Betrayal 2012 by Amber Garr Page A

punishment would go away.  It didn’t work.
    Graham chuckled.  “You what?”
    “I stole his water sprite.  From the fountain.  Jeremiah trapped him here and I felt bad so I stole him and then set him free.”  The look on Graham’s face was priceless.  It was a mixture of shock and pride.
    “Nice going.”  He sat back in the seat and looked at me with an intensity that sped up my heartbeat.  “I never would have pegged you for the kleptomaniac type.  I’m impressed.”
    A small smile spread over my lips before I could stop it.  Why was it so important that Graham liked me?  I needed to stop acting like a stupid school girl right now.  “Thanks, but I’m sure Jeremiah’s going to have something to say about it.”
    “I’m sure he will,” Graham replied before opening the car door.  I hesitated another moment then climbed outside.  The three men were almost on the front porch before turning around to see where I was.  Without saying anything, I hurried to their sides and waited to face my wrath. 
    To my pleasant surprise, one of the human staff members opened the doors and ushered us inside.  She immediately directed us upstairs to our guest rooms and told us that we were to meet Mr. Williams for dinner promptly at six.  He was apparently out and about, so that gave me a few hours of reprieve.  It was nice for a while, but after thirty minutes I was bored out of my mind.
    Graham and the protectors had disappeared somewhere behind the numerous bedroom doors in the upstairs living quarters.  The house was a mansion and I had already counted at least ten bedrooms on this floor alone.  Jeremiah had once been a famous Hollywood actor and probably still lived comfortably off of the royalties and endorsements he’d managed to negotiate before being shunned.
    My shoes clicked on the wood stairs and the sound echoed through the open foyer area.  I could sense the water coming from the indoor pool Jeremiah had built in the back of the house, but I certainly didn’t want to go there.  Too many bad memories.  There was no one around, so for lack of any other ideas, I went out the front door and walked over to the large fountain.
    There were three small concrete ponds interconnected to a larger, higher one in the center.  The water constantly trickled out over the fourth pond and sprinkled down against an array of lily pads and faux boulders like a magical landscape.  I sat on the edge of the closest pond and ran my hand through the water, letting the microscopic droplets seep through my fingers like sand. 
    I suddenly missed Abhainn, which made me miss my friends, which made me not want to be here at all.  Not knowing what was in store for me was not a feeling that I was accustomed to anymore.  I liked having a plan and I liked being the one in control of that plan.
    Deciding that my thoughts were too depressing, I changed my focus.  I remembered our practice session with Abhainn and decided to try again since I didn’t have anything else to do right now.  Looking out over the property in front of the house, I made sure that no one was around.  This was something that I really didn’t want to anyone else to see.
    Shifting so that I was completely facing the water, I closed my eyes and tried to conjure up a few water balls.  Abhainn had done that part for me last time but I was hoping that I was strong enough to do it on my own now. 
    In my head I envisioned three glistening globes of water rise from the pond and hover over my hands.  Although when I opened my eyes I was only partially satisfied.  There was one ball of water and it had barely breached the surface.  At least it was a start.
    For the next twenty minutes or so I tried to move that water with my own commands.  I managed to get it to circle around my hand a few times before plummeting back into the pond, and forcing me to start all over again.  By the fifth or sixth try, I had two balls of water and they were hovering at