Blue Violet

chapter 29



Ramsey cocked his head. “Why is that exactly?”

“I’m pretty sure she’s the reason you’ve been able to hang on to your control as well and as long as you have, especially around your family.”

Ramsey shook his head vehemently. “I don’t want her anywhere near me!”

Lila, crossing over to them, heard his statement. A devastated look passed over the poor girl’s face before she managed to control it.

“Too late,” Ellie murmured to Ramsey. He turned and saw Lila right behind him. Silently, he returned his attention to Ellie, his expression grim.

Lila took a deep breath, trying to collect herself. “You wanted me to come over?” she asked Ellie, refusing to even look at Ramsey.

“Lila, I think you may have an untapped power,” Ellie stated.

Lila looked mildly surprised, but nodded. “Does it have something to do with my Dad’s healing ability?”

“Good guess. I think you have the ability to heal people’s emotions.”

Ellie felt Ramsey stiffen at this announcement. Softly, just to Ellie, he asked, “Do you think that’s why I have better control around them than by myself?”

“Yes. I think once Lila masters her skill, she can help you learn to master your emotions. Eventually, you won’t need her help. But to start with, she can at least unconsciously help you until she can deliberately control her powers.”

She looked directly at Lila. “I’d like to try something just with you for a second, and if my guess is right, then we can work with Ramsey together.”

“Sure.” Lila immediately held out her hand to Ellie.

“Don’t go away,” Ellie directed Ramsey, and then let go of his hands to take Lila’s.

She pulled Lila’s light into herself, ice blue this time, and explored for a few minutes. There were definitely two separate abilities, both very subtle with lots of potential uses and applications.

“Woo! Lila, you will have some fun mastering these skills,” Ellie assured her friend with a conspiratorial grin. Ellie concentrated on the one part that she was most interested in at the moment.

“Oh!” She suddenly realized that she and Griffin together would be more effective showing anyone how to use their power. She could tap in, and Griffin could show them what he saw her doing with it, a much more effective method.

Griffin was already walking toward her when she looked up to call him over. Everyone else had apparently decided to join him.

“It seemed like everyone was coming over, so we figured we might as well get front row seats,” Hugh said.

“That was quite an impressive display,” Lucy added, giving Ramsey a hug.

Alex moved to stand beside her. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Did I say amazing? You are so incredible you take my breath away, Miss Aubrey.”

Ellie shivered with pleasure at his words and the nearness of his body.

Griffin moved and took both her and Lila’s hands, making a little circle. Between the two of them, they showed Lila how to start manipulating her ability to heal people’s emotions. In Ramsey’s case, she could help him find the peace that would take away his anger and his anxiety, giving him the control he required. The peace already resided there inside him. She just directed him to it to help it grow and overpower the anger and fear.

It would take a long time before Lila would master it. But today, at least, they could help her learn enough of it to help Ramsey.

Lila was glowing with her newly discovered abilities by the time they were done.

“Sensing other people’s emotions always came in handy, but not in any active way,” she enthused. “It’s going to be awesome to be able to do something.”

Ellie shared her pride. “Don’t discount your other gift,” she encouraged. “There’s a lot more to it than you even realize yet. We can work more on it later if you want.” Looking to Ramsey, she added, “You ready?”

Ramsey shot an indecipherable look at Lila and then nodded.

Ellie and Griffin took Ramsey’s hands, while Lila took Ellie’s other hand just in case she needed her help.

Coordinating every one of their four powers in such a way that allowed Ellie to teach Ramsey was quite a test. He started off slowly.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed as what was supposed to be a six inch flame leapt six feet up into the air.

Ellie touched the red glow inside him. “Feel that?” she asked, as she controlled the flame, keeping it from going higher.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, hold onto that. It’s almost like you’re instructing the flame on what to do.”

“Uh-huh,” Ramsey grunted.

“Okay, I’m giving you back control. Got it?”

“Got it…” Ellie could practically feel the excitement explode through Ramsey, his grip tightening almost painfully. “Oh my God! I do! I have it.” The flame shrank down to six inches and then seemed to do a little dance.

“Excellent!” Ellie enthused. “Now let’s try projecting it…”

At the end of about an hour of concentrated effort, Ramsey could regulate his emotions, though still with Lila’s help, and bring out a small flame in his hand for an extended period of time without its going wild.

“It’s going to take a lot more work to expand your control and make it a mastered skill,” Ellie warned Ramsey at the end of the session.

Ramsey nodded his understanding.

“I also suspect that you’ll need Lila close by for several more years before being able to master the emotional side of your ability on your own,” Ellie added.

Ramsey appeared visibly pleased, and certainly more relaxed than Ellie had ever seen him. Griffin mentally told her, “Until today, he’d thought his gift would consume him and possibly someone he loved. He thought he might have to stay away from people for the rest of his life. That he might have to leave his family if he didn’t get a grip sometime soon. And now, all of that had changed in the space of an evening.” It explained a lot about Ramsey’s personality.

Exhaustion washed over Ellie, but she powered through. With Griffin’s help, she showed Charlotte how to teleport without the popping sound. Ellie would’ve gone on to work on teleporting groups of people with Charlotte, but Alex shook his head at her.

“I think that’s enough for tonight,” he told her privately. Ellie agreed.

As soon as they got home, Alex murmured something to Lucy, who then shooed them all out of the kitchen as she started on dinner.

Alex grabbed Ellie’s hand and led her up to her bedroom. Once he got her there, he said, “You’re dead on your feet.” He pulled her onto the bed and tried to get her to lie down. She pulled away slightly and shot him a half-impressed, half-irritated look.

“I’m going to have to get used to how well you seem to read me,” she grumbled good -naturedly. “Usually only Griffin can figure me out, and he’s cheating,” she smiled as she tapped her temple.

“Mmmm…” He tugged her down to snuggle with him. “It seems like we both have a lot to get used to.” He placed a tender kiss to the back of her neck. “You can work on being harder to read later. For now, let’s sleep until dinner. I’ve wanted to hold you in my arms for a long time you know,” he whispered.

“Mmmm… feels better than I dreamt,” Ellie breathed as she slipped into blissful sleep.

“Me too, baby.” Alex closed his eyes.

After dinner, Alex moved Ramsey into Ellie’s bedroom with Griffin and brought her into his room. Both were still somewhat old-fashioned from their upbringing, and by unspoken mutual agreement, knew that they would spend the time in the room simply getting to know one another and growing their relationship.

“Tell me about yourself.” Ellie prompted, as she finished stuffing the last of her clothes into a dresser drawer.

Alex chuckled. “What do you want to know?” he asked, watching her from the bed as she flitted around the room like a little pixie.

Ellie bounced over beside him. Sitting cross-legged, she took his hand, unable to resist touching him. “Let’s start with where you come from.”

“I was born in Louisiana in the late 1800s, shortly after the Civil War ended,” Alex said.

“You don’t have an accent though!” Ellie exclaimed.

Alex laughed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken with any discernible accent,” he drawled in a thick southern twang. “Or if you prefer, I can bring out my bayou roots, chere,” he continued in an even thicker Cajun drawl.

Ellie giggled. “That one’s kinda sexy,” she teased. “Who were your parents?”

Alex gathered his memories for a second before speaking. “My mother was the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. My father was a poor sharecropper who rented land from her family. I never knew my father. He was killed, not in battle, but by a band of thieves as he was making his way home after fighting bravely for the South.”

“I’m sorry,” Ellie said softly.

Alex shrugged. Turning her hand over in his, he started tracing the delicate veins in her wrists. “Like I said, I never knew him.” He looked up into her eyes. He hadn’t shared this part of himself with anyone in a very long time. His new adoptive family knew bits and pieces, but he rarely talked about his early life.

“I was raised by my mother and her parents until I was ten,” he continued.

Ellie tipped her head to the side, considering his last statement. “Until you started coming into your powers?”

Alex nodded. “I couldn’t control them at first. And it scared her. Scared them all. So one day my mother packed a bag and took me to my grandfather. My father’s dad, who was still a sharecropper on a plantation a few counties over.”

“She just dumped you on someone else?” Ellie was shocked. Nothing but death could ever have separated her own mother from her children. She couldn’t understand any woman doing something like that.

Alex shrugged, solemn. “Don’t be too hard on her, Ellie. She was heartbroken about it. I was very young, but I still remember that. But she was just a normal person. My power must have been terrifying to her.”

Ellie just shook her head.

Alex continued, “In hindsight, it was the best thing she ever could’ve done for me. I had inherited my powers through Grandfather, although my mother hadn’t been aware of that when she took me there. Sharecropping was a very difficult life. Although my mother left me her inheritance when she died many years later, we didn’t benefit from that for quite some time. But I had Grandfather, who taught me everything I know about my power, tutored me in it. He was a wonderful man, strong, dependable, and very funny. He died fighting in World War I. I’m very proud to have known him, to have been related to him.”

Ellie’s heart swelled. Alex had been loved, just like her. And just like her he had lost all of his family. But maybe even worse, since she’d had Griffin at least. Alex had been alone.

“That must’ve been so hard. When did Lucy find you?” she asked.

Alex grinned. “You know about that habit of hers, huh?”

It was Ellie’s turn to shrug. “Yeah, Griffin heard about it one night when we were just keeping tabs on you all from a distance.”

“Mmmm, well, Lucy found me not long after I returned to Louisiana after the Great War.” Alex paused for a second, a small half smile on his lips. He brushed a stray hair back from her face. “I’m lucky to have had three families in my lifetime.”

“But your mother deserted you,” Ellie said, confused.

“Yes, but I was very loved and happy those first ten years of my life. And I’ve long since forgiven her for her fear and ignorance.”

Ellie leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Alex in a tight hug. “How did I get so lucky to find you?” she murmured.

Ellie squeaked as Alex tumbled her onto her back. Leaning over her, he placed a sweet kiss on her mouth. “Not nearly as much as I am to have found you,” he breathed against her softly parted lips.

They spent the rest of the night talking, getting to know their other halves, their te’sorthene, and eventually falling asleep in each other’s arms until morning. Both feeling blessed by what they had discovered together.