Free Chrysocolla by B. Kristin McMichael Page B

eyes.
    “Do what?” I asked as innocently as I could, like I had just walked over.
    “Mari, I feel you. I can sense you, and you are holding water in your hands right now.” Seth still didn’t open his eyes.
    “Just ‘cause you can sense me, doesn’t mean that you knew there was water in my hands,” I complained, letting the liquid drip through my fingers onto the ground instead of Seth.
    “No. That was because I could see you,” Seth replied, opening his eyes finally. “When I felt you moving closer, I cracked my eyes open a bit and watched as you filled your hands with water.”
    I flicked the remains of the water from my hands onto him. Seth laughed.
    Seth reached up and pulled me to him, using me to dry the drops of water on him. I laughed and tried to push away, but it was no use. Seth was way stronger than I was. I relented to being his towel.
    “So was there more of a reason you came over here, or was it just to get me wet?” Seth asked. “I’m pretty sure I don’t need a bath.”
    “Yeah,” I said as I scooted off him and sat beside him.
    He sat up and waited for me to continue talking. I had never asked Seth much about his past. I figured he’d share what he wanted to share. Asking him now seemed wrong. Well not wrong, but it just felt odd like I had waited too long.
    “How did you find your carnelian stone?” I finally asked as he peered at me with questioning eyes.
    “This one?” Seth asked, tracing the line on my arm. I couldn’t help the goosebumps that formed. He grinned at my response. He wasn’t offended at all with my questioning.
    “Yes, that one,” I replied, trying to sound strict to keep him on task, but failing miserably.
    It had been too long since we actually were real around each other. His touch was gentle yet familiar. I was more than happy to have him trace the lines.
    “And this one?” Seth traced the light green line also starting at my shoulder and then down my arm to my hand.
    “Any luck?” Kye called from across the pond.
    I looked up and glared at him. Wasn’t he the one that kept saying I needed to be with Seth?
    “We thought that if someone who used the stones can tell me how they found them, maybe I could tap into my powers and find the last stone,” I told him, hoping that he wouldn’t drop his hand from my arm.
    “I didn’t find the stones,” Seth answered, his hand still on my arm. His fingers had traced the lines and were starting back up my arm. “They were given to me.”
    “By whom?” I asked. It was beginning to feel like a wild goose chase.
    Seth’s hands made it back up, and now he was looking closer at my new lines. I knew they were on me and all, but I hadn’t thought much about them. He lightly touched the first line as we talked.
    “I don’t know. An old priest approached me one day when I was in one of the villages. He gave me the stones and told me where the shrine was in the mountains for the goddess. I never had to find the stones.”
    I pouted. This wasn’t working, and it wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t the goddess at least have taught me a little bit?
    Seth’s fingers tickled as they crossed my backbone, leaving me unable to stay sour about my situation. It wasn’t really unfair that someone had brought him to me. In fact, I was thankful to whoever that was. No, I was just frustrated by it all. I wanted the goddess to come down and teach me, to rescue me from all my failed attempts.
    “Why not ask your mother?” Seth added, feeling my disappointment alongside me. His hand now rested on my back.
    “I would, but she is kind of on her honeymoon right now,” I replied.
    I was allowed to see my parents whenever I wanted, but I just felt like I couldn’t interrupt them. They had spent nineteen years apart and had just now found each other again. I didn’t need to be running to them to ask questions that might or might not make a difference.
    “You always told me as a child that your mother lost her stone when she made it