“They were my parents,” said a voice from next to me.
I jumped. Gabriella was beside me, wearing nothing but a towel. Droplets of water trickled down her honey skin. The material hugged her curves. I swallowed hard and tried not to look at her body.
She held out a hand.
“Sorry,” I apologised, handing over the picture. “I didn’t mean to be nosey. I was just curious.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she smiled. With great care, she placed the picture back in the middle of the mantelpiece, inching it backwards and forwards until it was exactly where it had been.
“You said they were your parents?” “They’re dead,” she said in a matter of fact tone. “Oh…Ella, I’m so sorry. I…wait a second; you said that you moved from Italy with them.” Gabriella shrugged. “I lied.” “Oh…right. How long?” “Ten years.” “That’s awful, I’m sorry.” I cleared my throat. “So uh, what happened if you don’t mind me asking?”
Her gaze fell to the floor. For the longest moment she was as silent as the dead. Then she looked up, her eyes clouded. “It…it.” She took a deep breath, paused and shook her head. “I’m sorry; it’s hard to talk about. Can we change the subject?” I could see her pain. It seemed to sit right below the surface, darkening her face like a shadow. I remembered the way she’d reacted when I’d told her that my Dad was dead. The way she had seemed to understand. Because she did. More than I ever could have known. “Of course. So what’s next on the training?” Gabriella padded back up the stairs towards the bedroom door. “A change of order, I’m going to test for your gift.” I felt a surge of anticipation. “You mean which one of the five I have?” Gabriella laughed. “I see you’ve been reading the handbook. Give me five minutes.” She closed the bedroom door behind her.
I watched the fire while I waited. The flames seemed alive as they danced in the hearth. The fire crackled and shifted occasionally, sending little flakes of ash floating into the air. At first they seemed to disappear into nothing, but I found that if I really focused, I could track them all the way through their journey — from the log of wood, to the thick woollen twists of the rug. My senses really were so much keener since my Awakening.
The door swung open and Gabriella walked back into the lounge. She was wearing the same uniform that she’d worn when we’d intercepted Rahuman and his pack — except this time she’d let her hair spill free around her shoulders. I preferred it like that.
Gabriella pulled the electronic PDA she’d used in the car out of her jacket pocket. Heading for the couch, she sat down next to me, her knee touching mine.
“Okay, don’t move.”
I stared straight ahead, which happened to be right into her eyes. She pressed a few buttons on the contraption. A camera-style lens on the back projected out a blinding green light which she aimed into left eye. “Try not to squint hun.” I opened my eyes as wide as I could while the intense light painted the world green. The PDA unit beeped and Gabriella placed it in her lap. “Okay it’s over.” I rubbed the spots out of my eye. “Is that it?”
“That’s it. Biomotes are cutting edge technology mixed with fae magic. They can do all sorts of things like tracking and performance assessments. Right now, it’s analysing your brain’s energy outputs. It’ll pinpoint the location where new mass is located. It’s these new parts that control our abilities. Once it identifies your mass, it’ll tell us which one of the five you have.”
My heart was thumping with anticipation. What if I’m a kinesist like Delagio? The idea of being able to control inanimate objects seemed beyond awesome. Or Charm? I would never have to go through another awkward conversation again. I could even convince John to lay off me. Or Teleportation? I could visit anywhere in the world whenever I wanted to. Or Pyromancy, like Sophia. I could- The unit beeped for a second time. Gabriella picked it up and stared at the screen. She frowned. “This makes no sense.” “What is it? I asked. “What ability to I have?” I don’t mind really. Any is fine.” “Well…” She drew the word out. “Spill it Gabriella, the suspense is killing me!” “Alex…” “What?” “You don’t have one.”
17
Disappointment swirled around my stomach like bad food. “Oh.” “Maybe it was an error. Let’s try again.” Hope replaced the disappointment. “You’re probably right, I did squint a bit.” I stretched my eye open with my index finger and thumb, not moving a single muscle as the green light swept through once more. Half a minute later the results were in. “I don’t understand,” said Gabriella and I felt my shoulders sag. We tried twice more. Each time the Biomote informed us that I didn’t have a gift. “Maybe it’s broken?” I suggested, pointing at the unit resting in her lap. “It’s got Fae magic inside, no chance it can go wrong…I’m sorry Alex.”
I gave a casual shrug in an attempt to hide my true feelings. “It doesn’t matter, I still have super strength, speed and hearing. I’m not exactly hard up.” As I spoke the words, I inadvertently cheered myself up. I do still have all these things. Who cares if I can’t disappear into thin air or control someone’s mind? “I’ve never met a Chosen who didn’t have one of the five gifts. You fall outside all the boxes Alex.” “Well I’ve never been one to do things the easy way.” We both broke into laughter. Gabriella slipped the unit back into her uniform pocket.
“I’ll let Faru know, he may have some more ideas. Right, well normally we would now be doing exercises to hone your gift, but doesn’t look like that’s an option now. Seems like we have some free time.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Well we were supposed to meet up today anyway, remember?”
I frowned not sure what she was talking about. Then it dawned on me that we’d agreed at school to spend the day together. That had been before I’d been brought into the HASEA. Back when everything had been relatively normal. It seemed like months ago. “Wow, I’d forgotten about that.” “Charming,” she said raising an eyebrow. “Ha, no I just mean with everything that’s gone on. I’d love to hang out. What do you want to do?” Gabriella paused for a moment. “I’m going to show you to my favourite place in the base.” “There’s a gun range?” “Very funny Mr Eden. And yes there is actually, but that’s not where we’re going.” “Well now I’m intrigued. Lead the way.”
I followed Gabriella out of her apartment. As we walked, I noticed three people coming in the other direction. Leading the way was a fox-like redhead, with an icy complexion and piercing silver eyes. She looked like the sort of girl who collected trouble. Behind her was a large black man with long cornrows, which fell to his shoulders. Next to him was a sallow looking man with yellow hair meticulously combed into a side parting. His eyes were dull grey. Thanks to the guide, I knew that both he and the girl were Vampires, and that the Draco Malfroy wannabe was hungry. He caught me staring and glared back, his narrow eyes closing further. I could have sworn I saw his lip curl up into a snarl. I shifted my gaze immediately. The group stopped just in front of us and the two girls shared the Chosen salute, followed by a quick hug. “Gabriella, how are you keeping?” beamed the redhead. Her voice was rich and smoky, her accent Northern Irish. “I’m good thanks Scarlet, how are you?” She smiled at the two men. “Hello, Tyler, Dakin.” The tall man replied and the Vampire grunted, but kept his steely eyes fixed on me.
“And this must be the famous Alexander Eden,” said Scarlett, her shimmering eyes flicking to me. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person.” “Nice to meet you too,” I said and offered her my hand. Scarlett lifted a slender eyebrow before offering her own. It was smooth and cool — like porcelain. “This is Echo team,” explained Gabriella. “We’ve been on several missions together, some of them pretty close calls. “Nothing we couldn’t handle,” grinned the redhead.
“You’re the ones watching my house?” I asked, glancing at the slick haired Vampire. He was still staring at me. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of this man anywhere near my home.