Orange Blossom Special Excerpt

Orange Blossom Special
The Covenant of the Rainbow, Book 2
Elana Brooks

Chapter 2

Present

Rosalia dropped her voice softer and softer as she reached the end of the meditation induction sequence. The last few words were barely more than whispers. She relaxed on her mat, letting her own tension drain from her body. She would give the class a minute or two to fully manifest the effects of her hypnotic words and subtle telepathic guidance before she separated her astral self from her body and went to check if anyone in this session had enough psychic potential to interest the Covenant.


Her mind drifted, open and receptive. The random floating lights of meditation swirled and coalesced, forming shapes.

A vision. As Abuela had taught her from earliest childhood, Rosalia set aside her instinctive fear and filled her spirit with welcome and acceptance. Claridivencia was a precious gift. No matter how terrifying it might be to look into the future, the knowledge must be received with gratitude and used as wisely and well as the seer was able.


A car hurtled down a dark highway. It made a sudden sharp swerve. A cable flew from it, the grappling hook at its end sinking deep into a giant boulder. The cable yanked the car into a screaming turn. Its path bent around the rock. The cable broke, and the car sped along its new path, significantly slower than before.


Rosalia?


Bafflement at what the vision might mean gave way to mingled annoyance and curiosity. Why was Steve contacting her when he knew she’d be in the middle of a class? This had better be important.


It is. Steve’s mental voice was grim. Rosalia knew him well enough to recognize that whatever had driven his usual cheerful confidence from his mind must be grave indeed.


She immediately jumped to what seemed the most logical conclusion. The rumors are true? The Seraphim are here?


Instead of answering, he said, Can we meet and talk? It’s almost time for your lunch break, isn’t it?


After this session. All that’s left is the final check.


Don’t rush that. But when you’re done, let’s get together in astral form. Where would be convenient for you?


The nice thing about being back in Los Angeles for a few weeks was that she knew her way around. UCLA? West tower of Royce Hall?


Sounds good. I’ll be waiting. He broke off contact.


Rosalia pondered the exchange as she rose from her body and walked between the rows of meditating students, scanning for places their astral forms had separated from their physical bodies. A few fingers or toes here and there. Not worth recruiting to the Covenant. At least, not according to the protocol they’d been using. If the aliens really had arrived, far sooner than anticipated, maybe they’d need to pull even such modest talents into service.


She noted the mat numbers of a man with a freely floating leg and a woman with both forearms separated. Two strong candidates—a good result for a session. The marketing arm of HBQ was getting better at targeting their advertising. She’d seen a marked improvement in the average number of recruits per session over the past few weeks.


She hadn’t yet located anyone as strong as Beverly Jones, whose discovery was the reason she’d been given this assignment. Rosalia’s predecessor, Adrian Marshall, had been called to Headquarters to help train the woman whose psychic gifts he’d revealed. During the screening session she’d attended, he’d been forced to bond his soul to hers in order to save the life he’d endangered by his carelessness.


That’s why Rosalia was always scrupulous in her meditation instructions to describe only arms and legs floating free, never a whole body. And she always scanned the whole room the moment her astral form separated from her physical form, just in case some prodigious talent like Beverly managed to break free anyway. She wasn’t going to risk getting stuck with a soul bond she didn’t want. Her soul was doing very well on its own, thank you. Maybe someday, many, many years from now, she might find someone worth the sacrifice. But she doubted it. She couldn’t imagine ever being willing to relinquish her independence that way.


She returned to her mat, sank into her body, and quietly spoke the words that would guide her students back to normal consciousness. She sat up, checking everyone, especially the two potential recruits, to be sure they were firmly reintegrated into their bodies. The man was a little disoriented at first, but he shook his head and his eyes focused properly again. The woman was fine. Everyone else looked good, also. Rosalia thanked and dismissed them with the traditional “Namaste.”


Just as she did after every session, she bid farewell to the students at the door, then gave the mat numbers of the candidates to her assistants for follow-up. Most days she would use her hour-long lunch break to sample some small local restaurant. Since she’d arrived in LA a week and a half ago, she’d enjoyed visiting a number of old favorites and discovering a few new treasures. But today she headed across the street from the convention center to her hotel, grabbing a greasy burrito from a street vendor and eating it on the way up to her room. It wasn’t very nutritious, but it would keep her energy from lagging during the afternoon sessions.


She hung the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door and made sure it was firmly latched from within. She didn’t like going out of sight of her body for extended periods outside the monitored safety of one of the Covenant’s meditation gardens, but less than an hour in a locked room should be all right. She lay down on the bed, took a few deep breaths to relax her mind into the proper state, and floated into the air.


She passed through the window and soared over the snarled traffic in the tangled streets below, reveling in the glorious freedom of astral travel. As she approached the university campus, she made a few adjustments to her default astral form, which as usual matched her current physical appearance. She replaced her sweaty yoga clothes with an elegantly professional blouse and slacks, indulging in shoes with three-inch heels since she wouldn’t have to actually walk in them. She put subtle makeup on her face and replaced her casual ponytail with a smooth twist. Understated gold earrings and necklace completed the look.


These days she seldom bothered to dress her physical body up so much, but it was so easy with her malleable astral form, why not? Steve was her boss. Making a good impression on him would help her career. Her psychic gifts were strong enough to qualify her for a fairly high position in the Covenant once she had more experience and seniority. She intended to climb the ladder as high as she could go. Steve was a member of the Eight, one of the Covenant’s leaders. His continued mentorship would be invaluable in helping her achieve her goals. That’s why she wanted to look her best for him. No other reason.


It was a lovely autumn day. The smog had cleared, leaving a bright blue sky littered with puffy clouds. Rosalia wished she had time to fly among them. The tree-studded campus was an oasis of green in the heart of the gray and brown city. She swooped down toward the red brick building at the center of the university.


Steve was waiting for her, perched on the rim of the tower flanking the left side of the entrance, his legs dangling over the edge. The sight made her stomach lurch, although of course his astral form was perfectly safe, only as subject to gravity as he wanted it to be. He waved as she approached. His welcoming smile was bright, but it quickly faded, his face falling into sharper lines and deeper folds than she was used to seeing there.


Rosalia settled lightly beside him. “You look tired.”


“I am. It’s been a crazy week. You, on the other hand, look terrific.” His gaze was frankly admiring, but after a moment he turned away. His voice dropped. “I’m afraid you won’t be so cheerful after you hear what I have to say.”


A shiver went down Rosalia’s back. “That comet that’s been all over the news is a Seraphim ship, isn’t it?”


“The colony ship. I went out with Solomon and Keiko a week ago and confirmed it. They’ll reach Earth in less than a month.”


Rosalia gasped, her eyes going wide. “But that’s not possible. Your visions—”




“Fake.” His voice was as bitter as unsweetened cocoa, his eyes as dark. “The Seraphim commander—his name is Sarthex—gloated at his cleverness and my gullibility. They’ve been feeding me lies my whole life.” He stared at his fists balled in his lap.



Rosalia ached to reach out and take his hands in a comforting grasp, but she didn’t. “I’m sorry,” she said.



He shrugged. “No use crying over spilt milk. We’ve made new plans. The Eight have been informing members of the Covenant over the past week on a need-to-know basis. But tomorrow we’re going public, so we’re giving everyone a full briefing today.”



“You must be insanely busy. There was no need for you to take the time and energy to travel all this way.”



He twisted his hands together. “I wanted to tell you in person. Face to face, not telepathically. And… there’s something I need to ask you.”



Cold foreboding gripped Rosalia’s gut. Not precognition, but nearly as certain. Whatever Steve was going to ask her, she wasn’t going to like it. “What?”



He looked at his watch. “We’ve got time. Let me tell you the whole story. I think you’ll understand better once you’ve heard it.”



Rosalia shifted her astral form to face him. “Go on.”



Steve launched into the tale. He was a good storyteller. Rosalia was quickly caught up in his narrative, amazed and horrified by turns. She was relieved to hear that the Covenant had succeeded in recruiting several allies among the Seraphim, although they were low in the rigid hierarchy of castes. Even more encouraging was the fact that the humans had managed to outfight the massively powerful Sarthex, at least long enough to escape. But offsetting the good news was the shocking information that Sarthex had captured one of the Eight. Keiko’s astral form remained prisoner aboard the Seraphim ship, subject to torture in retaliation for the Covenant’s attacks. Torture that her husband Solomon, the leader of the Eight, shared through their soul bond.



“That’s how matters stand. This morning the Eight met. Beverly was sworn in to replace Keiko. We discussed all our options. Solomon is determined to continue fighting the Seraphim, even though he knows Keiko will suffer for it.”



“That’s horrible.” Rosalia swallowed. “But of course he has no other choice. He can’t let the Seraphim reach Earth and start trying to xenoform it again.” She remembered the raging storm she’d seen in the second Memory. It had been caused by the aliens aboard the scout ship, who’d telekinetically altered the orbit of comets to bombard Earth. The chunks of ice had melted in the upper atmosphere and sent water raining down. Rivers and seas had risen catastrophically, drowning huge numbers of people in the neolithic settlements that clustered near water. The survivors had passed down the tale of the flood until it had become a part of every mythology on Earth.



“No. He can’t. We can’t. Whatever price we have to pay.” Steve took a deep breath and turned to meet Rosalia’s gaze. His eyes bored into hers. “That’s why I need your help.”



Rosalia gulped and shrank back. “I don’t understand.”



“The soul bonds between Solomon and Keiko and between Beverly and Adrian are what tipped the battle in our favor. They used the way pain creates a feedback loop to protect each other from Sarthex’s torture. And they used their amplified strength to overpower him. The Seraphim have nothing like it.”



Steve reached for Rosalia’s hands. She knew with terrible certainty what he was going to ask, but she was frozen, unable to resist as he gently wrapped her fingers in his. “Solomon is convinced we’ll only be strong enough to defeat the Seraphim if each member of the Eight soul bonds. He ordered us to either find someone we could bond with, or step down in favor of someone who would.”



Trying desperately to lighten the fierce intensity in Steve’s eyes and voice, Rosalia lifted her chin. “That’s ridiculous. The Covenant’s not a dictatorship. He can’t force you.”



“No. But I think he’s right. Remember the third Memory. Soul bonds allowed Noh and his family to win that battle, too.”



She’d relived the eight-thousand-year-old fight during her initiation into the Covenant. “Yes, but…”



“I know. It’s a terrible thing for him to ask. How much do you know about soul bonds?”


“Only what’s in the Memories,” she admitted.



“Then you know they’re only possible between people who love each other deeply. Or at least, have the potential to. Over the millennia, the Covenant has seen what happens when people without that love, or that potential, try to form a bond. It’s not pretty. If abandoned soon enough, the attempt only causes pain. If it’s pushed beyond the point where it becomes obvious it’s not going to work—”



“What?” she whispered, when his silence stretched long.



He shrugged. “The energy recoils explosively, and they both die. And once a bond is formed, if it’s ever betrayed, it breaks with the same explosive force, and they both die.”



His voice rose. “If one of them cheats on the other, they both die. If one of them gets tired or bored or falls out of love and leaves, they both die. If they get angry and shout and scream and drive each other away, they both die. If either of them ever makes one little mistake, for the rest of their lives, they both die!”



Rosalia stared at him. He stared back, breathing hard.



Eventually she recovered her voice. “So why would anyone ever choose to form one?”



“Hell if I know.” Steve rubbed his forehead. “Except I’m considering making one of the damn things, so there must be some reason.”



Rosalia’s heart raced. “You are?”



“I have to. This is a war. You put your life on the line in war, if that’s what you have to do to win. If my strength can be increased the way Adrian’s was after he bonded with Beverly, even if it’s just for a little while before everything goes to hell, I have to do it. I swore to keep Earth safe from those bastards, even if it kills me.” He spread his hands flat. “I’m cool with that, actually. I figure it will be worth dying if I can give Sarthex a good punch in that pointy snout first. But I can’t do it alone. I have to ask someone else to help me. And it has to be someone I love. Or think I could love.”



Rosalia’s pulse thundered in her ears. “Me.”



His eyes were miserable. “I know I have no right to ask this of you. I know if you’re smart you’ll slap my face and run screaming the other way. But there’s something between us. You know there is. When Solomon said we’d all have to soul bond, I thought immediately of you. There’s no one else I can even imagine trying with. But with you—I think it could work.”



Rosalia stood up. “You’re asking me to—to marry you, essentially. More than marry you. Bond myself to you permanently without any chance of escape. Because you want to use me to make you stronger, so you can kill Seraphim more effectively.”



He rose to face her. “It would make you stronger, as well. You swore the Covenant oath the same as I did.”



“Because you asked me to!” Memories swirled in Rosalia’s head. After everything he’d put her through, everything she’d done for him, he dared ask her this? She’d always known he was arrogant, but this far surpassed even the worst of what he’d done before. How stupid was he, to think she might accept his proposal?



And how stupid was she to consider it?



Because, God help her, she was. She imagined gazing into his golden-brown eyes until she saw his soul deep within and recklessly rushing to meet it until they consumed each other in a blaze of passion and destruction.



Steve’s shoulders sagged. “I did. It’s my fault you’re tangled up in this mess. Look, forget it. I should never have asked. This isn’t your fight.”



“Of course it’s my fight!” Anger blazed high and hot. “What, am I not a human being? Is Earth not my home, too? Do you think I don’t care if half the world is flooded and civilization crashes and burns? If billions of people die? Even if I weren’t a member of the Covenant, it would still be my fight.”



Painful hope kindled in his eyes. “So you will?”



“I don’t know!” Rosalia pressed her hands to her face. “This is the rest of my life we’re talking about. It’s not something I can decide over my lunch break. I have to think about it.”


“Of course.” Steve stepped back. “I wish I could say take as much time as you need, but I can’t. The colony ship will reach Earth in less than a month. The decision has to be made by then.”



Rosalia swallowed hard. “Give me a week.”



A week to think about every interaction she’d ever had with Steve Miller.



Not to decide if she could love him. That would be easy. She’d been trying not to fall in love with Steve since the day they’d met.



To decide if she could trust him. With her heart, and her life. Because she was terribly afraid she couldn’t.



And she was terribly afraid he couldn’t trust her, either.



“A week.” He nodded. “Should I stay away?”



“No. Come back. Every free moment you’ve got. Or I’ll come to New York. Or we can meet in between. Whatever. We have to talk. We have to see if we can be together without things going sour.” She grinned ruefully. “You have to admit, our track record isn’t great.”



He raised one shoulder and dropped it. “I won’t argue that point.”



“If we’re going to do this thing, we’ve got to try to do it right. Because if we expect to fail, if we expect to sacrifice our lives for the sake of defeating the Seraphim, that’s what’s going to happen. I’m not bonding with you unless I think there’s a chance we can make it work for real. Not a guarantee—I know that’s not possible. I am willing to die to win this war, if I have to. But I’d rather not. So there’s got to be a chance.”



He took a deep breath. “I agree.”



Against all reason, exhilaration soared in Rosalia’s heart. She’d long ago given up hope of ever having Steve for her own. Now, suddenly and without warning, the opportunity had landed back in her lap. She could have him if she wanted him. All she had to do was give the word.



She moved close to him, then closer, crossing an invisible barrier into his personal space, though not quite—quite!—touching. They might be in their astral forms, not their physical bodies, but his nearness felt physical. It beat warm against her skin and pulsed in her throat and breasts and belly. Her voice came thick and breathy, choked with the desire that had never lacked between them. “And we’re going to have to go here. Again.”



He came to her like a magnet to its opposite, snapping against the full length of her body. “The easiest part, and the hardest.”



She could weep for the pleasure of the touch she’d thought she’d never feel again. Instead she threw her arms around his neck and dragged his mouth to hers. He met her kiss tentatively at first, but as the fire ignited inside her, he abandoned all caution and crushed her against him, opening mouth and heart, feeding the flames that burned high and bright.



And brief. Always before their passion had been like a grass fire, blazing intensely and quickly burning out. That sort of love couldn’t sustain a soul bond. If they wanted to survive, they’d have to learn to build a deep bed of embers that would hold a steady and enduring heat.



He pulled away. “I don’t want to make you late for your next session. I can’t come again today—we’re going to be setting things up all afternoon and evening to break the news to the world first thing in the morning. And we’ll probably be dealing with the fallout all day tomorrow. But I promise, I’ll meet you during your supper break tomorrow, even if I have to walk out on the president himself.”



She laughed shakily. “I have a feeling my sessions are going to get a lot more popular once people see that psychic powers are real.”



“We’ve got a structure in place to deal with that. I just hope it holds up.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll go with you back to the convention center.” He reached for her hand.


She took it, and they soared from the tower together. He tugged her to circle a familiar building. “Remember?”



“How could I forget?” She shuddered. “I’ve never been so humiliated in my life.”



A grin played around his lips, only partially apologetic. “It wasn’t on purpose.”



“I know. That’s the only reason I can forgive you. If I thought you’d done it intentionally, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”



His expression became a little more sheepish. “I’m sorry.”



“Good.” She made him wait until they were halfway back to the convention center before she relented. “I’d have humiliated you just as badly if I’d been able to.”



“It would have been good for me. If you’d been strong enough to break through my blocking, I’d have realized the truth a lot sooner.”



She sighed for lost opportunities. “Then maybe that first time would have lasted.”



His melancholy matched hers. “If we’d been together all these years, this would be an easy choice.”



She turned away, remembering exactly why they hadn’t. “But we weren’t. And so it’s not.”


To be continued…