Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,5

a bowl of candy, he popped a couple into his mouth.

“Why do I have a terrible feeling that you’ve already got something lined up for me?” Griffin eyed his sister suspiciously.

She threw him an innocent look over her shoulder. “Not really.”

“What’s your set up?”

She lowered her gaze and grimaced. “I’m a student at the high school…Again. Today was my first day, actually.”

Griffin’s eyebrows shot up. “Why on Earth would you do that willingly?”

“Three of the people in the family still attend high school—”

Griffin held up his hands. “Forget it. I don’t want to know.”

“There’s too much I need to tell you,” Ellie confessed, shaking her head.

“Jeez, Elle,” he growled. “You’ve only been at school one day. How much trouble could you get into in that amount of time?”

“I’ll tell you more about it while I’m making dinner. But you should know that you’re playing the role of my guardian while we’re here. I’ll be introducing you as my older, though not necessarily wiser, brother.” She set a bowl of salad on the table and gave him a playful nudge to the ribs on the way by.

“Huh,” Griffin grunted. “And why is that?”

“Same reason we always use. If you’re not in school with me, you couldn’t be my twin. You’d have to be older. And as a high school student, it would look odd if I didn’t have adult supervision. You know how it goes.” She opened a drawer, scooped up some silverware, and handed it to him along with some plates.

“Yeah, but you didn’t even know I’d be here until today,” he grumbled. Taking the hint, he hopped up to set the table.

Ellie ignored his comment. “Also, while you’re here, I wanted to know if you’d mind if I tapped in periodically to help me with my—”

“Snooping? Spying?”

“I was going to say investigation,” she corrected with a grin. “Thanks!”

“Hey! I didn’t agree to anything—”

“You will!” She laughed and returned to the kitchen.

Chapter 4

Ellie thought about her day as she browned some ground beef for the spaghetti sauce. She had a lot to think about. Like her immediate acquaintance with the three people she’d come here to watch. That alone is an issue, she thought. If she wasn’t careful, she could place them in extreme danger.

And then there was Alex…Ellie bit her lower lip as she remembered the way his eyes locked with hers, sending shockwaves of awareness through her in a way that electrified…and terrified…and amazed her. A delicious combination of feeling she’d never experienced before.

And then there was Griffin. She was thrilled that her brother had finally showed up. She had known he’d come to his senses eventually...he’d never abandon her. They’d been each other’s only companions, hiding from the world together for so long, she didn’t know how to function without him. Especially now that I need to tap into his power.

Her own powers were quite handy in their own right, but could only get her so far when she couldn’t use them overtly. Griffin’s ability to read minds was a little more subtle. Oh boy, it would’ve been especially useful to have had access to his power this afternoon with Adelaide, Lila, and Nate.

As children, Ellie and Griffin had always assumed abilities like theirs were perfectly normal. Everyone in their tribe had them. As they got a little older, they’d begun to understand how unusual that was, and that most individuals—let alone an entire clan—didn’t have any special abilities. It took even more time for them to realize that their people were unique. Their people called themselves the Darane Svatura, and they existed as the largest assemblage of people with extraordinary abilities in existence. Or at least that’s what they’d all thought.

From what Ellie and Griffin could tell, people with these gifts were extremely rare and tended to roam alone, or sometimes in pairs as the brother and sister did now… ever since their entire people had been slaughtered. Their murderers continued to roam free, still a threat, and the reason they had been hiding for so long.

Ellie still missed her family, especially her mother. It hurt to breathe whenever she thought about her. Her mother had been a lovely, gentle, kind soul who’d made her husband and her children the center of her world. Ellie suspected it was the same for Griffin with their father.

They were on their own now. Ellie was used to it being just her and Griffin.

A small frown marred her smooth brow as she remembered the nickname Ellie’s mom had given her