Simmer (6 page)

Kira started to walk off the platform, but
Luke put his hand on her arm, gently stopping her.

"Wait," he said, letting the six remaining
Councilmen exit before them. The crowd parted like they had for her
Grandfather, but this time no one walked quite so far away.
Instead, the Council dispersed to find their families. Kira assumed
they would want to enjoy the day, because despite everything, the
weather was still beautiful. It was nearing late afternoon, but the
temperature was warm: the perfect weather for a dip in the
pool.

"So, where to now?" Kira spun to Luke, ready
to follow him home.

"I'm going to find my family. I know they're
here somewhere. But, I don't think you'll be able to get very far."
He smirked.

"What do you mean?" Kira asked. She followed
his gaze to the stairwell where a circle of little kids had formed.
They were staring her down. "Oh lord. Luke, you can't leave me here
alone."

"Welcome to Sonnyville," he said with an even
wider grin. "Oh, and before I forget," he leaned in to whisper, "no
healing, okay? It's the one thing I never told the Council." Kira
nodded in understanding, but Luke had already jumped off the stage
to find his parents.

Warily, Kira turned back to the crowd of
children. She had nothing against little kids, but she knew they
had endless resources of energy and there was a lot of day left.
She sighed and took a step forward. The kids took a step back. She
kept walking until she reached the top of the steps. Each child
looked on with wide eyes. Slowly, she dropped one foot down. They
all put one foot back. She lowered again and they stepped back
again.

"What? I'm not scary," she said, reaching her
hand out to try and make contact. Her apprehension had been
replaced with determination. These little kids would like her even
if it killed her. She would never be okay with people fearing her.
Vampires? Yes. Five-year-old conduits? No.

Kira sat down on the last step, waiting for
one of them to approach her. The more time passed, the bigger the
crowd became. Parents and older siblings had made their way over.
She looked in their eyes and saw caution as well.

"What to do, what to do..." Kira mumbled to
herself. She thought back to the only memory she had of this life,
the memory of her last moments with her parents. Before the attack,
they had been playing with their powers. Kira had loved it. The
colors and the warmth of the fire were exciting. And, she realized
that was it.

Kira reached her hand out before her with her
palm facing up. Slowly, she let a tiny flame rise over her fingers.
The moment the fire started, she knew she had their attention. Each
child looked on in fascination. Their eyes were wide and their
bodies leaned toward her instinctively.

The flame was small enough that it demanded
none of Kira's attention, so she searched the little group until
her eyes landed on a little girl that reminded her of Chloe, her
sister. Not in looks of course, but in stature. Something about
her, maybe the fact that she stood a few inches closer than the
others or the adventurous glint in her eye, made Kira think of
Chloe and her care-free nature. Her sister was down for anything.
No jungle gym was too high and no adult was too scary. Perhaps not
even a mixed-breed would frighten this little girl.

Before she could change her mind, Kira shot a
little stream of light at the girl. The child smiled and, right as
the flame was close enough to light up her features, clapped her
hands together, squashing it. Then, she giggled. Success, Kira
thought.

"It feels funny," the girl laughed once more
and moved closer to Kira. "Again! Again!"

Kira listened and felt herself grin. She
arched the next flame over, so it rained down on the girl like an
exploding firework. More giggles followed and the girl came closer
still.

"What's your name?" Kira asked.

"Kayla," she said, retreating into a slightly
shy place now that she had to speak directly to Kira.

"Does it start with a 'K' like my name?"
Kayla nodded and let the sun rise on her own palm. Wanting to leave
talking behind, Kayla released her powers. Kira caught the girl's
stream in her palm. It felt pure and refreshing, like a cool drink
on a hot day or a first kiss. There was something innocent about
the light. Kira had only ever felt Luke's power, which was strong
and comforting. Apparently, power had personality too.

"What does my fire feel like?" Kira
asked.

Kayla shook her head. Kira wanted to ask
again, but suddenly another flame shot at her face. It hinted of
mischief and Kira scanned the faces before her. A little boy
smirked from the other side of the circle, happy to catch her off
guard. Kira playfully shot back, until she felt a little sizzle hit
her butt cheek and heard a squeal behind her. She spun, letting a
few flames rain down on the kids who had snuck up on her.

Before long, Kira was just shooting sparks
into the air every which way. The little kids moved in closer, to
barrage her with fire and all she heard were cackling flames and
high-pitched giggles. She surrendered and fell to the ground,
letting them climb all over her and tug at her hair. The little
girls kept pulling on her ringlets, just to watch them bounce back
into place.

"Enough," she finally heard a man's deep
chuckle. "It's time to go home." A different fire, one drenched in
authority, rained down on the group. Immediately, all the children
stood and walked to the side. Kira saw one man with his hand
out-stretched and knew it had been his power. Kayla ran over and
hugged him around the knee. He picked her up and swung her onto his
shoulders before turning to walk away.

Kira hadn't noticed the darkening sky until
that moment. She was having too much fun. Before coming, freely
using her power frightened Kira. But now, she had seen a glimpse of
the life she had missed and was excited to maybe learn a thing or
two from the inhabitants of this special town.

"Kira!" She heard Luke called from a
distance. Kira stood and dusted herself off before turning to the
sound.

Luke was walking briskly across the open
field, waving at her. She looked over his left shoulder to the
group of four people he had just left. A tall man with his same
crooked nose smiled at Kira. He had the same build as Luke,
slightly gangly but still strong and sturdy. His arm was wrapped
around a woman's waist. She was much smaller and slightly rounder
with full cheeks. Her smile was also warm.

Running behind Luke was a little boy. He was
a mini-version of Luke, except for the wide-rimmed glasses that
threatened to slip right off of his nose. His face was covered in
freckles. He called after Luke to wait up. Luke rolled his eyes at
Kira and stopped walking. Kira guessed that Luke's brother was
eight, maybe nine, years old.

Not wanting to put it off any longer, Kira
finally looked further to the side. Waiting with hips cocked to the
side, arms crossed, and a special glare meant just for Kira, was
Luke's sister. She was tall for a girl, all legs and super skinny
like a model. Kira knew she was a year or two older than Luke, but
she seemed more mature and far more adult than Luke. Maybe it was
just the irritated look in her eyes, but Kira was wary. She figured
Luke's sister would be the most difficult to meet, but she now
realized she may have underestimated the situation.

"Kira, come on." Luke waved her over.

"Yeah, Kira. Come on," his little brother
yelled, copying Luke's gesture.

Kira laughed and shook her head slightly.
Ready or not, she thought and approached Luke.

Chapter
Four

"Kira, meet my brother —" Luke started but
got cut off.

"Hi, I'm Tyler Jacob, TJ for short. You can
call me TJ, all my friends do. And you're Kira. I told everyone at
school that you were staying in my house. Boy, are they jealous.
And—"

Luke covered his brother's mouth to make him
stop talking, but Kira heard him mumbled through Luke's fingers.
She smiled and reached out her hand. "Nice to meet you, TJ." He
shook her hand, up and down and up and down, until Kira looked at
Luke with questioning eyes and he pulled his brother away.

"TJ, go get mom and dad."

"But, Luke..." He whined.

"Go," Luke laughed.

"Fine, but when I get back, I want to show
Kira what I can do. It's going to be so cool to have you around. My
sister is so boring. She's always with her boyfriend or doing her
hair or some stupid girl thing. But, you're going to be so much
fun." And with that, he turned and ran over to his parents, leaving
Kira slightly shell shocked.

"What did I tell you? He's your number one
fan." Luke chuckled and ran a hand through his sun-kissed hair.
"Well, come on, it's time to meet the rest of my family." He threw
an arm over her shoulder and pulled her along.

"Are they all as energetic as TJ?" Kira
questioned.

"Nope, he's one-of-a-kind."

"He's so much younger than you and your
sister..." Kira let the thought linger, not wanting to pry.

"Yeah, well, my parent's had a little too
much fun on their anniversary one year. It's too gross for me to
think about." Luke shivered with the idea of his parents...like
that, and Kira definitely understood. For the longest time, she had
thought her family had grown the same way, that Chloe had been a
little surprise. Revulsion didn't come close to describing how she
had felt when she discovered her parents were still...sexually
active.

But, Kira shook her head. That was the
absolute last thing she wanted to be thinking about when she met
Luke's parents for the first time. She could already feel the blush
rising on her cheeks.

"So, what have you told them about me?" Kira
asked while they continued to walk across the field.

"A little about your powers, a bit about how
we became friends and a very vague idea about what happened last
December with Diana. I never mentioned anything about Tristan or
you saving my life. Too complicated, you know?"

"Yeah." Kira shrugged. She did know. What
would all of these people say if they found out she was dating a
vampire? A kind, caring, chivalrous vampire with a little bit of
badass in him, Kira thought with a smile. Considering the entire
crowd had been shocked beyond belief when she talked back to the
Council, the idea of her dating one of the undead could easily be
enough to give someone a heart attack.

"Well, here we are," Luke mumbled as they
stopped a few feet from his parents and waited for them to close
the gap. "Mom, Dad, this is Kira. Kira, my parents."

"So nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Bowrey,"
Kira said and extended her hand, trying to be as kind and polite as
possible. "Thank you so much for letting me stay with you for the
next few weeks."

"Of course, Kira. We're delighted to meet you
too," his dad said and shook Kira's hand. Up close he really did
look just like Luke, with freckles spanning his face and the same
friendly eyes. "And, please, call me Evan."

"And call me Sue," Luke's mother said and
extended her hand. Kira couldn't see her resemblance to Luke quite
as well, except for the wide happy smile that was similar to the
one Luke almost always wore. "We're so happy to have you with us.
Luke's barely been able to talk about anything else for the past
few months. He—"

"Okay, Mom," Luke quickly interjected and
Kira thought she saw a blush rise on his cheeks. She almost laughed
in surprise. Luke was her uber-confident and carefree best friend —
he did not blush. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my sister." Kira
followed his gaze to the now smiling girl behind his parents.

"Hi Kira, so wonderful to meet you. Luke's
been so excited for you to visit Sonnyville. I think I speak for
everyone when I say welcome and we hope you enjoy it here." The
blonde girl came over and actually hugged Kira, pulling her out
from under Luke's arm. Her smile seemed friendly and her face
appeared to be open. Kira breathed a sigh of relief. "Silly me, I'm
Vanessa."

"Hi, so great to meet you. Luke's told me a
little bit about you, mostly about the disco ball he stole from
your room."

"Wow, he mentioned that?" Vanessa turned to
Luke with surprise written all over her features. "Why don't you
and TJ grab the picnic basket, so Kira and I can have a little girl
time while we fold the blanket."

Luke grinned at his sister and Kira read the
love in his eyes. "Sure thing," he said and picked his brother up
around the waist, tossing him over his shoulder before clutching
the picnic basket with his other hand. Kira watched the two of them
walk away with his parents. Maybe Sonnyville wouldn't be so bad
after all, she hoped. But, when she turned around, the mirage was
ruined.

"Okay, let's talk girl to girl." The crossed
arms, cocked hip and evil glare were back. Kira sighed quietly.
Here we go, she thought.

"Sure," she said, waiting for the
onslaught.

"My brother is totally gaga over you, okay? I
see it. My parents see it. Heck, the whole town probably sees it.
But, I see something else too. You're toying with him and I won't
allow that. Got it?"

"Look, I don't want to fight with you. I know
it would kill Luke if he thought we didn't get along, but I
honestly don't know what you're talking about. He's my best friend.
I would never want to hurt him."

"Oh, really?" Vanessa challenged.

"Yes, really," Kira responded, trying to
reign in her frustration.

"Then what was that?" She asked, waving her
hand towards the Council's platform.

"What?" Kira looked over at the scene,
wondering if it held some clue to this girl's anger.

"Luke saved my life," Vanessa mimicked Kira,
using a high-pitched voice that Kira knew sounded nothing like her
own. "He's the only one I trusted. I would be dead if it weren't
for him...blah, blah, blah."