Read Savior for Free Online Page B

giving the impression he wasn’t going to drop the conversation anytime soon.
    “I don’t feel anything,” I said.
    “I do,” added Dillon. Being the youngest of the Caldwells, he was still developing his ability, but apparently the tension in the air was potent enough for even him to perceive it.
    Vinnia, always the insightful one, snickered at me. “You don’t feel it, because you are the one emitting it. You…" she tipped her head toward me, “…and you.” She finished with a jerk of her chin in Jameson's direction.
    He barely looked at her before returning his attention to his breakfast.
    “What’s going on between you two?” asked Nolan, who wasn’t born with a sensitive side. Alison didn’t help by immediately agreeing.
    “Nolan, leave it alone, dear,” cautioned Aunt Lizzy. She’d been talking rapidly from her chair near the door, as was typical, and clearly giving Mrs. Caldwell a headache, but she paused long enough to mediate our conversation. She was back to rambling a second later.
    “Yeah, let’s talk about something that affects all of us,” said Charlotte in her typically vain fashion. “Can anyone even identify what we’re eating?”
    “Fish porridge,” grumbled Jameson, who was the only one with enough knowledge of the village’s culinary selections to answer.
    Grimacing, she set her bowl aside. “And what are we going to do about these squalid living conditions? Do you know I found a slug on my windowsill this morning…a slug! I know…disgusting….”
    “ Horrible , isn’t it?” said Burke, clearly mocking her and receiving a kick to the shin for it.
    “I have extra curtains,” offered Estelle, our resident designer, who was already attempting to make our shacks more livable. She was always eager to share, although not everyone was enthusiastic in accepting her kindness. Charlotte was no different.
    Her lips curled; she was flagrantly disgusted at the idea. “They’re purple,” she muttered flatly, effectively ending the conversation there.
    Fearing that the subject might return to Jameson and me, I stole a hurried look at him, and true to his word, he was watching me from beneath strands of hair falling over his eyebrows.
    As soon as our eyes met, we both looked away and stood up to leave the shack. He purposefully, although without mention, left his boat for me while he went on to hurdle the docks toward the center of the village. Quietly thankful for it, I went in search of Theleo, who wasn’t far, and asked him to show me the perimeter.
    At some point throughout the day, I caught sight of Miss Mabelle and Miss Celia leaving the bayou for our homes, intending on securing them as best they could until our return. I also saw Estelle hanging curtains, Charlotte flirting with a boy, Alison surveying the village, and Jameson’s brothers fishing. But I didn’t see Jameson. He didn’t even make it to dinner, apparently opting to visit Isadora instead.
    At that point, I got the distinct feeling he was avoiding me, and it stung. So, long after the sun set and the lanterns on everyone’s shacks were extinguished, I slipped on my black cloak and pulled the hood over my head and left my shack. If he was nearby, Theleo didn’t show himself as I crept to the edge of my dock.
    The only light now came from the fireflies making their way through the swamp, their mirror images reflecting mystically off the glassy surface of the water. How easy it was for them, it seemed. Fly, light up your behind, wiggle it around, and select a mate. I envied them. My mate, whether destined or chosen, slept less than twenty feet away and knew nothing about how I felt about him or our situation.
    But I was going to tell him. Right now.
    That's why I remained perched on the edge of my dock waiting to jump across to his side. Then his voice came through the darkness.
    “What are you doing?” It wasn’t callous or irritated; instead, he sounded curious, which threw me off guard.
    Regaining my