughts. “How’s your shoulder?”

“It’ll bruise.”

The cell phone in Will’s pocket began to ring. He pulled it out and glanced down at the caller ID. “It’s Zedge.”

“Answer it.” She forced a smile. “I’m going to go check out my room. He better not have taken anything.”

8

------------------

“Arynn!”

Her father’s voice made her turn. She was on her way up the inner staircase of her home, ready for some much needed sleep. “Yes?”

Fuladrik was at the base of the stairs, one hand resting on the banister. “Do you know if the Lantz Zedgry and the Key’s heir have retired for the evening?”

Arynn frowned. It was almost dawn.
Evening
may not have been the best word to use. “Will should have, but Lord Zedgry arose only a few hours ago. I doubt he has returned to bed.”

“When was the last time you saw either of them?”

She pursed her lips. “I cannot be sure. I believe it has been at least three hours. Are you unable to find them?”

“Yes.” Fuladrik nodded. “King Yrond wishes to speak with them.”

“Perhaps Dallyn knows where they have gone,” she suggested.

Her father shook his head. “Dallyn thinks that Will has gone to bed. He knows nothing of Lord Zedgry.”

“I will check their rooms.”

“Thank you.” Fuladrik offered a small smile.

Arynn visited Will’s bedroom first, as his was closest. She knocked loudly, but when there was no answer, she quietly pushed open the door. The bed was empty, which surprised her. The sheets had not even been pulled down. Will had not touched his bed at all.

Feeling a sense of unease, Arynn left Will’s room for Zedgry’s. This time though she skipped the knocking and strode right inside. As she had expected, his room was also void of any human presence other than her own.

Silently, Arynn reached out her mind to Zedgry. Even though her gift was not strong enough to send her thoughts beyond Evedon, she doubted Zedgry was in another world.
Zedge?

No reply. She tried again.
Zedge?

Still nothing. Arynn frowned. If she could not reach him then he must have left Evedon. Her father and the king needed to be informed.

:  :  :  :  :

It didn’t feel right to be back at school now that Will had returned. Legann had always thought going to school in Ethon was just a time-filler while waiting. He figured that once Will came back he wouldn’t need to continue his Ethon education. Apparently, he was wrong because here he was on lunch break, sitting by himself and picking aimlessly at his flavorless cafeteria food. Not a good combination. Legann was in a foul mood.

Since Porter’s second invasion the day before, Olinia had become preoccupied with discovering what DS Academy was all about. She believed that DS was behind Porter’s actions, not that the man was simply a stalker who enjoyed breaking and entering. Olinia had gone through her entire room twice. Nothing was missing. That didn’t satisfy her though. Rather than leave Ethon behind to never see Porter again, Olinia was determined to prove DS as evil.

She claimed that since Zedgry was waiting on paperwork to join them anyway, they could stay in Virginia to investigate. That could have been a good excuse except for the fact that Zedgry was only getting a passport so as to travel in Ethon. He wouldn’t need to travel if Legann and the others left Virginia for Trenton’s estate.

It was ridiculous. Olinia wanted to stay to track an unimportant Ethon. Sazx wouldn’t dare go against the wishes of High Royalty, nor was he all that eager to return to battles in the Other Worlds, so he said. As for Will, he figured that time passed so quickly in Ethon staying a few more days wouldn’t really matter. This meant Legann was left on his own to despise sitting in Ethon when he could be in the Other Worlds again.

That morning Olinia suggested he return to school while she did some research. At first, Legann hated the idea, but then he realized there wasn’t much to do at his house for the time being. He wasn’t a huge fan of waiting around for something to happen.

“Do you always eat alone?”

Legann looked up as Lillie sat down across from him. He grunted. “Remind you of anyone?”

She released her tray onto the table. “I don’t think you’re the type to join my lifestyle of solitude.”

“If you’re really in solitude, why did you join me?”

“You looked distressed. I thought I’d help distract you from whatever was bothering you.” She shrugged.

“Thanks.” He smiled. “You’re right. I don’t like being alone.”

“Why don’t I ever see you with friends then?” She asked, opening her little bottle of chocolate milk.

“Let’s just say it’s hard for me to make friends here.”

She frowned. “The rumor is that you moved here from the U.K. But that’s not where you’re from, is it?”

“It’s complicated.” He let out a short laugh.

“Try me.”

Just then, at the opposite end of the cafeteria, a senior girl climbed onto a crowded table, dangling a pair of purple glasses over one side. Legann knew her face.

Her name was Hillary Purnelle. She had a petite build; long, dark curls; smooth, tan skin; and bright gray-green eyes. In Legann’s school, she was the envy of every female student and the desire of every male. Even though Legann had personally never spoken to her nor engaged in any school gossip, he still had ears and was well aware of who she was. They currently had American Government together, along with a few of her cronies.

Below Hillary, another younger girl was jumping up and down in attempts to catch the purple glasses. Legann only knew this girl to be a freshman. He’d not met her before either.

The scene was like a shot out of some teen movie – the popular girl taunting the plainer one, while other classmates gathered around to watch and laugh. It was all too cliché.

Lillie snorted. “DS brats.”

Legann blinked. “Hillary goes to DS?” He wouldn’t have taken her to be a brainy girl.

“All those kids go to DS,” Lillie answered. “Well, except for Nora.”

“Nora?”

“Nora’s the girl wanting her glasses back. I thought she moved to Missouri, but I guess that hasn’t happened yet.” Lillie paused for a half-second before muttering, “As usual the school staff is ignoring it.”

“They really don’t interfere, do they?” Legann had honestly not paid attention to the bullies of the school as he’d never felt threatened by them, but he realized that Lillie was right. During all his time there, not one teacher had ever stepped in to stop a fight between students.

Lillie shook her head. “Not with DS kids.”

“Why is that?”

“Since a lot of the recruited DS students end up going to this school, DS donates a large sum of money each year to help support the knowledge of its youth. The sum is so large that much of it ends up going toward the teachers’ salaries.” Lillie looked disgusted. “No teacher wants to lower his share of the pot by upsetting a DS student.”

“Just this school?”

Lillie nodded and said somewhat bitterly, “There must be something in the water here that creates so much…intelligence.”

Legann couldn’t help but frown at her hesitation, not quite sure what she meant. But why had he not learned this earlier about DS? This was his second year at the school. Shouldn’t he have heard this before? Then again, it was hard to learn the local gossip when he only had teenagers to eavesdrop on. They were more concerned with who was dating whom than how much influence one after-school program had over those who gave them their education.

“So, no one’s going to help her?” Legann watched as Nora continued to hop up and down with Hillary sneering above her. Tears were streaming down Nora’s face. Her pain made Legann angry.

“They’re all scared of DS kids,” Lillie replied simply.

“Then, why don’t you do something?”

She shrugged again. “I have a life of solitude, remember?”

“Well, I don’t.” Legann stood and headed to Nora’s aid, leaving his books and lunch with Lillie.

He had a vague feeling he would return home that day with at least one black eye, but oddly enough a fistfight seemed laughable in comparison to what he had previously endured back in the Other Worlds. He almost looked forward to a little action. As he neared the edge of the jeering crowd, Legann began pushing his way forward through the bodies.

“Leave her alone, Hillary,” he called out.

Hillary glanced up in surprise. “What?”

Legann made it to the front. “Can’t you find something better to do with your time than torment a freshman?”

He had momentarily stunned the group into silence. Everyone stared at him blankly. Even Nora stopped her efforts to face him, her eyes still wet. There was something else there too, barely even recognizable. Was it a sneer? Legann tried to get a second look, but Hillary reacted, forcing away his attention.

Hillary jumped down from the table, shoved Nora aside, and tossed the glasses over her shoulder. Legann heard them crack as they landed. Nora dove for her glasses, disappearing into the crowd, before Legann got another chance to catch her gaze. Five senior guys joined Hillary from their seats at the table she had been standing on, further blocking his view of Nora. Legann assumed they were from DS too.

“Aren’t you the loser who talks to himself?” Hillary asked, her hands on her hips.

Legann rolled his eyes. “The wit in this school’s student body continues to astound me.”

A Hispanic boy to Hillary’s left took a step forward, as if offended for her. Hillary put a hand on his chest, stopping him. Legann could’ve sworn she was forcing back a smile as she faced him again. “Your name’s Legann, right?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “When did Nora start employing you for protection?”

“I’ve never even talked to her before,” he admitted.

“Then, why waste your time?”

He grunted and before he really knew what he was saying, he said, “I’ve witnessed things that make what you’re doing the real waste of time.”

She blinked. “What have you witnessed?”

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang, but no one moved. Legann continued to hold Hillary’s gaze. She seemed genuinely intrigued. Too bad he could never tell her what he’d really seen. He sighed and shook his head, suddenly tired. “Picking on others just shows you’re insecure.”

He spun around back toward where he’d left Lillie. The crowd he had elbowed his way through earlier now parted for him. Hillary followed after him. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I have a class to get to,” he tossed over his shoulder.

“You’re just trying to impress us,” she retorted.

He whirled, causing Hillary to come to an abrupt stop inches from him. He glared down at her. “My parents were killed the day I was born, and two years ago my foster family was murdered in front of my eyes. Do you really think I care about impressing any of you?”

She gaped up at him. Legann mentally kicked himself for revealing his past to a room full of Ethons. The few teachers at the edge of the room were staring at him in shock. He was sure at least one of them would run and check his school file first chance they got.
Great.
Legann winced inwardly.

He released his breath in a rush and glanced over his shoulder. Lillie and his things were just a few feet away. Lillie’s face held the same element of surprise as everyone else in the room, but there was something else too. Was it a look of dread?

“I’m not trying to impress anyone, Hillary.” He frowned. “I stood up for Nora because no one else would. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

With that, he turned, grabbed his books, and made his way out of the cafeteria, well aware of all the eyes on his back.  

:  :  :  :  :

“I give up.” Olinia groaned and dropped her head onto the kitchen table, her laptop still open in front of her.

Will was on his way to her from his room upstairs. He walked into the kitchen just as she declared her resignation. Sazx, who was in front of the television watching the local news, glanced over the top of the couch. Olinia had been at the table for the past three hours, searching for any information on DS Academy. This frustrated Will. He needed time to be alone with her again, and she wasn’t giving him any. She was still avoiding him.

“Why do you give up?” Will asked.

“I feel like it’s useless,” she retorted. “All I’ve really found out is that DS stands for
Defining Specialties
. Oh, and if I would like to apply for their academic placement test, I can now do so online.”

Will sat down next to her and slid the laptop to face him. “Their website looks nice,” he noted.

“I know.” Olinia straightened. “All the reviews I found for the school were positive ones, except for the parents of those who couldn’t pass the entrance exam. It’s weird how no one who actually attended has anything bad to say about the place.”

“Did any of the reviews mention what DS students do while there?” Will’s eyes were still scanning the screen.

She nodded. “They study math, science, and literature at a more advanced level than what they receive in their regular classes.”

Will chuckled. “Remind me why you are so determined to find a fault in this school.”