Second Nature (26 page)

“A banshee? I think you must be mistaken,
Miss Hoffman.”

“Lia.”

“Lia. I am a normal girl from the sticks,
trying to get my degree so I can go on a dig in Ireland this
summer. I am most definitely not a banshee.”

“Oh, really? So you don’t get an
unexplainably sad feeling when you see a person with a dark shadow.
That sadness doesn’t build inside you until you can no longer fight
the urge to scream. But when you do, the world gets hazy, with the
colors all washed out, with one vibrant light, so bright you can’t
even look at it. Sound about right?”

Molly nodded silently, her eyes wide and her
jaw hanging open. I could tell she had no words, so I continued.
“You obviously don’t know who you are, which is a little
remarkable. But you
are
a banshee, Molly. And if you want to
know more…” I pulled a pen out of my backpack and wrote on her
hand. “… Call me. I can help.”

She nodded silently and watched my every
move as I backed away a couple of steps before turning and heading
out the door. I had met a few Otherworlders who had grown up
without knowing what they were, but I’d never met one who stayed in
the dark about it as long as Molly had. Most of us came into our
powers during puberty. I couldn’t imagine struggling with something
that long without any idea what was happening. And I thought I’d
had it rough dealing with my family’s protective silence.

I made my way to the cafeteria, where I
found Nate sitting at a table near the windows. His empty bowl sat
forgotten beside him and his chin rested in his hand as he morosely
watched the cold February wind beating at students as they hurried
across the quad. Even though he’d changed drastically from the boy
who had run out on me, I hadn’t gotten over the pain he’d caused.
And until I did there was no chance of me being able to move past
it. In the meantime, he was wallowing in his own misery and giving
me puppy dog looks when he thought I couldn’t see. It’s not like I
wanted to string him along, but some hurts can’t be fixed with just
an
I’m sorry
.

I pulled out the chair across from him and
dropped into it. Letting my bag slide off my shoulder to the floor,
I fished out the twin to his ceramic dish, filled with Sariah’s
homemade grilled chicken salad. I had never fully appreciated the
ability to eat the greasy junk that passed for food in cafeterias
across the country. Now if I tried to eat the mystery meat, my
stomach cramped and I would feel ill for hours. And that didn’t
take into account that it tasted even worse to me now than it ever
had before. I maintained an extensive garden and got fresh meat
from a friend in Vermont when I needed it, since even organic food
isn’t always all natural. Spearing a piece a chicken, I nibbled on
it as Nate finally noticed me and smiled.

“How goes the college experience?”

I shrugged. “Overrated. Do you have any idea
how difficult even the simplest history assignment becomes, knowing
what I do?”

Nate gave me the lopsided grin that still
made my heart speed up a bit. “Try biology sometime.” He barked a
laugh.

“So what do you have left for the day?” Nate
and I car pooled to school each day since he didn’t have a car. My
family and I were more than willing to buy him one, but he insisted
on paying for everything himself. While my parents had squirreled
away enough money that my siblings and I could live a lavish life
without ever having to work, Nate’s parents hadn’t left him
anything. Since we technically didn’t even have a full high school
education, finding a decent paying job was next to impossible. And
that’s not mentioning all the times we had to leave abruptly to
deal with Otherworld matters.

“I have psych and sociology. You?”

I grimaced. “I’m done for the day as far as
class goes, but I need to go to the library and research a Western
Civilization paper.”

Nate frowned. Everyone around me was so over
protective, despite the fact that I had never actually gotten into
any trouble while on my own. It was so bad when I had first started
college I caught my brother sitting in the back of one of my
classes a few times, and ran into my sister in the bookstore. There
had been quite a few arguments between us, but when Nate enrolled
this semester things had calmed down. How his presence made a
difference I don’t know.
I’d
never been captured and
tortured. I suppose we were stronger when we were together. Still,
I couldn’t imagine what kind of trouble I could get into in the
on-campus library.

“You can’t be going off on your own,
Lia.”

“Why not? I’m not leaving campus and I’ll
just be sitting in the library looking at books.” I shrugged. “I
don’t think I can get into any trouble there. I’ll let you walk me
there and I’ll stay until you come get me.”

“I don’t think you should go off on your
own.” I glared at him. He raised a brow and met my eyes
challengingly. He leaned back in his chair with a lazy shrug.
“Xander made me promise not to let you wander off by yourself. I’m
lucky he didn’t make me enroll in all your classes.”

I threw my hands up with an exasperated
huff. When would my family learn to trust me on my own? I gave Nate
a long look before I grimaced and slid my phone out. If Nate wanted
to be stubborn, I could play this game too. Before I could even put
my phone back in my pocket, I noticed Dylan striding confidently
into the cafeteria. I gave Nate a smug look.

“Now I won’t be alone.”

Nate groaned as his eyes landed on the
angel. “Tell me you were at least smart enough to make sure you
weren’t seen.”

“I’m not an idiot. I traveled to the
bathroom that’s out of order.” He pointed over his shoulder and I
flashed Nate a saccharin smile. Ok, maybe I was being petty, but I
was
capable of taking care of myself, despite what my entire
family seemed to think.

Nate grumbled something as Dylan sat. The
grumpy gaia gathered his dishes and shoved them in his bag before
giving me a long look. I fought the urge to squirm in guilt before
he stood and turned to Dylan.

“Make sure she doesn’t do anything
stupid.”

As my brows shot up in indignation, he gave
me one last firm look before walking out. I wasn’t sure the
satisfied feeling I’d gotten when he saw Dylan was worth it
anymore.

Now comes the part when I know I’m
forgetting someone. There are some important people I need to
thank.

My husband, my rock, my hero. Thank you for
sharing me with all the imaginary people who live in these pages.
Without your support, Amelia couldn’t be. My sweet monkey, thank
you for sharing your time with me. Mommy loves you. To my mom, for
supporting me in every way. There are no words to say how grateful
I am for all you’ve done.

Some amazing people loaned me their talents
to make this book what it is today. I would like to thank Julie of
JT Formatting
for making my books beautiful and for teaching me everything I know
about formatting. Kelsey of
K Keeton Designs
and
Bailey, for bringing Amelia to life and giving my books a beautiful
new face.

To my Story 4 Story peeps. I cannot imagine
getting through my day without you guys. To all the folks at UtopYA
for giving me the confidence I needed to keep trying. My sister,
Christine, thank you for always being such an enthusiastic
cheerleader. Your support means the world to me.

But most of all I want to thank all of you
who read my books. Sharing my stories with the world has always
been my dream. And I’m grateful you want to share in them.

Photo courtesy of

EmberMae Photography

Elizabeth has a near crippling Facebook
addiction, dwarfed only by her need for Dr. Pepper. A
self-proclaimed techno geek, she loves cell phones, computers,
tablets and all things technological. The internet has to be the
greatest invention since the wheel, in her opinion. She lives in a
quiet subdivision with her husband, one-year-old son, three cats,
and far too many electronics. It’s quite possible she has some
raccoon in her DNA, because she loves glitter and anything that
sparkles. She enjoys making jewelry and costumes. Halloween is her
favorite holiday since it’s the one day of the year that you can be
whatever you want. But her first love will always be writing.
Otherwise, hearing voices in her head would make her feel
schizophrenic.

You can find Elizabeth online at:

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