Free Intangible by J. Meyers

“Look—”
    “I’m going to tell my friends about you,” Meghan said. Then she glanced over Sera’s shoulder, and her face paled.
    “No, please—”
    “Thank you,” Meghan said in a quiet rush, then turned and ran.
    “—don’t.” Sera said, but Meghan had already disappeared around the corner. Sera turned to look over her shoulder to see what it was that had scared Meghan off.
    Jonas. From the other night outside the hospital, about a block away. Looking dark and dangerous.
    “Great Hills,” Fey whispered, staring after Meghan. “What have you done?”

    F ey glanced up the street. The siren was getting louder, the ambulance closer. They needed to get out of there before it arrived. Luke was still gazing at the corner where Meghan had disappeared, along with everyone else on the street. Sera, however, was staring at someone farther down the block. Fey turned.
    Jonas .
    Fey gasped and her eyes widened in alarm. He’d seen it. She was sure of it. Meghan was one of his, and he was staring intently at Sera.
    He knew she could heal.

    And very soon he would remember the Prophecy as well.
    Jonas’s eyes suddenly snapped onto Fey’s face. She drew herself up to her full height with a deep breath, glared back. She was of the Light Elves. And he would remember his place. She held her left fist up and grasped that wrist with her right hand. An image flashed on the back of her hand—a warning. A chilled wind blew up from the lake behind her.
    He held her gaze for a moment more, then looked off to where Meghan had vanished. He strode off after her, glancing back only once before he was out of sight.
    He would find Meghan. Of that she had no doubt.
    And then he would know .
    Fey felt the core of her body tighten, her muscles freeze.
    It was coming.
    Soon.

NINE

    S he’s Gifted, Jonas thought. That’s what it was about her. It was so obvious to him now that he thought about it. He should have known. She was a healer.
    He dodged quickly around people, making his way down the crowded sidewalk until he could cross over a block to the street Meghan was on. From all the blood Jonas had seen on the ground, he knew she’d been seriously hurt. She would have needed a trip to the hospital for treatment, and a hospital wasn’t a good place for a vampire.
    Good thing the healer had been there.
    But how exactly did she get injured like that during the day? That kind of thing didn’t happen. Not here.
    A woman stepped out of a shop, momentarily blocking his way. Humans were so excruciatingly slow. If it weren’t vital to go unnoticed, he’d knock these people out of the way, force through the crowd. But he took a deep breath instead, and calmed himself. Meghan would be easy to find once he got around the corner.
    Meghan had seen him. She’d looked right at him, recognition freezing her features in…what? Was it fear he had seen? He shook his head, wishing these humans around him would walk a little faster. She’d seen him and run.
    Something was wrong.
    A burst of laughter to his left and horns honking on his right sent spikes of irritation up his back. Jonas didn’t mind the sun, but he preferred the nights for the quiet. His sensitive ears picked up every sound—loud or soft—so the preponderance of noise during the day was grating.
    He did his best to block out the sounds around him and focus on the problems at hand. Like Feyth. Her behavior made no sense. Flashing a warning at him like that. Because he’d recognized her charge as Gifted, as a healer? She knew he’d be able to see that. That he’d be aware the Gifteds had begun to appear, signaling a coming change in their world. He didn’t know why she would think he’d care.
    And how dare she. He was a Guardian. He kept them all safe. Including Feyth and her healer.
    He neared the corner with relief. Finally he would get out of the crowds. He turned the corner to a spartan street, ran as quickly as would not draw attention to himself, entered Church Street