Emerge: The Judgment: (Book 2)

by Melissa A. Craven

  After everything she’d experienced during her brief time as a captive, Allie’s aversion to fighting had changed. She still hated the thought of hurting anyone, but with Aidan it was different.

  As they fell into the rhythm of their fight, she let her power rise within, relishing the warmth as it flooded her body. She didn’t feel the overwhelming instinct to hold back. This was Aidan and she was confident there was nothing she could dish out that he could not handle.

  “Nice!” He scrambled to parry her thrust and almost managed to sweep her off her feet. She dodged his kick and returned with an uppercut to his jaw, tucking the sharp end of her sai along her forearm and using the blunted end to add some force behind her punch.

  “Ow! That hurt, Allie!” He turned to spit blood, rubbing his jaw.

  “I’m sorry!” She reached to see if he was okay and landed on her ass beside the brook. She rolled away just in time to miss the sharp end of his blade arcing down toward her shoulder.

  “Asshat move!” she snarled as she scrambled back to her feet, dusting the dirt off herself.

  “I know my opponent, babe, what can I say?” he mocked as he lunged.

  She raised her lead blade and managed to connect with his longer one, but she wasn’t quick enough. She felt the all-too-familiar slice of flesh meeting sharp metal and let out a startled gasp. She fell to her knees with a sob, tears blurring her vision.

  “Lex! I’m so sorry!” Aidan dropped his weapons and rushed to her side. “Let me see. Is it deep?”

  She hid her smile as she swept his feet out from under him. She had him pinned beneath her in a headlock before he could register what was happening. “And I know my opponent too, babe,” she whispered in his ear.

  “That was reprehensible, Alexis Ann.” He broke her hold and flipped her onto her back. “You will pay for that, you little cheater.” His grin was contagious and she couldn’t help her laughter.

  “Come on, tough guy, you know I won’t break.”

  “Knowing you’re capable and seeing you hurt are two totally different things.” He stared down at her, the look in his eye making her feel all sorts of confused. She just broke up with Vince and already Aidan was looking at her differently.

  Maybe it’s because you’re looking at me differently.

  I’m not ready yet. The “yet” slipped out before she could even consider if she really meant it.

  You said “yet.” I can work with yet.

  “You need to be able to handle seeing me hurt, Aidan.” She brought their conversation back to training. “That’s probably something we both need to work on.” She stood to put some distance between them. “It could be a major weakness for us when it really matters.” She knew she couldn’t stomach seeing him hurt either.

  “You might be right.” He lunged at her again and she barely got her weapon up in time.

  Allie threw herself into the fight, returning each strike with one of her own. Her muscles burned as she moved, her speed increasing with their game of attack and retreat. The smirk faded from Aidan’s face as he concentrated on her movements, scrutinizing her every move, calculating what she would do next. He met her at every interval. They were both sweaty and out of breath, but it was the best sparring match she’d had in months.

  “Nice one!” Allie laughed breathlessly as she ducked just in time to miss his blade. His only response was a grunt. His eyes were vacant, but the flicker of power there left her unsettled.

  “Aidan?” she asked cautiously, lowering her lead weapon. But he didn’t stop. He pressed on, his blades moving at lightning speed. Something was wrong. She blocked his advance, taking a step back.

  Aidan? Are you okay? But his mind was a blank slate. He just kept coming at her, his brow set in determination.

  “No more fake-outs.” She parried his lead blade again, but his rear weapon caught her thigh and blood oozed from the shallow cut. Allie slowed her pace, but he was fighting so furiously. Methodically, like a machine.

  “Aidan, stop!” she cried, backing up again. She flew into a low, sweeping kick, attempting to drop him to the ground to knock some sense into him, but his eyes blazed golden. He was in some kind of trance as his power raged inside of him.

  He pursued her and she fought back, but she was soon covered in blood. None of his strikes cut her too deeply. She was a good fighter, and never let him get more than a graze in.

  Aidan, stop. It’s me! He looked right at her, but still didn’t see her. I have to disarm him. But she couldn’t touch him. She went in for an uppercut, hoping to knock him on his ass, but he moved aside as if her fist was just an annoying, buzzing fly.

  Finally, she did the only thing she could think of. She threw her weapons down and ducked under his arm, slamming against his sweaty chest. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

  He faltered and dropped his weapons.

  “Please, snap out of it. You’re scaring me,” she whispered as she held him. His arms slid around her and they staggered to the ground in a heap. His weapons lay forgotten beside them.

  “Allie?” His guttural moan still didn’t sound like him.

  “What the hell was that, Aidan?” She looked down at him, his eyes still vacant and blazing with the full fury of his power. She ran her fingertips over his jaw, hoping her gentle touch would draw him back to her.

  It worked, but not quite as she imagined. He slammed her back, rolling on top of her, his fingers sliding through her hair as his mouth crushed over hers in a searing hot kiss. She could feel his heart hammering against her palm.

  Aidan.… Dammit, it was such a good kiss. But she couldn’t keep letting this happen. That night in Agra was a mistake.… That kiss had done something to them, and it was like they couldn’t get past it.

  “Lex,” he murmured as she shifted beneath him.

  She was reluctant to bring an end to it as she slid her fingers through his hair and pulled, flipping him onto his back with an extra pulse of her solar zap for good measure.

  “Ow, what the…?” He gasped as the fire dimmed in his eyes. “Did you just shock me, Alexis Ann? Was that really necessary? Wait … were we making out?”

  “I pulled your hair too.”

  “You’re bleeding!” He pulled her up and onto his lap before she could protest. Most of her bloodied cuts were already starting to heal, but some of them were deeper. Her sweaty hair hung limp in her face and her breath was ragged. She knew she looked worse than she felt and he was about to flip out.

  I did this? He ran his hand along her arm. “I lost it, didn’t I.”

  “I’m okay, but I don’t understand what came over you. Are you all right, Aidan?” She reached to touch his face, not sure if he was really himself yet.

  “I’m fine. Come, let me get you cleaned up.” He helped her up, grabbing his shirt lying on the ground beside the cool, clear stream that ran through the yard. She came to sit beside him, her arms shaky and her head light from the intensity of their sparring match.

  Or maybe it was the kiss.

  Probably both; I’m a little lightheaded myself. He attempted a teasing tone, but he was still angry with himself. “I’m glad you shocked me. That wasn’t cool. Kissing you like that when you didn’t want it.”

  “Well, to be fair, I did kiss you first.”

  “Still not cool.” He shook his head. “It’s my gift.” He wiped at the blood smearing her arms and legs. “I haven’t lost control like that in ages.”

  “It’s some kind of trance?”

  “Yeah. I’m so sorry, Lex.” He tossed his bloody shirt aside and pulled her back on his lap and held her close. She could feel his self-loathing rolling off him in waves. She had to shut it down now or this would send him spiraling.

  “I know what that’s like, Aidan. Losing control. Hurting someone you care about when that’s the last thing you’d ever want.” She pulled his face down close to hers. “Do not blame yourself, you broody son of a bitch. It’s not worth it, so snap out of it.”


  “Yes ma’am.” He laughed, grasping her hand and linking his fingers through hers. “I was in the zone.” He shrugged. “I get super focused on whatever I’m doing and nothing else matters. I’m locked inside it and sometimes it’s difficult to shake it off. I’ve never lost it so completely before. I’m actually glad it was with you and not Chloe or Graham. I’d have cut them to pieces.”

  “You’ve managed this around the others?”

  “Yeah, I don’t even think about it anymore. But when we’re here … like this … I just drop all of my walls, you know?”

  “Me too. It’s nice to not have to focus so much attention on pretending like I do at school, or holding back when I’m working with Chloe and Graham, or even with Sasha. When we’re here and I don’t have to worry about any of that, it’s a relief to just let go.”

  “Yeah. But not at this cost.” He shook his head sadly. “We’re equals and that means the world to me, but I can’t ever forget that I’m slightly more powerful than you are.”

  “That’s BS.”

  “It’s true.”

  “I’m not a porcelain doll. You’ve never felt bad about kicking my butt before, so why start now?”

  “There’s ass-kicking and then there’s the bastard who painted the ground with your blood. That will not happen again, Lex.”

  “Okay, so technically speaking, you may be a tiny bit more powerful than me, but it’s not enough to matter.” She stood and held out her hand for him. “This is just a thing we need to work on. You have perfect control with this gift with everyone else in your life. So we’ll just work on it until you have perfect control with your equal too. Then this will never happen with anyone else.”

  He grabbed her hand and pulled himself up to stand next to her.

  “Thank you, Allie.” He pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin.

  “For what?”

  “For knowing how to pull me back.” She could feel his laughter vibrate in his chest. “The kissing I enjoyed. And I’m pretty sure you did too. But next time, go for the kiss before I turn you into a pincushion.” He took her hand as they headed back to his office.

  “Oh, next time there will be no kissing. Next time you might come up missing some parts.” She dropped his hand and took a step away to put some distance between them, but she smiled, trying to take the sting out of her words.

  “It doesn’t have to mean anything, Allie.” He pulled her back. “You put too much pressure on us.” His eyes filled with amusement and she realized he was making a huge effort not to make anything out of this kiss.

  “We can’t let this happen again, Aidan. “

  “I know, you just broke up with Vince.”

  “Technically, he broke up with me.”

  “What?” Aidan stopped walking.

  “He beat me to the punch.” Allie hadn’t told Aidan the finer details of their breakup so she’d let him assume she’d done the actual breaking up.

  He threw his head back and laughed. “Seriously? After all your indecision and he broke up with you?” His laughter echoed across the yard.

  “It’s so not that funny.” Allie scowled down at him.

  “I’m sorry, Allie. I don’t mean to laugh.” But he couldn’t seem to stop.

  “Har, har, funny guy. It still wasn’t easy.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “What was his reason?”

  “He thought I was checking out of the relationship so he beat me to the punch and let me off the hook. It grew into kind of a mutual split from there.”

  “I’m sorry. I know the breakup wasn’t easy for you no matter how it went.”

  “Come on. I need a snack.” She turned toward the kitchen as they left the yard behind.

  “Me too.” He draped his arm around her, still chuckling. “I promise, I’m not going to push you into anything.” His tone grew serious. “I know you still care about him, but nothing between us has to change just because you’re single now.

  “I think I’m over relationships,” Allie said. “It was always easy with Vince. Even the breakup. I doubt I’ll ever be that lucky again.”

  “There’s a reason you two always had such an easy, no-pressure relationship. You’re just alike. He’s running scared from his feelings for Kayla just as hard as you’re running from your feelings for a certain handsome Immortal.”

  “Yeah, Graham is pretty cute.”

  “Uh … I don’t think you’re his type, Lex. Come on, I think you need a sandwich and maybe a few stitches. You still look like some asshole beat you up.”

  ~~~

  CHAPTER

  TEN

  Allie lingered in the bathtub, her aching muscles weary from a long week of training. The closer she came to her seventeenth birthday, the harder they worked her. She was covered in bruises from an afternoon of sparring with Aidan and Sasha, and she was pretty sure she had a few broken toes to show for it.

  She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her bedroom door creaked open and careful footsteps crossed her room.

  “Ma?” she called, frowning at the swish of the door as her visitor left. She toweled off quickly and peeked into her room. Her gaze fell to the note on her nightstand. It was in Carson’s neat script.

  There is a reason for his silence. Go to sleep and think of the place where you meet Aidan, then ask him to leave. N will be waiting. Burn this (just try not to burn the house down with it).

  Love Dad

  The page heated under her fingertips as she released a trickle of her solar power into the paper. It smoldered to ash in her hands and fluttered into the empty wastebasket.

  “Thanks, Dad,” she whispered.

  Dream date tonight? she asked Aidan.

  You sleeping alone?

  I need to give it a shot every once in a while.

  See you there in a bit.

  Allie lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. As she thought about the prospect of confronting her father, her hands balled into fists and her nails scraped her bruised palms. The anger surged within her so quickly, she wasn’t sure she would be able to sleep at all. She didn’t know how Navid would manage it, but if he could really meet her in the dreamworld, she had so many questions. She didn’t even know if she was ready to see him—she was so angry. What if she lost control the moment she saw him?

  Finally, she decided to meditate and focused on the deep breathing exercises that often helped her drift off to sleep.

  “I thought you were going to stand me up.” Aidan stood to greet her under the gnarled old laurel tree. This was where they always met when their dreams merged. It was an echo of the grassy hillside behind his house. Like an imperfect copy of the real thing, but this place held an otherworldly vibe she was only beginning to suspect was bigger and more powerful than they could imagine.

  “Sorry, couldn’t fall asleep.”

  “What’s going on, Allie?”

  “I needed to come here and this is the only way I know how. I’ve never been here alone, have you?”

  “No, I tend to just drift until you get here.”

  “Me too. But I need you to leave now.” She gave him an apologetic look.

  “What? Why? I just got here.”

  “Please just trust me.”

  “I’m not sure I know how to leave. I usually just wake up or we drift into another dream.”

  “Wake up, Aidan. Please?”

  It took several attempts, but as he finally faded away, Allie fought the urge to follow. The pull was strong and she had to force herself to stay behind. When he was gone, she paced around the old tree, anxious to see how Navid might appear.

  Could she really do this? Talk to her father? She wanted to feel excited, but she felt nothing but that burning anger that was her constant companion lately.

  “I’m so sorry, Allie.” His voice echoed around her and she turned, spinning to scan the grassy slopes, but he wasn’t there.

  “NAVID!” His name ripped from her throat, the sound filled with all the a
nguish of the last months. The knowledge that he was her father and he was alive and well, but had left her to be raised by mortals, completely isolated from her kind. She wanted to hit something. She needed an outlet for her rage.

  “Breathe, Allie. Find your center.”

  She screamed in frustration at the ghostly voice that was such a familiar part of her childhood. Her control was quickly slipping out of her grasp and she fought to rein it in. Allie fell to her knees, taking deep, shaky breaths. When she opened her eyes, her hands were tight fists, dripping blood all over the ground.

  She looked up and he was there. Standing just feet from her.

  Allie wondered how she never saw it before. In so many ways, she was the physical opposite of her father. He was tall, dark, and muscular, where she was petite, fair, and curvy. She had his eyes, his unruly curls, his quiet confidence she was just beginning to grow into. And his power. She had thought, from everything Gregg told her, that she got her power from her mother, but she realized now that she had much of her father’s powerful nature within her.

  “Why?” She choked on the word. Her seething anger was the only thing keeping her tears back.

  Navid sank to the ground beside her. “Such a simple but difficult question to answer.”

  “How are you here? In this dream?”

  “I am a dreamwalker. A telepathic gift very few know I possess. In the dreamworld, I am at my strongest, telepathically. In the waking world, I am hardly a telepath at all. It is very difficult for me to speak to another’s mind. You have your mind locked up so tightly against Aidan, I’ve not been able to reach you. Carson said you were asking for me, and I’m so very glad to see you … daughter.” He struggled with that last word, his eyes bright and his hands shaking.

  “I am angry, Navid. So angry I can hardly breathe.” Her words were firm, but barely a whisper.

  “You have every right to be.”

  “I love my parents.”