Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,36

her tongue… to tell him who and what she was.

The sound of Griffin banging into the house had the two of them jumping guiltily apart.

Alex looked up as Griffin entered the room. His jaw clenched, and a pained look crossed his face. She didn’t need Griffin’s mind reading ability to know that Alex assumed that Griffin was her boyfriend. She was about to set him straight when she heard Griffin’s voice in her head.

“Let him think what he’s thinking.”

She gave her brother a confused glace.

“He’s too involved with you, Ellie. It’ll help keep him at a distance.”

Ellie battled with that thought. She didn’t want Alex at a distance. He was her te’sorthene, although Alex didn’t appear to have come to that conclusion yet. And while the thought scared the bejeezus out of her, she couldn’t ignore the instinctual pull to be with him. She reluctantly recognized that Griffin was right. It wasn’t time yet. Soon though.

She felt Griffin relax as she came to her decision.

“Ellie, what happened?” Griffin asked. He could be a master actor when he needed to be…he already knew exactly what happened. “I saw your car smashed against a tree out in the road.”

“I had a little accident. But I’ll be fine. This is Alex by the way.” She introduced them with a general wave in Alex’s direction.

The two boys nodded to each other silently. Each regarding the other somewhat coolly. Each sizing the other one up.

“I’ll be okay now, Alex,” Ellie said quietly, laying a hand on his arm. “Thanks for getting me back to the house.”

Alex regarded Ellie with a solemn face. His whole body practically buzzed with everything that had gone on in the last half hour or so.

He’d come here this morning in a furious state, intending to confront her. But that confrontation had gone all wrong. And then he’d watched as she had her horrifying accident…as frightening as if it were happening to him. And somehow the anger and resentment that had driven him here had faded into relief when he’d realized she wasn’t dead. He could even ignore the twinge of jealousy he felt toward Griffin now.

Ellie was alive. And she was okay. That was all that mattered.

“You should get her to a hospital,” he muttered as he stood up and headed towards the door.

“I will,” said Griffin.

Alex turned back to Ellie, regarding her with solemn eyes, and with a final nod he left.

*****

“Close one,” Griffin said under his breath.

Ellie fell back on the couch with a thud. She snorted inelegantly. “Which part? The part where he clearly suspects I’m not who I claim to be? Or maybe the part where I could’ve killed him if I’d morphed? Or the part where I idiotically rammed my car into a tree? Of course, there’s also the part where I was this close,” she held up her hand with her finger and thumb millimeters apart, “to kissing him.” Ellie buried her face in the couch.

“Huh. You have been busy, haven’t you? You’re forgetting the part where you discovered that he’s your te’sorthene.” He watched her for her reaction.

Ellie blew out a long breath and then said softly, “I’m not ready to talk about that yet.”

Sitting down at the end of the couch, he nodded. “You’re also forgetting the part where he saved your life.”

Ellie frowned. “What’re you talking about?”

Silently he took her hand, their link always at its strongest when they were both able to access her ability to use others’ powers. Ellie watched Griffin’s view as Alex had run out of the house after her. He’d stood in front of the car, leaping aside as Ellie had gunned the engine. She saw the look of dawning horror on Alex’s face as he’d watched her slam into the tree. And then, the flash of panic as the car had started skidding toward the steep drop.

Alex had lifted his hands, grim determination etched in every line of his body. Without moving, he’d focused completely on her car as it started to tip over the edge. Suddenly, it had frozen in place. And then slowly, and with a horrible screeching sound of metal on rock, the car had inched back on to the pavement, gradually crossed the road, and ended up back on her property. Only when the car was safe and stable had Alex lowered his hands.

Ellie sucked in a breath through her teeth.

“How’s the head by the way?” Griffin asked as an afterthought.

She gave her brother an aggravated look. “I’ll survive.”

“I’ll get us