Euriv's Children

Chapter 16

***Owen's POV

Ali collapsed. Her head knocked onto the floor with a sickening clunk. Cathan ran to her side while Eric had just come to. He sat up and stared at his side where his injury was, or had been. It was completely healed. Not even a scar. Just like Ali's arm.

"What happened?" He said in disbelief.

"I have no idea." My eyes kept bouncing between Eric and Ali, trying to figure out what happened.

"She, she healed me." Eric ran his hand through his already disheveled hair.

"Eutriv said she had the power to heal." Celia helped Cathan get her onto a bench. "What if she can heal others as well as herself?"

I sat myself on the floor next to Ali's unconscious form. I brushed her hair out of her face. The gift of healing, and now she can heal others. Cathan must have a gift of his own, besides being able to heal wounds the old fashioned way.

Eric changed his shirt and Celia went to her knitting. Cathan muttered something about looking out for ships and the shoreline. Jess followed after him.

"We should be there soon." Celia said.

"What if the Inferno Society is waiting for us there?" I asked.

"They won't. The town is too crowded at this time of day. A bunch of kids and teenagers pulling out weapons and spilling blood would only cause trouble. Bring cops. They wouldn't risk it. At least we will be able to make it to the van." I stared at her, suppressing a laugh at her soft snores.

"How did she get these powers and when? I mean, did she always have them?" Eric asked thoughtfully.

I perked up, suddenly I remembered. "When she fell out of that tree Freshman year? She didn't have a scratch."

"She never gets hurt at trainings." Eric said absentmindedly rubbing his side. "Lucky."

"Just think, if Ali has powers, we might have them too. You could have something pretty awesome." Celia said in a singsong voice. No one missed how Eric perked up at that.

I had to suppress a laugh. She knew how to get Eric.

"Powers?" He asked, intrigued now.

"Yeah, you could be a new superhero or something." She picked up where she left off amongst her yarn.

"Ha ha. Very funny." He stuck his tongue out at her. "You're just jealous because if I did have super powers they would be awesome. I would be the next member of the X-Men."

Music erupted from my pocket. My phone. The screen had a number I didn't recognize. I put it on speaker phone and held it out for everyone to hear. "Hello?"

"Mr. Bates, it's about time I got in contact with one of you four. Where are you?" I hesitated. That voice sounded familiar.

"Uncle Gideon?" Ali said sleepily, wiping her hair away from her face . Apparently she had woken up at the sound of the ringtone. She reached inside her jacket for her own phone. "Sorry, mine's been on silent."

"Caliean, My niece. I'm on speaker phone aren't I? I can't just say this where anyone can hear me. Where are you?" He said it with a lot more urgency.

"On the ferry back to shore." She said it hesitantly, as though she wasn't sure that she wanted to tell him.

"Meet me when you get off the boat." He disconnected.

"Well that's a relief." Celia let out a long breath. "We finally have some help."

"Yeah, help." Ali sighed. "I'll let the other two know."

I stood up too quickly and almost fell, but Ali's hand kept me steady. She grinned up at me and made her way to the stairs.

"Owen, you've got that look on your face." Celia tutted.

"What? I can't be worried about her?" Even I could feel the blush spread across my face.

"Cathan is right. You're in love with her." Celia focused a little to hard on the needles in her hands. "He's only been here two days and even he knows. How long do you think Ali will be oblivious?"

"As long as she can. Celia, she can't know how I feel. She can't. This is important, and I won't be the reason why she gets hurt." I glanced at my phone and added Gideon's name into my contacts.

"All right Owen, whatever you say."