Chapter Two

“Feeling better?” Gabriel asks, looking me over for any more injuries.

“Yes,” I reply. The cracking in my voice has stopped, thankfully, and now I sound pretty normal. As close to normal as I can be anyway. “Thank you. The name’s Velina, by the way- Velina Chelle.”

“Well, Velina,” he says, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And save your ass and all, that was quite fun, watching you fight. You’re really good.”

Unbelievably, I feel my pale cheeks color with what little blood I have left in my system. Not even ten minutes into meeting a guy, and I’m blushing. Can I get more pathetic? It’s just a compliment, it doesn’t matter that the first guy you’ve seen in years is admittedly very good looking. The first thing on my list should be getting more blood so I can fend off a Crusaders attack. Which is most certainly on the horizon.

“You mentioned it was close to dawn. Where are we going to go? Heading outside is the worst possible choice we could make right now, because there’s no guarantee we’d find a good hideout before dawn…” I trail off at the smirk on Gabriel’s face. He obviously has something up his sleeve.

“Who said we’re even going outside?” Abruptly, I was enveloped in his arms. Of course, my first instinct was to fight, escape, get away from confinement. But even Healed, I was extremely weak, and it was evident Gabriel was not only stronger, but had eaten recently, which is like a super energy booster to the Fallen. There was absolutely no way I could break free.

But then, before I knew it, we weren’t in the stone enclosure anymore. My eyes adjusted to the slightly brighter light, and the new perfume of pine, rock, dirt.. With an old scent of Gabriel. Nobody else was here, or I would have scented them immediately. So I was safe, for now. It was a different version of the place we had just left, and a little bit north, because the air was bitingly cold.

Gabriel was a Jumper, too, it seemed. Jumpers can basically teleport from place to place, the only restriction being they had to have been to the place before Jumping there. For example, if he’d never been to New York, he couldn’t Jump there. It’s another coveted gift.

I gathered all of this information in about two seconds, and was still struggling futilely to free myself, despite the warmth that was flowing through my skin again like liquid heat. I actually quite liked this sensation- I’d never experienced such a warm Healer before. To my satisfaction, and a tiny bit of disappointment, Gabriel let go.

“Calm down, Lina Bina,” He teased, an open grin on his face now. Fury bubbled up in my chest to hear that accursed nickname from elementary school- so many tormentors had teased me with it… I advanced on him, snarling the whole way,

“You. Do. Not. Ever. Call. Me. That. Name,” I hissed, taking a step with each word, driving him back into a stone wall. “The only name you are to use in reference to myself is Velina. No exceptions. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” He said, doing a very bad job at keeping a straight face. Great, I was stuck with a comedian. What fun. This kid had the air of someone carefree and reckless, the kind of person who’d be wasted at a party with eleven blondes all over him, fighting for his attention like jackals. How he could ever have survived this long in hiding was boggling my mind. Either he was just plain lucky as hell, or a lot smarter than he looked. For his sake I hoped it was the latter, because if he was a big enough liability to get me caught, Gabriel would have to be ditched at the first opportunity. Protect my life at all costs, I reminded myself. Even at the cost of his.

It was a little bright in here, enough that my eyes dully reflected the light- I could see green orbs directly across from me, flashing in the space whenever I looked at a particular spot of wall with stones in it. Probably quartz, or something else of that luster. I wasn’t really a rock kind of person.

“Is it going to get any brighter in here?” I asked irritably. My anger has boiled down to a low simmer, and the semi-blazing sunlight wasn’t helping my mood. It wasn’t direct, so I wouldn’t burn, but it still made me nervous. Not to mention it was beginning to hurt my eyes and make my head ache.

“Just a bit. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it quickly.”

“I know, but it still hurts. Quite a bit.”

“Just think of it as conditioning, okay, Lina? It’ll help you in case you’re in a fight close to dawn. Your eyes should adapt in about a week anyway.” Gabriel was referring to how our kind could adapt very quickly to changing environments, excepting direct sunlight. The damage being done to my eyes now would heal overnight, and in the morning it wouldn’t hurt as much to be surrounded by indirect sunlight.

“Three days, maximum. I’m one of the later, more efficient drug babies. And if you call me Lina again, I swear I will snap your neck without even trying. It’s Velina, for the last time.”

“Snapping my neck won’t kill me, dummy.” He sauntered- sauntered, I kid you not- over to where I was standing, looking utterly unafraid at my threat.

“No, but it’ll slow you down.”

“Not nearly enough.” Gabriel teased, grinning madly.

“No, not in my current state… But I can assure you that I am perfectly lethal when at full strength.” I sank down to the ground, which was delightfully cool to the touch, though not as cold as it should have been. Adapting to the temperatures, adjusting to the light, to most any situation was what I was born to do. My body temperature was dropping just enough so that I wouldn’t waste energy trying to keep myself warm. Gabriel slid down across from me, sitting in the style my kindergarten teacher would have called criss cross apple sauce.

“So.” He said, breaking the momentary silence. “Do you have any particular talents I should know about? I only have the two I revealed earlier.”

After a brief internal debate, I decided that it couldn’t really hurt to tell him some of my more useful genetic advantages, since he didn’t seem to have any that would counteract mine.

“I have telekinesis,” I said carefully. “Only, it isn’t limited to certain elements like most others. It isn’t limited at all. I wasn’t kidding when I said I could snap your neck with little effort.”

“Prove it.”

“Okay.” My sight settled on his neck, concentrating on that one point, applying pressure with my mind and visualizing just how it would break…

His eyes widened momentarily, before he let out a small laugh. “I mean, not the whole snapping my neck thing, I meant the supposedly unlimited telekinesis.”

“Oh.” I stopped, feeling a bit embarrassed. ‘Give me an object and tell me what to do with it. I’ll do my best.”

“Any object? Really, now…”

Smack.

“Any appropriate object, mind you. Sorry to ruin your fun.” I sighed, trying to ignore the sting in my right palm. Gabriel had a satisfyingly bright red mark across his left cheek, which to my disappointment faded as he cradled his hand to it. Stupid Healer abilities.

“Fine then. Let’s see… Can you crack that stone over there? Not obliterate it, just a tiny dent please; I don’t want the whole place coming down on us.” He pointed to the wall with the quartz-like rock in it. I stared at it, focusing on one part I wanted to break off. Unconsciously, I ran my fingers against the stone below me, sending the right energy through it, and just like that, there was a small pop as a fissure appeared in the rock. A round of applause came from my enthusiastic audience.

“Brilliant! Can you do anything else?”

“Yes, but I don’t believe you’ve seen it before. It’s quite unusual, though very useful at times.”

“Show me, c’mon Velinaaaaaa, show me show me show me!” He crowed, taking on the attitude of an excited little kid. I couldn’t help but smile a bit at his antics.

“All right. Watch carefully.” I closed my eyes, envisioning my current appearance- pale, unblemished skin, even, pretty features. Long and wavy burgundy hair, vivid green eyes- This was one of my favorite looks. I imagined my hair a bit shorter, about shoulder length, and straight as an arrow. What color? I quickly debated but then settled on a bright blonde, darkening my alabaster skin a bit and lightening my irises to an aquamarine. That should do it. I opened my eyes, drinking in the sight of him staring at me, shell shocked and mouth agape.

“Wow,” He finally managed to stutter. ‘That’s… Amazing.”

I just shrugged. “The novelty wears off after a few years.”

“You’re beautiful.”

“In this form, of course,” I said. “But not in my… Natural one.”

“Why not?”

Why not? I almost laughed. Because though I was born with genetic advantages, my outward appearance was not like the other miracle drug babies. I wasn’t perfect and flawless and knockout gorgeous. My features weren’t quite as even, my skin not as clear, overall just not pretty enough to live up to the standards of advantaged kids. But I was more gifted, more able to do the things even my kind have difficulty with. The trade off? I can alter my appearance at will, which is a really good thing, when you have standards to live up to.

And scars to cover up.