Carla stared at the white hospital wall. Her body hurt like it never had before. Even the sheets on the hospital bed felt too rough against her skin. The fluorescent light overhead stung her eyes. The sick smell of Chloraseptic made her gag. At least the world had stopped coming apart and tearing her to pieces along with it.
Mr. DeWheat sat near her bed, with his hand on her arm. He'd kept in physical contact with her from the moment he'd arrived at the school. His touch had saved her. She didn't understand how, but she knew it had. The paramedics had not tried to stop him from riding with her in the ambulance. They hadn't even asked if he was family. No one in The Valley, it seemed, dared to question DeWheat.
"Carla," Mr. DeWheat said.
Carla kept her face to the wall and refused to look at him. She didn't need to see his aura to feel it wrapping around her like a thick comforter on a cold winter night.
"Your mother will be here soon. I think we should talk before she gets here."
Carla figured he meant talk about her being Aos si. Strange that humans couldn't see the truth that glared like flashing neon to the Aos Si. "Maybe you should talk to her. It's her fault."
"I doubt it. Did you ever meet your father?"
Carla stiffened. "You think she didn't know what he was? No. She knew, and she married him anyway." Carla still had the wedding picture in her pocket. She'd never been this angry at her mother before. Her father yes, not her mother. But she hurt so bad. Her whole body felt like someone had stuffed her through a paper shredder. Her parents had created her and stuck her with this power that she didn't understand and couldn't control.
"You need help, Carla," Mr. DeWheat said in a voice meant to be soothing. "Is your father around somewhere you can go to him?"
"Are you kidding me?" Carla forced her burning muscles to move enough to shove her hand into her pocket, pull out the picture, and lift it above the sheets. She looked over at DeWheat finally, afraid to look into his aura, so powerful, so bright.
Mr. DeWheat took the picture from her pained fingers. He stared at it for a long time, unblinking, his face never changing from the smooth calm he'd had before he looked at the picture. His power, wrapped around Carla, never wavered.
He lowered the picture and stared into her eyes. There she saw it, a flicker of anger, not surprise. But smoothed away so fast it seemed only her imagination. "There are many Greenhalls. It's a common last name. I wouldn't have guessed His Highness was your father. No, I don't suppose he's around to help you. Did those fools know your mother was pregnant when they took him away?"
Carla shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they would have killed her if they had. They don't sound very fond of humans."
"Most certainly not fond of humans." He frowned and tapped the picture absently in thought.
Footsteps clattered down the hall, jarring Carla's nerves as much as the light and sheets. The door opened, and her mother rushed in. "Carla, Carla, what happened? On the phone they said you had a seizure." She saw Mr. DeWheat and stopped before reaching the bed.
Mr. DeWheat stood and held out his hand in greeting. "I don't think we've properly met. I'm Jerry DeWheat."
The moment Mr. DeWheat's hand left Carla's arm, power lanced through her, no little tingle or pinpricks but a whirlwind of spinning knives, slicing her apart. Carla gasped.
Mr. DeWheat reached down and stroked her arm, drawing the flow of power away from her.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Her mother cried, rushing the rest of the way to the bed and grabbing Carla's hand.
"Your daughter channeled too much power through herself. She came very close to spreading her soul throughout the web of power flows. Fortunately my daughter called me, and I got there soon enough to pull her back."
"Alise called you?" Carla couldn't believe that. She and Alise were enemies. Carla had used her power to attack Alise.
"Oh no, I was afraid she'd do something like that." Mom shuddered and gripped Carla's hand tighter.
Mr. DeWheat opened his mouth to say something, but a doctor with gray hair and a fat paunch of a stomach stepped into the room. "Mrs. Greenhall, I'm glad you're here. We need some medical background on your daughter. Does she have a history of seizures?"
"No. She's always been healthy before."
Carla tried to get more comfortable beneath the chaffing sheets. She felt anything but healthy now.
"I think we'd better do some tests," the doctor said. "Her seizure was quite severe and could be indicative of some more serious problem."
"Tests won't be necessary," Mr. DeWheat said.
"Mr. DeWheat," the doctor said, glaring at him. "Why are you here? Carla is not your daughter."
A laugh escaped Carla's lips. Could there really be one person in the whole valley that DeWheat didn't control. His powers were so much stronger than Alise's. If he laid it on the man, DeWheat could probably use him like a puppet, but DeWheat kept his power tucked around Carla. He glared at the doctor.
"I'm here because I'm paying the bill. And I agree, Carla does need medical attention, but not here. I've already called for private transportation to move her to my estate. I will contact appropriate specialists in the field to evaluate her. My personal nurse will care for her until they arrive."
The doctor's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed and stepped back. "Mrs. Greenhall?" he questioned. "Is this what you want?"
Mom bit her lip. She tightened her grip on Carla's hand, making it throb. "Do you want to go to his place?"
Carla thought about Sira and Todd. She knew they'd be worried about her, but she could call them. Alise would be the problem. Unable to stay sitting any longer, Carla slumped back onto the bed. "Alise and I don't get along very well," she mumbled to Mr. DeWheat.
"What?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I don't see why you can't be friends."
"Right. Like Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee could be friends."
Mr. DeWheat closed his eyes and groaned. "As if I don't have enough trouble without dealing with adolescent squabbles." He rubbed his face then opened his eyes and looked over to Carla's mother. "Mrs. Greenhall. If you'll take Carla home, I'll have a specialist meet you there with all the appropriate medical equipment. Does that sound all right?"
Mom wrinkled her forehead. "You don't think she'd be better off here?"
"Of course she would be," the doctor said, glaring at DeWheat. "Mr. DeWheat you are taking unnecessary chances with a girl's life. Just for once, can't you keep your ego in check?"
Mr. DeWheat drew in a deep breath then released his hold on Carla. The pain came again, but not as bad as before. DeWheat's power swept away from her and fell on the doctor. "Dr. Grobbin," he said, crossing the room and putting his arm around the doctor's shoulders. "Why don't you step outside and discuss this with me."
The doctor's eyes glazed over, and he let DeWheat lead him out of the room.
Not long after that, Carla rode home with her mother. Her body ached, and she kept her eyes closed so she wouldn't see the wash of color that had emanated from the world since she had gotten her Aos Si sight. The more she looked at it, the more it seemed to rush into her. Even a little touch of the power hurt her now, and Mr. DeWheat wasn't there to keep the pain away. As they neared the house, her mother swore under her breath and slowed the car.
Carla looked up to see a police car parked in their drive. "Not again," Carla moaned. "You'd think they'd have figured out he's not here by now."
Her mother pulled in beside the police car. One of the twin officers climbed out of the car and waved to them. He wore jeans and a polo shirt. He didn't have his gun, and the other officer wasn't with him.
Carla opened the door and eased out. An array of green light spun around her, flung up from the trees, grass, and flowers. A streak of gray mixed in from the rocks, along with a wash of blue from the canal. All of them slicing through her, pouring into her, tearing her apart. She squeezed her eyes closed and leaned back against the car.
"What do you want?" She heard her mother say to the policeman.
"Mr. DeWheat sent me to help Carla. I'm off duty at the moment, so I came right over. My name's Dusty Meadows, by the way."
The sound of their voices sent lances of pain deeper through Carla. She started shaking and couldn't stop. Soft footsteps approached her. A hand touched her arm, and the power flowed away, leaving her cold and empty. The pain stopped.
She looked up to see Dusty standing in front of her. He had short black hair, brown skin, and a fat mustache that covered the top lip of his mouth. His aura started as a pale spring green at his head and moved through the green spectrum to a deep forest green at his feet. At his touch, the world had stopped spinning and the sea of auras settled in around their assorted objects.
"Let go of me." Carla pulled out of his grasp. The pain came back swift and intense. She embraced it, letting the power flow into her. How it hurt, and how she wanted to strike at him with it. This man who had shot Shade.
"No wait," Dusty said, holding his hands up. "Don't do that. Let it go. Slowly. Let it ease back out of you. Focus it into the ground at your feet."
"Never." Carla's teeth chattered and her body shook in the rush of power. She felt herself coming apart again, but she didn't care. "You murderer."
Dusty's mustache twitched. "Me?" His brow wrinkled in confusion, then his eyes went wide. "You . . . you healed Shadowheart. He was here and you hid him from us?"
"You shot Shade," Carla accused. "Sunblade whipped him, and he tried to get to DeWheat for help, and you shot him. An unarmed boy. You knew he didn't have a gun, and you shot him!"
Carla's body spasmed, and she dropped to her knees unable to stop the power that swept through her now, jerking her body back and forth. The hot flow of power spun her mind in a kaleidoscope of color and pain.
Dusty lunged forward and grabbed her as she tumbled toward the ground. He lifted her in his arms and pressed her against his muscle-tight chest. He defused the power, reconstructed her soul, and stopped the pain.
"Let's go inside," he said to her mother.
Carla wanted to fight him, to punch and kick and claw her way out of his grasp, but she barely had enough strength left to breathe. They stepped through the door into the living room. Dusty sat on the couch, still keeping Carla pressed up close to him.
"How old is she," he said, stroking her hair.
Carla shuddered and made a feeble attempt at swatting his hand away.
"Sixteen," her mother said.
"So young." Dusty's voice was low and soothing, almost musical. "A full Aos Si wouldn't have come into her powers yet. And not this much. Not all at once."
"She doesn't like you." Her mother's voice sounded like sandpaper compared to Dusty's. "Can't DeWheat send someone else to help her?"
"I've been teaching adolescents how to control and use their powers for over a thousand years. I'm the best, and believe me, she's going to need it."
"You shot an innocent man," her mother said. Carla was glad to hear her mother stand up to Dusty. Turning her head, Carla sank her teeth into Dusty's shoulder. His shirt tasted like lilac fabric softener and made her gag, but she bit in harder.
He tensed, but kept her wrapped tight in his arms. She gave up biting and tried to call the power back to her, but he channeled it away before it could reach her.
"Mrs. Greenhall," Dusty said. "I don't know what Shadowheart told you, but it doesn't change the truth. He does have a gun. Sunblade sent him here to kill Mr. DeWheat. Shadowheart would have succeeded if I hadn't shot him. He still may as long as he remains alive."
Carla gathered enough air into her lungs to speak. "How do you know?"
"My brother saw it happen," Dusty said in a low voice.
"What?" Carla's mother put her hands on her hips and gave him the look she usually reserved for the moments just before she'd ground Carla for a month.
"Every Aos Si has a gift. Carla's, it seems, is healing. My brother's is the ability to see into someone's future. When he touches someone, he can see future actions that person will take. Shadowheart can lie to you, but he cannot deceive my brother's power."
"And what's your power," Carla's mother asked.
"I have a gift for teaching. Although it helps if the student wants to learn rather than kill me." He loosened his grip on Carla and set her down on the couch beside him, still holding both of her arms with his vice-like hands. "Carla, I can't help you very well if you fight me."
Carla took a deep breath and realized she was shivering like if she'd been out in a snowstorm without a coat. Goose bumps stood out on her arms, and tears slicked her face. "Shade doesn't want to kill anyone."
Dusty drew the tips of his mustache down in a deep frown. "Is he still here?"
"No." Carla's teeth chattered, and her shivers turned into deeper shaking. "He's safe now, where you'll never be able to hurt him again."
"Get her a blanket," Dusty said to her mother. "And something hot to drink." He pulled Carla back onto his lap, but she twisted off it.
"Let go of me," she said.
"I don't think so. His Majesty would never forgive me if I let you die, and heaven forbid the day I run into His Highness of the Greenhall and he wants to know why I couldn't save his little girl." Dusty shuddered and pulled her back onto his lap. His green aura spread around her. "Since Shadowheart isn't here, let's you and I make a deal. I promise not to go hunting for him as long as you promise to listen to me and try to do what I say."
"Really, you promise not to go after him anymore?" Carla's heart lifted a little.
"How can I hunt Shadowheart if I'm here teaching you?"
Carla's mother came in with a thick blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. Dusty sat Carla down on the couch and helped tuck it around her. Carla took the warm mug in her hands, wrapping her fingers around the picture of two kissing cows her mother had painted on it. Steam rose from the chocolate, and small marshmallows floated on top. Dusty sat next to her, stroking her arm, keeping his power wrapped around her so she couldn't touch any other power.
"Let's start out with a little bit of Aos si science 101," he said. "The world is full of power. Everything natural exists simultaneously in two states: the physical state that you are used to seeing, and a spiritual state that you have just begun to notice. In school you have studied the science of the physical world, yes?"
Carla nodded.
"Laws of motion? Energy? Light?"
"Yes." Carla savored the taste of the minty dark chocolate on her tongue. Its heat warmed her and stopped her shaking.
"The spiritual world has its own laws. They are complex and take some time to learn, but I'll give you a quick overview to start. The auras you see are created by spiritual power. They are always in flux, changing moment to moment. The world has a vast reservoir of power, divided throughout all things. You have a natural amount of your own power, which is part of the world's web of power, that is power constantly flowing through everything, plants, animals, people, earth, rocks, sky, sunlight. You have the ability to draw this power into yourself. But if you pull too much, it can sweep you away with its flow and scatter your spirit through the whole world. Without a spirit inside it, your body will die."
Carla shuddered. She'd felt the very thing he was talking about.
"Imagine a river. We can put up a dam across that river to create a reservoir. Water flowing through the dam can be used to create hydroelectric power, right?"
"Right," Carla said. Her voice came out in a hoarse croak.
"Your body is much like the dam and the reservoir. Now imagine the entire Atlantic Ocean suddenly poured into the reservoir. It would sweep away the dam and carry water from the reservoir with it out to sea. That's what you've been trying to do—dump the entire ocean into your reservoir. You need to learn how to gather power the right way and how to channel it, so it won't destroy you."
"You think you can teach me?" Carla didn't like the idea of learning from Dusty. Somehow it seemed like betraying Shade to do it, but then Shade had known about her power, knew she didn't know how to use it, and he'd just walked away.
"I know I can teach you, Carla, if you'll let me." He squeezed her arm with one hand and rubbed his mustache with the other. "The challenge we have now is that your dam is already broken. You've hurt yourself, and it's going to take a while to heal. You don't want me to touch you, but I need to stay close to channel the flow away from you until your body reconstructs the dam."
"How long will that take?"
"You're young. You should heal quickly. I imagine in a few hours you can get by without me right next to you. I'll stay here in the house, teach you, and dampen the flows until you can handle it on your own. If you pay attention, you should be able to return to school in a couple of days. And I'll be able to go back to work." He patted her arm and gave her a reassuring smile.
Carla swallowed a mouthful of hot chocolate and smiled back. She could keep him here for a couple of days, keep Shade safe for at least that long.