Lightning Kissed

  THE SYNOD IS THE GOVERNING BODY OVER THE LUCENTS.

  Already, I hated the behemoth—mostly because he wasn’t letting me have my way. He offered to help Theo with his quest like Theo was Link from Zelda.

  I should’ve taken pictures of Collin’s face while he talked to Theo. He was in the presence of greatness, or so his expression revealed.

  It was just Theo, for crying out loud.

  A miniscule bolt of fear meandered through my veins as Theo agreed to let Collin go with him.

  Because he said me, not us.

  ‘Sure you can come with me.’

  Who in the hell does this skunk ape think he is?

  “Don’t even think about cutting me out,” I whispered, ashamed of the emotion it carried.

  “Hey,” Theo sidled up next to me, using a soothing tone. “Have I ever cut you out?”

  He probably meant no harm by that statement. He would never purposefully hurt me.

  But I read between the lines anyway.

  What he was really saying was that I had constantly cut him out. And I had. I cut him out of my life time and time again, only to summon him back when I needed him. But Theo had always been stronger than me. He could take getting cut out and drawn back in. I couldn’t. The minute I had felt my defenses being penetrated, I cast him away.

  I needed to grow up.

  I looked into Theo’s deep gray eyes as he waited for a response.

  “No,” I answered. This wasn’t the time or the place to have my pesky feelings get in the way. I shuffled away from him and found what seemed to be the only standard-sized chair in the place. This Collin guy must’ve had custom furniture brought in. I dug through my bag and found one of the apples I’d stashed. I’d intended to eat it right away, but I had no idea that getting into this place would entail pulling on a huge rope using all my body weight.

  The apple crunched as I sank my teeth into it. The sound of my own chewing kept me from hearing the hushed conversation going on between David and Goliath. I was more of an action kind of girl.

  After a while, my apple was diminished, and I was itching to go again.

  “So how are you gonna get to Tibet?” I asked Collin.

  Both of their heads jerked in my direction. It wasn’t that hard of a question. He couldn’t flash like us, so traveling would be an issue.

  I was just being logical—practical—in a mean girl sort of way.

  “I have my own plane. All Guardians do in case there is an emergency meeting.”

  Apparently there were a lot of idiosyncrasies about the Guardian world I had no idea about.

  Like the fact that they had planes and held secret meetings.

  All this time, I thought they were just loners.

  Theo and Collin flowed back into their conversation about logistics and USB drives. This wasn’t turning out to be the diabolical and high-danger journey Theo had made it out to be. So far it was Slush Puppies and giants.

  “Can I see the books?” I queried simply out of boredom. Whatever was in those books had been cataloged in such a detailed manner by Theo and now Collin that I doubted I would find any new information.

  But Theo had trouble finding ketchup in the refrigerator.

  Boys.

  “Of course,” Collin waved his arm toward the back of the place. Theo chuckled into his fist.

  “What are you laughing at? Isn’t this what we’re supposed to be doing?”

  “Yes, just wait.”

  We meandered through the great home. I stopped to look at the paintings on our way through the hall. One was of my grandmother.

  “Rebekah,” Collin said with an air of reverence. “Your grandmother is the wisest of all the Prophets. But it is only in the halls of records that she is respected as she should be.”

  The picture of my grandmother was encased in a frame made of golden filigree. She was younger, her hair revealing the generation in which the painting was completed.

  “You knew her?”

  He patted my back. “Know, young female, know. Just because something is deemed unworthy by a group of people, doesn’t make it less loved.” Then he winked at me. An unfounded giggle erupted from my mouth. Collin was handsome up close. From far away, I couldn’t get past his overgrown stature to see it. But now, when I turned and he was bent over targeting his words to my ear, I could clearly see it. His jaw was rugged and his eyes were the deep brown of someone who had a tiny bit of rebel in them.

  Collin had a little bit of anarchy brewing inside him. I could see it.

  Theo was in such trouble.

  “Onward, good sir,” I said and motioned. I felt a new camaraderie with him and showed it by linking my arm through his. Theo shot a questioning look my way, but I ignored it. There was no way to explain to him the glimmer I’d seen in Collin without sounding any more right field than I usually did.

  “Are there no pictures of Eivan and Sevella?” I questioned the two of them.

  “There are in Tibet. There’s a monk there who is descended from Eivan’s advisor, Winchester—he commissioned painters to paint their portrait for one of their anniversaries. He also has some personal artifacts, but it would take some coercing to let us see them.”

  Coercing was my specialty.

  We entered the multi-storied library and I gasped. It was bigger and more magnificent than anything I could’ve imagined. In truth, I’d thought it would be more—cave-like.

  It was grand—a library fit for a king.

  “Where are the records on Sevella?” I prompted.

  Both men glared at me.

  “Don’t look at me like that. A woman usually has a more—emotional, detailed account of things. Men tend to float over the details.”

  Collin nodded in understanding. He stalked over to a stack already set on a table and brought all the books over to me. He outlined the stacks, giving me an overview of where I could find what. Theo stood nearby and oversaw the whole ordeal but he looked anxious—preemptive. The books were enormous volumes that smelled of the rich history of our race. History drove me. I could recite the old laws instead of the Preamble to the United States Constitution by the time I was seven. Each was leather-bound with gold writing and matching gold filigree, which struck me as indicative. This is what the Synod wanted us to believe.

  Were these the pretty lies Rebekah spoke of?

  If someone were to lie to an entire race of people, certainly covering it with leather in intimidating-sized books would be the way to convey truth.

  I opened the first book and gently turned it to the section, or near the section, Collin showed me. He’d presented so many things, I couldn’t keep track. Theo’s eyes widened and ping-ponged between the books and Collin.

  “What is your deal?” I asked a little louder than necessary. The squawk resounded through the halls in high-pitched echoes, carrying with it the level of my irritation.

  “You’re not gonna do the gloves and the ‘don’t breathe on anything’ routine? What the hell, man?”

  Theo’s earlobes had gone completely red and that vein was working an angry rhythm on the side of his neck. Whatever Collin had done was really jerking Theo’s nerves. But it didn’t matter what it was, he was out of line.

  “Theo!” I berated him. Collin had been ‘relieved’ of his job. Most likely, because of his recent connection to Theo and what he was studying. The guy just announced that he was going to travel with us to help, and Theo was whining about gloves or some piddly thing.

  Theo stuttered in response, “No—I just—he—no breathing.”

  I turned to our new friend. “Collin, what have you done? I’ve never seen Theo stutter like that. You must’ve committed some great crime. All I can think right now is that you did something inappropriate with gloves and breathing.”

  He broke out into a boisterous chortle loud enough to jostle some of the antiquated books right from their shelves. He quickly quieted himself and cleared his throat. Poor guy, he probably wasn’t use
d to laughing—unless it was at himself.

  “I hadn’t had a visitor in a great many years. I may have been overprotective of the records.”

  Theo was grumbling, “Overprotective, my ass.”

  I quieted down after the glove uproar and dove back into the texts. They were fascinating to me. Everything about who we were and where we’d come from demanded my attention and held it steadfast. Through just a few hours of reading, I’d discovered that the detailed stories of grandeur my mother and grandmother told me as a child were a firm opposition to the cold, almost scientific observations gathered in these books. Eivan was painted as a shell of a man, commandeered by his gifts—a slave to his blessing.

  Aggravated, I continued on and finally came upon information on Sevella—which was more of the same. She was regarded as an unsocial creature—inhospitable and standoffish. How could the stories of my youth and these ‘official records’ be so different?

  I slammed the book closed, not wanting any more of my visions of the Eidolon and his mate to be muddled by the flippant attitude of the authors of these histories.

  “These are lies,” I bellowed at no one in particular. “I can’t stand it.”

  Collin looked down, as if silently deciding neither to agree nor disagree with my assessment. I’d probably just ruffled the feathers of at least two thirds of my race with one statement. And if the Synod ever got wind of my rebellion—punishment would be warranted.

  Punishment from the Synod, at least for me, was limiting my travel. To me, not traveling was as painful as caging me in a cell.

  Theo bristled at my words. I didn’t mean to cause him pain—but what was in front of us wasn’t truth. And there was no point in all this searching if we were just going to settle for the Synod’s truth. We needed Eivan’s truth.

  Theo shut the book in front of him and leaned back, arms crossed over his chest. He was upset with me. I needed to keep my thoughts to myself for once in my life—well, the snotty ones.

  “I need to go to Tibet and make sure they are ready for our arrival—and get some other things done,” Theo said, standing and stretching out his back with his arms raised in the air. A slow rising blush covered my neck and bloomed in my cheeks. It had been too long and not long enough since I’d been in Theo’s presence. His shirt became taut around his shoulders as he bent left and right and his biceps stretched the limits of the material around them.

  I knew what was under that shirt.

  You just can’t unvisualize things like Theo’s torso.

  He was irresistible—even in mundane things, like stretching.

  “Okay, do you have a picture?” I slid my chair out in preparation to leave.

  “I don’t. Not on me. I will be back soon, Querida.”

  I grumped out a sound of mild irritation. I was itching already for flashing.

  “Collin, do you need help?”

  He looked at me, shocked. “No, thank you.”

  Theo sidled up next to me. “Go wherever you want. There’s nothing pressing happening until tomorrow. If you can just be back by tonight.” He bit down on his plumped bottom lip as he told me that last bit. It was him asking me to be back tonight.

  “Or we can go to Tibet tonight.”

  He thought it over for a second. “I will try to arrange everything. Meet me at my place tonight.”

  “Done,” I responded with a nod.

  Without telling him where I was going, I flashed to the back entrance of the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in Iceland. Once a year I went there and soaked myself in the calming, renewing waters. I walked around to the front entrance, paid my way, and bought a glimmering turquoise bikini from the gift shop. I had packed plenty of them in my bag, but I wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

  On the way to one of the smaller pools, I gathered my hair up and tied it into a knot at the base of my neck. No matter how many times I’d been here, the temperature of the warm, soothing water, nestled in amongst sheets and mountains of ice, was surprising. The steam around the pools rose in rings as if the tubs were blowing cigar smoke in the ice’s mouth. Around me, mothers doted on their tiny tots who clearly got a kick out of the sensation of ice to fire.

  Submerging myself, I let out a breath I’d been holding since I learned of Theo’s gifts. I was terrified for him. Eventually the Synod would catch up with me. I was summoned at least once a month, if not more, when my work and travel were analytically audited—to what end I didn’t know. We didn’t have many laws regarding travel. Just the usual—don’t get caught, don’t make a Las Vegas magic show out of it, and don’t use your powers for immoral behavior. But ever since the Synod had taken over, that line between immoral and moral had been skewed.

  Especially with their ‘sanctioned’ employment opportunities.

  Such was the case with Sway.

  Sway used to steal vaccinations, both harmful and helpful, and formulas to make more, from Russian and North Korean scientific facilities. She gave them to the Synod. The Synod, in turn, would trade them for head-turning from government officials. Theo said it was stealing—period. We weren’t supposed to use our powers to steal—even to such an end as to stop those countries from using those horrible diseases on our citizens. Sway called it the lesser of many evils. She fancied herself a Robin Hood of sorts—stealing from the devil and giving to the mildly devilish.

  I was on the fence and stayed there. Yes, it was stealing. And yes, she was stopping nefarious people from doing heinous acts of terror.

  Both sides had equal defenses in my mind.

  I’d finally made up my mind after she’d been captured. She had stolen an entire cold storage unit worth of Ebola from Iran and handed it over to the Synod. They, in turn, used the trade to make a government head of state turn a blind eye. A Hawaiian United States Senator had been caught on tape, flashing from the wooded area behind his home to his garage, by paparazzi amidst an unrelated political scandal.

  The video never saw the light of day, but apparently an entire country’s worth of potential terrorist ammunition was enough, because when the exchange was made, Sway became part of the bargain.

  They gave her to the government as a lab experiment, like a three-dollar rat.

  She was let out months later, decrepit and Resin. Sway hardly ever spoke to anyone now. Once, she told me about her ordeal but made me swear to never speak of it to anyone again. She always seemed afraid of the Synod, calling me immediately after my meeting with them just to make sure I was okay. I didn’t even bother to tell her about Theo. It would’ve been like alcohol in her wound.

  But for Theo—the whole situation scared me so deeply,

  I could hardly breathe around him. Well that and the other thing.

  That thing where I was completely in love with him but could only say it under complete submission.

  Idiot.

  I almost hoped he would lose his powers. They were dangerous. Nothing good has ever come of being Eidolon.

  Nothing.

  Even my fairy tales ended the same way their ‘truths’ did. Eivan was never seen again, leaving Sevella to grieve her life away.

  And I was afraid, selfishly so, that one day, I might take her place in the false histories.