Gnomes of Suburbia (6 page)

"I don't know, but they have been busy. You may want to keep an eye on local news.” He wandered into the floral expanse and asked her, “So what else would you want?"

"I think I would need a meditation space and organize the colors into soothing pallets. And some decorative stones to charge up and use for balance.” She walked around the tiny paths that left just enough room for her feet. “The plants got blasted last night as well. They are humming with energy already and I haven't even touched them."

"You have now created a yard full of magical flowers. You should be proud. I have never even heard of such a thing.” His hand moved to take hers and she shied away. She backed up until she was touching the oak and, with a relaxed sigh, emptied her charge into the tree. It could take it.

"There. I no longer have a charge. Let's go visit Laura.” The leaves rustled as she turned to take Xander's arm and she deliberately did not look back at the tree that now had a full burst of magic. Part of Abby was still trying to pretend it wasn't happening.

The other part was enjoying the feel of Xander's arm under her hand. The warmth of the muscle under her fingers sent a tingle of recognition through her. If her hunch was correct, she had just found one of her triggers because she had started to power up once again and his muscles were responsible.

"I'm back here!” Laura's voice called out through the fence and they headed for it. A wave of Xander's hand and a tingle of magic later and a door appeared in the forty foot fence where none had existed before.

Abby was in a hurry to apologize. She stumbled up the steps leading to the pool and knelt at poolside. Laura's skin was practically pearlescent. She looked lovely, but also unhappy.

"Look out!"

Her warning came a second too late as a snarling wolf tackled Abby and rolled her onto the grass. He pinned her down with his jaws at her throat and growled.

With a choked voice, she tried to calm him. “Hi, Verne. I know that it looks bad, but Xander is going to help me undo what I did to Laura."

A blue nimbus surrounded the wolf as the Warlock levitated the werewolf off her and into the hot tub.

"Aw man, it is going to take me forever to get all that fur out of the tub.” Laura flicked the water with her tail and leaned back to relax against the edge of the pool.

"You could have called to warn me.” Xander was irate now. He helped Abby to her feet and dusted her off.

"Is Verne stuck, too?” Oddly enough, being attacked by a werewolf was not as shocking as it would have been three days earlier. Perhaps she was going crazy.

"Well, he hasn't shifted back since he kissed me last night after you left.” She looked a little abashed. “He must have absorbed some of the magic."

"With all that wild magic flying around, it's likely that that is what happened. But he may want to keep in mind that no creature here wants to kill our new Nexus. She is providing us with the first large magical boost in almost seventy-five years.” Xander hunkered down next to Laura and met her gemlike gaze. “We need to keep her alive and well to keep the magic coming."

"I'll remind him. Now, give Abby the instruction she needs.” Another impatient swish.

It was now her turn to be the center of Xander's attention. “All right, Abby. Since we don't know what your trigger is, I want you to concentrate on the feel of your own magic. Just keep quiet and recognize the taste and rhythm of your power."

She felt a little silly, but she knelt on the other side of Laura and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply and tried to recapture that tingle that spurred her magic to life. She thought of things that made her happy, then things that made her sad, and when she finally got around to things that scared her, she had her answer. It was adrenaline that made her magic live. She examined the properties of the energy that her body was releasing. It was green, purple and silver. A fantastic swirl of color. “I've got it."

His voice came from far away, “Good, girl. Now look at Laura with your eyes still closed. Do you see your energy?"

She looked over the mermaid from head to toe and saw a layer of her fabulous colors over the greens and blues of Laura's own magic. “Yup."

"Good. Call it back to you, slowly."

She tried several methods to recall it, but finally, it was pulling her own power into a large ball and hovering it over Laura that did the trick. Her magic was narcissistic. It wanted to be with itself. When Laura was clean, she
looked
over at Verne and saw a light trace of her magic on him. She floated the ball over and her power leapt home.

"There. I have it all. They are clean.” She opened her eyes and looked hesitantly at the werewolf first. He was back in human form and reaching for a towel. Then it was time for Laura.

"Thank you, Abby. I know that you didn't mean anything by it. But the power that you have isn't compatible with existing races. It can create a boost, but it isn't designed to be permanent.” Laura was climbing out of the water and Verne shoved Xander aside as he covered her with another towel.

"I didn't even know what I did. Only that it zapped you and brought those fish to life. How are they enjoying your pool?"

"Eh, they are pretty good company for stuff that was handcrafted in Bali. But they are rather cliquish.” She winked at Abby.

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to.” Abby was hanging her head when Laura padded up to her on wet feet.

"Sweetie, I am positive that you didn't mean to. You will learn control with time. But I hope for my sake that it is soon, ‘cause I really want to give you a big hug. You could use it."

"You can't, I am holding a charge.” Her arms had wrapped themselves around her torso without her volition and she looked up sorrowfully into those wonderful blue green mermaid orbs.

"I know. Now, I believe the next lesson that Alexander has for you is to harmlessly discharge your magic into something else. Something not moving.” An encouraging smile lit the mermaid's face.

A wan, hopeful smile crossed Abby's features. It was that or bawl like an infant. An inanimate object it must be.

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Harbinger was pleased, breakfast had been a fantastic hit, “Good idea, Mitsy. The Nexus was very happy with the breakfast and the yard. Can everyone feel it?"

When his siblings nodded their assent, he was pleased. The Nexus was sharing her energy with them passively and they were all benefiting by a form of passive transfer, and being her creatures, the benefits were making them smarter, faster and sneakier.

Their speed was increased as was evident when they managed to set the kitchen to rights in a matter of minutes. Juice was prepared for lunch or whenever the Nexus was thirsty and they scampered outside to work on the yard.

It needed a lot of work. The previous owner must have neglected the balance in the soil shamefully, creating that balance was first on their list for the evening's activities. The refurbished laptop was useful as the mermaid had an unprotected network at her house and they simply hacked her signal. Details of the world around them flowed in a matter of seconds. They had a question, it was answered as soon as they had the right way to phrase it.

"I love this
Google
thing. It's amazing.” Bitsy was in charge of their Internet access because he seemed to know what to look for. He was pretty good at it, too. They had taken paper from the Nexus's house and made lists of items that they specifically needed for the house and garden to be at their best, all compiled from the information that they had gathered.

It was a really long list.

The yard really needed some work.

When Bitsy came to him and stated that they needed some additional assistance for the Nexus in case the magical inhabitants of the neighbourhood got out of hand, he thought it was a splendid idea. The smallest gnome immediately went to a pharmaceutical website and started to shop.

The others were starting the tunnels that would carry them into the heart of Sargent and throughout their neighbourhood. The ultimate in discrete transportation. No one would see them on their little shopping trips again, as soon as the conduit was complete. This life thing was going to be fun.

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"Abby, would you come with me please?” Xander gestured for her to preced him as he moved toward the gate between the properties. He kept a careful distance between them, but stayed close enough to let her know she was not alone. It was cold comfort, but she would take it.

Her own energy was a steady push against her. With no outlet, it wrapped around her like a smothering blanket. An itchy, suffocating blanket.

She stumbled once or twice and whimpered as no one came to her aid. Xander merely waited until she righted herself, then continued to shepherd her into her own backyard. Obviously, touching her was out of the question. That dampened her enthusiasm for his body slightly. Only slightly.

"The rock at the far end of your yard should be a safe target.” He kept his arms at his sides as he followed her to the back of the property and waited for her to discharge her magic.

Suddenly she felt slightly exposed, “Could you turn around?” It was as if he had asked her to disrobe.

"What?"

"Could you turn around? I haven't done this before and don't want anyone to watch. Passing along energy seems ... personal.” Her blush could have sparked a fire.

He gave her an astonished look, but turned his back to her anyway.

The tree in her yard looked oddly patient as if it had been waiting for something for a long time. “Am I supposed to use the oak?"

"No, the stone. Oaks are alive. Who knows what would happen?"

Oops. Talk about belated information. She needed a Nexus manual.
How to not be a power flinging idiot in 10 days.

The oak was calling her, pleading with her to share her magic. She altered her path slightly and then was within reaching distance of the rock and the oak. One needed her, the other didn't. She chose.

"It isn't working. Why isn't it working?” She winced a bit at her own tone, the bark under her hands merely waited.

"You need to relax into it, let the power flow away from you and into the rock. May I show you?"

The faintness of his tone left no doubt that he was still facing away. What an honourable guy. Sucker. “No. I need to work through this. No peeking.” Relax and let the power flow. Deep breathing aided her relaxation and with her mind's eye watching her power, she let a trickle of power into the tree and in seconds, she felt it drawing the magic from her with a raw hunger that she was unprepared for. Her hands could not leave the rough bark, but her mouth was free. “Xander, I have screwed up here!"

His voice mercifully grew closer, “You know, I had a feeling that you would do something like this.” He still didn't touch her, but was sitting next to her, shaking his head. “Relax and let it take the surplus. It will take a few minutes, but it will stop when it senses your regular life force."

With the closeness of his body, her magic flared into a second dose for the tree. This was going to take a while if he didn't get his hotness out of her field of vision. She could just about imagine how much harder it would be if he wasn't wearing a shirt. Oh lord, there was another wave.

It was unending, and when Xander finally clued into the little fact that the tree was not letting her go, he made the mistake of trying to pry her away from her wooden companion. The pressure of his body behind her as he pulled at her arms to facilitate the release caused a pulse in her body that gave the tree enough energy to stroke her hair gently with a low hanging branch. That just wasn't right.

"Okay, that is really creeping me out. Xander, can you back up a bit?” Abby hastily added, “Not all the way, just let me get my left leg out."

He seemed to understand what she wanted and moved aside with one arm around her waist, keeping them in contact. Carefully, she extended her leg and reached out with her sandaled foot. As her toe connected with the rock, a massive discharge of magic pulsed through her and into the stone. She also reached out to draw her own energy from the tree and that is when it let her go. The instant that it freed her, Xander pulled her back and they tumbled to the ground with him on top. Oh, this was so going to mean another trip to that rock.

"Hah. I knew that there was a way to do it.” She was smug and more than a little impressed. He felt as hard as he looked.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What, precisely did you do?"

"What, weren't you watching?” Hmmm. Was that a wand in his pocket or was he happy to see her?

"Yes, I was, but I still don't know what you did.” He was propped up on his elbows.

The fantasies that romped through her head were now guaranteeing another trip to the rock. “Uh, I improvised?” A bright and cheery smile that felt more like a grimace. She almost sighed in disappointment as he moved off her and sat next to her on the grass.

"Seriously."

"Seriously, I drained my magic through the rock. Then started to siphon my own power back from the tree. The tree let go, then you jerked me through the air and here we are.” She gave a small shrug.

"You learn quickly."

"I do try. Whatever this is, I want to get a handle on it quickly. The sooner I control it, the better.” Her own words rang in the air between them and she shook at the truth of it. She really did want to control this thing that was running through her, it surprised her. She didn't even know that magic was real until yesterday and now she was a living fountain of the stuff.

"Don't worry.” With a caring move, he reached out to take her hand. The shock of energy that rushed to him with the skin-to-skin contact made his eyes flare electric blue and seconds later, he leaned forward to take her mouth with his. For a slow kiss, there was a ton of energy between their bodies, lips and tongues in action, but the more power she generated, the more rushed through the circuit until Xander broke from her in a daze. “Abby, I thought you discharged your power.” His tone was not accusing, but his eyes were still glowing.