Spring Tide Page 23

  “I like work.”

  “I know you do. Tell you what. I’m gonna give you a ten-second head start, then I’m gonna chase you. When I catch you, I’m gonna tickle you until you can’t breathe and keep tickling you until you throw up. All you have to do is not let me catch you and avoid my energy.”

  “You’re teasing, right?”

  “I’m counting, Kris.” He shot a small wave of blue light from his palm to my stomach. It prickled then stung.

  I jumped from the deck wall and sprinted down the beach. He caught up so quickly there was no way he’d counted ten, but I was more concerned about the rays of blue light coming from behind me. I spun left and swerved right to keep his energy from touching me, but his magic singed my right arm with a burning itch. I stopped short, ducked under his arm, and went back the other direction. The chase continued while I shrieked at him to stop it and he replied, “Make me.” I ignited green energy from my fingers and condensed it into beams like his, contacting his light a few yards away. The bands of energy clashed with fury, green and blue biting each other, the movement as fluid and forceful as the waves pounding the shore. Pressure resounded to my outstretched fingers, signaling the strength he was emitting, but I held my magic firmly in place, countering his slow steps.

  “Damn it, Kris! Quit jackin’ me around and get it right!”

  It happened so fast, I didn’t feel it coming. Heat blistered the back of my neck, a burst of power exploded from my fingers, and I killed his energy. He was taken off his feet and propelled ten yards backward, where he hit a dune. In a second, he was on his feet again.

  “Didn’t expect that.” He wiped the sand from his jeans. “Right on.”

  I walked to him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I—”

  “It’s fine. You didn’t hurt me. I was trying to provoke you. Hon, it’s okay to get mad. You’ll learn to advance your energy without anger, but right now it’s your best weapon.”

  “Against who? Anger’s not an option for me.”

  “It’s okay to have rage.”

  The image of my father came into my vision and I shrank away from it. No it’s not.

  Blue light from his palms came right at me. I flipped sideways, firing up my fingers and pushing back against him before my feet touched the ground. I formulated my energy’s direction, velocity, and potency, putting him on the defensive. I overcame him again, but not without exhaustion.

  “Lightheaded?” He walked to me.

  “Very.”

  “It’ll get better. C’mon, I wanna show you something.”

  He put his arm around my waist and took me to the garage. I had never been in the garage proper, nor did anyone park in the garage. The surfboard room at the entrance was the closest I’d ever been. In the middle of the space was a mass that went to the ceiling, covered by a drop cloth. He pulled it away, revealing a sculpture. Two large pieces of metal, one blue and one green, twisted together like a double helix, each piece embellished with hundreds of small flames.

  “It’s us. It’s our magic.” I circled it. “Did you do this?”

  “I had a vision of it years ago, like a picture in my mind that wouldn’t go away.”

  “It’s beautiful, J. Really, truly beautiful.” I looked at it, tilting my head from side to side and tentatively touching the barbs.

  There was so much detail in each and every flame, no two thorns alike. Some were small, some wide, others long and curving, their coloring glossy blue or green or a mixture of both. The texture of the two large pieces randomly alternated between areas that were hammered and areas that were smooth and shiny, inspiring a feeling of movement. It was extraordinary in its design and size, but mostly in its meaning, our energies entwined like our souls.

  I looked at him. “What do you call it?”

  “‘Waiting.’”

  I closed my eyes and nodded.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  He spent the next week keeping things light. We went fishing on a really cool boat that had a cabin with sofas and a galley and stuff. We went to the movies and saw a horror film that made my skin crawl. He was greatly agitated by the flick, watching me cringe as the serial killer mutilated the poor, inept girl with a paring knife, blood spouting from her body. He couldn’t handle it and we left halfway through. We went to the Rasp concert in San Antonio—it rocked and ruled. We made pizza together, but it wasn’t as good as the real deal. We sat on the beach and talked.

  “What’s on your mind?” He twirled my hair between his fingers.

  “Tyler.”

  His eyebrows went to his nose.

  “Tyler and I talked about wave formation. I understand now how the waves break at Laces as compared to the beach break by the pier or the reef break at Pipe. Why are you scowling at me like that? Touchy …”

  “He’s a better surfer and I saw how he looked at you. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was fantasizing about you right now. Wipe that smile off your face. You should know that some humans, not many, but some are drawn to the magic within us.”

  I nudged him. “So that’s why I fell into your lap?”

  “No, I fell into your lap because we’re meant to be together. I’m talking about crushes.”

  “I’m not following. Give me a better example.”

  “Bet you can think of one.”

  I shrugged.

  “So you’ve been Princess Almost Aware all summer, your magic trying to get out, sparkling in your eyes. Can you think of someone who took a sudden, intense interest in you?”

  Duh. “Joshua.”

  He nodded. “People that are sensitive to our energy react differently to it. Tyler’s thing for you is mild. Joshua’s was strong, really strong.”

  I took the sea glass in my hand. “But Joshua was way out of control. Was he compromised?”

  “Not unless you laid him. He was just really drawn to your magic. Sorry, you’re grimmed out now, huh?”

  “Very. He was infatuated with me because of energy that I didn’t even know about?”

  “Yeah, like I said, it doesn’t happen all that often. It’s something for you to keep in mind, watch for.”

  “But how does it happen? I mean, how’d he pick up on it?”

  “I don’t know. That’s kinda like asking why Sarah’s favorite color is purple or why you like dark chocolate but think all other candy is disgusting. People like different things and no one knows why—sometimes not even that person. Joshua didn’t know it was your energy that was makin’ him wild for you. He just knew he wanted you. When compromising happens, the human that’s been with a Chosen gets super mega-obsessed, way unpredictable, and sometimes even destructive. It’d be like how Joshua’s acted toward you on steroids plus possible violence while he begged you to stay with him forever. Humans and Chosen can’t have physical relationships. Look at it like this: before you were aware, when we made out, didn’t you say something once about how it made you feel like your mind was filled with water—?”

  “More like full-scale drowning.”

  His mouth gaped. “Oh my God, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “I kinda liked it.” I hooked my arm around his knee. “I like being in balance more though.”

  “That feeling of drowning was a sign to you that something wasn’t right. You actually liked it?”

  “I didn’t know any different. And I’m kind of a busybody—it was relaxing, shut off my brain and let it rest for a little bit.”

  “You liked feeling trapped underwater … you’re a very special girl, Kris.”

  “That’s what my mom says too.”

  He shook off my words. “Brights fall in love with people sometimes, not often. But we don’t act on those feelings. We can’t. It’s the worst thing for both parties. I loved you, so I waited … kind of.”

  “I guess I’m glad you did then. Anyhoo, I need to get this out in the open. I’m worried I’m gonna be a major disappointment to you.” I held up my hands and lit my eyes. “I d
on’t know what I’m doing or am supposed to be doing with this.”

  He turned my body toward him. “Disappointment? Do you have any idea how substandard I felt when we met and the feeling only got stronger the more I got to know you? You cook, you read a lot, you play guitar. You’ve fascinated me since—”

  I coughed hard. “You’re a professional surfer, professional with titleage and magazine covers, which makes me feel real uncoordinated and stupid in the water. But regarding music and cooking and all that, it comes down to two things. One, I didn’t do the dating thing. The not primping and preening or caring about what I wore to school really freed up my time. Two, I had good teachers. Derek made tennis fun. Bertram, the chef at La Maison, was dedicated to making his kitchen a learning environment for everyone in it. Then there’s Mom. She suffered, and I do mean suffered, listening to me learn guitar up until I started decoding the compression waves. And you, you have been ultra-patient in teaching me to surf and you know I’m not lyin’ when I say that of all of ’em, you’re the best yet. With you there was no pressure, no timetable. You knew when I was diggin’ it and when I wasn’t, when to push me and when to hold back.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that ’cause you’re my responsibility until you’re comfortable with your power. We’re gonna take it slow, like surfing. I want you to have fun with it, understand it. I’m a good teacher?”

  “Very good.” I kissed his bicep. “But with your insight you’re a big, fat cheater. What’s that like? Knowing what people think?”

  “I don’t know what people think. What I sense is the soul, a person’s motivations. Like if you tell a lie, I feel your dishonesty as though I told the lie myself. It took a couple of years for me to pinpoint different emotions and how they drove people’s actions. It’s not an exact science, more like an educated guess most of the time. Feelings like insecurity, fear, indecision make it hard to predict what they could make a person do.” He put his hands on his calves. “You probably won’t remember this, but that time we ran into each other at the bluff, there was a girl you asked me about.”

  “I remember. She was scratching the skin off her legs. You said she was sad.”

  “After you left that day, I talked to her, whispered to her. She wasn’t sad. She was suicidal. I’ve felt that kind of self-hate before.”

  “What did you whisper?”

  “I whispered that she was loved, that she loved herself, that she wanted life.”

  “Did it work?”

  “I still see her at the public beach every so often. She smiles, she’s with friends.”

  “Thank goodness.” I kindled a flame on my index finger. “But I still don’t understand what my purpose is in having this energy, what I’m—”

  “You just nailed the point of all of this. Your gift relates to your purpose and we’ll figure out what yours is in the next few months. They give a talent to everyone who’s chosen—it’s related to your color. I’m blue. I sense. Donovan’s silver. Silvers are healers. Kelly, the palm reader, yeah, she’s a bright. She’s pink. Pinks find those who’ll soon be aware. She told me your energy would be strong and suspected it would come from your fingers, which is beyond unusual. Julia can tell you about her color and gift. And there’re golds. Their gift is physical strength. Oh and there’re whites too. Whites are special. Their purpose is to help with loss. There are some people who really, truly, physically and mentally suffer from the death of someone who was close to them. In a way, they kind of lose part of their soul when a loved one dies. Whites have a gift called ‘amity.’ It’s the same thing as what you call ‘my calm’ but is a thousand times stronger. Whites give amity to those who are wrecked by grief. It soothes them and helps them keep going until they can start over again and find something or someone to fill that space in their souls.”

  “How do you have calm if you’re not a white?”

  “It’s something I practice for myself but doesn’t come easily to me. I have to work at it and my amity’ll never be like a white’s. Whites just have it. It’s like I can heal but I’ll never be able to heal the way Donovan can. You can learn other bright skills. You know what else is cool?”

  “There’s more?”

  “So much more!” He bumped his shoulder against mine. “There’s not that much more. No one has the exact same shade of blue as me. Even with a color as basic as white, there’re no two whites whose glow is the same.”

  I sat up straight. “What about green? What do greens do?”

  “You know, a little voice in the back of my head told me not to get too deep into colors and talents but I kept talking.” He rubbed his jaw. “I don’t know anything about greens. Green is rare, like really rare. The one green I know doesn’t talk about his gift or his purpose …” He looked to the waves.

  “J?”

  “Sorry, I just had an idea. Anyway, ask Julia about green, if anyone knows about your color it’ll be her.”

  Suck. “Well this helps me none. No info on my color or gift and I still feel the same way I have since the beginning of the summer.”

  “You still feel like that? Even now that you’re aware and you know that they chose you?”

  “They? Who’s they?”

  “That’s a tough one …” He tipped his head left. “They exist for all souls, but aren’t of the human world. They oversee us, guide us. Sorry, I can’t really explain them ’cause honestly, I don’t know. Julia’s coming home soon and she’ll explain them and whispers and your color and what’s happening in our world much better than me. She’s so excited to see you.”

  “Do you see them?”

  “Not really, no. Well, when we connected did you see all the colored lights?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s them.”

  “They’re lights?”

  “No, the lights are representative of their presence.”

  I thought back to the path I’d seen in the ocean and momentarily re-experienced the awe. “Do they talk to you?”

  “No.”

  I contemplated them but didn’t get far, the concept too vague, too vast. A few minutes passed. “Where do you go when lightning takes you? Can you tell me now?”

  “Soon enough you might come with me. That’s all I’m gonna say. It’s one of those things you have to experience for yourself.” He put his hand over my mouth. “No more questions. It’s nothing to worry about. I have the strongest urge to push you down and kiss you hard, put my hands all over you.”

  “Do it.”

  Soft, slow, and sweet were replaced by hard, fast, and demanding upon the first day of my awareness and I couldn’t have been more gratified for his change in attitude. Soft and sweet were still there but only lasted the first thirty seconds, or were assigned to good night or good morning. When we were together, every nerve ending was sensitized. The magic from our hands dripped over one another like an aphrodisiac, creating a fevered passion that was so strong it was difficult to stop. But he always did.

  Not five minutes later, I was underneath him when I shoved him onto his back and held him down, progesterone commanding my system, maxed by my energy.

  My eyes lit soft green. “It’s the right time. It has to be the right time. What else is there? I want to get down with you, now. There’s nothing to compromise.”

  “Don’t talk like that. It’s turning me on more than I already am.” He pushed me off him. “It’s nearly time, a week or two. You need to get a better feel for the lifestyle and I need to get a better feel for how you’re gonna be.”

  My mouth dropped open. “What’s that supposed to mean? ‘How I’m gonna be’?”

  “You walk around with your hands in your pockets half the day ’cause you’re still wigged about your power. All I know is that if we jump the gun and you’re not ready, not completely good with your magic and this life, it could be so confusing for you that it would be very bad. When we get down, so down, all the way down, it adds another dimension to our relationship and our energies.”


  “You know I have no idea what you’re talking about and that you suck.”

  “You gotta trust me on this. You mean too much to me for us to be taking chances. We’ve waited this long—what’s another seven to fourteen days?”

  I bit his earlobe and kissed him the way he liked it, going vixen to let him know that I was very unhappy about timing and supernatural sex. After ten minutes, he took me inside because our neighbors, the hermit people, were watching us. And because his shirt was off and so was mine.

  When we weren’t doing fun stuff, he continued the effort to further my magic. He was satisfied with my speed and agility, ending the chase game—praise all. Instead he wrestled with me. I was becoming better at defending myself against him, usually with a solid right hook—a natural reaction from having grown up with Brad. It wasn’t that I wanted to hit Jericho in the face; I wanted the lesson to be over. The first time I decked him caught him by surprise. The second time, he stopped holding back his own strength to demonstrate that bright-on-bright voided some of the natural protection our bodies provided because the magic also bestowed greater force in our physical actions. At the end of every day, he told me I was doing well, healing my body as necessary.

  _______

  I was on the deck with my recipe notebook when a familiar face came up the back steps. Jericho had assured me forty times that he understood the situation, but the man was standing five feet away and there I was, lounging.

  “I heard we’re doing some training exercises today.” He did a bodybuilder’s pose and his eyes lit up gold. “By the way, you’re off the schedule indefinitely.”

  “Ah yeah! I knew there somethin’ funky about you. Man, they’ll choose anybody.”

  “You best watch yourself.”

  “Wait, why am I off the schedule?”

  Jericho came out the back door. “Hey, Fred. You ready to see this?”

  I rose. “How long have you known about me, Freddy?”

  “Couple months after you started at the restaurant, twinkles, and as for work, you’ve got better things to do right now. Took you damn long enough to come around …”