Scorching Secrets

by Kaitlyn Hoyt

  I tighten my grip on her hand. He stops mouth-to-mouth and goes back to healing her magically. After a couple of seconds, Ryanne gasps and opens her eyes. Rolling to the side closest to me, she begins coughing violently. I reach out and rub her back, trying to help calm her. She tries to push herself off the ground, but her arms are too shaky. Logan and I help her move into a seated position.

  Blinking rapidly, she stares ahead, not looking at any of us. Her breathing is still abnormal. Taking a few deep breaths, she tries to steady her breathing rate. She coughs one last time before looking over at me. “Your ex-girlfriend’s not very nice.”

  I choke on a laugh and pull her to me. That’s the first thing she says after she almost dies? Typical Ryanne. She hugs me back. Resting my chin on her head, I look over her to Logan. He looks exhausted but at least he’s smiling.

  I can’t contain the single tear that escapes and starts to run down my cheek. Ryanne pulls back and looks up at me; her eyes zoning in on the tear. She slowly leans forward and kisses my cheek where the tear is. Pulling back, she looks me in the eyes. “Don’t shed a tear over me, Colton.” She pushes herself off the ground and smoothes her clothing.

  “You almost died, Ryanne.”

  “I’m too stubborn for death,” she says before walking out of the room, not saying anything to those standing against the wall.

  I stand up and stare at the door Ryanne had just walked out of. “She’s going to be the death of me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  As I walk downstairs, I try to steady my frantically beating heart. I am scared. Natasha almost killed me without even being near me. I needed to get out of the room before my emotions got the better half of me. I don’t want anyone to see how freaked out I am by this new development. Thunder rolls outside. My steps stumble on the stairs when the house shakes. That’s not what I was going for when I thought about hiding my feelings.

  I walk over to the window and notice the storm clouds rolling in. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. The storm clouds lighten and transform into rain clouds. At the moment, that’s the best that I can do. I know everyone is standing behind me. I turn around, arms crossed across my chest, and try to smile at them. I’m not fooling anyone.

  Colton looks torn. Liam looks hurt. Emma’s face is tear-streaked. David keeps glancing between Emma and I. Bragden and Larkin look upset, and Logan looks exhausted. I walk toward Logan and grab his hands, linking ours together. Palms touching palms, I close my eyes and call my magic to me. When I feel it push to the surface, I move it to my hands. The magic feels like silk caressing my skin. It’s a pleasant feeling that I’m glad can benefit someone else as well. Logan sighs as my magic connects with his. I open my eyes and watch as the exhaustion leaves him. When he looks better, I stop the flow of magic and step away from him. In my own way, I am the healer of the healer. I smile at him as he gives me a one armed hug.

  “Thank you, Logan,” I whisper.

  “You scared us,” Logan says. “You weren’t responding to my magic and then you stopped breathing.” I stopped breathing? I feel my eyes widen; I didn’t know it was that bad. That explains why Emma was crying, and Colton was shaken up. “I had to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and you were still unresponsive for a while.” I step forward and wrap my arms around Logan’s waist. He wraps his other arm around me and holds on tightly. “I thought we had lost you. Again.”

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” I try joking about it. I don’t like talking about how close to death I’ve come recently. One of these times, no one is going to be able to bring me back. I’ll be gone. For good.

  “Ryanne…”

  What’s a sexscapade?

  “What?” I ask Olive, taking a small step away from Logan.

  The blonde lady said Adam told her about your sexscapades.

  “What?!” I look at Liam and Colton. “My sexscapades?” I can’t control the anger in my voice. Liam and Colton’s facial expressions transform to ones of shock. Colton and David both curse and look down at Olive. I bend down and pick up Olive. “What does she mean, my sexscapades?” I’m staring at Colton, waiting for him to explain.

  “Adam told Natasha that you had…” Colton starts but can’t finish. He looks at Liam and David to see if anyone else can explain. I can see and hear Colton’s anger when he is speaking about Adam.

  “He said we had sex,” I say it as a statement. Adam is spreading more rumors about me. I flinch as a loud clap of thunder shakes the house. I need to remain calm. I am getting really fed up with Adam. I take a deep breath and look back at Colton.

  “What else did she say?” Colton just stares at me. “Would you rather I read someone’s mind?”

  It’s Emma who speaks first. “She says she’s doing it to get back at you for taking Colton, though you didn’t. Dravin’s kind. Adam’s great. Sexscapades. And that her power’s evolved which we’ve obviously figured out. Now, you’re caught up.”

  Short and simple.

  I nod and walk over to the couch. I already knew that she didn’t like me because she thought I was interested in Colton. Granted, I was…still am, but I didn’t let anyone know that. I didn’t try to take Colton from her, that’s why I stopped talking to Colton. Now, I know that Colton actually does have feelings for me. This incident is just another reason for me to not start a relationship with him. I don’t need Natasha to take her anger towards me out on the others. Thunder rolls again. It isn’t as loud this time, but it is longer.

  “I’m sorry for bringing her here, Ryanne.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry for, Larkin. Don’t apologize. We needed to know exactly what was going on, and now we do.”

  They’re still watching me. I just want to turn and yell at all of them that I’m fine. Almost. Like all the other times, I put on a fake countenance. It’s been a couple hours since Natasha tried to kill me again. I’ve calmed down, but inside I’m still freaking out. Everyone seems to be out to get me. Dravin can pull me in through my dreams, Adam’s in my nightmares, Natasha’s…Natasha’s just a….

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Colton sits down next to me on the couch.

  I don’t want Colton to know what I am actually thinking about, so I say the first thing that pops into my mind. “Why isn’t combobulated a word?” That’s a pretty good question actually. I should get a cookie for thinking of that under pressure.

  “What?”

  “How do we become discombobulated if combobulated isn’t a word to begin with?” I turn and look at him, watching as his concerned expression turns to one of amusement.

  “That’s a very good question,” he nods and smiles at me. I can tell by the distant look in his eyes that he is still thinking. I laugh and lean over toward him. He moves his arm and wraps it around me, pulling me into his side. I probably shouldn’t have allowed that to happen, but my mind and my heart aren’t really on friendly terms anymore. If I am going to momentarily forget my rules, I might as well do it fully. I scoot closer to him, placing my arm across his chest. Emma smiles at me from the chair she’s sitting in with David. I close my eyes and let myself drift to sleep, feeling safe for the first time in a long time.

  Colton

  I know that this won’t happen again, for a while at least, so I let myself enjoy it while it lasts. Tomorrow, Ryanne will go back to sitting on the opposite side of the couch, talking to me only when others are around and avoiding being alone with me. I tighten my grip around her. In her sleep, she snuggles closer to me—a breathy sigh escaping from her slightly open mouth.

  “When are you going to tell her, Colton?”

  “I honestly don’t know, Emma. I’ve thought about telling her so many times, but something just doesn’t feel right. And I told her that I’d wait until she was ready. She’s still worried about the vision. She won’t let herself get any closer to me. I can understand it, but it’s frustrating. I can’t tell her if she’s adamant on distancing herself.”

  “I get t
hat. Both perspectives actually. I’m just worried about her. Seeing her lying on our bedroom floor earlier, not breathing, while Logan tried to revive her the ol’ fashion way…I don’t know, it made everything so much more real. I was so scared that she was actually gone.” Emma’s blue eyes are glistening as more tears threaten to fall again.

  I just nod because I don’t know what else to say. I need to get away from everyone’s watchful eyes right now. I place an arm under Ryanne’s legs and slowly pick her up, cradling her against my chest. I walk up the stairs and open her door, pausing in the doorway. Hours ago, she was lying on this floor, unresponsive. Not breathing and barely clinging to life. I push the thoughts out of my mind and walk over to her bed. I’ve done this same thing so many nights before, but something feels different tonight. Laying her down in her bed, I pull the covers around her and kiss her forehead, enveloping myself in her floral scent. I don’t know what she uses, but she always smells like springtime.

  I start to step away when something brushes against my leg. Olive is jumping at the bottom of the bed, wanting up. Bending down, I pick up the little white fur ball and place her on the bed near Ryanne’s head. “Goodnight you two,” I whisper. Turning around, I slowly walk out the door, pulling it shut behind me. I don’t know how late everyone is going to be up and don’t want them to wake her up. She’s been working hard lately and needs all the sleep she can get.

  I walk into my room, frustrated at how this day turned out. It was going so well until Natasha. Training with Ryanne earlier had been more fun than I was expecting. She gets angry when someone’s able to defeat her. She’s cute when she’s angry, so of course Liam and I had to push her harder. Walking into the kitchen, I could tell that Larkin wanted to say something but was having trouble. What he said was not what any of us were expecting. Bringing Natasha, especially after what happened last time, was asking for trouble; however, we all wanted to know why she decided to join Dravin. Why she went to the dark side—I don’t see Dravin as the cookie type. I freeze in the doorway. Wow, that was totally a Ryanne comment. She’s rubbing off on me.

  Running into Ryanne’s room and finding her lying on the ground, not breathing…I almost lost her again. She looked so lifeless. I couldn’t even pretend she was asleep because even in your sleep you move. On the verge of death, you don’t move at all. I should have realized that something was wrong when Liam started acting weird, but we all thought that Natasha couldn’t use her power from that much of a distance. We thought we were the only ones in danger.

  Pulling my shirt over my head and changing into a pair of flannel pajama pants, I walk to the bathroom. I have to stop thinking about it. She’s alive and asleep in the room across the hall. Natasha didn’t kill her. With shaking hands, I turn the cold water on and splash it onto my face. I need to get a grip. Closing my eyes, I grasp onto the edge of the sink, taking deep breaths. What is going on with me?

  Standing over the sink, with water dripping off my face, I try to push the images of Ryanne’s beaten, bloodied, and almost dead body out of my mind. I don’t know when she became so important to me, but losing her scares me more than anything. Grabbing a clean towel, I dry my face. This has to stop. We need to take more precautions when it comes to her safety. If she’s annoyed with how much attention we give her now, she has another thing coming. Standing up straight, I remove the towel from my face and look into the mirror. What the hell? What’s going on?

  I reach my hand out and gasp when I see right through it. Glancing back at the mirror I am standing in front of, I see the shower door behind me.

  Holy crap, I’m invisible.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Colton

  Ok, I can do this. Become visible. Staring at the mirror, I can still see the shower behind me. How the heck do I become visible again? I’ve been standing here for ten minutes, trying to reverse this invisibility without luck. Why don’t these powers come with an instruction manual?

  I slowly walk down the hallway to Tom’s room. Empty. Dang, I don’t want to go downstairs like this. Taking small steps, I try to be as quiet as possible. Wait. What am I doing? No one can see me, so why am I walking like I am about to be caught doing something I shouldn’t be? Running down the stairs, I see Emma sitting in the chair. She looks at the stairs and a look of confusion crosses her face. I’d be confused too if I heard someone running down the stairs but didn’t see anything. Everyone is seated in the living room still. I walk past them and into the kitchen where Tom is.

  “You’ve got to help me,” I say to him. His head jerks in my direction but to him there is nothing there. He stands up and looks around the kitchen. “Tom, I’m right here.” I reach out and touch his shoulder. He jumps back and hits one of the chairs at the table, knocking it to the ground with a loud bang. David, Emma, and Logan all rush into the kitchen to see what is wrong.

  “Colton?” Tom whispers.

  “Yes, I need your help.”

  Emma gasps and takes a step backwards when she hears my voice. “Where are you?” She is looking all around the kitchen, but considering the fact that I am invisible, she won’t find anything. I walk to her and place both arms on her shoulders, showing her that I’m right in front of her.

  “I’m right here.”

  At my touch, Emma screams. Slowly reaching a hand out, she waves it into the space in front of her. When she hits my chest, she gasps again. “Holy crap, Colton, you’re invisible.”

  “I realize that. I can’t figure out how to reverse it.” I let go of her shoulders and turn back around, facing Tom. “Tom, can you help me?”

  He shakes his head and opens his mouth. He’s obviously as shocked as everyone else. “I don’t know. There has to be a trigger or something that sets it off. What were you thinking about before you became invisible?”

  Emma takes a step forward and slams into my back. “Ouch dude, hold something so we know where you are.”

  “Sorry,” I reach forward and grab an apple from the fruit basket on the counter. After a couple of seconds, the apple becomes invisible as well.

  “That’s so awesome,” Emma says.

  “Colton, focus. What were you thinking about?” Tom says, walking in the general direction I’m standing. He is looking at the area to my right. Close enough. I put the apple down and think back to what I was doing when I became invisible.

  “Umm…I don’t…Oh. I remember.” I was thinking about Ryanne. I was thinking about what happened earlier today. Despite wanting to push those images out of my mind, I think about them again. Nothing happens. I am still invisible. “It’s not working.”

  Larkin, Liam, and Bragden walk into the kitchen to see what all the commotion is about. “What’s going on?”

  “Colton’s invisible,” Logan explains.

  “Seriously?” asks Liam.

  “Yeah, I’m right here.” I start waving my arms back and forth but stop when I realize how stupid this is.

  “Let’s see. Colton, are you listening?”

  “Yep.”

  “Think of the opposite of what you were thinking about earlier. If it was sad, think about something happy and vise versa.” Instead of picturing Ryanne hurt, I think about the times she’s laughed. I think about training earlier when she smiled and skipped into the house. I think about the way her hair looks when she sits outside and it blows around her. The scene of her singing The Fray while playing the piano pops into my mind. When I saw the embarrassment in her expression, I just had to join her. I couldn’t stop staring at her because she was so surprised when our voices melted together.

  “It’s working. Keep it up.”

  I think about when I quoted One Direction lyrics to her, and she fell over laughing. I picture the way her eyes light up when she’s smiling. I remember when she was singing and dancing in the kitchen, not knowing that someone was watching her. I see her cheeks turning a deep shade of red as I easily make her blush and the total embarrassment on her face when everyone saw her wearing her bridesmai
d’s dress, despite how beautiful she looked.

  My skin feels like it is vibrating. I feel like I’m sitting in a giant massage chair. It feels weird, but familiar, like I am supposed to know this feeling. I wonder if this is what everyone else feels when they use their magic.

  “It worked. We can see you.” I glance down and am finally able to see myself again. I’ve waited for so long to get my power and my power is invisibility. I don’t know whether to be ecstatic or disappointed.

  Now I know how Ryanne feels when it comes to attention; only hers is basically twenty-four-seven. Emma whistles and glances down at my chest. I’m still shirtless. Quirking an eyebrow at her, I ask, “Like what you see?”

  She smiles at me and makes a show of fanning herself. David growls and lightly elbows her. Laughing, she reaches up and kisses him on the cheek. “You’re still my favorite.” She turns around and skips out the room. David glares at me for a couple more seconds before following her.

  Tom turns to me and asks, “What’s the trigger?”

  I start to walk out of the kitchen. I’m actually starting to feel tired—the events of the day are starting to weigh down on me. Do I really want to share that with everyone? They already know everything else, so I guess it can’t hurt anything. Before leaving the room, I whisper, “Ryanne.”

  *****

  Throwing on my Jack Sparrow t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts, I skip downstairs. I woke up in a really good mood this morning. I’m not sure why, but I’ll take it. Maybe it’s because I actually woke up for another morning. All this almost dying stuff is starting to make me appreciate life. Who knew?

  Everyone is already downstairs by the time I make it down. Didn’t I use to be the early riser? I walk past everyone and into the kitchen. I put food and water into Olive’s bowls and turn to the sink to do the dishes. Once all the dishes are clean, I dry my hands off and turn to put them all away. Emma walks into the kitchen. “Here, let me help you. I know how much trouble you have reaching the top shelf.”