She looked frazzled. Keegan grabbed a dangerously listing bag from her before it hit the floor. "What's wrong?"

Her mother stared at her, raising an eyebrow as she put her bags on the kitchen table. "I still have so much to do and everyone is going to be here in two hours."

Taken aback, Keegan said, "Umm, everyone is going to be here for what?"

She looked at Keegan like she was an alien. "How could you forget today is your cousin Merrick's birthday and the party is here?"

Richard came back through the door carrying several bags just in time to hear her mom's declaration. By the look on his face, Keegan was pretty sure her father wished he'd stayed gone one more day. Her family was what could be called a handful. Soon they would be host to a house full of elves and all the mischief that came along with it.

Keegan's mother busied herself in the kitchen making one of the few dishes everyone liked: meatball subs. Emerald liked making the dish because all she had to do was throw the meat in the crock pot add some sauce and heat up the bread. Keegan often wondered why her mother was a stay-at-home mom. She didn't seem to enjoy any of the cooking, the cleaning, the volunteering, or the homework. She could have easily gotten a job if she wanted but for whatever reason she chose not to.

It used to bother Keegan that her mother didn't use her healing power for good like her grandmother. Mary worked as a nurse so she was around sick people all the time. In her position, she had to be careful not to draw attention to herself so she rarely gave a full healing. She told Keegan that just removing some discomfort from her patients was often enough. Her family thought the patients sensed there was something different about her. She also received more thank you cards than any other nurse. Even the doctors asked for her when severe cases arrived.

Years before, Keegan had followed her mother around one day to see what she did with herself. Keegan drifted back to the day and recalled the memory. Using her power, she followed her with her mind's eye, which was prohibited by the family unless they felt someone was in danger. They were supposed to respect each other's privacy. Keegan had always been too curious for her own good.

Keegan watched as her mother went to the gym, the bookstore and then did some shopping. She gave up for a bit, and when she checked back in one last time what she saw made her proud to be her mother's daughter. It was dark and dingy, wherever Emerald was. Keegan saw a woman with three kids gathered around her mother. The woman had been severely beaten, with blood coming out of her mouth and a hunched over, on-the-brink-of-death feel. The kids looked terrified.

Emerald closed her eyes and a look of peace came over her face. She held her hands over the woman's body and right before Keegan's eyes the woman was healed. It was amazing to watch. After some time, the children calmed down. Finally, the woman grabbed her mother's hands and said thank you. Emerald told them to collect their things and say goodbye because they were not coming back to this life. She gave them money, a car, and the keys to a new place that was far away from their current surroundings.

Luckily, money was something Keegan's family never had to worry about. Her Uncle John's gift was a.n.a.lytical. He saw patterns in numbers which was basically like seeing the future in stocks and business ventures. Because of his gift, their family had always been well taken care of.

That night when her mother had walked through the door, she looked Keegan in the eye and said, "Now you know."

Her mother was hard to read at times. Keegan thought she was annoyed that she had invaded her privacy. She also felt her mom was glad she witnessed the healing.

Keegan had followed her mother to the kitchen where she was filling up a teapot which was something she always did whenever she walked through the door.

After a brief hesitation, Keegan asked, "Do you do that often?"

Her mom glanced over with a slight smile on her face. "Only when they are ready," she said. "I used to work at a women's shelter."

This surprised Keegan. She had no idea. "It was before you were born. I spent days and nights healing many poor women such as the one you witnessed today." Keegan raised an eyebrow.

"Well, why did you stop?"

As she grabbed the tea bags, she turned and faced Keegan. "I was there for years and eventually I realized I was not helping them. They usually went back to the abuser. I would give them a full healing and they would feel wonderful. Somehow, almost all of them managed to convince themselves that the abuser would change. Of course they never did, and the women would return to the shelter. I would heal them and the process would repeat itself. My gift was making me miserable. I could not understand how these women would take a fresh start and go back to their former lives. It was your father who helped me see what I needed to do. He told me to walk away. I was appalled, at first. How could I walk away from those in need? He explained that my gift was mine to use as I wanted. If working at the shelter was making me unhappy then it wasn't worth it. Those women were not willing to start over. He asked me to think back and find the common thread in the small percentage of women that took the opportunity at a new life. I realized there was something. Almost all had children who witnessed the abuse and they were a breath away from death."

Keegan had sat back, cup in hand, digesting what her mother had said. "How do you find out when they are ready?"

Her mother smiled sadly. "There is a network on the side of the light that wants to help the humans, a community that tracks these cases. We have people that work in shelters or hospitals. There are also school teachers who see the signs of children that have been abused or live with abusive parents. Once in a while I get a call that my gift is needed."

Keegan's mom tapped her on the shoulder which brought her back from her memory.

"Keegan, I told you to make sure the bathrooms were clean."

Her mom always seemed so stressed out when they were having company; she wanted everything to be perfect. Not that anyone noticed or cared.

Keegan looked forward to having her family over. It was the only time the kids got to use their gifts around others. That was probably the hardest part of being an elfin child. Not to mention it was an excellent chance for her to use her camera.

Almost all family gatherings were at her house, which was more like a fortress than a house. It was a place where everyone could be themselves and not worry about neighbors. It sat on 70 acres of land and on either side it had farmland so there were no close neighbors to speak of. Most of the land was wooded. To get to the house you had to go through a gate and then the driveway that was long and winding. There was a ma.s.sive stone fence that surrounded the property and even security cameras. The cameras were just a deterrent as their extra sensory elf abilities would let them know in advance if they were being attacked.

The house itself was not that large. A two story wooden house made mostly of gla.s.s. You could see out when standing inside but not when trying to look in from the outside. It was made of some kind of military grade gla.s.s. Her father said it was in case of severe storms, but they all knew better. Keegan's favorite thing about the house was the ceiling to floor water fountain that separated the living room from the dining room. It was like a wall of rushing water. It made the whole house relaxing.

The property was pretty amazing. There were large rocks landscaped around the place. Her mother loved rocks of all kinds, and her brother liked to use them for free running. There were running trails that had sporadic workout stations for training woven around the land. They had a huge shooting range set up that would make any soldier envious. To top it all off they had a stunning natural swimming pool and an underground shelter that could fit everyone, even the extended family. The shelter was stocked with enough supplies to last a year if they needed it, although they hoped they would never have to.

Aunt Brigid arrived first with Keegan's cousins, Keara and Jonathan. Of the three sisters, Brigid was the extravagant one. She had on True Religion jeans that cost over $200 and a bright red low-plunging wrap shirt which Keegan was sure had to be a designer label. Not to mention her outrageously expensive purse to pull the outfit together. Brigid's husband worked a lot to keep her in the lap of luxury. Keegan loved shopping with her Aunt Brigid who liked any excuse to shop until she dropped, and she was always the life of the party. She could make anyone laugh.

Shortly after Brigid arrived, Katrina showed up with her two children, Merrick and Mackena. The first thing Katrina said was, "Nice shirt, Brigid."

Brigid said with a knowing glance down at her own chest, "Hey, these are bought and paid for. I need to flaunt them every chance I get."

Keegan could hear her mother laughing in the kitchen. Let the chaos begin.

Once all the kids arrived they wanted to play hide and seek. Of course this was not a fair game. Keegan always won. Even though they could all visualize the others in their mind, no one else could disappear at will. What could she say? They liked to play and she liked to win.

Warrick ran around giggling. He loved having other kids to play with.

Keegan enjoyed watching the kids use their gifts. Jonathan, who used telekinesis, moved things around to look for his sister. Merrick turned into a bunny and was hopping around with Mackena chasing after him.

No one was sure what Mack's gift would be. It usually wasn't evident until the age of five.

Keara was slightly different from the rest of the family. Usually elves only partnered with other elves. That was not the case with Brigid. She fell in love with a Warlock who was not her destined partner and Keara was conceived. Keegan thought Keara felt out of place. She knew she wasn't quite like the other elves. Everyone else had pale skin and flushed cheeks. Not Keara. Her skin was a beautiful light mocha color with rosy cheeks showing through and pointy ears. They always tried to convince her how lucky she was, but she had yet to see it.

Keara could change the weather and turn on and off anything electrical, and that was just for now. As she aged, she would continue finding out more about her abilities. Unfortunately, her warlock father took off and was never heard from again and eventually Brigid agreed to meet her chosen mate and has been with him ever since.

Keegan's mom sounded off from the kitchen, "Kids come in to eat."

"Mom, were not finished," Keegan groaned.

"Now!"

The kids mumbled as they headed to the dining room where the complaining quickly came to an end. The food was delicious.

Keegan noticed her uncle had arrived and was in deep conversation with her dad. He was nicknamed Paul Bunyan for his incredible height and weight; over 200 pounds, which was quite large for an elf.

Keegan's grandmother finished icing the cake. It looked delicious. They sang Happy Birthday and Merrick tore through his toys, most of which he liked. He opened one and said, "Hey, I didn't aska"" and then stopped mid-sentence and said, "This is awesome! I've always wanted one."

They all looked over at Brigid whose gift was manipulating thoughts. She just shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

After the party was over and Keegan said goodnight, she headed up to her room to get ready for school the next day. She had a big test in physics. Math and science came easy to her, so she didn't need to study, although she was not even in the same ball park as her Uncle John when it came to numbers. There was something about science that drew her in, and it was like her mind worked differently than others. Teachers asked her to explain a problem, and she would get the correct answer, but often they had never thought of doing it her way. Sometimes they even thought she had cheated because Keegan finished so much quicker than others and didn't have to write out all the work to get the correct answer. She would sleep well because she knew she'd ace the test, easy.

CHAPTER 7.

Keegan smiled as she walked down the halls and saw her friends waiting for her. She attended a Catholic school, and other than the uniforms, she thought it was fantastic. She loved going to school, which was kind of odd for a teenager. School was a place where she felt normal around her human friends. All the girls managed to add some individuality to the uniforms with jewelry, makeup and hair accessories. Lately, she'd taken to adding a scarf to her uniform, and so far no one had told her to take it off. It was a fashion trend that she picked up during her time in Dubai with her family. They traveled a lot, at least twice a year and always took trips out of the country. Her parents wanted them to see there was more to the world than the United States.

Donald spotted her and thought, Why does she have to be an elf? He had no issue with the fact that she wasn't human. He wasn't human either. It drove him crazy, but he knew she could never return his feelings, not in the way he needed. Because she was an elf, she had an inability to feel deeply about anyone other than her chosen mate. They could date, but it would never lead anywhere. Last year, she had pursued him and he told her he only liked her as a friend. It was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. He couldn't justify putting himself through the pain of knowing he would be nothing more than a pa.s.sing fancy so he settled on the next best thing, being her friend. He had to settle with that.

Taking another quick glance at Keegan out of the corner of his eye, he banged his head back against the front of his locker. He loved everything about her. She was funny, smart, friendly, confident, considerate, and clumsy, which was so cute, not to mention the fact that she was insanely beautiful. The room felt brighter the moment Keegan walked in. Ugh, he felt so corny just thinking about his feelings for her.

Anna and Lauren had Keegan's locker open and were applying their makeup when she walked up.

"You guys really need to get your own mirror," Keegan said, rolling her eyes.

"There's no fun in that, and besides your mirror is magical or something. It makes us look amazing," Lauren said over her shoulder.

"Uh huh, I'm sure the $5.99 Target mirror has magical properties."

Keegan pushed them aside to stow away her backpack, and looked at herself.

Through the mirror, Keegan could see Donald; he was so cute with his orange hair. He happened to look up at the same time and she saw his green eyes reflect back at her. She smiled at him, but he couldn't see. He closed his locker and turned away to joke around with the rest of his crew.

Donald, Sam, Spencer, and Calvron were inseparable. On the rare occasion they were caught by themselves, each one usually complained about the other. They were worse than women in a beauty shop.

Sam, who happened to be one of the hottest guys in school, threw a piece of paper across the aisle at her. Keegan tried to look cool by catching it, but of course she failed miserably. Anna picked up the crumbled paper and hit Spencer in the head which caused them all to laugh.

Keegan saw Katie timidly walking up to her. Katie was shy and had a hard time making friends, and even though the two of them had become quite close, Keegan had a feeling she still didn't feel like part of the gang.

"Did you finish your math homework?" Katie asked.

"Of course, this morning on the ride over here."

"I have no idea how you can do that," Katie said. "It takes me hours to do math work."

"Do you need any help?"

"Yes, but just on a couple of questions."

"No problem, I'll help you at the end of English cla.s.s."

Keegan wondered what her friends would think if they found out what she was, but it was forbidden for her to reveal her secret. She imagined if she told them that they would look at her as if she were some kind of freak. Humans seemed to fear magic and anything that was different from what they were used to.

Keegan aced her test, and the rest of the day went by in a blur. Her least favorite part of the day was gym cla.s.s. She was always made fun of for her lack of coordination. Today, things felt different though, and even the coach noticed. They played soccer and not once did she trip and fall or miss the ball. For the first time ever, Keegan scored a goal, and she even had some decent blocks. Obviously, her training with Thaddeus was paying off. She felt strong and confident. Maybe her father was onto something when he said time and practice was the key to everything. It had certainly worked for Thaddeus.

While Keegan enjoyed high school, her brother was homeschooled. As a matter of fact, all elf children who were born to be warriors were taken out of school in the sixth grade. This allowed them to focus on their training, which included using their mind and becoming highly intelligent. Most of their training took place at a camp where they spent hours in the field learning the ways of a warrior, and then they completed their studies at home on their own. They spent countless hours reading and had a strong grasp of history. Her brother could recite books word for word, which was kind of creepy.

CHAPTER 8.

Rourk ran swiftly through the woods with his attacker closing in on him. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his head. Sweat poured down his face, and he felt pure joy. He lived for this kind of stuff. It was what he was born to do. He was leading his victim and it would all be over soon.

He loved the sound of branches cracking under his pursuer's feet. They were sloppy and needed to be reprimanded, which he would take care of once the chase was over.

Slowing down, Rourk took cover behind a large tree. He listened, and all he heard were the familiar sounds of nature; birds chirping, squirrels running, even the sound of a deer could be heard in the distance. What he was not hearing was the sound of footsteps. This brought a grin to his face. Perhaps he found a worthy opponent after all. He could take the easy way and close his eyes, if it weren't prohibited. He scanned quickly and saw nothing. Think Rourk. The woods were vast, but this was a game of cat and mouse. He could not be far. What surprised him the most was that there were no sounds of heavy breathing even though they'd been running for hours. Then, like a light bulb going off, he looked up. "You are a sly little devil," he said. Taking aim with his paint-gun, he fired. "Show yourself," he demanded.

The boy dropped nimbly from the tree and walked confidently up to Rourk, removing his paintball mask. Rourk was shocked by what he saw. He couldn't have been older than twelve. What perplexed him even more was the boy's eyes. They were the same clear blue-green as his chosen's, only this boy's looked older for some reason.

Rourk kept his face still; a warrior never gave away his thoughts by facial expressions when caught off guard.

"What is your name?" Rourk asked.

"My name is Thaddeus, and yours is Rourk."

Stunned, Rourk demanded, "How do you know my name?"

"You will someday be my brother-in-law," he stated, as if it were obvious.

"Why did you stop running and climb the tree?"

Thaddeus smiled, "I knew you were done playing and were about to capture me after you faked a fall."

Speechless, Rourk just stared at him. Finally, he said, "So you're the son of Richard. I have heard much about you. I'll tell your father that he should be proud to have such a remarkable son. No student has ever come close to catching me."

Thaddeus looked up at him. "I'll get you next time," and after a slight pause added, "probably," with an impish grin.

Rourk laughed, unable to help himself. He wasn't supposed to form relationships with his students, but he liked Thaddeus.

All at once, it dawned on him. The man who he looked up to the most was Keegan's father, but how could that be? Richard had never treated him any differently than the others. Rourk was grateful he hadn't learned of this when he was younger. Over the years, he'd proven himself to Richard without the added stress of trying to impress the man who would someday be his father-in-law.

"Have you told her anything about me?" Rourk asked softly.

He replied, "Only your name."

"Why would you do that?"

"Someday she will be in danger, and that was the only way I could think of for you to save her."

This rattled Rourk to the core. He knew better than to ask for more details even though he wanted to grab the boy and shake it out of him. He knew he couldn't ask this of a seer. The fact that he told him as much as he did and allowed his sister the ability to pull him towards her when she needed help was unbelievable enough. Rourk looked him in the eyes and said, "Thank you, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to keep your sister safe. Can I ask you one thing?"

Thaddeus shrugged, eyeing Rourk with interest. "That depends."