Ethon (The Other Worlds Series Book 2) (17 page)

Sazx waited another minute for his heart to calm. Then, without even blinking, he released his inner footing within the Nagreth and stepped into his own skin. The pale version of himself filled the mirror once more. Sazx repeated the switch from pale to gray to pale again several times, just to be certain he was still able to do so with ease.

A knock sounded on his room’s door. He turned. “Come in.”

The door opened and Archrin appeared, sweating and in some sort of distress. Sazx frowned. “What is it?”

“I-” he stopped, cringed, and went on, “I need to change. I’ve stayed human for too long.”

Ah, the animal inside the Craele needed to come out. Sazx stood. “What do you need of me?”

He winced as his body began to tremble. “Have you ever followed a hunting Craele before?”

:  :  :  :  :

After almost two weeks of missing class, Olinia decided it best to return for one last day – to drop out. Zedgry would be departing for Virginia later that day and with the arrival of Tiara and Archrin the realization that she would be going home to the Other Worlds was beginning to fully hit her. It seemed so surreal.

For the past three nights, she’d spent several hours practicing Globing with Tiara. Even though they had yet to have any success, it was exciting for Olinia that she could work with someone who actually had the possibility to see the future. She’d only thought Fraers to be able to do such a thing. Then again, she’d never heard of a child of an Equilan born in Time not becoming an Equilan as well, until she met Tiara.

When Olinia’s car reached the student parking lot, Will found a spot and shifted it into neutral, pulling up the parking brake. He had insisted that he join her. Ever since their dinner date, he’d hardly left her side, practically refusing to be out of eyesight.

This was not the Will she remembered. True, the old Will was always around, but this Will seemed to
need
to be close to her. Something was different. Yet, she wasn’t ready to bring it up with him. She had an inclination it had to do with the way he felt for her, and that wasn’t a topic she wished to delve into too deeply at present.

“So, where’s the office?” Will asked, unbuckling his seatbelt and yanking her from her internal reflections.

“A few buildings down,” she said as she opened her door and slid out of the car.

They walked beside each other through Olinia’s campus. Will commented on how pretty it was, while she only nodded. Something felt off. Students rushed past her and Will, but their thoughts weren’t the usual onslaught of noise. Olinia peered around at them warily. Why did they sound like a muffled mass rather than many individual voices gabbing at once? This wasn’t right.

Olinia slowed her pace and Will did the same. He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted.

One of the passing students bumped into her, brushing the skin on her exposed forearm from her rolled sleeves. “Sorry,” he mumbled before moving on.

“No worries,” she replied automatically.

Olinia turned back to Will and gawked. The world around her had suddenly frozen. Busy students stood motionless – paused mid-step. Even Will had fallen victim to the phenomenon. It was as if someone had stopped time for everyone, excluding her.

“Hello, Olinia.”

She whirled. Porter, dressed in basically all black except for the white t-shirt beneath his jacket, emerged from between several of the stationary students, about twenty feet away. His face had that smug look on it again, and his mind was silent.

“Porter,” she said slowly, “what’s going on?”

He grinned. “I have a confession to make. When I said you’re different, I didn’t mean different from me.”

An uneasy feeling began in the pit of Olinia’s stomach. Was Porter the one doing this to everyone? Could he be a gifted Ethon? That seemed highly unlikely. She frowned and took a step backwards, closer to Will. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t have to hide anymore, Olinia,” he said, still moving toward her.

“Hide what?” She asked.

“The ability to move things with your mind is an amazing gift. Yours is strong, especially when you haven’t had any training.”

Was Olinia dreaming? Was this a joke? Or did he actually just use the word
gift
? He knew she was gifted. How? And no training? She’d had training. Lots of training. A hundred questions popped into her mind, but all that came out was, “You think I’m gifted?”

He laughed lightly. “Of course you are. Not only do you fit the profile – quiet loner, who goes out of her way to avoid people at all costs – but I’ve seen you use your gift.”

“What? When?” Olinia blurted. She and Legann went above and beyond to hide their gifts. It was the one request Trenton ever made as means of paying him back for his generosity. How could Porter have possibly found out?

“That’s my gift,” he winked. “By touching you, I can see everything you’ve seen within the last twenty-four hours.”

Olinia recalled the first time she’d met Porter. She’d dropped her book and he had helped retrieve it for her, briefly grazing her hand. That rush of memories hadn’t been her remembering them; it had been Porter’s doing. She’d heard his thoughts seeing her memories. It made sense now, except for the fact that he was a gifted Ethon. From what she knew of the world, mortals with special abilities were deemed fictional.

“So, you saw me move things with my mind?” Olinia bit at the inside of her lower lip. Did he not know about her other gifts? She must not have used any others that day. She was glad for that.

Porter nodded. “You don’t need to worry about not being like everyone else. You don’t have to feel like you have no where to fit in.”

If she ever felt like she didn’t fit in with the Ethons, it wasn’t because she was gifted; it was because she was from another realm. She’d spent plenty of time amid Saerds in the Other Worlds. Being gifted wasn’t the issue. “Porter, you have no idea who I am. Don’t act like you do.”

“I know about your tattoo,” he told her. “What does it mean?”

Olinia blinked. She didn’t have a tattoo. “What tattoo?”

“The one on your shoulder,” he answered. “I saw a picture of you showing it.”

The photo at the beach! He’d been interested in it when he saw her that day. She let out a short laugh. “That’s not a tattoo. It’s a birthmark.”

“A silver birthmark?” He raised an eyebrow. She could tell he didn’t believe her, but it was true.

“Yeah, I was born with it.”

He flashed her a handsome smile. “Call it whatever you want.”

She lowered her eyebrows. “Why did you break into my house?”

“I wasn’t aware you knew.” The smile faded. “I wanted to find that picture I saw of you.”

“Why?” She stared.

“Remember that book I told you about?” He asked. “It belongs to the man whose class I tutor for. Your birthmark is on the front cover of it.”

Olinia could feel herself gaping. “What?”

Her birthmark was a Balnorrean knot. It was the symbol of High Royalty in the Other Worlds. Why, and how, would a teacher in Ethon have a book with the Balnorrean knot on the front of it? There must be some sort of mistake.

“I can still show you it,” he replied. “Come to DS with me. Come be with people like us.”

“People like
us
,” she repeated, lingering on the last word for a second longer. There were more gifted Ethons?

“DS is a place for our kind,” he went on. “It’s where we can train and strengthen our abilities without having to hide them.” He paused. “Come join us.”

That uneasy feeling was only growing with each new word he spewed at her. She glanced over her shoulder at Will. His gray eyes were clear and bright. He had no clue as to what was happening to her. She frowned and asked Porter, “Are you doing this too?”

“Doing what?”

“Pausing time,” she turned back to him. “Can you pause time too?”

He gave her a strange look. “No one can pause time.”

Olinia realized what was going on. Porter was transmitting an image into her mind. The way he managed to get past her mental barriers was through transferring his gift by touch. That student who had bumped into her was Porter. He must not have moved on like she’d thought. She was under the power of his gift. She’d heard of some Eves being able to convey images and whole conversations within a moment through touching another person. Porter had to have a similar gift. This meant though that he still had his hand on her arm. In order to get out of this frozen panorama, she would need to break free of his grasp.

“I don’t want to go with you to DS, Porter,” she told him. “I really have no desire to cultivate my gift with them.”

“DS wants you.”

She licked her lips. “I don’t care.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think you understand. When DS wants you that means you go. You belong at DS, Olinia.”

“You’re wrong,” she retorted. “I don’t even belong in your world.”

Before Porter could respond, Olinia shifted her focus inward. Then, with all the energy she could muster, she shot out fire through her pores. Olinia felt the immediate disruption of Porter’s concentration followed by a cry of shock from the pain. The world soared back into motion – students hustling on – and Olinia’s mind overflowed once more with useless prattle.

Porter leaped away from her, clutching the injured hand to his chest. The poor man’s eyes were wide and gaping. He’d obviously not expected her to escape him. He whirled and tore off through the oncoming traffic of bodies.

Olinia wasn’t about to let him go, though. For some reason, she needed to know more about this DS place. Only a minute before, she’d thought it a school for the brainy not a school for the gifted. On impulse, Olinia threw out one hand and yanked Porter back toward her by her unseen force. He stopped mid-step, toppling onto the pavement.

“What are you doing?” Will hissed.

She was making a scene. Some of the passersby had slowed to almost a complete stop to watch. They’d seen Porter fly backward as if with an invisible rope. One guy offered Porter a hand to get up, but Porter was in no shape to accept it. He was flailing his arms to break her grasp on him.

“Olinia,” Will grabbed onto her elbow and bent his head so that his mouth was near her ear, “let him go.”

Nia?
Zedgry’s voice rang louder than the rest inside her head.

Not a good time to chat, Zedge.

What’s going on? 
He was confused.
We just arrived.

A tingling sensation washed over Olinia’s entire body. It was as if every muscle inside of her were about to fall asleep. This really was not the time to be connected with her twin.

I’ve got to go,
she sent him and severed their internal link. She’d deal with explaining things to him later.

The sensation was growing stronger. Her legs began to feel weak, like they would collapse beneath her at any moment. Her body wasn’t doing this on its own though. This was the work of the gifted, but it was the sort that was used for the purpose of combat. Olinia had never touched such gifts. It was what Eveon warriors delved into.

Olinia scanned the crowd for an accomplice to Porter, both with her eyes and inner ear, listening for any thoughts about herself. Beside her, Will looked as if he were about ready to drag her away. She chose to ignore him for a little longer as her gaze landed on a black-haired woman with dark skin and marbled brown eyes, perched on a nearby bench. The woman was sitting so still she could have been a statue, completely concentrated on one person – Olinia.

There was no easy way out of this one. Olinia had contracted a crowd and her legs and internal force holding Porter prisoner would give out at any moment. Just one idea came to mind, but it would be far from inconspicuous. Then again, she didn’t really see any other choice. Without any better options, Olinia decided it was time to employ her newest gift – one Will wasn’t even aware she had. She wasn’t about to be overpowered by these Ethons. They should never have played with a Wend.

She glanced up at Will. “Be ready to run.”

Will opened his mouth to reply, but he was too slow. Olinia gave into the woman’s gift and dropped into a crouch, her legs consumed by the numbness. She released her hold on Porter and pressed both hands onto the cement pathway between buildings. Porter jumped up to his feet again, glaring. He took a step towards her, but Olinia knew he’d never reach her. Taking a deep breath and fully aware that she was about to reveal herself to the world, she once again focused her attention inward, finding the core of her being. She shut her eyes, concentrating on building up the energy inside of her. When she’d gained enough strength, her eyes opened. Then, she discharged her version of a shock wave through her fingertips, releasing the energy into the ground. The earth instantly rumbled in response.

The cement cracked beneath the feet of Olinia’s crowd as the ground rolled upward and down. Cries of confusion and surprise broke out. The woman’s concentration on Olinia broke, setting her free. The distraction had worked.

Olinia leaped up. “Run!” She screamed to Will.