Flux Flame (A Flame Moon Novel

by K. J. Jackson

  “You’re fine, Skye. I’m right here.” He wrapped his arm around her, folding her into his chest.

  When her breathing slowed, Skye cautioned a glance up from her burrow in Aiden, to see Helen re-seated across from her, elbows casually resting on the arms of the chair. She watched Skye somewhat curiously.

  “Why are you looking at me like that? Did you get what you needed from me?” Skye asked.

  “Yes. I did.”

  “And?”

  “I believe you will be fine for the time being. Your control is a pleasant surprise. I did not think it could be done. Leander was very strong, but in the end, he always failed.” Her eyes glassed over for a split second.

  With a blink, Helen wiped from her eyes whatever memory had been conjured. She looked at Skye and stood. “I would like to show you something. Please come with me.”

  Skye’s eyebrow arched and she looked at Aiden. He shrugged. They both stood.

  “Aiden, can you please wait here? This, I would like to show Skye alone.”

  Aiden gave Helen a hard look.

  She merely waved it away. “She will be fine with me. I am only taking her across the hall.”

  Aiden dropped his arm from Skye’s shoulder, and she put her shoes on, then followed Helen out the door and across the hall. Helen paused, her hand on the handle.

  “Very few have seen what I am about to show you, Skye. Even with the control you have manifested, you still have deep, unanswered questions about yourself. So please know this is a privilege. I would not be allowing you to see this, if it wasn’t something I think you need to know about yourself.”

  Helen did not wait for Skye to reply, she just spun back to the door and opened it, stepping into a dark room.

  Skye followed, and Helen closed the door behind her. They were in a pitch black entryway, save for a fragment of light emanating from underneath another door.

  “To your right.” Helen instructed from behind Skye.

  Skye turned and went to the door and opened it. Awestruck, she froze at what was in front of her.

  “Go in. I don’t like to have the door open for long. It doesn’t like the extra air.”

  Skye’s feet shuffled forward along the wood floor. She heard Helen click the door closed behind her.

  “What is it?” Skye whispered at what she saw. The room was dark, but it didn’t matter. The wall, as long as the entire hotel, was filled with glowing, pulsating strings of color. Strings that spread out from a wide, middle trunk, a tree of sorts, except upside down. The roots went off up to the ceiling, curling into ends above their heads.

  The threads fluctuated all colors of the rainbow, glowing, akin to yarn-like strips of neon. A strip would flash its color bright, then pulsate down to let other threads glow.

  Entranced, Skye moved forward, fingers outstretched. She touched one of the bright colors before it disappeared, and it flared, then went dark.

  Helen’s sharp voice made her jump. “Don’t touch it. It’s alive, and the colors shift if you touch it.”

  Skye clamped her hand back down to her side, eyes never leaving the upside down tree. “What is it?” She could only repeat her earlier question.

  Helen stepped alongside Skye, a reverent gaze sweeping along the wall of color. “It’s a guide. A history. Both and one.”

  “Of what?”

  “The tree holds both Panthenite and Malefic lineage. Each line, each color, is a being. Panthenites on this side.” Her hand swept over the left side. “And Malefics on the opposite.”

  “What are these?” Skye pointed to a mass of darkened threads by the base of the tree.

  “Those are the dead. They eventually recede back into the trunk, widening the base. But live threads can always be traced back through the dead ones to the trunk. Some are hard to trace back and untangle, like yours. Some are easy. Like Aiden’s.”

  “Wow.” Skye whispered, still breathless at the beauty of the glowing colors.

  Helen stepped five feet to her left. “Do you see this one?” She pointed to the wall at a specific pulsating branch. It swirled between blue and red.

  Skye followed Helen and looked at the thread.

  “Yes.”

  “It was non-existent until you appeared on the mountain. It’s a color I’ve never seen before. It’s actually dual colored. It’s you.”

  Helen’s finger traced the thread toward the base of the tree. “Do you see how your thread ties into this dead thread?”

  Skye nodded.

  “The dead thread is your mother. Usually, threads develop when the parents mate. The parents’ threads cross, and it is in that spot that a new thread develops.” Helen pointed to a thread above Skye’s as example. “But you can see your mother’s is not crossed with another thread at the spot you appear.”

  “So why are you showing me this?”

  “Follow your thread back to the core of the tree.”

  Skye let her finger flow along her thread, just skimming the air above it. The pulsating blue-red joined thousands of other threads as it grouped into the trunk of the tree. And then it kept going.

  Why she was surprised, she didn’t know, for it only made sense, but it startled Skye when her thread flowed through the tree, and out the Malefic side of the trunk.

  She looked back at Helen, flustered.

  Helen read her instantly. “Exactly. You’re alive on both sides. Even though we knew who your father was, the other side only appeared after the fire. But it explains quite a bit. All of our powers—Panthenite and Malefic—are tied together. When you were conceived, the only way for your creation was to go through the base of the tree, tying the two sides together in the trunk. The trunk that holds all the powers, dead and alive. I am positive it is why you were born with an original, extraordinary power.”

  Skye took a deep breath, trying to process all of what Helen explained. “Okay, so lucky me. Where’s the ‘but’ I’m waiting for?”

  “Here is the interesting part, and why I show you this.” Helen went back over and pointed at the Panthenite side of Skye’s thread. “Your Panthenite side died off at the tip when the Malefic side appeared. Ever since then, you are in flux—the two sides have warred—one will get longer, the other shorter, back and forth it has gone. It has been fascinating to watch.”

  Skye crossed her arms across her chest. She was starting to feel light-headed and losing balance. “Fascinating, I’m sure, but what does it mean?”

  “I believe it means you get a choice. And that is a rare thing for our kind. Nothing will decide your fate except for you. Right now the Panthenite side is winning, but it could clearly slip again at any time. That much, we’ve seen already.” Helen turned fully to Skye, leveling her hawk gaze. “Make sure it doesn’t slip. I am watching.”

  Skye took another gaping breath, trying to re-gain her sense of balance. “I do have it under control, Helen. I can assure you no more than I already have. You’ve been in my mind. What else do you need from me?”

  “There will come a time, and I fear in the not too distant future, where you will need to make a choice—a real choice—not just choosing Aiden’s love. It will be a choice about who you are, what you are made of. The hardest thing you will ever have to do is choose between the greater good and your own good. Those are very different things. The decision between good and evil is easy. But the decision to give up your own good, to satisfy the larger—that is the worst decision you will ever have to make. It will prove what side of the tree you ultimately belong on.”

  Helen’s words filtered into Skye’s head. She recognized the gravity of what Helen was telling her, but could barely concentrate on the words as her body started to sway.

  Helen saw it. “I can see the tree is draining you. One has to be conditioned to be in the same room with it. So we will take leave before you pass out.”

  Helen grabbed Skye’s elbow and led her out of the room. Aiden was waiting in the hallway, and popped up from leaning when the door opened.

&n
bsp; Helen slid Skye’s elbow into Aiden’s grasp.

  “I will walk you down and out,” Helen said. “Through the main parlor.”

  Aiden gave her an appreciative nod. That meant Helen was giving Skye the acknowledgement, in front of the rest of the elders, that despite rumors, Aiden and Skye were welcome into the deepest throes of the Panthenite world.

  It was well-more than they had hoped for.

  The parade of Helen, Aiden and Skye through the main parlor was met with silence. Silence that turned to whispers before the door even closed behind them.

  At the front glass doors to Hotel Auric, Helen stopped, bidding good eve to Aiden and Skye. Down the steps and outside of the hotel, Aiden paused at a bench on the street. “Skye, sit for a moment to get your feet back under you. I have to chat with Helen for a second.”

  Grateful for a place to sit, Skye sat, giving Aiden a nod.

  Aiden took the steps back up to the hotel in one bound, and caught Helen just before she disappeared back under the wide staircase into the hidden parlor.

  “Helen, hold up.”

  She stopped, her eyes turned upward, assessing him. It did not take her more than a second to see in his face what he wanted. “Aiden, she will be fine. As far as I can see, she has a path that is solid and in the right direction. Although I find her devotion to you oddly extreme, and quite curious.”

  Aiden rolled his eyes. “Just because you’ve never felt something like it, Helen, doesn’t mean it’s extreme, or curious. It is what fate intended, and you needn’t question its existence.”

  Helen’s lips pursed slightly, and her eyes became even narrower. “How I do wish I could read you, Aiden. But you are correct. Fate has decided the two of you, and I don’t question it. What you two have, may be the very thing that saves her in the end.”

  { Chapter 19 }

  Charlotte stood in the dark barn, looking around herself aimlessly. What in the world had she come down here for? She was drawing a complete blank.

  She looked at the horse in the stall nearest to her, running through possibilities. She walked back through time. She left the ranch through the kitchen, came down through the snow, and was in a hurry to get or do whatever had landed her here. It wasn’t going to take long, because she didn’t bother to grab a coat. What on earth was it? It wasn’t the horse that had pulled up lame today. He was doing fine. It wasn’t that she wanted to make sure she closed the gate on one of the new unbroken horses they had just gotten. As wild as they were, she could see to the end of the barn where they were, and all was secure and quiet.

  Was it that she forgot something down here? That would only make sense for the Swiss cheese that her brain had become. For the last month, ever since she had been back from Damen’s castle, her mind had been firing on almost zero cylinders.

  And it wasn’t that she was preoccupied about Triaten. Their relationship was more right than ever. What she had done with Damen, what Triaten had forgiven her for, all of it had been oddly freeing, allowing the depth of Triaten’s love to bring her unquestioning security. No. Her waffle-mind had nothing to do with Triaten.

  Had she not been sleeping enough? She still headed into town almost daily to the clinic, but being late winter, there was very little, actually nothing, that Doctor Smith couldn’t handle. On the other hand, she had been spending a lot of late nights entertaining guests at the ranch.

  Ever since the two wings attached to the back of the ranch were finished, there had been a steady stream of guests. The ranch had proven especially popular for Panthenites looking for an exclusive winter retreat. Which suited Triaten’s vision well—to deepen relationships and alliances with Panthenites throughout the world.

  And then, of course, Triaten rarely failed to keep her up even later after retiring for the evening. Charlotte couldn’t help the smirk that crossed her face. Sleep. She was sorely lacking in that department.

  “I need to finish what I started.”

  Low and menacing behind her, Charlotte recognized the voice instantly, and her reaction was just as quick. Her hand shot out and grabbed the nearest weapon, a pitchfork, as she spun to the voice.

  “Whoa—whoa—whoa!” Skye’s hands flew up in defense as she backed away from the tips of the pitchfork. “Charlotte—I’m not going to hurt you. Honestly. I’m not crazy. Not anymore. Well, not completely. Maybe still a little bit. But I’m not going to do anything. I swear.”

  Charlotte stared at her friend in the low light, trying to assess Skye’s mentality. The pitchfork lowered only slightly.

  “Charlotte, really, I swear, I’m sane. We’ve already been to see Helen. She read me, and approves—well, as much as she can muster.”

  The pitchfork went down, but Charlotte kept her hand on the handle. “My god, Skye, what in the world?”

  “I’m sorry. That was my super-awkward attempt at trying to make my almost killing you, okay.”

  “What a hoot.”

  “I know. I’m sorry,” Skye said. “Apparently, I have no idea how to start a conversation with someone after I try to kill them. Let me try again. I am so sorry for what I did to you.”

  At that, Charlotte laughed. She had to. She had too much adrenaline flowing through her to not let something out.

  Skye eyed her curiously, still giving her space. “Okay, I guess. If you can laugh at it, I can too.” She let the smallest smile breach her face.

  “Come here.” Charlotte leaned the pitch fork on the barn wall and crunched through hay to Skye, pulling her into a tight hug. “You have gone skinny on me again, my friend. What have you been eating?”

  Tentative at first by the warm embrace, it only took seconds for Skye to bear hug her friend back. “Rice. Only rice. And an occasional nut.” She paused, taking a nervous breath. “Really? Just like that? You can forgive me for what I did to you?”

  Charlotte pulled back slightly to look Skye in the face, but kept her arms around her. “Of course I can. I know that wasn’t you in Montana. Not the real you. And I can clearly see the real you is here.” She pulled her back into a tight hug, mirth on her lips. “Plus, now I have a pretty big chip to cash-in with you, should I ever need it.”

  “Anytime you need it, it’s yours. A thousand chips, as big as you want. Happily.” Skye squeezed her hard, her voice earnest. “Thank you, thank you. I am so lucky to count you as a friend.”

  “As I am you. Even if you stink right now.” Charlotte pulled away again.

  “I know. Helen made mention. We’ve been travelling non-stop for too long. Hiking, sleeping on planes. But I had to come see you right away. There is so much to apologize for, and I couldn’t let it rest.”

  “Thanks, I think.” Charlotte wrinkled her nose. “I’m just happy you’re back and in your right mind. So where’s Aiden?”

  “He’s up at the house. We saw you walking down to the barn when we pulled up, so Aiden thought it might be best for us to split, and for him to talk to Triaten first.” Skye shrugged. “For him to try to smooth over my appearance back on the mountain. You, Aiden knew would forgive me right away, thank god. But Triaten…him I don’t know about. I hurt you—the thing he loves most in the world—and I can imagine it’ll be harder for Triaten to forgive me, than it is for you. And honestly, I don’t blame him in the slightest.”

  “I don’t know, Skye, you might be surprised by Triaten’s ability to forgive.”

  “Meaning?”

  Charlotte grabbed Skye’s hand and started to the barn door, disregarding whatever she had been down there for. “Let’s just say, I have some things to catch you up on.”

  ~~~

  Up at the ranch in the study, Triaten was incredulous. “You let her go see Char by herself? Are you fucking nuts?”

  Triaten tried to barrel past Aiden, but was stopped short when Aiden’s arm shot out across his chest, immobilizing the movement.

  “Skye’s not going to harm her, Tri.” Aiden pushed back on Triaten’s chest, and wedged himself between Triaten and the door. “I gua
rantee it. Skye’s apologizing. You need to trust me on this.”

  Triaten took a step back, hands balled, but at his sides. “Trust you? It’s not you I’m worried about, Aiden. It’s your crazy-ass wife that almost killed Charlotte. And Char is not up for this right now.”

  “Skye’s not crazy, Tri. And I would advise you to not speak of her as such. Especially in front of me. Skye is still Skye. She lost her way, she lost her center. She has them both back now.”

  “Fine.” Triaten’s jaw hardened. “Skye nearly kills Charlotte, and I’m just supposed to believe she is a-okay? Life is ponies and rainbows again?”

  “No. But you should believe it because I do. That should be enough for you. My belief in Skye has not wavered.”

  Triaten turned from him and went to the bar cart by the wall. He poured himself a heavy dose of scotch, and swallowed it in one guzzle. Aiden didn’t move from the doorway.

  Triaten poured himself another helping, then turned to Aiden. “How is that possible? She killed Shiv’s ex—a human that wasn’t attacking her. No matter if he was scum. She killed him.”

  “I don’t know what happened in that motel room. But my belief in her has not wavered.”

  “And what she did to Charlotte? What she did to our soldiers—our friends? Where do you place that in your non-judgment that you’re asking me to adhere to?”

  “I’m not sugar-coating it. She did what she did. She owns it. Wishes it never happened. Wishes she never turned back time and cut off saving our warriors. But she wasn’t in control then, Tri. Far from it.”

  “And she is now?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what happens when she loses control again?”

  Aiden tilted his head. “It won’t happen. When she lost control before, she didn’t know what she was dealing with—or how to deal with it.”

  “And now?”

  “She knows what it is in her body. What its limits are. What her limits are. She is in control. I repeat, my belief in her has not wavered.”

  Triaten stared at him, taking a sip of the scotch. “You are either a fool, Aiden. Or the smartest of all of us.”