Chapter 6

The ride in Rachel’s car was smooth and fantastic. I thought it was some kind of luxury car, but Rachel corrected me saying, “It’s a V12 Vanquish from Aston Martin, a top-of-the-line sports car.” I had no clue about cars, but if she said it was a sports car, I’d take her word for it. Eric was the one who liked cars. He didn’t like working on them, but he had his dream cars. I wasn’t sure if this was one of them though. Of course, I hadn’t had the chance to tell him yet.

The one thing that drew my attention away from the car was the sights around us. Arlington is the tourist capital of Texas. Its crowning achievements include a Six Flags Over Texas amusement park, a Hurricane Harbor water park, the Texas Rangers ballpark, and the new Dallas Cowboys football stadium. They are all located near one another along the interstate north of campus. We passed the ballpark, but the parking lot was empty. Baseball season wouldn’t start again until next spring. Six Flags, on the other hand, was alive and running. I could see lines and crowds around the many rides, concession stands, and stores. There was even a stage where various big acts do shows, but it was empty at the moment.

Once we got on the highway, I looked across at Hurricane Harbor. People in swim gear were fighting off the heat in the oversized pools, floating along rivers on giant inner tubes, and getting their hearts racing on the various water slides. It looked like fun. I’d have to remind Eric and Ellen where we were and what surrounded us.

Of course, looking in that direction brought Rachel to my attention. I had seen her in the sun, wearing her backless shirt. For a moment, I wondered what she would look like in a bikini, lounging on one of the inner tubes on the river at Hurricane Harbor. Her tan wasn’t as deep as some other girls I had seen over the last two days.

I must have been staring for too long. She glanced toward the water park and said, “I used to go every week, but the novelty wore off since I live so close.”

I nodded and turned to face forward. After leaving behind the tourist attractions, most of the surroundings in Arlington were nothing but commercial property. There were some empty acres here and there like the city hadn’t decided what to do with the land yet, but for the most part, you couldn’t go more than a mile before running into a gas station or restaurant. Grand Prairie was dominated by factories on both sides of the highway. Oddly enough, there were more trees surrounding the buildings and parking lots than grass.

The quiet in the car didn’t bother me, but I had questions that were beginning to burn holes in my brain. I turned from the boring scenery and studied both Rachel and her aura. She was focused on the road, watching other cars moving about us. There was something peaceful about her concentration, something I couldn’t put my finger on. Something I should have known.

She caught me watching her. “What?”

I shook my head and couldn’t stop the smile. “Nothing.” I didn’t look away though, trying to think of something to say. I wanted to impress her, but I couldn’t think of anything witty. Eric would have, but I never had his talent or relaxed nature. Instead, I decided to ask some questions to fill the time and maybe get to know her better. “So, um ... Who is this friend of yours?”

“His name is Don Shepherd,” she said. “He’s the Head of House Aquilae.”

I blinked. “Head of House what?”

She shook her head. “That’s right, you don’t know.” She glanced at me but remained focused on the road. “I grew up with all of this stuff. Everyone like us that I’ve met knows it too, so it’s a little difficult to remember that you’ve got a lot to learn.”

Why hadn’t either of my parents ever mentioned any of this? It wasn’t a question Rachel could answer. I would have to wait until I went home to talk to them about it. For now, I would have to stick to the questions that I could get answers for. “So, what’s this House?”

“House Aquilae is an organization for people like us, called Powerborne,” she said, looking at me with the last word. After a second, she turned her focus back to the road. “For the most part, we keep to ourselves, trying to live normal lives. All of us have secrets to protect, but every so often some of us get together to talk.”

“Talk about what?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Different things. Some talk about the burden, others talk about the difficulty of not even using their abilities, and still more worry about whether or not to tell others about their secrets.”

The first two made sense, but the last one didn’t. “If they talk about their secrets at this House, why would they want to tell anyone else?”

“Usually they mean their significant other. They worry about keeping their secret and how it might affect the relationship.” She glanced at me, noticed my confused expression, and said, “Not everyone is as lucky as you. Your ability to see auras doesn’t manifest in a way that others could notice. Even with careful observation, they’d only assume you have a natural gift for picking up on body language.”

I blinked at her and said, “You can hide your wings quite effectively. I wouldn’t say I’m any luckier than you.”

She shook her head. “My wings come out when I sleep ... occasionally.” Her face flushed and her aura shuddered. She had thought of something else, some other kind of incident when her wings might uncase, but it was obvious she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

I knew better than to ask, and moved forward with our discussion about the House. “Okay, so this House is like a clinic or counseling office?”

She bobbed her head in a so-so fashion. “Only less formal. You don’t need an appointment or anything.”

“Then a support group, like AA?” I asked.

She rolled her head from side to side, weighing my question. “In between the two. There aren’t any required meetings or a twelve-step program.”

“But if everyone is scared of being found out,” I asked, “why is there an organization? It seems like more than what’s needed.”

Rachel glanced at me. “Think about it, Ral. There’s more than just one House. Most major cities have several, and very few are as relaxed as House Aquilae. Some are run like businesses, generating revenue and such. Some work like organized crime, with ranks and different titles and jobs for its members. And others are more like clubs that have requirements and membership fees.”

I stared at her, completely at a loss for what to think.

She smiled at my expression. “House Aquilae doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all.”

I finally turned to face forward. If there were so many other Houses, all for Powerborne, then how many people were out there with secrets like mine and Rachel’s? It had been incredible, seeing her wings, but to think others had abilities that were simple and complex, scary and awe-inspiring. My imagination was vivid. I didn’t need to think about what the possibilities were, but I couldn’t stop myself from considering how people would use such abilities, even if they didn’t want to be found out. Someone, somewhere, should have ended up in the news. I should have heard of someone like that. “If there are so many ... Powerborne,” the word felt odd in my mouth, “then why hasn’t someone slipped up and been noticed by the public?”

Rachel’s eyebrows rose into the bangs of her golden hair with her thoughts. “Accidents happen every day, it’s how they’re handled afterward that the public finds out about.”

I shook my head. “But...”

“There are teams who do nothing but help cover up those events. They’re very good at making them seem perfectly normal.” She glanced at me. “I know you haven’t told your friends, but what about your parents?”

I shrugged and sat back. “I tried to tell my parents about it when I first noticed. They thought it was just a side effect of my headaches and the drugs the doctors gave me.” I nodded. “But I’ve never tried to tell anyone else about it. If my parents didn’t believe me, why would anyone else?”

Rachel reached over and gripped my hand. “I believe you, and so will Mr. Shepherd.”

Again, I automatically held her hand in return. I also felt a burst of excitement and decided that I was glad she couldn’t see my aura. I had witnessed the reactions many people had to other people or events. I never talked about what happened, those emotional reactions, not only because I didn’t think anyone would believe me, but because I thought it was an invasion of sorts. Many people didn’t want anyone else to know their every little reaction, like the police the night before. If everyone knew they were as scared as anyone else when dealing with scenes like that, then the whole system would fall apart.

I looked at Rachel and noticed how soft her aura was. Was she happy because I was holding her hand or for another reason? If for another reason, what could it be?

I let her hand go and she put it back on the steering wheel. As distracting as she was, there were other things I was curious about. “How long have you known about your wings?”

She glanced at me and smiled. “Tit for tat huh?”

I shrugged but continued watching her.

“Since I was thirteen,” she said. “My parents drove into town to run errands for a few hours. It was a Saturday and I wanted to stay home. What none of us knew was that a couple of men decided it was a good time to break in.”

I didn’t like what I was about to ask, the implication was difficult to ignore. “You said your parents had an estate. There were other people around, right?”

“The estate’s been in my family for generations, and though we have a couple of ladies who come in and clean, no one else lives there.”

I nodded. “So, you were alone.”

She shrugged. “My mom and dad would be back before dark and none of us thought anything would happen.”

“Okay,” I said, remembering distinctly that though I wasn’t an only child, my parents never left me at home alone when I was thirteen, mostly because of my headaches. “So what happened?”

“Well, the alarm system didn’t go off, so when I heard movement downstairs, I thought my parents were back early.” She gave me a level look. “Imagine my surprise when I saw two men I didn’t know tearing through my daddy’s home office.”

“Um ... crap,” I said, mimicking a mild version of what I would have said.

Rachel nodded. “Yeah. We all stood there staring at each other for a second and then I took off for my room. They chased me, but I was just fast enough to lock my door and use my cell phone to dial 911. Unfortunately, they got through the door before I could tell the operator anything.”

I shook my head. “What did they do?”

She swallowed. “One of them grabbed me by the arms and I screamed. My shirt ripped and, at the time, I thought he was tearing it off me, but then he looked up and his face paled.”

“Your wings,” I said.

She nodded. “He let me go and backed away. His friend turned and ran. I thought there was something behind me even bigger and scarier than them, so I turned to look. I caught my reflection in the mirror and saw my wings. I screamed again because I had no idea what was happening.

“The other man ran too, but I was too preoccupied with what I was staring at in the mirror. The operator must have figured out the address for my phone because the police, fire department, and an ambulance all showed up. I heard the sirens and realized that they would come in looking for me and anyone else in the house. I panicked all over again because I didn’t want anyone to find me like that. Somehow, before they found me, I made my wings go away.”

“Holy crap,” I said. “What did you tell the police?”

“Everything except the part about my wings,” she said. “They assumed all the sirens made the burglars run away.”

I blinked and thought about it. “So, an incident involving your wings, but the officials make assumptions that conveniently cover the truth.”

She nodded. “It happens more than you think.”

“But those men,” I said, “the ones who saw your wings, didn’t they try to tell anyone what they saw?”

She shrugged. “If they did, I never heard about it.”