“You’re my brother; you’re supposed to be on my side.”
“About that.…” He rubbed at the blond stubble on his face. He’d been down here for days this time.
“What?” Allie eyed him curiously as he led her far away from Livia’s rather posh cell. Liam had transformed the cell to a full apartment with every convenience Livia could possible need.
“There’s a reason I’m the one working with her, little one,” he said softly.
“What is it?”
“She’s … my Complement.”
“What?” Allie's mouth hung open in surprise. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” He smiled.
“I’m … sorry she’s such a bitch.”
“I think we can help her with that. She’s our family, Allie. We have to show her she doesn’t have to be the person her father made. She has a chance to become the woman she would have been if your family hadn’t been torn apart. It’s our duty to give her that chance.”
“She doesn’t know, does she?”
“She isn’t ready to see me yet. But she will be ready one day and I intend to give her the opportunity to learn who she really is before then.”
“You two … you just don’t match.” Allie shuddered. “I don’t see it.”
“Me neither, to be honest.” He laughed. “But I’ve been working with her enough to know that carefully placed facade she wears is not the real Livia. She just needs time. And a few more cracks in the armor.”
“So we really were meant to be brother and sister, huh?” Allie said. “Brother-in-law.” She elbowed him playfully.
“It seems that way. That’s probably why you are immune to me. Livia is too; she just doesn’t know it yet. Only the blood sister of my Complement would be strong enough to be immune to my poison.”
“So it looks like we really are stuck with her now.” Allie saw the worry in Liam’s eyes. For all his talk of giving her a chance, she knew he wasn’t convinced Livia was worth it.
“I had a vision of her. During my Awakening. I didn’t understand it then, but I saw this delightful version of her.” She gestured back at the prison behind her. “And I saw another version of her too. With you and Kahlynn. At the time I hadn’t met you so I didn’t know who the tall blond guy was with the beautiful daughter.”
“What was that Livia like?”
“Happy. Smiling. Not threatening to ‘rip every strand of my ridiculous hair from my head and hang me with it.’”
“See, there’s hope for even the meanest of mean girls.”
“It was the distant future, Liam.”
“I can handle it.” He pulled her into a headlock and dropped a kiss on top of her head.
“Liam,” Allie growled. He really was obnoxious sometimes.
“Thanks for giving me that promise to hang on to.”
“Love you, big bro.”
“Love you too, little one. Now I believe Gregg is waiting for you in the yard. You still have some training to get through before you’re done for the day.”
“Some things never change.” She heaved a big sigh and headed up to the common room to grab a snack before she had to meet Gregg for her daily torture.
~~~
The yard was a little different now. When Ming Lao died, some of her contributions to the underground began to whither and fade. Her gift of manipulating earth meant she’d done an extensive amount of work to the underground, but after the first few days, something changed. The balance was restored and new life was breathed into everything Ming Lao ever touched. It was her daughter. Ming’s blood flowed through Chloe and as long as she lived, a piece of Ming Lao remained with them. Through Chloe’s connection with her mother, she was able to stop the underground from completely crumbling. But part of the yard flooded. Jin was able to control the extent of the flooding through his gift, and Chloe was able to seal off the breach that caused the flooding. But it resulted in a new lake along the border of the yard. They’d set up a small pavilion there with tables and an outdoor kitchen.
Allie headed there now. It was her new favorite spot and she was sure Gregg would be waiting there for her. But he wasn’t alone.
“Navid?” She halted. It was him. She started to run, happy to finally see him in the real world. She hadn’t heard from him in all the months since he’d left her to help Quinn and she'd started to fear something had happened to him.
“You’re really here?” She ran into his open arms. They still had issues and so much to learn about each other, but for now she was thrilled to see him.
“You knew?” Gregg gasped as the father and daughter reunited.
“You knew?” Allie gasped right back at him.
“I was told you couldn't know.” Gregg folded his arms across his chest, turning to glare at his long-time friend.
“And I was told you couldn't know,” Allie said. “I’ve known him as Navid all my life.”
“It seems your father has been up to your mother’s old tricks.” Gregg shook his head.
“It had to be that way,” Navid said. “We needed you both to act carefully these last months. It wasn’t the right time to tell you. I’m so sorry for the deception.”
“Why are you here?” Allie asked. Surely Navid wouldn’t risk showing up in person unless it was important.
“We must talk about your new gift, Allie.”
No one had mentioned it after that night. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it and everyone in the know followed her lead. The irrational anger vanished the moment she released it, using it and her “gift” to save Aidan.
“Seems more like a curse.” She hung her head, staring at her nails.
“Let’s sit.” Navid gestured at the picnic tables under the shade of the pavilion.
Allie settled down opposite her father, picking at a knot in the wood. Sometimes she thought she’d imagined the whole thing, or that it was a one-time phenomenon she’d managed to do, but would probably never be able to repeat. She had no idea how she’d done what she did and she never wanted to try it again.
“You have a very powerful and very dangerous gift, my daughter.” Navid took her hands in his, urging her to look at him. “It is a gift you’ve inherited from me. Those closest to me once called me the Judge, Jury and Executioner. Not many know I can sense a criminal’s character, weigh that character against his crimes, and determine if he or she should be punished. My brand of punishment sends the guilty Immortal into a comatose state for a length of time fitting the crimes committed.”
Allie’s ability allowed her to do the same thing. Except her brand of punishment was a mortal death. Her victims would live out their lives with the constant fear of death looming over them.
“I don’t want this.” Allie felt hot tears welling in her eyes. “It’s too dangerous. If I lost it like that again … if I hurt someone I love.…”
“It doesn’t work that way, Allie. The innocent do not deserve your judgment. You will never be able to turn your rage on those you love. It isn’t in your power or your nature to judge the innocent. You will only be able to call on this power when you have the truest need for it. When the recipient has been given every possible chance to redeem themselves and yet they still choose the wrong path. It is beyond your ability to accidentally hurt anyone with this gift.”
“Are you sure?” She wanted to believe him, but she was so scared she would lose control and lash out at those around her.
“Positive.” Navid squeezed her hand. “This gift is dangerous for you, Allie. It doesn’t make you dangerous to others. But others will not see it that way. No one must know what you are capable of. No one outside of your most trusted circle can ever know. There is a possible future scenario your mother saw for you. Someone close to you may betray you to the Coalition. We cannot let that happen.”
“We will continue to protect her,” Gregg said. “Liam, Darius, and I are the only ones who know. She may want to confide in Aidan at some point—I think he was too out of it to really understand w
hat happened. But other than that, no one else will be told. At least not until she is Proven.”
“Once she is Proven, she will be better equipped to protect herself,” Navid agreed.
“I don’t want to live in a bubble until then,” Allie said. “I want to go to college and train with my friends.”
“You can still do those things, sweetheart. But you will always need to be guarded,” Navid said. “We cannot assume that no one saw what you did to save Aidan. If one of Livia’s people witnessed the event, you are not safe. Those who do not know you will believe you should be controlled. We cannot allow that. Under any circumstances.”
“Your life can continue on as usual,” Gregg added, “but we must move forward with extreme caution.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if someone just took this gift from me?” She wanted nothing more than to be rid of it.
“This gift is who you are, Allie. It’s not something you can just give away. What you can do will be vital to your survival. Your mother and I have done all we can to prepare you for this. You have the strength and character you need to wield this powerful gift. No one else has that right.”
“So I’m just supposed to go on with life as usual?”
“Yes, but it will be important for you to forgive yourself,” Navid said.
Allie nodded, but she knew she could never forget what she’d done to that man.
“There is another reason for my visit,” Navid said. “I’ve spoken with your grandfather, Allie. He is in hiding in South America, but he sought me out recently.”
“The Scholar?” Gregg asked in awe.
“You’ve met him several times, Gregg, you just don’t remember. Alexander prefers to be forgotten. It’s how he’s survived for as long as he has.”
“The Scholar is my grandfather?” Allie asked. She’d read about the mysterious man who seemed to be more of a legend than an actual person.
“Your grandmother, the queen, has escaped her prison. For thousands of years, your mother and I believed she was a Coalition captive, stuck in some remote corner of an ancient cell and long forgotten.”
“Where is she now? Who is with her?” Gregg asked. “The last time she was a free woman, the most technologically advanced invention on the planet was bronze.”
“We do not know. She is on her own, most likely completely overwhelmed in this modern world. It is paramount that we find her as soon as possible. And for that, we will need your help, Gregg.”
“You needn’t ask.” Gregg nodded. “My resources are at your disposal.”
“Who imprisoned her if not the Coalition?” Allie asked.
“A man we believed to be dead since the Great War. But he survived and has kept the queen under his control for well over two thousand years.”
“Who is he?”
“His name is Teigan. He was betrothed to your great-grandmother, Eiselynn, before she met Ían and became the first royal to bond with her commoner Complement.”
“Teigan was the one Ían defeated in the Book of the Indriell Queens?” Allie asked. “Ían took his gift.”
“And he wants it back,” Navid said.
“Ían was executed by the Enlightened.” Gregg shook his head, looking as perplexed as Allie.
“But Teigan has been searching the bloodlines of Indriell for thousands of years, seeking the one whose gift most closely resembles the one he lost,” Navid explained.
A bolt of fear coursed through Allie. “It's mine, isn't it? He wants my gift?”
“He doesn't know yet.” Navid reached for her hands again. “That is why we must keep your gift a secret. As long as he doesn't know about you, you're safe. Teigan's mind is twisted. He is over seven thousand years old, extremely powerful, and he is dangerous. He is also the man who raised your sister.”
~~~
~~~
End of Book Two
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Emerge: The Volunteer, An Emerge Short Story
Available in the YA Anthology,
That Moment When…
FREE on Amazon
If you missed the prequel, keep reading for a sneak peek of Emerge: The Edge (Book 1.5)
Alienated by everything that sets him apart,
Aidan McBrien suffers in silence.
He is the most powerful Immortal of his generation, but he chooses to live behind a mask to protect himself, even from those he loves. They can never know how much he struggles just to get through each day, overwhelmed by the pain and loss of everyone around him. As he fights a constant battle to control the gifts that threaten to push him over the edge, he dreads the day his world will look to him to fulfill a prophecy that he doesn’t even believe in.
As Aidan’s equal, Allie Carmichael endures the same isolation, but in complete ignorance of her true nature. When she meets Gavin, Allie sees a tiny glimmer of the life she wants to live, and the person she wants to be, but her instincts tell her it will never work.
Allie and Aidan have led parallel lives on opposite ends of the earth, but their paths are about to converge. With others making decisions for them, will they ever truly understand the immeasurable power they posses, or the prophecy that might not be about Aidan after all?
Melissa’s Recommendations
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Arianna is a queen heir and at 20 years old she's now eligible for the crown of wolf shifters. Heirs are trained and groomed so that they're ready, should the queen perish during their time of eligibility.
Of course, there's little chance of that happening. The Red Queen has stood for a century, and her power is beyond reckoning.
Or so Arianna believes, right up until the final tolling of the bells. The queen has fallen. Four heirs will now fight it out for the crown.
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Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown.
So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself.
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What are you willing to sacrifice when the only person who can save you is the same one who has to kill you?
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No one can see them. They’re shadows of destiny. They’re knights of death. They’re the Subterraneans and they’re here to claim our lives.
Commanded by a mysterious congregation called the Màsala, the Angels of Death ensure that each man’s destiny takes its due course on Earth.
But what happens when love intervenes?
Can an Angel of Death deny his own nature and challenge destiny?
Can love rebel against fate?
When Gemma’s eyes first meet the dark, piercing gaze of Evan James, an ominous shadow creeps into her life, ultimately leading her to face her destiny. She doesn't realize Evan is one of Death's soldiers and that Death is summoning her.
Her time is up: Gemma must die . . . and Evan has been sent to kill her.
But what if she’s the only one who can truly see him?
Against every rule. Against fate itself. Against everything and everyone. A story of forbidden love and star-crossed destinies.
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Be careful who you trust, for even the Devil was once an Angel.
My name is Jemma Blackburn, and I have a secret. I know vampires are real. I watched one murder my father eight months ago, and even though they tried to convince me it didn’t happen—that I’d lost touch with reality due to the trauma, I know what I saw was real.
Hollow Hills is now the place I call home. It was supposed to be my chance at a normal life. My chance to bury my secret and start over. But everyone around me is keeping their own secrets, whispering lies into my ears like promises, and one of them is about to turn my entire world upside down.
Emerge: The Judgment: (Book 2) Page 30
