Love Beyond Time

Time The Outsiders, Book One

Rebecca Royce

Published by Silver Publishing Publisher of Erotic Romance

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Dedication To Liia Ann who rescued me even though she doesn't know it. Much appreciation!

Love Beyond Time

Rebecca Royce

Prologue Abraxas Moore stared one more time at the unforgiving clouds forming above him. The weather would soon become perilous, and he knew he had very little time until they caught him. Even the Green Hills, the place that had sheltered him and his kind for centuries—their home— was no longer safe. The rain that he was sure would start at any moment would not be life renewing. It was not a sign of rebirth, and he knew with a near perfect certainty it was not even natural in its origins. Rather, it had been conjured by those who sought to kill him as a means to draw him out into the open. They hoped he would make a mistake and fail at his task. Then they would be able to trap and kill him. Most disturbing, however, was he knew they would succeed in their task. His role as leader of his people, not one he ever truly sought, weighed heavily on him that night, and he knew not even the love of his wife, Niki, would sustain him through what was to come. The prophecy was no longer something that would eventually happen, but was actually occurring in front of his eyes. Time had finally caught up with them. After centuries of very little change, his people 1

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were facing almost immediate destruction, and it had fallen to him to somehow find a way to help them survive what would be certain annihilation. Ironically, the storm that had come out of nowhere this evening had been the final sign he needed to indicate their impending doom. When an Outsider stopped being able to predict the weather then it really was the end of the world. How would humanity last even another decade without them around to silently keep the balance of lightness and darkness in order? His people had thrived, for centuries by walking the lines of grey that fell between the two extremes of Good and Evil. They kept order and balance in their little space in the universe. They always had and he had hoped they always would. Oh sure, they may have slightly pushed things towards the side of Good whenever possible. They were, after all, not Gods or Deities who could see the fabric of time and know the outcome of decisions they made before they made them. They were humans—of a sort—with another power, another layer, to their minds that allowed them to see what most humans could not—all things were connected. Time, energy, life, and even death all flowed on the 2

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same strings of current, like a sound wave or an electrical wire, and they had been used or manipulated by his people since the dawn of time to keep things in order. This had been their sacred duty since creation, and it was the obligation they would all be forfeiting with their deaths in no short amount of time. Without them, it was likely there would be chaos. Humanity

would

fall

in

this

dimension.

Chaos.

Enslavement. Famine. Death. Evil would finally win its battle to control all things. Good would stand no chance of prevailing because they wouldn't see the 'bad guys' coming until it was too late to stop them. His people had forgotten they were not Gods. He was to blame for this, as he was to blame for so many other mistakes over his short reign. If there was a way to fix things, he would gladly do whatever it took to complete the task. But alas, the chanting had stopped for him, and he knew he was out of the precious currency known as time. Even transporting backwards into the past seemed to be out of the question. It was as if a wall had been erected to keep his kind from reaching back to that moment when all things had gone awry. He should have been paying better attention. Clenching his fists at his side, Abraxas stomped across the grass from his small cottage home towards the 3

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top of Windfelt Hill. What would the local population think when the barriers fell and they suddenly realized they had been living side by side with unknown people for generations? The wind blew, pushing his blond hair into his face and since he couldn't see, it made it exceptionally hard to proceed to his destination. It was absolutely essential he get up the hill before the sun went down and he was plunged into darkness. He needed to place his ritual staff upon the hill and call to the heavens for help. That is if they hadn't abandoned him and could still hear his pleas for his people. Was anyone up there still listening to the Outsiders or was it too late? The grass chomped below his feet. It was still winter, and spring hadn't made its first pushes to thaw out his part of the world. Ice sat atop the grass, changing its color from its natural green to a more transparent blue. It crunched below his well-worn boots. Niki had started mending them, begging him to actually acquire a new pair, before she had taken off with their daughter to hide with the others. Perhaps he should have stopped her, but it had seemed futile. Let them go. Let them all go and see if we can hide the children was what he had ultimately decided. Finally reaching his destination, Abraxas stopped to 4

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look around him. He had known the top of this hill intimately since he was a child. Windfelt Hill was the outer ring of their boundary. To cross over the top of the barrier and over to the other side was to cross into the land of humanity. No amount of power, his or anyone else's, could shield his people for very long from the humans if they crossed this hill, which was why in the past only a select few were chosen to make the trek. Last month, all of his people, with the exception of him, had opted to cross. His job wasn't done. He didn't have the luxury of leaving. Not until he had exhausted every option. If the Darkness knew where they were, then it was time to be somewhere else. They had decided their strength no longer held in numbers but in small hidden groups that were far from each other, far from the hills and woods that had hidden them and nourished them. It was their last desperate attempt to keep this annihilation of their people at bay and it made him crazier than he cared to dwell on that the whole of their society had opted to run away than stay and fight. Why was he the only one who could see it was better to stay and fight than turn and run? He wondered how they were all faring out there in the world and once again he felt the pull to Niki and the unrelenting desire to throw away all of his responsibilities 5

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and join her in her hiding place. So maybe he wasn't that different from the others when it came down to it. He wanted the family life too. Their daughter was a month older and she aged without him there to watch her do it. A lump formed in his throat and he swallowed it away. He had thought they would never have children. They should have been too old. One lone tear slipped from his left eye and he brushed it away. She was growing up without him and it truly made his insides burn. The trees around him swayed from the wind of the coming storm. Their emptiness, as they swayed in their death-like dance, matched the rhythms of his own heart. He wanted to sway like that, back and forth just floating in the breeze. He didn't want to fight anymore, to stand straight and rigid, it would be so much easier to just give in. Shaking his head, he pushed away those thoughts. At this moment, they would help nothing. Thank you, old friends, he thought quietly, directing his thoughts to the trees and the hill itself, for your years of service to our people. You shaded us well. You kept our boundaries hidden. Don't think that I will ever forget. Lightning crackled in the sky, but still no rain fell, and he could feel the threat of it in his every bone. He knew he needed to hurry. It wouldn't be long before it was too late to lend his 6

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people his final aid and help shield them from harm. He would take the protective shields off of this land and send them out into the universe to the Outsiders wherever they hid. They could use that energy to protect themselves for as long as it lasted. Maybe it would only be a few months worth of power but it would be better than nothing. He slammed his staff, which to the uninformed looked like a giant walking stick, into the ground next to him. The Staff of Aknala had been handed down from one leader to another for as long as his people had existed. It would cease to exist this day, and once again, he questioned himself. Had he done enough to try to save them? Now his efforts had become useless. His burden had been tremendous, and though he had shouldered it, he had not been powerful enough to stop what had been prophesized. It was all coming true. There would be no stopping the destruction now. His people had counted on him, counted on his powers being infinite. He had tried to tell them that it wasn't the case, that he was as flawed as they were and only a joint effort could undo what was about to strike them. But they had rejected that plan and instead chosen to go into hiding. 7

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Separated from each other, they were like lambs to the slaughter. In their efforts to guard their children, they would doom the prophesized infants to death and there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it. Unless… The thought hit Abraxas so powerfully that for a moment he could barely breathe or move from the shock of it. His temples pounded with excitement as his blood pulsed heavily in his veins. Were the heavens finally speaking to him again? Was he being given intervention when he needed it the most? With no other choice left to him, he had to believe it was a message from the moon and the sun. He could keep the children alive and ensure that at least one more generation would live to see adulthood. It was too late to help the entire clan. It would take too much power and he did not have the strength left in him to handle it all on his own. But he could send the children away. He could hide them; direct all of his power to keeping them hidden. They had been the children that had been foretold would defeat the growing Darkness. The clan was right. There was nothing more important than saving the children. But it wasn't in small groups that would quickly deplete his power source. No, the safety would last longer if they were 8

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all together and only needed to be guarded in one location. Eighteen children had been born three months earlier, some too early and some strikingly late, but all of them at the same exact time—ten past twelve, to shocked and terrified parents. It had been the beginning of the Great One's prophecy. On his death bed he had told them and they had not believed. Some of them had called it the last ravings of a dying man. They had grown too complacent, too used to their modern existence. Little by little, they had adapted their ways to fit the ever-changing world. It had seemed the smart thing to do. Asking a Warrior who returned from battle to go back to living in a house with no airconditioning in the summer seemed akin to asking him to return to the dark ages when he'd visited the Renaissance. Certainly their enemies had used all of their modern technologies to try to locate and destroy them. But the new 'toys,' as he liked to think of them, left them dependent and had done something to the group's feeling of selfsufficiently. Instead of being separate from the humans, they had become part of them, at least when it came to their modern conveniences and, as a society, they hadn't handled the change well. There never ceased to be creatures born of both the light and the dark that would prefer not to be monitored or 9

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held accountable for their actions. It was imperative they know how to use the technologies as well but only recently had his people started to count on the human technologies to aid them instead of using their gifts, handed down from the Spirits of their ancestors to aid them in their lives. They had discounted the Great One and they had dismissed Abraxas' warnings of the prophecies coming true. The Great One had seen it all before it had happened. Eighteen children would be born to their group and a nineteenth child born far away. The last one would be The Darkness, born to destroy the Outsiders and spread evil to the world, unless the Eighteen could stop him. For lack of a better description, this child would be the worst of all demons brought to humanity through a stupid mistake. It seemed ridiculously easy; eighteen powerful beings could certainly stop one. Except this one was more powerful than any before him and could almost, upon birth, control his unknowing minions and begin the destruction. The Great One had feared it was already too late. This Darkness had been here before. In the past, it had been in the shape of a monster, a wolf, and a dragon, but now Abraxas feared it had found its most

terrifying

incarnation—a 10

human

baby

boy.

Love Beyond Time

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Somewhere, perhaps close by or perhaps thousands of miles away, it was suckling on its mother's breast as she was painfully unaware she had carried in her womb a vessel for the destruction of all things pure and good. His people were human, he always told them, human but with a twist of magic. They could manipulate the weather, move things with their minds, bring on great forces of energy, and even change the course of fate should they decide to, but only in the effort to save the greater good. They brought balance to the universe and kept things in order. Human beings without their powers often wrote of them in children's stories calling them witches or wizards, frequently making them the antagonist of the story. Amongst themselves they simply were called the Outsiders. It was a term he was fond of and wished they'd thought more about the day they decided to install the first refrigerator in one of their homes. It amused Abraxas how quickly people vilify things they don't understand. With the death and destruction of his people, all things would become horrific, an endless array of death and destruction. It couldn't be allowed to happen. Without the Outsiders to help balance the inherent power struggle of humanity, chaos would surely occur. Evil beings thought only to exist in myths would feel free to come back to Earth to start destroying things again. Free 11

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societies would fall apart, and men and women, whose intentions were initially positive, would find themselves becoming almost demigod-like in their absolute beliefs that they knew the best ways to live, worship, work, and even love on the planet. It was possible humanity would destroy itself within a decade of the destruction of the Outsiders. Humanity's desires for greed and absolute power were growing stronger and so were the evil beings that were joining them to help fulfill these needs. The Outsider's had lost many friends and family members in the effort to set things right and into balance once again. But this new threat, this latest evil being who was now just a baby, was a new problem altogether. He could not be beaten by the current generation, and he was already taking control. Even in infancy the Evil One was growing stronger. Telepathically ordering his willing minions to seek and destroy Abraxas' people, especially the children—the only ones he knew who could stop his plan of destruction. If only there had been more time to prepare, to figure out what the children were supposed to do. But, alas, it was too late and it was up to Abraxas to do what he could now. As if reading his intent, the clouds above him swirled in response. Thank you my old friends, he silently 12

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uttered to the Spirits who controlled the skies. Try as they might, they could not stop the weather for him but they were trying to give him every advantage in power. The swirling moved clockwise, the natural rhythms pulsating through him as he sent a message to his people that he prayed would reach them in time. He opened his mind to reach his people, to communicate as he had not in a month, telepathically. "Much as I have tried, I cannot stop what is coming for you. I know you can feel them moving to where you have chosen to hide. You are right to suspect the howl of the wolves and the buzzing of the crickets tonight. It is evil watching you. There are too many of them and you are spread out, we are too weak while they grow too strong. I cannot save you, but I can save your children. I will hide and protect them. I ask you to give them to me now in the hope that all will not be forever lost." He took a deep breath and heard in his head the murmurs of horror and comprehension that finally dawned on the mothers and fathers of his clan. He could feel, as if in a dream, his own wife begin to sob as she held their child more tightly. His infant daughter, who already held more power than he ever could imagine, would never know his face. Behind him, a branch broke and he sighed with resignation. 13

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"They come for me now and I cannot stop it but I will send our children to where they cannot touch them and I will keep them safe, hidden until they are strong enough to fight Him and win. But I will not take them from you without your consent. They are your children to protect, yours to cherish, and if you wish them to die with you then it is not my place to prevent this." He took a deep breath, pulling out his staff. He did not need it to use his powers, but on this night, with this level of urgency, he needed to be focused and he needed every advantage he could obtain. Separately and away from the ears of his family, he sent a message to Veli, his oldest and most trusted friend. Veli would not want this job; he had lost his own wife in childbirth the year before and had taken refuge far from his people to try to heal. It was Abraxas' deepest hope that this separation had kept him off the radar of the Evil One. **** "No!" Veli shouted, jumping up from his seat by the fire he had stared at for hours. He had heard the proclamation from Abraxas, and his heart had wept at the thought of such destruction, but even before Abraxas could speak he knew what his old friend, brother really if he was 14

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honest with himself, intended to do. He could not become responsible for all of those children, train them, or care for them. He was not equipped for such a task, such a responsibility. **** "I am sorry to leave this to you. It should be my job but I cannot shoulder it. I am going; in moments I will be no more. You will not fail, Veli. Everything now depends on you," Abraxas answered Veli, still standing on top of the hill in their homeland, although standing might be too good a word for the distressing job he was doing maintaining his balance against the onslaught of the wind. Cutting off communication before Veli could answer, Abraxas extended his arms to the universe and began the transfer. His people needed only to send their children along the safe link he provided and they would arrive unharmed and hidden with Veli. How many? How many would his people send? Eighteen links he felt. His people had not disappointed him. They understood the magnitude of what was coming and wanted their children protected at all costs. Beneath his feet the earth shifted and moved. The Evil One was trying to stop him from below; to have the 15

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earth swallow him before the task was done. Abraxas tried desperately to hang on to the link he had created. He clenched his teeth together, his whole body shaking. They moved so slowly, why couldn't he push them through the link faster? Just a few seconds more and all would be done. They could have him then. Violently, the earth sprung open and began to suck Abraxas down. As he had done many times in his youth, he sprang above the ground trying to float of his own volition and not rely on the ground to support his weight. The trees swayed and moved. With a crack of lightning a tall branch came down on top of him, pushing him down to the hole in the ground. Hitting his arm, he tried to roll and fell further into the abyss. The link crashed around him. Had he done it? Had it been enough time to get the children to Veli? Silently, he begged Veli to answer him. How many had gotten to him? **** "Just three!" Veli stared in open-mouth horror as the link closed around him. "Don't stop, Abraxas. Only three have come through. Two boys and a girl." **** 16

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Abraxas screamed at the pain Veli's words caused. Was it his daughter? Had she made it? "Find the others!" Abraxas commanded Veli. "They could be anywhere, and without them all is lost." He could feel the pain of his people as the Evil One's minions discovered each in turn. They would fight but they would not win. Ultimately, he knew they had minutes to live. He had failed them. Only Veli could succeed now. He had to find the children. With his last coherent thought, Abraxas dreamed of Niki and then there was the blackness. **** Veli Destrand looked in horror at the three small faces staring up at him from the floor, two boys and one girl. What had Abraxas commanded him? Find the others? How was he to do this? How was he to care for the three infants who now looked up at him? He did not know these children, did not even know to which parents they belonged. He had left his people a year earlier before these children were even conceived. They were so tiny and helpless and completely dependant on his care. Turning his attention to the blonde-haired girl, he almost laughed with the strange absurdity of this situation. 17

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"Who are you?" Her hair was a bright shade of yellow, short on top of her head, although it had already begun to curl. Was this Abraxas' daughter? How on earth would he ever know who these children belonged to? What were their names? The small kitchen in his little cottage seemed even smaller to him at that moment. He could hear the hum of the window Unit air conditioner that made the room cooler in the summer. He had always found it to be pleasant sounding, like a white noise to drown out the other sounds of humanity that sometimes, albeit rarely, intruded upon his quiet life. Veli had always thought he would have children one day. His wife, Anahera, had thought that perhaps sometime in the next five years they would begin trying to have a family. Outsiders lived so much longer than humans that there was never any rush to reproduce. They had believed they had all the time in the world. Then she had died, and his whole world had ended. The truth was, he would have preferred to go his entire life without ever seeing another child. Now he was staring down at three babies and he had just been instructed to find fifteen more. How the hell was he supposed to do that? He stomped his foot, thinking he would step out of the house to get some air. 18

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All at once, all three infants started to scream. The blonde girl rolled onto her side. Reaching out with remarkable control for one so young, she stroked the top of the head of the black-haired baby boy. Despite her screams she seemed to be trying to comfort the other two boys. Veli knelt down to look more closely at the children. The darker of the two boys looked like he was fuming. His cries were not high pitched and sorrowful like the girl's. It was more like a wail of the furious. "That's right, kid. Rail to the gods about the unfairness of life. See if anyone listens." Veli's ears rang from the onslaught of the piercing baby shrieks. The third child, still dark but lighter haired than the other boy, immediately stopped crying. Cocking his head to the left side, he moved his hand over his head. Veli could only describe the child's gaze as analytical at best. He knew enough about children to know this was strange. Babies who were this little shouldn't be so clear eyed and focused. Quickly, the child slammed his clenched fist on the ground. As if on command, the other two babies stopped screaming. Veli desperately wanted to call out for help. Could he risk it? Could he put a message out into the general link they all shared and risk being found by someone working for the Darkness? He pulled anxiously at his now too tight shirt collar. He had no choice but to try and immediately 19

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opened his mind to send out a call. "I am Veli Destrand. You all know me. I have three children here with me. Abraxas has instructed me to find the other children, and I swear to you that I will. But I don't know who these children are or who they belong to. I believe one day that I will be able to return them to you. Please send me descriptions of your babies and what their names are. I'm picturing in my mind the babies that I have. If they belong to you please tell me." He hoped this would be good enough. What were some other things he should ask? Should he ask about specific powers? Temperament? With a sense of dread he suddenly realized that he didn't even know how to change a diaper. He was really going to be in big trouble. How did you feed a baby this small? All at once, Veli could feel answers piling into his brain. He needed to write them down because he would never remember them if he didn't. Glancing once more at the children, not that he had clue what to do with them if they actually needed something, he leapt to his feet and rushed to a drawer to pull out a blank sheet of paper. My daughter is Charma, the first answer resounded. She is blonde-haired and small. I am Larissa Monroe and her father is Morgan. You know us quite well, Veli. Please be kind to her. 20

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Veli could hear her mother's despair even over the shared mental link. "Oh no." Momentarily, he closed his eyes. Healers. This child with him was Charma and she was from a family of healers. How did you raise a healer? They were fragile and easily overwhelmed by life's atrocities. You have my son Leonardo. It was the voice of Nathaniel Gregan. They were powerful and mysterious. His father's power was defensive, that much they knew, and his mother was a spell caster. That meant it was possible that the boy had both offensive and defensive powers. Looking down, Veli saw that Leonardo was the lighter of the two babies. He looked like his father. Veli's own powers were purely offensive. How did you teach defensive powers? Where were the third child's parents? Had they been killed already? Veli. His name was stated simply, but he would know that voice anywhere. Holis Oberan. A sense of dread filled him up. He had the Oberan heir. There was no love lost between Veli and Holis. It might be fair to say they hated one another. If this boy had one ounce of his father's arrogance and pride, then Veli was in deep trouble. It was also fair to say that, other than himself, Holis was probably 21

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the most talented warrior ever born to the Outsiders. His mother had unusual powers as well. Some claimed she could take and send powers at will. Their families had been huge competitors, and eventually enemies. Veli, I trust that you are not going to let our personal problems affect how you are going to treat my son. Obviously, if I had known what Abraxas planned we would have found another way to keep Kalmari safe. Kalmari. That's his name? Veli answered quietly, trying to keep all emotion from his thoughts. It is. His mother calls him Kal. Veli, I will have your word as a warrior that you will not hold our past…difficulties, against my son, or so help me, Veli, I will pull every ounce of power that I can through this link and I will take him back. Go ahead and take him back. It was a stupid challenge and he knew it but he could never let anything Holis said go without remark. He shook his head. His wife had once informed him he needed to outgrow their rivalry. Veli could feel power surging through their minds and was somewhat surprised that Holis was actually making good on his threat. He opened his mouth to tell Holis to conserve his energy, he wouldn't mistreat Kal, when a spark in front of his eyes cut off his link. Just as quickly as it started, it stopped and all of the power that had 22

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been used was thrust back into the atmosphere around them. Sparks flew through the air. Holis? Veli didn't need to be a mind reader or possess the power of sight to know that the Oberans were no more. They had been caught by the Darkness. Veli felt sick inside. What had he been thinking letting Holis use so much power out in the open? Had he led the Darkness to them? A shot of electricity, the early warning signal Veli had used countless times to save his own life, moved through his spine. There was no time. Abraxas would have lent them some shielding when he sent them through the link but that would be gone now that Holis' link had exposed them to the outside world. He picked each of the children off of the floor knowing he would have to acquire supplies on the road and improvise as he went along. He paused finally before lifting up Kal to place him on his arm next to Charma. Was he going to hold Kal's father's sins against this small, fragile, albeit fierce-eyed baby? He was enough aware of his own character flaws to resign himself to the fact that the answer was most likely a resounding yes.

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**** New Orleans, Louisiana. Uptown. Lying quietly in his nursery, Sebastian, as they called him in this lifetime and in this current body, thought again that he had chosen the right parents to give him life. He was unquestionably rich. The sheer number of toys and designer clothes that he had watched being purchased over the course of the last few months had been astounding but he had known it would be this way when he had chosen these particular mortals. His mother, quite beautiful with green eyes that already knew too much pain for someone so early in her twenties, had left him in the care of the hired help as she had gone running off to attend whatever party was the most pressing to her at that moment. He hardly saw the father and when he had, the man had stunk like booze and cigarettes. The nanny they hired was efficient if a little lacking in hygiene herself. This might have been a problem for some children, the feeling of abandonment and alienation, but not for Sebastian. It was exactly the kind of family he needed to complete his real goals. It was time to eliminate the Outsiders. Psychically, even he had been surprised by how 24

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remarkably strong he was. He had guessed that it was going to take him years to be able to command minions and take possessions of souls, but it had taken just weeks really. He was going to get stronger as time went on, but he had already managed to command humans who had lived across an ocean to accomplish his will. The parents were all dead now. He hadn't counted on Abraxas Moore being so swift in his skills, sending the children away. This was a true problem. They were, after all, much more talented than their parents had been. They were his true enemies and now they were loose somewhere on the planet. He had managed through sheer force of will, and it had cost him a lot of power that might take years to get back, to stop the flow from letting all the children through. They had scattered and were as good as lost now. He'd find them all eventually with little effort, he was sure. The mentally weak Veli Destrand was not going to be able to locate them, not with three babies to take care of. But that was of no concern to Sebastian in his current form. Eating and sleeping were enough for a while and time would help him take care of the rest. He would find them and he would kill them all. He was nothing if not relentless. There would never be any more joining of souls by the Outsiders; the soul mate legacy spoken of in the prophecy 25

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would not come to be. The eighteen might have been born but they would not live long enough to unite and destroy his plans. There would be only one power on earth and it would belong all to him.

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Chapter One Present Day Kal stood silently on the side of the creek listening to the fish swim below the water. His companions, friends of his from college, thought he had amazingly good luck catching their dinner. He dared not tell them otherwise. Even thousands of miles away, he knew Veli would hear him, and box his ears for potentially exposing them. Too much to risk, he would shout and then the last ten years would be for naught as Kal would be forced back under his protection. The water and the landscape called to Kal. He often felt more a part of the earth than the people who lived on it. If he thought about it, and he very rarely thought about it, he would have to admit his had been mostly a lonely existence. Even surrounded by people, he was always on the outside. Not that any of his friends or colleagues would guess that he felt that way. He was well liked and well thought of amongst the groups of his acquaintance. He had traveled the world and seen the worst the human race had to offer. His job as a foreign correspondent had given him the opportunity to really see humanity at its worst and yet he still found himself compelled to protect it. He had told Leonardo once 27

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that it must be in their genetic makeup, this complete inability to tell the human race to go screw itself. If he could, he would gladly turn himself into an animal, a wolf most likely, and let himself live on his nature alone. His intuition didn't seem to particularly fit into the world that he was currently living in. It would, for example, be illegal to knock the guy sitting next to you on an airplane over the head with a baseball bat just because your intuition told you he was going home to beat his wife and child. It would also be illegal to seek him out later while he slept and murder him in his sleep. Kal kicked at a stone near his feet, growing impatient with how long this was taking considering how fast he could do it if he just took care of it himself. He sighed, hoping no one heard. The subject of his life problems was not something he would solve this afternoon and yet he couldn't clear his thoughts. He could, perhaps, devote himself entirely to the protection of his makeshift family. Shrugging, he almost laughed at the idea. There would be very little point to that. Veli was all the protection any of them ever needed. It had been Kal's lousy attempts to prove his own usefulness that had frequently landed them in serious trouble. There was very little in the way of an outlet for Kal's pent-up aggression. His skills seemed to be more appropriate for 28

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another time and place where he could have protected a castle for a king or defended some worthwhile cause. Maybe he could have rescued a damsel in distress. He could ride in on his horse and rescue his princess who would then spend the rest of her life devoting herself to him. This wasn't likely to happen. Although assured in his own taste for women, Kal found most of the potential dates he came into contact with tolerable for short periods of time but nothing to write novels about or attempt heroics for. Again, he wondered if something had been imprinted into his genetic code. People who were "Outsiders," and that was how his family thought of themselves, had, Veli told them, another person who could complete them. They would know that they had found this person because when they kissed them they would hear the chanting words from the Spirits above. So far none of the women he had kissed had inspired even an inkling of song. Kal could remember the first time he had heard the strange music of the chanters. He had been twelve years old and they had been living, very briefly, in Santa Barbara. The day was beautiful, if not a little bit hot, and he and Charma had ventured down to the pier to buy an ice cream and watch the sailboats. 29

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Marina, the only other of their kind that they had ever located and it had been more from her own abilities than anything they had done, had insisted on taking out one of the boats earlier that morning and Leonardo had accompanied her on her venture. These kinds of childhood activities were of no interest to Veli, who had found one of Abraxas' books on his recent jaunt back to his homeland. He had been wrapped up in studying it for days and hadn't noticed, or particularly cared if he had noticed, that none of his four charges had attended school since they had moved. This was standard for Veli who thought it was more important to see to their safety and outer-worldly educations then whether or not any of them could divide fractions. The other teenagers, boys who were probably four or five years older than he was, had immediately noticed Charma. Most people did. It was hard for them not to. Her very soul, and at twelve years old she had not yet learned to shield herself, drew the attention of every person she came into contact with, begging to help heal their emotional wounds, both small and of the much larger variety. Coupled with the fact that she was considered absolutely gorgeous made it a sure thing that going out into public was always a bit of a risk for her. Veli had ordered Kal to be responsible for her wellbeing until he could figure 30

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out how to teach her to block her empathic tendencies and not stand out in a crowd. There had been many nights Kal had lain awake in his bed and heard Charma weep for the constant emotional bombardment that was her life. This had been the situation that had led to Kal standing face-to-face with three much larger, much older teenage boys who, given any other stimulus, might not normally behave as badly as they were behaving at that moment. For reasons they themselves probably didn't understand, they were insisting that they were going to take Charma with them. Charma had immediately indicated that she didn't want to go with them and this had left Kal with no choice but to keep her safe. The first of the three would-be kidnappers reached out to grab her. Without thought Kal had swung his hand in front of the other guy's face and simply pushed all of the energy that was stored inside of him outwards towards the boys. They had, all three of them, fallen backwards against the wooden fence that kept anyone from jumping in the water. Stunned looks on their faces, they had run quickly away to lick their wounds and wonder what had just happened to them. Kal had been left shocked, panting on the dock, listening to the strangest sound he had ever heard. The voices were ethereal and they spoke in a language that he 31

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couldn't understand but still filled up his soul nonetheless. It was encouraging and loving and he knew he had behaved just the way he needed to, but more so had acted in a responsible fashion, and fulfilled some kind of predestined role. He had loved it. Intuition had been Kal's gift since he was a child. He instantly knew when something good or evil was about to approach him. More than once, he had saved his small family from destruction by simply knowing that something was coming. Like his relatives, he could manipulate his surroundings and hear more keenly than most humans but it was more than that for Kal. He simply knew when something was about to happen. All day he had been filled with that feeling. It started at the top of his head, usually making him sweat and he would be filled with the inability to relax, which would inevitably make him angry. And in general it was not a good idea to make him angry. He turned around to watch his friend Doug attempt, for the third time, to reel in the fish that he had been trying to catch. He laughed silently. Doug had been the president of their fraternity in college and now he was making his way up the ladder in one of Chicago's top law firms. But a fisherman he was not. His other companions, James and 32

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Nathan, one a real estate broker in Atlanta, and the other a doctor in Des Moines, had better luck with the fish but had still not caught anything today. "Need some help, bud?" He didn't want to wound Doug's ego but he also wanted to eat dinner in the not too distant future. It wouldn't do to be the one to catch their meal for the third day in a row. That would be pushing things, or at least he was sure that's what Veli would say. "I'm fine, Mister Reporter." Doug wiped sweat off of his brow. They had all been calling him that during the whole vacation. He rolled his eyes. He'd recently been getting a lot of publicity as his career seemed to finally be taking off. Given the current state of things in the world, he was never out of work. He had also been told his dark good looks played well in front of the camera. He wasn't sure what that meant and he wasn't particularly interested in it. Leonardo had felt it was dangerous to be so out in the open, contenting himself with research and spells to find their missing kinsmen whilst he worked as a teacher and he earned his doctorate in history and ancient cultures. But in the thirty years since they had arrived on Veli's floor, it was only Charma who had located anyone— Marina, she had called herself, five years old and sitting on the floor of a Russian orphanage. Charma had seen her in a 33

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dream and woken up insisting that Veli take them there. Under-fed and not properly stimulated, Marina had taken longer to come into her powers. Even today she was quiet and dreamy, preferring to assist Veli with his tasks in searching for others rather than to venture out on her own. Kal couldn't blame her. He had been one of the lucky ones, found and guarded till he had grown old enough. What must it be like for his lost family connections to have no one to communicate with telepathically? Sometimes he thought he could hear them in his dreams. Charma, or Char as they called her, had been their rock. She was a healer, in the best sense of the word. Unaware of her special abilities, people flocked to her home in Manhattan hourly to have her make them tea and listen to their problems. Somehow they simply felt better when they left her, unaware that she had probed their minds and eased their pain, unaware that every time she did it, it ate a little of her soul up. He wasn't sure she slept at all anymore. In his own way he helped, putting himself amongst the public, traveling to the war torn places and daring the people who did the dirty work for the Evil One to come out and get him. It kept everyone else off of the radar. He knew he was silently hunted and normally he would invite the fight. Two would-be assassins had lost their lives trying to 34

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trifle with him when he was a teenager. But nothing happened in the presence of his college buddies. He saw to it. No matter what he felt or who he encountered, he didn't engage in front of the people who mattered. He wouldn't risk them. A shiver travelled through Kal's body. At least so far. "Hey guys," Kal cut into their conversation. He thought they had been discussing a girl that James felt was "the one." James felt that a girl was "the one" every other week. "I think we need to get moving. The weather is changing." "It's been nice all day," Nathan interrupted, pulling out his personal digital assistant. "The weather report is good all week." "Don't believe everything the weathermen tell you," Kal replied quietly, manipulating the clouds above them, a power every Outsider had but that he was only moderately good at attempting. "It looks like rain to me." "Let's not argue with Mister Reporter." Doug laughed, obviously happy to be off the hook from fishing. "He's lived all over the world with that weird uncle of his. He can probably sense these things." His friend had no idea how close he was to the truth. "Very funny." Kal laughed. "Let's go." Mentally he 35

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tried to compel them to listen, a power he tried very hard to not use on friends and not surprisingly they complied with his wishes. How did you know if your friends really liked you if you were always pushing away their free wills to follow your orders? In his deepest soul, he believed that mortal human beings had the right to make decisions that might screw up their lives and on frequent occasions he let his friends destroy themselves if they wanted to. But in this case he had a feeling what was coming for them wouldn't be anywhere near here if it weren't for his very unique presence in the world. Pushing again, he kept moving everyone forward. His senses became more aware and he could hear someone running towards them. Footsteps sounded in his eardrums as if they were right next to him instead of a distance away. Two people were in a chase. This was it—this was what he'd been waiting to happen all day long. Whatever, or whoever, was up ahead ran fast, putting a distance between himself and the person behind them. This left Kal no time to make everyone go away. He had no choice but to handle it in front of his friends and hope that Char could fix it later. He turned to meet his destiny, knowing there would be more than one person to handle. He raised his hand, ready to call down electricity as his first defense. 36

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Chapter Two Earlier that same day Isabelle Listora stood in front of the creepiest cabin she had ever seen. It didn't look deserted, not really, but it didn't look lived in either. It hadn't been occupied for at least several days, she was sure about that. The door hung open and it looked like the local wildlife had taken what was left of the food from the cupboards. At the very least, Isabelle was relatively sure that she wasn't going to be finding any neglected children occupying the cabin today. If they were there—and her instincts told her they were not—then they were well hidden and not likely to come out just because she asked. Everything about what had happened since she had woken up this morning had seemed so bizarre to her. Why was she being sent out into the woods to investigate child abuse? Where was the local agency and why were they not looking into what was happening? She had, in fact, asked her boss those same questions several times before heading off into the middle of nowhere, driving four hours from home to an unknown destination where she would have no police help or known local resources to call upon in case of an emergency. Once again, inwardly, she groaned at the absurdity of the whole thing. 37

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Her boss had smiled the strange bland smile that no longer reached his eyes and told her that because of budget cuts they were all being asked to stretch their legs a little bit. She had wanted to scream that this was more than stretching her legs, this was running a marathon, but she kept those feelings to herself. She really didn't want to get fired and so she didn't point out that she hated the woods and everything to do with nature; that the most outdoorsy she ever got was heading into the sporting goods store to purchase fleece from their ski department. Truth was, she would travel to the ends of the earth to help a child in need and the file she had been handed had certainly shown a child in need. It was rumored that the father had kept his son tied to a chair for up to a week before releasing him and letting him go back to school. She was going to have to go and find the teacher now, which would mean finding her way to the town and given that her GPS system didn't even know this little town existed on the map, she was going to have to rely on her nonexistent sense of direction. Hurry up Isabelle, it's time to leave. It's finally time to begin the journey you were born to take. Isabelle spun around quickly, grabbing the door for support as she tried to find the person behind the voice she had just heard. 38

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"Hello?" she shouted. "Is someone there?" No one responded and Isabelle quickly tried to scan the area with her eyes to see if she could see anything. She couldn't make out anything, but she noticed the clouds above her were starting to look ominous. The last thing she wanted was to get caught out in the rain. She ran quickly back to her car, her baby since she had bought the thing a year earlier. Both she, and the car, were getting pampered when they got back to civilization. Some of Isabelle's girlfriends had made fun of her near compulsive need to care for her car. Most of them used their cars like a substitute garbage can and/or closet, leaving them dirty with all kinds of odd and disgusting things that varied from old lipsticks to guiltily eaten fast food wrappers, but Isabelle really treasured her car. It was midsize and not anything that would cause a commotion in the auto industry, but she loved owning it. Not once had she found herself broken down on the side of the road calling for help. It got her where she needed to go and she was hugely grateful for it. It wasn't like she was spending her money on other lavish things. Her closet was filled with comfortable clothes that she had picked up quickly when she had a need for them—work clothes mostly, fitting for a person working in her type of profession. Mixed in on them were jeans, sweaters, and exercise outfits that admittedly 39

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she didn't pull out enough, preferring to sleep in on Saturdays and read after work. Of course, she couldn't forget about the back of the closet that held the seven bridesmaid dresses she had worn in the last year. They ranged in color from a respectable lilac to an obscene marmalade color that she still cringed looking at six months later, both from the memory of how terrible she had looked in the dress to what it said about her personal life that she had worn seven bridesmaid dresses in the last year and had gone out on exactly three dates. But there was no time to dwell on all of the sad, albeit tragically silly, aspects of her life. She might hate standing out in the woods waiting for a rainfall but there were children's lives at stake and that she took very seriously. She opened the car door up and the wind blew her black hair off of her shoulders. She closed her eyes. Where had the rain come from and why did it feel like it had been sent just for her? A shiver ran through her, up her arms and down her spine. Goose bumps appeared on her flesh and she was suddenly very cold. Opening her eyes, she got into the car and quickly put it in drive, pushing down harder than she intended to on the accelerator and hearing the tires screech. There was no more denying the internal tension she held. Isabelle just didn't make driving mistakes. 40

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Breathe, she told herself. She wasn't used to being in the middle of nowhere. Everything about this day drove her crazy. She shouldn't be driving away in the car like a lunatic when she had been sent to investigate living conditions and potential neglect. The door to the house was left wide open. She should be snooping inside and taking her time to look things over. Any other day of the week, that is exactly how she would be behaving but instead she was hightailing it out of the countryside as fast as she could without looking back. The driveway, as she had noted on the way in, was surprisingly long and curvy, which was exactly what you would want if you had to hide child abuse from the neighbors. Trees, most slightly falling over, drooped down on top of it, adding to its unkempt feeling. How was it possible that someone could travel such a short distance in the state of New York and encounter such a varying degree of living situations, she wondered out loud to kill the silence in the car. Drive, he'll be there. Oh man, now she was really cracking up. As soon as she got home she was making an appointment to have her head examined. She had always heard that there was a large burnout rate in her career path but she had assumed that one day she would just find herself compelled to go 41

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into private practice or back to school. She never could have predicted that she would start to show signs of schizophrenia. Whose voice was that? Once again she pushed down on the accelerator. Turning left, she was on what they would refer to now as a State Highway. The road was bigger but still surprisingly empty without the signs and lights that were usually present on the Interstates. She turned on her radio and the CD that she had been listening to on the way upstate came through the speakers. She might not have been raised in Manhattan, but almost everyone who had lived within a twenty-mile radius of it was a closeted Broadway musical fan. Isabelle just wore her obsession a little bit more out in the open than most of her friends. Music from one of her favorite shows filled the air around her and she took a deep breath. How bad could a trip be if she got to imagine she was sitting in a dark theater being transported to another time while she took it? Her father had taken her to see that show for her twentieth birthday. She had loved every second of it and even if she knew her dad preferred sitting around listening to the bands from the sixties and seventies to the belting sounds of Broadway stars, he had loved watching her enjoy it. She needed to remember to thank him more often 42

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for the small things that he did for her. Even if she never found the person she was searching for, she knew real love existed, she needed only look at the way her parents loved each other to see it. Isabelle's anxiety reprieve was brought short by the sound of a clunk and a hissing noise that could only mean one thing. She had blown a tire. How was it even possible? Hadn't she just been musing on the greatness of her car? Was fate playing tricks on her? She sighed; maybe it was a good thing that the road was strangely quiet today. She wouldn't have to worry about the other cars not seeing her and slamming into her as she attempted to change her tire. Or better yet, she thought suddenly, she would use her auto club card. She pulled out her cell phone at the same time as she took out her wallet. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself so that she wouldn't sound like a lunatic to the man on the other end of the phone but she never even got that far. Out of range, how could that be? She wasn't even in roaming range? She wasn't in Nepal; this was the United States of America. Shouldn't she have cell service? Shouldn't the fact that she paid a way too large monthly fee for her unlimited nationwide calling have given her service in upstate New York? Isabelle groaned again, glad that no one else was in 43

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the car to see her acting helpless and whiney. There was no choice, she was simply going to have to change the tire herself. She knew how, her brother and her father had done it on more than one occasion and had made sure she knew how to do it before she ever was even allowed to practice driving but she carried, and paid for, her auto club card so she wouldn't have to do it. At least, she thought, I don't have to stand by the side of the road and wait for someone to come along. Pulling her sunglasses out of her dark and annoyingly frizzy hair she placed them on her face. Time to face the music. When this was over, she was really going to take a nice weekend in a spa somewhere. The air had gotten cooler outside but still not cold enough to require a jacket and she was relieved about that. She walked quickly to the trunk. The rain had held off too, she realized. See Isabelle, lots of things to be grateful for, she thought, trying to sound pleasant even though she was the only one listening to her internal dialogue. She'd taken two steps when she realized she hadn't put on her hazard lights. Quickly, she ran back to the driver side of the car and pushed her emergency button to turn them on. There was no incline on the road so she didn't have to worry about the car rolling around on the road or worse, over her. 44

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Inwardly she tried to recite the instructions she had been given over and over again about hubcaps, lug nuts, and jacks. She grinned at her feeling of know-how and got down to the job of changing the tire. After a while, her mind began to wander. She tried to imagine being married and coming home to her husband at the end of the day to tell him about this incident and laugh about this story. He would be angry and upset about her cell phone not working and maybe he would suggest to her that, given the fact that she was hearing voices talking cryptically in her head, it was time they take a romantic vacation together somewhere quiet just the two of them. They would ask her mother to watch the kids for a week… Ah kids. She sighed deeply. To have kids, several of them she hoped, would mean that they were actually having sex and if she was having sex that would mean that she would have to be married to her 'dream man' because truthfully, and at thirty years old she had to admit to her own delusions, she really only wanted to have sex with the dark stranger who appeared in her dreams almost nightly. Technically, he wasn't a stranger—she knew him intimately on every possible level. They practically shared one brain between the two of them. She could read his thoughts and he cared for her as though she were the most 45

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precious thing he had ever laid eyes on in his entire life. Without her, he wandered the world aimlessly. Her body had been made for his body. There was just one little problem—in her dreams she never learned his name. She could never bring herself to ask him what it was. It was like there was some sort of blockade that didn't allow her to know that. She figured she wasn't alone in this. He never asked her what she was called either. In dreamland, they already knew each other. Isabelle knew this was insane. All evidence to the contrary, she was a fully functioning adult who could stick two feet on the ground and walk while she chewed gum. She tried to date, unsuccessfully, since she was sixteen years old. High school had been one teenage disaster after another with the worst ending at her best friend's house in East Hampton where they had all gone after prom to celebrate being seniors. Her father had to drive hours in traffic to come and get her after she had literally pushed her prom date out of the window of the hotel room she'd stayed in when his inexperienced kisses had made her skin crawl with disgust. He hadn't taken her protests very well and before she had even known what she was doing, she had pushed him out of the window. The room hadn't been very far up and he 46

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hadn't been injured, well not seriously anyway, but she had been so horrified by her own behavior that she'd had to leave the party. Where had her need for such violence come from? The little jerk had told everyone that he had scored that night and that she was lousy at it, which had only added to her mortification. In college, she dated a little bit. There had never been a problem meeting men who were interested in her, she seemed to be a particular type that attracted certain men. It helped that she'd never wanted to be a tiny-waisted plastic doll and didn't mind that some guys thought she was too curvy, or the fact that some men thought she wasn't curvy enough. But after college things had gone awry. She knew it was time to lose her virginity, most of her friends had, and she started to feel left out of some sort of sexually active club that she couldn't participate in. Things had not gone as she had hoped. She just couldn't seem to bear being touched by any of the guys, some of them very good looking, who she tried to be intimate with. Even counseling had not helped. No one could seem to find an underlying reason for her total lack of sexual response to any of the men she was involved with. It wasn't that she was interested in women, clearly she preferred men, and lately she'd been wondering if she was just a-sexual or if 47

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something had happened to her as a child to make her feel this way. She had not told her counselors about her secret 'dream man'. She wanted to but every time she thought to open up about it she found herself unwilling, or better put, unable, to share him with anyone. So she contented herself with good friends and the love she had with her family plus the pleasure she took from doing her work. But lately, it hadn't been enough. She wanted babies. She wanted his babies. But he was just some sort of fantasy she had made up to get her through her sexual issues and make her life bearable. Get up, Isabelle. She blew a hair strand out of her eyes. There was that voice again. Why was it telling her to get up? What was going on? Isabelle put down her bolts and glanced around. She was about halfway through changing her tire and if she hurried she was pretty sure she could still beat the rain. The wind picked up again, matching her mood and making her feel even more nervous. There were no other cars around and to her right stood a dark, ominous-looking forest that brought to mind teenage horror movies where you just begged the heroine to stay out of the woods, no matter the danger. Biting hard on 48

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her bottom lip, she realized suddenly how exposed she really was. Anyone could be watching her. Anyone could step out of the woods and grab her and she wouldn't be aware that it was happening until it was too late to protect herself. Obeying the internal voice that didn't sound like her own but that was clearly coming from inside her own head, she stood up and tried to scan the area around her. Nothing seemed amiss, however she couldn't see very well into the woods around her. Safety. No, she answered her unknown voice, that is not the word I would use to describe whatever is out there in those woods. In fact, the giant trees that stood before her blocking her view of the distance ahead brought out vividly all of the movies she shouldn't let herself watch at midnight. As if conjured from her imagination, a man stepped out of the woods in front of her. He was tall. That was the only impression Isabelle let herself take of the man as she took off running. She didn't know what drove her forward. He hadn't done anything threatening; maybe he had seen her and had wanted to help her change her tire. It didn't matter because she was running as if her life depended on it. To make 49

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matters worse, he hadn't uttered a word to her but he chased after her and the faster she ran, the faster he did too. Could she outrun someone of that size? He was going to overtake her any second, she was sure of it and yet she couldn't give up. Her breaths came in short gasps and she cursed herself for not going to the gym more regularly. The forest was as dense as she'd earlier imagined and she had no idea where she was going except she felt she was being pushed in a certain direction. Where she would end up, she had no idea. Branches, leaves, rocks, and giant tree trucks laid out before her, snagging her shirt, cutting her face, and covering her in dirt as she sprinted—not caring that she was only going further and further into an unknown area. Her breath came in and out of her lungs quickly and her legs burned but she felt no compulsion to stop running. He's there. He's waiting for you. It's time. Keep running. She didn't know who this he was but he had to be better than whoever it was that silently chased her. So she sprinted and hoped that her strange internal voice wasn't as crazy as she was.

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Chapter Three "Help!" A woman's shout dashed through the trees, drawing Kal's attention from internal speculation to a very real, present danger heading their way. "Please help me. There is some psychopath chasing me through the woods!" The woman rammed right into the stunned Kal and he struggled to keep her upright and keep his footing at the same time. His senses told him the second person had dropped back, he assumed, suddenly aware of the presence of the other people. What was going on? This was not what he had been prepared for. Fighting bad guys, yes, he had been ready to do that and had done before. Rescuing lost women being pursued by unknown stalkers, this was something very different. Careful what you wish for, he thought, remembering his earlier musings about damsels in distress. The other three men circled around him. They might not have had his powers but none of them were going to let this woman, whoever she was, get hurt by a potential threat. Kal took a second to examine the exhausted body he was currently keeping upright in his arms. She was dark haired and small in stature with legs that seemed to take up most of her body and curves in all 51

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the right places. Her shirt had slid off of one shoulder, exposing a black bra strap underneath. Her hands, which clutched onto his arms, had the softest skin he had ever felt. It was the kind of softness you expected to find on babies, not grown women out in the woods who were also covered in mud and dirt. The eyes that looked up at him were crystal blue. Her face was stunning and there was simply no other way to describe it. The word seemed to have been invented to describe her. Her lips seemed to beg to be kissed, even covered in dirt as they currently were. More than any of that, Kal would swear an oath that he knew her from somewhere, although he knew he had not met her before. She belongs to you, and I leave her in your care, Kal. The thought came from nowhere and he quickly pushed it away. Kal had no time for anything else that could be construed as strange at that moment. She was not his, she was human and she was, at the very least, pushing every protective urge in his body. He had to be careful or he might start howling at the sky. "Whoever chased you has left." Whispering, the woman jerked when she answered, "How do you know?" "Yeah, Kal" Doug shrugged. "How do you know?" 52

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"Didn't you guys hear him? He was making a racket." Over the years, Kal had become an excellent liar. He knew they'd never be able to tell now. "Anyway, that's not important. What is your name, kiddo?" Kal put on a smile. Women usually responded to his flirtations and at the very least it would distract his friends from the blunder he had just made in announcing the pursuer's departure. The dark-haired beauty stared up at him a second, trying to catch her breath. It was then Kal saw it in her eyes. She had recognized him too. In his arms, he felt her start to shake. After a moment, she pulled free of his embrace and he felt strangely bereft. Holding the woman had brought back a strange memory for Kal and he wasn't sure where it had come from. It felt like she had been stamped on his soul. His mind flashed back to a time he couldn't pinpoint, a time where he had been more aware of the sounds of voices than the faces of the people who were speaking. Two women and two men were having a conversation and to him they seemed deeply troubled. "I just don't think it's ever going to be safe; it was a mistake to leave the group. I don't know what we can all hope to accomplish out here on our own." The female voice that was speaking was dear to him and gave him a sense of peace and wellbeing. 53

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"I agree." A second female voice that he was less familiar with chimed in. "It's the children who are important now. Our time has ended. It's our own fault." Kal's eyes flew open and he caught the gaze of another baby looking back at him. In those eyes he could see his own hopes and fears echoed back at him, things no two babies should ever have known but the two of them, he and the female baby, were not normal infants and even if their parents were still unaware of how different their children were, the two babies staring at each other knew quite well. He could even remember the time before he was born, before he was conceived into his mother's body. They were old souls and they had been sent here for a reason. They had been born to fight a battle that raged since the beginning of time and so far they were losing it. Too small to tell the adults what they should be doing, they were left only to stare at one another in silence, aching for each other. She was his to care for in whatever plane of existence they found themselves in. They'd always been together. He knew that she needed him like he needed her. He was glad that their parents had all traveled together because to be without her would have been to truly know loneliness. Anything else he could abide but life without her would be unbearable. 54

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"I'm Isabelle." She sounded cautious and it brought him back to the present, to the woods, and the sight of her crystal blue eyes staring at him. "Isabelle Listora. My car got a flat about two miles from here and when I pulled over to change the tire a man appeared out of nowhere and started in my direction. I just had the feeling that I was in trouble, that he was going to try to grab me. So I ran, stupidly, into the woods and thank God I heard you guys or I swear I'd be dead." "Take a good deep breath," Kal instructed out loud. Do as I say, he silently commanded her. "I'm Kal and this is

Nathan,

Doug,

and

James.

We're

here

on

a

fishing/camping/pretending we're still in college guys' weekend and we will help you. Don't worry." "Did you just tell me to do as you said?" Isabelle questioned, looking at his friends but fortunately they just looked confused. "Are you serious? I appreciate the help but I'm not a helpless female. If one of you would loan me your cell phone, I'll call the police. I left mine in the car because I didn't know I was about to be jumped and it said it was out of range." She'd actually heard that? Out loud? How was that possible? Kal swallowed hard into his throat. Doug was getting out his cell phone. Was it possible? Had he just stumbled onto one of his kind? And if that was true then the 55

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person who chased her was not really gone, just waiting till he could get her alone. Isabelle Listora was in way more danger than she could possibly imagine. They had searched for more than twenty years for their missing brethren and had he actually found her just by chance in the woods? Nothing about this was making Kal feel at all at ease. "Here's an idea." Putting his hand out, he flipped the top of the phone down thereby stopping her from using Doug's cellular. No one that she could call was going to be able to protect her from what was after her and he knew from personal experience that involving the human authorities often made things much worse. "Let's all walk back to your car. It will be easier for the police to find us and maybe we can spot the guy and give them a description." And maybe his head would spin in a circle while he sang show tunes. When had he gotten so proficient at lying? "Thanks," Isabelle responded, her voice a tad warmer but her demeanor still reserved and her eyes terrified. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to feeling helpless or pursued like that. I especially didn't expect that to happen while I was out here in the middle of nowhere changing a car tire. Wouldn't it have been useful if I could have called one of those tire changing services and then I could have just stayed in my car and all of you wouldn't now be 56

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bothered with some random woman destroying your vacation and making you protect her from some crazy rapist?" "Let's just get you safe." Kal led the group with one hand on Isabelle's arm, back through the woods. His friends were used to following his lead when he was like this. It was natural, as if they instinctively knew he was in charge even without his having to control their minds. "We weren't catching that many fish anyway and we're really just a bunch of wannabe woodsmen." This earned him some chuckles from his friends and strong denials to the contrary. Kal was pleased his distraction had worked. He didn't want anyone focused on the fact that he had heightened his senses and was now scanning their surroundings to see if anyone was around or watching them. He didn't catch even an inkling of anyone else and it put him on edge. Nervousness was not an emotion that he generally possessed and he would be glad when he could send it on its way. "Veli," he silently called, "I think I've found someone." Quickly he relayed the whole scene to the man who was the closest thing to a parent he'd ever had. He hated talking to him but given the circumstances he didn't see that he had any choice. "Keep her safe Kal, until I can get there," Veli 57

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replied immediately, taking on Isabelle as his responsibility and once again reminding Kal about just how little faith Veli had in his abilities. Veli was probably right, he would probably screw this up just like he screwed up everything else and once again everyone would be able to say 'I told you so.'

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Chapter Four Isabelle used her walk in the woods to collect her thoughts and take some deep breaths. She couldn't believe the series of events that had just taken place. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised with all the strange things that had been happening. Hearing voices and strange dreams aside, weird things always happened to her. It was easy to pretend that these incidents were nothing when she was going through her day-to-day routine and acting normal but the truth was they weren't, not at all. The first time she could remember was when she was twelve years old and she had sworn the old lady next door had visited her bedroom for a nice chat, only to find out later that the woman had died around midnight. Or maybe it was reminiscent from when she had concentrated really hard and could have sworn she was responsible for moving the car that had rolled on top of her grandfather's leg and then healing her grandfather with her hands. These incidents had been easily explained away at the time. Her mother had insisted Isabelle had coincidently dreamed of the old woman the night before and that she had imagined she was responsible for the car moving off of her grandfather. Anytime Isabelle tried to protest about this, her mother would respond to her with one of her trademark 59

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statements. "Strange things happen every day, Isabelle. What makes you think you're any weirder than anybody else?" But Isabelle had always felt different, as if she didn't quite belong where she was. Her parents had claimed that it was all nonsense. Her mother liked to use words like eccentric and unique when describing her daughter and her father said that she was one of a kind and there was no one else in the world like her. When she was little, her older brother would just laugh and claim that of course she was weird—they had, after all, found her during a thunderstorm her in the backyard. But her mother had told her not to worry about that, older brothers sometimes said mean things when they teased their sisters. Somehow that brotherly form of teasing had never gotten funny to her and she hadn't missed the stern way that her mother had lectured her brother in hushed voices and how he had never mentioned that particular joke again. She had secretly spent the whole rest of her adolescence wondering if she was an alien. Today's events were making her question that again. She didn't know why the voice had told her to run at that very moment but she was thrilled that she had known she had to get out of there at that very instant. Her legs still burned, an indication she really had to be better about 60

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getting to the gym but she didn't feel tired and she had known that if she could beat her pursuer then help would be waiting for her. As if she just had to get to those men by the creek. The voice had stated that she had to get to him. Had it meant Kal? Or one of the other men that she was walking with? Isabelle shook her head. She was pretty sure it had meant Kal. He had taken charge as soon as she had seen him and she knew right away that the others would defer to him. Isabelle quickly pulled a strand of her dirty, tangled, dark hair behind her ears and looked up at the man leading her through the woods. His name was Kal but she would have called him something else, something more personal. She would have called him the man from her dreams. It was a good thing he couldn't read her mind because she was having rather unladylike, and given the circumstances inappropriate, thoughts about the dark stranger helping her out of her current predicament. So what that she had seen his near double about a million times over the years whenever she first closed her eyes at night? He was always laughing with her and touching her, making her feel safe and secure. She knew when she was with him that she was the only woman in the entire world that he could or would ever find desirable. 61

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What did it mean that he actually existed? Was he the man she had been dreaming about or had she somehow seen him before and placed him in her dreams? Was he the same guy? Did he know who she was? She knew every contour of his face. He had black hair, very similar to hers and a face that looked like it had seen more worries than most people his age even though it was still smooth and unlined. The eyes were haunted even though they pretended to be jovial. No one should have eyes that were that hidden. The windows to his soul held the look of a person who was totally in control all of the time. She wondered if he ever smiled or did he just pretend to? High cheekbones lined his deep dark brown eyes and whiskers finished his face, giving him a certain western, rustic appeal, as if he had just stepped out of some cowboy movie where he had met someone at noon with his pistols drawn. She had gotten a good feel of his body when she had tumbled out of the woods and ran into him. She knew that under his flannel shirt and jeans was the hard, muscular, and perfectly-put-together body of a real man. Not that she had felt the chests of so many men that she could really do any kind of comparison, but she had the feeling that Kal would look really extraordinary with his shirt off. 62

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Shaking her head, she cleared her throat. She wasn't the type to swoon over some dumb embodiment of male beauty just because she had been a little roughhoused by a psychopath. It was time to get control of herself. There had to be a psychological name for this kind of thing and she was going to ask her friend Jeanne about it when she got home. It wasn't every day that the guy from your dreams, who you would have sworn you invented to fulfill a latent sexual need, popped up in real life as your savior in the woods. And she could have sworn that he had told her to do as he said even though everyone had acted like she was confused. Everything about it was putting her on edge. How had she known they were down by the river? It wasn't like they were playing loud music and carrying on. This thought had to be stopped midway as they reached her car. Had they really traveled two miles? How much time had passed and why hadn't she noticed it? She hated to admit to herself that it had been because the dark stranger had been touching her arm. Everything was just as she had left it. No sign anywhere of the man who had attacked her. She was sure the police were just going to see a hysterical woman. But Kal, he claimed he had heard the man chasing her, even though the others had not. Add that to the list of strange 63

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things related to the hunk standing beside her. "Looks like that weather stopped," Doug remarked, looking at the sky. "That's fortuitous." She thought she saw Kal wince a little. "Guess I was wrong." Kal shrugged but if it was possible Isabelle would swear he looked even more guarded. "So where are you from, Ms. Listora? Are you close to home? Should we call your husband or boyfriend to come pick you up?" In her life, Isabelle had never seen anyone fish for information so blatantly. If the situation had been different, she would have asked him if he needed a pole. "I'm not from anywhere around here." Isabelle looked down, surprised by how difficult she found it to use her voice. "It's been a really strange week for me. First, I got a phone call that there was a child out here that was being forcibly kept out of school. I work for the state as a social worker. My boss informed me that the state was tapped out of resources and they needed me to come four hours out of my way to investigate the situation. I wasn't going to argue if there was a child in danger so I drove out to the house that they had told me about to see the child's parents. Only it was abandoned so I got back in the car to come home, blew a flat, and well, you know the rest of the 64

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story." Isabelle wasn't usually so forthcoming with information about herself, having had a sense from the time she was a small child that she needed to protect herself but she had to admit that she was nervous, and even though she should feel safer now, she was getting more and more nervous by the minute. She couldn't seem to help herself from rambling on. **** Kal didn't like this situation one bit. It seemed obvious to him that she had been lured out here to the woods to be alone in order to be slaughtered. The Evil that had incarnated on the same day that the Outsiders were born, or the Really Bad Dude as Kal had called him as a child, had obviously targeted her as one of them. But it seemed that Isabelle didn't know what she was, which put her in even more danger. Outsiders who were trained in their ways, even ones without much of an offensive power, always turned around to fight. Veli would have beaten them if they hadn't. Even the women had to know how to defend themselves and slaughter evil. It had nearly killed Charma to do so and Kal had always silently wondered if empaths shouldn't be exempt from that rule. 65

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But Veli was the only one with previous knowledge of their people so he had to assume that he knew what he was doing. How had the bad guys found her if she hadn't been using her powers? Kal would bet anything that the danger hadn't passed and only through some unknown luck had she avoided being destroyed at the abandoned house in the woods. His stomach started to twist and the back of his neck to sweat. Once again, he knew something was coming. It was time to be a little proactive and stop treating this girl with kid gloves. For a moment, he let his gaze travel her body and had to restrain his hands from reaching out to touch her. She didn't belong to him but she was going to listen to him, whether she wanted to or not. He was obviously going to have to have to take control of this girl's life, and get her to Veli, even if he had to act like a caveman to do it. Charma and Marina had certainly told him that he could be caveman-esque on occasion. As if on cue, a police motorcycle appeared down the road. Nathan ran out, waving his hands to ask it to stop. Kal could see the scene unfolding before him but felt powerless to stop it. It was a terrible situation and one he'd faced before. There were times when he was left with the horrendous sensation of being stuck within his powers. 66

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What good was anticipating what was going to happen if you couldn't do one damn thing to stop it? He shrieked his command to halt, even tried to physically stop Nathan by throwing himself at him, but ultimately it became a matter of timing. He couldn't protect Isabelle and prevent his friends from being hurt at the same time. Amazingly, it wasn't even a choice he had to consciously make. His body reacted for him, and Kal threw himself with all of his will on top of the woman next to him just as the bullets started flying. The chanting singsong music that Kal knew as well as he knew the sound of his own heartbeat began pounding in his ears. The chanters let him know that this was a justified moment and that he was acting as he ought to behave. In a move, that given all of the things he had seen in his life shouldn't have surprised him and yet still did, the police officer arriving on his motorcycle pulled out his second revolver and continued shooting at the small crowd. Nathan, the most exposed, was hit first. His body stalled mid-run, blood exploding from his chest. Kal knew he was instantly dead. He could almost smell Nathan's soul leaving his body. In their shock, Doug and James did not hit the ground quickly enough and each took several rounds into 67

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their fragile flesh as well. He could smell the stench of death on them too. Death had always had an odor to Kal— as a person who had been designed to kill and destroy his enemies, he could tell the second something was dead, whether it was animal or human, and he knew his friends had left for their next plane of existence, whatever that was. Kal could feel the blood rushing through his body and pounding in his head. He had told Veli he would protect Isabelle but that had nothing to do with why he felt so compelled with every part of his body screaming at him to do so. He knew that even beyond Veli's command he would somehow protect this woman until he had no breath left in his body. The shield he had instinctually placed around their bodies ebbed and pounded as he moved, not wanting to release his charge to danger. It had kept any bullets from coming anywhere near them. He was keenly aware that it hadn't saved his friends. Guilt, like a hard, cold blanket, formed around his body and made way for anger to push its way out of his veins. Wasn't he supposed to be a protector of humans? He knew he'd have to face those demons later but at that moment he could no longer deny his very nature. He was born to be a warrior and the only way he knew how to protect Isabelle and end this disturbance was to simply put an end to it. It wasn't going to be pretty and 68

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Kal hoped she wouldn't hate him for being a monster. He stood up, removing the barrier from himself but not from Isabelle. Behind him he heard her smack her hand on it and he was impressed that she even knew it was there. Plenty of Outsiders wouldn't have been able to feel it so acutely. Silently, he called the elements to him as he raised his hand to the sky. Electrical current tumbled down, piercing through his body but it didn't cause him pain. Instead the rush was familiar and exhilarating. Every hair on his body stood at attention and a grin came to his mouth. The familiar chanting of voices unseen plowed into his head. His body began to slowly shake as he channeled the power from him into the man who had ceased to be a being of any worth to Kal. In that moment, the creature on the motorcycle was evil personified. Maybe he was just a pawn to the Darkness but he wasn't going to be gentle with him. Kal would treat him like he was the Darkness itself. That man, possessed or not, had just killed three of his friends and was now threatening the life of the petite woman whom Fate had placed into his keeping. Or if the strange voice was to be believed, belonged to him. Besides, Veli had always told them that in order to be possessed by the Darkness, you had to be willing to accept it inside of 69

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you. This man might be wearing the costume of one of the most honorable professions on the planet, but he had made a decision and that decision was going to cost him his life, not that of Isabelle. Bullets flew everywhere but they felt like gnats to Kal, as they did not hit him or break his personal shields. He snickered. In the ecstasy of the energy surge he hadn't even realized he'd raised a barrier around himself. His body, of its own volition, had taken on a protective armor encasing both him and Isabelle in its safety. As time seemed to change into slow motion, it occurred to Kal that he was more powerful than he had ever been before and he felt fantastic. Kal had his own rules when it came to morality and now it was time for a little eye for an eye action. The police officer fell from his bike, fire pouring out around him as he slowly began to turn to dust. The current that flew out of Kal should have easily roasted a normal human being in a matter of seconds, and it was an indication of the supernatural powers in the other man that he had lasted as long as he had against Kal's fury. Silence descended on the street. Kal had been in this position before. The best way he could describe it was that the universe paused to account for what had just happened. His breathing was shallow and his hands shook violently. 70

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He knew what he needed to do. It would be all about the struggle now. The tension to win against the rising rage inside of himself. The need to calm down and face the woman beside him, who must have been out of her mind with fear. Kal fell to his knees, his hands over his ears. He could hardly hear anything over the deafening chanting that was taking place in his head. Breathe, he tried to tell himself, breathe. Why couldn't he get it? Where was the control? Sweat dripped down his forehead, across his cheek and fell to the ground. He was lost; he wasn't sure he would ever come back. Rocking back and forth, he wondered who would protect Isabelle when he was gone. All coherent thought left his mind. In that moment, he felt the energy of the earth taking his soul.

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Chapter Five Pushed back on her rump on the hard concrete of the strangely deserted highway, Isabelle knew she should be terrified. She supposed she actually was terrified, maybe even in shock. After all, she had just seen three men gunned down in front of her and the fourth man, who she had been secretly fantasizing about, had suddenly become something out of a teenage cult movie, with strange abilities and voltage flowing out of his body. But the truth was, she felt pretty okay. When Kal had stood up she had heard the strangest melody in her head, a chanting almost, of voices she thought she recognized from somewhere. It had seemed natural; as if she had known all along that Kal could do these things and her own body had called out from inside of her to participate somehow, to help him and to make him stronger. She hadn't known how to fulfill its demands as every pore on her skin stood at attention and her eyes got moist, not in terror or sadness, both appropriate emotions, but in awe and approval. Remotely, she wondered if she was a sadist. A shiver travelled up her spine. She knew the danger wasn't gone and they needed to keep moving. She wasn't going to question her instincts; they had kept her 72

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alive this long and at least she wasn't hearing voices. Kal stood up off his knees directly in front of her. Silent and unmoving, she could only guess at the battle raging inside of him. Did this type of thing happen to him all the time? Did he have a shut off button that let him go back to behaving normally so he could help her get away from whatever had just happened? She should be shakingin-her-boots frightened of him, but all she wanted to do was soothe him and help him cool down. Walking quietly behind him, she placed her hand on his arm gently, moving like she might do with a hurt child, or a wounded animal. Something inside of her was calling to him, begging him to return from wherever he had gone and come back to where she was. She would deal with these strange instincts that possessed her later, she thought. For now she had to go along with whatever was happening and hope that it was the right thing to do. "Kal," she exhaled. "Are you alright?" He whirled around suddenly, a strange magnetic glow coming from his eyes as he gripped her arms and pulled her to him. The strength in his hands pressed down on her flesh and she tried not to flinch, understanding that he didn't know what he was doing and would control himself if he could. She knew deep down that whatever was happening, this would not end in his hurting her. 73

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"Did you get hurt, Isabelle? Did a bullet hit you?" He shouted at her, his voice filled with a strange timbre that made him sound hoarse and powerful, like the sound of a broken television speaker. He seemed to be speaking to her on two different octave levels. "No, Kal, no bullets hit me. I'm not hurt. You saved us. Come back now, I think we need to keep moving. I don't think we can be caught here. No one will believe us and your friends are dead." She hoped that her words were reaching him, although his eyes remained the same and there was no evidence he had heard her. He pulled her even closer, forcing her body against his. She could feel his heart beating in his chest and the perspiration on his body. He seemed to have become electrical energy itself as his mouth came suddenly down on hers, claiming it as his own. Something inside of her that she had only hoped existed came alive in triumph. Yes, this was what she'd always waited for. Isabelle could no longer be rational at all. Coherent thought had left her body, possibly for all time. All she could do was react to the feel of Kal's mouth on hers. He had surprisingly tender lips, although the rest of him didn't feel tender at all; he was all hard muscle and strength. Sparks flew between them but they didn't hurt her and only 74

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added to the arousal that was hitting her everywhere. The chanting began again in her ears. She knew she would never be able to kiss anyone else again and feel anything at all. The truth was she wasn't sure she had ever felt anything kissing anyone else in the first place. His mouth pulled back and then met hers again. It was more erotic than anything else had ever been. Her blood pulsed through her body, matching the rhythm of his kisses and the singsong chanting began getting louder as he deepened the kiss. All lack of sexual experience aside, she felt like she knew exactly what she was doing. She was sure she knew how he liked to be touched, how he liked to be handled. At that very moment he had become the man she dreamed about for her entire life. She dug her fingernails into him and pressed, if it was possible, even closer to his core, wanting to taste every ounce of him even as her mind begged her to slow down. Desperate to not be forgotten, Isabelle's good sense was struggling to be heard. This had to be some sort of reaction to what had just happened to them. She was in shock; she thought suddenly, and had lost all sense of reality. She didn't even know what had just happened. How was it that she was accepting this as if it was normal? What was going on? Kal's body stiffened as if he had felt the slight 75

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resistance happening inside of her. Part of her wanted to beg him not to stop, not to release her from what she had been waiting for her whole life, but the other part was relieved, hoping if she could get some distance, she could get some clarity about what was going on. She slowly pulled her mouth off his, feeling her lips tingle as the fresh air hit them. They were both breathing heavily and her hands trembled on Kal's arm. "I'm sorry, Isabelle." Kal exhaled, starting to sound like himself again, if a little guttural. "You must be so confused, so terrified, and I'm afraid you are right, we do need to get going." Isabelle felt her feet hit the ground beneath her and she realized that she had been off the ground. She hadn't been aware of that rather large fact. He had literally been holding her entire body up. Isabelle watched as Kal scanned the scene around them, emotion starting to show in his eyes as he looked at his now deceased friends. "We don't have time now." Isabelle poked him in the chest and then widened her eyes as she looked down at her outstretched finger. "But when we are safe you are going to explain to me what is going on, what just happened, and why I am not shaking in my boots with fear." Or why I'm shaking with lust when I should be 76

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running away screaming, she thought but didn't say out loud. **** Kal looked up, shocked at the woman in front of him. She had shown more courage than he could have imagined possible and now she was ordering him to move on. Generally speaking, no one ordered Kal around so he was slightly surprised by how easily he responded to her. "You're right," he answered, feeling amused and quite certain it showed on his face. "Let's go. Get in the car. I'll change your tire and we'll get moving. We need to get to my family. They'll know what to do." He bent over the tire, finishing the job she'd obviously started earlier. Veli, he called in his mind, tell Leonardo, Marina, and Charma that we need to meet on the island. It's serious. We're all there already, Veli answered simply. Marina says that she feels a strange pulsating in the air that she thinks is coming from your power. What happened? I've had to put down an enemy, Kal answered gravely. When had they started using that disgusting phrase to describe what just happened? He would have to speak to 77

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Veli about finding a different way to describe the killing of one's enemy in battle. Putting someone down sounded like they were talking about euthanizing an animal. Veli had always preferred that they dehumanize their enemies but that particular phraseology was maybe going too far. Isabelle is remarkably fine but I've lost three of my friends in the occurrence. Get her home and worry about the collateral later. They aren't collateral, Veli, they were human beings and friends of mine, who had dreams and families and who are only dead because they got caught up in something that had nothing to do with them and everything to do with us. Kal was getting more and more annoyed but he was trying to keep his external expressions neutral given that Isabelle had just been through a terrible ordeal and probably didn't need to add telepathic communication onto her list of things that Kal could do that weren't normal. Quit arguing and get moving, Veli instructed, breaking off contact with him. Kal took a steadying deep breath and urged Isabelle towards the car. For the first time since they collided he watched her take a deep breath. "I know what you're thinking." He shut her door and moved around to drive the car. 78

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"Oh yes? Do you read minds too?" Although the comment had been sarcastic, the wary look in her eyes told him she actually wanted to know if he could do that. He sat down in the driver's seat and shut the door behind him. He shook his head. "No, but I still know what you're thinking." "What's that?" "You're wondering how on earth you're going to fit all of this insanity into your life." Her mouth opened and curved into the shape of an O. "Did I get it right?" Nodding, she cleared her throat. "How did you know that?" "Because I ask myself that question ten times a day."

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Chapter Six The abduction and elimination of Isabelle Listora had not gone as he would have liked. It had failed and there was nothing he hated more than failure. Sebastian took a deep steadying breath and tried not to wince as he watched the scene unfold before him. What good was it being a god if you couldn't make mortals do what you wanted? He shouldn't have had to work so hard to kill one little woman who didn't even know yet that she was powerful. How completely typical of his life here on this plane of existence. He took a deep breath and made himself relax as he twirled the butt of his cigarette through his fingers. Soon it will all be over and he would be ruling the ridiculous humans, laughing as they trembled under his wrath. They could ask the people, if you could call them people anymore, from the countless other worlds that he had personally conquered how awful their current subsistence was. He lived off of their fear, their suffering, and their misery—he fed off those emotions. Hell, he laughed to himself, that's just what demons did. Why should he try to deny his true nature? He couldn't believe he had gone this far—letting himself be born into the body of one of these pesky maggots had been a desperate act. He would admit 80

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that now, but at the time it had seemed the most efficient way to put himself amongst the humans and simultaneously destroy the seemingly endless Outsiders who had made it so difficult to conquer this dimension. He didn't want to go home and tell his real father that he had failed. That was simply not an acceptable option. Even he, the supreme Evil, had someone left to fear… for the moment. He would treat them worse than slaves, and when he was done abusing them, he would eat their souls and feel the glory of it. There were just nineteen little Outsiders to eliminate. Eighteen barely out of their twenties, a blip on the power screen for an Outsider. The pesky Veli Destrand, who had proved ridiculously hard to kill for someone who had seemed so inconsequential when he had been developing this plan, would be dealt with as well. Maybe he would make him clean up the mess that slaughtering the humans would obviously make to his house. The man could probably sweep. Who would have thought one lone warrior left from several hundred would prove to be such a thorn in his side? Sebastian shook his head to clear his thoughts. He wasn't going to worry about him now. It had taken time, but he had managed to do what Veli, in all of his amusing blundering, had never managed to do. He had found the 81

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children. In fact he had two of them with him now. Gabriel Easten and Alexa George had been easy enough to spot. Moving from foster home to foster home, they had paired up together, drawn to each other's powers without even understanding what that meant. They had caused quite a ruckus in the social services department of Orleans parish. Who would want to adopt a child who could blow up your house with just a thought? Well, Alexa could anyway. Gabriel's gifts were more confusing. Sebastian had easily convinced his "parents" that they needed to take in two foster children. By the time he was ten they were doing what he commanded regularly, without even thinking about it. His mother had found herself barren immediately after having given birth to Sebastian—evidently carrying that much evil in her womb had sterilized her. Whoops. Gabriel and Alexa had been resistant to his mind control. It was the nature of their Outsider heritage. They had been placed on this earth to defeat him and the worthless entities that foisted good onto the universe had given them the ability to resist. For some reason the powers that defied him had an unusual affinity for these humans. God's chosen creatures or some such nonsense. Alexa and Gabriel had certainly proven to contain a radar that made them naturally resistant to evil and had been suspicious of 82

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him at first. Gabriel had regarded him warily for a long time and had kept Alexa as far away from him as he could get her. Sebastian had gotten sick of Gabriel's big brother routine towards Alexa very quickly. He would have liked to have eliminated him by now but Alexa was still fond of the stupid man and Sebastian had quickly realized that Alexa was going to be the key to his success. If keeping Gabriel temporarily alive meant that he could keep Alexa in line and out of the hands of her fated intended, then that was just what he would do. Sweet and naive she might be, but the girl packed power like he had never encountered before anywhere. She just didn't know how to tap it yet. But she was getting close to it and when she did, he was going to be sure he was right there to grab a hold of it. He was going to enjoy watching her kill her own people but he was going to enjoy watching her suffer after she had done it even more. It hadn't taken long before he had convinced them that he was just like them—trapped with powers that he supposedly didn't understand in a world that would never accept them for what they were. The three of them, he had told them, would always be different together. It was the three of them against everyone else. Truth was that Gabriel was still hard to control. 83

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Outsider men were, as a rule, surly and difficult to get along with. Gabriel had proven to be more sarcastic and harder to get along with than most. If his people had properly trained him, he would be a force to be reckoned with, which was why Sebastian was glad he hadn't been properly trained. But there was no need to worry about any of that either. Soon Gabriel would be dead and Sebastian would be bedding Alexa, using her to destroy the others, and producing an heir that would be more powerful, more evil than anyone could ever anticipate. She was, after all, Abraxas' daughter and combining his great power with hers would tidy things up nicely. It helped that she was so attractive; it wouldn't do to have the heir of evil being born anything but gloriously beautiful. The first part of the plan he had waited so long to enact had begun last week. Sebastian smiled at the memory. The scene had been played out perfectly. He had come home broken and bleeding. Alexa had tended to him, nursed him, and after an appropriate amount of time, he had told them that the Outsiders had attacked him. A demonic group, he had insisted, bent on world domination. They wanted to kill everyone who could stand in their way. He had managed to convince Gabriel and Alexa that they needed to defeat the rest of the Outsiders, that they were a 84

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threat to the rest of the planet, and they had believed him, as they always did, eventually. Alexa had found the girl calling herself Isabelle by sending out a simple spell cast that located tiny amounts of paranormal abilities. The little twit hadn't been properly shielded—evidently not knowing that she needed to be. Sebastian had done the rest of the work, taking control of the minds of Isabelle's boss and that crooked police officer who had been sampling the heroin from the evidence locker for quite some time now. Perhaps he should have had Gabriel transport Isabelle over space to join them in New Orleans, but it had seemed too risky. Besides, he hadn't quite figured out how to convince Gabriel to admit that he could do that. Gabriel had been concealing that fact for years. Alexa was going to have to be the one to get him to confess to it, so that could wait a few more weeks at least. He hadn't counted on her finding Kal. The darkhaired warrior had been a pebble in his shoe for years. The man had the gall to put himself on television where everyone could see him. Every time he saw him looking into that camera lens, babbling on about whatever he was talking about, he knew Kal was taunting him. Come and get me, he seemed to be begging, I dare you. But every time Sebastian tried, he found he was too well protected by 85

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power spells. Marina, he groaned inwardly, didn't even seem to know that she had done that. Oh yes, he knew about Marina. There was nothing about the four Outsiders that he didn't know. He hated watching them. He knew just where they lived, he could watch them day and night but he couldn't get to them. Not yet, anyway. Soon Alexa would let him do that. The only true wrinkle in his plans for Isabelle had been the emergence of Kalmari. They were soul mates, destined for each other, and together they would be more powerful than either one could be alone. Together they would become a Unit, a concept he was sure not even the Outsiders understood. Veli, if he understood it, hadn't explained it to any of them. Yet. It was more likely that he didn't know about it and that's why he couldn't teach it. That was fortunate for Sebastian and that was why he needed to get a hold of Abraxas' journals before they did. Too much could be revealed in them. If Sebastian couldn't touch them, he could at least keep them in the dark. Individually, not one of the puny mortal Outsiders could stand a chance against him but nine paired Units of soul mates would be a cause for concern. It was a good thing he had eliminated all of the other Outsiders because more than nine Units was almost a guarantee of his defeat, 86

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unless he could find the scrolls. If he really got into trouble he would go after the scrolls and then no one stood a chance. All of this was nonsense, of course, because there was no way the leftover Outsiders could complete even nine paired Units. He had two of them here with him, and soon only one would be left. They couldn't have nine pairs without Gabriel and Alexa and they were fortunately not each other's soul mates. He was drawn out of his reverie by the sound of honking on the street. Gabriel was back from his run in Audubon Park and they were all supposed to go to one of the Rebuilding New Orleans benefits that were taking place all over town. Hurricane Katrina had been an easy opportunity to eliminate his parents and acquire their great wealth without having to work very hard for it. Too bad they had drowned, really, he felt terrible about it. He stepped out onto the front porch of their newly acquired mansion. It had made sense to buy the house of the local horror story writer when she had put it on the market. Something about the irony of that had appealed to him and certainly it was big enough that if he stole a child from the local middle school next door or a drifter from underneath the interstate to eat their souls and feed off their 87

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fear, then neither Alexa nor Gabriel would hear their screams. Alexa was standing on the porch waiting for him and he smiled down at her, noticing how her blonde hair sparkled in the late afternoon light. When he had taken her as his own she would need to cut all of it off. "Any luck with the witch?" Alexa asked casually. "Did you speak with her boss and have her arrested for child abuse?" Witch and child abuse, he laughed inwardly, so easy to manipulate their puny little brains. "She got away by finding another of her kind. His name is Kal. If you can find Kal, I can have them both taken care of. Can you do that when we get home?" Sebastian asked sweetly. "Maybe Gabriel should transport them here," Alexa suggested. "Is Gabriel capable of that? Two people at the same time? He's never told me that." Sebastian stalled. "And besides, we want the local authorities to handle them, don't we?" Buy it, he willed her. Believe I'm a good guy. Alexa smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course." "But if you can find them, maybe we'll have Gabriel transport them, assuming he can actually do that, somewhere they can wait, trapped, until the police can get 88

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to them." He dug his fingernails into his hand. Sebastian desperately wanted to suck into Alexa's mouth and feel her soul enter his body but once again he restrained himself. She was more useful to him this way, for the moment. "I'll get working on it when we get back, Bastian." Alexa grinned at him again, having no idea that Sebastian was already manipulating things so that Isabelle Listora would have nowhere to go back home to, no choice but to make things nice and easy on him. He was already bored with her. He was going to be done with Isabelle soon, Kal after that, and then he'd be one step closer. Soon he would contact his father.

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Chapter Seven Isabelle and Kal drove in silence for the first few miles before she finally spoke. Kal could only assume that she had needed the time to get her mind cleared enough to ask him where they were going. When she had let him drive, she told him it was highly unusual for her to let anyone else operate her car. Not even her brother, she had rambled before settling down into the strained silence. Kal hoped he was handling himself pretty well and not breaking too many traffic rules. A little speeding was acceptable under the circumstances, and she might not be aware of it but he was not going to be pulling over, even if a police officer tried to stop them. "We call it 'The Island' and my family, well I guess the closest thing I've ever had to family, we all live there. Or at least call it our home base. Year round, the house is occupied by Dot, she's kind of Veli's, well I guess he's kind of my unofficial Uncle, housekeeper. She's much more than a housekeeper. She was the closest thing to a mother any of us ever had. Veli found her in Colorado while we were living in Vale. She had just lost her family in a terrible accident, well maybe it wasn't an accident…" Kal realized he rambled when all she had asked was where they were going. He tried to take a deep breath and 90

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calm himself. He wasn't worked up about having tangled with the Darkness. He just couldn't get the feeling of kissing Isabelle out of his mind and it was making him feel twitchy. Her body had been all soft curves and her mouth had been sweet and beyond tempting. He was terribly hard and his zipper was causing him no end of pain. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this sexually uncomfortable. What on earth had possessed him to bring up Dot's family tragedy? He could remember it vividly as if it had just happened and not almost two decades earlier. Leonardo had said that they needed to handle the situation themselves. They were never going to grow up and be men if they couldn't handle this one little interference by the Darkness. Kal had felt like arguing that they were only ten years old and they weren't supposed to be men yet but Veli had started addressing them as "sir" and "young man" instead of "boy", so he supposed that it was written somewhere that Outsiders grew up at ten years old. Leonardo knew things like that and admitting that he didn't know them would be admitting that he never paid attention when Veli spoke. That might earn him a good beating by Veli and he had already had one that week and didn't think he was up for another one. 91

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The woman had claimed that her house was possessed and that her neighbor had gone insane and was holding her husband and children hostage. Veli had heard about it because, not surprisingly, they had been living next door to the couple at the time. The Darkness still hadn't perfected

his

aim

at

them

and

was

consistently

manipulating the lives of the people who lived around them or near them. Veli had told them that this would stop because as the human body that the Darkness inhabited got older, so would the power that the Darkness possessed grow. They might not have much time left at all before they would have to basically disappear off of the radar or risk being destroyed altogether. It was bad enough that the Darkness knew where they were and taunted them. The woman had been frantic and begged for help. The police had taken her statement and sent her home. Again, not a strange behavior from the local authorities in regards to things involving the Darkness. While they would take regular human crime very seriously, they seemed compelled to dismiss anything that was supernatural, even if it was in the guise of so-called normal crime. Veli had sighed and insisted that they had to run, yet again. Even at ten years old, it had been obvious to Kal that it was clearly against Veli's nature to keep running and 92

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never turning around to fight, but he insisted to them, time and again, that they were his first priority and he had to keep them safe. He had suggested that maybe it was time to return to Europe and Marina had settled into packing them up. The rest of them hadn't felt so compliant. Marina might be willing to accept what little scrap of life Veli felt like giving to them and the constant need to run but they did not. Charma had gotten particularly exasperated, feeling the pain from the woman next door who had started pounding on her front entrance, yelling and screaming. Leonardo had felt it was high time that he and Kal took care of things themselves and started living up to what he kept calling their birthright. Kal knew he was supposed to be the warrior and Leonardo some kind of spell casting enhancer. Already full moons had started to make him feel a little twitchy. They had snuck in the back door of the neighbor's house thinking they were so grown up and competent, like avenging angels sent to fight back the forces of Evil at the meager age of ten. In retrospect Kal would realize that he had not heard the chanting that day, but at the time, he hadn't understood that he was supposed to hear it, so they had tried to confront their neighbor holding the poor woman's children hostage. The abductor had seemed 93

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deranged, standing in the room pacing back and forth in front of the girls and their father, all tied to a wooden chair made for just one person. The girls were bound, the smallest one on top of the older one and both of them attached to their father. It had obviously not been a very well thought out plan. In his hand the lunatic held a .45 caliber handgun. He was muttering gibberish and forming nonsensical words. Leonardo had stepped out of the shadows first with Kal standing next to him as protection. They had silently decided that this would place them in a position of power while talking down the assailant who Leonardo recognized as another neighbor. It would be the first time either of them had seen firsthand the Darkness take over a person from a distance, actually control their mind and free will. The girls had looked desperate and their father was quasiunconscious from a bump he had obviously taken on the head, obvious by the welt that resembled a baseball growing from his forehead. He had struggled to raise his head and looked at them with desperation in his eyes. That was when their deranged neighbor had lifted the gun at them. Leonardo had turned two shades of grey in panic and in a moment of clarity Kal had somehow managed to find his supernatural predator speed years before it would 94

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really develop. He had pushed Leonardo to the ground, throwing his body on top of him, then had silently begun to scream for Veli, calling him, pleading with him, and begging him to hear him and come and save them. Telepathy would become easier for him to do around puberty but sometimes he could make it work and he was desperately hoping it would work at that moment. The gunshots had continued, two each into the children and their father. Why hadn't he continued to fire at them? Kal would never understand what had happened to make the gunman do that, but Veli would later suggest, rather harshly, that the Darkness had wanted them to suffer by watching the destruction of innocent lives. Kal had suffered. Big point for the bad guy that day. The gunman, and Kal had never wanted to know his name, now almost out of bullets, had then turned himself towards the two boys huddled on the ground. Kal was still shielding Leonardo who seemed frozen to the floor although his eyes had turned a swirling shade of grey. He had raised the gun and Kal had found himself sending out a silent apology to the universe that he would never be around to perform his sacred duty, the one he knew he was supposed to complete, and a second apology to the unknown person who was holding the other half of his soul that he would never grow up and get to know exactly what 95

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that meant. Those were the days when he'd still believed he could find her. He was terribly sorry and not embarrassed about the tears that had formed in his eyes. In a furious speed such that Kal had never seen before, Veli had appeared at the doorway calling all the strength of the heavens down on top of them as he blasted their delirious assailant into the next world and whatever Fate would bestow on him. All that had been left were splatters of their opponent on the walls of the house. The silence that had filled the room had been palpable. Leonardo had risen first, prepared to take the blame, it had been his idea after all, but it was Kal who would later that night take the most painful beating of his life. Veli would teach Kal about pain and disobedience with no care or love behind his intentions. His fists would teach Kal what it meant to really feel pain—all earlier and later physical altercations between them were, and would be, pale replicas of the beating that he took that day. Veli's cold eyes would teach him about his place in the world. It was okay for Leonardo to make mistakes, he was cerebral and still learning, but Veli would not accept such pathetic attempts from him. As far as Veli was concerned, Kal was the disposable one. Veli was not his father and did not hold any of the 96

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paternal feelings for him that might stay his hand or calm his temper. Even as Kal had heard Leonardo pounding on his bedroom door begging to help and take the punishment instead, he had known he was alone in the universe and would never know the peace that came with love and acceptance. That night he decided that even if the Fates had given Leonardo, Charma, and Marina a soul mate, they had not given one to him. He would be alone with only the responsibilities for his people to sustain him until he died. That was the day that Kal had grown up, that was the day he had really become the cold-hearted, desperate being that Veli had always assumed him to be. They had found out later that the man who had held the gun and gone deranged, their neighbor, had been beating his wife for years but even she couldn't account for what had made him go crazy but they knew—it was the Darkness that had done it. Kal had known it was laughing at them and always would be. The horrified woman who had lost her family to the possessed neighbor down the street had been Dot and she had been their responsibility ever since. Charma had absolutely refused to leave her behind and Veli had blamed the boys for her troubles as he felt that had they just left things to their natural course the neighborhood would have returned to normal. They had all agreed that perhaps they 97

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needed another adult to watch after Kal and Leonardo. Kal could hardly ever look at her without remembering what had happened and he never stopped asking himself the hard question about her fate. Would her deranged neighbor have stopped and left them alone if only Kal and Leonardo had listened to Veli and moved away silently in the night? Would her daughters have grown up to have lives, husbands, jobs, and children? Was he responsible for all of it? Shaking his head, Kal pounded on the steering wheel, wishing he hadn't been quiet for so long a time. Isabelle must already think him insane without him drifting off into thought. "I guess Dot could see that Veli wasn't handling things very well with three almost teenagers," Kal continued his story. "And she offered to come and help him and not ask too many questions. Over the years I'm sure she's seen things and suspected things about us but she has never, as far as I know, asked Veli what was going on and she took good care of us, sometimes she pretended to be our Aunt. She would know Veli was going to move us before the rest of us knew. We would come home from school and there would everything be, boxed up and ready to go. I think she was trying to make it as easy on us as possible. She's half in love with Veli but he will never love her back." 98

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Kal was surprised that he had shared so much information so quickly with Isabelle, even if he hadn't filled her in on the whole truth about Dot. The truth was that as much as he was culpable for her children's deaths, it wasn't his story to tell her. It belonged to the quiet, dark-haired woman who had somehow forgiven them for all of their faults and helped them try to find joy in their lives, even as she found almost none in her own. Usually he tried not to talk about his family at all. It was easier to say nothing than to try to explain. Growing up, he had lots of pretend stories to tell people about his family. Every new place created a new story—sometimes he was Veli's son and Charma and Leonardo were his cousins; sometimes he was the cousin. When Marina came she just fitted into the made-up stories. Veli was lucky to not have gotten all eighteen of the babies because then they would have looked like a traveling circus troupe. They would make it up as they went along and Veli didn't much care what they said as long as they were temporarily safe. Money was never a problem; Veli could conjure it and if he forgot to then Leonardo would. "Why won't he love her back?" Isabelle asked in a sad voice as she shifted in her seat. "Because Outsiders only love once and if we lose our loves then we can't feel that level of emotion again for 99

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anyone else. There's only one true love and it sustains us through time even when it's gone," Kal repeated the explanation that Veli had given all of them when he could be bothered to discuss mundane things like life and love and not drill them with tales of battles and responsibility. "If we don't find love we're not much interested in dallying with the opposite sex." Had he really just said dallying? Talking about Veli was making him sound like Veli. "Is that what you are? An 'Outsider'. It sounds like a novel I read when I was a teenager. What does that even mean? Is it some sort of weird cult? And since you brought it up, what was it that you did back there and what was that weird chanting? I heard it when you were taking care of that crazy man but then it got louder when you were kissing me," Isabelle questioned loudly, getting animated and he couldn't blame her. Her frustration at not knowing what was going on must be palpable. Also, if he were in her position he would blame the whole thing on her. In fact, Kal wandered if that was just what she was doing. She was so adorable, he wanted to brush the dark hair out of her eyes but stopped himself. Her vibe was screaming 'personal space' and he intended to honor that. "You heard that chanting too?" Kal clenched his jaw. He had heard it his whole life whenever his powers were being properly used. Veli had told them it was the 100

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Spirits of the earth joining them to aid in the correct use of magic. If their purpose was correct, the Spirits would help them. Hearing them when he had kissed Isabelle had been a surprise and Kal was very aware of what the ramifications of that chanting had meant—soul mate. That was startling to Kal; he had assumed that he didn't deserve to ever meet his other half. He hoped that Charma and Leonardo would, they seemed so unhappy in their solitary existences, but his being alone had always seemed somehow right to him, after all, once a month at the full moon, it was possible that he might go off the deep end and hurt someone. He hadn't really done anything to deserve the woman who was sitting next to him but if he had been given her, he was not going to give her back. Maybe that made him selfish, but hell, selfishness was highly underrated. In fact, everything about Isabelle was shocking. He had expected her to cut and run after the bullets had started flying but instead she had steadied him and brought him back from the brink of madness the likes of which he had never experienced before and then he had promptly molested her on the side of the road. She hadn't truly seemed to mind that and had egged it on a little bit. She wouldn't have been making those little noises if she hadn't been enjoying it, right? 101

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He watched as she bit her lower lip. "I did hear it. It's familiar to me, like I heard it in a dream or as a child, I'm just not sure." She shrugged her shoulders but her voice sounded wistful. "Marina said the same thing to me once when it was finally explained to her. It was like she had always heard those chants, even though she hadn't been aware of them," Kal answered. If he had ever been unsure about her background, he no longer was. She was an Outsider. One of the missing children that they had all been searching for so they could destroy the Darkness, however they were supposed to do that. Somehow they would have to figure out from which family she had originated, although Marina's origins were still hidden from them. If they were lucky, Veli would recognize her as looking just like her mother or father, otherwise they were in trouble. "Who is Marina?" Did he hear jealousy in her tone? His eyes bore into her striking profile. She took a deep breath, averting her gaze. "She's kind of like my cousin." Kal laughed. He had heard the flustered note in her voice and had to admit, he kind of liked it. Kal had never been a playboy but he had 102

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kissed his fair share of women and he had never heard that chanting before. Veli had told them that Outsiders only loved once, that each had their other half, someone whose powers would match their own and who they would spend their life loving. This surprisingly brave woman who had not run for the hills when she witnessed his powers was his other half, the one he would love for the rest of his life, if she would have him. It helped, he thought quietly, that she was absolutely gorgeous. Isabelle crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you'd better start explaining some things, Kal." There was nothing wistful about her now. Kal raised an eyebrow. He liked this version of Isabelle too. This one was holding back her temper by a thread, if her clenched fists and tight jaw were any indication. "I know." Kal took a deep breath. "It might be better if Veli explained." "Who's Veli?" Isabelle interrupted. "He's kind of the man in charge, our guardian really. We think of him as kind of a weird uncle from another era or time who can't quite catch up to things." Kal laughed at his description. In college when he had been pretending that he was as normal as his classmates, he hated when Veli visited or called. It had been a constant reminder that they 103

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were different and would never be normal. Not that Veli had shown up to just be social or interested in Kal's studies. Usually it was to complain that Kal was neglecting his duties to the group or to yell at Kal for some perceived transgression from their responsibilities. It had been hard enough for Kal to try to fit it, to pretend every day that things were fine, and it always seemed to him that whenever he was getting a grip on things then, boom, Veli would show up and shake the whole thing to pieces. "I'm sure he's great but I don't know Veli, I know you, well sort of anyway, and I'd really like to hear these things from you. It seems important. That way I can decide if I'm making you pull over while I either vomit or run away." "Do you think you're going to throw up?" She had every right to be feeling sick; she had just watched three strangers gunned down on the side of the road by a uniformed police officer who had chased her into the woods only moments earlier, followed immediately by a display of strange powers she wasn't at all familiar with. She was one of them, that was for certain, but she hadn't been raised by Veli and hadn't grown up witnessing violence every time she turned around. Kal's only real experience with women in post-traumatic situations was with Charma and Marina, which didn't amount to much 104

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experience at all. Did women regularly get sick in violent situations? "No." Isabelle laughed. "I'm a little concerned that I'm so calm. I think it must be something that you're doing to me. Stop stalling and tell me what I need to hear." Kal knew there was no way he was letting her out of the car to run away but he didn't need to tell her that and opted instead to start at the beginning. He started to open his mouth to begin the story when suddenly they both heard a thump. The tire that Kal had changed earlier was still holding but the back right tire had just gotten flat. "I checked that before we got going." He had, hadn't he? Could they get any more bad luck? "Does your car usually blow flats? Have you had the tires looked at recently?" He knew that the tone he was using sounded like she didn't know anything about anything but he was furious about this turn of events. They were on the highway and on a good day it wasn't a good idea to pull over on the busy road if you could avoid it. Today was not a good day. It would be just his luck to survive endless attacks from a supernatural Darkness only to get plowed down changing a tire on the side of the road by a tractor-trailer. "I take excellent care of this car," Isabelle yelled at him, her eyes narrowing to slits. "You probably just ran over a nail. Pull over; I'll drive after I fix the tire." 105

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"You're not fixing the tire." Kal shook his head, dismissing that thought out of hand. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let you get out of the car on the highway. Stay seated, and don't move." He pulled over, got out, and carefully went to the back of the car to inspect the tire. They had used Isabelle's only spare on the front left when it had blown earlier. He was going to have to call someone for help. He couldn't believe the bad luck they were having. Bad luck? The thought pounded in his temples. He knew better than to assume this was just bad luck and silently shook his head at his own negligence. Wishing he had Leonardo's attention to detail, so he wouldn't make mistakes like the one he had been making for the last hour, Kal let out a breath he hadn't known he held. There was nothing wrong with the tire that he changed earlier; it had just gone completely and randomly flat. There was nothing wrong with this one either. The damn car had been spell-cast. Shit. He was not a spell-caster. Who the hell was he going to ask for help? Leonardo could spell cast but it seemed to be distance and time related, better if he was actually in the room with whatever he needed to spell cast on. It was too bad, really, because if he had to ask anyone for help, it was best to ask Leonardo. They had gotten into too many messes together as children to judge each other 106

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anymore. Veli couldn't spell cast either and Charma's had to be done actually in the presence of the person she was casting on and probably couldn't help with the tire anyway. That was going to leave Marina. She was powerful, but flighty at best and she didn't think highly of him. Only Veli held her respect. But when there was no choice, then there was no choice. He took a deep breath and called out for her. 'Rina? He probed out towards her hoping she would hear and, if she heard, he hoped she would respond. She was the least easy person for him to talk to telepathically. Kal? She sounded confused, as if she had been distracted or sleeping. Or maybe just confused, Kal amended, smiling to himself. I've got a problem. I'm trying to bring Isabelle back home to all of you, Kal thought as he tried to conjure up a picture of Marina in his mind. His friends were always talking about how beautiful she was but he still saw her as the annoying kid who used to take his school notebooks and hide them when she got upset with him. She was by far the most untapped talent they had in their midst and he was going to need some major instruction at the moment that she might or might not be focused enough to give him. Trying? Marina sounded amused. Don't tell me that big, strong Kal is having trouble driving one little bitty 107

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woman back home to Maine? It's not the driving that's the problem, Marina, I can drive just fine. He rolled his eyes. Isabelle must have noticed his discomfort because she had gotten out of the car and stood next to him. She obviously had a problem following orders. Veli was going to swallow his tongue the first time this little woman defied him. Correction, Kal thought, my little woman, and Veli was going to have to learn to live with it because Kal felt very possessive of her. Veli was never going to get away with yelling or controlling Isabelle in any way and all attempts he might have made in the past at seeing the big picture and maintaining calm for the greater good would go right out the window if the man even attempted to raise his hand to Isabelle. "What's the problem? I can change the tire or I can call the auto club and get them to change it, assuming that I now have cell service." Isabelle was looking at him like he was two years old and it was bringing on all sorts of dominance issues Kal hadn't even been aware that he had. He had been mauling the woman sexually not one hour before and he was going to be damned if she started looking at him like he was two years old now. "I can change the tire, that's not the problem, and we don't have time to sit here and wait for the auto club. 108

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We'll just blow another tire anyway. The car has been spellcast." "What?" Isabelle stared at him like he was crazy. Evidently seeing him spit lightning from his hands hadn't been enough earlier to convince her that just about anything was possible. "Spell-cast." He cleared his throat. "Kind of like a curse. Like you might see on television or in the movies about witches." "Somebody did that to my car? Why would somebody do that?" Isabelle petted the vehicle like it was a baby. "To make you break down so they could get to you." Kal took a deep breath. "And I'm trying to remove the spell, but I'm not a spell-caster, I'm a warrior. I don't have to focus energy or follow designs to manipulate my power, so I don't know how to fix your car or make the spell go back to where it came from. I can't very well just blow up your car. I need Marina to help me and she's too busy making fun of me to buckle down and pay attention to what I'm telling her." He groaned, not liking to show Isabelle that he was anything but all powerful. Would she think he was the kind of guy who couldn't take care of her if it didn't involve death and destruction? Isabelle took a moment and blinked. 109

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"Okay." She paused, thinking again. "And you're talking to Marina telepathically, I assume?" "Right." "Okay." She swallowed. "Does Marina understand that we almost died an hour ago and that we need to get out of here?" "I was just going to explain it to her when you came out but now all I can think about is you getting your gorgeous little ass hit by a speeding car. Get back in the car." Kal didn't care that he sounded like a caveman. "Excuse me, Mister Macho, but this is my car and all remarks about my rear end aside, you don't order me to do or not to do anything. I don't have to put up with any of this insanity. I can leave right now. I'll call my parents or one of my friends and they'll come and pick me up and I can just forget about all of this nonsense and go back to my life." Kal watched in horror as tears slipped from her eyes. His heart pounded hard. Hell. "I don't believe in any of this. I'm a pragmatic, normal human being. It's all just nonsense! I never cry." Her last sentence was said through her sobs. "I knew the telepathy was going to be too much," Kal muttered mostly to himself. "You can't leave, Isabelle, and this isn't going to just go away if you leave me. I might 110

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have these abilities but this started with you and we need to figure out why and how we can make it leave you alone. Until we do that then you aren't safe with anyone but me." Not to mention that she was his other half and they had to figure out what that meant too. "I can too leave." The desperation in her voice ate at his insides. He moved slowly towards her. "Please don't cry, darling girl." Kal was feeling slightly desperate. Violence he could handle, death and destruction fed his blood like candy, as long as they were justified, but the misery coming off this little woman in front of him was more than he would ever be able to handle. The truth was that all he really wanted to do was drag Isabelle away to the nearest hotel room and get to the business of making her his for life but all of that was going to have to wait until he at least got the car fixed. Wailing, she rubbed her nose. "I can cry if I feel like it. I'm not a little girl. Don't patronize me. We're probably the same age." "Sshh." Kal gently pulled her to him. She was literally breaking his heart into tiny pieces. She had survived multiple attacks today and he had opted to scream at her on the side of the road. He really was an inconsiderate asshole without a soul. He needed to be 111

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locked up and he was going to let Veli do just that as soon as he got Isabelle to safety. "You're right, we're the same age. In fact we have the same birthday. We were born at exactly the same time." "How do you know that?" Isabelle raised her eyes to look at him. For a moment he was dumbstruck. He felt like he could swim in her blue eyes, like he could live in them if she would let him. Startling both of them, he lowered his mouth and kissed the tears off of her cheeks. He could taste the salt in her tears and his heart broke again. This woman was never meant to cry; she was meant to be kept laughing and delighted at all times. Why did she have to be part of this crazy destiny that they all shared? Why couldn't she have been destined to live the normal existence that she had obviously been raised in? She deserved better than all of this craziness, and certainly better than him. "Don't worry about how I know, precious girl." He kept his voice low. "It's enough that I do." Kal felt her melt in his embrace and pulled her warm body close to his so he could really hold her. He didn't know if she really needed it or if he did but he wasn't going to fight the moment. Kal? Marina interrupted, which Kal supposed was a good thing because they were not secluded enough to do 112

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the things that he was dying to do with and to her. Yes. Kal responded quickly, pulling his eyes from Isabelle and wondering what the battle was that Isabelle had been silently waging with herself. Here's the thing, 'Rina. Isabelle's car has been spell-cast. The tires keep blowing. What can I do about it? You? Marina sounded surprised. You can't do anything about it, Kal. You don't spell-cast. Kal pounded his fist on the car, which earned him a look from Isabelle. There has to be something I can do about it. We are sitting ducks out here. There was already one attempt made on Isabelle's life today, I can't let there be another. I guess I could try to break the spell from here but I don't know if you are enough of a conduit. Marina sounded concerned. A conduit? Kal had never heard that phrase before or maybe he had and he had just opted not to pay attention because it didn't involve blowing up anything or stalking the bad guys—much more interesting subjects. It's something Leonardo and I have been working on while you have been away. That girl you're with, what's her name? Isabelle, he responded, even sounding reverent in his telepathic thoughts. It was, by far, the most beautiful 113

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name he had ever heard. He realized he was going to have to get control of himself—he couldn't, rather wouldn't, let himself become a sniveling weak-minded fool just because he happened to come across his soul mate. There had to be some kind of choice to this matter, and it seemed to him that the woman standing next to him was not going to settle for anything other than being given an absolute voice in the rather large decision about who she was going to spend the rest of her life hopefully loving, and if they were lucky, making babies with. Right, Isabelle. What are her powers? Kal could almost hear the wheels turning in Marina's head. She was plotting something and he imagined Charma and Leonardo standing next to her as she did it. If he had been there, his input would not have contributed very much to the conversation. His intellectually-inclined cousins knew this kind of devising was not Kal's forte. Not sure yet. She can hear me sometimes in my head. She can hear the chanters. Kal was not going to explain just where Isabelle had heard the chanters last. He didn't need them knowing that, for the moment. She can hear in your head when you're not talking to her telepathically? Really? Marina sound skeptical. Focus here Marina, remember, the car problem? Kal was starting to feel really exposed standing on the 114

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street and Isabelle had narrowed her eyes at him in a way that made him think she was about to explode if she wasn't included in the conversation. Right. Leonardo and I think that we can help you. Take Isabelle's hand and try to focus on my image. Leonardo's going to enhance me and then I'm going to push my powers on you which should work if Isabelle is standing there to enhance you. We're pretty sure it should work. But you need focus, Kal. Just focus on me. Pretty sure it's going to work? How sure is that? Kal would have preferred to have more than just Marina's best guess but who was he kidding, they'd all been functioning on their best guess since they'd landed in Veli's kitchen twenty-nine years earlier. Just do it, big shot. Marina was sounding annoyed. Or should I tell Veli what's going on? Kal really wanted to get to a point in his life where Veli didn't bring such a sense of dread to his mind that he would rather face a firing squad than another lecture, argument, or belittlement from Veli. Inwardly he groaned. Isabelle grasped his hand tightly and he smiled at her. Just the feel of her skin on his was enough to make the rest of them vanish from his thoughts. "What did she say to you to make you so upset?" "It's not important. Same old shit." Kal tried to 115

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smile at Isabelle. "I need to take your hand in mine and Marina is going to try to fix the car from where she is." Kal knew it had to sound preposterous to Isabelle but she was not resisting him, instead she was taking both of his hands in hers. Kal could feel the energy flowing between them even before he focused on Marina and felt her power flowing through him. Kal was sure Isabelle had felt it too. It lasted less than a minute but it was striking and the tire miraculously re-inflated before their very eyes. That should do it, Kal, Marina said. Kal? Yes, Marina? Kal answered quickly, not pulling his hands from Isabelle's as he found he really liked them there and was not anxious to have her warmth leave his body. I'm sorry about the Veli comment. I don't know why I do that. It's like I don't know how to relate to you without somehow striking out at you for things that are not your fault any more than they are mine. I would never tell Veli you were in trouble just to make things worse on you. Marina sounded forlorn. No worries. Kal looked down at Isabelle's hands joined with his. We're all getting all sorts of emotionally healthy these days, aren't we? Next thing will be Leonardo actually expressing a thought he hasn't over analyzed one hundred times before he said it. He thought he could actually hear Marina laughing over their connection. 116

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He was convinced that as long as he could keep the warmth that Isabelle was generating in him then he could get through any future snide remarks his family deemed fit to make to him. Her opinion was the only one that mattered. Maybe he wasn't going to give her a choice after all. Maybe he was going to demand this strong, brave, gorgeous woman love him for all time and she was just going to have to acquiesce. He ushered her back to the car and drove in the direction that the sign on the highway indicated would lead them to the nearest hotel. It was getting dark and he was hungry, for a lot of things.

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Chapter Eight "Listen." Kal dipped a French fry into his ketchup. "I've never told this to anyone before and it's going to sound really ridiculous so you're just going to have to believe me." They were sitting on one of the two Queen beds; Kal had felt it best not to push his luck and ask for just one King. They shared the remainder of Isabelle's French fries from their fast food dinner. The hotel room was dark and kind of old in its decorations, but it had served its purpose in getting them out of that car and off of the road during the nighttime hours, which were always more dangerous than the daytime ones. Isabelle hadn't argued, seemingly too exhausted and hungry to do anything more than nod that yes she wanted food, a shower, and bed in that order and she wanted it fast. The food, as not gourmet as it was, had revived her a little bit and she had started her questioning again. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll hold any skepticism I might have left after watching you manipulate energy to stop falling bullets and incinerate a man with your hands not to mention the chanting, spell casting, and telepathy till after you finish telling the story. How does that sound?" Kal laughed. The more time he spent with Isabelle 118

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the more he liked her, which was good because he could already feel his physical need for her growing inside of him, a side effect he could only assume was normal when one met one's soul mate. He was sure he was going to have to kiss her again soon or he might start losing his mind. "There are human beings that are different, for lack of a better word, from everyone else. I, and I suspect you, belong to that group. We can do things other people can't do, move things with our minds, make things happen in nature, hear other people's thoughts, and even manipulate fate a little bit. We've always called ourselves the Outsiders. That's what Veli calls us anyway. These powers, sometimes they're used to describe witches and wizards in children's books. We lived harmoniously with everyone for all eternity and used our powers to keep things in balance, to keep disharmonious things in check, evil if you will. "There are always evil things in the world that want to gain control and we always fought them when they showed up. But for the most part we lived quietly amongst ourselves in the hills of England where I gather we had lived for centuries." "You're talking about all of this in the past tense. Your people don't live there anymore?" Isabelle questioned. Kal didn't miss that she had left herself out of the equation when asking him about it. It was too much for her 119

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to process all at once. Hell, most of the time it was too much for him to process and it wasn't new information for him. "It's not like that anymore. Veli tells us that about twenty-nine years ago some weird stuff started to take place. First of all, the leader of the Outsiders, Veli calls him 'the Great One', died suddenly. Now, he was 120 years old. This would be quite old for regular people but our people can live, as long as we are living good productive lives, to be about 200 years old. The Great One, or the Old Dude as my cousin Leonardo calls him, was a really kind, happily married man who was in good connection with the universe. He shouldn't have taken ill and gotten sick like that. But he did and right before he died he told Abraxas, I'll get to him in a second, a prophecy that seemed too ridiculous to be true." Isabelle brushed a piece of hair out of his eyes. No one had ever touched him like that before and for a second he couldn't speak. "A prophecy? There really are prophecies?" "Yes. Really powerful Outsiders can be given insight into future and past events from the Spirits that control the earth. They aren't bound by our human constraints on time. They can tell us, if they feel like it, what will or what might happen." He took her hand in his 120

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and raised it to his mouth to plant a kiss on it. The gesture seemed natural to him and he assumed to her as well as they paused to simply stare at each other. Isabelle's cheeks took on a pink hue and he loved the slight blush on her. "Kal?" Isabelle touched his chin. "Yes, Isabelle." He loved saying her name. "Can I tell you something and you won't think I'm crazy?" "Do you think I'm likely to think that you're crazy?" She laughed. "You might." "I promise." "I've been dreaming about you for years, almost every night since as long as I can remember. Not just someone like you but actually you, physically you." "What are we doing in these dreams?" He raised his eyebrows at her and she laughed at him, making him wonder if she knew exactly the images he'd been picturing. "We're not always doing that." "But sometimes we are?" He liked the idea more and more. "Sometimes we're just talking and you didn't always look like you do now. We kind of grew up together. When I was ten you were ten, when I was twenty, you were twenty and so on." "Where do your dreams take place?" 121

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"On a green hill some place I've never been. I recognized you right away but I felt like I was out of my mind. You're not acting like I belong in a loony bin." "I think that it's highly possible that what you think happens, actually does." "Have you ever dreamed about me?" "I don't dream." "Ever?" "Veli stopped me from dreaming when I was ten and I don't remember any of them from before that. When I go to sleep all I see is blackness and then nothing else till I open my eyes the next morning." "How does someone stop you from dreaming?" "You really don't want to know." "I do." "Well, I'm not sure I'm ever going to tell you. I'm not sure I want you knowing that stuff about me." For the first time he looked down, dragging his eye contact from her. "Sometimes you seem like this." "Like what?" "Sad." He grinned, sheepishly. "You think I'm sad?" "I think you're a lot of things. Powerful, smart, beautiful—and yes, I said beautiful even if men don't like 122

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to hear that stuff—kind, lonely, and yes sometimes sad." She paused. "But I'm sad sometimes in my dreams too." "Why are you sad?" He didn't want her to ever be sad, even in her dream world. "Because I know I have to wake up and you won't be there with me." She lowered her head after saying the words. Kal pulled Isabelle into his arms and kissed her so gently. This kiss was so different from the one out on the street. Earlier he had seemed desperate, almost crazed for her lips touching his but now he was fully in control. His mouth pressed down on hers, taking her as his own and he knew she had been lost but now she was somehow found with him. He pulled back to stare in her eyes. "I don't know what I did to deserve you but I'll thank the Spirits for you every day." Kal stroked her back lightly with his hand. "You're going to have to go over that Spirits thing again for me sometime." Isabelle smiled. "Veli will, or Charma, my other cousin, can. They really know about this stuff. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to learning the details of how this stuff works. I think, by nature, I'm a warrior, not a healer or a spell-caster. I need to do stuff, not talk about it, which has been a problem for me over the years because using too much power, to fight or 123

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ward off evil, opens up my presence to forces that I would prefer didn't know where I was. But that's neither here nor there anymore." Kal sighed. It felt good to be talking to Isabelle this way. He wanted her to know him, really know him for all of his flaws, and there were many, so he could be sure if she liked him then it wasn't just something he had magically forced her to do because he was experienced in dealing with his powers. "Go on. You were telling me a story before I interrupted to tell you all about dreams and sadness." "I like your interruptions." He smiled at her, thinking about kissing her again but decided that it could wait until she had heard everything he had to say. "So, the prophecy said that there would be nineteen children born on the same day, eighteen to our clan and one born elsewhere. The eighteen would have to fight a terrible battle to defeat the nineteenth who was the evilest creature to ever be born on this earth. He had been trying to manifest himself here for years but had never managed to be human. The Spirits were sending the eighteen down to destroy him. These children would be of a higher level or power if you prefer. They would be able to end his reign and silence the evil dwellers for one thousand years. "It seemed pretty ridiculous. How could eighteen children be born on the same day? There were far more 124

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women than that pregnant, and no one was due at the same time. So, the Great One died and left Abraxas in charge. He was the most powerful member of the society at the time and also extremely close friends with Veli, his top warrior." Kal paused in his storytelling to glance at Isabelle. He frankly wasn't used to talking this much and his internal radar had just gone off and for once he was sure he could pinpoint the cause. Something was happening with Isabelle. Was she having a bad reaction to the story he was explaining to her or was there something else happening to her that he needed to be aware of? "I feel a little strange, Kal, and I don't think it's what you are telling me that's making me feel this way. I think I'm having some kind of sixth sense feeling, like I know something is happening right now and it's a very, very bad something." Kal jumped up and went to look out the window. He didn't see, or sense, anyone out there. He kept looking—if they had been found already then they were in big trouble. "Kal?" Isabelle's voice was barely above a whisper. "Yes, kiddo?" he answered casually, liking the easy companionship that they were forming. "I'm so sorry about your friends. I feel like this is my fault. If I hadn't happened upon you guys, you'd be 125

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grilling trout and reminiscing about college conquests and they wouldn't be dead." Isabelle choked on the last word. "Hey!" he shouted, stunning her. "This isn't your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's my fault. I could feel something coming all day and I ignored it. I think there were forces beyond our control bringing you to me. I will miss those guys tons, but I can't mourn them yet. Later, on the Island, there will be time." He looked out the window again. "I need to get you home." "Home?" He saw as thoughts of her parents dawned on her. "Kal, if this evil guy has somehow found me, is it possible he'll go after my parents?" He didn't want to tell her the truth but he would never lie to her. "It's possible." Her family might be in danger. They might be pawns. "Call them." He handed her his cell phone. Nodding, Isabelle took the phone out of his hand, and he noted her fingers trembled as she dialed the numbers. **** Isabelle hoped she was acting cool and collected but inside of her she thought she might explode with anxiety. Her parents could not be dragged into this. They were sweet, hard working people. In no way did they belong in a 126

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situation where they could be threatened by paranormal beings just because they had the bad luck of having loved and raised her. The cell-phone rang a few times before her mom answered. "Hello?" the familiar voice on the other end of the line questioned. Isabelle wasn't using her own phone and her mom wouldn't have recognized the number. "Mom?" Isabelle's speech patterns sped up. "It's me, is everything okay? Why are you at home and not at the restaurant? Where are Dad and Brian?" Her mother had run the same little restaurant her grandmother had run for sixty years. It was a family legacy that Isabelle had never been able to bring herself to take over. "Izzy?" Her mom sounded frantic. "Where are you?" "I'm working," Isabelle lied, something she hadn't done to her family in years. "Come home," her mom answered strangely. "What is it, Mama?" Isabelle bit her lower lip. "I said, come home, Isabelle. Where are you?" her mother shouted, sounding very strange to Isabelle's ears. "Mom?

What's

going

on?"

Isabelle

asked,

squirming in her seat and standing up to pace the room. "Hang up!" Kal grabbed the phone from her and disconnected it. 127

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"Why did you do that?" she screamed, feeling very anxious all of a sudden and not liking Kal grabbing things out of her hand. "Did that sound like your mother to you? Was she answering your questions? Did she sound, I don't know, off?" Kal questioned. She nodded. He was remarkably accurate. "Yes. How did you know?" "I could just tell. Where do you live? Are we close?" "Twenty minutes if we keep on the road we've been driving on. Kal! Do you think they're in danger?" Isabelle was desperate to know. She wanted him to tell her that they were fine, but knew what his answer would be before he told her. "Yes." Kal nodded. "We'll get to them." Isabelle slumped on the bed in distress for a moment but Kal quickly hauled her up and pulled her against him. His strong arms promised safety and she wanted, more than anything, to stay in their warmth until she felt better. But her parents needed her so she couldn't fall apart. Not yet, maybe not ever. When they had arrived at the hotel, he had told her how important it was that they not be exposed at night but now here they were running out into the Darkness where 128

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anything or anyone could be watching. She gripped his arm as they walked through the door. Kal let it close behind them and then stopped to do the motions she had been accustomed to in just their short time together. He called it scanning and if it could somehow keep them safe, she would learn to do it herself. Evidently satisfied that they were safe, he led her towards the car. Once they got to her family, she would simply insist that they all come with her wherever Kal and she were going until things were back to normal. She just hoped they made it in time. To do otherwise was too awful to think about so she shook her head and bit down hard on her bottom lip. Trusting Kal was not just her only choice, it was the right one, and she knew it to her core. **** Kal opened the car door for Isabelle while continuing to scan the area. Nothing caught his attention and he had a sick feeling that it was a very bad sign. The Darkness should be looking for them and if it wasn't it could only be because it had found something else to focus on. He joined her in the car and started driving. His foot pressed down on the accelerator and he tried to keep a 129

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pleasant look on his face. Now would be a very bad time for Isabelle to read his thoughts. He'd caught hers earlier in bits and pieces and he considered himself very fortunate that he had or he wouldn't have realized her mother sounded odd to her. That would have been a disaster. "Tell me the rest of the story." "You want to hear that right now?" He looked at her, hating the dark circles that formed under her eyes. He reached out with his thumb and touched the delicate skin under each lid. She closed her eyes briefly before they fluttered open, still wounded-looking. "I need to be distracted." That he could understand. Where had he finished earlier? In his life, Kal had never wanted to make someone feel better so desperately as he did right now. "So, Veli's wife dies suddenly in childbirth and he hightails it out of England to Romania to try to heal, not something that is easily done when an Outsider loses his or her other half and then people start getting pregnant, but it's not at the same time and they even start to laugh about how the Great One must not have been that great, to die early and get his prophecy wrong. Even Abraxas' wife gets pregnant, but later than the others. So no one is worried until one night when all of the women go into labor at the same time, months early for many and some over a month late. Some 130

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women deliver babies who are stillborn." "Let me guess, all born at the same moment," Isabelle added. "Exactly. And now everyone is terrified because that means there is a truly evil being out there, an infant grant you, but an extremely powerful being bent on world destruction who knows he's got to kill these babies in order to live and all the good clansmen start to freak out. They want Abraxas to make it all better; he is after all the most powerful member in the group. He tells them they need to join together to fight this being; pool their powers to keep the children safe. But they don't listen to him, they want the children hidden, spread out, and they leave the security of their homes and go off to hide. Which works okay for several months but then the evil infant gets stronger and he starts to telepathically send his minions out to get the children. In a desperate act, Abraxas tries to send all the children to Veli, the strongest warrior he knows, to be protected but he fails and only three children get to him. I was one of those children. My 'cousins' Charma and Leonardo were the others. We've been looking for all of the other children ever since." "And you think I'm one of those children?" Isabelle spoke softly. "You heard the chanting, you read my thoughts. 131

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You're one of us, kiddo, and now our evil dude is after you," Kal answered simply, pulling off the highway where she directed. "My brother always said they found me in the backyard, I thought he was joking." Isabelle slapped a hand on her forehead. "Holy cow, they found me in the backyard." He shook his head. "What?" "When I was a kid, my brother used to make jokes saying that I was weird and not like the rest of the family because my mom had found me in the backyard. My parents would get really mad at him when he would say that, really furious and they would make him take it back. It must be true. They must have found me in the backyard." Isabelle sucked in a breath like she might cry again and Kal gripped the steering wheel tighter. He really hoped she didn't cry again. After a moment, she rubbed her nose and blinked. "Hey Kal?" "Yes, kiddo?" Kal ran a hand through his hair and noticed it was slightly drenched, as if he was gearing up for a big fight. "How can I be accepting what you are saying? Why am I not running for the hills crying insanity?" Kal could see the intense heat burning in her eyes as they filled with emotion."I'm not an expert on these things, 132

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Isabelle, but I feel like I've known you forever and I just met you a few hours ago. I think sometimes our souls just accept things as true and right when it just is. When everything else tells us that something is wrong, if our souls know it's right, then we believe it." "Why Kal!" Her light laughter filled the car. "You're a romantic! Who would have thought?" "That's not a word often used to describe me, sweetheart, but I suppose when one's life has basically been a gothic novel, there is that element to it." Kal laughed back. He loved the way her eyes lifted slightly when she smiled. He wanted to make her laugh forever, but he knew it would be a long time before he could start on that task. There was a fight coming, he could feel it in his veins. The warrior in him had been stirred to life and he was moving towards it.

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Chapter Nine Kal wondered if two fights in one day would be too much for Isabelle and if she would finally insist on parting ways with him, or when it was done, if she would stay with her parents and not come back with him to Maine. If that was the case, then he would have to stay here with her because he was never going to be without her again. Destroying evildoers might be a 'turn on' for some kinds of women, but he didn't suspect that Isabelle was one of them. He pulled the car into the driveway in front of them and took stock of the place. He could see Isabelle growing up in these surroundings. The neighborhood was nice, but not fancy. The neighbors seemed to keep up their yards, the grass was mowed, and the shrubs were trimmed. None of the houses were ostentatious or particularly bigger than the other ones. He could almost envision children on their bicycles riding up and down the street with laughter in the air. The street was well lit and even he, who knew next to nothing on these subjects, could see that it was a safe place to play outside. Children could grow up here, dream their dreams, and live their lives and come back home with their own families when they were ready. The imaginary vision stirred a long repressed longing in his gut. Char might 134

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sometimes make Leonardo and Kal laugh, but their evenings and weekends had been spent in power lessons and descriptions of death and destruction. Veli had tried to be a parent to them, Kal supposed, but a sitcom father from the seventies he was not. He was more like a repressed version of various famous serial killers. Kal's head started to pound, a very bad sign. The last thing he wanted was to go into Isabelle's house and find her parents trapped in the basement while some deranged sicko under the influence of a being he could neither understand nor communicate with tortured them. He thought that might push Isabelle over the very fragile ledge he could imagine she was currently perched on. He tried to keep his thoughts even, suddenly remembering that back in the woods in a stressful situation, Isabelle had been able to read his thoughts. He didn't want her to know what he was thinking at this particular moment. Jumping out of the car, he ran to open Isabelle's, keeping his expression blank. "Isabelle," Kal began as they approached the front door. "I'd like to go in front of you, but that would alert whoever is in there with them that we suspect something. I killed that cop back on Interstate 95; he's not the one in here. But we have to assume that if there is a person in there with your family, and after that phone call you had with your mom I'm going to assume that there is someone 135

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in there, they know that I'm with you because he or she has been possessed by the same creature that possessed the cop earlier. It doesn't necessarily know that we know it's in there. I want you to act like you're just coming home because your mother told you to." Her eyes got wide but she nodded. He cleared his throat and continued, "So, you're going to go in first and I'm going to follow right behind you. Go in like everything is normal and try not to worry, I'm good at this. Veli once called me a walking path of destruction; I can take care of whatever is in there." He tried to smile, to reassure her. He wanted to take all of the worry out of her eyes. He wanted to kiss her until neither one of them could think or breathe nor remember this terrible day. He hoped there would be time for that later. **** He was trying to make her feel better and even though she knew that, she decided to let him. Weakly, she smiled. "Okay." She stuck her key in the door and turned the handle. The wood panel opened into the front hall. The hairs on the back of Isabelle's neck stood up straight. Every light in the 136

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house was on. Her father hated wasting electricity. She could remember countless lectures growing up about electric bills being too high and how they all had to try to remember to turn off the lights in any room that they weren't in. Isabelle felt Kal step into the hallway behind her, almost silently, waiting for her to go in further. "Call your mom, Isabelle, and act like it's any normal day when you might be surprising them with a visit," he whispered in her ear. "Mom?" Isabelle called out into the house. "Are you here? We got disconnected on the highway so I came home right away. What's going on?" Isabelle started walking towards the kitchen but turned suddenly towards the living room. Her stomach lurched. Something was wrong in the living room. There was a strange dripping sound, almost like water hitting the floor. She turned into the room and what she saw was enough to stop the breath in her lungs. All of the furniture was exactly where it was supposed to be, her mother kept an immaculately clean house. Everything had a place. The blue sofas were up against the far wall, covered in plastic and undisturbed. The china cabinet that held her mother's precious crystal figurines was still as beautiful as always. The small, crystal chandelier that they had inherited from her father's mother 137

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hung in its place. But next to the chandelier was the true horror. Her parents and her brother hung from their necks from the ceiling, their blood splattered all over the room. A slow leak of it dripped from her father's broken neck. Realization hit her slowly. They were dead; she and Kal wouldn't be rescuing any of them. A scream started in her throat and she felt her pulse begin to pound. Kal stepped into the room behind her and she heard a hissing sound come out of his throat as he put his arms around her to drag her out of the room. But it was too late; a power that she had never known she possessed had taken over her body. "How could this happen?" she screamed, not recognizing the sound of her own voice. Later she would realize the same strange timbre that had earlier taken over Kal's voice had taken over her own. "How could this happen?" The walls around her began to shake, but she wasn't aware that she was shaking them. Energy pulsed in and out of her body and everything around them seemed to shimmer. "Isabelle!" Kal shouted her name, gripping her body to his. They moved backwards in time, watching the room as if they were watching life in rewind. And then suddenly it stopped. 138

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Isabelle and Kal stood in a bubble, unable to move, her breath coming in and out in puffs. Her parents sat in the living room. Her father read in one of the large reclining chairs. Her older brother was trying to get his attention to discuss a possible fishing trip. "But Dad." Her brother blew out an exasperated breath. "Brian!" Isabelle shouted as she tried to move to the men but found that she couldn't and it appeared they couldn't hear her either. "I can't go away right now. I have a deposition next week, and besides you should be studying for your bar exam. I'm not going to be responsible for you failing a second time." Her dad laughed. Footsteps came down the hall, and her family laughed as they entered the room. "Oh you two," Isabelle's mother began. "You're always at each other's throats. Tony, you can take a few days off to take Brian fishing, as you've been promising to do since he graduated law school. Pretty soon he's not going to want to go fishing with you, that is, if he gets any more serious with that pretty blonde he's been taking out regularly." Brian groaned out loud and sat in the chair next to his father. "Don't start on the blonde, Mom. I'm not going to be 139

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settling down any time soon. Besides, how could I ever find a woman I loved as much as my mother?" Anything her mother was going to say was stopped by the doorbell ringing. "Don't get the door, Mom!" Isabelle shouted. Her entire body had begun to shake and in Kal's arms she felt steaming hot. "Isabelle, take us back," Kal said quietly in her ear. "You don't want to be here to see this happen." Kal's words got lost in her consciousness as she screamed and struggled frantically. "Daddy," she yelled. "Don't let him in. Please, Dad." "Tony." Her mother came in the room. "There's a man here from the police station asking questions about Isabelle. He wants to know if we've seen her." Isabelle's mother was flanked by a large man in a police uniform. It wasn't the same police officer as earlier. "What's the problem, Officer?" Her father rose from his chair, concern showing on his brow. "Have you seen your daughter? Do you know where she is?" the police officer asked. "No, but she usually checks in a couple times a day. What's the problem? Has something happened to Isabelle?" The police officer opened his mouth as if to answer but 140

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suddenly stopped. His eyeballs rolled to the back of his head and he began to twitch. "Tony! Is he having a seizure?" Isabelle's mother screamed as Tony and Brian rushed to him. Without any warning and with almost inhuman strength, the still unnamed police officer reached out and gripped her father's neck, breaking it with one squeeze. Isabelle screamed and collapsed in Kal's arms. Everything in her world went blissfully black as she wondered who was still screaming. Later she would realize it was her mother, the last noise she would ever hear her mother make. **** Kal grabbed her limp body and pulled it to him as time began to catch up with itself. He had never heard screeching sounds quite like the ones he was hearing. It was as if the universe was pulling itself apart to return them to their normal time. He had no idea if this was normal when someone traveled back in time or if this was happening because Isabelle, seemingly the reason behind their time shift, had lost consciousness and was no longer even unknowingly controlling their movements through time. 141

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With a thump they were thrown out of the bubble that had surrounded them and Kal fell to the floor on his back. He had two seconds to sit up before barely catching Isabelle in his arms. He sat up and looked around, holding her against him as if she was a baby. Her parents had been brutally murdered and she had just witnessed it. He wasn't sure she would ever recover. Suddenly Kal became aware of a presence in the room with them. He looked up into the eyes of Isabelle's mother. She was separated from her body, a kind of shimmering entity above them. "You can only see me because you are so connected to her. But I am grateful to see you." Her voice was barely audible to Kal. He had to strain to hear her. It sounded more like noises the wind made over the ocean at their home in Maine but he was sure he had made her out correctly. "It's been my great honor to love her, to raise her, and to care for her. She was as much my baby as Brian was but I give her to you where I suspect she was always supposed to be. Take care of her, Kal." "We won't let this stand," Kal promised her. "I'll make sure there's retribution, someone will pay." "Where I am now, Kal, we don't worry about such things. But I imagine you'll do just as you are supposed to 142

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do. Tell her it wasn't the backyard. Tell her that she suddenly just appeared on my kitchen table and when she looked up at us we felt like we had known her all our lives." As quickly as she had appeared before them she vanished leaving Kal, still clutching an unconscious Isabelle in his arms, stunned on the floor. He knew they had to run and this time there would be no stopping until he got her safely hidden at home. Then he would figure out what he was supposed to do about this nightmare, and he'd have to make sure it included lots of pain to the responsible party. He wasn't a child anymore and he wasn't going to be hiding in the corner. It was time to take the fight to the enemy.

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Chapter Ten Isabelle became aware of a woman's voice speaking gently to her. Was it her mom? She was going to have to tell her all about the weird dream she had. No, she realized, she didn't know whoever this woman was. Nothing that had happened had been unreal. It had all actually taken place. "Isabelle, can you hear me?" the voice asked again. She didn't want to answer it; she just wanted to stay in the blackness. She was safe in the blackness. "Char, why isn't she waking up?" Kal hissed above her. "It's been twelve hours, Char, shouldn't she be waking up?" "She's been through an ordeal, Kal, and as I keep telling you, it's going to take time to bring her back to us." The voice that Isabelle could now identify as belonging to someone named Char spoke pleadingly to Kal. Thinking about Kal brought a measure of comfort to Isabelle. He had been real. She didn't like that sound in his voice. He sounded despondent. Anyone else might think he was being pushy and demanding but she could hear the terror and the fear. "She has to make it back, Char. You have to bring her back to me," Kal demanded, sounding authoritative and regal. "Bring her back to me now." 144

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Inside Isabelle smiled, she still couldn't open her eyes—truthfully, she didn't want to—but hearing him and knowing he was there, she let herself drift for a few moments. **** "That didn't work when we were children, Kalmari, and it certainly isn't going to work now. Stop bothering me, go speak to Veli. He has more questions for you." "I'm not overly concerned with what Veli wants right now. I want to know what Isabelle did to herself and if she's going to be okay. I've never seen power like that before, Char. I didn't know we could do that." His first inclination was always to boss everybody around. He had been told, on more than one occasion, that his father had been the same way. It was hard to think about his father and mother. They seemed more like phantoms than real people. Stories and fantasies did nothing to help him during the lonely teenage nights when so much untapped, misunderstood instinct had boiled inside of him, creating a rage that even to this day he had to suppress during full moons. If he hadn't known better he would have thought he was a werewolf. Veli couldn't explain this phenomena to 145

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him, saying simply that every family had its own unique eccentricities and perhaps something happened to his family during the moon cycle. But had it been his mother or his father's family that had this problem? He would never know and that drove him crazy. It had been particularly difficult for Kal to relate to Veli on the subject of his father. There was some unspoken hostility between the two older men and when he had turned sixteen he had finally mustered up enough nerve to ask him about it. Veli had confessed that he and Kal's father Holis had been constant rivals. Veli had won out Abraxas' respect and trust as first warrior of the clan and Holis had been resentful of it. To this day, Kal wasn't sure that some of the hostility that Veli felt towards his late father wasn't being redirected at him. He had assumed that he would go through his life feeling that way—unsure, unloved, and always just a little bit alone. But then fate had thrown him Isabelle and he would be damned before he let her go. He had seen too much and experienced too much to play games with fate. If he was supposed to feel this strongly about this woman after only twenty-four hours then he was going to feel that way and damn anyone or anything that got in his way. "Why can't you heal her, Char?" Kal started pacing the room like a caged animal. His pulse was pounding in 146

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his ears and unbeknownst to anyone else static had started to build around the room. He knew it was dangerous to let his controls down like this but he was too far gone to do anything about it. "You know I can't heal anyone while they are unconscious. They have to wake up so I can ease their suffering. I'm not a doctor. I'm a mental soother." Charma gritted her teeth, finally sounding truly exasperated with Kal. "Well, do something!" he commanded using the authoritative voice that made everyone crazy. "Quiet, Kal, she's waking up." Charma commanded right back as Kal quickly strode across the room to be right up against Isabelle's side. **** Isabelle became aware of a slight buzzing in her head. It felt strangely like she wasn't alone. There was so much pain still to be digested. How could her family be dead? How could she be part of some strange group that had powers? Why was she so completely drawn to Kal? What was she supposed to do with the rest of her life? The scene of her parents' death played over and over in her mind, their lifeless bodies swinging in front of her, back 147

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and forth, as the smell of death permeated the room. Without warning her burden seemed to lessen. She could still see the terrible images but it seemed as though she was watching them from a greater distance. The pain receded in her head and she felt as if she could raise her lids, as if the light of the day wouldn't destroy her. She opened her eyes slowly, testing them to see if they worked. Kal's face appeared before her immediately and, as was becoming habit when she looked at him, she was struck by the complete perfection that was his face. Next to him, she saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, presumably this was the Charma that Kal kept speaking to. The woman seemed to radiate light all around her. It was fitting because she was so blonde. Her soft features were strained and she seemed to be staring ahead right into Isabelle's very soul. "Not so much, Char," Kal instructed. "We can't lose you to this destruction. You've done enough." Kal sounded for the first time gentle as he placed his hand on Charma's back. "She's very important, Kal, but you already know that." Charma did not remove her gaze. "You didn't tell me you heard the chanting." "Get out of her mind, Charma, before it's too late or Veli and Leo will string me up by my thumbs. It'll take 148

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both of them but somehow, I suspect, they really will manage to do it." Charma took a deep breath and Isabelle felt the company that had been in her mind disappear. Everything felt lighter, easier. That must be the woman's power, to absorb pain. Biting her lip, she tried a smile but no response came from the stunning blonde. "Go rest, little cousin." Kal helped Charma off the bed gently. "I will make introductions later after you have rested." Charma gently smiled, turning to glance at Isabelle. "It's lovely to meet you, Isabelle Listora. Your parents were great people and their death is a tragedy for all of us. Thank you for finding us after all of these years. I hope you'll think of us as your second family." She paused and then finished, "Somehow you can see him so clearly when it takes everyone forever to get past his safeguards. You're a woman to be reckoned with and I hope we'll be good friends." Charma walked slowly past Kal into the hall without a pause. Kal turned back to Isabelle, practically jumping to her side. Kal ran his hands through his hair, a gesture she'd not seen him do before. Finally, he sat on the bed next to her. "Do you feel okay, kiddo? You had us all terrified; you've been asleep nearly twelve hours. You just collapsed; 149

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I didn't know what to do with you except to bring you to Charma." He stroked her hand. "I feel remarkably okay. How is that possible? How can I even be functioning after what's happened?" Isabelle was slightly confused. She decided to stop questioning what was happening. Nothing about the last day had been rational; she was simply going to have to get a better grip on the irrational and learn to like it. "It's Charma, it's her power. She shares your burdens, heals them if you like, and then you feel better somehow. It lessens the magnitude of terrible events, emotions, and traumas. But there is a price to pay for Charma; she has to live with your event instead of you. People are just drawn to her; they find her on park benches and airplanes and just to talk to her. We almost never ask her to do what I asked her to do for you." "Remind me to thank her when I see her again. Where are we exactly?" Isabelle sat up in bed to look around the room. She had to suppress a giggle because she immediately knew this was Kal's room. Well, Kal's room as it must have been when he was a teenager. She didn't imagine he'd have quite so many nineties rock and grunge music posters hanging on the wall now. She bet if she looked in the closet she would find flannel shirts and ripped jeans. But outside of the clearly dated décor, everything 150

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about it still screamed his presence. The color on the walls was denim blue, exactly the shade of the shirt he had been wearing when she met him the day before. The room was simple and not overdone, as if he just knew something was tasteful or fun and then didn't bother to overanalyze it too much. Kal would attribute his lack of interest in the details of these kind of things as great flaw that he possessed but it was clear to Isabelle that Kal had put all of his energies in life where they belonged and didn't need to be bothered with the mundane things like paint colors and the changes in fashions over the years. He had her to do those things now. Well, she amended in her thoughts, if he wanted her to do those things for him. "We are on an uninhabited island right off the coast of Maine. Veli found this place while he and Marina were investigating a lead about ten years ago. She was so sure a member of our group was living in the town right on the coast of the mainland. But they could never find anyone. Maine has so many little islands, some of them privately owned, some of them public, that most people don't think twice about our house and the privacy we crave here. It was like a dream finding this place. Veli and Marina are stronger by the water and god knows we need Veli to be strong. So it's nice to have a home base, admittedly it's nice 151

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to have a place to come 'home' to. "Dot keeps the house up and travels back and forth to the mainland and Marina keeps the island thriving and somehow makes it unappealing to boaters and tourists so we almost never get unwanted visitors. But, specifically, you are in my room, my wing if you like. The house is quite large, huge actually and totally abandoned when Veli found it. Marina thinks it was waiting for us but I don't know if I buy into that. Even I have a limit when it comes to what I will and will not believe in." Kal ran a hand through his hair and she stared at the way the light bounced off of it. She wanted to reach out and stroke his hair, his cheek, anything she could touch. Instead, she forced herself to concentrate on what he said. "We thought it was perfect because if we ever did find anyone else then they could move into their own wing but I wasn't sure where else to put you and truthfully, I wanted you with me. We only have furniture in the places where we live. Most of the house is closed up and waiting to be filled. Can I get you anything, some water?" Isabelle couldn't help but notice the worry in Kal's eyes and she was desperate to soothe him. Charma had made her feel better but hadn't gotten rid of the deep need inside of her to connect with Kal. She was a smart woman, and smart women knew 152

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better than to question gifts like the man in front of her. She reached out and kissed him, hard on the lips. It was an offering she was hoping desperately that he wouldn't resist. Much to her delight, he didn't disappoint her and after an initial hesitation that she suspected was from shock, his lips softened and drove into hers with a longing that matched her own. **** Kal took his time, deepening the kiss with Isabelle. He loved the feel of her lips and he could hear the soft chanting begin distantly in his ears. Surprisingly it wasn't distracting at all or invasive but sanctified what was happening between them as right and sacred. "This feels so right to me, Kal." Isabelle's voice was a husky whisper. "But I have to confess, I've never done this before, except with you in my dreams, and I don't want you to be disappointed by my lack of any and all carnal knowledge outside of my own fantasies." Isabelle looked down at her hands. Kal pulled her head back so he could look her in the eyes. He wanted her to see that everything he was saying to her was real. "Isabelle, sweetheart, you can hear that chanting when we're together, can't you?" Isabelle nodded 153

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slowly. "That doesn't just happen by chance. We, the Outsiders, if you like, we only hear that song when we're using our powers to right something that has gone wrong or when we are combining our souls with our soul mates. I can hear that with you and you can hear it with me because we are meant to be together. If you went out there and started kissing Leonardo, and please don't do that because I really like Leonardo and I might have to cause him bodily harm if you did, you wouldn't hear the chanting. We are meant to be to be a pair in all things." Her eyes were huge. "That makes it even worse. Now I have to worry that you'll be totally disappointed with your soul mate's lack of experience and realize that you're going to be stuck with me forever." There was desperation in her voice. "Do you know what an incredible turn on it is to me to hear that you haven't been with anyone else? Someone as sexy and gorgeous as you are has been waiting for me?" Kal could feel his jeans tightening as his erection started to form. He knew he was going to have to be careful with Isabelle—if she was worried about disappointing him, he was terrified of hurting her. "You think I'm sexy?" she asked in a barely audible whisper. "Do I think you're sexy?" A growl that he couldn't 154

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control slipped out of his throat as he pushed her down on the bed, rolling on top of her. "Can you feel that?" He grabbed her hand to touch the hard point of his manhood. "That's how much I think you're sexy. I didn't know I had this much raw animal left inside of me but god, I think I might explode and we haven't even gotten started yet." He bent his head down to devour her mouth. He needed to take possession of her, lay his claim, somehow proclaim to the universe that she was going to be his for all time and damn anybody who tried to take her from him. "Oh Kal, I feel like I've been waiting for this my whole life, maybe longer somehow." Isabelle raised her hands to pull his shirt out from where it was tucked in at his waist. Kal used one hand to help her, discarding the garment and then began laying kisses on her neck, not caring if he marked her. It would just be another way for everyone to know she was his. Isabelle's fingers were playing havoc with Kal's nerves as she stroked his broad chest with skill he wouldn't have expected. "Isabelle, darling girl, if you keep doing that I'm going to go crazy and I'm trying very hard to be a good boy here and go slow so you can enjoy your first time." Kal strung Isabelle's hands behind his neck, hoping they would stay there so he wouldn't lose his mind. 155

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"You said it yourself, Kal, we're meant to be together. Do you think I wouldn't enjoy anything that you did to me?" That was all the invitation that Kal needed. Surprising himself with the force and velocity of his moves, he ripped Isabelle's shirt right from her body. "Hope that wasn't your favorite shirt." He grinned sheepishly—he might become animal-like during the full moon but he didn't want to terrify her their first time together. "No, but it was my only shirt." Isabelle laughed. "I am officially without clothes." Kal could swear that her voice had taken on a new quality, almost a cat-like purr and he had to admit that the tone of it was turning him on as no sound ever had before. Maybe he wasn't the only one who had animal qualities. They had, after all, been born for each other. She might eventually like his wild side, he hoped. "That was my intention, love, to get you completely naked and keep you that way." Kal began devouring the skin above her breasts. He had never seen such perfect breasts. He reached out to cup them with his hands and squeezed gently before taking one of her already alert nipples into his mouth to suck on it. Isabelle moaned deeply in her throat, using her hands to pull him closer, the effect of which only had Kal sucking harder. "God, baby," 156

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he groaned. "If you don't stop that, I'm going to come right here and make a mess of things without ever taking your virginity." "You're not taking my virginity, Kal," Isabelle purred, startling him for a second. "I'm giving it to you." "I know you are, darling." He kissed her nose. "And that's what makes it all the more sacred to me." Suddenly adventurous, Isabelle reached down to stroke the now completely hardened rod bulging in Kal's pants. He groaned loudly and quickly unbuttoned his jeans to pull them off. As far as he was concerned, they both had on way too many clothes. Isabelle's were going to have to come off quickly. He pulled her back to look at her almost completely naked. She was wearing black silk panties and given that she hadn't known what was going to happen to her that day it occurred to Kal that she must wear this kind of underwear on a daily basis. He was going to love to undress her every day. "You are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, Isabelle. I didn't know that such beauty actually existed on earth." His hands slipped over her hips to slide her panties off. "How do you manage to have so many curves and still be all legs?" His mouth began kissing down her legs where his hands had just been touching. Seconds later he was back to making love to her mouth. He couldn't seem to get 157

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enough. "I'm not beautiful, Kal. I'm really fairly normal looking," she breathed in his ear as she wantonly began to lick his earlobe. "But I feel beautiful, somehow, when you look at me." "You've been looking in broken mirrors. I've been all over the world and I've never seen anyone who can hold a candle to you." He touched her stomach gently. Wanting to extend her pleasure as long as possible, but knowing that he was dangerously ready, he slid down her body to her velvety, hot core and with his tongue began to taste her. He had imagined this moment several times since he had met her but he couldn't have imagined what the taste of her inside would do to him. She had been made for, designed for him and he knew he could never get enough of her. "Oh god, Kal!" Isabelle screamed, her head flying backwards onto the pillow. "Sshh, baby," he crooned. "I'm just getting you ready for me. The way you react is so fantastic, baby, I can't even tell you and god, honey, the way that you taste is like heaven." Screaming his name, her hands dug into his hair at what he imagined was her first orgasm. Kal moved up her body so he could look her in the eyes as she started to regain some consciousness. "That's just the first one, tonight, darling. By the time we're done, 158

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we're not going to know our own names." "But what about you, Kal?" She asked suddenly concerned. "Don't you need to…?" "Oh," he laughed. "I'm so hard from wanting you, my little love, and I intend to have you. Don't you worry about that." Isabelle's gaze travelled to his penis and he almost came right there. "Is it going to fit inside of me?" she asked innocently. "Isabelle, we were made for each other. It's going to fit perfectly inside of you. Although you are so small and tight, baby, I'm afraid it's going to hurt a little bit the first time. I've heard it can hurt women a bit when they first try it if the man isn't careful, and I'm going to try to be careful but you need to tell me if any of it hurts." Kal reached down and inserted one finger inside of her. He loved the trust that she was giving him and he wanted to make sure that she was ready for her first time with him. "Isabelle," he sighed lightly. "You don't need to worry about getting pregnant. It's not the right moon cycle." Deep in his soul he wished he could get her pregnant right away, it would be a wonderful way to solidify what was happening between them. To actually create life with Isabelle would mean that he really could let everything go 159

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and just focus on his future with her. But it was not the right time and he didn't even know if Isabelle wanted to have children. She shook her head. "What?" "I'm the only one who can get you pregnant." He kissed her head gently. "We're designed to only be able to do that together but it also has to be done at the right time when the earth lines up with the sun and during the right moon cycle. The earth is lined up right but the moon cycle is wrong. It's complicated, basically my understanding is that we have four times a year when we can create life and now is not that time." He hoped he wasn't spoiling things by talking like that; they should probably have discussed it beforehand. "Given that we're soul mates and that we live roughly two hundred years, I'm sure there will be time for that." "How do you hear what I'm thinking so clearly? I can't read minds like that." Kal laughed. "I never knew that I could either and so far it only seems to be working with you. Must be one of those 'we're made for each other' things? You can control energy, create energy bubbles to stop bullets, disintegrate bad guys using electricity from the sky and I can read your mind and go back and witness events in time but not stop them. Seems 160

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like fate gave you all the strength and gave me the ability to assist you and stop you from over thinking things by yourself." Isabelle caressed his hair. "Right now, all I can think is that I've got to get inside of you." He gently slid down her body, taking his truly erect manhood into his hand. He wanted this to be good for her, he wanted it to be something she never forgot. As gently as he could possibly manage, he thrust himself inside of her feeling for the first time like he'd come home. He could feel her tight muscles begin to stretch to accommodate him as he broke through the previously unbroken barrier inside of her. Isabelle let out a slight wince that was immediately replaced by a moan as her body recognized that Kal was actually inside her. His thrusts began gently, giving her body a chance to get used to the motion but Isabelle was a quick learner and she soon began to respond to his rhythm, matching him as her hips rose off the bed to meet him. Kal had never known that sex could feel like this. Every muscle movement, every sound from her throat, every turning of her head or fluttering of her eyelids seemed to drive him more and more crazy until he was sure he was lost in a frenzied stupor. How could anything be this sweet, this perfect and how had he lived without it? There was nothing on earth that mattered except Isabelle and 161

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being inside of her. He knew he was going too fast, too hard but he couldn't seem to control himself. Her tight body wrapped around him and he had to take what it was offering. He had to have more of her. The pressure built inside of him. In and out and he moved, desperate for more, desperate to give her everything, desperate to just be inside of her. He screamed her name over and over as his release hit him at the same time he felt hers strike her. The only one ever this deep inside of her, he wished he could spend eternity right where he was. This was where he belonged, where he should have always been.

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Chapter Eleven Sometime later as Isabelle lay still, allowing the minor tremors to resonate through her, she let her eyes open. Kal lay next to her on his stomach. His head turned towards her, his eyes closed as he absentmindedly stroked the side of her face. She let herself stare at him for a few minutes, knowing he was unaware of her observation. He really was a beautiful man. No one would ever call him pretty—his features were hard. But she knew now they could be caring and gentle. He seemed to have been made for warfare, his muscles hard and his shoulders broad and she knew from brief glances into his head—and it was happening more and more that she caught glimpses of what he thought about— that he thought very little of himself outside of that purpose but she knew in her heart he had been waiting for her and that he needed her as much as she needed him. Something was coming for them and the joining they had just shared had made them both stronger. She knew without him telling her that he intended to avenge her parents. He intended to find the still unnamed murderer, police officer or not, and end his life—even if he had been under the influence of someone else. She knew she should stop him from this venture, that it could get him killed. But 163

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she also knew that Kal couldn't change who he was anymore than she could. Asking him to change his warrior nature would be like asking a tiger to change its stripes. She was deeply in love with him, even if she shouldn't have been, and loving him was going to mean living with the dangers that came with him. She knew she could do it; she had been born to do it. They had been selected for each other even before they were born. Alone she was weak, and although he was stronger, he would be a force now that they had found each other. She knew nothing of the history of the Outsiders but from what Kal had told her they were meant to go through life joined with their other half, each better with the other one's presence. He belonged to her and she was going to take care of him and not lose him to either physical danger or his own demon thoughts. The whispered chanting that had been with them for hours slowly started to recede in her ears and she found she was lonely for it. She knew Kal would stir when it stopped, missing the sound of it, too, so she took one last moment to try to see if she could read his thoughts. How deep could she go? Could she read his memories? Charma had read and healed hers, making it possible for her to function, to join with Kal. Could she only read what he was currently 164

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thinking the second he thought it? She found herself grasping for his mind with her own thoughts. He was sleepy, she could feel that immediately. Achingly tired, to be more exact, and she was sure that he almost never slept, had never slept well even as a child, and needed to desperately. This made perfect sense to Isabelle because in her dreams, the ones that she was now convinced Kal shared with her even if he didn't remember them, Kal always left sooner than she did. He never seemed to have time, even in his sleep, to really relax for very long. Her heart reached out for him. He may have been one of the three sent immediately to Veli, aware of who he was, aware of his own powers and heritage, but he had also always known that he wasn't safe. Even as a child he had known evil was looking for them and had felt a deep responsibility to protect his small clan. She had been luckier than he was. She may have had no one to explain what was happening to her and she might have unknowingly had to repress her powers, but she had been loved and protected, blissfully unaware as a child that anything could ever go wrong. She could see that he had deliberately placed himself in danger again and again, desperate to draw the attention away from the others, thinking somehow that their 165

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survival was more important than his own. She wanted to weep from needing to comfort him, from needing to make him see how truly important he was. The chanting stopped and her ears were met with sudden quiet. Kal's eyes began to flutter open and as soon as he saw her, he smiled. "What are you doing?" He rubbed his nose in her hair as he began to place kisses on her head. "Reading your mind," she answered truthfully. She wasn't a liar and she didn't want to lie to him, ever. "Ooh. Seeing my dirty little thoughts about your sexy little body?" He practically cooed in ear, apparently unable to stop himself from wanting a second go. "No." Isabelle's insides started to melt. "I can see that you're exhausted and I think I saw flashes from Bosnia and Afghanistan." He yawned. "Was I thinking about Bosnia and Afghanistan? Why was I thinking about that?" "I imagine you are always thinking about it, sort of. Why do you do that? Why do you place yourself in danger to report in places where no one with a lick of selfpreservation should be hanging out?" Isabelle asked, coming up on her elbow to brush the hair out of his eyes. "Well," he started. His gaze bore into hers. "I suppose it's threefold, really. First on a very basic level, someone has to tell the stories about the atrocities that take 166

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place or no one would tell them." "Fair enough," Isabelle answered. "But I suspect you don't really have that reporter drive that I've heard mentioned by any newsperson I've ever met. Do you really get off by finding the story and reporting it?" He shook his head. "No. You're right. The other two reasons are probably more important. I like to put myself out there for, lack of a better word, the Darkness, or at least the guy who is currently personifying the Darkness, to find me so it's always looking for me and not for Charma, Marina, or Leonardo. Or even Veli, I guess. Not that they couldn't handle it, Leonardo has a fierce side to him even if he can seem cool and calculating, and Veli is maybe the best warrior our people ever had. God knows Marina lived through atrocities and Charma has seen it all in people's heads. But somehow I've always felt it was my job to take it, to handle it, maybe to die from it. And I guess I'm also drawn to the evil myself and I want to see if I can really withstand it, if I can stop myself from becoming evil. The others, I don't think they feel it like I do. Like they could change, become part of it. I could change. I've always know that was possible." "No, you couldn't." She bit her lip. "I know these things, I can see in your head." Kal laughed out loud at that remark and she 167

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grinned. It felt great to laugh together. "You've been reading minds for twenty-four hours and already you're an expert, huh?" He grinned, tickling her stomach. "It's like using a muscle you haven't used in awhile. It hurts a little bit but I know how to work it and I think the more I do it, the better I will get at it," she answered. "Well feel free to practice on me. I will have no secrets from you." "I don't want you going to those places anymore," she confessed. "I want you to stay here and take care of me." Maybe it wasn't modern, but it was how she felt. "You're safe here, baby, I won't leave you." He smoothed her hair on her head. "Whatever this evil is, it found me and I wasn't using powers. It wants me and it's looking for me. It knows you're with me. It's going to come here and we've got to figure out how to fight it. I'm strong and I'm a fast learner but you are sheer power, Kal, and I need you," she blurted out, feeling better for having said it but worried he would think she was weak. "Then I guess it's a good thing I'm head over heels for you and have no intention of leaving you, ever. I will stay here while Leo and Veli figure out how to train you in your powers and act like the lion guarding the lair. How's 168

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that sound?" "Perfect," she purred, reaching out for him. "I have to tell you," he confessed. "I get a little funny around full moons." "Don't tell me you're going to become a wolf and now I'm going to become one," she demanded. "No," he laughed. "We all have our little quirks. Marina needs to be near water or she gets a little stir crazy. Charma has to have enough sunlight on her every day or she starts to become really withdrawn. Leonardo needs time alone every day. Veli has some sort of ritual at sunrise and I start to get really antsy during a full moon. I feel exposed and vulnerable somehow. I start to kind of prowl, to pick fights. In college I used to take myself away till the moon changed. I had to have Marina spell-cast me a decent test schedule so I didn't flunk." "Spell-cast again, huh? Marina seems pretty good at it." "Marina can manipulate fate a little bit. Not major things, mind you, but little things like your tire. Doing it over space is a new thing for her, I guess she and Leonardo have been working on it. I think she could do more than she does but she's afraid. Not that she'd admit that, she just pretends like she can't do them." "I have so much to learn," she sighed. "And I 169

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shouldn't be feeling this good." "In a few weeks, Charma's help will wear off a little bit. You'll start to mourn more then, but it will be in a way that won't destroy you. You'll feel pain but not so overpowering that you can't get up or live your life. She wouldn't have done it if she didn't think you were in danger. Don't feel guilty. I don't think your parents would want you to be destroyed. Your mom especially looked tough. I think she'd want you to fight," Kal said. "You're right, she would." She couldn't stop herself from planting a kiss on his lips. "She came and spoke to me, after you passed out." Isabelle darted up in bed. "What? You saw my mother? You see ghosts?" "No." Kal took a deep breath. "She said I could see her because you can see the dead and I was so connected to you. So I guess you can do more than just read minds and create time bubbles. You probably have a slew of powers we have yet to discover." "I saw a ghost once. It was the old woman from next door and she came and visited me in the middle of the night. My parents thought I was crazy because she had died during the night. They thought I must have dreamed the whole thing." Isabelle's eyes filled with tears, a little one slipping from her right eye. Kal reached out to brush it 170

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away with his fingertip. "What did my mother say?" "She said that she loved you deeply, as much as your brother. She felt it was an honor to have raised you. She asked me to care for you and she said to tell you that it wasn't the backyard where you were found but that you materialized right in front of her on the kitchen table." "The kitchen table? She must have freaked out." Isabelle couldn't hide the laughter in her voice. She could visualize the scene taking place in front of her. "I'm glad you got to speak to her. I think I would have always regretted that you didn't know my family, that you never had a chance to speak to any of them." "Isabelle, I can't tell you what it means to have found you." "I feel it too, Kal." They stared at each other for a moment, neither one of them saying a word, not feeling like they needed to. His voice gentle, he stroked her hair. "Isabelle." "Yes?" "You were right. I really am exhausted and for the first time in a long time, I think I could actually sleep a little bit." "Then let's get some sleep. Tomorrow you can show me around and then make love to me again." She giggled. "In that order?" He laughed too. "Babe, I think I'm 171

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going to have to make love to you a few times before I show you around." "That would be fine too."

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Chapter Twelve Isabelle opened her eyes into the same dream landscape that she had been visiting since she was a child. She stood on top of a hill covered in green grass. The wind blew in her hair. She wasn't cold from the touch of it but found it instead to be refreshing. The sun beat down on the hilltop and she felt that it must be close to mid-afternoon. Strangely enough, the time changed frequently in her dreams while the landscape never did. She looked down to see what she was wearing and was surprised to note she was actually in her normal clothes, the one Kal had ripped from her body earlier that night. Usually she was dressed in old-fashioned attire or long flowing hippy-like skirts. She turned around quickly and found what she was looking for—Kal sitting on the grass behind her, a smirk on his face. He was also wearing the clothes that he had been wearing earlier that night. "What are you laughing at?" she questioned. "I'm just admiring the view of your rear end and lamenting that I'm going to have to get those clothes off of you again." "So, you admit that you're here and that we're actually sharing this dream?" "Just because I admit it now does not mean that I 173

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will remember it when I wake up." "I can already see us arguing about this for the rest of our lives." Isabelle sighed, blowing a stray piece of hair out of her eyes. "This already feels different to me." "How so?" Kal questioned, standing up. "We're dressed like ourselves. Usually I look something out of a fantasy movie and you are all suited up for battle. I usually have to work really hard to get you undressed." "That's hysterical." Kal laughed. "Trust me, Isabelle, I'm a sure thing." Isabelle couldn't help but laugh at Kal. "You know what's fantastic about this?" "I can think of several things. Which one specifically are you thinking about?" Isabelle paused, feeling a blush starting in her cheeks. "No. Now I'm curious. What were the things that you were thinking about?" "This is a dream that we're actually conscious of so we can make things happen the way we want them to happen, right?" "I guess. We've never tried it that way." "I've never been actually aware that I was asleep and conversing with you before." Kal smiled a grin that could only be called sensual, and slightly wicked. 174

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"What did you have in mind?" "I think I'd like you to be naked, right now." Before her eyes, and much to her immediate embarrassment, Isabelle's clothes disappeared right off of her body. With nothing to cover herself, she looked up at Kal who was smiling that same wicked smile again. "Kal!" "Now I feel much better," he insisted. "This is, after all, a dream and I've decided that tonight's dream is going to be an erotic one." He crossed the slight distance between them and pulled her up against him, kissing her hard. "It's different, isn't it? I can feel you but not really feel you. Somehow it still works." "Better to have me naked when we're actually awake?" "I'll take you naked any way I can get you. Awake, asleep, whatever you prefer." "You know turnabout is fair play in these circumstances. I think I'd like you to be naked too." As quickly as her clothes had vanished Kal's did. Reaching up she began to feel his sculpted chest beneath her fingertips. He was so perfectly made, like somebody had wanted to design the perfect man and so they had created Kal's physique. Even with everything else that had taken place, she couldn't believe that she was going to get to touch him 175

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like this for the rest of her life. She had a feeling Kal was going to age very, very well. Well, she amended, if any of them got to actually age considering the enemy they were all facing. "Hey." He pushed her chin up with his index finger so that she was looking him in the eyes. "No frowning thoughts. We have enough of those when we're awake." He bent down to kiss her again, harder this time. It was a kiss of possession, of ownership, and Isabelle had to admit that she was feeling just fine with the idea of being owned by him because she was quite certain that she had ownership rights on him too. "Let's make the most out of this being naked, outside, and not cold." Kal pushed her down onto the ground. Isabelle wasn't yet finished with his mouth, making her demands equally known as her tongue swirled in and out, pushing and demanding his response. He was happy to give her what she was demanding. In this dream state everything felt different, a somehow fuzzy feeling, but still intoxicating to her senses. She was sure that, if she was asked to, she wouldn't be able to form coherent sentences. All that mattered was kissing and feeling Kal kiss her in return. She scraped her nails up and down his back knowing that if they were awake her nails would make a mark on him and every time he felt the slight pain he would 176

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be reminded of their intimate times together. She wasn't sure how long they would remain on his back in this world. "I don't think I could ever get bored kissing you." Kal's voice took on a guttural intonation that betrayed the immense amount of emotion that he felt. "Can we do this every night?" "We have been doing it every night." Isabelle pinched him and he yelped before laughing. "You just don't remember it when you're awake. But that's okay, I'll forgive you." She smoothed his hair back from his face. "Can I ask you something?" "Anything. Always." "Do you think you might marry me?" "You're asking me this now? While we are naked and technically asleep?" Kal paused. "I guess my timing is kind of off, huh?" "No, it's perfect." She knocked him gently on the head with his left hand. "But if you forget that you asked me this by the light of day I'm going to get really mad at you." "I promise to ask again if I forget that I've already asked. Does that make sense?" "Does any of this make sense?" She kissed both his cheeks. "So you actually haven't answered me. Will you 177

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marry me?" "I haven't answered?" "Isabelle—" "I'm joking. Yes. Yes. I will marry you, Kal, my love." She went back to the great pleasure of kissing his mouth and then paused. "Kal, do Outsiders get married or are we just assumed to be married once we've found our soul mates?" "I don't know. But this Outsider," he pointed at her, "and this Outsider are getting married." "Sounds like a plan." There was no more talking for either of them after that. In this venue, they were more comfortable with each other, they'd been doing this a long time in dreamland and Kal's hands moved over her body with the understanding only a lover who knew their partner's body inside and out could. Their lovemaking was short but intense and left them both breathless and clinging to each other. "So," Isabelle laughed when she could speak. "Want to know what I was originally talking about?" "What you were originally talking about?" Kal was breathing hard and Isabelle loved the sound of it. Loved that she had made him that out of control, that lost in their shared sensations. "I had started having a conversation with you prior 178

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to your suddenly removing my clothes." "Yeah?" "Yep." Isabelle was grinning into Kal's chest. This was the first time she had ever really seen him flustered. "And you've managed to retain your memory of what we were talking about prior to that earth shattering experience that we just shared while I am laying here completely spent and brainless?" "Yep." "Okay. I'll bite. What were you originally going to talk about?" "We can do anything we want to in here, we can run a race, debate world politics, or even do what we just did and, as you put it, move the earth and we are really resting and getting a good night's sleep." "So I'm not going to wake up and be exhausted from this?" "Not if it works like it usually works. But, then again, you may not remember this." He shook his head. "Oh, I'm going to remember this." "I think we're about to find out." "Are we waking up?" "Look up, see how the sky is kind of melting away?" 179

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Kal opened his eyes, squinting at the sky above them. Isabelle followed his gaze till she was sure they looked at the same part of the sky. The blue stretch filled with white clouds that had given the whole place the feel of a perfect spring day seemed to be melting away above them. "What does that mean?" "One of us is waking up."

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Chapter Thirteen When Isabelle awoke she knew instantly that it was still very early. She had always known exactly what time it was when she woke up, as if her body clock never really shut down. It was somewhere around 5:15 AM and she knew Kal needed to sleep a little bit more. She wondered where his mind had taken him since they had left each other's subconscious. Briefly, she gazed into his mind and saw he was dreaming, dirty dreams by the flashes she got and that they were all about her. Evidently their earlier encounter hadn't satisfied his need for her. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she really, really liked that. Blushing, she carefully pulled her mind away from his. She didn't want him waking up before he had enough rest to rejuvenate. She knew what the brief time glimpse of her family's murder had done to her, and could only imagine what the battle had to have done to Kal. He hadn't blacked out for hours as she had and had driven them all the way to Maine. All of this had happened prior to the mind-blowing sex they had shared afterwards. The poor guy deserved a little undisturbed REM. She was going to put it on her list of things that she was going to make sure he got from this point forward. She needed to build up the kind of strength she had 181

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watched Kal exhibit. Quietly, she got out of bed. Kal had destroyed her clothes from the night before. She glanced around the room and quickly noticed his closet. She silently walked towards it, hoping the floor didn't creak beneath her. This was an old house—she had grown up in an old house and knew that floors and foundations tended to make a ton of noise. She suspected Kal was a light sleeper and didn't want to spoil her whole plan of letting him rest by allowing the wood floor to creak beneath her. As silently as possible she tried to locate what looked in the dark to be a plain white tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She pulled them on over herself. She was sore in places she hadn't known she could be sore in and she had to admit that she loved the feeling. She practically swam in Kal's clothes and she had a feeling that she looked pretty ridiculous but she really didn't care. They would have to do. She crossed the room to his bathroom and quietly closed the door behind her. The woman Kal kept calling Dot obviously kept this room immaculately clean. Everything was put away just where it should have been and somehow Isabelle suspected that Kal was not the organized type. The bathroom was modernized with all of the usual conveniences, including, she noticed, a whirlpool tub and a shower that could double as a steam shower. Kal obviously liked his creature comforts. She could imagine a 182

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few things that they could do together in those places. She smiled to herself—one night of lovemaking followed by one dirty dream and she was already a sex addict. She borrowed his toothbrush, knowing that it was really gross to do so, and hoped he wouldn't mind. She really didn't have a choice, maybe Dot kept the spare toiletries somewhere in the house but she had no idea where that would be and she couldn't walk around completely unclean. As intimate as they had been the night before, she still hoped Kal wouldn't mind. She turned on the shower and while she waited for the water to heat up, which it did rather quickly, she took off the clothes that she had just put on and folded them neatly on the counter. Did everything work so well because someone in the house had, as Kal had called it, spell-cast it to do so or had they managed to drag all of these technologies onto a remote island in Maine? She rubbed the soap, completely unscented she noted, all over her body. This was definitely a guy's room and she was going to have to make things more feminine if she stayed here. She paused in her thinking. Was Kal going to want her to stay here or was she going to move somewhere else in the house? Was he even going to remember that he had proposed in their shared dream? She groaned a little bit. How many women could honestly say 183

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that they had been proposed to by their soul mate and it was possible that he wasn't even going to remember it? She turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack next to the shower. Navy blue. Yep, things were going to become a little bit pastel, not so much denim and navy blue. Had Kal picked these colors or had Dot picked them for him? Should she worry that she had agreed to marry the guy when she couldn't even answer that question? Did knowing a person's color preferences guarantee success in marriage? Well, she mused, stepping out of the shower and being careful not to slip, they had been born to be each other's partner on this planet, more than likely they could work out the small details as they went along. There were, after all, life and death details to focus on like evil creatures bent on world destruction and the death of her entire family. She knew that she was going to feel the grief associated with that terrible event soon but her brain seemed completely unable to focus on it now. Charma's magic, she thought, and wondered if the beautiful blonde woman who had been there when she had awakened ever thought of it in those terms. Stretching, she suddenly felt wonderful. Sexy and wanton was a wonderful feeling. She was still a little bit sore but not terribly so and she was sure she had it in her 184

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for a few more goes if Kal was up for it when he woke up. She ran a brush through her hair and exited to the hall. The house was dark and quiet. Closed doors lined the hall in front of them. She suddenly felt like she had walked into the opening scene of a gothic novel. The dark books of nineteenth century female authors had nothing on this place. Kal had referred to this part of the house as his wing. Did every door here belong to him? What did he put inside of them? She thought she remembered being told that the house was huge and that she was going to have to wander for a while until she found the kitchen. Well, she decided, I might as well snoop a little bit. She opened the door directly across the hall from Kal's room, waiting for it to creak and hoping she wasn't going to find herself face to face with one of the other people who lived in the house, probably pissed off for being awakened rudely by a stranger, but the room was empty. Depressingly empty. Was most of the house like this? Did it just sit here, unused? Isabelle suddenly thought of her parents' house. Her mother had painstakingly selected everything in it over the course of their lives. Every item had meaning or held a memory. How long had they all lived here that it was still so completely barren of stuff? What was it like for Kal to come home and walk down this heated and yet somehow 185

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frozen hallway towards his room? Who had built this house? It was well kept, showing no cobwebs or cracks but with the feeling of being very old. Something was keeping it heated just as something had kept the plumbing going. Somehow, Isabelle knew it was not conventional heating and piping doing the job. How could they bring repairmen over when something broke? She didn't hear radiators or heat coming through any of the vents. She raised her hand to feel the vent above her and felt no air coming through them. Someone must have that power, she realized as it occurred to her that she had a lot to learn. Marina, she thought suddenly of the girl Kal had been telepathically communicating with on the highway. She had said something that had made him look sad but she had obviously been extremely powerful. She had inflated their tire hundreds of miles away. It had to be Marina controlling the house. Was this something she had to concentrate on all the time? Turning what seemed to be her hundredth corner she arrived in a new part of the house. Isabelle wasn't sure at what point she had left Kal's designated section and crossed into someone else's but she hoped she hadn't broken any rules of trespass. Did they all just get to wander around each other's sections? The kitchen was modern like Kal's bathroom had 186

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been, feeling completely out of synch with the rest of the corridors. It was like stepping from one time period to another. The walls were yellow and bright with small decorative ceramic green leaves glued periodically. Not paying attention, Isabelle found herself face to face with a man. They practically collided. "Oh," she squealed, trying not to sound scared. She had wanted to meet the others and now here was one. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to find the kitchen." "You're Isabelle," he said simply. "You've found it." "I am and I guess I have found it. Yep." She looked up to examine the man. He was dark like Kal and young. He couldn't be Veli, unless they didn't age. She was going to have to ask Kal about that. He must be Leonardo. He had broad shoulders like Kal, but that was where the similarities ended. He was strong; she could tell that, but lean where Kal was built like a Viking. Leonardo's face was almost angelic and didn't carry any of the wear and tear that Kal's did. His eyes were distant and observational as they glanced her over. She felt like he was studying her for an exam. "You must be Leonardo," she supplied since he was not going to introduce himself. "I must be." He gave his first smile as he stepped 187

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aside to let her in the kitchen. "Sorry, that was rude," he admitted, following her back into the room. "I've been up all night going over Kal's account of what happened to you, and seeing you, I immediately started to recalibrate things." "Recalibrate? Like a computer?" she asked, opening the fridge, relieved to find orange juice. "I'm a power enhancer. A bit like a computer, I guess. More like a battery pack. I think I can help you with your power but I have to get myself set first." He joined her at the table. "You're smaller than I expected." "Ah, did you think I would be Amazonian?" She laughed, trying to find a way to relate to Leonardo. Kal hadn't warned her that he was so analytical and blunt but then maybe Kal had expected to introduce them personally and protect her from him. "Your mother was small, your father was tall." He nodded. "I guess because you have his power I thought you'd be like him." "My father?" Her eyes widened. He was referring to her Outsider parents. "How can you know that? I thought we were all just infants when we were sent away?" "We were," he concurred, nodding. "When we were babies, before we forgot, I gave Veli the names of all the babies and their parents. He wrote them down and later supplied the parents' power to the list. Each family is 188

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slightly unique in their gifts. That's how I know who you are. Your dad could time travel back and forth from events. Your name was Horacia Maltose but I don't imagine you'll want to go by that now. Your mother was a mind reader. They were highly respected elders, evidently very learned and advisors to the Great One and Abraxas after him. Veli says children usually only inherit the powers from one of their parents, like we inherit blue or brown eyes and the shape of our mouths but we all seem to have inherited both parents' powers. It's why we are considered so special, so dangerous to the Evil One." "Wow." Isabelle couldn't really fathom a better response. "I don't think I want to be called Horacia," she said finally. "No," Leonardo answered agreeably. "That would probably be weird for you. Marina went back to her Outsider name but she was only five at the time. I don't think I could go from being called something else my whole life to Leonardo now. Besides it will keep your connection with your parents. I'm sorry they died. Obviously if we had known about you, we would have protected them." Leonardo poured himself some coffee, staring at her again. "Well, I've known you all of three minutes and you've said quite a mouthful." Isabelle couldn't help teasing 189

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him. She suspected not too many people did. Leonardo reacted by almost choking on his coffee. "Give the girl a break, Leo, she just got here." Isabelle turned to see an older gentleman enter the room. He was tall and blond like Charma had been. Isabelle remembered that Kal told her that Veli had to do a dawn ritual. So this was Veli, who had raised them. Isabelle raised an eyebrow to look at him. He would not be destroying Kal's sense of self anymore, not now that she was around. He was a powerful warrior like Kal and he changed all the energy in the room when he entered it. Leonardo turned his back to her and Veli and looked at some papers on the counter, essentially shutting Veli and Isabelle out of his scope of concentration and ending his conversation. Isabelle didn't know if it was possible for Leonardo to be uncomfortable, but if it was, then he was uncomfortable with Veli. After a moment, Veli smiled. "I've looked for you for years, young lady." He bowed slightly to Isabelle and she remembered that he must be quite old, hundreds of years perhaps. "I'm so sorry for your loss but so glad you are finally with us." "Charma made me feel better so I can somehow get 190

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through this and Kal has been filling me in," she responded, not sure what to say to this man who took up, if not literally, then metaphorically, all the space in the room. "I hear you're soul mates," Veli answered, quickly turning towards the refrigerator to take out some eggs. She wondered if he was going to cook them breakfast and she was shocked by the way he had brought up her relationship with Kal. Neither Veli nor Leonardo seemed to have very much tact. "Ah, yes." "How are the chanters?" Veli asked, emotion filling his eyes for the first time. "Don't you hear them when you use your powers?" Leonardo asked, turning around towards Veli. His eyebrows were slightly downturned and he looked puzzled. "I haven't heard them since my wife died, well that's not entirely true," he corrected. "I heard them very loudly the day you dropped on my floor. I've always suspected that was Abraxas faking a hearing to make me think I was destined for the job when I was clearly not." "You think he 'faked it' to make you do something you shouldn't be doing?" Leonardo repeated. Isabelle wasn't sure but she thought Leonardo sounded slightly venomous. "How interesting. I didn't know Abraxas had that 191

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power. Perhaps we should add it to the list so when and if we find his daughter we can test her for it." Leonardo practically stalked out of the room, passing Charma and another tall, dark haired woman as he exited the room. He nodded curtly and kept going. "What has his panties all twisted up?" The second woman, who must be Marina, asked. She had a stride to her walk and quickly approached Veli, touching his arm in affection as she passed. In her job, Isabelle saw many dysfunctional families and had become adept at tuning into subtleties. Veli was obviously not a beloved uncle to the whole group but Marina was his ally. "Oh!" She squealed as she saw Isabelle. "You're Isabelle. I'm so happy you've been found and so sorry about your parents. Now after all of this time I'm finally not the newbie." Marina laughed, embracing Isabelle in a hug. "Ignore our rude male counterparts. Charma and I aren't sure how we'll ever teach them niceties. Veli is too old to change, although he won't tell us how old, and Leonardo gets forgiven everything when he's out in public because everyone he's around thinks he's a genius, which I suppose he is. Kal's not much better really but maybe you'll improve him. He's so dark and foreboding to strangers unless he wants to be charming." 192

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"I don't think he's dark and foreboding. Do you all think that?" Isabelle was stunned but totally comfortable with the group. It really did feel like they were cousins. "You don't?" Marina looked stunned. "They're soul mates," Charma added finally. Isabelle jumped, she'd forgotten Charma was there and realized that she must be able to disguise her presence if she didn't want to be seen. She looked pale and tired. Isabelle suspected she was struggling with the pain that should have been her own. She would have to thank her if they were ever alone. "You are?" Marina was stunned and silent for a moment. "No wonder you found him. Really, Kal has a soul mate? I mean, I love Kal like a brother but who knew the strong silent one would be the first to find his other half?" She laughed. Isabelle finally realized that Marina, for all of the troubles she had in the past, was actually a gentle flower. She needed things simple to get through the hardness that was her life. She had placed them all in categories that she probably didn't even believe herself. Children often did this to survive and Marina was still clinging to hers. Kal had said she didn't let them know the true extent of her power. Not being able to help herself she responded. "Still, strong waters run deep. I can assure you, it's been a very 193

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short period of time but it's very easy to love Kal." "He's a lucky man," Marina's eyes glowed with a depth that she obviously kept hidden and protected most of the time. Isabelle knew she would need to watch Marina very closely before she could really know what she was like. Closing her eyes, she searched for Kal and felt his presence in her mind. He was nearby, and the thought made her smile as she sipped her orange juice. **** Kal stood in the hall listening outside the door, Leonardo beside him. They had the advantage of having so much history that they frequently didn't have to communicate verbally even though they were both only telepathic with Veli and Marina. Their inability to communicate with each other telepathically had always bothered Kal. Why hadn't he just been able to talk to Leonardo and Charma the way he could with Marina and Veli? Leonardo had once speculated it had something to do with the sheer power structure of their small group being completely off kilter, as if nothing ever worked the way it was supposed to. He shrugged his shoulders. Nothing was going to get fixed on this subject today. Hearing Isabelle stand up to Marina when she 194

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thought he had been slighted made his insides burn. He wanted desperately to get her back to his room and show her how much he loved her too. He wanted her to say those words to him. He couldn't remember his parents and he didn't know if they had loved him, cherished him. To his recollection this was the first time anyone had used the words Love and Kal in the same sentence. "What's it like to hear the chanting when you touch her?" Leonardo whispered, showing unusual emotion. "Remember when we saw all of our neighbors murdered in Cincinnati because the mayor's assistant had gotten the address wrong and thought he was murdering us? And we had to sit there silent because we were still so young, so powerless and Veli was shouting in our heads not to interfere that we were too important to the Outsider's cause but it stung in our guts and we felt worthless and cowardly?" "Yes." Leonardo practically choked out the word. "She makes me believe it. Touching her, hearing them, loving her makes it all real and not remote. She makes every second of hell that I have endured being different and being raised by a man who could barely disguise his contempt for my family, worth it. She's the real deal and I'm suddenly a better man," Kal admitted strongly. Leonardo stared at him for a long second, not 195

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responding. He walked off slowly. Kal wasn't offended. Leonardo was a man of few words, at least where his family was concerned. He was told that at work when talking about history, Leonardo was downright chatty. He entered the kitchen smiling. He had thought to be serene but instead found himself kissing Isabelle passionately on the mouth, hard and demanding. **** Isabelle debated telling him that she knew he'd been in the hall. Deciding not to—he looked happy for a change—she wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling the warmth and wholeness that only Kal provided. "So what's on the agenda, V?" Kal asked brightly. "I don't guess you're going to let my girl spend a few days goofing off and getting her bearings, are you?" "If only we ever had the time, Kalmari," Veli answered, handing him a plate of eggs. "To start with, you need to go out and let Marina refocus your energy manipulation. It shouldn't have taken you so long to dispose of the evildoer. Perhaps your friends would still be alive. It's dangerous to deal with humans if you're not going to protect them properly." It was a reprimand if ever Isabelle had heard one 196

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and she felt Kal stop breathing for a second. She opened her mouth to defend Kal again but he squeezed her arm slightly to stop her. Whatever was going on here had gone on a long time and was obviously not going to stop by ostracizing Veli from her. "Okay." Kal took a deep breath. "I can do that if Marina can." "I can." Marina supplied finally. Had she been shocked by Kal's agreeableness? "I need to check the defenses on the island anyway and it'll be good to be outside. Can we do it by the water?" "Sure." Marina turned sharply to Isabelle. "Where have you been all my life?" Isabelle found herself laughing with Marina. "Upstate New York," she answered, making a joke in response that she hoped was funny. Everyone laughed, even Charma who still looked pale. "Charma," Veli spoke gently. "You need to stay inside today and stay alone. Go back to the books; see if we can find anything the Great One said about institutional problems. Find out, if you can, why the police have suddenly turned on us. Tell Leonardo I need him here to work with me on helping Isabelle." Charma nodded weakly and turned back into the 197

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hall, passing a dark, older woman who came hustling into the room. She had a tortured look on her face. Isabelle thought she must be Dot and instantly felt affection for the woman. She wondered how they would explain her presence here to Dot. "Dot." Kal touched her arm slightly. "This is my girlfriend, Isabelle. She came in last night with me. She was exhausted, with a migraine so we just went right to bed and didn't want to disturb you." "Your girlfriend?" The old woman's face lit up in delight. "You have a girlfriend?" She practically shouted. "Oh, I'm so happy to meet you and I see you are an early riser like this whole crew. No matter how early I get up, they are always up sooner. Can I make you some breakfast?" "No, thank you." Isabelle kept her voice neutral. "I just finished some of V's eggs." She used the nickname Kal had used, easily feeling aligned with him as if they had the same relationships already. Every second she spent with him seemed to make them closer. "A poor reproduction of what you would have made, Dot," Veli supplied. "We're going to need some more supplies from town. Do you think after you've eaten and dressed you could go to town on the boat and get enough food for a few weeks?" 198

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"Oh yes!" Dot said, apparently delighted to have Veli give her a task. "I'll get dressed right away." She scurried from the room quickly. "Marina?" Veli said looking at her. "I'll make sure the sea is calm," Marina answered his unasked question. "You can control the ocean?" Isabelle blanched. Kal had said she didn't use all of her power. How much power did she have? Telepathy? Spell casting? The ocean? "It's all part of the spell casting and it only works on this island. Come on, Kal. Let's get your energy reworked." When Kal let go of her, Isabelle felt immediately bereft. She needed him. Biting her lip to keep from asking him to stay, she watched how gracefully he moved. Kal turned back and touched the side of her face, which made her heart flutter. Wheeling on Veli, he pointed a finger at the older man. "Take care of her. She's not used to you." Turning on his heel, he followed Marina. Veli sighed visibly. He looked Isabelle right in the eye. "It's shocking to me how quickly and intensely you two fell for one another." "Isn't that how it is with Outsiders?" Isabelle asked, surprised. "Not when I was young. But it was different then. We grew up with our soul mates; my wife lived two 199

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cottages down from me. It was a feeling; it would start in your gut and grow more powerful with time till you both just knew you were made for each other. Then the chanting would start and you would desperately want to get married so that your parents would finally let you spend the night together. After the joining it was intense. But you have all been different from day one, so intense even as babies you could speak telepathically to me and you haven't grown up with Kal so your souls must have been desperate to seek each other out. I can only think you must have somehow known he was in those woods," Veli said, speaking mostly to himself although it was directed at Isabelle. Leonardo cleared his throat, entering the room to alert Veli to his presence. "Charma said you were ready for me." Isabelle thought Leonardo looked more composed than he had just a few minutes earlier. He had the same stoic, withdrawn look that he had shown her when they first met. "We are," Veli said simply. He looked Isabelle over briefly and noticed her outfit for the first time. "Dot will undoubtedly get you some clothes while she is out. She won't ask why you didn't bring any. We humor her by making up these stories but she doesn't ask questions, she just does what needs to be done. She's the only non200

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Outsider that we are ever in constant contact with. Regular humans can't currently be trusted. As things move forward and the Evil One gains in strength, more and more humans seem to be susceptible to him. I would love to know what the Great One said on this subject but, alas, in that I will always be vexed." "I'm still hopeful." She recognized that look on Leonardo's face—she had seen it on Kal's earlier when he had made the veiled remark about his friends dying. Obviously Leonardo had somehow let him down in this way. "Why can't you know what he said?" Isabelle asked, facing Veli. She was new here and wanted to help smooth things over between her new found brethren. "Abraxas was very thorough. He took copious notes on everything his mentor said. When things started to go awry and it was clear everyone was going to flee, he hid the books so they wouldn't be found by the wrong people. Abraxas was practically my brother and I have found, over the years, three of the books but the fourth and fifth ones are still lost. They have either been found by our enemy or they are still hidden. Leonardo has been casting spells for years to try to locate them. His power is to enhance others' powers, a trait he got from his mother, but also to see patterns others can't see. His father followed energy paths; 201

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he could see the spells moving in the sky. He could block and defend us from any attack because he could see it. We send out a locater spell to find the books, the energy moves and Leonardo does not follow it. He says he can't. So, we are blind without any prophecy to guide us. He prefers to read his history books." "I'm sure he would follow it if he could." Isabelle's heart ached for all of them. An image of her beloved Kal beat down in emotional vexation filled her mind. Veli obviously felt he was challenging them to do better, not realizing he was defeating them before they even started. She had seen parents struggle at their jobs before with less riding on their parenting success than this. There was going to be work to do. "Tell me about my powers." Isabelle spared Leonardo by changing the subject. "Your father could time travel, he was a great man. We were close friends and served on the council together. All the families sent one representative to the council. His power was so unique and only he could wield it. It was always passed down from father to son in your family and I am relieved to see it passed to daughter this time. Your mother could read minds, not heal them like Charma, but read them. She could enter their thoughts and be with them in their memories. It was quite a gift. She used to swear she 202

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was visited by the dead before they moved on but Abraxas thought she must have imagined that." Veli smiled at the memory. "She didn't imagine it. Trust me, it's very disconcerting," Isabelle responded, remembering once again the late night visit from her deceased neighbor. "That happens to you?" Leonardo said, amazed. "Once," Isabelle replied simply. "Go on. Tell me about the time travel. It felt more like a visit, I was stuck, and I couldn't communicate with anyone." "Honestly, I'm not sure but I can speculate why that was," Leonardo butted in. "You had Kal with you and keeping him in the past was sucking up a lot of your energy. Also, no one there was telepathic but you. The records all indicate that your father could communicate telepathically while he was in the past but not physically." "Hmm." Isabelle played with a strand of her hair. "What?" Leonardo pushed Veli out of the conversation. "If you could help me, I wonder…" Isabelle once again broke off her train of thought. She turned to Veli abruptly."Is there a time when we are more powerful?" "The full moon." Veli rolled his eyes. "Obviously Kal has told you about his issues during that time." Isabelle decided not to take the bait on that one. She wasn't going to 203

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start participating in the parental dysfunction. "Okay." She turned to Leonardo, grinning at him. "If you can help me focus, I think I can go back and ask Abraxas where the books are." She clapped her hands excitedly, glad that she could help in the struggle. "No!" Leonardo shouted. "That's too dangerous. We all saw you when you came in, you looked dead and that was only a trip back in time a few hours. We're talking three decades here and Kal would never forgive us if you were hurt." "The full moon is in two days. That gives me lots of time to practice and I'll have you this time, enhancing me." She smiled at Leonardo. "I know I'm supposed to do this." She turned to Veli and pointed at him. "And you know it too." "Two days," Veli glared at Leonardo. "She'd better be ready because if she's hurt, Kal won't just be upset. He'll kill you." With that Veli strode from the room. "Oh hell," Leonardo looked at the ceiling. "We'd better get started."

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Chapter Fourteen "I hate everything about this!" Kal was practically shouting at her. "No!" He said again for the fiftieth time. "This is not going to happen." "You sound like a dictator, Kal." Isabelle smiled up at him. She could feel his mind in torment. He was terrified of losing her. "We have to know what the prophecy said. The Evil Dude found me and I never even used a power. Nowhere in my wildest imagination did I even dream that I had any powers. He still found me. He's after me. That has put you all in danger. I know how strong you are and that you think you can protect me and I'm sure you can but I'm not going to run forever. We just got here. I like stability. I wasn't brought up in chaos and I certainly don't thrive in it. Hell, I made a career out of helping children leave disastrous situations and find peaceful loving families." She thought not for the first time of the irony of this and wondered just how much fate had been guiding her along to this moment. "This is going to be our home and by home I actually mean home, not some place we use as a base while we are running around hiding or drawing attention away from the others. We are going to live here, safely, until it's time to battle the bad guy and then that's going to be on our 205

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terms, not his. If he has the book, we have to know that, if he doesn't, we have to know that too, and this is how we figure it out. Leonardo can't understand why he can't follow the energy, well I can understand it. It's because I'm the one who is supposed to do it. Period. End of story." She thought she had done a pretty good job of taking on his dictatorial tone. There was a long pregnant pause between them and Isabelle could hear Kal's heart beating, she could literally feel it in her head. Her mouth was dry, she didn't usually give long assertive speeches. She picked up her water glass and took a long sip, maintaining eye contact with Kal the whole time. She decided it wasn't a good time to be reading his thoughts as he looked the most out of control she had seen him. It was, after all just two days till the full moon. In college this would be the time that he would have opted to leave and not be around people. It was probably not a good time to bring up to him her theory about all of the vampire, werewolf, and fae myths have really all stemmed from humans finding out about the Outsiders. He didn't seem to be in any kind of philosophical mood. She wasn't really worried about him hurting her, she knew without a doubt that Kal would never do that, but she was worried about him doing something to harm himself. There was no choice but to let her go back in time and try 206

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to contact Abraxas and she was going to do it whether he agreed or not, but she would prefer him to be on board. "You understand, don't you, that I can't let anything happen to you. That if something were to actually happen to you, I might go insane and start committing felonies and horrendous acts that I wouldn't be able to control?" Kal stated simply, his eyes hooding and if possible getting even darker. Isabelle could see in his eyes and hear in his tone that he meant every word that he said. "I don't think you would do that, Kal. You have too much self control, too much discipline. You've earned that control and discipline. Hell, five minutes with Veli and I was ready to nominate you for sainthood. But I appreciate that you care for me and that you want to see me safe." Isabelle could feel tears starting in her eyes and she tried to suppress them. It had been a long week, she had lost her parents and found Kal all at once. So much joy was coupled with so much agony, even if the awfulness had been tempered a little bit. "I don't just care for you, Isabelle. I would die for you, I would kill for you, and I would find a way to move the sun, if that was what you desired. I love you with every ounce of my being and every part of my soul. I love you the way people are only supposed to love in fairytales. My love for you is bordering on madness, obsession. I woke up this 207

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morning and you weren't next to me in bed. I was hard for you, desperate to be inside you again and when you weren't there my first thought was not curiosity about where you had gone but anger about who I had to kill to get you back with me." Isabelle could feel her own pulse pounding in her head. She hated to admit that she found this side of Kal so sexy. She had never thought herself a person who liked violence but with the way he radiated energy, she knew he was capable of brutality and strength the depth of which she couldn't fathom and yet she knew that he kept himself in check, all of which really turned her on. He was brutal in his self-control. He would never think of himself this way but when he was at his most tense and frightening was when he was also the most vulnerable—at least to her. He could kill and destroy anything in the world but not her, never her. She was safer because he was so capable of extreme action. She didn't know what it said about her but somehow thinking about him in that way could make her start to feel wet inside. "Does it frighten you?" He crossed over towards her. "Can you see the beast in me? You can read my mind and I can't read yours. Do you see things that make your skin crawl? Do you wish fate had been kinder and attached you to someone else? Because I won't give you up, I can 208

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never give you up." He put both hands on the bed around her, pushing her down on her back so that was on top of her with one of his knees in between her legs, opening her up. He pushed up slightly, his knee causing a wave of pleasure to pass through her body. "I'm not afraid of you, Kal. Just the opposite. I can read your mind, I can feel the currents moving through your body more intently tonight than last night, making you feel on edge and the things you feel for me, I feel for you too. I love you with a passion I shouldn't feel after so short a time. I love you in ways I didn't know were possible. I ache from loving you and before yesterday I've only known you in dreams." She pushed up to claim his mouth with her own. Kal was always so responsible for everything and everyone. His family needed him, relied on him, and resented him at the same time for their need of him, making him feel like he was frightening and out of control. She wondered in his current state if he could handle being bossed around a little bit. "I want to get on top of you," she whispered lovingly in his ear. "I want it right now." "My god." He laughed, flipping her over so that she could be on top, so that she could control their lovemaking. "I want your clothes off now, my warrior." She took 209

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on the authoritative tone she heard him use so frequently with others. She started pulling on his shirt and his pants; he helped her by sliding his jeans off his hips. "You don't know this because you can't read my mind," she continued, "but when I was in college, I would lie in my bed at night and dream that I was with a very strong man. I was on a hill top, waiting for him to come back from a battle he had been fighting. I knew he would be hot and bothered and sore from the fight still raging within him. I had been worried for nights and desperate for a release of my own. He would come to me then, still wearing his armor and he would take me hard and fast on that hill as I begged him for release. I would wake up in my bed and be wet and hot with no idea what to do about it. You know that I was somehow dreaming of you, don't you? I've loved you since before I knew you existed." She slid down his body towards his hard rod that was already glistening wet. She loved that she could have this effect on him and without another thought sank her mouth onto his hard erection. He let out a hiss from his mouth. "Oh god, love, what you are doing to me, I don't know how long I can hang on and I want to be deep inside of you when I come." He was practically begging and her mouth sank 210

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lower and lower on top of him, sucking hard. With her right hand she began squeezing where her mouth couldn't reach and his hips thrust off the bed. She was getting hotter and hotter with the anticipation and expectation of what was to come next. How long could she control him like this, she wondered. She knew Kal wanted to take the control back from her, desperately, but she wasn't through having her fun with him and sank even deeper, letting her teeth gently scrape him as she came up, her left hand squeezing his balls. "Isabelle!" He shouted in a voice that sounded low and foreign. He pulled her finally on top of him and rolled them to the other side of the bed, regaining the top position. "You are the most incredible woman I have ever known." His mouth took possession of hers as his tongue started a brutal assault on her mouth. Isabelle wasn't sure how many times he kissed her but it was hard and it was hot. She was so stupefied by the experience that she barely noticed that he had lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his waist. Quickly he thrust deeply inside of her, pushing them both towards the headboard of the bed. His free hand stopped the ascent and braced them so neither one of them was banging into it as his hips began their steady hard rhythm to claim her as his own. 211

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His lovemaking was different this time. The night before he had been careful and protective of her needs, knowing it was her first time but tonight he had started out edgy and she had provoked him into even more of a daze. He was taking total possession of her body, roughly, and she loved every second of it. She could feel the pressure starting inside of her again and she knew her release would come soon. It hit her hard and she screamed his name, scraping his back with her hands. But Kal wasn't finished with her yet. His member continued to pillage her as his hand joined in the fun, finding her most sensitive spot and squeezing it. She screamed in pleasure and her hips came off the bed harder as she came again and again with him. Finally, he succumbed, joining her in the ecstatic state that she was lost in. **** Isabelle had drifted off into a light sleep. He could see her lids fluttering slightly over her closed eyes. He had to keep reminding himself that while she was one of them, she was new to the powers she possessed and they were draining to her. He had taken her roughly and savagely without the tender care she deserved. He should take off and leave her until the moon was gone. He would leave this 212

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very second if she didn't have an unthinkable task ahead of her. There was no way he wasn't going to be anywhere but right next to her the whole time she travelled, hoping beyond hope that she came back to him safe and sound. Isabelle roused slightly and Kal winced. Had she been reading his thoughts and woken up or had she been waiting for him in their spot and he hadn't shown up? She opened her eyes to stare into his and pushed up on one arm to observe him more closely. "You don't sleep, even when you should be beyond exhausted. We're going to work on that." She lovingly brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Did I hurt you?" His eyes were slightly moist. The littlest things that Isabelle did touched his heart so deeply. Did she know that, he wondered? "Do I look hurt to you?" she answered, laughing at him. "I'm a tough girl, my love. Remember, I was made for you, that means I can take whatever you can dish out." She was teasing him and he loved the feel of it. "Don't tempt me, Isabelle. You need your sleep so you can practice tomorrow. Don't think I don't know what just occurred here. You totally manipulated me with sex. I know that's what just happened and for the record, I'm fine with it." He laughed out loud. "Did you successfully time travel at all today?" He needed to know what she was about 213

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to endure. "Yes. I moved back a couple of times and made contact with both Veli and Leonardo. It's kind of weird to see myself when I do it but that's okay. I'm getting used to it more and more. At first I was so freaked out because I'd be standing in the room discussing the jump I was about to do and then I'd see myself suddenly appear. It was tough to handle but it also, in a strange way, helped me. I realized that because I'd seen myself do it, I knew I could do it. It had to work. I had seen myself do it. Does that make sense?" "Strangely it does." Kal laughed. "In a kind of weird, late night television sci-fi kind of way." "I don't feel quite as hot when I do it now. I don't feel like I might explode," she replied, lazily stretching her arms over her head like a cat. "I feel like I could sleep for a week. Why are you wide awake?" "And Leonardo thinks he can pick the right time to speak to Abraxas without Abraxas altering anything to change the future?" He had ignored her question but he knew that he wasn't going to get any sleep until he had quieted his mind from the marathon it was running. Kal didn't want Abraxas to make anything worse. The former leader had screwed up enough once and didn't need the problems that came with foresight to make it worse on all 214

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of them. What if he decided not to send the children at all? Veli had been a parental nightmare but even Kal knew that Veli was preferable to ceasing to exist all together, which was inevitable if they all got left with their parents who had obviously died at the ends of the Darkness. "Leonardo thinks he can control the energy enough to take me back to the moments when we were doing the transfer before Abraxas was taken but after the point in which we were sent. This would mean I could actually communicate with Abraxas and not screw up too much of the future." "It's not a question of my doubting you. I have a problem with anything that might take you from me permanently. Heaven help the world if that ever happens. You are all that separates me from becoming something truly horrendous." She started to protest and he raised his hand to stop her, stroking her cheek. There was no point in arguing. This had to happen so he had to do something he hadn't done in a very long time—trust fate to take care of them all. **** They lay together in companionable silence listening to the sounds out back. A crow called out in the 215

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distance and further away another one answered. The ocean was a distant hum and the crickets had come out to warm the night with their music. It seemed the wrong time of year for crickets but then again the island was laden with magic, who knew what was true here that wasn't true elsewhere, Isabelle thought. She'd have to ask Marina as she was sure that Kal wouldn't know. She rolled onto her side and started stroking his chest with her fingers. His eyes were closed and his breathing was becoming even and she suspected that he was finally falling asleep. "You told me you loved me." Kal didn't open his eyes. "I did." She sighed. "You told me you loved me." She laughed into his ear. "In my whole life, no one has ever said that to me before. You can't die and take that away from me. I can't see the light that is you and then walk alone in the world again. I'm young but my soul feels very old. I think it was almost dead without you in my life." Isabelle wasn't sure but she thought she might have seen tears glistening in his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Kal. Didn't you know that the good guys are going to win this one?" She paused when he didn't smile and answer. "I was speaking with Veli today and he told me that men and women after they were 216

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married would go away for a while to be together, to join together and then they would come back months later truly joined. He said it was a time to reestablish control of their emotions because everything with your other half feels so intense at first. I think what we are feeling is amplified by the fact that we can't just be together and love each other with no one to interfere. But when this is over, I want to go somewhere just you and me and be quiet and eat great food and love each other till it hurts. Does that sound okay to you?" "That sounds like heaven, baby" He stretched. "Now you have a big day ahead of you and I need to check the security of the house in the morning. Something isn't feeling right and I'm not sure it's just my moon twitchiness getting under my skin. Get some rest." He kissed her several times on the mouth and lay down next to her. What should have been a peaceful moment, felt riddled in turbulent waters. Kal was thinking about death. The thought was tangible to her even as she probed his mind. "Shush." Isabelle pulled her hand behind her head to stroke his hair. "Your thoughts hurt. I'm never going to leave unless you are coming with me. No bad thoughts." "Serves you right for hanging out in my head." "Can't help it. I like being surrounded by your love 217

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for me, even in my mind."

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Chapter Fifteen "So what's the deal with you and Kal?" Isabelle asked Veli bluntly. She was sitting next to him in the living room having just attempted her longest time jump yet. It was getting easier and each time she did it she needed less and less down time but Veli had insisted that she have a time out. The kid gloves that he treated her with were quite different from the way he had raised her beloved. They had opted to use the living room as the best place to try the planned time jump to Abraxas. She had tried to convince them to let her go back and warn her parents and she was starting to suspect that she was enough in control of her own powers that she didn't need Veli's or Leonardo's permission to jump but she wasn't one hundred percent convinced of that and she didn't really want to screw anything up. Besides, Veli had leapt into a monologue describing the dangers of interfering with the past and she supposed that she had to agree. Meddling with things past seemed risky. After all, she could simply leap back and warn their people that the end was coming weeks before it happened and then maybe none of this had to happen at all. That would mean, of course, that she would never have been raised by her parents and she didn't want that either. 219

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Knowing that didn't make it any easier, it physically hurt her not to try to visit her parents and warn them of their death. The living room had the most physical floor space in the house and Leonardo felt that he could control the magic streams better in there. He didn't want to be encumbered by too much excess furniture and wall blockages. Isabelle wasn't exactly sure what that meant— they were travelling through time not space—but she didn't want to tell Leonardo how to do his job. She was beginning to see that each of them controlled their magic differently. She had to focus her energy outwards and literally throw her consciousness away from herself. It was disconcerting but fun at the same time. Her powers had started to feel like another limb in her body. If she could swing her arm forward, she could swing her whole person forward through time. It was becoming as easy as breathing. Leonardo seemed to internalize his powers, almost changing the way he perceived reality. His eyes became a strange color, lighter, almost translucent. He was always so intense, never seeming to relax or let his guard down. Veli seemed very intense when he was using his gift, much as Kal had seemed when he had shielded her on the street from the bullets and incinerated the police officer who was coming after them. Veli's powers flared up whenever 220

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Leonardo or Kal were in the room with him. He was always feeling defensive, leadership obviously didn't sit well with him. It was clear that Kal and Veli were both warriors, which was why Veli felt threatened. But Leonardo's powers were not aggressive so it made very little sense to her that Veli would be so wound up around Leonardo. One problem at a time, she kept reminding herself. Kal had to be her first priority. Marina still seemed like such a mystery to Isabelle because she kept herself so removed from the time jumping project. When she spoke she often came across as spooky and otherworldly, like she wasn't really present in the room with them. She bit her lip a lot when she spoke and Isabelle suspected she had a constant internal dialogue going on that she wasn't sharing with the rest of them—either that or she was keeping herself from speaking her mind. Isabelle wasn't sure which one was true. She had tried to peek in her mind but the attempt proved fruitless. The other woman's thoughts were a whirlwind, coming and going constantly. Isabelle wasn't sure how Marina even functioned like that. Kal's was the only mind she could move in and out of at will. Charma's powers seemed to flow out of her into someone else. Now that Isabelle was aware of them she would almost swear that they had a vague color. She was so 221

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quiet most of the time that she could slip in and out of rooms without anyone noticing that she was even there. She seemed sad and Isabelle knew that she must carry a huge amount of other people's personal baggage on her very slender shoulders. During one of their mandatory breaks, Leonardo had explained that these very distinct differences between personal powers were one of the reasons that familial relations had always been so strong among the Outsiders. It was only your own individual parents who could help you learn to understand and control the powers that manifested in their children. If she had been raised by her biological parents, they would have known how to teach her to jump from time period to time period better than Veli or Leonardo ever could. Isabelle thought they were doing a pretty good job considering that the lack of biological relatives had placed the current group at a huge disadvantage. Veli believed that Abraxas had recorded the powers of each of the families. They desperately needed Abraxas' journals and Isabelle felt the pressure acutely, which was maybe why she was breaking all of her personal rules about politeness and respect and asking Veli point blank what his issues were with Kal. If he could put pressure on her, she could provide it right back. She hadn't known Veli as a child, she 222

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didn't still hold a child's unreasonable fear of a threatening adult. "What do you mean?" Veli seemed uncomfortable and he started fiddling with the fabric on the couch next to him. Subtle signs of guilt and stress, she thought. If she had him in her office at home she would have immediately started pressing her questions about his parenting skills. She tried to imagine him in a therapeutic session, with all of his charges sitting around him. He didn't seem quite so intimidating that way. He was overwhelmed and under qualified for the job that had been handed to him. In a lot of ways he had really screwed it up, Isabelle thought with a sigh. But he was still just a man, not a monster, and she hoped she could get Kal to see him this way. "You guys are obviously very tense around each other." Isabelle had decided that she could temper her bluntness a little bit without losing her authority. There was no point in acting delicately, the full moon was twenty-four hours away, but she sincerely hoped that she could find a way that they could all have a healthy relationship with Veli when this was all over. She was going to have to start feeling and acting like an Outsider and she suspected that none of her ancestors would ever have been afraid of confronting Veli. She was a woman who could jump 223

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through time, a force to be reckoned with. "Tense?" Veli looked confused. He was acting like she had asked him his opinion on nuclear physics or beauty products. They obviously hadn't spent a lot of time talking about their feelings in this household. "I'm not tense around Kal. I've taken care of him and the others since they were babies. I was entrusted with them." He threw his hands down on the table in front of him in a gesture meant to end the conversation. She sighed heavily, knowing that she was going to get no verbal answers from him. Should she invade his mind and take a look? It seemed the only answer and she happily chose to act on it. The way she looked at it, she was choosing to be a little nosy and invasive but ultimately they all might be able to benefit from it. She closed her eyes and, not even sure that she could do it, she looked a little bit into his mind. Was it possible to invade Veli's mind uninvited? Images flooded her mind suddenly and she tried to let her conscious mind catch up with the new images that were pushed through her. Slow down, she begged her mind, slow down and let me see. Veli stood face to face with a man she didn't know but Kal resembled him a great deal. Isabelle suspected that it must have been Kal's father. Kal was going to grow up to 224

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look just like him. They had the same high cheekbones and the same intense eyebrows that slanted down when they were focused on something. It was obviously not a pleasant conversation between the two men. They were screaming at each other and a tall, greying man stood behind them trying to break up their fight. "Nepotism may have won out today; Veli you disgusting pig, but it will be the death of all of us. Weak!" Kal's father screamed in Veli's face. He held up his finger and he was gesturing wildly with it. "My wife would serve you better, Abraxas. She has no aggressive skills and she would keep us safer than this short-sighted, weak-minded fool. My family has always served our leaders! He is nothing but a peon." Kal's father turned on Abraxas, who Isabelle realized must be the greying man who stood between the two others. The image changed in Veli's mind and Isabelle realized that only seconds had passed where she and Veli were sitting in the present. The picture that Isabelle could see now was from Veli's perspective. He was standing in a doorway watching Kal and Leonardo play on the floor in front of him. They looked like two normal small children building with blocks. Veli laughed, scooping Leonardo up to take him off for a nap and he was whining about it, leaving Kal alone for a moment. He quickly returned to the 225

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room and the child version of Kal looked up to grin at Veli. Isabelle could feel the unexpressed joy in Veli's heart as he stared at the young child, knowing he would grow up to be a great man. Images swirled again and Kal stood, pinning Veli up against the wall of his bedroom, the full moon large in the sky outside. "You do know I could kill you now, Veli. I could kill you!" the teenage version of Kal screamed at Veli. Electricity moved through the air and Kal panted as the sheer force of it pounded on his still youthful face. He looked delirious and terrified as he did his best to try and seem grown up and sure of himself. Isabelle had seen this kind of electrical presence with Kal when he had called down the heavens to protect them from the onslaught of bullets on the street. He was grown up now and it had made him always insane for a few moments and filled with the need for human contact. He was young in this scene and not nearly as in control of himself. He obviously needed some reassurance, a parental touch to guide him through his newfound magical dilemmas. He was pushing Veli but all Isabelle wanted to see Veli do was put his arms around the young man and hold him tight. She knew that wasn't going to be happening. If anything like that had ever happened, they 226

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wouldn't have the relationship that they had now. "You could kill me, Kal, if you were any kind of warrior but just like your father you'll be weak and untrained and useless. Your father thought your family name was enough to carry him through to leadership. It wasn't and anyone who gave a shit about that is dead now," Veli spat back at Kal. "Come back and see me when you're actually a man and not just pretending to be. Get a hold of your powers, little boy, if you are even capable of doing that. Otherwise I'll take a gun to your head when you're sleeping and end the misery that is you before you infect any of the others with your weakness." Kal backed off as if he had been physically struck. Panting even more, he stalked from the room in a hurry. Isabelle wished she could follow him but these were Veli's memories and not Kal's. Veli turned to the wall and pounded on it with his fist. "Damn it!" He screamed to the heavens. "Damn. Damn. Damn." Agony washed over his body and Isabelle found herself being pulled back to the present. Something had changed in their current situation and her mind wasn't going to let her ignore it and stay in Veli's head. She turned swiftly to see Leonardo looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Sometime in the last few seconds he had appeared in the room and the expression on his face 227

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told her that he knew exactly what she had done, even if Veli did not. Isabelle suspected she would never be able to read Leonardo's thoughts, that he was too well guarded. She waited, wondering if he was about to expose her to Veli. A moment passed between them and he didn't utter a word. "I think she's ready, Veli," Leonardo broke the silence. "She's as ready as she will ever be." "Good." Veli cleared his throat. "We just found her, we certainly don't want to lose her, not when she shows so many unexpected abilities so quickly." He tried a weak smile, narrowing his eyes at her just slightly so that Isabelle began to question if, in fact, Veli had known exactly what she was doing and allowed her to do it. Maybe he had finally found a little relief at having gotten to share that memory of sending Kal off with someone else. He had acted in anger and confusion and it must have left him feeling like an incompetent parent at exactly the wrong moment. He had failed Kal but maybe it wasn't irreparable. Isabelle stood, ready to go back to work on the task at hand and leave musings of emotional health and parental responsibility for another day. She halted in her tracks, the room suddenly felt cold to Isabelle and she looked to see if Leonardo or Veli had noticed but neither one seemed to. Leonardo turned around 228

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to look at her questioningly. She began to shiver quietly, not wanting anyone to know if she was having some kind of post-time-travel attack. They would tell Kal and then he would insist that they call the whole thing off, at which point she would insist that they would not and they would end up fighting. She didn't want that—what she wanted was to feel warm again and at the moment she wasn't sure she ever would. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine Kal's arms around her keeping her safe. As if drawn from her imagination, Kal stalked into the room and looked at her questioningly. He immediately assessed the situation and threw his arms around her. She was extremely glad for his intuition even if it meant that they would be having that aforementioned argument later. "What's wrong?" he asked, deeply concerned. His body was tense and she knew he was keeping his voice calm for her but that he was about to explode. Just the night before she had assured him that she was perfectly capable of this kind of undertaking and now she was shaking like a leaf and they hadn't even done anything yet. Isabelle wasn't sure what to tell him but she didn't have time to dwell on the subject because she looked up and that was when she saw her. A young woman stood quietly in the corner of the room staring at all of them. She raised her arm to gesture to Isabelle as a salutation. 229

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"Who is that?" Isabelle shouted, pointing and gripping onto Kal but she knew the answer before anyone could respond. They wouldn't be able to see her anymore than her adopted parents had been able to see the dead neighbor years earlier. This was one of her powers, speaking to the dead, and only she could see the woman. She was going to have to handle this on her own. She didn't remember if she had the physical reaction the last time she had seen a dead person but she wasn't going to dwell on that now. "Who?" Kal spun around ready to attack as Veli and Leonardo rose in confusion. "You can't see her. She's dead." Isabelle practically groaned. She had hoped to never have to see this particular phenomena again and the timing was very bad. Whatever it was that this woman wanted was sure to only throw a wrinkle in their already difficult situation. Spirits didn't travel from the great beyond for no reason, at least she didn't think they did. "Dead?" Leonardo croaked, spinning around again. "You really can see the dead? I guess if you can travel in time, it would make sense that time can travel to you." He seemed genuinely excited by the prospect. "Thanks for the analysis. You can write it all down later," Kal snapped at Leonardo. "What does this dead 230

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person want with you?" "I don't know. Should I try to talk to her?" Isabelle looked at Kal. "Yes," Veli answered for Kal as if he had the right. "If she wasn't here earlier, then she must want something now. Something about this moment has called her here. Find out what it is." His words were spoken calmly but she could tell he was nervous. Evidently seeing ghosts was not something that was considered normal even amongst abnormal people, or not quite normal people she amended in her mind. "Can you talk to me?" Isabelle gently removed herself from Kal's arms and started to approach the shimmering woman in the corner. Up close, Isabelle could see that she looked very beautiful, ethereal, and that she must have been fair skinned with high cheekbones and a regal looking nose. Her hair fell to her waist in ringlet curls. "I've been waiting so long for you to come here, Horacia. Your mother told me that you alone would be able to see me after all this time. We've waited and waited and I started to fear that you would not get here in time." The woman smiled sadly at Isabelle. It didn't seem the time to correct her name. If this ghost thought of her as Horacia then Isabelle was not going to argue a small detail such as 231

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her current name. "My mother?" Isabelle asked. "Which mother?" That seemed silly, she thought after a moment. If the woman was calling her Horacia then she must have come from the only mother who had ever called her that. Marina and Charma had arrived in the room sometime in the last few moments and Isabelle was sure she looked crazy, as if she was speaking to the wall. Leonardo was quietly filling them in on what was happening. "Not your human mother, dear," the apparition spoke quietly. "Your mother who was one of us. She too could see the departed. She watches you, we all do. We watch all of you. Tell them all that later. The four of them seem to need to hear that very badly." "Who are you?" Isabelle asked quietly. If the woman was watching them, always, then she needed to know who it was that was doing the viewing. "I'm Veli's wife, Anahera. I don't have much time and I shouldn't be talking to you. The Fates won't like it and I'm sure they'll cut me off soon but since I have no direct children involved in this affair, I can communicate for a little while before they catch on. The others are monitored much more closely. I wonder sometimes if that's why we never had children, so that I could communicate now. These things are all very complicated, intricate and difficult 232

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to decipher because they have so many layers. But I am babbling and as I said we don't have much time. There is a message that I feel that I must deliver right now. But before that let me just say that I don't want you to judge Veli too harshly by what you just saw in his own mind. He punishes himself enough, he doesn't need someone who has never had to raise children, let alone four children, in a constant state of trauma and upheaval to punish him." "I have no intention of judging anyone, Anahera, but I suspect that you didn't travel from the great beyond and risk the wrath of the Fates to tell me that, did you?" Isabelle repeated the name out loud for Veli's benefit. She heard him hiss behind her as if he had been struck. This had been Veli's soul mate and he had lived half a lifetime without her. She had only been with Kal for a heartbeat in comparison and she knew she would curl up and die if he disappeared. Veli was still functioning, mostly. "Ana!" He shouted to no one in particular with such anguish in his voice that Isabelle had to swallow down the emotions it made her feel. It was not the time for weeping. "Veli's time is running out. He knows this, he has felt it every morning for the last year and soon he will be with me. You'll notice I didn't say rest as none of us are resting, desperate to know the outcome of this tale. Your arrival here as I have told you has caused us great joy 233

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because it means perhaps things are moving in our favor. Or maybe not, as I said earlier, this is all very complicated and confusing. But enough on that for right now. I suppose that will all become resolved later on, one way or another. Tell Veli that before it is too late he must tell you the entire tale. He will know what that means. He must not hide it from you anymore before it is too late to tell you. I don't mean you specifically; he needs to tell all of you. Tell him. It's almost time and nothing good can possibly come from all of you not knowing. It would be like letting you fight a battle blind." Isabelle had no chance to react to that because as quickly as Anahera had appeared, she was gone and warmth came back to Isabelle's body. Her cheeks felt hot and she could feel her pulse racing. This might be her power to wield, but it wasn't a comfortable one. Isabelle felt dizzy and sweaty as she turned around and practically collapsed in Kal's arms. He held her like a baby and carried her to the couch gently. "You're burning up again," Kal remarked. "Is this going to happen to you every time a spirit feels like chatting?" "I'm hoping they don't do it that often." "Still." "Maybe I'll get better at it as I get more practice like 234

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I am with the time jumping." "Is she still here?" Veli practically shouted, interrupting their light banter. Clearly Veli hadn't gotten that Kal was trying to calm her down by acting calm himself and even though Isabelle had recognized that as what was happening and therefore found herself unable to actually fall for the attempt, she was grateful Kal had made the effort. She took a deep breath that seemed more like a sigh and tried to see things from Veli's perspective. She had just spoken to his very dead wife. Isabelle could only imagine how frantic he must feel. She had been with her soul mate for only two days and losing him was inconceivable. Veli must live every day in pain and then to know that she was here, but that only Isabelle who was practically a stranger could see her, must have been awful for him to endure. "No." Isabelle shook her head. "She didn't have much time and she was pretty sure that the powers that be were not going to be happy that she had come in the first place. She felt compelled so she did it anyway even though she knew she might be facing some kind of trouble. She felt that she was the only one who could make the trip because she didn't have any children actually involved in this whole scenario." "That's my Ana." Water formed in Veli's eyes. 235

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Leonardo and Charma looked uncomfortable as Marina placed a gentle hand on his arm. He wiped away the tear quickly. "She was always damning the consequences to do what she felt was right. She had scars across her back from her father's switch because she could never learn not to speak her mind. He was a mean old bastard." The room was strangely silent and Isabelle wasn't sure what she should say next. Should she try to comfort Veli or continue on to tell them what Ana's message had been? She looked at Kal for some kind of guidance but he was looking at his feet. No help there, she thought suddenly, and continued on with the message she needed to relate. "She said she had to come to tell you that you had to tell us the entire tale before it was too late. She said your time was coming to an end, which you already knew, and that you had to tell us whatever this tale was before you couldn't tell us," Isabelle said, relaying the message. She hoped that there weren't too many other ghosts out there waiting for her to relay messages. She had seen, and enjoyed, the movie where the young hero had been able to talk to the dead but she wasn't anxious to actually live it on a day to day basis. She deliberately didn't tell him Ana's aside about not judging Veli too harshly. It didn't seem the time and she kind of thought that had been for her ears 236

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only. Veli suddenly went very still. "What tale?" Leonardo questioned, looking very suspicious, grim, and daunting all at the same time. He turned to Veli, facing him and looking him right square in the eyes. "What have you been keeping from us that is so important that your dead wife had to travel over from the great beyond to remind you to tell us?" There was ferocity to Leonardo's voice that Isabelle had never heard before and suddenly he didn't seem so very different from Kal. She could imagine them in battle together. Leonardo was obviously a man of secret strength. He must have aggressive powers that she hadn't seen yet and Veli's automatic reactions to him made much more sense. Somehow Leonardo was as intimidating to Veli as Kal was, maybe more. "After." Veli threw up a hand like he was done with the conversation. "It's not time yet. After we find the books, then you'll understand everything." Veli obviously felt that this was the final word on the subject and he stomped from the room. Isabelle couldn't help feeling sorry for him— even if he was being obtuse, he looked shaken and distraught. "What did she look like?" Charma asked quietly. "I've always wondered what kind of woman could melt 237

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Veli's heart. It's not like he's had pictures around for us to look at over the years. She's been like this faceless, constant presence in our lives and he's never even described her to us." "Did any of us ever ask him what she looked like or did we all assume that he wouldn't tell us?" Marina asked suddenly. "I certainly never asked." "Why would we ask when it was so apparent that he didn't want to talk about the people that had been lost except to catalogue them like ice cream flavors? Name, rank, power skill, child." Leonardo sounded bitter. "Besides, I personally don't care what she looked like. Any woman that could really love him must be seriously off of her rocker." "Leonardo!" Charma chided. "We don't know what Veli was like before he lost her, before he lost everyone, and got saddled with us." "Saddled?" Leonardo whirled on Charma. "He wasn't saddled with us, he was given us to protect. That was his job, to protect our society, to keep us all safe. He was Abraxas' number two, the chief warrior. He was placed in a position of responsibility. Maybe he never thought he'd have to do exactly what he was given to do but that doesn't excuse that he did a very bad job at it. We're still like children in our abilities and we may never be any better. 238

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We're fighting a cosmic battle and he won't even give us all the details on it. Isabelle didn't even know she had powers and this great Darkness that we have been running from our entire lives found her anyway. Probably the other children are dead or locked up being experimented on by governments all over the world. I personally don't give a shit if he misses his wife or he doesn't miss her." "You are so hard on him!" Marina turned, stepping in front of Charma to face Leonardo. "Did you ever go hungry? Did you ever go without anything you ever needed? You have a PhD for goodness sake. You landed in Veli's lap and you know what, you were lucky that you did. I spent years starving in a Russian orphanage. I was dirty and hungry and so lonely that I thought I would die and I was four years old. As far as I'm concerned Veli is my guardian angel and you're just an ungrateful child." "I'm so sick of you sticking up for him. You don't know what it was like for the three of us. He was so grateful to have found you, it made him not a complete failure but we all know who really found you." Leonardo stopped his ranting long enough to point at Charma. "She did. He's babied you from day one. We don't even know what you are capable of doing yet. Oh don't bother poor Marina, he would scream at us. She had to live in an orphanage. So what if she can't and maybe won't ever be 239

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able to control her powers? Take care of her, Charma; help her, Leonardo; and protect her, Kal. Isabelle has been with us for a smidgen of days and she's already more in control of her abilities than you will ever be because all you do is dither around and tap into this power and tap into that power and stare at the ocean. You've been back from the orphanage for a quarter of a century. Time to maybe start moving on! Maybe if the Darkness comes today he'll take you by the hand gently and make sure nothing bad happens to you, maybe he'll—" "Enough!" Kal bellowed at the others. Whatever it was that Leonardo was going to say was stopped abruptly by the sheer force of Kal's authority. "Do you think this is helpful? You open your mouth for the first time in ten years and the most useful thing that you can do is yell at Charma and pick on Marina? How is this fixing anything? Veli needs to be made to tell us what's going on. Isabelle isn't going to be doing any jumping back in time until I'm convinced that he is not holding back something that is potentially dangerous to her. And nothing is going to be fixed by fighting amongst ourselves. Marina sees Veli differently than the three of us do, fine. Marina, Leonardo is right, it's time to stop screwing around and work with your powers." Kal paused, squeezing Isabelle's hand. "I'll make Veli talk. You can count on it. 240

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"We're a family," Kal finished his thought. "Dysfunctional as hell but this is the only family any of us are likely to get. I found Isabelle. You all have someone out there too. I believe it in my soul. Isabelle and I used to visit each other in our dreams, we still do but now we know we're not just imagining each other. Do any of you have that going on?" Silence filled the room once again and Kal sighed deeply, turning as if he would follow Veli from the room. Isabelle looked around even as she dove deep into Kal's mind. They had too many years, he thought, too many years of not quite trusting each other. Too many years of not being sure that Veli was going to explode and watching out for their own individual interests only. "When I was in the orphanage," Marina began, stopping Kal in his tracks, "I used to call out at night in my dreams. That's how I eventually found Charma but before that I used to talk every night to this boy, I don't know his name, but he was very important to me. I knew how to speak to him almost before I knew how to literally speak. I can remember that we would just send each other images of things. I used to tell him how awful things were and he would promise that he was going to come get me. Terribly responsible for a four year old, I guess. One day he just didn't answer me anymore. It felt like I had lost a leg. I 241

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think he died. I think my soul mate died. Why else would he have stopped answering? He used to tell me that when he grew up, he would find me. Do you think he's dead?" Marina's eyes filled with tears and Charma reached out to pull her into her embrace. "That's what I was talking about, Marina. You are so powerful that you reached out across oceans to find Charma and now you're telling me you used to speak nightly to a little boy that we don't know yet. Do you have any idea what you must be capable of?" Leonardo reached out to touch Marina on the shoulder. Isabelle thought it looked like an awkward gesture, but at least he was trying. "I used to feel this presence with me." Charma let go of Marina. "It was almost like we were walking through life together but then as we got older he seemed to forget me and then one day he was gone. So if my other half is out there he certainly doesn't remember anything about me." Charma shrugged. "I'm not sure I could handle another person in my life, not another person that I was that closely connected to anyhow. I can barely get through the day without being inundated with other people's problems, how on earth would I be able to handle the emotional burdens of someone I was in love with? I think Kal might have been the only one of us who was even capable of loving someone else that completely." 242

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"What?" Kal looked shocked. "I'm probably the most screwed up of any of you. I belong in the zoo, not around people. I practically become an animal every month when the moon changes and I'm not even that good at what I'm supposed to be doing. I don't protect anybody. All of my college friends are dead just because they knew me. I wasn't able to save Isabelle's parents. I keep thinking any second that this beautiful gift I've been given in Isabelle is going to go away. Someone's going to say 'whoops, she wasn't meant for you' and then she'll be gone." "I've told you before and I'll say it again, I was meant for only you. I doubt the majestic chanters upstairs, you know those supreme beings that are watching us, would have started singing and chanting in our heads every time we're together if we were meant to be with other people. I doubt they make that kind of mistake and even if somebody did come down and tell me I had to go to someone else, I wouldn't leave. I love you and I'll kick anyone's ass who tries to separate us," Isabelle asserted. "She was made just for you, wasn't she?" Leonardo laughed. "She's the only woman I've ever met who is stubborn enough to put up with your temper and still come out on top." "What about you, Leonardo? Have you felt or spoken with your other half? Any idea where she might 243

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be?" Isabelle laughed. "How do you know I'm not gay?" Leonardo's eyes spoke of seriousness. "Are you gay?" Isabelle eyes widened. It was totally fine if Leonardo was gay, she had lots of gay friends, and she had just assumed that everyone was paired up man and woman. "No," he laughed. "I'm not gay. I'm just pointing out that there might be some problems in this whole soul mate phenomena. What if one of our others is gay? What if they are married with children? Are we going to separate them? Ask them to leave their families and come live with us? What if they don't like Maine? What if they don't speak English?" "Do you stay up at night and worry about these things?" Kal asked seriously. "Yep." "Let me say that with this whole married, sexual orientation thing. I never had sex with anyone but Kal. Have you guys been sleeping around?" Isabelle asked. "No." Charma laughed. "I can barely touch anyone without seeing their whole lives let alone sleep around. I don't want to know if the person I am kissing stole pain killers from his near death grandmother to sell to his high school buddies." 244

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"No." Marina folded her hands together. "The truth is that I hardly speak to anyone outside of our little family anymore. I just feel lost most of the time." "Not sleeping around." Leonardo looked up at the ceiling before he glanced back at the group. "I'm not going to say I've never been sexually active, that would be a lie, but I don't sleep around. It's always been just okay. I guess I'm the only guy on the planet who is not totally sexually motivated." "It was like that for me too. It's better with your soul mate," Kal answered. "Thanks, babe." Isabelle laughed. "I think the other Outsiders, the other people out there who are like us, are having the same problems. I think they are more or less waiting for their other halves too. We can find them." "I didn't answer your question, Isabelle," Leonardo finally finished. "I used to talk to my other half all the time and then one day she changed. We used to meet in our dreams too. She was beautiful, I guess I shouldn't say was, I'm sure she is still beautiful but she is," Leonardo didn't finish his thought and instead closed his mouth like it pained him to continue. "She's what?" Isabelle narrowed her gaze. "She joined with him." "Who?" Kal lowered his voice. 245

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"Him. The Darkness. Every time we are attacked, every time something happens, I feel her as part of it. I'm terrified to find her. I'm going to have to kill her, or worse, maybe I'll have to ask Kal to kill her. I don't let myself meet her anymore. I don't let myself see her so I guess I don't have a soul mate anymore. I know she was beautiful but I don't let myself see her face or hear her. Her name sits on the tip of my tongue but I can't seem to recall it or say it." Leonardo let his hands run through his hair. "I think I'm the most fucked up one in this room and I don't ever want to discuss it again." A gaping silence filled the room, hitting each one of them with the severity of their situation. Marina finally cleared her throat. "I'll work on my powers," "I know you will." Leonardo sounded tired. "I'm sorry I yelled." "Don't put it off for ten years and maybe you won't explode next time." Marina laughed. "Ethereal and young." Isabelle wanted to get some space and to give Leonardo some. "Ana was ethereal and so terribly young to be dead for so long." She smiled weakly at everyone and headed back towards Kal's room. She knew he would follow quietly behind her and she was desperate and bone tired, needing only to fall into his arms for some support. 246

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"I was thinking," Kal breathed into her ear and sending shivers down her spine as he came up behind her, pushing her into the room in front of him. She smiled, sensing his warmth and feeling so glad that they were alone. She needed to digest what had just happened. Every instinct in her body was telling her that she needed to help heal their sadness but she also knew she couldn't fix the world. Maybe it wasn't her job, maybe that job belonged to their brethren that were still missing, the ones who were connected to the three amazing individuals wandering around this island. The three lost souls who were trying to cope with impossible odds and still figure out who they were and how they were going to get through what they still had to do. "Once this is over we should go collect some of your things and bring them here so you don't have stare at my stuff all the time without any of your stuff to go along with it." "Hmmm." Isabelle could barely answer. She was beyond weary as she pulled his arms tighter around her. She loved when he talked about the future; it made her imagine that one day all of this preparation and the upcoming task that she had to undertake would be nothing but a memory. Kal began placing kisses on her neck and Isabelle could already feel her body beginning to heat up to 247

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his touch. Her revelry was short lived as not two seconds later the doorbell to the house rang. Kal's whole body began to tense. "Someone got onto the island and didn't sound an alarm." He let go of her and charged down the hall and towards the front door. Isabelle ran after him and arrived just in time to see Dot opening the door. There she was, sweet, caring, and speaking to the people in front of her. An ache of déjà vu greeted Isabelle. Her mom had innocently opened the door just two days ago and now she was gone. People did that, she realized—they opened the door when it rang and never expected that anyone on the other side wanted to harm them. Dot should know better, she realized, Dot had lost her family. She shouldn't just open the door. She wished she could scream. Was this panic normal? Was Charma's spell going to stop now? Kal had been so upset that they had surprised them by getting to the door. How had they done that? What did it mean? Three men stood in front of Dot. They varied in age and size. Two of them, both dark and older, were flanked by a younger man who stood in the middle. But it was the man on the right who had Isabelle's attention. She and Kal had seen him before; he was the one who had murdered her parents. Rage and terror swept through Isabelle faster than she could control them, replacing her earlier panic. She 248

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wanted blood, she wanted that man's blood. She knew Kal would get it for her as he pushed her back behind the landing of the stairs. "Don't let them see you," he whispered in her ear. His breath was warm and moist and she could feel the tension mounting in the room. Could the others feel it? Did they know that her warrior was calling down his elements? Did anyone besides her know what that meant? The four other Outsiders were communicating telepathically. Isabelle felt like she could hear bits and pieces of their conversation. Anytime that Kal spoke she could hear what he said but the others were still hidden from her, mostly. Sometimes she could make out pieces of what Charma was saying, probably because Charma had been in her head. Veli had still not shown up. It was possible that wherever he had gone to recover from Ana's visit, he didn't yet know that they had unwanted visitors. Her heart was pounding. Kal and Leonardo had stepped forward and Leonardo had placed his arm around Dot, leading her towards the other room. She couldn't see what he was whispering to her but Dot was listening to him. Charma and Marina had appeared seemingly from nowhere and were standing around her. Isabelle didn't know if she should be offended that they were all protecting and shielding her. 249

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She figured she was just as capable of taking care of herself as Charma was but she wasn't going to complain about it right at that moment. "I'm sorry to bother you, folks. This is quite a little island set up you have here. We weren't sure we could get to this place, considering the strange weather we've been having. It seemed every time we came to make the trip, it would start to shower," the older gentleman to the left was saying. "My name is Roger Drake, and I'm the sheriff of Parma." Parma, Isabelle remembered, was the mainland town that Dot took the boat to when they needed supplies. It's where they had left her car. These men already knew she was here. "This gentleman right here is my assistant deputy. His name is Drew Polanski, he insisted on coming with us." There was a tone to the Sheriff's voice when he said that. For some reason he wasn't happy that the younger officer was

there.

Drew

Polanski

didn't

squirm

at

this

admonishment; he barely seemed to notice as his eyes prowled around the front hall like an animal, Isabelle realized. Drew had been scouting out the place like he was memorizing it, so he could come back later. For a second, Isabelle could have sworn that he had seen her, although she knew that was next to impossible 250

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because she was so well hidden by the large staircase. Marina's arms had gone tight around her and she was breathing heavier. She turned quietly to look in her face, it looked like a war was raging behind Marina's blue eyes. Isabelle couldn't begin to guess what Marina was thinking about. Drew stopped what he was doing and looked Kal straight in the eyes. Kal raised his eyebrows in surprise. With the amount of charged electricity in the room, Isabelle was surprised anyone could withstand Kal's eye-contact. Whoever this person was, he was fearless. "And the man on the far right there is Detective Michael Monroe from the Albany sheriff's department. We are looking for a Kal Oberan. We need to question him about the murder of a police officer outside of Albany as well as the murder of three of his friends who, I am told, he was on a camping trip with. Also, there seems to be some connection to the murder of three members of a family by the name of Listora as well. Detective Monroe would like to speak to Mr. Oberan about this." **** If they wanted to speak to him, he'd let them—to a point. 251

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Kal could not read any open hostility from Roger Drake, or at least not enough to set off his warning alarms. If the Darkness held him, it wasn't complete. Maybe there was time to stop this from happening to him. The younger man, Drew, seemed to be playing his cards close to the table but there was no doubt in his mind that he was here with an agenda. The other man was harder to read, which was making the hairs on the back of Kal's neck stand at attention. He knew this son of a bitch had killed Isabelle's parents. Was he here to finish the job? Did he remember what had happened? Something inside of Kal was coming alive. It was too close to the full moon for him to keep his temper much longer. He was going to explode, it almost felt like something inside of him was moving, growing, changing and reshaping. "Officer," Leonardo began, putting on his best smile. "I'm just not sure how Kal could possibly be involved in that. He's been here for weeks. We've been having what you might call a little family reunion going on. This is the first we are hearing about Kal's friends getting killed. What exactly happened?" Kal smiled to himself. Leonardo never ceased to surprise him—the man could lie like a pro. "Camping?" Charma stepped out from where she had been standing next to Isabelle. "Kal doesn't camp. He 252

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doesn't go anywhere without his blow dryer. You know these television personality people and their vanity problems." Blow dryer? Isabelle questioned Kal telepathically. Do you spend a lot of time quaffing? Not one single moment, if I can avoid it. There's something going on here that is bigger than just this single moment. Something is happening inside of me. I can feel it. It's like something is coming to life. Michael Monroe turned to look at Charma. His eyes started to glitter like he was looking at a bowl of ice cream that he couldn't wait to eat. Kal took a deep breath, it was time to put an end to this questioning. There was no way that man was getting any closer to anyone he loved. Kal didn't want Charma infected with any of this man's memories. "What seems to be the problem, Sheriff?" Kal put his hands behind his back. "My family is trying to embarrass me, I think. I'm Kal Oberan. How can I help you?" Kal quickly placed his hand on Charma's shoulder. He didn't want her lying anymore. Are you crazy? Leonardo's voice rang in his head. They're going to arrest you for murdering a cop. They can try and arrest me, Kal answered simply back to Leonardo. One of these guys is the asshole that 253

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murdered Isabelle's parents. The only way he's leaving here is in a body bag. Somehow I don't think these other two are going to be okay with my taking him down. I think we need to be prepared for bullets to fly. I'm counting on you to keep Isabelle safe, Leonardo. Watch your temper, Veli reminded him, finally entering the room and broadening his scope so Isabelle was included in the conversation. She wasn't sure how he had done that but she was grateful that he had thought about it. If Kal was about to do something unwise she wanted to opportunity to at least attempt to talk him out of it. I'm tired of watching my temper, Kal answered Veli. It's time everyone else watched out for me. Something is happening inside of me, V. Something is coming alive. You told us for years that a showdown would be coming. This is my time, I can feel it. It's calling to me. Veli's eyes widened suddenly. This is terrible timing, Kal. Isabelle has to get back to Abraxas. We can't be all hauled down to jail. I don't care. I'll tell you what I told Leonardo. No one is taking me to jail today. The sheriff opened his mouth to answer Kal when he seemed to suddenly be overtaken by something. His body grew stiff and Isabelle suddenly wondered if he was about to have an epileptic fit. Marina let out a small shriek 254

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and stared at the ceiling above the sheriff's head. She came out from behind the stairs and pointed silently above her head. Roger Drake's eyes had begun to roll to the back of his head. Standing next to him the young officer called Drew grabbed onto his arm. "Sheriff?" Drew asked suddenly. He stared above him too, his eyes suddenly capturing Marina's. An obvious moment of recognition passed between them and Drew's mouth opened into the shape of a circle before he quickly closed it. "Can you people see that? Can you hear that?" He pointed above the sheriff's head. **** Everything looked normal to Kal, he certainly didn't see anything that seemed out of the ordinary up there but then he wasn't a spell caster. He had learned long ago that there were things happening around him that he would simply never be able to see. Marina and Leonardo could obviously see what Drew was pointing to. They were both fixated with something going on above his head. There was no time to question the fact that Drew could see it too as both the sheriff and Michael, the officer who had killed Isabelle's parents, drew their weapons at Kal. "Hey!" Drew shouted, pointing his weapon at the 255

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sheriff. "There's no cause for that. Put that weapon down, Sheriff. We're just here to talk and no one is threatening you." The sheriff opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out as Michael began to fire his revolver. Using every instinct available to him, Kal put up his shields. No one in this room was getting shot, if he could help it. He could feel Veli stepping beside him to add his own power to the blockade but for the first time ever Kal's defense was stronger than Veli's and after a few moments Veli withdrew his help, letting Kal handle it himself. Somehow without Veli's attempted assistance, Kal's opposition was even stronger. Isabelle was shouting something at him but he couldn't make out what she was saying. He found he could maintain his strategy quite easily, as if he wasn't even trying. The chanting was pounding in his ears, differently than with Isabelle. This chant was filled with power, loud and demanding. It pushed him, telling him to take control and win this battle, to protect his family, to protect his love. Kal could see that Drew was struggling with the sheriff, trying to get him to put down his gun and stop firing. Poor guy, Kal thought, he has no idea what's going on here. It was time to put an end to this. He turned to Veli and could see the same power surging through his eyes that he could feel pulsating through his own. He raised his right 256

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hand. Drew must have sensed that the battle was coming to a head and as if it was the most natural thing in the world, changed forms in front of everyone's eyes. He suddenly became a wolf. **** The change was so fast that Isabelle was practically blinded by it for a moment. Drew's bones stretched and his face altered shape and where he had been standing on two feet, he was now standing on four. He was all black and too tall to be a natural wolf but not nearly the height that late night television would have had you believe werewolves achieved. That's because I'm not a werewolf. What are you? How are you talking to me? I'm just like you. This is something I can do. Can't some of you people do this? Not that I'm aware of but I'm kind of new at this. I would be very surprised if your boy here doesn't shift as soon as he's done dishing out justice. He's never shifted before. It's a full moon and there's always a first time. Letting out a slight growl towards the two men who were creating such chaos in all of their lives, the wolf that 257

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was also Drew ran backwards towards the woods in front of the house. Tell Marina that I'm sorry I never found her. I can't be counted on, I can't be trusted to take care of anyone. With those final thoughts in Isabelle's head, Drew vanished. Marina let out a slight whimper as he disappeared and Isabelle silently reminded herself to relay his message to Marina later. Kal had moved aggressively to get even closer to the two men. He was less than an arm's length away now. **** "You!" He shouted to the evil vessel that was now frozen in place by the force of Kal's shields. "You killed Isabelle's parents and then you had the bad taste to bring your disgusting presence to my doorstep. Consider me your personal nightmare. Oh, I know that you aren't necessarily doing this of your own volition. I know that someone else is currently in the driver seat of your brain but your soul must be pretty goddamn black for him to have been allowed inside of you to begin with and in any case I have to believe that anyone worth anything would fight him. That anyone who wasn't a complete piece of shit wouldn't have killed three innocent people in their home who never 258

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did anything more than have the misfortune of having a daughter who happened to have met me. I know that he is listening to me right now and I'm just thrilled about that because there are some things I'd like to say to him. Many, many things actually but perhaps this is the most important. I'm coming for you from now on. No more running, no more hiding, no more being scared. We're all grown up now and we're not hiding on this rock while we bite our nails and try to figure out what to do about you. Our numbers are small, we may never have our full group back but I think you're scared of us anyway." "Don't lose control, Kal. Don't give too much away." Veli's words barely penetrated due to the sheer adrenaline that was inside of Kal's veins. He felt powerful and completely in control. Veli's warnings were a thing of the past. He had found Isabelle and he could feel now that his days of listening to Veli's doubts and reservations were behind him. It might have been Veli's job to protect them when they were children but he had been selected to fight this battle. It was his job to handle these situations. Veli could get out of the way or get burned in the flames that were about to start pouring out of his hands. The rush of power that was pulsating through Kal's body was intense and he felt giddy from it. This was his battle to win, his woman to honor, and at that moment all 259

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thoughts of human morality and forgiveness had no place in his consciousness. It was time for death. He was vaguely aware that his skin was darkening around him. He suddenly felt like the grim reaper. The clouds above the manor moved as Kal would have directed them, if he had that power. Marina, he thought suddenly, she was moving the elements at her command to assist him. He wasn't alone in this fight. They had all been selected, brought down to earth to complete a task only they could complete. If he had been simply lost with Isabelle, he wasn't whole without the rest of them. Veli was right, they needed to find the other Outsiders. But first he had some serious ass to kick. The moon, hidden by the daylight hours, none the less called to him. Call to me and I will answer you. What was that? Isabelle spoke quickly in his head. Who was that speaking to you? I think it was the moon, my love. The cadence of Kal's voice had changed abruptly. It was low, similar to how he had sounded their first day together on the street when he had been calling down the elements to protect them from death but different too. He sounded focused and alert, not lost in strange or foreign sounds from his own voice. 260

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Has the moon ever spoken to you before? No. But I have been speaking to it since puberty when I first discovered how cranky and power hungry I felt during the full moon every month. What is going on here? The Drew person can turn into a wolf and you can speak to the moon and actually have it answer? I kind of think I could turn into a wolf right now if I wanted to. What? Don't worry. Right now all I'm interested in is a little help from that glorious celestial being that we see during the nighttime hours. Kal had been speaking to the moon his whole life and it seemed natural to do so right now. Help me, he breathed to it. Help me to finish this. Help me to bring justice to my love. Help me to keep us all safe. As if answering his very thoughts, Kal could feel the universe shift all around him. Moon beams came down from the sky and covered him in a warm white light. Isabelle gasped and took a step towards him, not sure of what was happening and instinctually needing to protect Kal. Leonardo restrained her, holding tightly onto her arm. "I'm not sure what's happening, Isabelle. But this isn't your power or mine. I've never even read about 261

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anything like this before. It's only his, best not to interfere. It feels like good energy to me. I don't think it's going to harm him." "The moon was talking to him, actually talking to him in his head. I could hear it." "Interesting." "That's all you're going to say about this development?" "For now." Kal could feel his eyes dilating and the current that was his right to command entered his body and pushed outwards. He thought suddenly that it had never been this clear or easy for him to access this side of himself before. In Kal's mind all time seemed to have slowed down. The power came easily from his hands, glowing white and traveling through the air horizontally into the sheriff first. He was an easy kill and dissolved quickly into nothing but ash on the floor. Dot would be able to quickly clean up the mess. He must not have been possessed by the evil for very long because he didn't fight his death and it took almost no time to finish him. With that thought in mind, Kal turned to the man who had killed Isabelle's parents. Only death mattered now, and not an easy one at that. Kal stepped forward and zapped Michael a little bit. Not enough to kill him, just 262

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enough to maim. Michael Monroe was going to feel his death, every second of it. He had shown no mercy to the Listoras, he would have no mercy now. Kal released another jolt of electric energy from his hands into the man again and he screamed at the top of his lungs. A loud bellowing scream and Kal wondered if the Darkness stayed with his possessions through their deaths or if he abandoned them to pain at the last minute. He raised his hand to take another shot. Not like this, baby. Isabelle's voice infiltrated his consciousness. He killed your parents. Yes, and I would like you to kill him for it, not torture him. I want to cause him pain. I know but that's not you. That's whatever is happening in this room. I can feel it too. We can all feel it. The Darkness is here with us, watching, infiltrating. Leonardo and Marina can actually see traces of it. Please don't let it influence your actions. You're too good a man to get off on torture. Finish the son of a bitch and then come back to my arms. That sounded like the best idea he'd heard in a very long time. He wanted to be back in Isabelle's arms. Kal could almost count the particles that made the 263

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flow come from his hands. It was so vivid and distinct that they were almost living creatures unto themselves. His current was alive. In a flash, Kal raised his hand and ended Michael's life very quickly. It was so fast the man never even had a chance to scream. He became nothing more than dust on the floor. He would never breathe again, Kal thought silently, and the world would be better off because of it. "Ashes to ashes." Marina blew into her hand, stirring a breeze in the room. Isabelle was amazed to see that the wind picked up and moved the dust out of the door until there was no trace of it left in the room. Kal turned around and walked quickly to Isabelle's side. "Thank you for bringing me back from the brink. I was going somewhere I've never been before." "I love you. Thank you for eliminating that man from this world. I didn't know I was an eye for an eye kind of a girl but I guess I am." Kal's arms wrapped around her tightly and he placed his head down on hers so that his chin was resting on top. He was trying not to shake, it seemed foolish but he still didn't want the others to see him shake, even if it wasn't a sign of weakness. Obviously reading his thoughts, Isabelle rolled her eyes and squeezed him more tightly to her. 264

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"No one in here is likely to ever think of you as weak again," she whispered, just loud enough that she was sure that Veli could hear it. Appearing at the door was the black wolf. He came into the room slowly and Marina started to walk forward towards it and then suddenly stopped, unsure of where she belonged. Charma's powers of mind reading were not needed to know what was going on. "You came back," Marina sounded hoarse. As fast as he had become a wolf, he changed back from one. He was even fully clothed, in the same outfit he had been in before. He stared at Marina for a long, quiet moment and opened his mouth as if he would speak but couldn't. "Hey, dude, how did you do that?" Leonardo questioned. "He could do it too." Drew pointed at Kal. "I could feel that he could do it and I kept waiting for him to change. Why did you hold back from it?" "There was enough new stuff going on, the moon was literally speaking to me in my mind. It didn't feel like the time to take on fur." "Son." Veli stepped forward to address Drew. "We've been looking for you for some time." "You're going to have to keep looking. I'm not here 265

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to stay. I don't want to be involved in any of this shit." "You don't want to be involved?" Marina stepped closer to him. She was starting to sound sort of hostile. "You're already pretty involved here. You just watched Kal disintegrate two grown men who were possessed of the greatest evil in this dimension or any other." "This isn't my fight and it isn't my problem. I don't entangle myself in these kind of messes. I have enough trouble just looking out for myself." "Is that so? That's why you decided to go into law enforcement just a boat ride away from where we, the people like you, call home?" Marina spat back. "Seems pretty damn close to trouble for a person who doesn't want to be involved in other people's problems." "It was temporary insanity about two years ago. After this charming interlude, I am reminded why I stopped stepping in messes like this. I mean, shit," Drew spoke, running a hand through his hair. "How the hell am I supposed to explain this to anyone? I'm going to have to report back something. There's not even a body left for us to manipulate an autopsy for. Did you have to literally send them off into the wind? They're human beings with families who are going to ask questions when they don't come home tonight." "Isabelle had a family that she didn't get to come 266

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home to. Hers is the only family disappearance that I'm currently concerned with," Kal spat back. "How do you know that either of them had anything to do with that?" "We travelled back and watched it happen." Isabelle hated saying it out loud. This whole day was bringing back the horror of her parent's death at full speed. She needed to hold off her falling apart for a little while longer. She still had a task to fulfill. "You can do that?" Drew looked shocked. "I can and they," Isabelle indicated the rest of the people in the room, "can do amazing things. Each one of them is different." "That doesn't change anything. We've still got two missing people and a whole police station that knows that they were coming here." "I can take care of that." Charma smiled. "If you take me to the people who knew, I can implant other memories." "Too many people," Veli said simply. "It will overtax you and you'll be out of it for days." "It's my special gift, Veli, let me use it." Charma said 'special' as if she didn't feel that there was anything special about her particular abilities at all. Either that or she would gladly rid herself of her talents. 267

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'"Fine," Drew said simply. "That is something I'd like to actually see and then I'm taking off. I'm getting the hell away from here." "Maybe we could persuade you to give us a chance." Veli began speaking but Kal tuned out the rest of what he was going to say. At that moment he didn't care if Veli convinced Drew to stay or go. He had some questions he'd like to ask him, like how he came to be with the two men who had come here today and how he had turned into a wolf at will instead of feeling like he was going to be consumed by it. But at that moment all he could think about was getting Isabelle alone and in his bed. If the sexual energy that was flowing through his body was going to be the result of every encounter that ended in violence then Kal was going to start seeking out danger every day. "Thank you." Isabelle held him tightly. He knew she would be able to feel his need for her and did nothing to try to hide it. Kal felt Isabelle exhale deeply, pressing her face into his chest. She seemed to be inhaling the scent of him. It was a huge turn on. In a gesture he hoped was nonchalant, he reached down to goose her behind. But his hand never made contact with her rear because as he felt a strong pull on the back of his head. It felt something akin to someone tugging really hard on his 268

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hair to drag him somewhere. He felt himself being lifted off of the ground and he had time to see his feet leaving the floor. Somehow, despite his exhaustion, he had the presence of mind to let go of Isabelle so she wasn't dragged wherever he was going. She stumbled backwards but he didn't have time to worry about what was happening to her as he blinked and his world went black. "Kal?" He heard Isabelle scream before he heard nothing at all. I love you, he sent to her mind but he didn't know if she could hear him. After a moment, he wasn't conscious of anything at all.

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Chapter Sixteen "Where is he?" Isabelle screamed to Veli who simply turned his back and stormed to the back of the living room, facing the window. He had been of no help and Isabelle was getting more and more frustrated with him. "Where did he go?" Isabelle was pacing back and forth around the room. She was frantic and she couldn't think straight. Her ears were ringing and she was sure any second her heart would literally stop. She was having physical pains from Kal's absence. Who had taken him? She wanted them dead. She would personally see to it if she could or she would help Kal do it. "Isabelle." Charma grabbed her arm. "You have to stop pacing." "Sorry, no can do," Isabelle responded. "If I stop moving I will literally lose it. I think you should all prefer my pacing." "There!" Marina screamed suddenly. She had been scanning the room back and forth since Kal had been pulled into the air and vanished. She seemed to be seeing things with another set of eyes. Leonardo had been staring at her intently, sort of shocked at how well she was doing it. "I can still see the magic. It's strong and it's moving away 270

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quickly but I can still see it. It's like someone cast a spell and literally pulled him through space. Leonardo, can you see it?" Marina's voice had gone higher as she gestured wildly at the ceiling. She was excited and her face was flushed. Isabelle wished she could share her enthusiasm but she was too panicked to care. Isabelle looked above her but she couldn't make out anything other than the ceiling. Charma and Veli looked equally confused but Leonardo and Drew, who had still not left, were looking where she was pointing and nodding as if they too could now see something. "I can barely see it. My eyes don't do that weird thing that yours just did," Leonardo remarked. "I finally have a sight power and since you can't do it, it's weird?" Marina laughed. Leonardo seemed not to hear her, still focused on the ceiling. "It's not time he's moving through but space and he's being tugged. This isn't my area. Marina, you can see that?" Leonardo sounded stunned. Isabelle was suddenly reminded that her first impression of Marina had been that the Marina kept secrets and kept things to herself. Leonardo had been yelling at her just earlier that day about not using her powers to her best ability. Obviously Leonardo had been right; Marina was capable to doing a ton with her powers. She could see 271

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things that no one else could see. She was obviously the key to getting Kal back. "You need a map," Drew added to the conversation, reminding everyone that he was still there. "It's moving away and you need to be able to follow it." He blew across his hand, similar to the way Marina had done when she had made the wind move the dusty remains of Kal's would-be assailants. Above them, a map of the world appeared on the ceiling. It was suspended in the air and even Isabelle could see it. It was detailed, longitude and latitude included. Raising her hand, Isabelle realized it was transparent even though it seemed solid. The oceans were a clear crystal blue and it almost looked like they were moving with waves. Europe was a deep red, Asia was green, and the United States was orange. Each continent looked unique and inviting. It stood above them suspended through the air like a piece of artwork that was alive. Isabelle couldn't help but feel that it was magic. Marina gasped out loud. "How did you do that?" Marina stared deeply in Drew's eyes. Isabelle would swear that the air seemed to electrify just from their eye contact alone. "The same way you all do what you do. I'm a freak." "You're not a freak, you're an Outsider." Marina had a slight choke in her voice. 272

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"I'm a what?" "An Outsider," Veli interjected. "And your father could do that too. I never thought to see that talent again." "My father couldn't do anything like that. All my father could do was suck at his job, drink cheap whisky, and yell at my mother all night." "Not your human father. Your real father, your Outsider father." "What the hell are you talking about?" "I can see it. I can see exactly where he is." Marina practically screamed, pointing at the sky. Isabelle couldn't see anything moving around that looked like Kal but as long as Marina could make out what she looked at, that was good enough. Marina wasn't through with Drew. "Who are you?" She whirled around to face Drew, her eyes blazing. "Who are you that you can draw a map on the ceiling to show us where our friend is and you can change into a wolf at will but you can't accept that there are people like you who can do what you do and it doesn't make them freaks, it makes them special?" "I'm no one," he replied easily. "Just the jerk that has to try to explain what the hell happened here to the entire county in a few minutes." "I'm going to help you with that," Charma reminded 273

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him. "And I'm the guy who never wants to hear any more of this Outsider crap ever again, okay? I'm a freak, some kind of genetic freak and you people all are too. You can call yourselves whatever you want to but it doesn't change the fact that we are just weird, strange freaks of nature. I'm sorry I ever came here today." "Why did you?" Leonardo asked. "Because I just felt like I had to." Drew looked down at the floor and Isabelle suddenly felt like he looked younger, more vulnerable and not the cocky, arrogant man who had been standing before them since he had appeared just an hour before. Had it really just been an hour, she wondered. It felt like days and they still hadn't figured out where Kal was. "You're one of us." Veli took a few steps towards Drew before stopping suddenly by the sheer look of malice that crossed Drew's face. "I've been searching for you since you were a baby. I'm Veli; this is Leonardo, Charma, Marina and Isabelle. The young man who just vanished is Kal. You can see what we can see, you're one of us and none of us are, as you say, freaks. We're something akin to warriors. We protect humanity from the evils in the world that humans are simply not capable of handling by themselves. This thing today that possessed your boss and 274

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the other man is one of those things." "I'm not one of anything." Drew's tone was sharp. "And if any one of you ever brings this up again, I'll expose you for killing the sheriff and that other cop. I don't do weird things most of the time and if I don't want to I don't have to see anything at all. You've got your map, good luck with your friend." Drew turned quickly and walked out the way he came but not before he had to have seen the look of sheer disappointment in Marina's eyes. He almost paused under it but kept moving. "Wait!" Marina called after him and charged towards the front door but he was already gone, obviously practiced at disappearing when he didn't want to be found. Maybe he turned back into a wolf, Isabelle thought. It would be easier to disappear like that. Marina seemed to crumble for a moment in front of the door but quickly regained herself and didn't take Charma's outstretched hand when it was offered to her. Isabelle thought that her eyes looked focused, determined, and slightly older than they had looked just moments earlier. "Now we have two major problems." Leonardo crossed the room to shut the door. "Three if you count Dot who is going to wake up from whatever stupor Charma has placed her in any moment and is going to want some answers." As if on cue, Dot appeared in the doorway of the 275

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room. She was shaking and confused. "What happened to those men who were here earlier? Something has happened, hasn't it? Where is Kal?" Her voice was strained as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep and wasn't quite right yet. "Charma, would you mind?" Leonardo asked, gesturing towards Dot. Charma quickly crossed the floor and put her arms around a now shaking Dot. "Don't worry, Dot. All will be well." Charma closed her eyes and held Dot very still. A moment later Dot's eyes opened and she had a cheery look on her face. "Well," Dot stated easily. "I guess I'll just be going into town to get some more supplies. I don't know why I didn't remember these things when I went earlier. Love you all." Dot turned easily and walked out the front door towards the beach. "Thank god I taught that woman how to use a speed boat." Veli turned towards Leonardo. "Maybe Drew can catch a ride," Marina muttered under her breath. "Is that how you've kept her in the dark all of these years? Charma just changes her memories and sends her away?" Isabelle stood up from the floor. She hadn't realized that she had sunk to her knees until she felt herself rising from them. "Doesn't it cause brain damage?" 276

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"Not yet." Charma's tone held an unusual edge. Isabelle got the impression that Charma wasn't in love with her lot in life and didn't enjoy being the means of deceiving Dot. "But some day it might and then I'll be responsible for damaging the closest thing I've ever had for a mother." Marina was still staring at the ceiling watching the now illuminated map above her. She seemed to be the only one who could see what was interesting up there, other than the fact that there was a map on the ceiling to begin with, but if she could get Kal back using whatever it was that she was seeing, then Isabelle wasn't going to distract her. "Problem number two would seem to be the ever approaching sunset. As I'm sure everyone here is aware, Isabelle has to try to reach Abraxas to find out the location of the books before it gets too late. We are running out of time. Problem number three would be locating Kal and getting him back from wherever he is and whatever just took him," Leonardo finished, starting to pace. "Obviously it's the Darkness that took him." Veli shrugged. "Yes," Leonardo answered sharply. "But unless he is manifesting in his true form and using his true powers, unless he has gotten that strong all of a sudden then someone else provided the power to take Kal and if they can take Kal then they can take any of us and I personally 277

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don't want to find myself on the receiving end of it. We're not prepared to defend ourselves from it yet." "He's gone. I doubt we'll ever get him back." Veli opened a bottle of water and took a sip. "We need to focus on Abraxas and the books before the Darkness grows any stronger and it's too late. We can't afford to wait until it's too late." "What?" Isabelle whirled around on Veli. "I'm not going after any books until we get Kal back. You might as well understand that right now." "He's either dead or turned over to be used as Darkness' pawn." Veli put his hands on his hips. "It is the way of things." "The way of things?" Isabelle turned on Veli, her eyes gleaming. How had Kal put up with this man for years? "There's a rule book for this kind of event? We just say whoops, Kal's gone, let's move on and find some god forsaken prophesies? Not going to happen. What if the prophecies tell us we can't win without Kal? I think he's probably pretty pivotal to our effort. The only thing I'm working on is finding Kal and then as far as I'm concerned, he and I are leaving here pronto and you can find your own book without my help. And by the way, just as an aside, I've been in Kal's mind. He's not capable of turning evil. He would die first, which is what I wish you would do at the 278

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moment." Isabelle whirled around to Marina. "Can you still see whatever it is that you can see on that thing?" "Let's not pretend that you wouldn't be more anxious to find Kal if you weren't so afraid and jealous of him." Leonardo spat back at Veli. Isabelle was relieved to see that they were on the same side on this issue. "I can still see him," Marina finally answered. "His life force is still strong. I can see it clearly on the map. It's stopped moving. He's still nearby. Evidently, whoever pulled him away from here isn't strong enough to take him very far. We could probably be there in a few hours. It looks like he's somewhere close to the Maine, New Hampshire border." Marina turned towards Isabelle. Her eyes were slightly glowing and Isabelle could see the same strength and determination flowing back at her. Marina had no intention of leaving Kal to die. "I've never been jealous in my life," Veli answered Leonardo. "Not of Kal's father and certainly not of Kal." "Oh

sure

you

are.

Kal

just

handled

that

confrontation without your help at all. You kept insisting that he was using too much power and not focused enough but he was so much stronger without your power, without your interference and every time you joined in you weakened us. He doesn't need you anymore and you're so 279

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jealous you might as well be green," Leonardo shouted finally. "We've been without the books before, Veli, and we'll have another chance next month." Leonardo crossed to Marina and Isabelle and seemed to calm down a bit. "There's no way any of us are leaving Kal, Isabelle. You can count on all of us." Charma crossed the room to join them, nodding silently in her consent. "So that's how it is?" Veli was furious. His eyes had started to glow with a faint red light. "All of these years I've taken care of you, fed you, and protected you. I never asked for this responsibility. You were thrust upon me without as much as a by your leave by Abraxas. And now you seek to defy me? You have no idea of that evil that we are dealing with it. I've seen it. I was there when we all foolishly brought it back from Hell, or whatever dimension it was. I never cared about such details. There were others to handle that. It all amounted to the same thing—it was hell and we brought it here. You will not defy me on this or so help by all things that are holy I will make you pay for your foolishness with your own blood." "What?" Leonardo looked incensed. "What do you mean you brought it back? I thought this was the Darkness that had always existed?" Isabelle took a step back towards Marina and 280

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Charma. Leonardo's eyes had started to glow in a matching color to Veli's. Now more than ever she wished she had Kal with her, these people were all still essentially strangers to her and she felt as though she had been sucked into a family drama that even her years as a social worker and all of the psychology classes that she had taken in college were not going to help her solve. Leonardo was not supposed to have offensive powers, as far as Kal had known anyway but right now he looked like he was going to attack Veli physically. "We made a mistake." Veli was starting to huff and puff in such a way that Isabelle couldn't help but think of a dragon. Was he going to turn into a dragon? "It's not important. What is important is that we can correct it now. We can get Abraxas' books and we can find out what is going to happen and we can stop it this time and not let it all just be destroyed again." "Why am I sensing guilt, Veli?" Charma bravely stepped forward. "What did you do? You have to explain it to us. Your wife wants you to explain it. What did you do that we now have to undo? We're not just talking about a hypothetical fight. It is here, it is time, they have Kal and we have to know the truth. We're not children in this world. We live with the humans, we are adults." "It wasn't just me, god damn it," Veli snapped. "It 281

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was all of your parents. We thought we were so smug, so talented, so worthy. We thought it was time to put an end to things. The Great One kept preaching about Evil and Good and our job as the balance of things. He kept insisting that there would always be evil in the world and that it was our job to just make it a little better, to protect the humans, to keep balancing things out. But the Darkness kept being reborn. It kept coming back as different things, every decade. We would fight it and fight it and fight it. My father was killed fighting it as that dragon. He left my mother alone with three children to raise and minions of the Darkness that had broken through our shelters killed both of my brothers in their sleep. That was the first time we knew that it was even capable of having minions. We would beat it and it would regroup for ten or so years and then it would come back stronger and we would have to beat it again. We live a long time; it was a lot of battles. We started to get frustrated. Everyone had lost someone they loved, most of us more than one person, and the humans were just so oblivious to the whole thing. Why did they deserve this much help? Abraxas and the Great One had orchestrated this whole façade that kept humans out of our village. They could walk there but they couldn't see it and then they would be filled with the strongest desire to leave it and not return." 282

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Veli took a deep breath and seemed to regain some of his composure. "None of the humans I came in contact with ever seemed worthy of my father's and brothers' deaths. Why did we have to keep waiting for the Darkness to find us? Why was it so important to keep the status quo? We started meeting in secret. Abraxas knew but he kept his mouth shut and didn't tell the Great One. We gathered together to summon the evil to us. We were sure it would be weaker if it didn't have time to regroup. The idea was that we were going to trap it, to contain it within a binding spell. We didn't think we could kill it but we were sure if we could contain it, not give it a chance to get out or a chance to go back from where it came from then we could essentially be rid of it. Your mother," Veli stopped to point at Charma. "She wrote the spell for us and she was the best spell writer I had ever seen. I keep waiting for you to be able to do it but you're so weak, all of you were supposed to be so damn powerful, and you're like a bunch of weaklings. Worse than most children I knew." "Enough," Isabelle shouted. She had seen this kind of behavior before. Veli was trying to push his guilt and frustration onto all of them instead of facing up to his own culpability. "Finish your story, Veli. You have our attention. Our own weaknesses, most of which are probably your fault, are not what we are discussing here." 283

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"Kal's father was going to bind it and then Charma's mother was going to permanently contain it. But as with everything having to do with Kal's family, Kal's father failed at his task. It was such a basic thing and we had done it a million times. I could have probably done it in my sleep. He couldn't hold the binding, he was so pathetic. It was too strong, too powerful for him. We could hear it laughing at us. Its voice was low and powerful like something out of a nightmare. Kal's father started screaming. He was in so much pain. I tried at that point to assist him but it was too late. The Darkness broke the binding and it wasn't weak or tired. It felt, I'm not sure I can tell you the best word for it; maybe the best word is raw. It felt raw, like a feral animal. It was loose but it didn't leave right away, not before it touched us. Each one of us felt it inside of us for a moment. "That's why I know that Kal has turned if it has been inside of him this whole time. This much time with it would be unbearable. No one could resist it. After that it all went to hell. The Great One died, my wife perished suddenly and the whole group got suddenly pregnant with you, the ones who were supposed to save us all. Now look at you, Abraxas should have let you die as babies and been done with the whole thing." Veli was finished. He looked exhausted and older, Isabelle realized. He seemed to have 284

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aged ten years in just moments. "We're supposed to save the world from what you did?" Marina raised her voice, pointing at Veli. "You caused this to happen. There is an evil loose out there so powerful that it could drag Kal physically from this room and place him god knows where. It has possessed the minds of thousands of humans. It is set to destroy us because you guys got tired of fighting it slowly? You gave it the chance to possess a human being and now it can end the world. I spent the first five years of my life feeling cold and hungry and alone and all you can say is that Abraxas should have let us die as babies?" "Maybe I'll finish the job." He raised his hand towards Marina. "Kal!" Isabelle called out in her mind. "God Kal, we're in so much trouble here. Veli has lost his mind!" There was no answer from Kal. She needed to reach him but she had never been able to join her mind completely to his unless she was asleep. She had only moments. She knew that. She closed her eyes and called out to him. Please, she begged the universe as she had never begged before, please, we need Kal. Isabelle reached out her mind towards Kal's. She didn't know if he could hear her, she didn't know what he could do even if he did hear her. She wasn't sure if he could 285

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help but every instinct in her body called out for assistance. He was her other half and they needed him. She could feel her mind reaching for his, desperate for the connection that they had when they were intimate, desperate for him to answer her. He was drowsy and weak but she could feel him hearing her. She could feel him like a beacon in her mind and it was becoming more and more aware as she called to him. Kal please, hear me. Please Kal, hear me. Hear me. Kal, Kal, Kal, she called. I hear you, Isabelle, I hear you. I'm okay, I don't know where I am or what happened but I'm okay. Kal, we're going to find you. We're going to. But we have a problem. A very serious problem. What's happening? Veli, he's threatening to kill Marina. He's not just threatening. He's crazy. His eyes are red. I think he might do it. We need you, we need you, Kal. Isabelle, take my power. I can give it to you. What? I just know I can. No, Kal. Take it now. His mind called to hers weakly. Take what I know I can give you. A jolt of electricity filled Isabelle's body and she 286

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knew she was filling up with Kal's power. She had no time to stop or to think of how such a thing was even possible. Isabelle pushed her hand forward in the way that she had seen Kal do several times, just as Veli pushed energy through his hands towards Marina. The whole interchange, she realized, had taken less than a few seconds to complete. Without knowing how, Isabelle erected a force field to block him. She could hear the chanting in her head and the surge of electrical energy that flowed through her as it must flow through Kal. She had no idea how long she could continue to hold this blockage, it was exhausting and once again she was overwhelmed by the sheer power that Kal had to wield every time he was forced into action. "How are you doing this?" Veli stared at Isabelle. "You shouldn't have that power." "Kal," Isabelle hissed with anger. "You know the guy who is supposed to either be dead or evil. He gave his power to me. Now stand down, Veli. Enough is enough." Isabelle realized that she was talking to Veli as if he was being a disobedient child but she had to trust her instincts and they were telling her that Veli really didn't want to be acting the way he was acting. "How can you share powers? Such a thing is not possible," Veli huffed. "We were chosen, remember? We can do things that 287

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you can't do." "Nonsense." "Evidently, it is possible," Leonardo snapped. "Now do what the lady says and stand down. We aren't going to let you abandon Kal and we certainly aren't going to let you kill Marina, or any of us for that matter. So stop acting like a baby and put the power back inside wherever you store it." "You're the most worthless of them all, Leonardo. All of these years, you had all of these years to find those books and not once have you ever come close," Veli yelled. "How long do you think the little girl can hold Kal's shields? I'm a master, I'm not going to wear down but the little girl there, who won't even use the name her parents gave her but insists on calling herself Isabelle, she's going to give out in a minute and then I'll finally be rid of the lot of you." "Let me ask you something, Veli," Leonardo hissed. "When you were all messing with fate and deciding that you were so powerful you could defy your leaders and trap evil within your midst, did you hear the chanting voices?" "What's your point, Leonardo?" Veli whirled around. "You've always been so damn analytical. I don't care what the voices think and feel; it's not up to them what I do." 288

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"Can you hear them now?" Leonardo shouted again. "Because I can hear them, loud and clear." Leonardo stepped through Isabelle's boundary easily. He walked with a grace she hadn't seen him possess earlier. "And I've had enough." Leonardo placed his hands on Veli. The room flashed white, a blinding white light that seemed to fill up everywhere and everything. Isabelle couldn't see anything and her ears began to ring. Suddenly the room was filled with a sound so loud and uncomfortable that Isabelle found herself dropping her shields to cover her ears. Charma had fallen to her knees in pain next to her but Isabelle could do nothing to assist her because the noise was so all encompassing. After a moment Isabelle realized that it was the sound of Veli screaming, a loud wail the likes of which Isabelle had not known could come from anything other than machinery. What was Leonardo doing to him? Stunned, she dropped the blockage completely and rushed towards Leonardo, Marina and Charma close on her heels. They all stopped suddenly, unclear about what was happening, unclear about what to do next. Disturbingly quiet, Veli and Leonardo fell to the floor, panting. "What did you do?" Marina shouted at Leonardo. "What did you do to him, Leonardo?" 289

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"I took his power." Leonardo stood up. "You took his power?" Marina questioned again, staring at him, dumbstruck. "Since when could you do that? Who is the one hiding power now?" "I could always do it." Leonardo's tone was soft. "I just didn't advertise it. I thought that it seemed like a good idea to keep this one close to my chest for just this sort of opportunity. I didn't want anyone knowing that I could do it." "We can't live very long without our powers," Charma whispered to Isabelle, looking sad but resigned. "It's like living without a lung or without your heart. They are just as essential to our central nervous system as breathing and blood." "Thank you, Leonardo," Veli spoke in gasps. "What?" Leonardo look stunned. He had moved away from Veli and had turned his back on him as if it was just simply too much for him to even look at. "That thing," Veli groaned again. "The Darkness, it had infected me. I could feel it. It entered the room and took Kal and then it was inside me, like it was the day we brought it forth. I couldn't fight it, I couldn't win." "Sshh." Charma fell to the floor, her compassionate nature pulling her to his side. "Don't try to talk. Maybe there's something we can still do to save you. I'm not a 290

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healer. Why can't we ever find a healer?" "You were such powerful babies. Your power dwarfed mine from the beginning. I rode you hard. I thought you had to be hard and strong to defeat what was coming to you. You have to go get Kal back. You are meant to be all together. I had no idea you could even do that, Leonardo. I don't think either of your parents could do that. It's such a gift and you were smart to keep it to yourself." Veli looked up at Isabelle and tried to sit up, failed and lay back down on the floor. Marina was running a comforting hand through his hair with unshed tears threatening in her eyes. "Tell Kal he was so much stronger than I ever was, so much stronger than his father could have dreamed of being. How did he give you his power?" "I called to him and he answered me." Isabelle felt slightly removed from the group. This man, who had once been great and powerful, the right hand to their former leader, was the closest thing any of them had ever had to a father. She had been more fortunate, having been loved by kind and gentle people. Veli hadn't been perfect, but he had been around. Leonardo had just essentially had to kill his father. "Go get Kal back and then get the books. Send Isabelle to Abraxas and get the books, Leonardo. You're in 291

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charge now, just as you always should have been. Keep Kal close and protect Charma. He will always keep you all safe and she'll keep you all sane. Marina," Veli turned towards her. "Stop pretending that you're weak. You probably have more power than all of them combined. Find the others. You can beat this." He was starting to sound distant and removed, fading from them. His eyes looked upward as if he could see something they could not. "I can hear them again, the voices. They're calling to me." Veli closed his eyes and was gone. His body, no longer connected to this earth, disappeared in front of them. "He vanished." Marina looked around the room. "He's gone." "I didn't see any other way." Leonardo looked withdrawn. Isabelle realized he was expecting them to reject him. "You saved us all, Leonardo. It took great courage to do what you did." Isabelle patted him on the back. Suddenly a terrifying thought occurred to her. "Is Kal okay? He sent me his power. Is he dead?" Isabelle could hardly get the words out as her throat seemed to closer around her. It would be just like Kal to sacrifice himself for all of them. She hadn't known he could die from it or she would never have reached out to him. Marina turned around, once again looking at the 292

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map on the ceiling that only she could make sense of. "No." Marina shook her head. "He's alive. But I think we need to get to him, and soon. Can you send his powers back to him?" "I don't know how he sent them to me so I don't know how I can send them back." Isabelle was becoming even more alarmed. Even if the power exchange hadn't killed Kal, he was now perfectly defenseless to whatever was holding him captive. "Leonardo." Charma rose. "Do you have Veli's powers now?" "No." Leonardo shook his head. "My gift, dark as it is, seems only to remove the powers, not absorb them, unfortunately." "Well then we're lucky you have Kal's powers, Isabelle, because without them we could never rescue him. We need Kal to rescue Kal." Charma gritted her teeth as she spoke. Isabelle took a deep breath. This was all relatively new to her. She had her own powers to contend with and now Kal's but she could fight her way through anything to get Kal back to them. The rest she would figure out later.

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Chapter Seventeen Kal awoke slowly to find that he was now tied by the hands and hanging from the ceiling in what appeared to be a very dark room of a house. From the noises above him he had to assume he was in a basement. Maybe he was two floors below because he felt as if the moon was very far away from him—a sensation he only ever had if he was deep underground. It smelled like mold and it was hot and humid. He tried not to gag, reminding himself that he had been in worse places than this. Not usually tied up, but that was a problem that he at least felt capable of solving. Maybe. Vaguely he could remember rousing himself to the sounds of Isabelle's pleas for help. He had sent her his powers, something he hadn't known he was capable of doing until he had done it and then it had been easy, as everything seemed to be in regards to his lady love. Evidently finding his soul mate had enhanced even powers he had been unaware of. He hoped she had been able to use them because he was feeling very vulnerable and he could have used his powers to get himself down. As it was, his arms were starting to hurt him. Damn, what he wouldn't do for a Swiss army knife, he silently mused. "He's awake." 294

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A whisper of a female voice filled the room. Kal had never heard this voice before. It didn't sound menacing but he didn't like it just the same. I can see he's awake, A male voice answered. Kal was fairly certain that the people who were talking were not actually in the room with him but watching him from somewhere else. He suspected that video cameras and modern equipment had nothing to do with it. "Hello!" Kal shouted. He had considered speaking to them telepathically but ultimately he didn't want to tip his hand that he could do that, better that they think he could only hear them. He heard us. How is that possible? The male voice questioned. Tell Sebastian quickly. It must be part of his evil abilities. That sounds so ridiculously cheesy. We need a new phrase. No more evil abilities. Shouldn't Sebastian know, since he's our fearless leader? The female voice sounded very annoyed and sarcastic. It seems to me we're always doing all the work here. I dragged him through space to put him here. You commanded him to sleep after he somehow woke up. What is Sebastian doing anyway? Why, Alexa, you sound downright pissed off. Are you finally having second thoughts about this whole plan? 295

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The male voice questioned. Kal had a feeling if he could just get these two to answer him he might actually have a chance to get himself out of there. He didn't know who Sebastian was but he suspected he didn't want to find out. I'm starting to think you might have been right all along, Gabriel, the female voice answered sadly. "I'm Kal Oberan and if you can hear me as I can hear you then you must be one of us," Kal called out to the empty room. One of you? The female voice asked. We could never be one you. There was utter disdain in her voice. "Why do you say that like it's a bad thing? We are the good guys, for lack of a better expression at the moment. I'm sorry that it's me you have to talk to first. The other members of my family are much better equipped to make first introductions but seeing as you pulled me from my home to bring me here I find I am in the unique position to speak with you." He hoped his calm tone was working because he had a feeling that if he didn't get one of those two to let him down before whoever Sebastian was came back then he wasn't going to be making it out of his current captivity alive. You people have been perpetrating the greatest evil on the planet. We have been trying to stop you. The male 296

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voice was sounding very sure of himself. "I think there has been some kind of mix up here." Kal wished he could reach out to Isabelle. He had a feeling her calming influence was just what they needed. All of his powers might be gone but they were still just a few hours from the full moon and patience was not a virtue he had in abundance on a good day. Mix up? The female voice questioned. "You sent those police officers after us after they killed my other half's parents. Your name is Alexa, right? Alexa and Gabriel. I bet if you let me down we could all just talk like civilized beings and sort this all out." Kal hoped they were listening to him. Killed her parents? The male voice sounded horrified. What? The female voice followed. "Enough!" A loud resounding yell filled the room and Kal suddenly found himself staring at a face he had thought never to see again. Standing in front of him, alive as he had been just weeks before, was his friend Doug. "They can't hear you anymore, warrior." Only Doug had never sounded quite like that in his life. It was a mechanical sounding version of the voice that had once belonged to his best friend. "I see you recognize me. I thought perhaps if I took this body, took it and used it, that you might relate to 297

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it and perhaps we could make you more comfortable." Doug's eyes, colder than they had ever been in life, sneered at him. "I take it you're Sebastian?" Kal needed to formulate a plan. "That's what some people call me," Sebastian answered laughingly. "You can call me that if you wish." "Well." Kal laughed without any humor in his voice. "Seeing as you have me at a complete disadvantage here, I don't know why you need to make me comfortable so how about you leave my dead friend alone and come see me in your actual body?" "So you can send an image of me to your lady and have them track me down even after you are dead? I think not. In that case killing Kal would gain me no advantage. I think I am quite comfortable remaining as I am. Besides, seeing as you got Doug killed, I think it's only right he gets to return the favor." The lights had come on and Kal could see his first impressions of a basement were correct. How many floors under was still anyone's guess. "Do your friends know who you are, Sebastian? Do they know what you really are?" Kal pulled tightly to try to free his wrists but found himself stuck even tighter. "Do you know who I am, Kalmari?" Sebastian 298

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sneered. "You just missed the great reveal at your home. By the way, Veli is dead. I will miss being able to inhabit that body. Who knew your little friend Leonardo had that much guts? I may have made a mistake not taking him first. But, no bother, I will dispose of you and then dispose of him. Your women will be left with no one to protect them and even Isabelle, and of course I know about Isabelle, with your powers to protect them will be no match for me. I will have effectively ended the reign of the Outsiders with two little deaths." "I don't think it's so easy to kill us, Sebastian." Kal laughed out loud. Suddenly he was completely sure of himself. In his whole life he had never been completely sure of himself but strung from the ceiling by his hands and powerless he could actually see things clearly for the first time. "We have always existed, we will always exist and if it was easy to kill us, then you would have done it years ago when we were babies. I think you are currently unable to kill us and that's why you're using those two people to get us. She said she brought me here and that he knocked me out. You've always sent minions against us. I think you're sweating. You can't kill us, at least not yet, can you? You're basically as powerless as I am at the moment." "Powerless?" Sebastian was getting angry. "I may not be yet able to kill you but I assure you, weakling, that I 299

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am not powerless." Sebastian raised his hand to the sky and brought forth voltage. Kal knew the bolt was going to hit him seconds before it actually did. His whole body shook from the shock of it but he wasn't dead. Something was protecting him. "I can keep you here and make you completely uncomfortable every second of every day until you rot from it and then I assure you when the time comes I will kill you and you'll be begging me for your death." "I'm not capable of begging from you. The only person I am capable of begging from is about half your size and much more pleasant to look at." Sebastian screamed with rage and pummeled Kal's body with powerful destructive energy again. Kal could smell the ends of his hair burning. He still wasn't dead. He should be dead. What was going on? Suddenly he could hear it clearly. A voice that had been trying to speak to him from the moment he had opened his eyes. Call to me Kal, and I will answer you. The moon. How was it possible? He didn't have his powers. It's never been about your powers. They are from the earth. You are from me. She is from the sun. The men 300

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have always come from the moon and the women the sun. You are not Outsiders to us. Together you were sent here to save the children when you were just a child yourself. Call to me Kal as your family has done since time began. Help me. Please help me, he called to the moon. Please help me get back to her. Kal? Isabelle's voice filled his head. We are here, Kal. I don't know how we got here. We were in the living room and now we are someplace else. A house. I can feel you inside. Marina is trying to unravel the safety spells that are keeping the house locked up. Leonardo says there are two people upstairs and you in the basement. Is that correct? Two upstairs. Me in the basement with the big bad Darkness who is currently wearing the body of my dead friend Doug, remember him? The moon brought you here. His whole body jerked as another bolt hit him. He hoped Isabelle couldn't sense what was going on. What's happening? Isabelle's voice was in his head, screaming. He could feel that she was getting angry and suddenly he was terrified for her. She had no idea how to handle his powers, let alone how to handle them when she was angry. The whole house started to shake. Sebastian looked up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowing. Kal winced, realizing that there surprise entry was 301

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now blown. Isabelle, he thought to her, if you can hear me then take a deep breath and give me back my powers. It was your own gifts that took them to begin with, kiddo. It's never been about me, it's always been about you. Or rather about what we can do together and this is what you can do. So do it. I don't know how to do that, Kal. It was you who gave them to me. You said something about taking what you knew you could give me. Stop giving me all the credit and take some for yourself. Another bolt hit Kal and as his eyes refocused he could see that Doug, or rather Sebastian, was starting to sweat. He was bluffing and Doug had never been any good at it, which was why Kal had always won at poker. His skin was fried. He could feel it; he certainly wasn't in shock—at least not yet. It was time. Well then I want to take them back, now, Isabelle. Kal felt the instant rush of power as it reentered his body. His hands started to tingle with excitement. Closing his eyes, he visualized the ropes disappearing from around his wrists—another gift, he knew, from the moon. He couldn't wait to tell Leonardo. Imagine that, he thought as he landed gracefully on the floor, I know something that Leonardo doesn't. 302

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Face to face he was taller than Doug and therefore at that moment he was taller than Sebastian. His skin burned and he felt like he had a thousand tiny needles poking him all over but he didn't care. "Sorry, it's time for me to go now. I've got a girl upstairs waiting for me." Kal focused and sent all the energy that was building up inside of him outwards into Doug's body in front of him. Sebastian began to scream. "Guess it hurts, huh?" Kal grinned at him. "I don't have any limitations on me towards killing you. I don't think that my girl would much care if killing you put a little black dot on my soul. She likes the darker side of me." In front of his eyes, Doug's body began to writhe and shutter before it exploded. Kal could feel the evil that was Sebastian push out into the air around him and concentrated on not letting him invade his own body. He imagined putting up shields to block his mind, large metal shields that would not break. Nothing was getting into his head that Kal didn't want there and Kal didn't want that anywhere near his consciousness. They seemed to be holding because Kal felt the second Sebastian's essence left the room. He's pure energy right now and he's heading right for you. Don't let him. Tell the others, he sent to Isabelle. Reaching her was the easiest for him, broadcasting to 303

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everyone would take too much energy and he felt like he might fall over at any time. Upstairs, the sounds of footsteps rushing through the front door caught his attention and he turned to run up the basement stairs, nearly colliding with Isabelle who he grabbed instead and pulled into his arms. It hurt but he didn't care. "Baby, are you okay?" He touched her everywhere. He was not going to ever let her out of his sight again. They were going to have to find a way to prevent that Alexa person from removing them without their consent. "I'm fine, Kal but look at you. What did he do to you?" Isabelle responded. Kal looked down, confused, and saw that he was covered in burns on most of his arm and that his hair was slightly burnt off, giving him a look that was akin to a medium-well done steak in a restaurant. He could only imagine what the rest of him looked like. His adrenaline was pumping so hard that he hardly felt anything anymore. Shock, he thought. I'm finally going into shock and I can't feel it. He knew that wouldn't be true later on. "What time is it, Isabelle?" Kal suddenly realized that she was supposed to be traveling back to meet Abraxas and if the way the full moon was calling to him was any indication then they were almost out of time. "Don't worry 304

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about me. We heal fast." "You heal fast?" Isabelle didn't sound convinced. Leonardo and Marina came flying down the stairs in front of them. "He does." Leonardo grinned at Kal as if he remembered some of the other times Kal had healed faster than most. Kal didn't want to imagine what times Leonardo was thinking about. He was glad he didn't have a window into Leonardo's mind. "I hear Veli's dead." Kal looked at his two friends. They were more like family to him and now he was going to be responsible for their safety. He knew he wouldn't let them down. Every ounce of self doubt he had ever had seemed gone. "I killed him." Leonardo held his gaze. "He saved us," Marina snapped back. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime but right now I think you and Isabelle need to do a little time travel." **** Isabelle could feel the difference in Kal. It wasn't just that he was injured; he seemed to suddenly be filled with resolve and self confidence. She didn't know exactly what had happened in the basement but she was thrilled 305

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with his new resolve. It fit him. He was her man, and she liked him totally alpha. Well, she amended, most of the time she would. "Here?" Isabelle looked confused. "Can we do it from here?" They had practiced it always doing it in the living room of the mansion. "Here's as good as anywhere." Leonardo looked around. Charma came down the stairs, joining them. "They're gone. The two who were upstairs have vanished," she reported. "I think I can help you two." Marina looked at Leonardo and Isabelle. "We all can. I didn't mention it earlier because I thought I must be crazy but with everything that has happened and Leonardo telling me to admit my power, I think I can help you all focus your energy. We all can. All of our powers are unique and I think if we form a circle and concentrate we can help add our uniqueness to Isabelle and then she'll be able to travel more safely. It would help, obviously, if we were a complete group. I'm going to work on that when this is over but for now, this will do. It will more than do." Marina took a deep breath, exhaling. Isabelle grinned at her, remembering her first impression of Marina as being deeper than she seemed. "You all need to find what I have." Kal squeezed 306

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Isabelle's hand. "Or I wouldn't care if we never found anyone else. You're my family. We can beat this son of a bitch with our eyes closed." Isabelle smiled. Maybe a little bit too alpha, she laughed to herself.

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Chapter Eighteen All five of them joined hands in a circle. Isabelle had time to once again be astonished that they were doing this in the basement of a strange house. Leonardo began to concentrate his energy on Isabelle, who in turn began to concentrate her energy on jumping backwards through time. But this time it was different. She could feel all of them with her. Marina, the spell caster, who could see things none of the rest of them could see, clearing space and time to make it easier for her. Charma, so gifted in healing, keeping her calm and focused. So much stronger than anyone ever gave her credit for. She held the world's emotions on her shoulders and somehow she didn't hunch over. Leonardo, the energy enhancer, acting like a battery and powering her up. He was still partially closed from them. He had stolen Veli's powers and ended his life. His brilliance there for everyone to see but the rest of him still hidden. Kal, her other half and protector, injured yet wrapping her in his embrace and keeping her safe as she knew he always would. She knew she was going to make it. 308

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She closed her eyes, barely recognizing the power flowing around her. It was as if her power was not hers alone. She was floating in sunshine and she was hot like the sun but for some reason she could take the heat. It didn't bother her. You're of the sun, Isabelle. She heard Kal's voice in her head. It won't ever hurt you. In the past, the journey had always made her dizzy and nauseous but this time it was like walking down the street. It seemed she had been doing it her whole life. She landed softly on the ground and looked around. She was in a cave and it was hot around her. Abraxas hung from his wrists from the top of the cave. He swung back and forth like a pendulum. Back and forth, she thought, how could anyone survive like that? Evidently Sebastian's favorite torture position, Kal muttered in her brain and Isabelle realized that they were all in her head with her, courtesy of Charma. She wasn't alone. She had travelled through time but with Kal's love she was never going to be alone. Keep yourselves restrained to the present, please, Isabelle muttered, laughing. I'm having enough trouble concentrating with all of you in there. I don't want you messing around in my head. Don't worry. None of us want to see what you and 309

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Kal do when you're alone, Leonardo muttered back. Isabelle could hear laughter in her mind. Marina's, it was infectious. "Is someone there?" Abraxas called out to the room. Isabelle remembered that he wouldn't be able to see her and was hugely impressed by how powerful he must be to even be aware of her presence in the cave with him. It was funny—history had branded him a failure because he had lost the children but he was a truly powerful Outsider the likes of whom they might never see again. "Hello." Isabelle smiled. "My name is Isabelle. I'm one of the children you saved. I've traveled back in time to speak with you." "It's not safe here for you, Isabelle." Abraxas swung his head towards the sound of her voice. "How is it that you accomplished this?" "I've had lots of help," Isabelle responded quickly. "And it is a measure of how important this truly is that I would risk leaving the others to come and speak with you. Veli felt it was imperative." "Veli? Is he okay? I've worried so much about what has become of him," Abraxas groaned. "I've burdened him with so much." "I knew him a very short time and I'm sad to say he's no longer with us but he never stopped looking for any 310

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of us and he raised the ones he had to be wonderful, strong, powerful people. You would be proud of him." Isabelle hoped she had handled that correctly. "Tell me why you crossed time to speak with me when all I have done is fail my people over and over again." Abraxas closed his eyes for a brief moment. "What could I possibly do that you could possibly want?" "Your journals," Isabelle responded. "We can't locate two of them with some of the Great One's prophecies. We need to see them. We need to know where they are hidden so we know if the Darkness has them or if they just haven't been found." "Veli couldn't locate them? How strange. I left them where I was sure he would find them. They are incased within the gravestone of his wife Anahera." Why would he think Veli would break apart his wife's gravestone? Marina sounded incredulous. "His

wife's

gravestone?"

Isabelle

responded,

ignoring Marina. "Where is that located?" "In the hills where our village once was," Abraxas' voice sounded strained. "Have you never been there?" Abraxas sounded shocked. "We were all raised quite far from here." Isabelle looked behind her as a shiver raced through her body. "I've never been to the village." 311

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I have, Leonardo added. I can find the grave. "You didn't fail us." Isabelle wanted to help the great man who was chained to a ceiling, as her love had briefly been. He had given so much to all of them. "I wasn't raised with the others but I was safe and loved. I can't speak for everyone but I am beginning to believe that whatever else we may have endured, everyone was safe from the Darkness. Your spell worked as it was supposed to. It hid us. Perhaps Veli couldn't have handled all of us." "Thank you, Isabelle. Please leave before the Darkness returns. Have you perhaps found my daughter yet?" Hope filled Abraxas' tone. "No." Isabelle shook her head. "But I can promise you we won't stop looking, ever." With that thought, Isabelle threw herself back through time into the circle of her new found family. She landed in Kal's arms, immediately filled by the love in Kal's eyes.

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Chapter Nineteen It had been two days since they had returned from the basement where Kal had been tortured and Isabelle had reached Abraxas through time. Kal was beginning to feel a little stir crazy. Isabelle had led Charma and Marina on a frantic healing frenzy, insisting that he stay in bed and let his burns heal. She hadn't let him touch her in two days either. He thought he might really go mad. Leonardo had left on a journey to retrieve Abraxas' manuscripts, needing a break from the place where Veli had died as much as anything else. He had been grumbling about having to deface a gravestone as he had stomped out the door. Charma had begun to busy herself improving the mansion with Dot. It seemed that they were all going to be staying put in the mansion now that the Darkness had struck and Charma had expressed an interest in making it finally feel like a home. Rooms they had never used were being opened up and decorated. For her part, Dot had finally admitted to knowing what was going on. She had always appreciated Charma's efforts to take away her memories, and some of them certainly were gone, but there had been too many strange 313

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things over the years to not know what was happening. She missed Veli, desperately, which was kind of weird, and had channeled all of her energy into painting the walls. Kal was just grateful they weren't making him participate in the decorating. Marina had taken it upon herself to use some of her newly shown skills to start locating their missing brethren. Evidently she felt that she could adapt the method she had used to find him into a universal locater. So far she had not had any success but she was determined and was not going to give up. She was particularly interested in locating Drew. Kal would always think of him as the wolf. Kal had never changed into a wolf, and didn't think he ever would. He could do it, but it didn't feel like one of his legitimate powers. He would have to force it. They had not heard anything from the Darkness or his two strange compatriots, who may or may not have known what was really going on. Kal had been dying to better secure the mansion and was determined that he was getting out of bed today, with or without Isabelle's blessing although he would greatly prefer her to be on board because then he could do the other thing that he was desperate to do. As if hearing his thoughts, which he couldn't be sure she hadn't, she appeared at his bedside. 314

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"Feeling anxious?" Isabelle asked coyly. Her smile lit up his whole world. "Very." He pulled her down on the bed with him. "But you could help me feel better." Kal immediately began kissing her everywhere that wasn't covered in clothes. The chanting began in his ears. "Hear that? The chanters think I'm ready for action, kiddo." "Well, how can we argue with the chanters?" Isabelle teased him, pulling at his shirt until he threw it off of himself. She was desperate to get her hands on him too. She started tracing her hands up and down his well muscled backside and kissing him hard on the mouth. "I love you, Isabelle," he whispered in her ear. "I know that we've been through a lot in a little amount of time but I know what we have is forever." "It better be or I'll take your powers back and fry you up myself." Isabelle reached up to pull his mouth down on top of hers again. She wanted less talking and more action and he was happy to comply. "I think the moon would be on my side." He lost no time removing clothes and grabbing her breasts with both his hands. He took her nipple in his mouth and began to suck on it, hard. She cried out, almost coming off the bed. She responded in kind, reaching down to draw him 315

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into her hand. He sucked in his breath, throbbing beneath her fingertips. "If you keep that up, this is ending sooner than I would like." Kal gritted his teeth. "I want it fast, Kal. I can't wait for you any more than you can wait for me." Needing no further enticement he entered her hard and fast. She cried out in absolute pleasure. "Please, baby, faster," she groaned. "I need it and I can't wait." He drove into her harder and faster until they were both lost in absolute ecstasy. Release hit them together as they called out each other's names. Sometime later, when she could breathe, Isabelle lay on top of Kal, tracing his well defined abs with her fingers. "What are you thinking about?" She twirled a piece of his hair in her fingers. He just smiled. "I could take the thought from your mind but I'm being polite and refraining from it." "Doing that again but this time slowly until you are begging for release," Kal admitted easily. Isabelle laughed, kissing him above his heart. "You really do heal quickly," Isabelle admitted. "I know." Kal laughed right back. "What are you 316

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thinking about?" "I'm thinking about how I was more alone than I could have imagined and now thanks to fate and prophecies, here I am with the love of my life on a deserted island off the coast of, all places, Maine and facing danger potentially for the rest of my life. But I never felt safer than I do right now in your arms," Isabelle admitted. "You will always be safe with me, kiddo. I guarantee it." Kal rubbed her hair. "I know." She smiled into his mouth. **** Later that day, Isabelle snuck out of the house. Kal was sleeping soundly, having finally agreed to take a nap. The island was quiet. It was fall but it was a warm day and Isabelle was feeling content. She looked up at the sky, feeling the sun's warmth on her face. She was a creature of the sun, Kal had told her, and she believed him. Isabelle felt Kal's hands on her shoulders a moment before they actually touched her. She loved that they could now communicate with each other like that. She wasn't sure how that happened but she wasn't going to question it. They still had a lot to learn. Thank you, she thought, pushing her thoughts 317

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upwards to her parents—all four of them. Thank you for life and thank you for teaching me how to live it. We won't fail you. We promise, Kal concurred, speaking in her mind. And you know I'm always right. Isabelle smiled.

To be Continued in

Love Beyond Sanity, Book Two of The Outsiders

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About the Author As a teenager, Rebecca would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She hopes, these days, that her parents think it was worth it. She is the mother of three adorable boys, and she is fortunate to be married to her best friend. They live in northern New Jersey and try not to freeze too badly during the winter months. She is in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and tries to use all of these elements in her writing. She's been told she's a little bloodthirsty so she hopes that when you read her work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. She loves to write series because she loves to see characters develop over time, and it always makes her happy to see her favorite characters make guest appearances in other books. In her world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will. Website: www.rebeccaroyce.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/RebeccaRoyce/172551376131638?sk=wall Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/rebeccaroyce Blog: www.rebeccaroyce.blogspot.com

Also by Rebecca Royce

Available from Silver Publishing: Light Me Up THE OUTSIDERS Love Beyond Time Love Beyond Sanity (coming soon) Love Beyond Loyalty (coming soon) Available from All Romance ebooks: Yes, Captain Behind the Scenes Simon's Fate One Night with a Wolf THE WESTERVELT WOLVES Her Wolf Summer's Wolf Wolf Reborn Wolf's Valentine Wolf's Magic Alpha Wolf Angel's Wolf THE SEXY SUPERHEROES Screwing the Superhero Banging the Superhero THE CONDITIONED Eye Contact WOLF SAGA OF SAFE HAVEN First Dimension