Shielded: A Valkyrie Saga Book 1

Compulsion - Chapter 8

The boys were restless. Blake was barely acknowledging our presence and hadn't eaten anything all day. My brother was obsessively cleaning and had reorganized the kitchen pantry, the garage, and my office. Connor was the worst though. Pacing back and forth in front of my desk and demanding that I do something to find Ray. And I would have, if I could have without crossing some pretty big lines because I was worried too. Logically I knew that she should be fine. She didn't survive seventeen years by being weak. Delia Ray Olsen could take care of herself, but the point was that she didn't have to anymore. She had found us and now we would take care of her, if only she would allow it.

--Elijah

The next morning I took a moment to look at the impressive looking bruise that covered the right side of my face in the truck stop bathroom mirror. That Kyle guy really could pack a punch. After probing the puffy skin and hissing out in pain I decided to stop messing with it. I wasn't a stranger to bruises. I looked down at my watch and saw that I was running late so I hurried to grab the coffees and juice before intercepting Jack and Amy before they got on my bus. I handed everything to Jack and ran inside to exchange my shower caddy for my school bag and then we walked together to the bus stop.

Amy was excitedly messing with her phone and talking about all the people she was going to text. Jack tried to explain that the phone was for emergencies only, but I knew that both me and him would be pitching in to keep minutes on Amy's phone. What could we do? She was a fourteen year old girl and we just gave her her first cell phone. There were some things in life that just weren't worth the fight.

Jack gave me a side look and I knew he was checking out the damage to my face. Jack was used to me showing up with bruises and had witnessed me fight over a dozen times so he didn't ask me any questions. But he did ask if I had any makeup to try to cover the bruise up. When I shook my head and raised my eyebrows in question he just smirked at me. 

I spent the bus ride thinking it over and came to the conclusion that Jack was worried about the reaction that I was going to get now that I had been spending the majority of the day uncloaked. It hadn't even occurred to me to try to cover my bruises. I had never gone through the trouble before and didn't own any makeup. But it had also been years since I had such a visible mark.

I looked around the bus and noticed quite a few faces pointed in my direction, but when I scanned the area everyone was quick to look away. When the whispering started, I got a sinking feeling in my gut. Being visible was so much more work than I was used to. I was so distracted trying to hear what people were saying as we walked off the bus that I hadn't even noticed the Three Musketeers waiting outside of the bus for me. But the moment I stepped off the bus I was pulled out of the stream of people and pushed between two of the parked buses.

I looked around and had time to identify that Max and Blake were standing to block other students from seeing as Connor gently pushed the hair away from the right side of my face and cupped my bruised cheek with his large palm. I felt myself leaning into his touch and had started to melt into the feeling of warmth and safety that radiated from him.

"Who did this to you?" Connor demanded to know in a low voice that resonated with power and I could feel the cloud of fog descend over my brain as my mouth opened on its own volition.

"Kyle Johnson," I heard my voice say in an emotionless tone. The second that the words left my mouth, my hard earned self defense skills clicked into place and my shield burst from my chest and made a small protective cocoon around me. I felt the zing of power from Connor as his hand was forced away from my skin. Then it was like there was a weight pushing down on my chest and I couldn't get enough air. Daggers formed in my hands and I backed away as far as I could from Connor until back hit the solid surface of the bus.