Return to Eden by G.P. Ching Page B

front. Will you come with us?"
    Sam and Bonnie nodded their heads but their mother didn’t seem as enthusiastic. Rubbing her mouth, Grace shook her head. "The girls have school, and I have the restaurant. It’s just us running the place. We’d have to close the whole thing down. This is our livelihood."
    "I understand it’s a difficult decision, but we’re starting a school for Soulkeepers in Eden. The girls could continue their education there." Malini folded her hands. "To be honest, I’m not sure about your restaurant. I can’t promise you any money or extra help if you need to close it down. But I can promise that you and the girls will be safer with us."
    The corners of Grace’s thin lips pulled ever downward. She thrust her hands into the pockets of her apron. "I need to think about this."
    Bonnie rushed to her side and whispered something in her ear.
    Grace nodded. "How about I make the two burgers you ordered? I always think better when I’m cooking."
    "That sounds like an amazing plan," Jacob said enthusiastically.
    "I agree." Malini slid out of the booth as Grace returned to the kitchen with Bonnie. "Jacob, I’m going to make use of the facilities. Be right back."
    "Okay. I think I can handle things out here." He chuckled and glanced over the empty tables.
    "So, you’re a Horseman, like us?" Samantha asked, sliding into Malini’s seat.
    "Yeah."
    "What’s your gift?"
    Jacob steadied the empty water glass on the table and reached out with his power. He sensed the faucet in the kitchen, the pipes that led to the bathroom, a pot of water boiling on the stove, and a pitcher behind the counter. He chose the pitcher.
    The water arced into the air, circled over their heads and filled the glass in his hand. Every drop of the remainder returned to the pitcher.
    "Cool," Samantha said. "Can you do it with any liquid?"
    "No. Just water. If it were, say, lemonade, I could move the water out of the lemon and the sugar. But I can’t move that other stuff and the more mixed into the water it is, the harder it is for me to use it. Take a person, for example. Malini and I thought maybe I could control people’s movements since the human body is mostly water, but it didn’t work. I tried it on Malini’s arm and she said it felt like needles were piercing her flesh, but she could still move her arm away. Plus, the skill would be useless on Watchers anyway, since they’re made out of, um, evil, I guess."
    "You don’t know for sure what Watchers are made of?"
    The front door opened and an attractive couple walked in.
    "Go ahead and seat yourself, I’ll be right there," Samantha called toward the door. She lowered her voice. "It’s early for the dinner rush to start, and when I say rush, I mean the six people who come here on any given week night." Samantha stood and pulled her pad from her apron. She strolled toward the couple’s table.
    Jacob wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the couple. They looked like they belonged in Hollywood. The woman had flawless skin, sleek black hair, and wore a tailored black dress. The man was equally handsome, muscular but sophisticated. Jacob couldn’t fathom what a couple like that was doing in rural Nebraska.
    Samantha asked if she could get them something to drink. As before, her eyes were focused on her pad of paper, which is why she didn’t see the man reach inside his jacket and wrap his fingers around the hilt of an obsidian blade.
    "SAMANTHA, MOVE!" Jacob launched himself from his seat, pulling the water from the pitcher and dropping a sheet of ice in front of Samantha. Watchers! The man’s blade bounced off the ice shield and barely missed Samantha's hip.
    Samantha screamed and bolted backward, scrambling for the kitchen. The woman leaped out of the booth after her, talons ripping through the tips of her perfectly manicured fingers.
    Jacob reached the booth. An ice blade formed in his hand and he thrust it at the male. The Watcher dodged left, but not