My heart was thumping with anticipation. What if I’m a kinesist like Delagio? The idea of being able to control inanimate objects seemed beyond awesome. Or Charm? I would never have to go through another awkward conversation again. I could even convince John to lay off me. Or Teleportation? I could visit anywhere in the world whenever I wanted to. Or Pyromancy, like Sophia. I could- The unit beeped for a second time. Gabriella picked it up and stared at the screen. She frowned. “This makes no sense.” “What is it? I asked. “What ability to I have?” I don’t mind really. Any is fine.” “Well…” She drew the word out. “Spill it Gabriella, the suspense is killing me!” “Alex…” “What?” “You don’t have one.”
17
Disappointment swirled around my stomach like bad food. “Oh.” “Maybe it was an error. Let’s try again.” Hope replaced the disappointment. “You’re probably right, I did squint a bit.” I stretched my eye open with my index finger and thumb, not moving a single muscle as the green light swept through once more. Half a minute later the results were in. “I don’t understand,” said Gabriella and I felt my shoulders sag. We tried twice more. Each time the Biomote informed us that I didn’t have a gift. “Maybe it’s broken?” I suggested, pointing at the unit resting in her lap. “It’s got Fae magic inside, no chance it can go wrong…I’m sorry Alex.”
I gave a casual shrug in an attempt to hide my true feelings. “It doesn’t matter, I still have super strength, speed and hearing. I’m not exactly hard up.” As I spoke the words, I inadvertently cheered myself up. I do still have all these things. Who cares if I can’t disappear into thin air or control someone’s mind? “I’ve never met a Chosen who didn’t have one of the five gifts. You fall outside all the boxes Alex.” “Well I’ve never been one to do things the easy way.” We both broke into laughter. Gabriella slipped the unit back into her uniform pocket.
“I’ll let Faru know, he may have some more ideas. Right, well normally we would now be doing exercises to hone your gift, but doesn’t look like that’s an option now. Seems like we have some free time.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Well we were supposed to meet up today anyway, remember?”
I frowned not sure what she was talking about. Then it dawned on me that we’d agreed at school to spend the day together. That had been before I’d been brought into the HASEA. Back when everything had been relatively normal. It seemed like months ago. “Wow, I’d forgotten about that.” “Charming,” she said raising an eyebrow. “Ha, no I just mean with everything that’s gone on. I’d love to hang out. What do you want to do?” Gabriella paused for a moment. “I’m going to show you to my favourite place in the base.” “There’s a gun range?” “Very funny Mr Eden. And yes there is actually, but that’s not where we’re going.” “Well now I’m intrigued. Lead the way.”
I followed Gabriella out of her apartment. As we walked, I noticed three people coming in the other direction. Leading the way was a fox-like redhead, with an icy complexion and piercing silver eyes. She looked like the sort of girl who collected trouble. Behind her was a large black man with long cornrows, which fell to his shoulders. Next to him was a sallow looking man with yellow hair meticulously combed into a side parting. His eyes were dull grey. Thanks to the guide, I knew that both he and the girl were Vampires, and that the Draco Malfroy wannabe was hungry. He caught me staring and glared back, his narrow eyes closing further. I could have sworn I saw his lip curl up into a snarl. I shifted my gaze immediately. The group stopped just in front of us and the two girls shared the Chosen salute, followed by a quick hug. “Gabriella, how are you keeping?” beamed the redhead. Her voice was rich and smoky, her accent Northern Irish. “I’m good thanks Scarlet, how are you?” She smiled at the two men. “Hello, Tyler, Dakin.” The tall man replied and the Vampire grunted, but kept his steely eyes fixed on me.
“And this must be the famous Alexander Eden,” said Scarlett, her shimmering eyes flicking to me. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person.” “Nice to meet you too,” I said and offered her my hand. Scarlett lifted a slender eyebrow before offering her own. It was smooth and cool — like porcelain. “This is Echo team,” explained Gabriella. “We’ve been on several missions together, some of them pretty close calls. “Nothing we couldn’t handle,” grinned the redhead.
“You’re the ones watching my house?” I asked, glancing at the slick haired Vampire. He was still staring at me. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of this man anywhere near my home.
“That we are,” answered Scarlett.
“Are the rest of you there now then?”
As soon as the words had left my mouth, I knew I’d put my foot in it. There was an awkward silence before Tyler looked down at me. I could tell he was a Chosen like us.
“No, Trojan are watching the house. There are only three of us left now.” He sighed. “A few months ago one of our team went rogue and joined the SOS. He set a trap. We were sprung by Devils. It’s hard enough to survive one. There were four. Six of the team were killed. We’re all that’s left.” He folded his thick mahogany arms across his chest and fell silent again. Dakin glared even harder than before.
I felt my face grow hot. “Oh…I didn’t realise, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t give it a second thought,” smiled Scarlet. She looked back over to Gabriella. “You reckon we’ve been properly filtered now?”
Gabriella looked resolute. “I’m confident that Faru has got his house in order.”
“Let’s hope so, for all our sakes.” Scarlett shook her head. “All this fuss over one Chosen. You must be a pretty special guy,” she winked, giving my arm a squeeze. For a split second out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Gabriella stiffen. “Anyway, we just got back from a mission. Some Harpy in Brighton decided to start kidnapping children in the early hours. About to kill one when we turned up.” She lifted a hand and for the first time, I noticed a thick smear of red on the back. “It was worked up. Things got a bit messy. Still it was a nice change from staring at Alex’s house. We’re going to freshen up in Tyler’s place,” nodding towards Dakin she added, “maybe grab some breakfast.” “I’m going to take Alex to the Sanctuary.” Scarlett gave her friend a look that I knew only she would be able to interpret. “So, uh, you’ll be at the Joining feast later right?”” said Gabriella, clearly changing the subject. “I may be technically dead, but I’m still Irish. No way am I missing a party,” she said with a grin.
Everybody said goodbye with the salute, all except for Dakin, who just barged past me. What’s his problem?
As if reading my mind, Gabriella jerked a thumb behind her. “Don’t worry about Dakin, he’s always been moody. That’s just his way. Plus he’s a little pissed that he’s on what he calls babysitting duty.”
“Ahh…I see.”
Gabriella led me downstairs and out the front doors. We made our way around the vast mansion and into the grounds. The area opened up into an expanse of garden. The blanket of green was lined either side with a phantasmagoria of flowers — which seemed to be thriving despite the time of year. We passed a large stone fountain that was home to a dozen golden Cherubs, spitting high arcs of water from their mouths.
The Sanctuary was positioned about five acres through the expansive grounds, hidden behind a row of tall conifers. It stood separated from the rest of the gardens by a large paddock style fence made from black iron. The entrance was being guarded by another agent. He stood with his arms behind his back, head upright as if attached to an invisible string. He nodded when we reached him. “Good morning, Miss De Luca, Mr Eden. Is there anything I can help with?” he asked. “No thank you Agent Green, I just want to show Alex inside.” “Of course.” He immediately stepped to the side and swung the large gate open.
As soon as we stepped through, I could sense the presence of something otherworldly. It seemed to radiate out towards us from within. Not menacing — but definitely not human.
The gate clicked shut behind us. What looked like oversized horse stables stood diagonally ahead. A large barn, built from redwood stood on the other side. I could hear the distinct sounds of animals shuffling about inside. Slightly smaller evergreens were scattered about, swaying in the icy breeze. Directly ahead was a very large lake. The surface rippled in lines of moving wrinkles. As we walked forward, I felt a sensation like a thousand cobwebs brushing over my skin. I didn’t need even need to ask to know we’d passed through some kind of invisible barrier.
Now everything was different.
