Chapter 10

Isabel

Two weeks! That's how long it's been since the others left! You'd think, wouldn't you, that they'd be back by now. Seriously, two weeks is way too long!

Neriah and I are kept busy, teaching Ophelia to crawl. She's getting it pretty quickly, actually. For the most part, Ophelia's been really well behaved, except for the fact that she constantly wakes up in the middle of the night.

But one day, I can't find Ophelia anywhere! Suddenly, a tiny mouse streaks across the floor, and then jumps on the couch and curls up, falling asleep. I call Neriah, knowing that her original skills lie mostly with animals. She comes over and takes one look at the mouse before saying, "Isabel, that's your daughter."

"What?" I exclaim, astonished. "How can that be Ophelia? Unless…"

Neriah nods. I turn to her. "You knew." I state. "You and Matt both knew this already!"

Again she nods. "How? How did you all know?"

Neriah hesitates. "Well, Immortals have always been able to tell when a child with skills is being born, which is how Lorian was able to tell when another potential member of the Guard or even of the Named was being born."

"And let me guess; you can also tell what skills the child is going to have."

"No, not always. Some Immortals can sense it, but for the most part, we just have to let the kid find the powers on their own. Ophelia was a special case."

I pick up the tiny mouse and hold her in my hands. Then I ask Neriah, "How were you able to tell with her? Did all of you sense it, or just one?"

"Only me. I told the others, though. I think the reason that I could tell is because of my skills with animals. And as you've probably noticed, Ophelia's a shape shifter. I thought that you'd be able to tell, seeing as how you've got a sixth sense, but I guess I was wrong."

I shrug. "I guess it doesn't work like that."

We're both silent for a while, before I ask, "So…how long before she turns back?"

"It depends on her."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when each of us got our skills, it just sort of happened, and we had no say in the matter. We didn't know what was going on. Ophelia, however, knows exactly what she's doing, and how she's doing it."

"So what you're saying is…"

"That since Ophelia transformed with every intention to do so, she'll also turn back whenever she feels like it."

I sigh, and sit down on the couch with Ophelia still asleep in my hands. "Let's just hope she 'feels like it' before the others get back."

Once she wakes up, however, she turns back right away, demanding food in her own way. After I feed her, Neriah suggests that we go to the park.

"Great idea!" I exclaim. "If it weren't raining."

She grins mischieviously. "Well," she says, "I am an Immortal, so I can make it stop raining." She does so, and the three of us go to the park.

It's a good thing I wasn't popular at school; otherwise I'd have to answer a lot of awkward questions. The main question I'd never be able to answer is "Who's the father?" I mean, I have to obey the Guard's code of secrecy, so unlike everything Ethan did when he was my Trainer.

Neriah turns to look at me. "Besides," she whispers, "who'd believe that you're the wife of a 600 plus year old man with the body of an 18 year old?"

I laugh. "Good point." Just then, a blonde girl comes up to us.

"Cute baby, Isabel," she says.

"Thanks, she's-" I stop as the girl looks up. Her eyes are really familiar…as soon as a man walks up behind her, I realize that this is Chloe, and the man is Mr. Carter.

"Oh…crap." I say eloquently.

Chloe grins evilly. "You got that right."

Oh no! What could Chloe and Carter possibly want with Isabel, Neriah, and little Ophelia? Any number of things, really. I wonder how everyone else is doing…