17. Ezra

Chapter 17

Ezra

I pulled the chair out from the table, and Nova took her seat, her smile a beacon of comfort. Eva and her husband were to my right, my parents sat across from us, and Elias and his wife were to my left. Everyone was at ease, which lulled me into a sense of security. The tension in my shoulders started melting away as we savored a delicious plate of chicken and chatted about the wedding. The clinking of silverware against plates of food and the calm voices filled the room, creating a cocoon of normality. My sister switched to rambling about holiday plans and what we were all thinking for Thanksgiving. My mind hadn’t allowed me to think that far forward until I had had a chance to talk to my dad and Elias about what to do next about Nova.

Nova’s hand stayed tucked in mine through the first dances and squeezed me whenever something cute was said in the speeches. My eyes scanned the ballroom, imagining what our wedding would look like. Nova’s favorite flowers were sunflowers, so I was sure there would be plenty of those. It would probably be outside with a small crowd of people. She wouldn’t wear white; I was sure she would wear a black dress with lace and long sleeves. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen her wear anything sleeveless that wasn’t her sleeping tank top. I would love to serve chicken, but she loved salmon, so we’d have to compromise and serve salmon. We’d serve pumpkin pie for dessert since it was my favorite, and it was the hill I would be willing to die on when wedding planning. It would definitely take place on October 31st.

The truth was that I didn’t care what our wedding looked like as long as she was the one standing across from me.

Eva was in the middle of a heated discussion with Elias about wearing pajamas for Christmas dinner this year when all movement and chatter in the room came to an immediate halt as a piercing scream came from the direction of the lobby. Elias looked between Dad and me, but there was no time to process if it had been a joyful exclamation or a chilling yell before—

BOOM!

The ballroom doors blew open, narrowly missing one of the tables, and the room shook, breaking several vases containing the floating candles and splashing water everywhere. Nova’s grip on my hand under the table tightened, and I turned to look at her. Her purple eyes had gone almost black for a split second before she could mask them, but even then, black specks continued trying to cover the lavender. Her eyes were wide open, and a trembling frown replaced her smile.

“Nobody move!” A booming voice cut through the confusion.

As if under a spell, everyone stopped moving and stared at the boisterous man. We sat in a room full of—supposedly—the strongest creatures in our world, but the fear was suffocating. Many averted their eyes toward the table or the floor, afraid to let their fear be known. I wasn’t scared to admit it. I was terrified. My heart pounded in my chest, and Nova’s breath next to me was coming in shallow gasps that she tried to hide. Once filled with joy, the room was now a prison of fear, each second of silence stretching into eternity.

Three men made their way to the front of the room. There was a small raised platform in front of the windows, two of which were now cracked. Two of the men were familiar to me because of their appearance at the luncheon, but the one who had spoken was well-known in our society. His name was Rowan Carmine, Sinclair Carmine’s grandson and an equally evil man as his grandfather had been. His jet-black hair was long, and he carried himself proudly as he walked toward the front of the room. Sunglasses covered his eyes.

Nova’s surprisingly firm grip on my hand tightened even more. Her eyes were pinned to the table, and her foot started bouncing furiously up and down. Elias, my dad, and my mom looked at Nova and then at me. Their eyes told me what their words couldn’t.

We’re in trouble.

“Where is she?!” Rowan demanded, briefly scanning the room. I wasn’t sure he knew what she looked like, and I hoped that would play in our favor.

My father stood up, blocking Rowan’s sightline from landing directly on Nova. “You and your family are not welcome here.”

Rowan snapped to look at him and maniacally cackled. His pace slowed as he faced my father and, with a smirk, asked, “Do you think I care, old man?! Now, where is she?!”

The whispers around the room intensified. “Where is who?” My father asked, crossing his arms and puffing his chest out.

“The Manipulator!”

Chaos briefly erupted around the ballroom. Half the room tried to cast Rowan off as delusional, much like Nova’s parents had done to the three guys yesterday at the luncheon. The other half whispered to each other, giving notoriety to their conviction that there was a Manipulator amongst us.

“Quiet!” Rowan yelled, casting a hush over the room. “Now, I won’t ask again. Where is she?!”

They were here for her. Nova’s dark eyes snapped at me, no longer able to mask the fear they held. They would take her over my dead body, but I dreamed of a long life with her, so I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She kept eye contact with me for a few seconds, and I felt the strange feeling that was her entering my mind.

“Ezzy, I’m scared,” Nova’s voice slipped into my brain. It wasn’t the first time she had ever said something in my mind, but it was the first time in a long time. It was the only part of her ability she would use on me. If I could hear her, she could hear me.

“We won’t let them take you, Nova. I won’t let them.”

“No Manipulator has been born since your grandfather murdered Sherman Foster.” Elias stood, supporting my dad and moving toward the front of the table. They formed a small human wall so that Rowan couldn't see Nova. I had to be up there with them but didn't want to leave Nova's side.

“How fitting that the head of the Woodhaven family would be a liar!” one of the men proclaimed with a laugh.

Rowan swaggered down the platform slightly but didn't get too close. His henchmen were constantly scanning the room. “Here’s how things are going to work,” his voice intensified as he momentarily looked out to the rest of the room. “Everyone that is not sitting at these tables, leave NOW, and I will spare your lives!”

The three tables Rowan had pointed at contained Woodhavens—our table and my uncle’s family—and Redds. Everyone else in the room hurried away, and the two men who had walked in with Rowan set the entrance ablaze in a contained fire. They were Fire Handlers. I didn’t blame security for coming any closer at the fear of being burnt, but this was their job. They were supposed to keep everyone safe. Elias needed to upgrade the company he was using.

The temperature in the room started increasing. I loosened my tie, feeling increasingly suffocated.

“Turn over the Manipulator, and no one gets hurt,” Rowan demanded. “You have one chance.”

“There is no Manipulator here,” my father stated confidently, standing his ground.

“I gave you ONE chance, old man!”

In a split second, we saw a flash of light, followed by the crackling of electricity in a whip-like motion. My dad flew across the table to the side wall we sat next to, and his back thumped the wall. My mom screamed and ran toward him, my brother behind her, quickly assessing his injury as she began the healing process. Nova gasped, and my sister let out a stifled sob, and her husband took her in his arms.

Rowan was an Electricity Handler. Rare and terrifying.

“Anyone else want to lie to me!?” Rowan screamed, addressing everyone. “One of our Seers guaranteed me that she existed and lived in our world. I was giving you one chance to turn her over.”

So that’s how they found her. Unlike Elias, who had to spend nights looking through records and putting the puzzle pieces together, they had lucked out.

A Seer was a witch or wizard who could see the past and the future. It should have been a powerful and valuable special ability, except for their limitations. One, they couldn’t predict when their visions would come; they just happened. Two, they had to come in contact with something or someone to prompt the visions.

“ They had to come in contact with something or someone. ” I repeated in my head.

As if on the same wavelength, Nova’s gaze snapped to me. “ It was the guy at the club that bumped into me.”

“The one that grabbed you?” I asked in my mind. Just remembering that night at the club made my blood pressure soar.

“No, the one that bumped me on the dance floor before I almost fell. He touched my back and gave me a look when I turned around. I knew there was something weird about how he looked at me.”

When that happened, I had been so distracted by the feel of Nova’s hips in my hands and obsessing over her dancing that I didn’t notice the man.

Rowan sighed in desperation. “Bring the Seer in!” He called at the Fire Handlers, who were parting the fire, to let someone in.

“They’re going to identify me,” Nova said in my head. I shook my head, pleading for the silence, knowing where her train of thought was heading. Eva’s eyes moved within us, trying to read our internal conversation, when her mouth dropped open at the realization. Her eyes snapped to Elias, who subtly shook his head at her. “ No one is going to get hurt because of me.”

“Nova, no, please,” I begged. She shook her head. Her mind was made up.

Her death grip on my hand loosened as the legs of the chair scraped against the floor, calling attention to us. With a heavy sigh, Nova stood, and a vicious grin spread across Rowan’s face.