Disclaimer: Okay, this is the fourth chapter, so I think you get it.
Author's Note: Okay, this is where things pick up the pace, as promised, to those of you who are still faithfully reading. But not reviewing :( So here it is:
"I swear I'm not the one Using," Reid growled, shoving Caleb away. "I swore the oath too, remember."
"Well it's not me, Pogue isn't stupid enough to Use now, and Tyler doesn't have the balls to break the oath," Caleb glared, and Tyler's eyes narrowed to slits. "Unless you're telling me Chase is back."
"It could be anyone," Reid snarled, shoving Caleb away again. He didn't like the surly, threatening glare, but he'd prefer to feel Caleb's punches rather than Lilah be subject to them. Because he knew, somewhere in his brain, that it was she who was Using on Aaron and Kira and their friends. Little things, like making a pool ball smack Aaron in the crotch in the rec room of the dorms, after he'd made some comment about getting Lilah out of her skirt when she'd unfortunately for him been standing talking to Reid and Tyler—or like making the girls' skirts tuck into their underwear when they'd teased her at swim-practice. The last week had passed with those tiny hints at Power being used, ever since Lilah showed up.
"It's always you, Reid," Caleb growled threateningly. It seemed to Reid like they had this conversation every week. Even after he'd sincerely sworn the oath not to Use except in emergencies, Caleb was still quick to suspect him for every little thing that seemed paranormal.
"I haven't Used since the summer," Reid growled, smacking Caleb's fists away from his shirt.
"Caleb, leave off, okay; I haven't seen him Use since July," Tyler said soothingly.
"Shut up!" Caleb bellowed at Tyler. "I'm sick and tired of you always jumping in to defend him! When's he ever gonna learn that what he's doing is killing him!"
"Don't you yell at him like that!" Reid shouted, sending a ball of Power at Caleb that knocked him back into Tyler's desk. He could tyrannise Reid all he wanted, but Tyler never fought back. Caleb threw a ball at him that sent Reid into the window between the two beds. He heard the glass smash—and felt it—as he was pitched through the pane and was falling backwards. His eyes flashed and he fell back on the grass that was softer than usual, springy, and scrambled to his feet, unharmed.
He glared up at the window; Caleb's face was white with shock; Tyler looked like he was about to cry. Reid stalked off, ignoring their shouts, unable to shirk the raw feeling in his throat and eyes that made him angry at the same time as it made him feel extremely vulnerable. He didn't go back to the boarding house for several hours, just driving too fast around Ipswich to calm him down. It was already Friday night, and he was sitting alone in his old Stingray listening to dead musicians. Hunger made his stomach growl, and he made his way over to Nicky's, not caring if he saw the boys.
"Hey Nicky, have you seen Reid?" Lilah asked, almost shouting over the jukebox. Nicky gave her one of those looks he got when he was being disapproving.
"Last I saw he was headin' out with Aaron and his boys," Nicky said heavily.
"He was on his own?" Lilah shouted over the tumult as a pool-game was won.
"I tell you Lilah, I'm gettin' sick and tired of breaking up their fights," Nicky said deeply. Lilah had only been to Nicky's place twice, but her accent had won over the waitresses and Nicky. She ran to through the crowd to the back door, banging it open, and stopped still as she saw what was happening. While Reid was broad-shouldered and muscular, he wasn't a match for three guys.
"—son of a bitch!" Aaron growled, smacking Reid right on the nose.
"Hey!" she bellowed, and anger flared in her stomach, making her eyes flash. The boys were thrown off Reid by some invisible force as Reid crumpled, gasping, to the floor. She stalked past Aaron, who was groaning on the floor, to Reid, who was struggling to stand up properly, wincing. She put her arms around his waist and supported him as he gasped for breath.
"Come on, let's go," she gasped, kicking Aaron in the stomach as she stumbled past with Reid. "That's for calling my Reid a bitch." She supported Reid down the alley to the street and helped him over to his Stingray. She'd recognised it looking in all the Main Street shops. She dropped him on the bonnet of the car, concerned he was wincing so much.
"Are you alright?" she asked gently, touching the purplish-red bruise already flourishing on his left cheekbone. He jerked his head away from her touch, looking annoyed and ashamed. "Reid—hey, look at me!—you've created a lot of trouble tonight. Pogue and Tyler came running into my room asking if I knew where you were, saying something about you falling out of a window and that you might be really hurt. Caleb's been on the verge of a stroke worrying about hitting you." Reid just clenched his jaw resentfully and glared at the drain. She cupped his face tenderly and brought his face round to look at her.
"Are you alright?" she repeated softly, staring into his pale, angry eyes. The resentment faded and he nodded slightly, his features relaxing.
"Yeah, I'm okay," he sighed heavily. He stared at her unrelentingly and Lilah felt nervous. "You Used, didn't you, to get them off me." Lilah tried to step away. He held her waist comfortably in his hands, non-threatening, gazing at her in wonder. When she didn't say anything, his eyes widened and he grinned.
"I knew it!" he gasped softly.
"You can't tell anybody, not even Tyler," Lilah said quickly. "Especially not Caleb." Her father had called yesterday: she'd told him all about the Sons of Ipswich, and he'd told her that what the history books had to say was true; they were witches, which had initially made Lilah smirk, but it meant that if they thought she was a threat to them, they might…destroy her? She hadn't counted on any of them figuring out she had Power before she'd truly gained their trust. Reid's blue eyes flickered between hers and he shook his head in slight disbelief.
"That's crazy. How's that possible?" he asked in a whisper. Lilah blushed at the intensity of his gaze. Someone shouted across the street: glancing over her shoulder, she saw Aaron and his boys striding out of the alley.
"Come on, I'll explain somewhere else," she said, and Reid jumped into the driver's seat. They pealed away from the parking-space and down Main Street. "Head to the dells," Lilah said softly, turning the music down. She watched Reid from the corner of her eye, nervous, but he didn't say anything and kept his eyes on the road as he drove them closer to the woods and the beach where they'd partied last Saturday. He parked the car on the edge of the woods overlooking the water, and Lilah got out of the car, walking towards the waves.
"I want to show you something," she said softly, as Reid touched the palm of her hand with his fingertips. She kept walking, thinking I want to walk on water, and suddenly, she was. Her heels didn't puncture an invisible plate of glass that seemed to move over the water as she trod it, and twenty feet away from the shore, she turned and looked back at Reid. His broad shoulders had fallen lax, his lips slightly parted.
"Holy shit," she heard him breathe, and Lilah walked back to him, settling on the sand and hugging her knees. Reid sat beside her, still staring.
"The real reason I came here was because I fell out of a seventh-storey window," Lilah said. "I landed right on my neck." She laughed bitterly. "I was up on my feet again before anyone could work up a good scream. My father had to Use a lot of Power to cover it up, alter people's memories, and it was a lot of trouble for him. He's old, and really ill, so he can't use as much power as he'd like to."
"But I thought your mom was the one who carried Power in her genes," Reid frowned.
"A dormant gene, yes," Lilah nodded. "But her family—your families, yours, Tyler's, Caleb's—they're all weak strains of the Power." She sighed heavily, as he frowned again. "My father is sending some books from our library at home that will explain everything much better, but I know most of the story: My ancestors were the leaders of a great coven of witches in England. They were nobility, very influential in the courts. In the 1610's, your families started to abuse their powers, punishing normal people, and that was against the laws of the coven. Our family put curses on them to limit their powers and they were banished from our coven and sent to America—here."
"But how does that…? How do you have Powers? They go to the eldest male," Reid frowned.
"In your coven, yes," Lilah nodded. "That goes with the curses placed on your lineage. I've read about this, too. Since the Power is genetic, it can't be wiped out unless the line is killed off, but it was against the laws of the coven to kill off its members."
"That's why they were banished," Reid nodded, following.
"Yes, but there were curses that could limit Power, like the aging your ancestors suffered from," Lilah nodded. "And some chauvinistic pig decided to obliterate Power in the female lines, which meant fewer would get the Power."
"Have you Ascended yet?" Reid asked interestedly.
"No. My eighteenth birthday isn't until November," Lilah sighed. She played with the ring on her left ring-finger. Her mother's engagement ring; antique Edwardian. She glanced at Reid: he was silent, watching the waves. She touched his cheekbone delicately. Reid tensed, wincing slightly. She focused on the bruise, willing it to heal. It shrank and lightened in colour until it was gone.
"Enough with this," Reid sighed heavily, groaning as he stood up, offering his hands. He grinned down at her. "Let's go have some fun."
"What do you want to do?" Lilah asked. Whatever he had planned, they would always have a good time. He could even turn shopping for school supplies into something that made her sides split. He wiggled his nose thoughtfully and his face lit up with a grin, the dying sun making his white teeth glitter, and he grabbed her hand.
A.N.: Please review on the Coven idea, please. If I could put in a begging Smiley, I would!