The Air Singer (The Cantors) (8 page)

She continued to fidget with the
blankets on the sofa as he grasped her hand and pulled it away. “This is fine. You’ve had a long day and need to get some sleep.” He enjoyed the softness of her hand in his and looked at her delicate fingers resting on his palm. “Oliver will be here early in the morning to pick you up.”

“Thank you again.
” She stepped closer to him and briefly touched her lips to his cheek. “Good night,” she whispered.

“
Good night, Tally.”

Roland watched her walk
toward the bedroom and close the door behind her. 

Tally leaned
against her bedroom door and thought about Roland being right outside. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and she walked over to the dresser to find a grey pair of sweats and a white tee shirt folded in the drawer, just as he said. She pulled off her jeans and began to change. As she pulled the tee shirt over her head, she realized that Roland didn’t have a proper pillow for his head tonight. Grabbing a pillow from the bed, she hugged it to her body and went back out to the family room to find Roland laying across her sofa, his shirt folded on the mantle. She had imagined what he would look like in the flesh, but was still breathless at the sight of strong muscles creating subtle hills and valleys in his tan skin. Traces of hair followed the line of his abdominal muscles to the edge of his jeans. She bit her lip to avoid making any sound to enjoy the sight for just a moment longer.

Aware of
someone else in the room, Roland opened his eyes and saw Tally standing at the foot of the sofa, holding a pillow in front of her. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just thought
you would like a real pillow to sleep with.” She handed the white down pillow to him and revealed that she was wearing only the shirt he had left for her to sleep in.

The cotton shirt
barely covered the top of her thighs allowing him to admire her shapely legs. He raised his line of sight to her face and smiled. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

How could she think of anything but him tonight?
Tally prayed he couldn’t see the blush of her skin in the dark room. “You’re welcome.” She turned back toward her room before he caught her looking at him again.

Roland’s gaze followed her as she moved away from him. “
Good night, Tally.”

She
turned around and smiled. “Sleep well Roland.” She continued into her room and shut the door for the night. 

Roland adjusted his
jeans. “Yeah, I won’t bet on it.” He rolled over and shoved the pillow under his head before he closed his eyes and dreamt of her.

Rol
and stared at the wood beams hanging from the ceiling above the sofa. A dull ache in his back made him wonder if staying the night had been a good idea. Sunlight just peeked through the windows telling him it was around six in the morning. Sitting up, he looked toward the kitchen, saw a half empty pot of coffee, and realized that Tally had already been up. He pulled on his shirt, filled a cup for himself, and opened the front door to find her.

Wrapped in a light blanket, Tally
sat in one of the Adirondack chairs looking out toward the trees, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands. She still wore the t-shirt from the night before with her hair pulled up in a ponytail near the top of her head. The sound of the door opening drew her attention to Roland. He could swear that he saw her eyes light up when she smiled at him. Fresh out of bed, she looked amazing.

“Good morning! Did you sleep okay?”

Roland thought of his back, “I’ll be fine after a shower. When did you get up?”

Tally put her cup down on the side table between the two chairs. “I woke up around five and figured I could watch the sun come up.
” She offered him the empty chair next to her. “The patio doesn’t offer the best view, but it was interesting watching the sun come through the trees.”

Roland took the open seat
and set his coffee down. “You should have been exhausted after yesterday. Did you not sleep well?”

“I always have a hard time
sleeping in a new place. I won’t be able to get comfortable for a few days.” Tally pulled her blanket tighter around her. “When do you need to meet with Anna?”

Roland folded his arms across his chest to keep away the chill of the morning.
“Anna won’t expect me for a couple hours.” He was not looking forward to the debriefing. There was not much to report to Anna and she would not be happy. Normally, he would have spent a couple months getting to know a singer and the revelation of who they are would eventually be brought into a conversation. Unfortunately for everyone involved, circumstances rushed the entire process. “You know, we don’t know much about what happened to you when air chose you as the singer. What do you remember about that night?”

Tally
grunted at the memory and let her head rest against the back of the chair. “To be honest, it was not one of my best moments.” 

Roland’s curiosity
peaked. “What happened?”

“I was trying to get to my car when
the storm hit. The sun was still out but the wind and dust surrounded me. I couldn’t see anything. Suddenly, there was a blinding bright light and next thing I knew, I was on the ground.”

“Were you hurt?”

“No, just a little freaked out. That night Kate and I went to a local bar’s ladies night. I had serious problems keeping my temper in check. That’s when I knew that something weird had happened.”

Roland picked u
p his coffee, his brow furrowed, confused by Tally’s story. “It affected your mood that much?”

Tally laughed, “No, Brad was able to do all of that by himself
. No supernatural help required.”

“Who’s Brad?” Roland was definitely interested now.

“Brad was a bad decision that lasted six months too long. Anyways, I got angry and ended up blowing the speakers and the windows flew open covering everything in dirt. It was like I created my own private tornado alley. Everyone believed it was just a fluke; winds left over from earlier in the evening, but I felt my entire body vibrating. I couldn’t control it. I figured that the alcohol had prevented me from keeping everything reined in.” Tally took a long sip of her coffee. “I stopped drinking when I was in public places after that.”

“I can understand how you could make that assumption, but you weren’t used to handling that much power before.
” Roland smiled over his coffee. “It would have been fun to see everyone’s face that night. How did Kate react?”

Tally laughed, “
Impressed! Once we were able to leave the bar, she asked why I didn’t have lightning strike his ass!” Tally took the last sip of her coffee and gazed inside the empty cup, missing her friend. “She always knows when something supernatural is in the air, even before I do.” 

Roland
noticed the sadness returning and reached over to break her trance, “Time for another cup.” Tally watched as he took her cup with his into the cabin to finish off the pot. She looked toward the trees and watched a grey squirrel clamber up the side of a pine tree, stopping for a moment to examine a low hanging branch. Tally began to envy the small creature. As simple as it seemed, his life was the same today as it had been for the past few months. Tomorrow would probably be a duplicate of today for him. He woke up confident in the knowledge of what each day would bring.
You could too if your goals only included gathering nuts and climbing trees.

The door to the cabin swung open as Roland returned with two full cups of coffee
. Tally was thankful that he had returned and snapped her out of the beginning of a delusional pity party. Roland placed the full cup on the table next to her and returned to his seat.

“So last night, you mentioned protecting other
singers. Where are they?” Tally inquired.

“
I can tell you that Water and Fire are both safe. We don’t know who or where the Earth Singer is, but Earth has always been one of the more difficult one’s to find.”

“
Will you be sent after the Earth Singer like you were sent for me?” The thought of Roland leaving was unbearable.

“No. The Cadence has other paladins and sentries searching for him or her.” Roland flashed a grin
toward her. “I’m afraid you are stuck with me. Besides, who else is going to show you how to be a singer?”

“I thought Anna had that covered.” Tally was confused.

“Anna’s lessons are about responsibility and educating you about the history and consequences of decisions made by the Cadence. I get to teach you the fun stuff.” Roland leaned across the table. “You know, so next time you create your own private tornado alley, you can have lightning strike his ass on command.”

“I can control lightning?” Tally was getting excited.

“Not many singers have ever learned how to make lightning strike. It is a very advanced skill, but it is possible.”

“When do we start?” Tally finally found a reason to be enthusiastic about this whole situation. The only silver lining she found during this experience had been Roland’s constant presence. Now the potential of her new abilities intrigued her.

“Oliver will be here in a couple hours to take you shopping and you still need to eat and get dressed.
” Roland looked at his phone. “It’s six thirty, so if you get ready now, we can spend the rest of the time training until he gets here.”

Tally jumped up
, dropping her blanket on the porch in front of her chair and ran back into the house. Roland laughed at her eagerness, as she resembled a child that had just been told she was going to the circus. He leaned back in his chair and looked into the tall trees as small birds flitted between the branches. He should enjoy this moment of solitude, but his mind kept going back to the memory of Tally in his arms last night. She was scared and only wanted the comfort of knowing a friend was near, but he couldn’t ignore the nagging in his gut that it could be something else. A part of him wanted it to be something else.
I am her paladin nothing more.
Why was he having such a hard time believing it?

Tally
prepared for her shower, gathering the shampoo and body wash samples that lined the cabinet under the sink. It seemed paladins not only collected singers, but hotel toiletries as well. She would make Oliver stop at a salon to pick up some necessities. Catching her reflection in the mirror, she noticed how tired she looked. She fibbed to Roland earlier. It wasn’t the strange room that kept her from sleeping soundly last night, it was the man sleeping just outside. Her mind swirled with images of Roland lying on the sofa, his well built chest rising and falling with each breath. No matter how deep she buried herself in the covers, the feeling of his arms around her as she begged him to stay would return. Sleep would bring dreams even more vivid. She had finally decided to get up when she heard the faint sounds of birds proclaiming the beginning of a new day. Coming back to the present, she twisted the knob on the shower and waited for the hot water to find its way to the bathroom. 

Two hours later, Tally found herself sitting at the kitchen table across from Roland. A single flame taunted her as it danced on its wick.

“What are you visualizing?” Roland asked.

“The candle without the flame.” Tally’s voice was monotone as she tried to not break her concentration.

“You can’t control fire
, Tally. Stop focusing on the flame and focus on the air around it.” Roland instructed her softly, “Visualize the space around and within the flame. Visualize it swirling with power; moving without obstacle and overwhelming the flame.”

Tally
growled and collapsed back into the chair, crossing her arms in front of her. Roland struggled not to laugh at the slight pout that appeared on her face.

“Are you sure that I’m the Air Singer?”

“I’m sure” Roland confirmed, “We just need to find your trigger. It might take some time, but as soon as we figure out what the switch is, the rest will come easy.”

“I’m glad you’re so co
nfident, because at this point I’m not convinced.”

“Okay, let’s try something else.
” Roland brought his chair next to Tally, “What did you do when you read everyone in the diner at breakfast yesterday?”

“I relaxed my shields a
bit, just enough to get a feeling from each of them, then brought them back up.”

“Do you ever get feelings from people when your shields are up?”

“Only once and it wasn’t a feeling, more like a wave.” Tally looked directly at him. “It was the night you walked into Tap room the first time. The energy that preceded you almost knocked me off the stage.”

Roland
smiled and placed his hand on top of hers. “That was a beacon. Paladins are trained to send a pulse of energy when they need to find a singer or another paladin. The only people affected by it are the paladins that have been trained to identify it or a singer. It must have seemed extremely strong to you. We send stronger pulses when we are looking for a new singer. You are already sensitive. We didn’t plan on that. Most singers are so oblivious to what is happening, they just feel a little uncomfortable, like the mood has changed.”

Tally barely heard anything he said
. She was too busy enjoying the sensation of her hand in his while looking into his eyes. When the hum of his voice was replaced by silence, she realized that he was waiting for a response. “So what does that have to do with the fact that I can’t blow out a candle?”

“Maybe your shields
don’t just keep other people’s energy out, maybe they keep your energy in.” Roland patted her hand just before he removed it in order to bring the candle closer to Tally. “Drop your shields, and then try it.”

“Uh
, no.” Tally backed away from the table. “If I drop my shields, I hear and feel everything. You would have no secrets from me and if there is anyone else nearby, I would hear everything from them too. It would be a complete overload. I would be too busy trying to deal with everyone’s feelings and thoughts to even think about the candle.”

“What if you just drop them a bit, like you did in the diner?”

              “Okay, but nothing more than that.” Tally placed her hands on her lap and stared at the candle. The flame flickered as if daring her. She let her defenses slide just a bit and tried to visualize the air around the candle. Roland’s green and gold energy was present as always. It was wrapping around her like a comforting blanket. She tried to stop thinking about Roland and focus on the flame. A familiar voice rang through her thoughts, interrupting her concentration.

I can’t believe I agreed to this
. I hope she doesn’t think this will be an all-day affair. I have better things to do than tell her if a pair of shoes make her butt look big!

Tally pulled her shields back to full force and looked at Roland. “Oliver’s here. I guess we can try again later.”

Roland opened his mouth to protest when there was a knock at the door. Tally smiled, blew the candle out with her breath and got up from the table to put her boots on. Shaking his head at Tally’s luck, Roland walked to the door and let Oliver in.