Touching Fire (Touch Saga)

by Airicka Phoenix

  “I guess he failed,” I said. “I mean look at me. I’m not human. I’m not a mutant. I’m not Rem. I have no idea what I am.”

  “You are my daughter, Fallon.” The gentleness in his tone made me look at him.

  “Is that why you went to Garrison hoping to remove pieces of you from my DNA?” It was a little snider than was necessary.

  “The only reason I turned to Terrell in the first place was because we wanted you—your mother and I, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her why I was unable to have children with her.” He shook his head, shame twisting his features as though he were in pain. “I was too afraid of losing her. I would have done anything to give her … give us, the family we wanted.” Ashton raised his head, eyes pleading. “Do you hate me for wanting you not to be a flesh eating monster? Was it so wrong to want you to be … normal?”

  My laugh came out forced and humorless. “Good job.”

  “But you are a miracle, Fallon,” he said. “You have no idea how important you are and how long I have waited for this moment.”

  Celia shot him a sharp, warning glance that he didn’t seem to notice. He was too focused on me.

  “Your existence will be the key to changing both our worlds,” He was on the edge of his seat now. Lally was practically clinging to him to keep from sliding off his lap. “You are the beginning of everything.”

  It was so close to what Garrison had told me, I shuddered.

  “I don’t want to be the beginning of anything,” I murmured. “I just want to be normal.”

  Ashton sat back. “But you’re not normal and you never will be.”

  “But that’s what I want!” I cried.

  “But you can’t, Fallon,” he argued. “You are Rem. You are the daughter of a sin. That blood—my blood—will always be inside you. There is nothing in that world for you. You belong here, in Luxuria, with your people.”

  “What about Isaiah?” I looked from him to Celia. “You said he couldn’t live here. That he didn’t belong.”

  “He doesn’t,” Ashton said simply. “Isaiah is human and belongs with his own kind.”

  “But you helped make him!” I exclaimed. “Do you have any idea what Garrison did to Isaiah? The kind of torture he put Isaiah through? And then you, you just swooped in and used him all over again.”

  Ashton sighed heavily. “I care for the boy,” he said. “He’s done a wonderful job keeping you safe, but it’s time you took your rightful place.”

  I shook my head. “What’s my rightful place?”

  “Being here with your family,” Celia answered for him.

  They didn’t understand and I wasn’t about to get into a fight over it. They would never accept Isaiah, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get my other questions answered.

  “What do you know about Amalie?”

  The crease in Ashton’s brows said it all. “Who?”

  “Garrison’s daughter.”

  His eyes widened. “I haven’t heard that name in years. Terrell never spoke of her.”

  “Never?”

  Ashton shrugged. “I heard stories here and there about how she … passed—”

  “She killed herself to get away from him.”

  “How do you know?” Celia asked, looking more curious about that than what I just told them.

  “I just do.”

  With the help of Amalie’s diary. But that was a secret I wasn’t ready to share with anyone. I’d had the diary in my possession for over a month, buried at the bottom of my duffle, too afraid to open it. Part of me was hoping Amalie would return in my dreams as she had every night for nearly a year, but since recovering the diary, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her.

  Ashton set Lally down on the sofa and rose to his feet. He crossed to the fireplace to stare at the empty grate. “He never said…”

  “Did you ever see a picture of her?”

  He turned to me. “The only thing I know of her was that she was young when she died.”

  So, he didn’t know. He didn’t know that Garrison had used his own daughter’s DNA to create me, to make me a mirror image of her in a twisted need to immortalize her to the world. The Amalie Project would mark the end of man … and me.

  “Did he ever mention the Amalie Project?” I asked the question without ever looking away from him.

  He seemed to be a million miles away. “I can’t say I have. What is it?”

  I shook my head. “Just something Garrison mentioned.”

  “None of this matters you know,” chirped a soft, girly voice. “You’re going to die anyway.”

  We all looked at the pipsqueak on the sofa. She seemed content with her cookie, like she hadn’t spoken.

  “Lally, that is not nice,” Celia reprimanded sharply. “Apologize.”

  Those feline eyes met mine. “You told me to always tell the truth, Mommy. She is going to go die.”

  “Lally!” Celia’s wide, horrified eyes swung to me. “Pay her no mind, Fallon. I am terribly sorry.”

  I didn’t want an apology.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Lally likes to tease,” Ashton said like that answered my question.

  “I’m not teasing,” Lally said evenly. “I can see things. Mommy says I have a gift and I see you dying … horribly.”

  “That is enough.” Celia shot to her feet. “You are being inexcusably rude, young lady. I think it is time for your nap.”

  Lally never looked away from me. Her slitted pupils pulsed the longer our gazes clashed. Her small mouth curled at the corners.

  “I can tell you when,” she said with an almost cruel, mocking snicker. “It will be painful and you will suffer.”

  Celia grabbed her arm and hauled her off the sofa. The link between us broke as Lally was dragged forcibly from the room.

  “Forgive her,” Ashton said, going to take the place his devil child had left empty. “Lally means well, but she sometimes forgets.”

  Forgets what? To not be creepy?

  “What’s her deal anyway?” I asked.

  Rather than answer, Ashton clapped his hands together, rubbed them, and then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his palms still pressed together. He stared at his long fingers a long moment before bringing himself up to respond.

  “Lally has been an only child for five years. She’s not used to … sharing.”

  That was his excuse? I was an only child for seventeen years and I never—to my knowledge—predicted a slow and painful death on anyone. Okay there was that one time at McDonalds, but that was another matter entirely.

  “So she’s usually this fun and cheerful with everyone, or am I just special?”

  Ashton gave a short laugh. “Lally … Lally is…”

  He never did tell me what Lally was. I didn’t push him. Another thought had occurred to me.

  “Can she really predict the future?”

  Ashton splayed his long fingers. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

  “But she can,” I pressed.

  He exhaled. “Sometimes…”

  “Can you?”

  “Me?” He laughed. “Unfortunately, once you become a Sire, all those fun talents you get at birth … no longer exist.”

  “But before?”

  He shook his head. “My talents lay in other areas.”

  “Where did Lally get her … talent?”

  “I suspect from her mother’s side. It’s something more common in the Ira region.”

  I frowned. “Do you or your parents have any Bane in your blood?”

  He chuckled. “Absolutely. Your grandmother is Bane legacy.”

  Then that explained it! That was why I was able to predict the future when I touched someone. They had to be mortal, but I was so excited to finally find one piece of the puzzle that I almost whooped in triumph.

  “I can predict the future, too,” I blurted, too giddy to keep it to myself. “It only happened once and the woman was human, but I saw what
would happen to her when we touched.”

  Ashton smiled softly at me. “You’re just full of surprises.” His tone became serious. “What else can you do?”

  I had to think about it. “Isaiah says I started an earthquake.”

  “You don’t believe him?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know what to believe. It only happened the one time and it could have been a fluke.”

  “Anything else?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

  Something in his eyes flashed. “But you don’t know.”

  A little unnerved by the intensity in his eyes, I shrugged again. “I don’t…”

  “Forgive me.” He settled back, attempting to portray an air of calm. “I get overexcited sometimes.” He cleared his throat. “Isaiah tells me you never made it this far during your travels,” Ashton said.

  I shook my head. “Mom usually turned around once we reached the borders. I always thought she just hated all the rain, or fresh air. I don’t know.”

  Ashton snorted a laugh. “I always hoped she would…” He trailed off, giving his head a definite shake. “I knew she wouldn’t. It was one of the things we discussed when she left, that she would keep you out of Terrell’s domain. Still, I always hoped.”

  “Hoped what?”

  “That she would let me see you at least once. I knew it wasn’t safe, but…”

  “You wanted to see me?”

  Ashton gave a loud laugh, sharp and humorless. “Of course I did! I know it might not seem like I tried, but I tried. I didn’t want your mom to leave. I didn’t want you to leave, but the thing about your mother, once she had her mind made up … there was really no stopping her. The only thing I could do was make sure she had the resources to take care of you.”

  “The debit card,” I said, remembering the one my mother often used to pay for my fancy schooling throughout the years.

  Ashton nodded. “Did she use it?”

  “Kind of,” I muttered, then grimaced at the lie. “No. I mean, she did for my schooling, but otherwise refused to. I never understood why, but now I kind of get it.”

  Ashton said nothing for several long minutes that seemed to go on forever while I weighed whether or not I hurt his feelings.

  “It’s like you said,” I went on. “She was really stubborn.”

  He nodded, still staring down at his clasped hands. “Yes, she was.” He let his words hang between us for a moment as he gathered himself up for whatever he was about to say next. “I think while we wait for Celia to return, we should discuss you and Isaiah a little more.”

  I wanted to say no, that there was nothing to discuss, but I knew he would whether I wanted it or not.

  “Okay?”

  “Well,” he rubbed his hands. “I meant what I told you the other day, you are literally worlds apart. He does not belong in ours and you cannot live in his. I know this, because that’s how I lost your mother.”

  I shook my head. “I thought it was because of Garrison…”

  He nodded. “Yes, he played a part in it, but she didn’t leave until after I told her the truth.” He sighed. “You can’t have children, Fallon. Not with him. Eventually, he will die and you will not. You are part of a world that will never accept him and he is part of a world that will never accept you.”

  “So what then?” I anxiously scrubbed my palms up and down the length of my thighs. “I just live here for the rest of my life … alone?”

  “You are not alone.”

  “Aren’t I? You’re telling me that the only person I care about can’t be with me.”

  His gaze caught mine. “Life is very seldom fair. We all have to make undesirable decisions.” He searched my face a moment. “It’s time you said goodbye.”

  “No!” I blurted. “I won’t do that. I can’t do that. I mean, I need his blood for crying out loud.”

  He looked to his clasped hands for several seconds. I could see the unspoken words churning on his face as he tried to deliberate what to say next.

  Finally, he spoke, “You won’t need him if you stay.”

  I stiffened. “What? How?”

  Ashton straightened. He squared his shoulders. “The longer you’re here, the less you will be able to retain your humanity. I think eventually, without that human part of you, the hunger for him will abate.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “That won’t work. I was here when I attacked Delphi.”

  “It will take more time than that!” he said. “We just have to wait it out.”

  I shook my head. “You can’t know for sure that’ll work.”

  “No.” He drew his bottom lip between his teeth and rubbed his palms together once. “There is another way. But I need you to trust me.”

  “What is it?”

  I wasn’t promising anything until I knew all the details, especially if it involved me letting go of Isaiah.

  “Sorry about that.” Celia strolled back into the room, sans Lally. “What did I miss?”

  I stared at my feet and let Ashton answer her.

  “Well, now that Lally’s out of the room, I was going tell Fallon about the passing.”

  It was comical to watch as Celia visibly fought not to roll her eyes. “Darling, really. I thought we agreed—”

  “Well it has to be done,” Ashton interjected solemnly. “It’s the only way Fallon will be safe.”

  “Yes, but this is just ridiculous!” Celia insisted. “Fallon will be perfectly fine without such a prehistoric ritual.”

  “But that isn’t a guarantee, Cissy, and that’s what Fallon needs.”

  I raised a hand and waved. “Still in the room.”

  Ashton sighed and turned his attention away from his wife to focus on me. Celia clasped her hands together in her lap and averted her face altogether, like by not looking, she was somehow not part of whatever madness Ashton was about to unleash.

  “In less than three weeks marks the end of another hundred year cycle since the creation of our kind,” Ashton began. “On this day, it is said that a child will be born, a child with feet in two worlds and he or she will have the power to—”

  “Good grief,” Celia muttered and got to her feet. “Forgive me, darling, but you know how I feel about this ludicrous notion. Eons have passed and there has yet to be such a child born. It is nothing more than a superstitious story to entertain the young.”

  “Not yet born?” Ashton looked appalled. “Fallon is living, breathing proof. She is human and Rem. That, by definition, is a foot in two worlds.”

  Celia threw up her hands in disgust. She moved several feet away before twisting around on her heels to face us. “You are only going to frighten and confuse the girl, Acheron.”

  “No, no,” I said quickly when a flicker of doubt passed over Ashton’s face. “What does this have to do with me?”

  Celia muttered something and stalked over to the enormous bay window. She became a dark figure against the penetrating light spilling through the glass, but there was no mistaking the stiffness of her spine.

  After a hesitant glance towards his wife, his hazel eyes rested on me. “Do you remember the story I told you about how the nexus was created?”

  I nodded with a shrug. “Yeah, when the Tree of Life was struck down by Michael, it grew seven roots that became the nexus and created the seven sins.”

  “Yes.” I felt a prickle of satisfaction when he grinned at me with pride. “That’s exactly it. Well, I may not have told you the entire story.” He shifted forward in his seat. “You see the reason we’re forbidden from the mortal world entirely and why only a Sire can even travel the nexus is because to unleash unlimited sin on earth will result in the complete annihilation of mankind. So when Michael attempted to destroy the tree, it opened a gateway that opened a hole from our world to the mortal world. All of mankind’s sins spilled through and it caused pain, death and destruction unlike anything mankind has ever witnessed. That’s when Michael transformed the tree into a door to imprison us here
instead. Seven seals were placed on the door to lock it. Then he cursed us so that we may never have children with humans. Are you following me so far?”

  “I think so,” I murmured. “Why would he do that?”

  “Because the only way the seals can be broken is by painting the door with the blood of a child possessing both human and sin lineage. It is said that this child will have power unlike any other and will unleash the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse onto the mortal realm like a plague and start a new revolution. One of blood and death.”

  I felt fingers of ice slither down my spine, yet my palms squished with sweat when I pressed them together. “I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”

  “I believe you’re that child, Fallon.”

  Chapter 15

  “You’re wrong.” There. I said it. I also wanted to say he was crazy, but I couldn’t trust myself to speak again.

  “I don’t think I am,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. “Since the beginning of time, there has never been anyone like you. You are the key—”

  “Don’t call me that!” I lunged out of my chair. “I’m not a key. I’m a person.”

  “Fallon, please, you asked to hear this. Let me finish.”

  I didn’t sit again, but I let him talk.

  “I wasn’t sure it was you at first either,” he went on. “I waited for you to show your powers for seventeen years and when nothing happened, I became discouraged in my thoughts. Until the day Isaiah sent word that you started the earthquake at your school. That’s when I knew.”

  “Knew what?” I challenged, refusing to be sucked into his madness.

  His eyes gleamed like twin pools of light. “That you were the one we’ve been waiting for.”

  There was a buzzing in my ears that seemed to reverberate through my entire being. I felt hollow and numb. I wanted to throw up. I almost did.

  Something cool touched my arm and I jumped. Celia gently nudged me down onto the sofa. I was vaguely aware of her saying something to Ashton. It sounded like she was scolding him, but I concentrated on taking slow, even breaths.

  “It’s all right,” Celia soothed, gently stroking my hair. “Deep breaths.”