The Embers Of My Heart (45 page)

"Yeah, well, besides that."

I shook my head. "I'd take the circumstances and context into account. I wouldn't hold it against you if you were in my shoes."

"I guess that's just something we'll have to disagree on."

"Disagree on what?" Drew strode into the room with a flash of his old energy. "What's up, dudes?"

"Hey, Drew. What're your thoughts on cheating?" Max asked. "Also, I thought you weren't getting in until after the new year. Couldn't take being without us?"

"Are we talking cheating on a test or a chick?" Drew hauled his suitcase and duffel bag toward his part of the room. His head was freshly shaven again and he looked a little thinner. "One of those is worse than the other."

"Chick," Max said.

Drew looked over his shoulder at me. "Oh, yeah. Don't do it again, Kev."

"I don't plan on it."

"There, we're good. So what did you do while I was gone?" Drew turned back to his belongings and I felt a surge of appreciation for him. At least he wouldn't keep making me feel guilty.

"I took my class. He blew it off."

"I did get it refunded," I said.

"Oh, look at you, Mr. Special." Max shook his head. "I don't know how you do it. Such a charmer, right?"

"Leave it, Max," I said. His tone was setting me on edge.

"Man, what is wrong with you?" His voice rose. "You did the deed, now I'm going to give you shit for it. That's what I do."

I started to say something, but Drew cut in. "Max. Stop." He stood up and turned to face us, his face strangely neutral. "Kev, you did something shitty. You're not going to do it again, right? Max, he's learned his lesson. He doesn't need you picking at him over it. We're all going to chill and pretend we gave him all the shit he deserves for it, and get on with life. Right?"

Max rolled his shoulders. "I guess."

"You good with that?" Drew's eyes focused on me.

"I'm good."

"All right. So did you do anything special for Christmas?" He turned back to unpacking once again.

I took a seat on my bed. Absynthe and I had spent the ride home creating a cover story for my upcoming jaunts off campus. "I found out a friend of mine from high school is going to be transferring to Sage. Probably going to head over to see her now and then."

"Drew, I can't even deal with this." Max sat in his chair and held his head in his hands.

Drew sighed. "And what is this girl's name?"

"Stacy."

"And you're just friends?"

"Yes."

"All right."

"Drew, tell me you did something that isn't going to give me a headache," Max said.

"I took a CPR training class and some other first responder shit. Going to work on an EMT course this spring. Have to work on changing my major around a bit so I can apply to med school down the line."

Max and I didn't say anything for a moment. "That's a big change," I finally said. I wasn't surprised that he was changing his focus, but this was more than I expected.

"Sure is."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks. Med school's not easy to get into. I'll need it."

I checked the time and stood up. "I'm running late to meet with Absynthe. I'll catch you guys later. Dinner at the Caf?"

"Sure," Max said. "I'll text you."

"Kev," Drew said. I paused while putting my coat on. "Just a question. Don't answer if you don't want to. What are you going to do when Nikki comes back from studying abroad?"

"Nothing," I said.

"Nothing?"

"She's not a part of my life anymore, I don't want her to be a part of my life, and I don't want to be a part of her life. I'll leave her alone and I hope she leaves me alone."

"Fair enough."

I left with my mind racing about that exact scenario. If she even came back, what would things be like? There was no way we'd ever get back together. She'd be dangerous, though. If she found out Star was nearby, she'd take action. I hoped that she stayed far, far away.

Absynthe greeted me as I stepped into her office. "You're late. I expected you'd unpack and sprint down here."

"Sorry."

"It's fine, gave me time to make some calls. I want to go over a few things before the big day." She gestured me to the other chair in the room. "So-"

"What's going to happen when Nikki comes back?" I broke in.

Her brows drew together. "What? You two broke up, right?"

"We did, but I'm concerned about what will happen down the line, taking our newcomers into consideration."

"I see." She tapped her fingers on her thigh. "It'll be awkward, but there won't be any reason for her to know, or to find out. If you run into her on campus, I'd advise you to be polite and maintain distance."

"That'll be awkward."

"Life is awkward. You can't avoid her forever. You might end up working together again in the future."

"Please, no. That's asking for disaster."

She shook her head. "I'll try to prevent it, but Alistair does have a twisted sense of humor. For what it's worth, I don't think either of you are completely to blame."

"Thanks. That's all about that topic. So what did you want to go over?"

"You'll be helping Stacy move in," Absynthe said, stressing the cover name. "I imagine you already assumed that. Her people already shipped a few items to the apartments, and you'll need to help her out with shopping for whatever she doesn't bring with her."

"So you're actually condoning us being together from time to time?"

"The cover story works," she said. "We're working on supporting it. It's still going to be suspicious, but your mother's working up enough background to make sure that it'll pass scrutiny. Once they see she's just a high school friend, they won't have any reason to check deeper. We checked all the students in your high school for psionic talent, for the record. If Alistair investigates, he'll find she matches the profile of a normal girl a couple years behind you. Shouldn't give him any reason to dig deeper."

I shuddered. "Creepy."

"Necessary." She shrugged. "Otherwise, try not to visit her too much. She should avoid coming here unless it's an emergency situation."

"We discussed that already," I said.

"Good. Now, her flight is getting in early next Saturday. You're going to have to wake up extra early. I'll make sure you don't miss it."

"Thanks," I said. "So, is this actually going to help?"

She sat back and sighed. "It's dangerous as hell, Kevin. We took a huge risk for a questionable benefit. Will it help? Maybe. It's a question of whether it will help enough when we need it."

I nodded. "Here's hoping for the best."

"Hope for that." She folded her hands in her lap. "But plan for everything to go wrong."

Chapter Thirty

The entire morning was hurrying up just to wait. I woke up early, rushed to get ready, picked out my clothes, took the fastest shower ever, and then Absynthe was ten minutes late. We rushed to the airport to make up the time and a police car appeared as if by magic. I tapped my fingers on my knees while she failed to flirt her way out of a ticket. We made it to the airport and headed for baggage claim, just to find the flight delayed for forty minutes.

I paced. Absynthe watched me from her bench. "Still nervous?" she asked for the fourth time.

"You keep asking me that."

"You keep pacing. Does it help?"

"No."

"Then sit down." I sat down and started tapping my foot. "She's not here to be your girlfriend."

"She's here to protect me and provide additional security. I know. You're repeating yourself and you're too young to be going senile."

She snorted at me. "I'm just making sure you remember. Besides, it's barely been a week since you saw her last. You need to relax and listen to me."

"I've been listening. How would I know what you were going to say if I wasn't?"

"You hear me, but you're not listening." She snorted again. "I know you've got all these hopes that you'll be able to go down and see her every couple of days. It's not going to work like that. She'll have classes. You'll have classes, and you need to get your shit together this trimester, by the way. She's going to be busy. If she's not busy enough, you might be dead. Think about that for a minute."

"I can take care of myself," I said. "I've been through a rough situation or two."

"Sure, you can defend yourself against the average mook. What's going to happen if they jump you in a group?" She raised a hand before I could remind her about Davidson. "What if that group includes someone who can also use second tier powers? What if they use it? What if they negate yours? Shade can use it and he learns. We know he's recruited at least one registered second tier. I have my doubts that you can hold your own against either of them alone, let alone in a group."

"I've beaten Shade before."

"You won't do it again, not so easily. He won't underestimate you again. If they come at you in a group, you'll be glad for the backup."

Fighting Shade hadn't been easy in any sense. "I'm always glad for backup," I said.

She glanced up at the arrival screen. "Her flight's here. Are you ready?"

"I think so."

"Stand up." I stood and she looked me up and down. "You're presentable, I guess. Did you get anything for her?"

"No. Should I have?"

"You're going to greet your girlfriend, who's moving to your city, with nothing for her?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm disappointed in you."

"But you just said-"

"Never mind what I said. Today, she is your lovely girlfriend and you are her devoted boyfriend. Well, not all too devoted, since you don't even have flowers for her. Don't you want her to feel welcome?"

"I thought that being here to meet her would be enough!"

"That's expected! That's the bare minimum!" Absynthe glared at me. "And the effect is lost because I'm here with you. If I was your girl, I'd be sad I didn't get anything for such a big occasion. I wouldn't say anything, I wouldn't let you know at all, but I'd still feel sad. Do you want her to feel sad, Kevin?"

"Is this a trick question?"

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Do I have time to get something? Is there a place to get flowers here?"

"If she arrives and you're not here to greet her, she's going to be mad, not sad."

"I think you're enjoying this too much." She let a small smile out. "What should I do?"

"Improvise."

"I'll be right back." I spotted the bathroom sign and ran for it. The airport wasn't crowded so early in the morning, so I didn't knock anyone over in my haste. No one seemed to be in the bathroom, so I threw myself into a stall, slammed it shut, and closed my eyes. I visualized a rose. It wasn't precise by any means, just an amalgamation of all the roses I'd ever seen in person or in pictures, but it would have to do. I tapped into my power slowly and quietly. Once I had built up enough power, I released it, forcing bits and pieces of my surroundings together, manipulating them into a structure, giving it shape. I had done this once before, but it hadn't lasted. This time, I knew more. I knew how to construct it and give it a permanent state and structure. This one would last. When I opened my eyes, a decent imitation of a long-stemmed red rose lay across my palms. I hid it in my coat, banished my power, and headed back out to where Absynthe was sitting.

"I'm afraid to ask why you were using it in the bathroom," she said.

"Improvising," I said, pulling the rose out of my coat. "How does it look?"

She took it from my hands. It didn't vanish. I let out a sigh of relief. She frowned and lifted it to her nose. "You forgot the scent," she said. "It smells like a hint of bathroom cleaning spray. Lemon?"

"Shit. I haven't smelled enough roses in my life."

"Is that a metaphor for something?"

"No. Do you think she'll notice?"

She handed it back to me. "She'll notice, but she'll know where it came from, and it's the thought that counts. Now, turn around."

I turned around just in time to see a beautiful redhead nonchalantly riding down the escalator, leaning to the side, her gaze looking far off to the side. I watched her, even though she wasn't watching me, and she seemed to feel my gaze. A smile came to her lips and I walked toward the escalator to greet her. I almost dropped the rose as she stepped off and her eyes met mine.

"Hey," I said as she stepped up to me.

"Hey." Her smile widened.

I held the rose out between us. "Here. This is for you."

She took it and our fingers brushed. "Thank you," she said. "It's very nice."

"I'm glad you like it." For some reason, I didn't know what to do next. Normally, we'd fling ourselves into each other's arms, but something was different this time.

A sharp jab to my kidney and a hissed whisper from Absynthe gave me a hint. "Give her a hug, you idiot!"

I stepped toward her and folded my arms around her. Her arms came up around my neck and I held her close.

She shook and I could feel dampness on my neck. "Are you ok?" I whispered.

"I'm ok," she said. Her voice was a little hoarse. "Really. I'm ok."

"What is it?"

Her arms tightened. "It just hit me. I'm here. I just realized that for the first time in years, I'm not going to be so alone anymore."

I rubbed her back as she buried her face in my neck, crying silently. I'd never seen her quite this way. I simply held her for a time measured in eternities, drawing in the scent of her perfume, feeling her warmth, hearing her shaky breathing. I held her and she held me.

"I just noticed," Absynthe said. Star's arms loosened and we drew apart. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "The rose. Look closely at it."

"What about it?" I asked.

"It's exactly the same color as your hair, Sarah."

She held it up to her hair. "Really?" she asked. Absynthe was right. I hadn't intended that.

"It's unsurprising," Absynthe said. "Nothing surprises me where Kevin's concerned anymore. Let's get your things and start getting you moved in. We'll go out shopping afterwards. I'm sure you need some things to make your apartment feel like home."