Read Online The Tainted (The Tainted Series Book 1) by Anna Hill - Free Book Online

up from the couch and walked over to the girls. They were quite a bit taller than her, about the same height as Maverick, and Rebecca felt herself leaning back slightly to look up at them as they approached.
    “Well, you already heard my name as I was getting told off,” Aedan said as he shook her hand.
    “And I’m Owen,” the boy with dreadlocks said as he stepped forward to shake her hand as well.
    “Owen, Maverick told me about you. You can manipulate plants.”
    Owen laughed, “I’m guessing he also told you I’m not always so subtle with my gift.”
    “We’re working on that,” Etain cut in, raising an eyebrow at him.
    “You have a gift too?” Rebecca asked, looking over at Aedan.
    Aedan smirked down at her, but didn’t say anything. Suddenly the TV behind her went completely dark, and a loud buzzing sound came from the broken light bulbs above them.
    “ Please tell me you didn’t just break the TV…” Etain said exasperated. “I don’t even want to think about how much that thing costs.”
    “No, just turned the power off. The light bulbs buzzing was a mistake,” Aedan said while gazing up at the ceiling.
    Etain sighed and looked over at Rebecca, “Aeden can manipulate electricity. It’s a very unusual gift. I’ve never heard of anyone else like him, and as such we’ve been struggling a bit to get him under control.”
    “He’s got a bit of a temper at times, but we love him anyway,” Owen laughed as he rubbed his hand playfully hard into Aedan’s perfect hair. Aeden irritably pulled away and instantly went to work fixing the mess.
    “Boys, we’re going to start training in a couple hours. Don’t be late.”
    After a few nonchalant promises to be there, the boys climbed back over the couch and started up the TV again.
    Etain laced her arm back through Rebecca’s and guided her out of the room.
    “They seem nice,” Rebecca said as they headed down toward the far end of the house.
    “Yes, but don’t let them fool you, they’re a handful and a half, those two. Especially when they’re together, and they’re rarely apart.”
    Etain stopped in front of the last door at the end of the hallway. She reached out and opened it, revealing, to Rebecca’s great surprise, a beautifully landscaped back garden. It had myriad winding, gravel paths that weaved through the array of green plant life. Short Chinese maple trees hung their long branches over lush, moss-covered ground, which was dotted with several different spiny, wild-looking grasses. Bushy shrubs, in every shade of green, were trimmed into perfect spheres, while big-leafed ferns jutted out of the earth in completely random patterns. The garden seemed liked a semi-tamed wilderness, almost like a contained crazy.
    “This house sure has a lot of character, nearly as much as the elderly couple who owns it.” Etain said as they began walking along one of the small, cobbled paths that wound through the strange garden.
    “So you don’t own this house?”
    “No way,” Etain laughed. “We can barely afford a hotel room, let alone a house like this.”
    “How did you get it then?” Rebecca paused, looking over at Etain slightly worried. “You didn’t steal it did you? I mean, the elderly couple isn’t…” Her voice trailed off slowly.
    “Heavens no!” Etain exclaimed once she realized what Rebecca was getting at. “We’re not monsters! No, the couple is on a beautiful extended cruise across Europe for the next three months.”
    “Oh, then how did you get such free reign of their house?”
    “All it takes is a little persuasion to nudge people in the right direction,” Etain winked at Rebecca as a mischievous grin lit up her face.
    “You can manipulate human minds, can’t you?” Rebecca said, finally understanding how their group could get such a luxury. “You use your gift to convince people to go on trips so you can stay in their empty house for free. That’s pretty clever.”
    Etain began walking again, “We only