“Yes. Even if it means the end of the world.” He quoted me with that crooked grin I was falling in love with. “I’ll see you soon, Amor Aeternus.”
My heart danced at his adoration. My legs refused to move, but I forced myself to turn around and head inside. I heard the rumble of his bike disappearing into the night and knew he was gone.
I missed him already.
CHAPTER SIX
“Your brother is a complete control freak,” Pey said, looping her arm through mine as we entered our Great Book class.
“You’re preaching to the wrong crowd, sista,” I said, giggling.
“Spill.” She pinched her nose and crinkled her brows, trying to look pissed. Only, her curiosity was hard to hide, ruining the I’m-pissed-at-you look.
“Nothing happened,” I insisted.
“Ha! You’re a terrible liar and that was a something-happened tone. Now spill.”
“Fine. Axel and I talked… yesterday,” I whispered.
We rounded the corner and entered the classroom just as the bell rang.
“I wasn’t born yesterday, dork. Your stupid grin says otherwise.”
“Settle down, children,” Ms. Crowne said in her monotonic voice.
We hurried to take a seat before Ms. Crowne started handing out detention slips like Halloween candy. She was our school legend—probably in her eighties, still trying to influence the future.
“Later. K?” I said to Pey, turning my attention to the front of the class.
My phone buzzed.
Pey: Is he a good kisser?
Me: I wouldn’t know.
“Ladies, I have a strict no cell phone policy,” Ms. Crowne said. “On second thought, keep using them. I’m running low on supplies.”
How did that woman do that? She must have been a super spy in her previous life. That was the only explanation for her uncanny way of knowing when we used our cell phones in her class.
“You planning on selling those on eBay, Ms. C?” Hunter asked, snickering.
“Craigslist, Mr. Tucker,” she said, leaving half the class’s mouths hanging wide.
With a triumphant smile, she turned her back to us as the chalk protested against the board.
“Now, your first book,” she said, passing a couple books to each row, “is Lord of the Flies. Pick three of your classmates to reenact a scene of your choice from the book. Due next Friday.”
A collective round of groans erupted.
“I could add a five-page paper for your enthusiasm,” she responded.
I walked into co-ed PE and found Axel sitting at the top of bleachers, laughing with the elite group of RHHS do-gooders. A pang of jealousy consumed me. He fit perfectly amongst them. With an immense amount of effort, I forced myself to take the first available spot farthest from him. Jealousy coupled with my nerves, idiocy, and everything in between that I experienced when he was in close range was a formula for disaster. When I looked over my shoulder, he gave me a confused smile.
I slowly brought my hand up, waved a hello, and looked away. This is getting ridiculous. I was avoiding him now? Maybe he wanted to be left alone. My skin prickled before someone sat in the empty seat next to me. I didn’t need to look to see who it was.
“So… I did something to offend you.” It wasn’t a question.
I was taken back. “No… No…”
“Then I must smell awful,” he said, taking a whiff of himself.
I bit my lip to stop my smile.
“Aha, we have a smile,” he teased. “A smile that beautiful should never be hidden.”
I turned to the crowd he was with seconds ago and found some of the girls shooting daggers my way.
“I think your friends miss you. Especially the girls,” I said, not bothering to hide my jealously.
“I’m exactly where I want to be,” he said, his steel gaze never wavering.
Landon and Pey walked in hand-in-hand. Pey grinned, displaying her perfect teeth.
Damn.
“This is why you ditched us at lunch?” Pey asked with amusement. “What kinda spell did you put on my girl, Axel? Because she never ditches me.”
Axel appeared to bite the inside of his cheek to hold back his chuckle.
“Pey! I… What…? No…” I was clearly at a loss for words. Crap, Axel noticed my hesitation.
“You okay there, Ren?” Landon asked gleefully. “Stammering is the first sign of being smitten.”
I glared at him.
Pey winked at me. “Yeah, you don’t look so good.”
“I’m nauseated from looking at your butt that’s always up in my face,” I replied.
Pey snickered, her eyes twinkling.
Axel’s lips brushed against my ear as he whispered, “Do you have any plans tonight?”
I turned my face in surprise and found our faces inches apart. My eyes darted to his delicious lips. A shiver ran up my spine in anticipation and warmth pooled at the pit of my stomach. “Um, n-no,” I replied.
His voice dipped low. “I was thinking we could talk.”
My breathing hitched and I felt myself leaning toward him, inching closer to his lips. My heart raced with excitement and fear. I tilted my head to the side and my eyes trailed up to his. They were glowing bright blue.
I bit my lip to stop myself from doing something stupid, like mauling him in front of the entire class. “Yeah, I would like that.”
“It’s a date,” he said a bit too loudly, and I jolted back in surprise.
“Newsflash, Axel, Ren doesn’t date,” Pey chimed in.
I could make one exception.
“Maybe she’ll make an exception?” She gave me a sly look.
She knew me too well. Too bad. I was going to miss her when I killed her.
Axel raised his eyebrows and looked at me. Hope filled his eyes when I didn’t object to Pey’s statement. He smiled broadly and warmth flooded through me. I shrugged in response.
A loud whistle erupted through the gym, directing our attention to the front.
“Five laps around the gym. Go. Go. Go. Pick it up, lazy legs,” Coach Gravebeck yelled at someone.
I smiled quickly at Axel and took off in an easy jog next to Pey.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Holy magic!” I gasped, watching Axel choreograph beautiful swirling patterns with the fallen leaves, twigs, and flowers. “This can’t be real!” I rubbed my eyes once more, looking around at my surreal surroundings.
Axel had brought me back to the waterfalls for a demonstration. Because he was a hybrid of his kind, apart from speed, strength, telepathy, and healing ability, he could also control the air element. His eyes never left mine, and his talents immensely mesmerized me.
“Can everyone do this?”
“Not everyone.” Axel repositioned himself so he was facing the waterfalls, and his brows knitted together like he was zeroing in on a target. “Watch this.”
He did a quick wave-type hand gesture—the waterfall ceased.
“No freaking way!” I squealed and clapped my hands, grinning wildly. “This is… wow!”
He smiled at my childlike behavior. “Not quite.”
I looked at him, surprised. There was more? I watched closely as he balled his hands into tight fists and moved them toward my head. He smiled wickedly as he slowly opened his fist. The waterfall tumbled to the bottom in a roar and little beads of water speckled over me.
I gasped as the first cold drop touched my skin. “It’s raining!” I squealed and noticed my surroundings. “You’re making it rain?” Delighted, I opened my arms, inviting the drizzle right into my embrace. I twirled with my face to the sky, eyes closed. When it stopped, I pouted. “This is surreal. I can’t believe you just made it rain! You’re my new favorite person. Okay, maybe after Pey, but you’re definitely in my top two.”
“What does a guy have to do to become your number one?”
I mumbled, blushing, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
He chuckled with his deep warm v
oice. “I didn’t make it rain.” I looked at him, confused. He twirled his finger around me, referring to my earlier question about ‘making it rain.’ “See… part of my gift is not just controlling the air element, but everything it comes in contact with. I can freeze molecules, move objects using air, and combust them… right above you. Like I did with the water.”
“I can’t believe you’re actually showing me this.” I took a seat at the edge of the riverbed, my feet dangling slightly in the water. “I didn’t think you would.”
“You didn’t really give me a choice.” He looked away, his fingers running through his hair.
“I thought you’d do a little abracadabra and whoosh,” I said, moving my hand above my head, implying memory loss. He looked confused. “You know, use some fairy dust or spell or something to erase my memory.”
His face went slack and his mouth parted slightly at my conviction and then it snapped shut. He thrust his fingers though his hair again.
My eyes went wide. “Wait, you could’ve and you didn’t?”
“Yes.” His voice came out raspy and barely audible.
I realized I wasn’t going to get much more so I went on to my next question. “What was that knife you used on the Goarder the other night?”
“It’s called the Tibt dagger.” He pulled an object from his back pocket and placed it on his palm for me to see. He crouched beside me, eyes glittering with excitement. “It’s a mixture of Tungsten, Titanium, Iridium, a more lethal version of Botulin, and magic of the original. The combination kills Telalians, instantly.”
“So, why not create bullets or some other type of fast-paced machines to kill them?”
He chuckled. “We do have advanced firearms that incapacitate them for several seconds, but with an original’s blood in deficit…” He sat down, his feet dangling in the water next to mine. “Besides, there’s nothing more exhilarating than hand-to-hand combat. The adrenaline rush is indescribable.”
I nodded.
His eyes were intoxicated as he talked about the thrill of the action. He barely contained the grin on his face. He tossed the dagger, catching it by the hilt and then the sharp end. I flinched several times as he expertly continued to handle the Tibt.
“When he thinks he’s got the upper hand, then bam, you knock him out, taking him by surprise.” His tone turned stern and deep. “It’s the satisfaction that you and you alone rid that evil from this earth. Not something else, but strength from within.”
In that moment, his eyes grew wild, brows furrowed, and a grimace dominated his normally serene features.
Instead of fearing him, I empathized with him. He was a boy that had to grow up too fast—too soon. He must have lost something dear to him to become so strong and trenchant.
“What happened, Axel?” He looked at me, unyielding. I watched him carefully, waiting for him to open up, to tell me his story. “I… You seem like a person that is… I don’t know. You talk like you have nothing to lose. That you want to fight these monsters and…”
“You know what my greatest fear is, Ren?” he asked in a stern voice.
I shook my head, unprepared to hear what he said next. I drew my legs up to my chest, my arms encircling them in a tight grip, and placed my head on top of my knees, waiting.
“That I would die a coward. That when death and I see eye-to-eye, I would run the other direction.”
He sighed heavily before squaring his shoulders and facing me, discontented.
“Ren, I want to die with pride in my eyes, a smile on my face, and if I can help it, taking one last Telalian with me into death’s open arms. I want to die knowing I’ve saved another soul. Until my last breath, I want to keep fighting, if possible, even in death.”
“Why?” My eyes stung. For his courage to keep fighting. For his need to be valiant.
His voice came out quiet and trembled with painful emotion when he spoke. “Because I watched as they slit my mother’s throat. She used her last breath to protect me, and I didn’t do anything.”
A shocked gasp escaped my lips. How could I respond to something like that? Sorry wasn’t enough. What could I say to a boy that grew up so fast because he watched his mother die? No, he saw his mother murdered. And he blamed himself.
“How old were you?”
“Nine.”
I wanted to scream. He was nine years old? Nine years? My heart broke for him. I didn’t know what made me say my next words as I wiped the single tear I shed for Axel.
“Both of my parents were killed last year.”
It was hard to talk about this. I never talked about it. Not to Joshua. Not to Pey. I didn’t know if I could tell him my story. But telling him about it might help him.
“My brother and I came home after a night out.” Words just rushed out of my mouth, without thought. My hand automatically went to the amulet my mom gave me when I was born. “My parents were acting weird over the summer, you know? Like they were preparing themselves for something. They finalized their will, got their finances in order, and my dad gave me his BMW Z1 that he bought with his first paycheck, which he never let anyone touch. I thought my parents were finally coming around to planning. They always lived for the element of surprise.” My eyes went to my chipped nails, my heart heavy in my chest. “But that night, when the knock came and I saw the sheriff, I knew something was wrong.” I paused, swallowing back the pain. “Joshua and I had to identify our dead parents’ mauled bodies. They were covered in cuts, bruises, and burn marks. The sheriff’s department thought it was gang-related activity.”
Tears welled up in my eyes, spilling down my cheeks. When I looked at Axel’s face, it showed pure torture. He ran his hand through his hair and avoided my eyes. He reached for me then but thought otherwise, drawing his hand back into a fist. I took a deep breath and wiped the tears before continuing.
“It took me over a year to recover from the shock of losing them.” I looked down at my hands and feet. “It’s been a year and three months since I’ve looked at anything that belonged to them or even been in their room. I forbade entry to my brother or anyone else that tried. I didn’t want the closure. It’s a stupid sentiment I guess. Cleaning their room meant I accepted their death. I-I… I don’t think I can handle that.”
I turned away from Axel, wiping my tears. I felt ashamed for being so weak. He was so strong and he mourned his loss by avenging his mother’s death. I, on the other hand, sulked in misery.
“Ren.” His voice was calm, inviting, and warm. I couldn’t look at him. It took every ounce of my strength not to run into his arms. He turned, placing his hands on either side of my face, tilting my head up to look at him. A jolt of energy flooded through me, awaking me, but I closed my eyes, refusing to look him straight in the eye.
“Please look at me.”
His pleading voice tore me inside and I gave in. I looked at his glowing turquoise eyes that showed so much concern and care. How was it he was so strong? He’d lost so much, yet here he was, consoling me.
“Ren, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You hear me? Everyone mourns differently. My way was to avenge her death. I was senseless. I was lost to rage. I was lost, Ren.” He let out a deep sigh, tingling my senses. “You, Ren… You’re strong.” He wiped tears off my cheeks with his thumb. “I can’t imagine losing both my parents. It would’ve probably sent me off the deep end.” He chuckled weakly. “And I was brought up around death. You didn’t and yet, look at you. You’re still in one piece and healthy and smiling.”
I gave a weak laugh. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew me last year.” I sniffled.
“You’re stronger than you know, Meus Aeternus. You’re strong and you have a heart of gold.”
His eyes bored into mine, intense and ablaze, searching for something. It was breathtakingly scary and beautiful. And I loved it. I was lost in a world where only Axel and I existed.
“Axel, I’m fi—”
Just then my phone buzzed and he dropped his hands from my face.
Pey: Call me when you get this xoxo.
“It’s getting late. We should probably head home.” Axel got to his feet first and held out his hand. Unlike the first time, I happily accepted his help.
“Thank you. Really, I never talked to anyone about…” I emphasized.
“Your secret is safe with me.” He smiled, understanding. “So, it seems we jumped the gun here.”
“Um…” I was confused.
“We seem to know each other’s deepest, darkest secret, but not really anything else. I want to know more about you.” He turned to me, once again looking at me with intensity that excited me to the core. “I want to know you, Ren.” His voice lowered as he said my name.
He wanted to know me. This gorgeous, absolutely perfect man wanted to know me.
“I would like that,” I said, smiling. “Axel.” I paused. “Your mom’s death isn’t your fault.”
“It was my responsibility and I froze. I failed.” His voice choked with regret, agony.
I placed my hand over his.
“Forgiveness brings freedom. Freedom from being controlled by the past. Freedom from the emotional ties. And freedom from the continuous battle with hate and bitterness. If you can let go, I promise you will be whole again and enjoy life the way I know your mom would want. You’ve already given back more than enough for something that wasn’t your fault.” I sighed. I moved my hands to cup his face between mine and he leaned into my touch, closing his eyes. “And you have to start with forgiving yourself first. You’ve tormented yourself far too long, Alexander.”
He trembled in my hands. He looked more vulnerable than I’d seen him.
“You need to let go. You need… no, you deserve life where love exists. Not hate, not vengeance. You deserve more and I want to be there to help you. Open your heart, Alexander, and feel what life has to offer.”
He opened his eyes and looked into mine in a way that left me breathless. His Adam’s apple moved like he wanted to say something that would break him further.
Dracian Legacy Page 5
