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  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

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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

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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

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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

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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?"

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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 a
nd 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

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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 non-

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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;

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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

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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

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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 jus
t 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

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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