32.

“Eden, let’s go!” Avalon yelled at me from the driver’s seat of his oversized truck.

I took a final glance in the mirror, and applied another layer of lip gloss, before I grabbed my back pack and rushed out the door. Avalon revved his engine, accentuating his impatience. I flung the door open, and threw my back pack in before struggling to make the climb up into his cab.

“Tomorrow we are taking my car,” I said, out of breath as I worked to buckle my seat belt, although Avalon had already taken off and was flying through the neighborhood streets haphazardly.

“Only if you let me drive it,” he replied, swerving in and out of spaces I was convinced were much too small for this tank.

“Why can’t I drive?” I whined, remembering my Land Rover with sentiment.

“First of all, you don’t use magic enough for me to trust you,” Avalon explained as if I was the unsafe driver, meanwhile I was pretty sure he just ran the last three cars we passed, off of the road. “Second, it’s not safe. Eden, you are in real danger whether you believe it or not.”

“I do believe I am in danger!” I folded my arms across my chest defiantly. “I believe your driving is the most danger I have ever been in!”

“You’re such a human. Relax,” Avalon demanded.

I laughed out loud. I was pretty sure Avalon meant “human” as an insult. He could insult all he wanted, but at least when I was a human I wasn’t in life threatening jeopardy constantly.

“No, only everyone around you was at risk. Do you remember what you were like as a human?” Avalon answered my thoughts and I let out a small grunt of frustration.

“Just because you can read my mind doesn’t mean that you should,” I growled.

“Alright, alright,” Avalon lifted his hands off of the steering wheel and held them up gingerly as if to say he conceded; but I knew it was only an act. He would be in my mind as long as we lived; and apparently that was going to be a very long time.

As it turned out twins were able to connect to each other’s minds without letting their other defenses down. We could always communicate with each other and read each other’s thoughts, no matter how far away we were. Amory said that to a certain extent even human twins had this ability; ours was just strengthened because of our other powers.

I was sure this would come in handy one day, but right now I found it extremely irritating. Since he moved in with us over two weeks ago, he was always there, always around and always in my head. I found it ironic that even though Avalon and I only just met we fell easily into the role of siblings without any extra effort by either of us.

“How did you sleep last night?” Avalon asked a little more sensitively than I was used to.

“Fine, thanks,” I replied, not sure how to read his question.

“No weird dreams?” he pried further.

“No, not that I remember. Why?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.

“Just wondering,” he turned sharply into a parking spot in the student section and I was convinced he was going to scratch the cars to either side of us. When he shut the engine off, I found myself clutching the seats and holding my breath. “Calm down, Eden. See this is why you can’t drive, you rely too much on your human senses and forget to use your Immortal ones,” he jumped down from the cab with ease and I followed behind carefully but awkwardly.

We were two of the last students to arrive, due mostly to my inability to be on time. Only a few other students hurried up the walkway to their respective classes. I watched Kiran and Seraphina from a distance. Her long blonde hair bouncing with every step she took. They seemed to be laughing about something and then he held the door open for her and let her pass with a small bow. Gross.

“Let it go, Eden,” Avalon growled in my ear. He had obviously watched the same scene, but for completely different reasons. And I could guarantee his stomach didn’t feel empty and his heart didn’t tighten with jealousy after it happened.

“You’re right. He’s the bad guy,” I sighed quietly, watching him walk through the door to the English building with longing.

“And you’re the idiot,” Avalon nudged me with his hand, pushing me in the direction we needed to continue to walk.

“I just thought that… I mean he didn’t even let me thank him for the night of the dance,” I referred to the fight on the gymnasium rooftop. It had happened over two weeks ago, and Kiran had yet to say even two words to me.

“Told you. He’s the bad guy,” Avalon picked up his pace, and I had to run to keep up with him.

After the dance, it was days before Kiran returned to school. I had looked forward to each day, when I would hopefully find a chance to talk to him, to thank him for saving my life, and then to apologize to him for what had happened next. But by the end of the week, when he had finally come back to school, looking more beautiful than ever, completely unscratched and completely perfect, he did not pay me even an ounce of attention.

I had expected to feel relieved; not only did his inattention appease Amory and Avalon; I thought I would be able to forget about him and therefore stop suffering from all of the mixed feelings I had for him. And although Amory and Avalon were quite pleased that he seemingly wanted nothing more to do with me; and although my feelings had become clear, it was not quite in the way I had anticipated. I found myself missing him more and more every moment. Memories of our kiss, or the strange dreams I’ve had of him, flooded my thoughts and I realized that I had utterly, hopelessly and pathetically fallen for him in a way that must be categorized as much more than a simple crush.

“We’re skipping after lunch, so be ready,” Avalon whispered to me before opening the door to English class. I mumbled a reply, too wrapped up in my thoughts of Kiran to really understand what Avalon just said to me, and then prepared myself for the verbal lashing Mr. Lambert was sure to give me on the crime of tardiness.

----

“Where are we going?” I demanded of Avalon, as he once again controlled his truck carelessly. I gripped the door-frame and whispered a silent prayer.

“I told you, it’s a secret,” I could hear the smile in his voice, but I refused to open my eyes and view the destruction ahead of us. Suddenly the road was very, very bumpy and I bounced around violently in the passenger’s seat. If I had not been born and raised in Nebraska and realized the transition from pavement to gravel, I would have lost my lunch all together.

“Ok, fine. But why couldn’t we go after school?” I asked, as the remorse set in for skipping class.

“Don’t worry about that. We have permission,” Avalon replied confidently.

“Sure. Sure,” I decided not to argue the point as another wave of car sickness washed over me.

Just when I had decided I couldn’t take anymore and the car ride seemed endless; Avalon shut off the engine and let out a huge sigh of contentment. “We’re here,” he said as if referring to his home.

I opened my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but I was content with what I saw. We were surrounded on every side by corn and bean fields. The rows of farmland stretched on and on as far as I could see, rolling over hills and down into shallow valleys. The gravel road that got us here seemed endless as well, and I mentally calculated how fast Avalon had to be driving on it to get us here as quickly as he did.

Avalon was parked in front of a large two-storied farmhouse that looked as if it was just given a fresh coat of white paint; the black shudders also looked new. A long porch wound around the front of the house to the side and back where I couldn't see. A boy and a girl that seemed about the same age as Avalon and I, swung back and forth on a porch swing hanging from the ceiling.

A beautiful flower garden sat next to the house and I could see a woman working strenuously in it to pull weeds. Down from the garden was a large modern barn made out of steel siding. I noticed the green of John Deer tractors just inside the door. Behind the barn was a large fenced in area where I could see horses milling about inside its boundaries.

When Avalon jumped down from his truck, several teenage boys exited the barn entrance and made their way over to us. Avalon waved at me to come with him, and I obeyed, hesitantly. I tugged at my school uniform, embarrassed for some reason to be wearing it here.

“Well, Eden, welcome to the Resistance,” Avalon gave me a roguish smile and gestured widely with his arms as I took my place at his side.

“No way,” I said softly, but disbelievingly. I didn’t know what I had expected the Resistance to look like, but a quiet farm, surrounded by all the beauty Nebraska had to offer was not it.

The woman in the garden looked up from her work and smiled at Avalon. She took off her work gloves and sat them down before joining the others. Avalon leaned against his truck smugly and I took in the extraordinary view again. I was suddenly nervous and not sure what to do with my hands.

“Welcome, welcome,” the woman reached us first. She walked straight over and embraced me. “We are all so happy to have you here, finally,” she sounded as if they had been waiting for me to come forever. Magic buzzed all around and I could inwardly feel all of their Immortal power.

I hugged her awkwardly, musing at her energy. In fact, all of their magic seemed different than the magic at Kingsley. Their electricity felt lighter somehow, weightless. I hadn’t even noticed the heavy feeling at Kingsley before, but now that I was surrounded by these people I felt a huge difference. It was almost as if their magic was somehow made of light. I was overwhelmed by the sensation, but I felt at home at the same time.

“We meet again,” a very familiar voice greeted me next and I pulled out of the embrace of the woman realizing that I hadn’t caught her name yet.

“Jericho,” I mumbled with mixed feelings as I turned to greet the boy who was not that long ago trying to kill me.

“Eden,” he mimicked with faux menace and I was able to pick him out of the gathering crowd.

He was definitely nothing I expected. Jericho seemed to be close to my age, maybe a year or two older. He had chocolate brown hair that hung roughly around his chin, a little bit shorter than Avalon’s. His large hazel eyes gazed into mine with an expression I couldn’t read. His nose was a little crooked as if it were broken in a fight and his sinister mouth, curved into an amused smile.

Jericho reached out a long muscled arm to shake my hand. He was almost as tall as Avalon, and each of his muscles were clearly defined underneath a white t-shirt. He was a little bit sweaty, evidence that he had been working in the barn. I took his hand tentatively, unsure what to expect.

He took my hand, firmly shaking it in his warm grasp. He smiled wider at me before giving me a playful wink and letting my hand go from his. My hand fell limply to my side as I stared at him with mouth half opened. He tucked his hair back behind his ear and I couldn’t help but find him completely adorable.

“Oh, brother,” Avalon sighed.

“You tried to kill me,” I accused defensively, covering up my initial reaction and replacing it with mock defensiveness.

“No I didn’t,” Jericho was just as defensive, but I saw the playfulness behind his eyes. I was suddenly embarrassed at my outburst as the crowd around us stayed silent, listening to our diatribe. “I only tried to keep you out of the way so we could get the job done. It’s not my fault if you needed a little extra discipline,” other boys around him snickered and I felt the heat rush to my cheeks.

“Oh really? I’m the one who needed discipline? If I remember right you were getting your ass kicked,” I shot back out of pride and watched with self-righteousness as his tan cheeks colored quickly to match the shade of mine.

“Enough. You’re both awesome,” Avalon interrupted, if not sarcastically and pushed me towards the barn. I walked silently, brooding next to him.

Once inside the coolness of the barn, we took seats made of hay bales in the back, near the horses. A large white board was positioned on the wall with names and locations I didn’t recognize. I stayed close to Avalon, using him as a security blanket. Jericho sat across the semi-circle from me and I noticed a glance from him about every five seconds. I couldn’t tell if he was angry, or curious or what.

As everyone filed in to take their seats, Avalon stood up from the hay bale we were sharing and took his place in the front of the room. The woman from the garden filled his seat and placed her arm around my shoulders. At first I was uncomfortable with her closeness and the unfiltered flow of magic between us. Not a very touchy person myself, her lack of a personal bubble was hard for me take.

“Alright everyone. Let’s give our attention to Avalon,” the woman said authoritatively. She must have been in her seventies or eighties, but her hair was still long and flowed down in white curls from the low pony tail she wore. Her skin was hardly wrinkled, except near her eyes and smile. Her frame was anything but frail, and I could tell that she was strong despite her skinny bones.

“Thank you Angelica,” Avalon smiled at her with an emotion on his face that I couldn't read. I remembered that Amory had told me after Avalon moved in with me that he was raised by someone named Angelica after we were split up as infants. I realized this was her and I suddenly felt more comfortable around her. "First order of business today is Eden,” Avalon turned to me and waggled his eyebrows. I was nervous, what did he mean me? “Well, this is it, this is the Resistance. Are you ready to join?” my mouth dropped open and I stood up instinctively.

I felt like I had just walked into a trap. What did that mean to join the Resistance? Did it mean I had to help them murder Kiran? Did it mean I had to plot against a king I knew nothing about? I turned from my standing position and walked as quickly as I could back the way I came. I could never hurt Kiran. Joining the Resistance was impossible.