Aspect Of Winter Read online

  Okay, add some sort of Mediterranean accent to the growing list of unfair. Italian, maybe? It had that flowing, almost musical sound to it.

  “Yes, you’ve made it to the right class,” Mrs. King said, giving him a small smile. “You must be the new transfer student.”

  The escaped model who had apparently fled to a middle-of-nowhere high school nodded.

  “Aiden Ombra. Pleased to meet all of you.” He flashed a brilliant smile at the class. Some of the girls hurriedly wiped off their drool.

  “Well, Aiden, you’re coming into the year a bit late, but you should be able to catch up. Why don’t you sit down next to Fay, over there,” Mrs. King said, pointing at me. “There are several empty seats to choose from.”

  Crap. I had a feeling keeping distance would come back to haunt me someday.

  Aiden turned towards me. I only looked up long enough to acknowledge his presence, but I saw… something, flash in his eyes. His brow furrowed for a second, and then his face brightened as he took a seat next to me.

  “You are… Fay, yes? It is a pleasure to meet you. I’ve never heard a name quite like yours before.”

  Self-control. Calm, cool, collected. I could do this.

  “I… er… yes, that’s me. Fay. Yeah. I’m him. Uh.”

  Nailed it.

  Aiden smiled at me, apparently willing to ignore the train wreck in progress.

  “I hope I can count on you to help catch me up. Would you mind terribly if I came to you with questions if I am having difficulty?”

  The lilting accent was really making it hard to focus. Also, I was pretty sure that Maddie in the front row actually just mimed slitting my throat. Cheerleaders could be vicious like that, and she was one of the nicer ones.

  I coughed, clearing my throat. “Uh, sure. I’m happy to help.”

  “Thank you, Fay,” Aiden said, smiling patiently. “Is that your real name?”

  “No, it’s like my nickname. My, uh, real name’s even worse. Feayr, it’s Gaelic.”

  “What a pretty name,” Aiden said, sitting down next to me, still smiling. “My parents named me Aiden since I was born in America. Back in Italy, my name… I believe the expression is ‘sticks out like a sore thumb?”

  I’m pretty sure you stand out for other reasons, I thought.

  Aiden smirked as though he heard me, but that wasn’t possible. Maybe I just looked funny. Still, his attention felt… weird. His gaze was almost predatory in its intensity. Thankfully, Mrs. King rescued me by trying to get class back on track. I faced forward determinedly, face red from the gaze I could still feel.

  It. Kept. Happening.

  Every class I went to, Aiden was there, always somehow sitting next to me. We literally had the same schedule. By the time English came around in the afternoon this time with the class rotation, I was freaking out. Not because he had my schedule, but because he kept looking at me. It was too much.

  I made my way to my usual seat, and Sam came in soon after. She took one look at my face, which was even more unemotional than usual (I shut down when I was nervous), and pulled out her sketchpad. A couple of seconds later, she passed me a note.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “New kid, Aiden. In all my classes. Help.”

  It was at that moment that Aiden walked into the classroom. Sam’s eyes narrowed as she gave him a once-over. Aiden went through his usual round of introductions, followed by breathy sighs, and thankfully had to go to the only empty desk on the other side of the room.

  “He’s hot.”

  I frowned at Sam. She made a “What?” gesture, rolling her shoulders slightly and raising her eyebrows. She put on her best bored expression, faced front, and motioned for me to do the same. All the while, she continued writing notes.

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “He keeps sitting near me, and… looking. Isn’t that really suspicious? He’s up to something.”

  Sam just stared at me. For a solid minute, before she started writing.

  ”Have you ever, just maybe, considered that he might be flirting with you?”

  “Are you kidding? Have you seen how he looks? Have you seen how I look?”

  Sam kicked me under the desk, and then turned away.

  It was like she flicked a switch inside her head. Her expression turned positively fawning, and she started making Bambi eyes at Aiden for the rest of the period. Aiden accepted her attention as he did with the rest of the girls, a slight quirk upward of his lips, like he was accepting his due or something. I wasn’t sure quite what Sam was doing beyond enjoying the eye candy, but I had faith that she’d fill me in later.

  Thankfully, English was the last period of the day. Sam walked right next to me until we made it to the parking lot. Once we were in the Jeep, she turned toward me.

  “Well, he’s definitely got an ego. He likes getting attention, and you’re right. He looked at you eight times all period. I didn’t really get bad vibes, though. Honestly, he could be flirting with you.”

  I buckled myself in before responding. “Excuse me while I doubt that.”

  Sam huffed at me. “Boys are stupid sometimes. If you want to be paranoid, go ahead. I won’t stop you. But we’re still hanging out today, even if you’re going to be annoying.”

  “Fine.”

  After Logan, I had no interest in being stupid enough to believe that anyone would be interested in me again. It was going to take a lot more than the slightly creepy vibes of an attractive transfer student to get me to open up like that again.

  Chapter Three

  Sam drove me to my house, and we spent the time gaming and bickering about Aiden. My parents were out of state again, and I was left to fend for myself for dinner. The pantry and fridge were well-stocked, so I made a quick stir-fry for me and Sam. Lexie trotted in and put on her best begging face with her floppy ears perked up and large brown eyes all soulful. She went outside in a huff when she realized that she wasn’t getting anything.

  Sam watched her leave mournfully, after I smacked her hand away when she tried to sneak a piece of chicken for Lexie. She’d always had a love for animals that you’d never expect from someone who enjoyed fighting people so much. Lexie was spoiled rotten by her.

  After dinner, I was drawn from my book when I heard Lexie yelp and run inside so fast that her claws scratched the floor. She skidded to a stop by my feet.

  I put a hand to her side as she quivered in fear.

  I stood up. “Sam, Lexie’s freaking out. I think someone’s outside.”

  Sam snapped into battle mode immediately. I usually saw it when she was at one of her duels for her martial arts; whenever she was ready for action, her face focused and her eyes went dark and focused.

  “Let’s see what’s out there.”

  Sam and I walked toward the front door, where Lexie had come through the flap. Opening it, I saw my empty front yard. Part of my driveway, however, was swathed in shadow. Even though the sun was still barely visible, I couldn’t see that spot at all. The shadows cast by the trees, the house, everything, all ignored the source of light and bent toward that one spot.

  “Feayr Hanson and Samantha Gray. Come out. I don’t want this to take any longer than it has to.”

  The shadows parted as Aiden Ombra strolled leisurely out of the dark. The slight smirk I saw on his face earlier in the day had returned with reinforcements. He stood still at the edge of the driveway, leaning languidly on the lamppost, hands in his pockets. The attractive new guy vibe was gone, and I was getting much more of a hunter vibe now, like I was some small animal he fancied as his next meal. I shot Sam an “I told you so” glare, and she nodded, focused on Aiden.

  “Do we go outside?” I hissed. “I’m guessing the shadows make that a bad idea.”

  “Stay put,” Sam whispered back. “Make him come to us.”

  Aiden made a lazy motion with his hand, and I watched as a strand of shadow shot forward towards the door. When it connected, I took an involuntary step back as
my front door was ripped off its hinges and thrown halfway across the yard. With his other hand, Aiden held up some small object and a pulse of white energy flew out of it, wrapping around my house and yard, distorting everything outside of the property.

  Aiden looked directly at the two of us and smiled slowly, his eyes cold and a hell of a lot blacker than I remembered them. “There we are. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’ve been sent here to test the two of you, on behalf of an… interested party. I’d love to say you have a choice, but that would be a lie. If you pass, great things await you, and so on. If you fail, you can go back to your miserable little lives. I don’t really care.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked. “Why are you doing this?”

  Aiden laughed, a rich, deep, and utterly creepy sound. “Well, in part I’m doing this because it’s fun for me. But as for why you two have come to my attention, well, your record says that you’re a smart boy, Feayr, if the courses you take are anything to go on. I’m sure you can figure that out on your own.”

  “So why go to school?” Sam called out, putting an extra tremble in her voice. “Why not just do this from the start?”

  “I had to figure out the sort of people you are,” Aiden said easily, his voice carrying perfectly across the yard. “We’ve got the blushing little awkward one, and the fawning brainless girl who bosses him around. I’m not quite grasping your appeal, status as Potentials aside. And seeing as neither one of you seems particularly surprised at witnessing things that should be impossible, at least that much is confirmed. Which means that you,” he said, pointing at me, “know a little magic and showed it to your best friend. How sweet. Did your grandmother have a special book she gave you? Did you find a tome by chance and learn of magic that way?

  Now I was confused. It would have been handy to have an instruction manual for my powers, but I was sure of one thing. I’d been able to do this since I was a kid, without reading any sort of magic book. Still, if assumptions are made, it’s best to play along.

  “I don’t know,” I drawled. “Why don’t you find out?”

  Aiden grinned, quick and fierce. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” He took his hands out of his pockets and made a slight lifting motion with his left hand. As his hand moved up, so too did the darkness embracing him. Several strands of shadow lifted from the ground, and began to weave back and forth in front of him.

  “You see, Feayr, I’m a born Arcane, and magic runs in my veins. While you scrape by with your petty incantations, I move darkness with only the whims of my mind. I hope you don’t mind, but it’s not often I get to… let loose like this. Try your best to survive.”

  Shifting his body weight, Aiden practically threw his right hand forward, pointing straight at me. Dozens of tendrils of shadow copied the motion, rushing through the air at me. I had only a couple of seconds to react. Thankfully, Sam didn’t need more than that.

  Sam’s scream was so loud, I actually had to cover my ears. Still, it did the trick. Aiden’s concentration was broken from the noise, and he stopped and watched as Sam ran clumsily towards him, tears blubbering down her face. Aiden looked amused as she practically fell to her hands and knees in front of him, begging.

  “Please don’t hurt us, we didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t know watching him do magic was bad, I promise!”

  I winced. Sam’s victim act needed some work.

  Aiden smirked down at her. “Ah, hello, Samantha. I’ll be honest, I expected you to do something like this. Your file said that you were a fighter, but when faced with the unknown, it’s little wonder that you’d collapse. I’ll tell you what. If you are willing to accept failure of this test, all you have to do is take my hand. I promise I won’t hurt you. Fay,” he said, “I can deal with you after.”

  Aiden smiled coldly down at Sam as she struggled to her feet. When she stood in front of him, he held out his hand and sneered.

  Sam smiled, and her knee sank into his crotch as her fist slammed sharply into the side of his head. With a muffled groan, Aiden fell to his knees, clutching at his groin, eyes rolling back in his head from the pain. Sam looked at me, winked, and then savagely punched the side of his head with just enough force to knock him unconscious. I shuddered. This is why I didn’t like seeing Sam angry. No one can tell she’s pissed until they’re bleeding on the ground.

  Sam smiled, her movements full of confidence and grace once more as she walked toward me, dragging Aiden behind. The strange warping in the air around the house faded away as well.

  “Wow. That actually worked,” she said cheerily.

  “Do you think this was supposed to be harder?” I asked, looking down at Aiden’s unconscious form.

  “Who cares? Hottie McBaddy is out cold now. I count that as a win in my book. What do you want to do with him?”

  “Bring him to the backyard, I’ll keep him still.”

  “Fay, you really do know how to give a girl a good time.”

  “I weep for your many companions to come, Sam. I really do.”

  Chapter Four

  My backyard had the good fortune of being completely ringed in by trees on all sides. When they figured out that my childhood activities might involve making frost patterns on the grass in July, my parents had us move several towns over, to a house a good half mile away from everyone else. As a result, my backyard was about as secure as it got, which was kind of helpful when you’re moving a body.

  Sam finished dragging Aiden through the house, whining as she did so, until she dumped him in the grass of the backyard. I followed behind.

  “Okay, I’m done,” Sam said, groaning and stretching her back. “Your turn to work.”

  I was too busy focusing to reply. Aiden was lying down on his back in the grass. Even unconscious, he was more attractive than a sociopathic asshole had any right to be.

  I focused on the various strands of grass surrounding him, some bent down beneath his weight, but more specifically on the ones just ringing his body. There wasn’t much I could do without lots of water on hand, but I could do a little with the water in the air and with my ability to meddle with temperature. Sitting down next to Aiden, I cupped my right hand, resting it on my knee. I pictured my hand as a bowl, into which water was flowing.

  A sound like a soft sigh came from the air around me, as if a breeze was blowing where there was none. Droplets of water began to gather on the grass near me and near Aiden. The ground itself grew damp, while the air grew drier and a lot colder. I could feel my skin getting ever so slightly stressed from the sudden lack of humidity, though I was more distracted by the headache I’d spontaneously developed. Still, I ignored the irritation and slowly moved my left hand in an arch over Aiden’s body. As my hand lifted, the many drops of water turned into hundreds of tiny snowflakes that spiraled up in a cloud, following the path of my hand. They then solidified into shards of ice, arcing in the air above Aiden. Once the shards had settled in place around Aiden’s body, they rippled briefly and flowed into each other until they were all connected, wrapping around him and anchored to the ground on either side. I kept the process going for a few minutes, as more and more ice thickened the frozen strands, until only Aiden’s head was outside of an icy cocoon.

  I grimaced and wiped blood away from beneath my nose. Any time I had to use my powers a lot, my body tended to complain loudly and visibly.

  Sam tapped my shoulder, her face concerned. She offered me a tissue, and I gladly took it.

  “Are you okay?” Sam asked. “This can’t be easy for you.”

  I wiped my nose with the tissue, grimacing at the red. “I’ll be fine, if I have time to recover. How long until he wakes up?”

  “A couple of minutes, given how hard I punched him. God, I love that technique. Anyway, what’s the plan?”

  I shrugged. “Right now, he’s our only source of information on this... test, and he just attacked us with magic shadows. If we give him to the police, they’ll either think we’re nutjobs and
take us away, or they’ll listen and get slaughtered when Aiden wakes up. So we’re keeping him here until he tells us what’s actually going on.”

  Sure enough, about a minute later Aiden’s eyelids fluttered, and his eyes snapped open.

  I jerked back in surprise. His normally dark iris had expanded and turned pitch black. I couldn’t see even the barest sliver of white in his eyes at all. It lent an alien appearance to his face. Slowly, he attempted to stand, but stopped when he felt the pressure of the ice surrounding his body. He turned his head towards me and Sam, eyes narrowing when he took in her decidedly more controlled stance than when he saw her previously. He stayed still for a few seconds, then let out a raw chuckle.

  “I can’t believe I fell for that. Congratulations, Samantha. You’ve quite the future as an actress in front of you.”

  “I’m flattered, really,” Sam said, her voice hard. “You should take that you fell for it as a compliment. It only works on assholes used to the privileges of being pretty.”

  Aiden’s eyes returned to their normal appearance, and he smiled mockingly at her. “I consider my lesson learned, my lady. Now,” Aiden said, turning to face me, “Would you mind explaining my current situation? I seem to be somewhat... restricted.”

  I stared at him, not willing to forget the black-eyed, cold visage he had presented just moments earlier. “You were going to attack me. I was planning on defending myself, when Sam made that unnecessary by playing you like a fool. Sorry, but I don’t feel like letting you move around.”

  Aiden did his best to shrug his shoulders. The ice crackled. “Ah, the voice of reason. If I may, what would it take to convince you to release me?”

  “Good question. How about you start by telling me why you attacked us?”

  Aiden was weirdly comfortable with the whole conversation despite being covered in freezing ice.

  “Ah, well, isn’t that an interesting situation. As it so happens, it’s actually my job to hurt you, at least a little. Though given the current… circumstances, I’m willing to promise not to for the time being.”