Free Lightning Kissed by Lila Felix Page B

away
from him and found what seemed to be the only standard-sized chair
in the place. This Collin guy must’ve had custom furniture brought
in. I dug through my bag and found one of the apples I’d stashed.
I’d intended to eat it right away, but I had no idea that getting
into this place would entail pulling on a huge rope using all my
body weight.
    The apple crunched as I sank my teeth into
it. The sound of my own chewing kept me from hearing the hushed
conversation going on between David and Goliath. I was more of an
action kind of girl.
    After a while, my apple was diminished, and
I was itching to go again.
    “So how are you gonna get to Tibet?” I asked
Collin.
    Both of their heads jerked in my direction.
It wasn’t that hard of a question. He couldn’t flash like us, so
traveling would be an issue.
    I was just being logical—practical—in a mean
girl sort of way.
    “I have my own plane. All Guardians do in
case there is an emergency meeting.”
    Apparently there were a lot of
idiosyncrasies about the Guardian world I had no idea about.
    Like the fact that they had planes and held
secret meetings.
    All this time, I thought they were just
loners.
    Theo and Collin flowed back into their
conversation about logistics and USB drives. This wasn’t turning
out to be the diabolical and high-danger journey Theo had made it
out to be. So far it was Slush Puppies and giants.
    “Can I see the books?” I queried simply out
of boredom. Whatever was in those books had been cataloged in such
a detailed manner by Theo and now Collin that I doubted I would
find any new information.
    But Theo had trouble finding ketchup in the
refrigerator.
    Boys.
    “Of course,” Collin waved his arm toward the
back of the place. Theo chuckled into his fist.
    “What are you laughing at? Isn’t this what
we’re supposed to be doing?”
    “Yes, just wait.”
    We meandered through the great home. I
stopped to look at the paintings on our way through the hall. One
was of my grandmother.
    “Rebekah,” Collin said with an air of
reverence. “Your grandmother is the wisest of all the Prophets. But
it is only in the halls of records that she is respected as she
should be.”
    The picture of my grandmother was encased in
a frame made of golden filigree. She was younger, her hair
revealing the generation in which the painting was completed.
    “You knew her?”
    He patted my back. “Know, young female,
know. Just because something is deemed unworthy by a group of
people, doesn’t make it less loved.” Then he winked at me. An
unfounded giggle erupted from my mouth. Collin was handsome up
close. From far away, I couldn’t get past his overgrown stature to
see it. But now, when I turned and he was bent over targeting his
words to my ear, I could clearly see it. His jaw was rugged and his
eyes were the deep brown of someone who had a tiny bit of rebel in
them.
    Collin had a little bit of anarchy brewing
inside him. I could see it.
    Theo was in such trouble.
    “Onward, good sir,” I said and motioned. I
felt a new camaraderie with him and showed it by linking my arm
through his. Theo shot a questioning look my way, but I ignored it.
There was no way to explain to him the glimmer I’d seen in Collin
without sounding any more right field than I usually did.
    “Are there no pictures of Eivan and
Sevella?” I questioned the two of them.
    “There are in Tibet. There’s a monk there
who is descended from Eivan’s advisor, Winchester—he commissioned
painters to paint their portrait for one of their anniversaries. He
also has some personal artifacts, but it would take some coercing
to let us see them.”
    Coercing was my specialty.
    We entered the multi-storied library and I
gasped. It was bigger and more magnificent than anything I could’ve
imagined. In truth, I’d thought it would be more—cave-like.
    It was grand—a library fit for a king.
    “Where are the records on Sevella?” I
prompted.
    Both men glared at me.
    “Don’t look at