Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,52

I take on the role of her older brother and guardian. I look too old for high school these days, but she’s so tiny she can pull it off still.”

“Let’s get going,” Ellie said. She felt anxious to get home and allow herself to fall into the blessed oblivion of sleep for a long while.

With a nod from Hugh, Alex picked Ellie up and stood in the middle of the room. Once she could feel each of them touching her, she searched for Charlotte’s power. As she had with Griffin earlier, she reached out mentally and touched the source of light inside Charlotte and pulled it into herself. Then she concentrated on each of the people touching her, extending the glow to surround each of them. And then she concentrated on the image of her living room.

“Don’t let go!” she thought, and heard Griffin repeat her instructions.

Instantly, they were all standing in her living room.

“Usually there’s a popping sound when I do it,” Charlotte complained.

“She can show you how to control that if you’re interested,” Griffin voiced Ellie’s thoughts. Then he turned to Charlotte with a commiserating smile. “Don’t take it personally. She’s constantly telling me how to control my own powers or do something new with them. You get used to it…” He grinned at his sister. “And eventually you learn to just ignore her completely.”

Ellie stuck her tongue out at her brother. Still held in Alex’s arms, she laid her head on his shoulder, completely wiped out.

“Time for this one to go to sleep I think,” Alex murmured.

Griffin led the way up to her bedroom. Once there, Alex very gently laid her on the bed. Griffin got out some clean PJs. Ellie’s clothes were ripped to shreds anyway.

Shooing the boys out of the room, Lucy helped her get dressed. It had been so long since Ellie had had a mother to take care of her that tears inadvertently filled her eyes.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice cracking a little.

Lucy tucked her in and smoothed back her hair from her forehead. “Thank you for saving my family tonight,” she whispered like a loving mother. “You rest now. You’ve earned it.”

Turning off the light, she left the room and closed the door with a quiet click. Ellie fell asleep before the door was even fully closed.

Chapter 25

The next three days passed in a blur. Hugh hadn’t been kidding when he told Ellie it would take some time for her to recover. Her body felt like lead, and when she shifted position, every single part of her screamed in agony. She spent most of the time drifting in and out of consciousness. From her few lucid moments, she gathered Griffin had helped move everyone into their house. Hugh and Lucy were staying in Griffin’s room, and he was sleeping in Ellie’s spare bed.

Lila, Adelaide, and Nate had continued to attend school as usual, but they made excuses for Ellie. Bronchitis, they said. No one questioned it. In fact, no one in the outside world noticed anything different about their lives at all…

When Ellie managed to open her eyes, even if only for a few minutes, Alex was always right there beside her. Sometimes he’d be sleeping in the chair next to her bed. Sometimes he’d be reading a book. Every so often she’d open her eyes to find him just looking at her. And each time she woke up, he immediately seemed to know. He’d come over and brush her hair back from her face and give her a tender smile, asking, “Hi, angel, how are you feeling?”

More often than not, she’d drift back to sleep without answering, unaware of the small smile which always graced her lips. Finally, after three straight days of deep sleep, she woke up feeling completely refreshed and rejuvenated.

Alex opened his eyes as she sat up. He unfolded his body, lowering his propped up feet to the floor and uncrossing his arms to lean forward.

“Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?” he teased.

“Mmmm…” Ellie yawned and stretched her arms above her head. “How long have I been out?” she asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Three days.”

“Wow! Really?”

“Really. I have a crick in my neck to show for it.” He massaged the back of shoulders to prove his point and then gave her a wink.

Ellie played with the tasseled edges of the blanket, unable to meet his questioning gaze. A lot had happened between them over the last few days, not the least of which was her discovery that