Blue Violet

chapter 26

“Can I come in now?” Griffin called loudly from outside the door.

Their blissful reverie interrupted, Ellie moved to get off Alex’s lap, but he just tightened his grip. “Come on in,” Alex called, his arms firmly around Ellie’s waist.

The door swung open and Griffin walked in, eyebrows raised. “I guess you’re feeling better?” he teased. He’d never seen his sister look so happy, practically glowing. And although he felt the slight pinch of his own loss, knowing their relationship would have to change in some ways, he loved her too much to begrudge her this happiness.

“Much,” Ellie answered. “What time is it anyway?”

Griffin checked his watch. “About six a.m. on Wednesday morning.”

“I’d better get ready for school then.” She hopped off of Alex’s lap and started opening drawers.

“Wait,” Alex said, looking incredulous, “You’re going to school?”

“Of course!” she answered as she pulled out a pair of jeans. “I am a high school student for the time being. I have to keep up that appearance.”

They all understood that if they survived this, they’d eventually need to continue their lives as they had been before. None of them felt like uprooting and starting over just yet, and so, to the rest of the world, they needed to continue to act like normal human beings.

“Yes, but…”

“Aren’t Nate, Lila, and Adelaide all still attending school?” Ellie paused from searching through drawers to face him, her hands on her hips.

“Yes,” he admitted.

“Then I should too. Putting aside the need to keep up appearance, I can protect them better if I’m right there with them,” she asserted, her chin assuming a stubborn tilt.

“But they didn’t just spend three days passed out in bed healing from major injuries,” he pointed out. Alex levered himself off the bed and crossed the room to where she stood to frame her face with his hands.

“That’s true,” Ellie conceded. “But I’m better now, so there’s really no excuse.”

Alex ground his teeth in frustration, pushing away to return to the bed and sit down. He glanced at Griffin, who was lounging in the doorway watching the exchange with interest. Griffin gave a resigned shrug, his expression clearly saying, Good luck, dude.

“Then I’m driving you to school,” Alex insisted.

But Ellie was already shaking her head. “As much as I’d love that, it doesn’t fit with our story,” she reminded him. In an exaggerated southern accent she said, “You ah just too old for little ol’ me, Mr. Jenn-ah. It is positively indecent.” She batted her eyes at him dramatically.

Alex merely grunted in return, looking highly irritated.

“She’s always like this,” Griffin confided. “I can’t say that I’m sorry that you get to deal with it now. I’ve had to put up with her on my own for years.”

Ellie gave her brother an affectionate slug on the arm.

Seeing that Alex still wasn’t pleased, she crossed the room and placed a quick kiss on his lips, feeling a thrill of excitement. She still couldn’t quite believe that he was her te’sorthene, and she his, and that she could kiss him like this freely. It would take some getting used to.

“I can access Griffin’s defensive shield from the school if it makes you feel any better,” Ellie said, attempting to sooth his obvious concern.

“I’d rather he drive you to school himself. You’re still pretty weak,” Alex replied. “It’s pretty obvious, Ellie.”

That would also take some getting used to, this ability of his to read every emotion and thought without the advantage of a power that allowed him to do so. It was more like he knew her as well as he knew himself.

Suddenly, Ellie frowned. “What exactly is your power anyway, Alex?”

His eyebrows shot up. “You mean you don’t already know?”

She shook her head. “Not really. It has something to do with freezing stuff, maybe. You’re very good at hiding what you can do. So what is it?”

“Nope,” he said with a grin, “I’m not telling you yet. And you’re not allowed to use your power on me to figure it out.”

“Why won’t you tell me?” Ellie was perplexed.

“You kept who you were from me all this time. Put me through hell, I can tell you, fighting what I felt for you. This is my turn for a little payback…” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her as he rubbed his hands together, anticipating the different ways he could torment her.

Ellie rolled her eyes. “I’m going to have to find out pretty soon,” she reminded him. “I really should start practicing if I’m going to master using all these skills at once. In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, we should get started on that tonight after school.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t put us in danger making you wait.”

“Huh.” With that, she headed for the bathroom. She took a long, hot shower, which felt ridiculously wonderful, and then got dressed for school.

“The kids are just getting their gear and are about to head off,” Lucy said as Ellie made her way to the kitchen. Everyone else was already eating breakfast. “It’s good to see you up and about,” she added as she came around the table to give Ellie a hug.

Hugh stood beside her. “Do you mind?” he asked Ellie, indicating his desire to use his power on her. Ellie held out her hand with a smile. Hugh concentrated silently for a few moments and then smiled. “All better I see.”

“Thanks to you.” She grinned back and snagged a piece of toast off the table. “I’d better get going or I’ll be late for school.”

“Hey…” Alex caught her wrist, tugging her to a halt. “At least take Griffin with you.”

“I can’t,” she said with a shake of her head. “If he comes with me, he can’t protect you here at the house.”

Alex frowned. “But he’s been at the school the last two days protecting the others,” he protested.

“Only because he knew that I could tap in to his power to protect the house if I had to,” she explained.

“And how would he know that? You were out cold.”

Ellie looked at him patiently. She knew he’d already figured it out. Alex turned a glare on Griffin, who just shrugged. “You didn’t think I’d leave my sister undefended did you?”

“I was here,” Alex insisted. “So were the rest of us. But I guess I should have figured.” He turned his attention back to the girl standing beside him. Not that he’d admit it to her yet, but she really was adorably sassy in her confidence in her powers and her brother’s. “This twin thing is going to take some getting used to,” he muttered under his breath.

Ellie threaded her fingers through his and brought their hands up to her lips. She kissed them softly. He knew she was wordlessly telling him that Griffin would always be her twin brother, and they would always have their connection, both as siblings and through their powers. But she was Alex’s te’sorthene now. A bond greater than any other for a Svatura. That’s where her heart lived now and forever.

Lila, Adelaide, and Nate chose that moment to appear. “Hey, Ellie!” Nate greeted jovially, giving her a thumbs up. Lila also grinned.

Adelaide crossed the room to give her friend a big hug. “So now you’ll truly be my sister!”

Ellie and Alex looked only slightly less surprised than everyone else at this statement.

“You’re te’sorthene. You have a connection that I’ve only seen a few times, and most of those are in this group. I assume you’ll eventually get married, right?”

“Oh!” Ellie and Alex gasped in unison.

“You didn’t know?” Adelaide asked, confused. She knew what she saw between them, and it was undeniable.

“It’s still new to us, munchkin.” Alex lovingly mussed his adoptive sister’s hair. “We just had our first official kiss…we hadn’t gotten as far as discussing marriage just yet.”

Ellie didn’t say anything. She still felt a little shell-shocked. She’d never had a serious romantic relationship – dates yes, serious no. She’d been so young when her people were destroyed there’d been no opportunity, and then moving around so frequently and never meeting her own kind, serious just hadn’t been on the agenda. So having this brand new one so publically declared and categorized was a little overwhelming.

Alex gently nudged her and wrapped his hand around hers again. “You’re not embarrassed about me already?”

“No!” Ellie didn’t want him even thinking that, even as a joke. “I’m just new at this.”

“I’m so sorry!” Adelaide apologized, covering her mouth with her hands. “I assumed you knew. The relationship is so clear to me.”

Ellie shook her head. “Don’t worry, Adelaide. You’re not wrong. It’s just we haven’t had much time to talk about it yet.” She paused. “I’d love to see how you interpret what you see,” she added.

Adelaide grinned.

“Time to get going,” Nate reminded everyone, handing Adelaide’s bag to her.

With a quick hug for Griffin, Ellie grabbed her stuff and followed the others out the door. Alex walked with her to her car. Before she got in, he gave her a concerned look. “Please be very careful,” he implored. “I only just found you. I can’t lose you, not now.”

“That goes ditto for you, you know,” she replied.

He gave her a brief kiss, not caring that the others were standing right there. As he watched her drive away, a small smile played around his lips, despite the fact that he couldn’t quite breathe right when she was away from him.