Secrets and Magic Ch. 01

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savannuh
savannuh
51 Followers

"Sir?" Merced's voice held a hint of worry.

Aden knew he'd taken too long to respond, but refused to feel embarrassed. "Thank you Merced. Unless Miss Devons requires anything, that will be all." She nodded quickly before Merced exited.

A beat of silence stretched between them until he broke it. "How soon do we begin?"

Jack gulped before answering, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Was it her or had his eyes not left her since she walked into the room? "I was thinking tomorrow. There are some procedural questions I'll need to ask, as well as write up a chart to map your improvement." It felt like she was talking too fast, but she couldn't help it. "You'll also need to go over the details of your injury."

Aden's expression didn't change. "I don't discuss my injury." He saw she was about to say something, but continued, "We will meet first thing in the morning. Until then, your time is your own."

Jack blinked. "I understand it's not something you enjoy talking about, but..." She licked her lips, an action not lost on Aden. His eyes followed her tongue as it slipped back inside her mouth. "I really think-"

"Leave it. And you are not to mention it again." At that, her eyes widened slightly.

Jack wanted to argue, but decided against it. After all, she needed this job and it would do well for her not to piss him off. "Sure."

"Good." He watched as she turned and left the room.

Aden shifted in his seat and frowned at the slight stiffness in his groin. The futility of what he was feeling was just another sting to his pride. In his current condition he wasn't doing much of anything, let alone that. But judging by his reaction, his needs had been ignored for far too long. If things were different... well, it didn't matter. The situation was what it was. He needed to remember that.

***

It looked like her new patient was going to be loads of fun. Not only did he have an attitude, but he also spoke to her like she was some kind of child. If their brief exchange was a precursor for future meetings, then she was not looking forward to tomorrow at all. Jack groaned. And why did he have to be so damn good looking? Is it really necessary for any man to be that handsome? She'd seen hot guys before, but none of them struck her like he had. Those eyes of his for one, they were too green and way too intense. A slight shudder ran through her as she recalled the way they stayed glued to her. Definitely not cool. Though she supposed none of this mattered in the end anyway. She was working for him and that meant there could be nothing but professionalism between them. Not that he had seemed interested. The way he was looking at her, sitting there with a face made of stone, it was clear he wasn't all that excited about having her arrival. Oh well, on the plus side, he wasn't being cheap when it came to her compensation. Jack smiled as she headed toward her room to put her things away. At least the money was something to look forward to.

Sounds from the kitchen drew her attention as she walked back through the living room towards the stairs. No one else was staying in the house, so it had to be Merced. She paused at the thought. He cooked? She almost laughed at that. He didn't seem anywhere near that kind of guy. However, when she walked through the door to investigate, he had just finished arranging chicken breasts in a dish on the counter.

Merced looked up, surprised to see her there. "Miss Devons. Is there something I can get you?" He began to deftly cut up potatoes.

"No, I don't need anything," she smiled. "But please, call me Jack. There's no need to be formal."

"As you wish... Jack," Merced responded while placing the potatoes in a bowl.

She watched him continue to move around the kitchen. "I have to say, you don't seem like the kind of guy who cooks."

His eyes filled with something akin to humor, "Looks are naturally deceiving."

Not sure how to respond to that, she continued, "So aside from kitchen duty, what else do you do around here?"

"I act as Aden's personal assistant," Merced answered, greatly downplaying his role.

He pulled a variety of seasonings from the cabinet and lined them up near the stove. Jack observed the way he absently tucked a silver strand behind his ear, all at once struck by how young he looked. "Can I ask you a personal question, Merced?"

His brows knitted in confusion before he answered her, like he didn't quite understand what she meant. "Yes, of course."

Jack paused before going on. She knew better than to grill people she just met, but she was so curious. "How old are you?"

Merced smiled widely at her, "I am 20." He went back to chopping the rest of the potatoes, amused by her question. Everyone thought he was too young to have advanced as far as he had, but none of them could doubt his abilities. After all, there was a reason the King handpicked him for this particular operation.

Jack regarded Merced silently for a moment, and then plowed ahead. "Do you and Aden know each other well?"

Silver eyes flicked to hers. "We attended school together." It was Jack's turn to look confused. How was that even possible?

"I see," said Jack. That wasn't entirely true, but she wasn't going to press.

Merced pulled some carrots from the refrigerator and began slicing them but stopped soon after to vigorously massage his wrists. That's when Jack noticed the bracelets. They were extremely shiny and looked almost as if they glowed.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked. Merced's eyes were closed and his fingers had started to dig deeper into his flesh.

His eyes opened suddenly, and right before he answered her, Jack could have sworn the orbs were pitch black a second or two before returning to their normal color. "I'm fine," and almost as an afterthought he added, "I think all the chopping must have gotten to me."

"Yeah," she was still trying to figure out if what she saw actually happened, "okay."

Something was definitely odd.

Merced went on like nothing happened and began pulling what looked like ingredients for a salad from the refrigerator. Jack suddenly realized all the time she was standing there she never once volunteered to help. Normally her manners were better than that, but the whole day was really throwing her off. Her belated offer was kindly refused with the suggestion she go relax and unpack.

Jack made to leave, but was stopped by Merced's question. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"

In a rush, thoughts of Aden popped in her head. "Uh, no. Not tonight." The last thing she wanted to do was attempt to eat with him nearby. "If you don't mind, you can just wrap something up for me and I'll come get it later."

Merced smiled almost to himself. "Of course."

Jack left the kitchen and finally made it to her room. Her things were relatively easy to unpack having only a few pair of pants and a couple of lightweight tunics. Her toiletries were minimal as well; she was never one to spend a lot of money on so-called 'beauty' products. The only item that gave her trouble was the small leather pouch she'd tucked into her bag at the last minute. It wasn't something she enjoyed being close to for very long, so she quickly decided the closet was the best place for it. Hopefully she wouldn't even need it, but being prepared never hurt anyone.

Once that was done, the drowsiness hit her full force. Jack was barely able to stumble back to the bed before the sweet warmth of sleep claimed her.

***

When Jack opened her eyes it seemed like the headache worsened. She winced at the pain as she slowly sat up. Dammit. Obviously she'd held on to it longer than she was supposed to. Her weakness was disappointing. How the hell could she ever use it if she couldn't even touch it without passing out? She sighed as she stood up. Her grandmother would say she needed more practice, but without her guidance, the learning process was slow and awkward. That was something to worry about later, right now though, she needed to get rid of the ache in her head.

Jack stood up straight and took a deep breath before closing her eyes. As usual she could see where the pain was concentrated, right at her temples. She could visualize the tiny dots as they throbbed over and over again; the number was more than she was used to. She focused on each source of discomfort, one dot at a time, and willed them to disintegrate. It always took a lot of effort, so much so that she wasn't surprised when her heart quickened and a cold sweat broke out. Once she managed to get down to a dull twinge she stopped; going any further was just begging for trouble, and already she was tired... and hungry. It had been a while since she last ate. Immediately images of Merced's cooking flitted before her. Chicken, potatoes, carrots -- that sounded like pretty good fare.

She tried not to make any noise as she crept along the hallway to the top of the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of the way to the kitchen was easy enough; already her stomach was grumbling in anticipation. Just as she took the step to bring her closer to her meal, her ears picked up something that stopped her. Jack listened closely and tried to make out what sounded like muffled talking. She slowly followed the sound until she was just outside the door next to the gym. It was funny how she hadn't noticed it before. The door was slightly ajar and when she peeked in she saw Aden talking to someone on some sort of video screen.

"I didn't think I'd hear from you, brother." His voice sounded tired and Jack thought she picked up a bit of irritation as well.

"Yes well, father is making it difficult for any of us to contact you." Jack frowned at hearing this then felt badly about her eavesdropping. She knew what she was doing was wrong. Part of her was afraid to move and risk getting caught, and another part of her was just plain old curious.

"I see. Are you disobeying orders, Adrian?"

His brother laughed, "Probably. But what the old man doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, I want to know how you're doing."

Aden sighed and shook his head. "Your willfulness will surely get you into trouble one day."

His brother snorted, "Unlikely. Now tell me, are you well?"

"I am. The physical therapist arrived today, we begin early tomorrow." Jack took offense at the way he said that, like her very presence bothered him. It wasn't like he was so great to be around either.

"Do you really think he'll be of any use to you? The nature of your injury..." His voiced trail off and Jack desperately wanted him to elaborate.

"I am doubtful, and the 'he' is a woman." This he practically spat out, too. Jack resisted scoffing out loud at his tone.

There was a pause before Adrian responded. "A woman, huh?" he laughed again, "You do so well with them. Is she pretty?"

"Does it matter?" Aden's annoyance was palpable.

Jack guessed his brother was grinning by now. "To you, I suppose it wouldn't. But the rest of us males take an interest in things like that."

Aden rubbed his forehead and changed the subject, "Is there any news?"

Jack heard Adrian clear his throat before he answered. "They might have found the one who attacked you. He's dead, but they don't think it was murder."

Aden visibly tensed. "What are they saying?" Outside in the hall, Jack's eyes were wide as saucers.

"The scientists think the amount of power he acquired so quickly caused him to implode." Jack put a hand over her mouth in case she made a sound. Power? Implode? What on Earth were they talking about?

"Disturbing," Aden was silent for a moment. "I wanted the pleasure of killing him myself."

"I know. I think we all wanted a piece of him." Adrian exhaled, "You're missed, you know."

Aden looked uncomfortable at his brother's admission and adjusted himself in his chair. "Are the men staying in line?"

"It looks that way, though Andrew doesn't work them as hard as you do."

"Of course not," Aden sounded almost amused -- something Jack didn't think was possible, "he thinks I'm too rough on them. No doubt they find his routine a vacation compared to mine."

There was sudden noise in the background right before Adrian hurriedly spoke. "It seems our conversation must be cut short. I will speak to you again in a few days." As soon as he was done, there was a loud beep and the light from the screen went out.

Jack was trying to figure out a way to sneak away and put together all she'd heard. It was dead quiet now that the brothers ended their conference, which meant there was no sound to cover any creaky floorboards she might accidentally step on. Crap. Why hadn't she just walked away earlier? What possessed her to stay rooted to the spot? She glanced in the room and saw Aden still facing away from her. Okay, she could do this. All she had to do was put one foot in front of the other and make her escape. Jack took a tentative step away from the door. As she placed her foot down and prepared to make another move, the worst thing possible happened: she was reminded of why she came downstairs in the first place.

Her stomach growled. Loudly.

As quick as lightening Aden was suddenly facing her, eyes glowing bright green. Jack didn't have time to question what that could mean before she felt like someone dunked her in a vat of ice water. She was freezing, and even more disconcerting, she couldn't move! She tried to make her feet work, but the more she tried to get away the colder she got. She felt like something was sucking the life right out of her. What was happening to her? The coldness was rapidly seeping through her skin, attacking her insides and making her numb all over.

Then Jack heard Aden's voice, calm and deadly. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

savannuh
savannuh
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8 Comments
ArieluArielualmost 12 years ago
I found you!

I read this story awhile ago and I was enthral led with it.. That I forgot to tag you and have been trying to find your story for months. Then I just sort of skimmed past and there you were. Yippee! Can't wait to read the next chapters!!!!

BrasstacksBrasstacksalmost 12 years ago
Beginnings

As beginnings go, this one is provocative. It leaves me with enough questions and interest to bring up chapter 2 immediately. Unfortunately, other than one or two usage faults, I can't really provide any constructive criticism yet. Perhaps a word or two on the political and metaphysical changes we're seeing in an otherwise familiar earth would have been helpful; a teaser, if not a spoiler.

Well written and characterized. The slow peel of the layers of the plot are refreshing, as some tend to lay things out too quickly. Your characters show evidence of having a third dimension, and their personalities are already beginning to shine, each its own constellation. Well done for a first foray.

Cheers!

AnonymousAnonymousover 14 years ago
intriguing!! love it!

very good! looking forward to the next chapter! faster , please, thank you!

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 15 years ago
Fascinating so far

I'm very intrigued by this beginning! There's a lot of ways you could go with this. I can't wait to see what you do.

cantfightfatecantfightfatealmost 15 years ago
Awesome start!

I'm very intrigued and anxious for the next chapter. Keep up the good work!

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