Gnomes of Suburbia Read online

  "We? Who is we?"

  "Your new neighbours here on Oak Point Way. Each of us volunteered to be here as a type of an honour guard. If you can learn to control your dispensation of magic, you will live a long and healthy life."

  "And if I don't?"

  "You will sputter and burn out like a candle and there will be nothing we can do to help you. You carry the seeds of your own survival or destruction within you."

  Abby took a deep sip of her lemonade. “Wow, that is a heavy conversation killer. Okay. The next question is, why is the energy signature on my gnomes changing color?"

  "Really? So quickly?"

  "Uh, yeah. So. what is doing it?"

  "As living things take on your energy, they convert it for their own use. The more they live, the faster they change. The tree for example will metabolize the energy that you gave it and your magic will be irretrievable from that point on."

  "Okay. So as long as it is still my energy, I can pull it back?"

  "That is the theory. I don't know of any cases where the Nexus was able to do it extensively though. That is why you need the training that I am offering you."

  She sighed heavily. “What exactly would this training entail?"

  "Every morning when your energy is at its peak you will come over and I will give you exercises to enhance your control over your energies.” Xander rose and moved to a side cabinet, the drawer that he opened yielded a seven-foot strand of pearls. “These pearls are a good outlet for your extra energy. You can fill them up one at a time and use them to relieve the overflow to prevent accidents like the one that struck Laura."

  Abby wrapped the pearls around her hand and hefted them. They were not light. “I am supposed to haul these things around with me?"

  "Well, they will give you a place to put your extra energy. It's your choice.” He crossed his arms and scowled.

  How could she not find that sexy? Her power ramped up again and she filled three pearls in a few seconds.

  Then three more as he stated, “I want to see you first thing in the morning, every morning until we get this under control."

  She would like to see him first thing in the morning, after they had spent the night tangling the sheets. Five more pearls. “Fine. I will be over here first thing in the morning tomorrow."

  "Excellent. I look forward to working this out with you. I will be here to help you out as long as it takes.” He took her hand in his and looked deeply into her eyes.

  Ten more pearls. Oh, to hell with it. She jumped forward and locked her lips with his. It was just as fantastic as the first time, but this time she had him at a disadvantage and he took a moment to react. He reacted with passion and she was halfway through the necklace before she was able to break the contact. “Wow. Okay. We can't do that again. Or we can't do that again today. But I would definitely like to do that again. But not when we are working on extending my expiration date."

  His grin was devilish. “Done. The instant that you are firmly in control of the power, we have a date."

  She extended her hand and he shook it. “We have a deal. What is your official job title by the way?"

  He was escorting her out and he gently pinched her backside as he gave her a light shove out the door. “I am the Safety Warlock. Do you feel safe?"

  "Nope, and I can't wait for our date.” A wink and a quick peck on the lips and she was skipping back to her house. This place was definitely becoming more and more like home.

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  Chapter Fifteen

  Day one of her official Nexus training was not off to a great start, for Xander. He really should have asked her how early she liked to wake up before pounding on her door with a cheerful, “Abby, it's time to start your training."

  Even her gnomes looked at him with horror as she struggled down the hall and into the bathroom for a shower.

  Then he decided to pound on the bathroom door. “We don't have time for you to take a shower. Come on and let's get started."

  Bastard. Apparently the thought of her naked under all that hot water, soaping herself slowly was an image that he didn't entertain. Bastard.

  Her ablutions took their regular amount of time, but by the scowl on his face, Xander had been waiting two eternities for her. “Abby, I wanted to get started this morning."

  She tucked her towel firmly around her and pattered back to her bedroom, “Xander, morning lasts until eleven fifty-nine AM. Chill. And tomorrow, tell me what time you want me there and you won't have to come get me.” She turned just as she was entering her room to get dressed. His eyes did not meet hers, they were fixated somewhat lower. Huh, he was an ass man. Handy to know. “Oy. Move the eyeballs higher, Safety Warlock. You might get a crick in your neck if you keep staring at my ass."

  His blush was cute but it was paired with a knowledgeable gleam. “You have four minutes to get dressed and then I am coming in after you."

  As tempting as that was, she shut the door behind her and slid into the clothes that she had put out the night before. She had a feeling that Xander would be an early riser and she didn't want to be caught unprepared. He still managed to surprise her though.

  Her sports bra was yanked unceremoniously over her head and, with a practiced shimmy and a few good adjustments, she was tucked in nice and tight. Just what she wanted if she was working with a hottie. The pressure cut down on the obvious nipplage.

  A baggy sweatshirt guaranteed her lack of noticeable arousal and her jeans snapped and zipped with the finality of a chastity belt. No nooky today. She was declaring her body a nooky-free zone. But just today.

  At the four-minute mark, Xander opened the door and was treated to the sight of her in the most saggy, shapeless clothing that she owned. Down to the trashy sneakers and slouchy socks.

  "Good lord. What happened to you?"

  "I got dressed.” She fought her smile.

  "It looks like your clothing ate you."

  "I am just trying to keep my mind on the task at hand.” She sashayed out of the room and slapped his tush lightly as she passed. “You may want to try it."

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  Chapter Sixteen

  "I want you to concentrate. Focus on your energy. Look with your inner eye."

  She was currently squinting at him with the one eye she had open. “I can see it. What next, oh Sensei?"

  "Do you know how to trigger a burst of magic? How to fill your body with the charge until it is overflowing?"

  "That sounds like an orgasm."

  "Hush. Be serious."

  "Yep. I am at the ninety percent mark now."

  "Can you discharge the magic in the air around you?"

  "Now you are getting kinky.” She was in the lotus position and had a great view of his thighs as he concentrated on watching her magic ebb and flow in the air around her. He was seated on an elevated dais in front of her, which put his crotch right in her line of sight. Wasn't a bad view.

  "Do you think you can be serious for just a moment?"

  "Okay, but make it fast."

  "I want you to release your energy into the room in a violent burst."

  She took a deep breath and another to inhale his scent. One hundred percent charge and here she blows.

  The next thing she knew she was on her back and Xander was slapping her in the face lightly as a pool of his energy swirled inside her where hers was supposed to be.

  "Abby, pull your energy back. I kept it in the room, just pull it back into you. Please, Abby, just do this."

  "Okay.” Relaxing into the nice supportive floor, she found all of her energy and put it back into her body until she was at fly-apart stage again. Xander's energy went back into him. He was a little pasty.

  The jolt of his own energy hitting his body surprised him, but the color immediately returned to him. “Why did you do that?"

  She sat up and propped herself on her hands. “I didn't need it anymore and I thought you may want it back."

  "A be
tter question for you. How did you do that?"

  "No idea. I pushed it out of me, wadded it into a ball and shoved it at you. Your body seemed happy to have it back. Did I die?” She finally put two and two together. He had had to give her something to keep her alive because she had blown hers around the room. Stupid. Like a bad insulation job.

  "Almost. You became drained. For a Nexus, that is pretty close.” He was sitting back, kneeling and fighting the urge to do something...

  She had no idea what. Kiss her? Kill her? Throw her back onto the floor and have his way with her? Nah. He was still in instructor mode.

  "We need to keep you healthy and in control of your powers. I should have started with core training."

  "Pilates?” She sounded hopeful, even to her own ears.

  "No, but you may wish it was.” He stood and began to lecture her on the methods of protecting core energy. The energy that her body needed to keep at all times.

  He ran her through seventeen exercises and finally had to resort to charades to get the point across.

  He held up two fingers in front of her. “This is your core energy. It swirls around you at all times, even when your talent is at rest. Can you identify that power?"

  Sulking, she nodded. She perked up at his next demonstration. He made a tube with the fingers of the other hand and lowered it around the two fingers. That was too suggestive and she burst out laughing.

  "Quiet. I know how this looks. But you have to do this. You need to create a barrier between your core energy and your working energy. If you don't, the first time that you purge excess energy, you will die."

  She sat through his description of the variety of ways that she could change her magic to incorporate a personal permanent barrier. Then it was test time. She had to concentrate, explode, pass out, concentrate, explode, pass out, and finally she didn't pass out in between. “Ta-da! I still have it in me and my energy is spattered in here like a Jackson Pollock painting."

  "Congratulations! Now I know you won't die when we keep training."

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. She was exhausted, hungry and really wanted a cup of coffee.

  "Well, I think you have gone far enough today. Do you have any questions?"

  She grinned from ear to ear. “As a matter of fact I do.” She took a wrinkled piece of paper out of her pocket and read off her question. “Do angels and demons really exist in some form or is that all fiction?"

  "Angels are ethereal beings that rarely directly involve themselves in the daily operations of our world. They are quite pretty, if a little taller than the stories say. The average angel runs close to seven and a half feet tall. Women can't resist them."

  "What about the demons? If angels are real, then the demons have to be, don't they?"

  He handed her a glass of water from a tray on the table near where he had been perched. “Demons are very real and are very active in the mystical circles. They regularly interbreed with other beings, humans or not, and have wicked but not necessarily evil personalities."

  "The angels keep to themselves?"

  "As far as we know. The few children born in the past were ... unpredictable.” He sipped at his own water. “They don't talk about them, but they were described as beautiful and terrible."

  "Ah, the Nephilim of the bible."

  "Indeed. Any other questions?"

  "No. I need to pace myself, don't you think?"

  He helped her to her feet and she stretched. His eyes immediately found the tiny sliver of naked skin bared by the hiked sweatshirt. He didn't touch so she lowered her arms and headed for the front door.

  "See you tomorrow, Teach.” The bolt on the door had been drawn so she unlatched it. It snapped back into position and she began to guess that he had it magically booby trapped. A look with her tired inner eye showed her that his energy was in it. She simply moved his aside with some of her own and the lock snapped open. She turned the handle and was out the door in an instant. “Bye!"

  Walking down his well-manicured lawn was relaxing, but what she really needed was a good coffee.

  Montrose's Munchies called.

  She had to answer.

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  Chapter Seventeen

  Day two of training started better. Abby got out of bed on her own when her alarm rang, showered and was waiting with a thermos of hot tea in her hand when Xander knocked at the door.

  "Greetings oh great and wonderful, Safety Warlock.” He seemed taken aback by her mood. “If you are wondering about my chipper attitude, I have been up for two hours and have had breakfast, a shower and watched morning television.

  "Excellent. Shall we then?” Xander took the thermos from her and escorted her gallantly to his home. “I will have to admit to a certain amount of disappointment to not seeing you in your towel again. You have a great ass by the way."

  A wash of heat worked its way through her face. “That was very frank."

  "I am attracted to you, but I am going to try and keep it in my pants until we get you trained."

  "Why wait?"

  "Because I have no idea what that much energy will do to me if you come while I am inside you. I would rather you didn't blow my balls off. Well, not with magic anyway."

  She laughed all the way to the training room. Today she admired the thought that went into the arrangement of the room. The walls were bare and, using her new senses, she could find the barriers that ran under the drywall and kept energy contained. It was designed for someone like her to blast the hell out of. Well, she would try. “Okay. I am fully charged, coach. What are we doing today?” She sat in her spot and took up the lotus position again. This time with her tea near at hand.

  "Today, I want you to learn to hold your power in your hand."

  She would rather hold his ... “What? It's all over me, all the time."

  "I know. But I want you to focus it on one point in your hand and force the power to make a physical appearance.” He took up his own position and showed her what he meant. He held out his hand and looked down at his palm.

  Abby couldn't help but notice that his nails were neatly trimmed and his hands were large. Oh goody. She jumped in surprise when a ball of power flared in his palm. She stared as she could see it whether she looked with her inner eye or not. It threw light into the semi-dark room and the colors of his magic took her breath away.

  "All right, Abby. It's your turn.” He closed his hand and the lightshow winked out.

  "Good. Fine.” Her chest expanded as she took a deep breath and she couldn't help but notice that Xander's gaze followed her breasts. As an experiment, she inhaled deeply once again, only to watch a dark flush cross his cheekbones. Aha.

  Play time was over, it was time for training. She wrapped up her core as he had taught her yesterday and viewed the energy coating her. It was quite pretty, flowing with the oil-on-water iridescence that she loved. Abby could not just blow apart the magic as she had done the day before. This necessitated peeling the magic off and wadding it into a ball. Tricky.

  One hand would not contain her full charge. She extended both hands and focussed on them. Mentally, she skinned the magic off her body and into her hands. It formed a shapeless mass the size of a half-filled hefty bag. Time to make a ball.

  This was the truly tricky part. She wrapped strands of energy around the mass and wound it up like a ball of yarn. Her hands remained steady, but her mind was spinning. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Abby was looking at a bright and shiny mass of power the size of a basketball. Glowing with pride, and not a little sweat, she looked over at Xander. “Look what I made!"

  His mouth opened and closed in shock. “Holy shit.” He stood and moved to watch her holding the giant wad of power. “Is that an exceptionally large bundle of energy for you?"

  "No. It feels about average.” She suddenly had a bad thought. “You aren't upset because mine is bigger than yours, are you?"

  He looked at her and gave a sharp bark of laughter.
“I will beg to differ on that point, but you do hold more energy than I do. Can you re-absorb it now?"

  "I would rather have somewhere to put it, but since I have filled all the pearls that you have, I think I will have to try and wear it until I can get to the rock.” Lifting the ball, she put it on her head and let the strands fall around her body. It fell back into place easily. “Okay. So I have balls. What is next?"

  He grabbed her hands and lifted her to her feet. “Nothing more today. You have been at that for hours."

  So the time she felt passing had been real. Neat. She had been so focussed on getting it right that time had ceased to be important. “All righty. Can I ask you another question?"

  "Shoot."

  "Elves. Legolas or those little guys who made shoes? Are they a dignified race or tiny pervs who work for clothing?"

  Another bark of laughter. “Somewhere in between. They are a race that varies in height and attractiveness. The elves are a little snotty, but basically good hearted."

  "Are they represented in the inhabitants of Oak Point Way?"

  "Not directly, no. As a species, they decided that this was an event that did not benefit them in any direct manner."

  "You said not directly. Does someone here have elven roots?"

  "Yeah. I do. Three generations back."

  "So you are a big fairy at heart?” It was too much. Giggles overwhelmed her and she slumped in the hallway on her way to the door. The giggles turned into whoops of laughter as Xander watched her get her amusement out with his arms crossed over his chest. “That explains the antiques."

  "If you weren't covered with enough energy to blow this place sky high, I would turn you over my knee."

  "As if I would let you."

  "I outweigh you by about fifty pounds, Abby."

  "I kick and I bite."

  His grin broke through. “We will have to try that one day."

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  Chapter Eighteen

  Coffee with Seesee was a comforting ritual, it went so well with the exertions of the morning. Each day she debriefed Seesee as to her activities and the gorgon gave her cheesecake and coffee. It was a fair trade.