The Air Singer (The Cantors) (18 page)

“What?” Oliver looked defensive.

“You kicked me!”

“You are lucky I did! Don’t let Anna suspect that anything is going on between you and Roland.” Oliver whispered. “She will split you up. Anna needs to believe that the relationship between you and Roland is based on protecting you, not your feelings.”

“I know!”
Tally answered. “I just thought he might have called.”

“If he calls, I’ll
know about it.” Oliver scooted his chair next to Tally’s. “I won’t lie to you, not about this.”

Tally smiled. “You won’t lie to me because you know I’ll find out!”

Oliver laughed. “Yeah, that too.”

Three weeks went by without a word from Roland. Tally held on to the hope that Oliver was right and Roland did care about her. Hope is what dulled the ache in her heart. She tried to drown herself in her training. She spent her mornings in meditation while her ankle healed. Her afternoons focused on developing her elemental power. The evenings were the hardest. She would look at the stars and think of Roland. It could make for some late nights. Oliver did his best to distract her with new challenges. 

“Balloons
? Really?” Tally asked as she sat on the floor with a bottle of wine, a corkscrew and two plastic cups. 

Oliver
opened the bottle and poured for both of them. “Yes, balloons. What better way to see if you can control air pressure?”

Tally took a sip and set her cup down
. She grabbed the bag of balloons and ripped it open. A colorful pile of inflatable Happy Birthdays fell into her lap. “So what now?”

“Blow them up.
” Oliver stated matter of factly.

Tally mouthed
his words sarcastically as she picked up a small red balloon. She held the latex between her thumb and forefinger. Slowly the red balloon began to stretch and take shape as Tally effortlessly directed air into the small opening. She tied it off to keep the air inside and tapped it toward Oliver. “Happy now?”

Oliver
tapped it back toward her before it hit the ground. “Nope. Now deflate it.”

Tally smirked as she grabbed the
corkscrew from the floor and popped the balloon with a bang.

“Done.
Next?”

Oliver laughed
. “Okay smartass, let’s try this again.” He motioned for Tally to give him a balloon and she obliged by tossing over a green one. He blew it up half way and tied the end. “Inflate it the rest of the way.”

“You tied it off, I can’t.” Tally took another sip of wine.

“Sure you can. It is all air pressure. Increase the air pressure in the balloon and it will expand. Decrease it and it will deflate.”

Tally straightened her back and concentrated on the balloon
. The green ball pulled against Oliver’s grip as if an invisible hand was taking it.

“You are affecting the air around it
. Focus on the air inside it.”

She took a deep breath and tried again
. For a moment, Oliver felt the same tug as before, and then the balloon began to stretch and grow, slowly at first. Oliver smiled just before he screamed with surprise as the balloon popped without warning.

Tally fell over laughing
. “You squealed like a girl!”

Oliver regained his composure. “You just caught me by surprise
. A little warning would be appreciated next time!”

The lesson
, the laughing, and the drinking continued the next few hours. It was after midnight when Tally stumbled to her bedroom and collapsed on the covers.

  The next morning an incessant doorbell rang through the house. Tally grabbed a pillow and folded it over her head trying to muffle the piercing sound to no avail. “Oliver! Get the door!” 

The ringi
ng stopped, replaced by banging on the front door. “Oliver?” she yelled. No answer.

Frustrated she threw the pillow to the side and looked at the clock
. It was already ten in the morning. Why wasn’t Oliver answering the door? She pushed herself up to a sitting position and realized her body would protest any quick movements today.
Too much wine.

Her head screamed as she stood and
padded her way to the front door passing by Oliver’s room just as he stumbled out. She waved a hand at him and proceeded to peer through the peephole. The pain in her head immediately left when she saw the figure standing on the other side of the door. “Oh my God!” she gasped.

She fumbled with the locks for what seemed like et
ernity. When she opened the door, her vision blurred with tears.

“
You look like hell.” Kate stood holding a duffle bag at her side.

“
A couple bottles of wine do that to a person.” Tally laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “You look amazing! How did you find me?” She reached for her friend’s bag. “Come in, I’ll make some coffee.”

Kate followed her into
the family room and admired the wall of windows facing the lake. “Well at least they put you up in a nice place.”

“Yeah, they take care of the necessities.” 

Just then, Oliver walked out of his room to join the girls. Kate looked over his physique as he wore only pajama pants.

“The views aren’t bad either.
” Kate smiled at Oliver and turned to join Tally in the kitchen.

“Is everything okay out here?
” Oliver asked.

“It’s perfect!” Tally beamed
. “Oliver, this is Kate.”

“Nice to meet you.”
Oliver walked to the kitchen. “Not to sound rude, but how did you find us?”

Tally’s smile left her face. How did Kate find her
? In her joy at seeing a friend, she’d overlooked the obvious.

“Roland dropped me off.
” Kate took a seat at the breakfast counter and looked at Oliver. “He said he’d meet you at the shop.”

“Roland’s here?
” Tally felt the familiar flip in her chest. “He didn’t want to come in?”

“I’m sure Anna wanted to
see him as soon as he returned. I’ll give them a call and drive to the facility,” Oliver answered. “After I take a shower and get rid of the pounding in my head.”

             
He left the room and Kate began her inquisition. “Okay, tell me everything.”

Tally wanted to, but she worried about putting Kate in danger
. While she was thrilled to see her friend, she didn’t know what Roland’s plan was or what she could tell Kate.

“That can wait
. Tell me about this new boyfriend of yours! How did you meet?”

“
Clyde is great! He is so attentive and so handsome.” Kate beamed. “I met him a few days after you left. He came into my office thinking it was the attorney’s office down the block. I tried to give him directions but ended up just walking him there myself. Next thing I know, he’s asking me to dinner.” Kate pulled on a gold chain around her neck and brought a locket out from under her shirt. She opened the small gold heart and leaned forward for Tally to see the picture within. “This is him.” 

Tally
looked at her new beau. “He is not bad looking at all. Did he give this too you? It must be serious!”

Kate
tucked her necklace under her shirt. “Yeah, he gave me the locket a few weeks after we started dating. He says he wants to take it slow, but makes a point to see me every day. I’m kind of worried how he will take it when he realizes I left without telling him, but Roland insisted.”

Tally jumped at the opportunity to change the subject, “Did Roland just show up last night?”

“He knocked on my door about a week ago. He told me that you needed a friend and that if I wanted to be that friend to come up here with him.” Kate shook her head. “He insisted that I told no one. I told work that I had a family emergency and needed to use my vacation time. I will probably lose my job because of this, but he said you needed me.”

“I’d never want you to lose your job.”
Tally smiled. “But yeah, it’s been rough. I could use some girl time.”

Kate stood up and filled a mug with the freshly brewed coffee. “What you could use is a shower and some aspirin.
Looks like you tied one on last night.”

“Aspirin is in the medicine cabinet.” Oliver
announced his return to the kitchen while pulling a burgundy thermal over his head. “I’ll keep Kate company while you get ready. I figure it will be easier to let you come with me than convince you to stay here.”

Tally nodded in agreement and headed
toward the master bathroom. She passed the vanity mirror and turned the water on in the shower. Kate was right. She definitely needed a shower. As she undressed and stepped into the spray of hot water, she wondered why Roland didn’t come in with Kate this morning. She wondered where he’d been for the last three weeks. According to Kate, he’d only arrived in Tempe last week. That left quite a bit of time unaccounted for. Hopefully he’d fill her in today.

“Are you sure she can be trusted?” Anna was not happy that Roland brought Tally a visitor. She’d agreed to allow Roland the time to investigate Kate in hopes of discovering how the Spina found them, but would never have agreed to bring her here.

“She cares about Tally too much to do anything that would put her in danger
,” Roland assured her. “Besides, we are going to be deserting this location soon, unless plans have changed.”

Anna sat in the wingback chair next to Roland. “They have not
. I’m just waiting on word from the elders.” She let out a heavy sigh, “I will miss this place.”

Roland let his head fall against the back of hi
s chair and closed his eyes. Sleep had not come easy these past few weeks. He’d watched Kate the entire time to ensure she was not working as a Spina agent. He knew now that Kate was no threat. A new guy she’d been dating caught his attention. He’d observed him going to see Kate every day for two weeks. When Kate mentioned she had a visitor from out of town, Clyde became distant and unavailable. Kate insisted that he was paranoid and that Clyde was uncomfortable around new people. He hoped she was right.

“
When will you be returning her to Tempe?” Anna asked.

“She will be here for a week.
” Roland sat up. “Tally needs a friend. She needs someone that anchors her to her past; who she was before she became the Air Singer.”

“Her past should stay in the past,” Anna replied. “But I suppose a week will not hurt, considering the progress Oliver’s made with her while
you’ve been gone.”

Roland’s ears perked up. “What’s happened?”

Anna stood and walked toward the computer room down the hall. “Her control over her element is advancing rapidly. Oliver thinks she will be able to generate lightning within weeks.”

“Light
ning? This soon?” Roland stood to follow her. “That’s not possible. Air Singers work for years to control lightning!”

“
I know, but Tally is progressing so quickly!” Anna opened the door and the glowing blue monitors illuminated the room. “The elders are very excited. Three of the four singers are under the protection of the Cadence. Once we find the Earth Singer, we can cripple the Spina for decades.” 

“If they realize we have located all four, they will stop splitting their resources and focus on finding our facilities.”
Roland interrupted. “If they get access to one facility, they can find our singers. It might not be the blessing you think it is.”

Anna’s fingers clicked on the key board in front of her. “
That is why every singer has a paladin. You have your work cut out for you.”

Roland smiled behind
his mentor. “You have no idea.”

A
n earsplitting alarm screamed through the air and the gentle blue lights became glaringly red. Anna jumped from the chair, knocking it to the floor. “Mike just tripped the alarm!”

Roland ran to the monitor and with a few clic
ks of the mouse, could see three strange vehicles in the parking lot. Another click and a view of interior of the shop revealed that no customers were present. He selected a view of the main office door and observed Mike being strong armed by six men to unlock the door.

“Good man, Mike!” Roland whispered. “He’s trying to stall them by acting like he has keys.”

“Fool Hollow! Check Fool Hollow!” Anna demanded.

Roland found the commands to the camera feed from Tally and Oliver’s
new residence. No vehicles sat in the driveway. “Shit! Oliver’s already left.”

Anna ran to his side.
“Left? For where?”

“I left instructions for him to come here.”
Roland dropped his head.

“Is Tally with him?”

“Of course she is. He would never leave a singer alone.” Roland switched the video back to the shop and watched as Mike was pistol-whipped and fell to the floor. The same pistol shot the lock out of the office door.

Roland turned and unlocked the gun cabinet
. He armed himself with a 45mm and shoved two extra magazines in his pockets. He grabbed a shotgun and two belts of shells for Anna who was busy at the master controls for the system. She entered the commands for a complete system collapse.

“I wish it didn’t have to come to this,” she muttered as she verified the self-destruct commands.

Roland laid the shotgun and shells on the console next to her. “How long do we have?”

Anna grabbed the ammo and slung it over her shoulder like a purse. “Thirty minutes.” She grasped the
shot gun and verified it was loaded. “Make them count.”