Tegan's Power (The Ultimate Power Series #4) (34 page)

When we’ve finally
ridden each other of all our clothes and he’s sinking himself into me deep, I
throw my head back and close my eyes. His lips trace a path along my neck,
sending tingles shooting down my spine.

“I love you, Ethan,” I
whisper almost incoherently in his ear.

His hips move in and
out, his body like a solid work of art with the addition of sweat and life.

“I love you, too,
beautiful girl,” he answers fiercely, cradling my face in his hands, his eyes
tracing my every feature as he makes love to me tender and slow.

Lift Your Hats, Take a
Bow

Tegan

I wake up hours later in Ethan’s arms,
his fingers running affectionately through strands of my hair.

“When you’re up to it,
could you tell Rita I want to talk to her privately in my study?”

“Sure. What’s it about?”

“You’ll find out soon
enough.”

“Cryptic much?”

He only smiles in
answer, knowing I hate being left in the dark about things. I stretch my body out
and then get up from the bed, rummaging some clothes from the wardrobe and
throwing them on haphazardly. I find Rita in the living room, flicking through
the stations on Ethan’s flat screen television.

“His lordship would
like a private word with you in his study,” I tell her, leaning against the
doorframe.

Her eyes widen as she
clicks a button on the remote and the screen goes blank. “Oh yeah? Do you know
why?”

“Your guess is as good
as mine. He’s being a Johnny Tight Lips about it,” I reply sulkily.

Rita laughs and stands
up. “Well, I’d better go and see what it is then. Promise to tell you all the
deets when we’re done.” She winks and disappears from the room. And I mean she
actually disappears, the show off.

That’s definitely going
to take some getting used to.

In the kitchen I find a
box of peanut butter chocolates. I sit up on the countertop and pop one into my
mouth. The house feels way too empty now that everyone’s gone, all except for
Rebecca. Ethan grudgingly agreed to let Delilah live in the old house across
the road from Finn’s place. I’m glad for her, too, because I know she’s been dying
to have some independence.

Ethan also released
Marcel from the basement, but only to exile him from the city. He told him that
if he ever stepped foot in Tribane again he’d be killed on the spot. Marcel
just seemed grateful to be let out of the basement, agreeing that he would be
gone before the day was through. Ethan told him he had three hours. Marcel
didn’t argue.

There’s a knock at the
door so I jump down off the counter to answer it, glad for the distraction. I
can’t stop thinking about what Ethan might be discussing with Rita. When I open
the door I find everybody camped out on the step waiting to be let in.

“Uh, what are you all
doing here?” I ask stepping aside so that they can get by me.

“Cristescu told us to
come for a meeting. He said he has something important to discuss with us,”
Finn explains.

“Well, well, well, isn’t
this all very intriguing,” I reply, folding my arms across my chest. I notice
Allora standing next to Finn, his arm tight around her waist, and I give her a
warm smile. I can sense that whatever there is between these two, it’s serious,
and definitely not a casual fling.

The living room is a
riot of curious chatter and Finn suggests I grab some beers for everyone while
we’re waiting. Lucas follows me to the kitchen to help.

“So,” I say, eyeing him
shrewdly. “You and Amanda, huh?”

“Is that a statement or
a question?” he asks, his lips curving in a grin.

“It’s a question and
you know it.”

He sighs and shakes his
head. “Yes, Tegan. We are an item, but I’m taking it slow. I plan on making
this work.”

I point an unopened
beer bottle at him. “You’d better.”

His grin widens as I
continue taking bottles out of the fridge. I grin right back at him. It’s not
that I don’t believe him; I can tell he really wants this. But if my life has
taught me anything it’s that you never know what a person is going to do next.
At least I have the reassurance of knowing Amanda has my potion in her blood
now, so if Lucas does end up biting her he’ll be in for a big surprise.

I pat him on the
shoulder, and say, “Come on, then. Help me bring these bottles inside.”

“Happy to oblige.”

About twenty minutes
later Ethan and Rita emerge from his study. Rita bounces on the balls of her
feet like she can’t contain her excitement, while Ethan is his usual unreadable
self. He stands by the expensive mantelpiece and Rita takes the spot beside
him.

“We have an
announcement to make,” says Ethan. “I have come to realise that this city
cannot go on any longer with a divided population. Having two opposing sides
living in such close proximity to each other is a disaster just waiting to
happen.”

“A ticking time bomb
about to explode,” Rita elaborates. When she’s met with silence, she adds,
“What? Is it too early for bomb jokes?”

“Hey, you killed
Theodore for us, you can make all the inappropriate jokes you want,” says Finn
with a soft chuckle.

I can’t help laughing,
too. Ethan gives me a stern look to shush me and I make a gesture as though
zipping my lips closed.

“So,” he continues. “I
have come to the realisation that we need to be united, vampires and magic
users both. That is why I have sought out Rita. I want to share my position as
ruler with her. That way there will be a representative for both sides, two
representatives who will work in harmony together.”

Oh. I stare at Ethan,
open mouthed and to be honest, pleasantly surprised. I knew he was never a huge
fan of ruling, but I didn’t expect him to want to split the role like this. I
never even considered the idea of combining forces, but it makes perfect sense.

“Sounds like a good
idea to me,” says Finn enthusiastically.

“And me,” says Lucas.

Then I realise there
might be a problem with this idea. “But what about the dhamphirs?” I interject
gesturing to Gabriel and Delilah. “And the shapeshifters?” I go on looking to
Ira.

“This is just the
beginning of what I’m planning,” Ethan explains. “The city is in a state of
disarray right now. We need to rebuild and once stability has been secured I
will create a council with one member from each supernatural species living in
Tribane. Since we vampires and the magical families have the largest numbers,
we will start with a leader for each. Once we have brought about some semblance
of unity we can branch out to include the other minorities.”

“I don’t mean to throw
a spanner in the works, but will the magical families even want to follow
Rita?” Alvie asks tentatively. “Not too long ago they all shunned her as a
wannabe witch.”

“But that is not what
she is,” says Ethan. “She is a Girard, and now that Marcel is exiled she is one
of the few remaining members of that bloodline. They now know the power she
wields and they will accept her. I will not allow them another choice.”

“Well, if you ask me this
is the best plan for everyone,” Delilah speaks up. “I don’t think it’s going to
be easy trying to make the city whole, but I do think we have to try. Otherwise
there will be another war before the year is out.”

“Thank you, sister,”
says Ethan before addressing all of us. “The new Tribane starts here in this
room. We as a group represent the vast majority of supernatural species living
in the city, so if we can agree to this plan then it is a good omen for what is
to come.”

A very short silence
elapses before I step up and hug Rita and then Ethan. “You have my vote.”

“And mine,” says Alvie.

“Mine, too,” says
Gabriel.

Soon everybody’s
agreeing to Ethan’s plan and more beers are brought out to celebrate.
Obviously, I stick to drinking orange juice, but it fills me with a deep sense
of joy to see everyone getting along. Whenever I used to think of this city, I
saw it as place that would always be immersed in turmoil. But now I can see
light at the end of the tunnel. I can see how this might work.

A band that had been
tight around my heart releases, a feeling of hope replacing it.

Pulling myself from my
thoughts, I leave the room where my friends are celebrating to go and make an
important phone call. I lock myself in Ethan’s study and take a seat at his
desk. Earlier today I looked up the phone number to the only place Rebecca’s
mother could possibly be staying in the town the location spell showed me. It’s
a group home for people with psychological illnesses called Maplewood House.

The phone rings out
several times before a prim female voice answers, “Maplewood House?”

“Hi, um, I’m looking
for a resident living with you there. A Felicity Pamphrock?”

There’s a long silence
before the woman replies, “She stopped going by Pamphrock many years ago.”

“Oh, right. Well, can I
speak to her?”

“Are you a family
member?”

“No, I’m an old
friend,” I lie.

The woman sucks in a
breath and lets it out. Her voice is soft and consoling when she says, “I’m
afraid Felicity died just over a week ago. She…she took her own life.”

“She’s dead?” I say in
a gasp, a heavy brick sinking to the bottom of my gut.

“Yes, I’m sorry. We had
a small funeral for her and she was buried in the local graveyard. We couldn’t
trace any of her family. The only person who would visit her was her ex-husband,
but we couldn’t seem to get into contact with him at all.”

That’s because he’s
dead too, I think sadly. Now poor little Rebecca has no one. I thank the woman
and hang up the phone, nervously fidgeting with a pen on Ethan’s desk. What am
I going to do?

I agonise over the
choices. Either I send her away like Ethan planned to, have her raised in
safety by people who are strangers to her…or I raise her myself. Am I ready for
that? Am I mature enough to take on the role of parenting a young girl?

As if sending me a sign
that I’m already destined for motherhood anyway, I think I feel my baby kick
for the first time; it’s like tumbling butterflies flittering inside of me. My
belly is still tiny, only slightly protruding, but I guess this isn’t a normal
pregnancy. I know babies aren’t supposed to kick until much further down the
line, so maybe I just imagined it.

A moment or so later it
happens again, and I know I didn’t imagine it this time. Instinctively, I close
my eyes and call on my magic. A soft white glow emanates from my hand and I run
it over my stomach, soothing her. The fluttering sensation becomes more
distinct now and I laugh in surprise.

“What do you think,
little peapod, would you like a big sister when you come into the world?”

She kicks again.

“Okay,” I chuckle.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Are you talking to the
baby?” a voice questions and I lift my head to find Ethan standing in the
doorway, his eyes all soft and melty as he takes me in.

“She’s kicking,” I tell
him, my voice full of awe.

Milliseconds later he’s
kneeling down on the floor in front of me, putting his hands over my belly.
Another kick comes and Ethan’s face transforms with happiness.

“I felt that one.”

“It’s crazy. I’m not
even that far gone.”

“You’re thinking about
this in human terms. Since you’re only going to be pregnant for three months,
you are much further along than you think.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“Yes, wow,” Ethan beams
and pulls my face to his for a kiss.

I break it saying, “I
need to ask you something.”

“Ask me anything.”

“Okay…what do you think
about Rebecca living with us, like, permanently?”

“I think that’s a big
decision. What happened to you finding her birth mother?”

I shake my head sadly.
“That’s a dead end.”

There’s understanding
in Ethan’s gaze when he replies, “She can stay with us then.”

I glance up quickly.
“You mean it?”

“Of course I mean it.”

Without thinking I
throw my arms around his neck, hugging him as tightly as I possibly can. “Thank
you,” I whisper, emotion catching in my throat before I quietly go on, “And if
I don’t survive the birth, you’ll still keep her with you, right?”

His eyes grow dark and
intense when he replies, “You’re going to survive.”

“Just promise me,
Ethan, for my own peace of mine.”

A sigh. “Alright, I
promise.” A stretch of silence elapses. “Our little family is growing bigger by
the day.”

“That it is. And so is
my belly,” I joke in an effort to break the tension.

“Come back out and
celebrate with us?”