The Caelian Cycle Boxed Set

by Donnielle Tyner

“Sadie, calm down!” Kian spoke soft and dove-like, reaching out to me as if I were a wild animal.

  My gaze narrowed at Kian. “You will not take me to him,” I growled, before I spun around and took off. Where were Rebecca and Madison? We had to get out of here and back to the orphanage before Kian could contact the Koenig family and they tried to take me.

  A hand reached out and grabbed my arm. The vibrations exploded in my arm and they spread throughout my body. Noise from the vibrations filled my head and I closed my eyes. My mind focused on the hand, as some primal force inside me activated and began pulling at the vibrations. My body filled with the pulses and they warmed me as if I were enjoying a spring afternoon. I relished the way I could feel the light around me, against me, through me.

  A scream broke through and I realized Rebecca had fallen to the floor and was looking at me with awe and fear. My mind felt muddled. Then I remembered the hand and looked down, my movements unsteady. Jesse’s hand was secured between my arm and my hand. My knuckles and the skin surrounding where his hand lay were white from the immense pressure. When did I move my hand? His tanned skin was blanched, making his brilliant scarlet red hair stand out. I watched in horror as the vermilion faded to a soft coral.

  I let go of his hand and he fell to the floor. His eyes closed and he didn’t move except for the gentle movement of his chest rising and falling. My body began to convulse with uncontrollable recklessness and I looked up at Madison, who had her arm around Rebecca. The air around her shimmered with heat as she watched people, both Caelian and norm, running away. A few brave souls stopped to take pictures before exiting.

  My knees gave out and I hit the floor hard. Madison and Rebecca were at my side in an instant.

  “What?” I whispered.

  “I don’t know, Sadie, but it looked like you were killing him,” Rebecca answered between sobs.

  “I didn’t. I wasn’t.” My brain couldn’t focus on a thought. “Kian said I’m Director Koenig’s granddaughter and that his family was looking for me. I was scared he would take me to them so I ran.”

  “Director Koenig has a granddaughter?” Madison asked. Something caught her attention and she jumped in front of me, hands out as she prepared to call upon her Talent. “Get away from her. You won’t take her to the Koenigs.”

  “Let me check on the boy,” Kian’s soothing voice replied, giving the three of us a wide berth. I watched Kian check Jesse’s vitals as my vision blurred. “He’s alive. Barely.” Kian looked at Madison. “What happened?”

  “The hell if I know. We were looking for Sadie when Jesse found her and just touched her arm. Next thing we knew, Sadie was grabbing hold of him, the air shimmering around her, and her hair turned red as his faded.”

  “You have to get out of here. Get back to the orphanage,” Kian demanded.

  “So you can call the Koenigs and tell them where she’s at? HELL NO!” Madison screamed. Flames began to lick up and down her arms as her temper flared.

  “The Koenigs are the last people I want to know about her,” Kian replied with urgency. “Get her out of here. She doesn’t look like she’ll last much longer.”

  My head lolled as I tried to pay attention. Stars danced around my head. I struggled to stay awake. My body moved as if it were floating on a cloud. My brain struggled to process what was happening. Each beat of my heart grew further apart and it hurt to breathe.

  “Oh my God, Madison! Sadie stopped breathing.” Rebecca was hysterical. “We have to stop and give her CPR.”

  “We can’t until we get to the car. The peacekeepers have arrived and they’ll take her. They’ll stick her in a lab and study her like the first Caelians. We can’t let that happen.”

  “She’s dying,” Rebecca whispered.

  I wanted to reassure her that I was fine, but I knew I wasn’t. My brain struggled to register the rapid movements of my body whipping through the air and when I was thrown into the back of the car, no pain was felt. Through pinhole sight I saw Madison yelling at someone to go. My eyes closed and everything went dark.

  Chapter 9

  I awoke in a fit, unsure of where I was. In a hurry to run I kicked off the covers, but as I stood the room spun and my knees buckled beneath me. My body slammed back into the cot I was lying in when I awoke. Once the spinning stopped, I realized where I was. In the infirmary at Saint Vincent’s.

  I closed my eyes trying to recollect how I ended up back in the nurse’s office. Then everything flooded back to me. The mall. Kian. The vibrating power flowing through me. Jesse. Even with my eyes closed, I felt the prickling of tears welling up. God, I hope I didn’t kill the boy.

  Nurse Benet’s lavender eyes full of concern were the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes, her hands firmly clasped to her notebook instead of reaching out to me as she usually did.

  “Are you alright, Sadie?” She asked warily.

  “Yeah. I stood up too fast.”

  Nurse Benet kept her gaze locked with mine as she stretched out her hand for the monitor displaying my vitals with the scrupulous attention to my movements. Her eyes betrayed her fear. My stomach bottomed out as I looked around trying to find what had caused the easygoing nurse to have such fear behind her eyes.

  Then it dawned on me. She was scared of me. Of what I did.

  “Nurse Benet, please don’t look at me that way. It was an accident. I don’t know what happened.”

  Her expression softened a bit. “I know, but I can’t be too careful until we figure out what is going on.”

  A throat clearing from the corner tore my gaze from the nurse. Mrs. LaMotte stood in the corner. Hands clamped in front of her confident posture. Her shrewd gaze dancing from me to Nurse Benet. “Mrs. Benet, I think it would be wise if you stepped out a moment and saw to your other patient while I have a chat with Sadie.”

  Nurse Benet nodded and scampered away without a second look in my direction. A part of me was crushed at her rejection. She had looked after me each time an illness had befallen me as a child. My heart broke at the thought of her no longer being a constant in my life.

  “Sadie, do you know what is happening?” Mrs. LaMotte closed the door behind her as she made her way toward me. There was no fear in her eyes. She studied me, her eyes narrowing for a moment before a wave of emotion crossed her face. Confusion clouded mine and the emotion on hers snapped back to her usual shrewd indifference.

  Well that was weird.

  “I accidently hurt someone at the mall and passed out. Now I’m here.” I paused. I didn’t want to ask, but knew I had to. “That boy, Jesse. Is he alright?”

  “He’ll recover in time.”

  A breath I didn’t know I held whooshed out of me as a weight lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t kill him.

  “So will you.”

  My head whipped back toward Mrs. LaMotte. “What do you mean, so will I?”

  “Yes, well it seems your body is extremely fatigued. Nothing a little R&R and three good meals shouldn’t fix. A typical response for a first major display of Talent of this magnitude.” Her gaze bore in to mine.

  “First display of Talent?” My head shook as I tried to grasp what Mrs. LaMotte was telling me. “Display of Talent,” I muttered again.

  “Yes, it seems you have an undiscovered Talent. Congratulations.”

  “Congratulations?” My voice rose. “I nearly killed someone!”

  “Yes,” she paused as her expression softened, “but you didn’t.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  She held up her hand, silencing me mid-sentence as she moved to sit in the chair next to my bed. “Do you remember Talent 101 class, regarding when a Talent first appears?”

  My voice spilled the words from our textbook before my brain could consciously gather them, “When a Talent first appears, it can present itself in an insignificant manner or may explode in a dangerous burst. In the case of a burst, the Caelian will need significant mental training beforehand in order to reign in their power before their life fo
rce is drained.”

  Mrs. LaMotte nodded in approval and cleared her throat before continuing, “You are lucky you had such training, but I think this burst was going to happen no matter what. Jesse was just the catalyst. Do you understand what your Talent is, Sadie?”

  “No,” I whispered, fearful of her answer.

  “After reviewing the security footage and examining Jesse, we have come to the conclusion that your Talent is Talent draining.”

  “Draining? As in removing it? That isn’t possible! A Caelian’s Talent is directly linked to their essence. Removing a Talent will…”

  “Kill them. Yes,” Mrs. LaMotte interrupted. “Jesse’s Talent was drained enough to cause the same symptoms as one who stretches their Talents beyond their limits. If you had held on to him any longer, he would have expired.”

  “Oh God. I’m a monster.” I buried my face into my hands as the tears began prickling in my eyes. My shame of who I was and what I had done weighed down on me and my lungs tightened.

  “No!” Mrs. LaMotte, whose voice was typically devoid of emotion, was raw with an emotion I couldn’t comprehend and it drew me away from my sorrow, forcing me to focus my attention on her. “You are not a monster. Monsters are products of their choices and actions. You did not choose to hurt Jesse. It was a product of your Talent manifesting. Your Talent is new and a little frightening because we don’t understand it, but we will.”

  Her keen gaze was assessing, looking for something in my own eyes. I sat there dumbfounded, not questioning her scrutiny. After a few minutes, her face softened. Whatever she was looking for, she must have found.

  “Starting tomorrow, you will report to me for specialized training after your morning classes until I deem you safe to continue with the other students. Under no circumstances will you use your Talent outside of the classroom.” She paused and rubbed her hand across her face in thought. “Unless your life is threatened.”

  “Yes ma’am,” I replied in shock. As far back as I could remember, Mrs. LaMotte had never tutored a student in private before. She stood up to leave and a thought that had been worrying in the back of my mind burst out of me. “Mrs. LaMotte, do the families know?”

  “The Moreau family council knows because they pay for this school and are the ones who took care of the aftermath of your Talent discovery. Sadie, I don’t have to tell you that your Talent should be kept secret. We have spoken to your friends and to Jesse and have impressed upon them to keep silent.”

  I nodded and released a heavy breath in relief, satisfied the other families didn’t know what I could do. Although I hadn’t chosen a family to side with, and until recent events wasn’t planning on joining any family, a part of me was pleased that the Moreau family council was taking care of everything. Out of all of them, I trusted them the most.

  “Whatever caution we take, eventually word will get out. We cannot guarantee everyone at the mall was ignorant of what took place and there are a few students here who are choosing the Koenig family. Be on guard at all times.”

  “Thank you Mrs. LaMotte,” I whispered. Mrs. LaMotte’s gaze narrowed on my chest. Subconsciously, I had pulled the chain out of my shirt and was fidgeting with the pendant. Her lips curved into a gentle smile.

  “I’ll send your friends back in a moment. Rest up and prepare for tackling your Talent.” Mrs. LaMotte rose from her chair and walked out without turning back.

  The relief I had felt moments ago vanished with her statement. So there was a chance that someone from the mall knew what was happening and would tell the other families. The news about students at Saint Vincent’s wanting to join the Koenig family was new and unsettling. I wiggled in the bed nervously.

  I wondered who would choose to join the Koenigs. They were a despicable group of Caelians who believed they were above the norms and wanted to rule the world. If the Moreau family council knew about me, then the student body would know soon enough. There is no way I could hide my Talent from everyone, and if one of the students who wanted to join the Koenig family found out… I shuddered.

  Deciding to worry about the Koenig family when there was something concrete to worry about, I moved on to my Talent. My body vibrated as I thought about how my Talent worked. The vibrations must be the power behind my Talent. As I thought about the vibrations, they hummed and moved throughout my body as if it was flowing through my veins. The vibrations grew stronger and I felt a pulse explode from my body.

  A yelp escaped from my mouth as I jumped from my comfortable bolstered position into a stiff, seated position. I searched the room, terrified that my Talent’s pulse would have destroyed the infirmary. The room was just as it had been and there were no sounds of destruction outside of my room.

  Leaning back against my pillow in relief, I felt the pulse return and meld with my body. Images and sensations flooded my head. I felt Talents outside of my room. My entire body shivered as I my mind reached out and touched the soothing lavender swirl just outside my door. I knew it was Nurse Benet, her healing energy flowing the same as the gentle swirl in my head.

  Further out there were three swirls in another room. Orange flames flickered next to a pink nest of thorns. My consciousness touched them and I felt the energies of Madison and Rebecca. They were standing over a pulsating, faded green energy. With each pulse the center of the energy grew brighter and I longed to touch it.

  As my Talent brushed against the edge of the green energy, my Talent surged in recognition. Jesse. The vibrations in my chest grew. I wanted to finish what I had started. I struggled against my body as it tried to move toward Jesse. I pushed my Talent down until it fluttered just below my skin, content to wait for my command.

  I knew from others and my studies that you had to have tight control over your Talent. It was harder than I thought. Why did my Talent want to take Jesse’s life? No, that’s not what I felt. It felt unfinished. Incomplete.

  Confused, I filed the experience away to discuss tomorrow in Talent class. With everything that had happened and the fear of accidently hurting another person, I decided not to explore any more of my Talent without Mrs. LaMotte to guide me. My body was drained from releasing the energy pulse and it didn’t take long to drift off to sleep.

  A gentle knocking woke me up from a deep sleep. Rubbing my eyes, I mumbled, “come in.”

  Wild orange hair came into view as Madison’s face peeked around the door. “Hey! You’re awake!” She exclaimed and then turned around to speak to someone behind her. “Come on. She’s awake!”

  Madison and Rebecca inched their way over to where I lay. Madison looked pensive and studied me. Rebecca’s face was pinched and she wouldn’t meet my eyes. It was obvious my friends didn’t know what to think of my new Talent.

  “Don’t act like you’re scared of me, please,” I begged. “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this if my friends aren’t there for me.”

  “I’m not scared of you. It’s just… I don’t know what exactly is going on,” Madison spoke up. She looked me in the eye, searching the depths and asked, “Will you explain what happened?”

  The shock must have been apparent on my face because both girls looked down and shuffled their feet.

  “I thought Mrs. LaMotte did explain.”

  “No. She said that there was nothing to worry about and you would speak to us later,” Madison replied, crossing her arms as if she was saying ‘get on with it.’

  I stared fixedly at Rebecca, who still wouldn’t look at me. She stood there shuffling her feet and glancing toward the door like she wanted to run from the room.

  “Tell me what you know,” I demanded.

  “Just that you have a new undiscovered Talent and you nearly killed Jesse,” Madison stated. Rebecca sniffled aloud at the mention of Jesse and Madison turned to look at Rebecca. Concern flooded her eyes for a moment before she turned back to me and it was replaced with a cautious neutrality.

  “Okay. I don’t know where to start,” I sighed, and ran my hands through m
y hair causing the ends to brush against my face. Shocked, I grabbed a handful and twisted it around so I could examine it. My usually white hair was tinted bubble gum pink. My heart fluttered with frightening intensity as I forced air into my lungs.

  A midnight blue hand gently landed on my arm and I jerked my head up to look at Rebecca. At last, she was looking right at me. Confusion and fear flashed across her face before she settled on concern. “It’s okay Sadie. Calm down.”

  “Why is my hair pink?” I whispered.

  “When you grabbed Jesse, your hair started changing colors to match Jesse’s,” Rebecca answered as she stared at her hand on my arm. “At first I thought you were a mimic and were changing into Jesse, but then I saw his hair and face drain of their color and…” Her voice cracked as she removed her hand and laid it on her chest.

  “But Jesse’s hair is darker than this.”

  “Your hair is fading. It’s reverting back to its natural color,” Madison spoke up as she pulled Rebecca in for a side hug. “Now tell us what’s going on.”

  I chuckled under my breath at Madison. She was always the one to cut to the chase.

  “First, I want y’all to know I didn’t hurt Jesse on purpose. I was upset and he grabbed me. My mind went blank. The next thing I knew, everyone was upset and I felt like I was floating.” I paused and looked at both girls, waiting on them to acknowledge that I wasn’t a monster. Madison nodded and Rebecca’s face stayed blank.

  “Mrs. LaMotte reviewed the security footage and Jesse’s medical file. She’s come to the conclusion that I do have an undiscovered Talent. She believes my Talent is Talent draining.” Rebecca gasped. I ignored her outburst and continued my story. “In my emotional state and with Jesse grabbing me, it set off a burst. Mrs. LaMotte believes that my previous studies prevented me from killing Jesse. He’s just suffering from Talent fatigue and will recover fine. Tomorrow, I begin private lessons with Mrs. LaMotte to learn to control my Talent and once she believes I’m in control, I will join with the rest of you guys.”