Sacrificed (The Ignited Series)

by Dantone, Desni

  “What are you planning?” Nathan asked.

  The Skotadi started to laugh before choking and coughing. “You no stop it. The gods no stop it. You think you do?”

  Nathan stood quickly and turned away in frustration. His hand shook as it raked through his hair, the muscles in his back visibly taught and stiff with each movement.

  “Stop what?” Alec tried.

  “War going to the gods soon…”

  My brow furrowed as I glanced at Alec. What in the hell was that supposed to mean?

  “He’s been talking nonsense,” Nathan muttered, turning back to us now. “Keeps circling around the gods getting away with something for too long, and that they are going after the gods, and nothing can stop them. Over and over…”

  Alec stepped in front of the Skotadi. “What about turning Kala into Skotadi? Is that a part of your plan?”

  The Skotadi might have tried to grin, but it looked more like a grimace. He was hurting, that much was clear no matter how hard he tried to pretend he wasn’t. “Only the beginning.”

  A cold chill snapped down my spine, and I rubbed my arms to fend off the resulting goose-bumps.

  “Get rid of him,” Nathan muttered to Alec. With a dark look at me, he stormed away.

  Even though Nathan was gone, Alec shook his head in response. “I think I’ll let him suffer.”

  I spun around to the sound of two rapid gunshots behind me. Several yards away, Gabby and Richie stood over the motionless bodies of the other two Skotadi. From their grim faces as they conversed with Nathan, it was apparent they hadn’t fared any better at gathering intel.

  Aside from crazy rants, we’d gotten zilch. Though nothing the Skotadi had said made sense, his words still filled me with dread.

  Only the beginning…

  Nothing can stop them…

  We didn’t have a clue what they were planning. Of course we couldn’t stop them. And we were no closer to finding a way to stop Alec and me from becoming Skotadi.

  The grip of time squeezed tighter.

  Finding a new vehicle was the next day’s mission. Fortunately, with Micah’s access to Kala funds and what was left of the money Alec had withdrawn from his Skotadi-funded bank account, we had more than enough to get something decent. Richie and Nathan came back with an Expedition, a big hefty thing that rivaled the Tahoe.

  Two whole days went by without Nathan so much as glancing in my direction. I wasn’t sure why exactly. Either he was mad about my role in the attack, though I didn’t understand why—it wasn’t like I’d had much control over what happened—or he was just being moody Nathan. Something known to happen from time to time.

  Evening of the third day, he finally acknowledged me when we crossed paths in the hallway outside the bathroom.

  He hesitated before placing a hand on my shoulder. “Hey.”

  I looked up at him and waited. My breath hitched as I remembered how to inhale and exhale. Words weren’t exactly forthcoming.

  “I was wondering…” He shrugged to emphasize the casualness of his invitation. “You want to work out tomorrow?”

  I nodded, and hoped it wasn’t obvious how hard I was trying to mirror his easy-going demeanor. On the inside, I was jumping with excitement. “Sure.”

  “Dawn,” he had said. That was why I was now gladly and willingly up before the sun, lacing my shoes and bracing for the cold mountain air. Nathan was waiting for me on the back porch, but didn’t turn as I walked up beside him, choosing instead to fixate on the sunrise peeking above the mountain tops.

  “Want to warm up with a run first?” he asked.

  We had gone running a few times before, to build stamina, as he had claimed. I hadn’t been a fan of it then, but if it offered me an hour of alone time with him now, I was definitely up for it.

  “Sure thing, Sensei,” I said, referring to him with the old nickname I had loved. He’d hated it. Which was probably why I’d loved it so much.

  His eyes slanted sideways and his lips curled into a subtle grin, but he said nothing. He handed me a knit cap similar to the one on top of his head, and I pulled it down over my ears.

  “Ready?”

  He didn’t wait for me to reply before taking off, forcing me to run after him. He led me across the yard before we ducked into the woods, onto a well-beaten trail that he had apparently known about. It was obvious from the gracefulness with which he maneuvered the bends and dips in the path that this was not his first time running on it. Knowing that he had been out here, probably every morning before everyone, including myself, woke up filled me with a strange longing. I wanted to join him, to be let into every aspect of his life—even if it was running.

  The air was brisk and stung my lungs as my breathing accelerated, but in a good way. The visible puffs of air in front of me induced a sense of accomplishment and renewed determination. I was doing this…and doing it well. Nathan glanced over his shoulder a few times. The brief twinkle in his eye when he saw that I was keeping up with him only pushed me harder and faster.

  Surprisingly, I was loving every moment of the run. The view was extraordinary—the mountains, the trees, the slightly foggy air were all refreshing sights. But the view just feet in front of me was the best one of all. A broad-shouldered, sturdy Nathan, in black track pants, a grey hoodie, and a beanie. Now that view was truly impressive.

  I was again relieved to know that Nathan had an aptitude for nature. After several forks in the trail, I was lost, but I knew he wasn’t. We jogged, winding our way up the mountain for half an hour before he finally stopped, and only then did I realize where we were.

  Well, I didn’t technically know where we were, but the scenery was spectacular, and it was obvious that he had meant for us to emerge from the woods in this exact spot. Perched atop the mountain, on a rocky overlook, the West Virginia wilderness was spread out in front of us, and I could see for miles. Beneath us, a narrow river snaked through the trees. In the distance, an eagle soared, and as I fought to catch my breath, I thought I heard him squawk.

  “Being out here reminds me of our time spent trudging through the Blue Ridge Mountains,” Nathan said wistfully.

  Back when things were simpler. Before I’d learned the truth about who and what I was, when it was only a pack of Skotadi hunting me down. Easier, true. But not hardly enjoyable.

  “You say it like it was a fun time.” I hated that I sounded so out of breath, especially when he’d barely broken a sweat, and leaned forward, placing my hands on my knees as if that would help.

  “It wasn’t that bad,” he said, and there was something in his tone that told me he was implying more. Much more.

  In retrospect, I supposed I agreed with him. In those days, we had been falling for each other, though we hadn’t known it yet. I’d give anything to go back to the days following Nathan through the woods, sleeping in a tent with him, peeing behind a tree. A comfortable silence settled between us as we took in the view, and I wondered if he was thinking the same things, remembering the days we had spent together, and missing them as I was.

  After a moment, he knelt to pick up a stick and used it to carve circles in the dirt. “Hey, Kris,” he started hesitantly. I’d finally managed to start breathing normally again, but my next breath came in a rush when he looked over his shoulder at me. “I want to apologize for the other night. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did toward you.”

  So, he had been mad at me. The puff of air I’d been holding finally slipped past my lips. I didn’t—or couldn’t—say anything. Nathan looked back down at the ground and continued to play with his stick.

  “I appreciated your help,” he continued. “I always appreciate your help. I just…” He dug in the dirt as if the right words were buried there. “I’m frustrated that we keep hitting this wall, we’re not getting anywhere and…I don’t want you to get hurt. It’s hard enough fighting these guys, and I can’t always keep an eye on you, too. When I saw you and that Skotadi fighting, and I couldn’t get to you…”
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  Nathan looked at me then, and I saw that the root of his anger the other night had come from his inability to help me sooner. His eyes were lined with guilt.

  Unnecessary guilt as far as I was concerned. But I knew Nathan, and he took things like that personally. I figured there was only one way I could get him to move on from this with his ego intact.

  And, hey, I would get something out of it, too.

  “Maybe you could teach me more, get me all fit and trained so that I can fend for myself, and you won’t worry about me.”

  “I’ll always worry about you,” he murmured softly. I didn’t miss the undertone in his voice, or the way his eyes dodged mine.

  “But it might help.” I was so bored studying with Micah all the time. I needed some more excitement in my life, and a way to burn off some of the excess steam built up from being around Nathan without really being with Nathan.

  He nodded and stood. “You’re right.”

  I beamed. “Really?” I hadn’t expected him to agree so quickly, not without at least some begging on my part.

  “Really. I’ve spent a lot of time preparing Callie, but not enough time helping you master what I know you can do.” He paused and a mischievous glint lit his eyes. “Consider the skills I have to offer an early birthday present.”

  My mouth dropped open.

  “A few weeks, right?” he asked. “On the twentieth?”

  How did he know?

  As an afterthought, I figured I should probably be asking what he didn’t know about me. He seemed to know so much—more about my past than I knew, my favorite foods, my habits. And now my birthday? Funny, considering I had barely remembered.

  “I’m not really all that excited about it,” I muttered.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not like it’s going to be a good year,” I scoffed. “It’s not going to be any better than seventeen was, and that was a bad year.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  I gave him a bland look. “It’s not looking all that promising.”

  His eyes drifted from mine, and I suddenly felt bad that I was only reminding him of all that was screwed up in my life. Here he was trying to be nice, to talk about something other than all the depressing stuff we were faced with every day, and I was squashing it like a bug.

  Before I could offer an apology, he said, “I know what will cheer you up.”

  “What’s that?” A kiss maybe? That would definitely work, but I wasn’t optimistic.

  He smiled. “Let’s put in a little one-on-one rink time,” he suggested, then added, “Now. Without Callie.”

  Yep, he definitely knew me, and knew how to cheer me up. His offer to restart training right away, today, was probably the only thing that could have managed to do so. Aside from planting a big kiss on me of course.

  But I would take what I could get, and it was good enough. For now.

  CHAPTER 8

  He sure knew how to make me happy, except when he was pissing me off. And now, he was pissing me off. At first, I’d been excited to scrap with him. I’d always enjoyed it, and today was no exception. Until he started egging me on, telling me that I could do better—and not in a friendly way.

  He was harder on me than he used to be, and much harder than he was on Callie. I realized it was only because he believed I could do it, that I could be good, and he was trying to help me capitalize on my ability. So I let it go at first.

  Then it became obvious how much he had been holding back on me before, when I’d thought I had actually been getting good. I was in the midst of a reality check, and I wasn’t happy about it.

  It wasn’t that I was doing that badly now, but he managed to block, sidestep, and avoid everything I threw at him. I was giving him my best, and he was practically laughing at me.

  “You can do better than that!” He swatted my fist away, dodging a kidney strike. I quickly followed with another, which he blocked effortlessly. “What was that? I thought you wanted to hit me.”

  I snarled at him and he grinned. As I regrouped, I saw that we had drawn an audience. Callie had been watching all along, taking pointers, and looked appropriately uncomfortable and scared. Now, when I glanced around, I saw that the others had joined her. Even Gabby and Richie.

  Knowing that they were watching only angered me more. My vision blurred momentarily as I zeroed in on Nathan, and I wondered if that was where the expression ‘seeing red’ came from. If so, I was definitely seeing it.

  I threw a right jab. He dodged it, and taunted, “Is that all you got?”

  I swung an uppercut and missed. Even as Nathan was leaning out of the way, I quickly followed with another jab…that connected with his nose, hard.

  I heard the crack, felt the pain in my hand, and heard everyone go “Ooh!” in unison behind me. I had finally done it. I’d gotten Nathan, and I’d gotten him good. I stared triumphantly at the top of his head as he hunched over, face in his hands.

  I was still glaring at him when Callie stepped into my line of sight, holding a towel out to him. At her appearance, I snapped out of the enraged spell I had fallen under, and the only thing I could think about for a few moments was…where had I just been?

  How much time had passed, with me staring down at Nathan, for Callie to run into the house and return with a towel? And why didn’t I remember that time passing?

  Then, I saw why she’d gotten the towel, and I totally forgot that I had just missed a few seconds of my life. As Nathan straightened with the towel covering his face, I caught sight of the blood on his shirt, and I pushed everything else to the side.

  “Oh, my God,” I gushed, rushing forward to assist him, though I had no idea what to do. He was bleeding—bad. Because of me. “Nathan, I’m so sorry.”

  His eyes lowered to mine. With the towel in the way, I couldn’t be sure, but I thought he was smiling. “What got into you?”

  I sighed in relief. He wasn’t mad. But his question only piqued my curiosity more.

  What had gotten into me?

  Something obviously had—and I hardly remembered. The last few minutes were so hazy, so clouded. I barely remembered the moment I’d connected my fist to his face. But from the looks of the damage I’d done, I’d apparently done a good job.

  It was as if it hadn’t been me…or my fist.

  As much as my out of body experience freaked me out, it was nothing compared to what I felt when I looked up and met Alec’s eyes. He had seen the whole thing. Something about the expression on his face told me that he knew exactly what had happened. And it was something neither of us were prepared for.

  “You alright?” Micah’s voice snapped me out of my daydream, and I could tell from the look on his face that he’d asked me this simple question repeatedly before I’d registered it.

  “Huh?” I said as I blinked the fog away.

  “Where did you go?”

  “Nowhere,” I said hastily in an attempt to blow it off.

  Truth was I have been obsessing all morning. It has been two days since the nose break heard around the world. Nathan and I have not scrapped since so that his nose could heal. Instead, he and Callie have been working on target practice with the guns. Except today. This morning, he had gone with Gabby and Richie to do some surveillance on the warehouse.

  We had run together the last two mornings, and that had been nice, though I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the hand-to-hand, sweat-producing, body-wracking fighting. We also hadn’t talked much. Just ran. I supposed I understood the need for a break from the fun stuff. I wasn’t so sure I was ready to do it again anyway. Not yet. Not until I knew what had happened to me.

  So much for our plan to whip me into shape.

  The hiatus with Nathan left me to practice exclusively with Micah. Again. I wasn’t completely into it. I kept thinking about those lost moments—from the second I’d popped Nathan in the nose to when Callie stepped in with the towel. It wasn’t normal to check out like that. It wasn’t right, and it was down
right scary not knowing what had come over me. Where had I gone? And even more pressing—what was happening to me?

  Even as I asked those questions, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answers. So, instead of talking to anyone about it, I silently obsessed over it.

  Besides, Micah was definitely not the one I would to talk to about this. Alec was a better choice, but he had been elusive and was currently off doing whatever it was that Alec did.

  “Okay, well, if you’re not going to talk about it, then let’s get back to practicing,” Micah said sternly.

  I squinted my eyes at him. “Stop reading my mind.”

  “Stop yelling your thoughts at me.”

  “I’m not—” I came up short, my defense falling flat when I realized I probably had been screaming them out. I supposed it wasn’t his fault I couldn’t keep my thoughts to myself. Considering I had a hard enough time not speaking before thinking, I could only blame myself.

  I really had to learn better impulse control.

  “Forget it,” I said. “Where were we?”

  “Element manipulation,” Micah said with an authoritative tone that only reminded me that I hated how smug he could be at times.

  Sometimes I wished I could smack that permanent smirk off his face—without the threat of Gabby’s and Richie’s wrath. Seeing as how I sort of wanted to live, I was forced to overlook the things I was starting to hate about Micah.

  “Right. Element manipulation,” I said like nothing was wrong. “And how do I do that?”

  Micah cocked his head to the side, looking at me like he was a teacher scolding a student for not completing an assignment. “Haven’t you been reading?”

  “Yeah,” I chuckled, “when I’m having a hard time falling asleep.”

  He frowned. “Not funny, Kris. How do expect to learn? You have to put in some effort, you know?”

  I shrugged. “Alright. Let’s put in some effort then. Tell me what I need to know.” I paused, then added, “I’m just not reading that dumb book.”

  I was more hands-on anyway. Last thing I wanted was to feel like I was back in school. Despite the circumstances, I was rather enjoying my little hiatus from standardized education.