Page 55 of Lightning Angel
“No, but since I do owe you, I’m willing to do anything.”
Tristan arched an eyebrow at her. “Alright, here’s an honest question. Is that why you said you’re not going to leave me to my past demons alone? Because you owe me?”
“Oh,what—no, Tristan!” Alexa’s eyes widened. “How could you—I wasn’t even thinking about it! Frankly, it didn’t cross my mind until now. Don’t you believe me?”
“I will, if you truly mean it,” he said earnestly. “Because if that declaration wasn’t from your heart, I wouldnotlet you be there for me.”
“Well, good for you, I meant it.” Alexa narrowed her eyes at him slightly, before she composed herself and took a deep breath. “Tristan,” she called him softly, taking his hand. “I meant it. I truly meant what I said. I swear that owing you hadn’t crossed my mind since we departed last night. So if you let me, I’ll be there for you. Always.”
Tristan squeezed her hand, his eyes suddenly unreadable. “And if you let me, I want to be there for you, too. Always.”
Alexa cracked a tiny smile to hide the impact of his words inside her. The way he saidalwayssent a blow to the protection ice around her heart. “Seems like we are going to be there for each other,” she said, and added for her own sake, “As friends.”
Tristan’s eyes smiled, and she realized he understood. She appreciated it beyond his knowledge.
“So,” she mused, drawing her hand from his and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Tell me more about how your curse works. How did you get your superpowers?”
Tristan’s fond expression shifted to grimness as he delved further into his story. “I’m still not sure if the powers are part of the curse. Merissa would have never wanted me to have them, but I certainly got it frombeingcursed. My assumption is the lightning strikes; that I’m a supernatural because of the countless strikes I’ve had.”
Alexa nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. Merissa would never have wanted you to have such an outcome from a curse meant to make your life insufferable.”
“My life has been insufferable, Alexa.” He met her eyes. “Until you. But you want us to be friends, and I respect that. So, I’ll simply set aside that matter.”
Alexa stared back into his eyes, engulfed in sudden heat. Did he like herthatway? Unable to form a word, she simply nodded.
“Would you like to know how I discovered each of my powers?”
Alexa nodded again, grateful that he was changing the subject.
“I can see and hear better than normal humans, aswell as smell. All my senses are heightened,” he began, averting his gaze to the bookshelves; which was good, because her heart had begun beating an erratic rhythm learning he had feelings for her. “I remember a time when I tried to overhear a conversation between my dad and one of my aunts—his sister. I was seven then, and in the living room, playing with my cousins. They were in the foyer. I heard him mention me and I tried to get a rope of their conversation. I ended up hearing every single word as though they were talking right next to me.”
He finished with a small smile, turning to her. Alexa returned it. “And your eyesight?”
Tristan furrowed his eyebrows, thinking hard. “I don’t quite rememberwhenI discovered that one. I think… I think it was once I pointed out something to Dad in the dark. After he figured out about my two heightened senses, he encouraged me to try out the rest.
“I could smell better—not the best of my abilities, I must tell you. The most astonishing one of them is that I couldfeelthe electricity. Anything that has electric power, I can feel them as natural as my skin making contact with a mere object. It’s how I confirmed there was no camera in your sister’s bathroom as Brandon claimed.”
He finished with an easy smile.
Alexa gaped at him. “You canfeelthe electricity?”
“As natural as touching anything.”
“And never get the shock waves.”
He gave her a small smile. “I’m a living, walking, breathing shockwave myself.”
Alexa averted her gaze, astounded. “What about the other powers? How did you discover them?”
“My strength is the first one I discovered. I couldalways lift things easily as a child. And the fastness…” Tristan trailed off with a fond smile, staring at the floor rug as though recalling a sweet memory. “I was playing with my cousins one day at their house. We were chasing each other. It kind of justhappenedat my mere will, even I didn’t notice it. My sisters shrieked with delight and asked me how I was doing it. I asked them,do what?They told me I ran at a lightning speed that their eyes barely tracked my moves.”
“And the invisibility?” Alexa asked with a tease of a smile at her lips. “You wished to be invisible at some irritable occasion and it justhappened?”
Tristan gave her an impressed smile. “Well guessed, Miss Ford. I was only fifteen then, attending a boring party of Dad’s friend with him. Everyone was staring at me; girls around my age especially, whispering and giggling,oh my God,that boy is so hot.” He rolled his eyes sarcastically and Alexa suppressed her giggle. “I was more like the center of attention there and I wished I was invisible. I truly, desperately wished for it. And it happened. I didn’t realize it until the girl who had been staring at me occasionally stared rightthroughme. She then looked around the room as though searching for someone. I looked down to my shoes at some point, out of habit, and realizedIwas the one she was looking for. I couldn’t see myself! I panicked and slipped outside, and willed myself visible. Only then did my breath fall right.”
Alexa barely withheld her amusement, imagining the scenario in her head. “And the teleporting?”
“Dadencouraged me to try it, actually.” Tristan chuckled. “After I told him about the invisibility, he suggested I try teleporting like theapparitionin HarryPotter. We experimented right here in the library and it worked.”