Muffling her laughter, Eden followed her ‘cousin’ as she huffily led the way.
***
It was still light out as they wandered up the stone steps to the Douglas’ house. There were lights on inside so Eden guessed everyone was home. When Christopher wasn’t out hunting soul eaters, he was an investment banker for some big Scottish financial company, and Alison was an elementary school teacher — or a primary school teacher as they called it in Scotland. Since it was Saturday they had both decided to accompany Cyrus to the training centre. Eden couldn’t imagine how the Neith balanced both lives. With the Ankh it was a full time thing and Eden didn’t know where they got
Val and October were discussing the training centre as they stepped inside the house, making Eden even more impatient to get a look at the place. They wandered into the sitting room, discussing swords with foreign names that made Eden’s head spin, and found the Douglas’, Cyrus and Noah sitting around drinking coffee.
Cyrus nodded at her, his eyes smiling. “You had a nice time?” She lifted the bags in her hand and smiled wryly. “I injected colour into my wardrobe.”
“No pink?”
She shuddered. “God, no.”
“Did you take Eden to the castle, Tobe?” Mhairi asked as Alison got up off the sofa, excusing herself as she followed the smell of cooking into the kitchen.
“Yup.”
“Well.” Mhairi turned to Eden. “What did you think?”
What she thought was that she had never seen anything so amazing in her life. “Edinburgh Castle rocks. No pun intended.” She snorted, thinking about the alien-like volcanic rock the castle was perched on. It was almost as if some ancient warlock had swept back in time, ripped the castle from its medieval seams, and planted it down in the modern city. As she’d walked down Princes Street towards it, she had felt as if she had wandered into some weird, surreal dream. It was a majestic, hypnotising sight and she’d bumped into a number of people because she was too busy staring up at it. Since she wasn’t much of a history buff being inside the castle was cool but not nearly as cool as the impression it made from the outside.
“Edinbur-uh,” October admonished for, like, the fiftieth time. “What is it with you Americans and your ‘Edinboro’s’? “Edinbur-uh. Not Edinboro. Edinbur-uh.”
“Say Edinbur-uh one more time and I’m gonna smack you upside the head in training tomorrow,” Eden warned, flopping down onto a stool beside Cyrus who sat with Noah on the sofa. She noticed Noah had barely looked at her at all. Like she cared.
“Training tomorrow?” Cyrus raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Valeria cleared her throat. “I may have promised her…”
The look he gave Val would have frightened a grown man but Eden guessed Val was used to it because she just stared back at him, expressionless. Eden wondered if she’d teach her how to do that.
“I do not think you are ready.” Cyrus shook his head, turning back to Eden.
“No, I’m totally ready. I barely broke a sweat climbing up to that castle. And have you seen the stairs inside that damn thing. Didn’t even wind me.”
“That’s true,” October added. “The steward guide guy was unnerved by her and Valeria. I at least pretended to be out of breath.”
Eden snorted. “Pretended. Riiight.”
Tobe glowered at her. “Hey, some of us have learned the art of blending.”
“Yeah, Eden’s never been too good at that,” Noah spoke up, an annoying little amused quirk tilting his lips up at the corner. She glared at him as he smirked at Tobe, who smiled back appreciatively.
“What does that mean?”
He flicked a look at her. “Oh come on. What about that time you ‘shoved’ Rick Caine?” He turned back to Tobe. “Caine was on the school’s wrestling team. He was standing flirting with some girl whose locker was next to Eden’s and when she asked him to move, he wouldn’t. So she shoved him and he skidded along the school hallway like a bowling ball.” Tobe burst out laughing, shaking her head at the imagery. Her smile turned coy as her bright eyes washed over Noah, and Eden found herself wanting to wring her new friend’s neck. “I can’t imagine you in high school, Noah. You must have been popular.”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “I had to be friends with Eden so popularity was out of the question.” It was like he had shot her. Bitter hurt and anger gripped her as she stood up abruptly, knocking the stool over. Everyone turned to her, an uncomfortable hush falling over the room. Glaring at him, Eden watched as he blanched, his eyes turning apologetic. “Eden…” The tension grew thicker and heavier by the second as her eyes pinned him to the couch with wounded disdain. Finally, with one last disgusted look, Eden grabbed her shopping bags. “I’ve got stuff to put away.”
As she exited the room she head Cyrus sigh. “You can hardly expect me to smooth things over between you two when you insist on acting like a jackass.” Eden’s hands shook as she took out her new clothes and hung them up in the side of the closet that October had given her. Tobe had followed her out of the room and upstairs. She hadn’t said anything but Eden could tell she was worried she might have upset her new friend. To ease her concerns Eden began quietly talking to her and Tobe had set about making room for Eden’s stuff in her bedroom.
“You coming down for dinner?” Tobe asked quietly from her place on the bed.
“Of course,” Eden muttered. “I’m hungry.”
She wasn’t going to let Noah ruin what had been one of the best days of her life. At that thought she winced immediately thinking about Stellan. How could she possibly say that, only weeks after his death? Angry with herself she slammed the closet door shut and ran a trembling hand through her hair.
“Eden, you OK?”
The concern in October’s voice surprised her, her head jerking up to catch the girl’s anxious expression. The Neith’s eyes, always so honest, were sincere and sympathetic. It was such a soft, unexpected countenance from Tobe, one that Eden guessed not many people were privy too.
Suddenly Eden felt grateful. She’d never had a girl friend before. It was kind of nice. “Fine. Just… memories, you know.”
Tobe nodded silently.
A knock on the door had them turning in sync. Noah’s head popped inside, his eyes flicking between Tobe and her. “Hey, Tobe. Can I have a word with Eden in private?”
“Sure-”
“You don’t have to leave, it’s your room,” Eden cut off her acquiescence.
“Nah, it’s cool.” She dashed out of there faster than Eden had yet to see her move.
Noah stood aside, letting her go and then he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
“Here.” He held a gift bag out to her.
Frowning Eden reached for it without thinking. “What is it?” she asked warily.
“I bought it earlier just as a… ‘hope you’re OK’ kind of thing. Now it’s a ‘please forgive me for being a complete ass’ kind of thing. It’s been a long day.” Right then, Eden knew something bigger was bothering Noah than what had occurred downstairs.
He hadn’t looked at her when she’d arrived home. He’d seemed snarky and irritable before she’d even opened her mouth. Suddenly she recalled Val’s phone call. She’d gotten so caught up in her time with Tobe that she hadn’t remembered to ask.
“What happened today?” She sank onto the bed, bracing herself for bad news.
With a deep exhalation, Noah crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the door.
“Chris and Alison came over to the training centre with Cyrus today. I’d already been there for a while and… well… Ankh are a big draw. We don’t visit Scotland a lot because the Neith here are some of the best… they usually take care of any bigger problems that come up. I think the last time an Ankh was here was when McLeish
