by K. G. Reuss
I dropped my hands from his chest and backed away with my mouth open.
“Ana?” he asked reaching for me. “Ana, no! It’s not what you think!”
I turned and high-tailed it out of there, not knowing what I thought. Calix had said not everyone was what they seemed. Maybe Kellin was one of the people he was talking about. Or maybe I was overreacting.
Regardless, I needed some air. I needed out of there to sort through my thoughts.
I burst through the doors and out to the school lawn. I half ran, half walked to the trees lining the edge of the property and drew in a shaky breath as I wiped the tears from my eyes.
A cold crept up on me and I turned and peered into the trees. Gooseflesh prickled my skin, and I took a step back as I struggled to breathe.
Something was coming.
Chapter 31
I recognized the glowing red eyes as they peered at me through the woods. I backed up quickly, knowing there was no way in hell I could fight it off, having failed the previous night. What were these beings called? Shades?
I heard the rustling on the wind, and I knew there were more tonight than there had been last night. I turned tail and ran as fast as I could across the darkened lawn, tripping over my dress. I fell forward and ate dirt. I climbed to my feet and attempted to run away but I was still off balance. I screamed as one of the creatures launched itself at me through the air.
I knew the impending pain all too well.
It hit me with the force of a ton of bricks, effectively knocking me onto my back. I tried to block its hits, but it was relentless.
“Help!” I screamed. “Help!”
I could hear the sound of the other creatures as they closed in around us, and if someone didn’t come quick, I’d be taking a dirt nap very soon.
Calix suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, and I had to do a double take as he just popped into existence in front of me. He knocked the monster off of me and they circled each other, Calix’s eyes flashing near black as he contemplated his next move.
I was all too aware of the other approaching creatures, and I tried to warn Calix, but it was too late. They appeared behind him, and I knew we were outnumbered.
“Ana, run,” he hissed at me.
“N-no. I won’t leave you,” I stammered, shaking my head.
“Stupid girl,” the creature laughed darkly. “Your heart blinds your eyes.”
Calix moved so fast, he was just a blur. He plunged his fist into the creature’s chest causing it to explode in a flurry of blackened mist. The other creatures launched themselves at him and he fought them mightily, his body moving quickly as he expertly cut through his enemies.
It was mesmerizing, like watching a beautiful dance.
I was so caught up watching him, I’d missed the creature lurking on the edge of the group. He caught me around my neck, cutting off my air.
I clawed at him as his firm grip tightened around my throat. I wanted to call out to Calix but there was no way he could help me, not with twenty other creatures attacking him.
I tried desperately to suck in air but it was useless. My head became heavy and my eyelids felt like they were being forced shut. I was just about to let go when I was suddenly released.
I fell roughly to the ground as the creature grunted in an O of surprise. I stared up wondering who my savior was.
Kellin stood with his hand wrapped firmly around the creature’s throat, holding it at least a foot off the ground. Wind whipped around him and lightning struck a nearby tree.
If I had to put a face on the God Zeus, I imagined he’d look a lot like Kellin in that moment.
“You will not have her. Tell whoever your master is that the Left Hand awaits him.”
In a moment I will never forget, Kellin took his free hand, and with a look of concentration on his face, opened the most terrifying hole in existence I’d ever seen. Well, the first I’d ever seen, anyway.
I felt it rip as it pulled open, the air heavy on us as it tore through our reality. I stared stunned through the other side and saw a dark place, one I’d visited before in a vision, lying just beyond the gateway.
With incredible speed and precision, Kellin launched the creature through the portal. He turned, glanced at me, and raised his hands in the air. The wind whipped around us, and the creatures Calix still had on him were lifted into the air and spun like they were in a tornado. Kellin directed them to the portal where he threw them in, screaming and clawing at him as he closed the gate.
I stared up in shock at Kellin as Calix fell to his knees beside me, pushing my tangled hair out of my face and inspecting me.
“Ana, are you OK?” Calix asked. “Ana!”
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Kellin as he stared sadly down at me. He was one of us. I’d had my suspicions, but this was unreal. This whole time, he’d been here with me, and I hadn’t known.
“What did you do to her?” Calix demanded, looking up at Kellin.
“Showed her the truth,” he answered softly. He knelt in front of me and took my hands in his.
“Ana, talk to me. Are you OK?”
“I-I,” I stammered, blinking rapidly at him.
Kellin James was one of us.
It kept repeating inside my head. Why wouldn’t he tell me? Why did he lie to me? He was the Left Hand? I’d heard that before.
I racked my brain, trying to pool all my incoherent thoughts together, but it was a jumbled mess inside my head at that moment.
“Ana, sweetheart, you’re bleeding,” Calix said, touching my bruised face gingerly. “Let me help you.”
“I don’t want help,” I breathed out, still staring at Kellin’s worried face. Then I let out a guttural scream, all of my anger and sadness and betrayal erupting from me.
Calix looked up at Kellin quickly, a troubled expression on his face as I continued to scream.
“She’s going to draw attention to us,” Calix said rapidly. “I’m going to Faze her.”
Kellin nodded tightly, a sour look on his face.
Calix pressed his palm to my head, and just like that, the world went black.
Chapter 32
When I awoke, it was to a screaming headache. The room spun around me, the colors swirling, making me nauseous. I whimpered as I clutched my head, the pain worse than the other headache all those weeks ago.
“Ana, you’re awake,” Calix breathed, coming to my side and pushing my hair off my sweaty forehead. “Drink this.”
He pressed a flask to my lips, and I drank without question. The headache receded almost immediately, and I laid my head back on my pillow as the room stopped spinning.
“What is that stuff?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“It’s called Honey Rind,” he answered, immediately offering me more, which I accepted. “It’s pretty good at healing most ailments, Fazing included.”
“Fazing,” I muttered, opening my eyes and looking at him. “Don’t you ever Faze me again.”
“I didn’t want to, Princess, but you were screaming like someone just murdered your dog. We didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
“Where is he? Where is Kellin?” I demanded, my voice aching as I tried to yell.
“Easy, now. Kellin isn’t here. We thought it best if he weren’t here when you woke up,” Calix said, sighing.
“Good thought,” I mumbled. We were both quiet for a moment before I spoke again.
“Did you know about Kellin being from Winterset this whole time?” I asked.
“Not this whole time, no. I always had my suspicions, but it wasn’t until recently that I was able to confirm it. I wanted to tell you but I wasn’t sure how. I mean, he’d been your friend for the last four years of your life. That would have been a blow to you.”
“It wasn’t your place to tell me anyway,” I sighed. “Besides, you sort of did tell me when you said not everyone was what they seemed.”
Calix nodded and looked away. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you had to find out like th
at.”
“It’s not your fault,” I grumbled. “Kellin should have told me a long time ago.”
“He should have,” Calix agreed. “But I’m sure he had his reasons or orders.”
“Orders?” I asked my attention snapping over to him.
Calix tucked his head and fiddled with a string hanging from his black shirt. “You don’t think someone from Winterset would just show up and befriend you for the last four years out of sheer coincidence, do you? He’s here for something. I don’t trust him, Ana. I’d actually prefer it if you stayed away from him. He’s very powerful. He can wield Wind and God knows what else.”
“You said some Fae could wield the elements, though,” I said, frowning.
“Some can, but Ana, what Kellin can do is, for lack of a better word, amazing. He tore a portal right in the middle of the school lawn. I haven’t met many who can do that at will. Portaling is a big deal and hard as hell to do. It takes someone very strong to be able to simply tear the fabric between our worlds.”
“Y-you can’t do that?” I asked.
“I’m a Sentry, Ana. I can do many things. Just because I can do it doesn’t mean it’s a commonplace ability. It’s nearly unheard of nowadays.”
“Do you think he’s in league with Zaros?” I questioned, my heart beating hard in my chest. “The Ascarians?”
“I have no idea who he’s in league with, and I doubt he’s going to tell me. I think we need to focus on getting you trained because, sweetheart, this battle is going to happen whether you’re ready for it or not. You can walk into the fray prepared or not but if you at least have some grasp on what you’re able to do, you might be able to survive it.”
“I’m afraid,” I said, my voice shaking. “I’m so afraid, Calix!”
“I know you are. Fear is what drives us, though. It’s what motivates us to overcome our adversaries. Fear is good, Ana. You should be afraid. I’d question your sanity if you weren’t.”
“Calix, on my eighteenth birthday, what will happen to me?”
“It’s called Transition,” he replied delicately. “It happens to all Fae who possess powers. Those who are stronger have a longer Transition. You’ve already begun yours. It started with the headaches and fever. Then, tell me, Ana, did you notice other things happening more? Visions? Dreams?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I-I’ve seen things.”
“What have you seen?” he prodded. I could tell he was trying to control his eagerness, and I grimaced.
“Just a field of wildflowers. A field of dead bodies. The Master. The Nihilist.”
“Really?” he commented, and I saw his Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he swallowed. “Did you see what they look like? Did you see the Nihilist’s face?”
“No, he’s always hidden in his cloak,” I replied, knotting my hands on my lap.
“Is there anything else? What do you feel when you have these visions?”
“I feel scared. I feel like I will belong to this Nihilist. Like I won’t be complete without him. Like I will love him, but it’ll be more than that. It’s like my soul will sing only for him. My heart will be his, and it can never belong to another. If my heart fails to beat, then so does his.”
Calix stared at me solemnly before reaching for my hands and squeezing them.
“It is said the binding between the Nihilist and the Oracle is quite extraordinary. That together, you become one. I do not doubt you feel the way that you do. It’s action and reaction when the time comes that matters.”
“And I have no choice in binding with him? Will I be forced to love him forever?”
“I don’t have all the answers, Ana. I will say this, though, isn’t it easier to know you are guaranteed love lasting an eternity rather than living a life not knowing if someone will ever love you, let alone forever?”
“It’s not easy, Calix,” I scoffed at him. “I want to choose who I love, who I spend my life with. I don’t want to spend my life stuck with someone who kills innocent people and only lives for the blood of others, to be with someone who only cares for a life of Darkness and is controlled by another! By that line of thinking, I may as well be stuck with Zaros forever since he’s the puppet master anyway.”
Calix sat back and turned away uneasily, a bitter look marring his face.
“That is a bleak outlook,” he said quietly, rubbing his forehead. After a moment of silence, he knelt in front of me and studied me, a troubled look now on his face.
“Will he come for me?” I asked, my lip trembling and my eyes stinging with tears.
“Yes, Ana,” he breathed, running his fingers gently through my hair. “He will come for you. He has been waiting a long time for you. This much I know.”
“I think I’ve seen the Ascarian king,” I said, my voice wavering. “He wants me dead.”
“Of course he does,” Calix replied painfully. “The Ascarians are just as bad as Lor’Lakians. No one has ever seen the Ascarian king. He remains quiet, unseen. Their former king passed away and they were without one as the councils decided the fate of the crown. They appointed their new king only recently, and everything has been in disarray since.”
“He seems familiar to me,” I murmured. “H-he seems just.”
“Just?” Calix snorted. “How is he just if he wants you dead?”
“Perhaps it’s because he wants me dead that he is just,” I countered softly. “He wants to save his world, and I am the key. Would you allow me to live knowing I will be the reason for thousands, if not more, dying?”
“I would breathe my own life into you, Ana. That is how much I want you to live.”
He hung his head sadly, and I could only sit there, his words echoing in my mind.
Chapter 33
Much to my surprise, Calix was willing to start my training immediately after our conversation. I figured he’d want me to lay in bed and rest, but his eyes lit up when I suggested it.
By midafternoon, I found myself in his basement surrounded by punching bags, floor mats, and a wide array of weapons, some of which I’d never seen before and cringed at the thought of using.
“What’s this one?” I asked, delicately fingering a jeweled circular knife.
“That, Princess, is called a chakram, and it is a very dangerous, powerful weapon,” he answered, picking it up. I stared in awe at him as he twirled it in his hands and demonstrated how it worked. I gasped when he threw it and it embedded in the forehead of the dummy across the room.
He walked over, pulled it out of the dummy, and brought it back to me to look at. I turned it over in my hand, my heart racing.
“This particular one can be used in close combat. It can split into two pieces,” he said, stepping behind me and taking my hand, wrapping my fingers around the jeweled handle of one of the weapons. The heat from his body made me shiver, and the gooseflesh traveled along my skin as his warm breath tickled my neck.
He walked me through a few maneuvers, and I tried to concentrate but there was something about him that made it difficult. Maybe it was his warm touch or maybe it was the way he gently guided me. Whatever it was, it left my heart thumping hard in my chest.
When he released my hand, I felt let down, and it must have shown on my face because he thumbed my chin quickly and gave me a small smile.
“I’m curious about your ability to wield the elements,” he said, bringing me to the center of the mats. “Show me what you can do.”
“Uh,” I said, staring at him dumbly. “I can’t really do anything.”
“What?”
“I mean, I can’t control it,” I added.
“What typically sets it off?” he asked, circling me slowly.
“When I’m upset,” I said, my eyes following his slow movements. He was up to something.
“I see,” he said softly. He moved so fast, all I saw was a blur. I gasped when he sprang at me, knocking me to the ground, then leaped from me quickly, waiting for me to get up.
“What the hell?” I shou
ted, climbing to my feet.
“Fight me, Ana,” he commanded. “If you don’t, you’re not going to be very happy with the outcome.”
“Calix—” I started to protest but the words were cut off as he shot a jet of sharp icicles at me, narrowly missing my head. I ducked and looked at him, my eyes wide with shock.
“You son of a bit—” I yelled, but the rest of my sentence was drowned out by a large ball of ice.
I tried to dodge his attacks and found myself winded quickly as he lobbed ball of ice after ball of ice at me. I was breathing hard, my lungs aching. He was not going easy on me.
“I can’t,” I choked out, holding up my hands for him to stop.
“You can,” he shouted, shooting another jet of ice at me. I fell to my knees to avoid it and immediately felt the tingling starting in my fingers. I looked at Calix, frightened, and he stared at me as the flames broke out on my fingers and spread to my hands.
“Help!” I shouted as the flames crawled up my wrists, singeing my clothes and burning my skin. The pain was intense, and I was close to vomiting because of it.
“Focus, Ana!” he shouted.
“I-I can’t!” I screamed in agony as I rocked on my knees. “Calix, please! Help me!”
Calix was on his knees in front of me in an instant, his darks eyes flashing as he reached out and took my flaming hands in his.
“Breathe, Ana,” he commanded gently.
“Please, it hurts,” I cried as the flames were now at my elbows. I could see my blistered skin bubbling beneath the fire, and I choked back a sob.
“Close your eyes,” he said, as the flames surrounded his hands. I stared in wonder at him because he didn’t burn. “Close your eyes and breathe.”
I did as he commanded, the tears running down my cheeks. Suddenly, I was filled with a warmness that was pure bliss. The pain in my body receded, and I was left with a cold feeling on my hands, like they’d been submerged in ice water.
I opened my eyes to find Calix’s hands wound tightly around mine, a thin layer of ice covering them.
“How did you … how are you able to do that and not be hurt? Not be burned?” I asked, astonished as I stared at our frozen, interlocked hands.
