by Alicia Rades
“Allie, are you sure this is the right way?” I complained.
The forest was so thick and dark that I was sure no one would see us out here. The only problem was there didn’t seem to be any room off the path to practice much of anything except dodging overgrown roots.
“It’s not much farther,” she promised.
Just as she said it, I noticed a break in the trees ahead.
“Is that it?” I pointed.
She glanced back at me with a smile. “Yep. You’re going to love it.”
We stepped out of the trees and into the vast clearing. My eyes widened at what I saw.
We stood at the top of a large hill taller than any building in town. The base of the valley extended the length of several football fields, and the grass below us had been well manicured. The entire valley was surrounded by vibrant green trees at its highest points. It looked like something straight out of a Costa Rica travel magazine, only on a much smaller scale.
All it needed was a little log cabin at the base of the hill. Then, when I made my millions as a celebrity chef, I’d retire here.
My jaw dropped. “I can see why you train here.”
“Right?” Allie agreed enthusiastically. “No one will ever see us.”
To our right sat a stretch of wooden steps. I headed for the stairs, but Allie quickly stopped me.
“Don’t be lame!” She lowered herself to the ground. Before I could ask her what she was doing, she began rolling down the hill on her side, tumbling over and over again.
“Allie!” I called.
Her laughter echoed throughout the valley.
“Be careful,” I yelled.
Her voice rang back. “As… you… wish…”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her Princess Bride reference. I took a deep breath and sat on the grass below me.
“Here goes nothing…”
I lay down on my side, spreading my arms above my head. Then I let my body tip until gravity took over and I could no longer control my momentum. Hysterical laughter erupted from my lungs as the world tumbled around me faster than I thought possible. My laughter turned into screams as my speed increased. What seemed like far too soon, I slowed and came to a halt at the base of the hill. My head spun as I pushed myself up.
“Crazy fun, right?” Allie asked from several yards away where she was still recovering.
A wide smile spread across my face. “So much fun. Can we do it again?”
And we did. We raced up the stairs. My legs burned, and my face flushed. Allie insisted we lie head-to-head and hold hands. We could’ve only been holding on for a few seconds before the momentum was too strong and our fingers slipped from each other’s grips.
At the bottom of the hill, our laughter filled the valley. I stared up at the spinning sky, taking in the strange sensation. I felt unstable, almost like I was flying. I had this urge to do it again, only instead of rolling down the hill, I wanted to jump off it and spread my arms, hoping they would hold me up.
Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen.
Allie hopped to her feet and ran her fingers through her hair. Bits of grass fell out of it and back to the earth. “You ready?”
I stood and dusted the dirt off my jeans. I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed that she’d put a stop to our fun, but I needed to focus. If I could get the hang of this, maybe I could make sense of all the madness.
“How does this work?” I asked.
Allie extended her hand to demonstrate. “Think of it like flexing a muscle. It’s something you just tell yourself to do, and you do it.”
“Okay,” I said.
This is never going to work.
I held out my arm, imagining the orb growing out of it like Allie was doing. I flexed my fingers, working my muscles all the way up through my bicep and to my shoulder. My hand remained empty.
“It’s okay. You’ve got this,” Allie encouraged.
I narrowed my eyes as if my fingers might combust by sheer will. Eventually, I found myself tensing every muscle in my body. Not so much as a flicker entered my outstretched palm. A headache began to form.
“Relax,” Allie instructed. “Don’t think about it so hard.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and ask how I was supposed to do that. Instead, I gave in and released the tension in my muscles. Still, nothing happened.
I dropped my hand. “It’s not working.”
“I’m sorry. Maybe I’m just a bad teacher.” Allie frowned.
My heart sank.
“No, it’s not that,” I assured her. “I’m probably a bad student.”
Allie shot me a half-hearted smile. “I have an idea.”
She held out her hand, and a white fireball formed in it without a single sign of struggle.
“Hold out your hand,” she instructed.
I did, but I immediately recoiled when she reached out toward me.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s not going to hurt. I promise.”
Warily, I let her take my hand. I did trust her, but that didn’t keep my arm from shaking. Slowly, Allie raised her right hand above mine and tipped it until the fireball inside fell into my outstretched palm.
My fingers warmed for a mere second, and hope surged throughout my chest, but the sensation immediately dissipated. The orb vanished as if it was made of mist.
“Dang it,” Allie said. “I thought that might give you an idea of what it feels like. I thought it’d be easier to sustain it than to conjure it.”
“But it’s your essence,” I pointed out. “Does it work to transfer it to someone else?”
Allie shrugged. “Never tried. Should we test it again?”
“I guess so.” There wasn’t an ounce of confidence in my voice.
Allie and I spent the better part of the afternoon in the valley trying to get something to appear in my hand. But nothing did.
My frustrations grew. How could Allie act like this was so easy? She wouldn’t know what struggle was if it slapped her in the face.
Maybe she needs a slap in the face. The girl’s too perfect for her own good.
After several hours, I thought I felt something out of the ordinary sizzle in my palm, but it only lasted a second. The next moment, voices coming from the top of the valley distracted me.
“Crap,” Allie muttered.
I glanced toward the top of the staircase to see three figures headed our way. “What is it?”
Allie crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “It’s trouble.”
8
A thin girl with long blond hair led the way down the stairs. Two muscular guys followed behind her. She laughed at something one of them said.
“I thought no one came here,” I said to Allie.
Her expression contained a hint of disgust. “Only people from Galen High.”
I could tell when the group spotted us because their laughter died down instantly.
“Uh, maybe we should go,” I suggested. “We’ve been here long enough. They can have the valley to themselves.”
I didn’t need an audience.
“No way,” Allie argued. “We were here first.”
My eyes followed the group of three. The blonde held her head high and her back straight as if she owned the place. The two guys were good looking, even from this distance, but they almost looked too old to be in high school. It was like I’d stepped into some supernatural TV drama where all the actors were in their thirties even though they were supposed to be seventeen.
“Allie,” I pleaded. “I haven’t made any progress since we’ve been here. I don’t think I’ll start any time soon. Let’s go.”
Allie’s shoulders dropped. “Yeah, okay. It’s really not fun training around these guys anyway.”
“You don’t get along?”
That much was obvious.
She sighed. “They think they rule the school, but really the Saints are better than the Beasts.”
“Saints? Beasts?”
“We train in groups,” Allie explained. “Every group gets to choose their own team name. Marek, Kyle, and I train together with a couple others. Fletcher says the rivalry helps make us better.”
I wanted to ask more questions about the inner workings of Galen High, but before I could, Blondie and her two bodyguards reached us.
“What’s going on?” Blondie asked curiously. I half expected her to cross her arms and demand an answer.
“Uh, this is Ryn.” Allie gestured to me. “She just moved here. She’s starting at Galen this year.”
Blondie tilted her head slightly. “I didn’t know we were getting any new kids.”
“It was a last minute thing,” I told her vaguely.
“Welcome to Eagle Valley,” she said with a smile. “I’m Casey. This is Troy and Trenton.”
To my surprise, Casey held her hand out in my direction. I shook it, knowing I couldn’t refuse.
“What school did you used to go to?” Casey asked casually.
“I’ve been to a couple—ow!”
A pain shot through my toe. I glanced over at Allie, wondering why she’d stomped on me. By the look on her face, she didn’t want me to answer the question. When I glanced back at Casey, I realized she was asking which Davina school I’d been to. It was too late. Casey had already caught on.
“You mean you’ve never been to a Davina school before?” Her blond brows shot up.
“Well, uh… no, not exactly.” I began to feel vulnerable. I certainly wasn’t making a good first impression.
Except that Casey didn’t make fun of me or throw a snide remark my way like I thought she might.
Instead, she simply smiled. “Don’t feel bad. Trenton didn’t show up until sophomore year, and he’s going to be one of the best Protectors once we graduate. It’s loads of fun. You just want to make sure you end up on a good team. Some can be better than others.”
Her eyes darted toward Allie for a moment, who was desperately trying not to make eye contact.
I smiled back at her. “Thanks. I think I have a great team of people in mind already. Allie and I were just leaving. Have fun training.”
I grabbed Allie’s elbow and dragged her toward the stairs.
“She’s really good, you know,” Allie called back to Casey.
Casey crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “If you mean by your standards, I feel sorry for her.”
“Bite me,” Allie called, but my grip dug deeper into her arm as we distanced ourselves from the group of three Davina. “Ryn has powers you wouldn’t believe.”
“Okay.” Casey didn’t sound convinced. “I’ll believe that when I see it. Though, maybe your team could use the extra help.”
Allie finally drew her attention away from Casey when we hit the stairs.
“What a bitch,” she said under her breath. “She thinks they’re so much better, but we get ratings based on how good we are. We totally crushed them last year.”
“Allie,” I tried, but she didn’t respond between her complaints about Casey.
“Her team wouldn’t be half as good without Troy and Trenton on it. I could totally take her one-on-one.”
“Allie,” I hissed again halfway up the stairs.
“What?”
“Why would you say that?”
She blinked several times. “Well, she is a bitch.”
“No, not that. Why would you tell her I had amazing powers? I can’t even conjure a basic fireball. Do you want her to have something else to ridicule you with?”
Allie and I reached the top of the steps and entered the trees before she spoke again.
“First of all, they’re not fireballs. And besides, it’s not like it’s not true. Marek told me what happened the other night. I wish I was sober enough to have seen it. He said you were amazing.”
“I didn’t know what I was doing! I wasn’t any better than he was. He knocked one of them out.”
“Yeah, but you—” Allie’s voice stopped dead.
“What?” I demanded.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Her tone grew soft. “They didn’t tell you, did they?”
“Tell me what?”
Our pace slowed, but Allie moved ahead of me. A waterfall of black hair concealed her face. “I’m not sure I should be the one to tell you. I think Fletcher should.”
“What’s going on?” My voice rose.
I knew there was a lot left to learn, but I didn’t like the idea of anyone omitting information. I thought being one of them meant I could trust them.
Allie brushed her fingers through her hair like she was uncomfortable. “I’m sure they didn’t mean to keep it from you. Honestly, it’s easy to forget how much you don’t know. The rest of us grew up with this stuff. It’s kind of common sense to us.”
My skin heated. “Are you saying I’m stupid?”
“What?” Allie looked genuinely shocked. “No. Of course not. I just—I don’t think I can explain it well enough.”
We stepped out of the trees at the back of Galen High. Allie stopped and turned to me.
She spoke in a small voice. “I don’t think it’s something you should hear from me. Please trust me.”
I sighed, feeling bad for how uncomfortable I made her. “We don’t know each other that well yet, Allie, but I do trust you.”
That doesn’t mean I can’t be mad at you.
We drove home in silence.
Allie turned to me when we pulled into her driveway. “You should stay the night.”
“I can’t.” Not if she was going to keep secrets from me. “Mom’s going to throw a big enough fit as it is about how we never spend time together.”
“Maybe I should stay at your house, then,” she suggested.
Sure. Just invite yourself over. How nice of you.
“I’d have to ask my mom,” I said.
“You really shouldn’t be alone, Ryn. Not with the demons out there.”
I made a point to glance up and down our street. “I don’t see any demons. I’ll be fine, Allie. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I opened the door and hurried across her lawn to my house. I started up the stairs to my room, but the sound of my name stopped me.
I peeked into the living room. “What?”
Mom sat on the couch crocheting her afghan. “Why didn’t you finish your chores?”
Excuse me? I’d done the dishes and cleaned the bathroom and the living room. I’d even gone so far as to scrub the toilet and vacuum the carpets. Did she somehow know Allie had helped me?
“What do you mean?” I asked innocently. I was innocent.
“You have a pile of dirty laundry in the basement.”
Oh, right. That.
“I’ll get to it. I promise.”
Just not now.
“Okay…” She didn’t quite sound convinced, but she didn’t push it.
I took it as an invitation to ignore her.
In my room, I plopped down on the bed and pulled out my phone. If Allie wasn’t going to tell me the truth, I’d talk to someone who would.
Can we talk?
I stared down at my text on the screen. I’d texted Marek thirteen minutes ago, and he still hadn’t responded. What kind of freak goes longer than ten minutes without texting someone back?
Maybe he was out riding his bike.
The phone shook in my hand. I contemplated sending him another text in case he hadn’t seen the first notification, but I didn’t want to seem desperate.
Except I was desperate.
Thirteen minutes turned into twenty. Twenty-three minutes after sending the first text, I began typing out a second message. Before I could finish and hit send, my phone chimed. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach.
Sorry, I’m busy.
My excitement quickly died. What could he possibly be doing? Modeling underwear?
I need to talk to you, I texted back.
His response came six minutes later. No time.
I stared at the screen and read his text
at least five times. Allie wasn’t willing to talk to me, and Marek was busy. Did I have any other options?
Do you have Fletcher’s number? I texted.
At least he’d tell me the truth.
Marek’s next text came almost instantly. Are you in trouble?
No. Why would he think that? I just have more questions.
Sorry. He’s busy, too.
My fingers pressed hard against the screen as I typed. Doing what?
He’s with me.
Obviously, they couldn’t both be modeling underwear. What were they up to?
We’ll talk tomorrow, his text said. Gotta go.
Tomorrow seemed too far away.
9
By the way I screamed, you would’ve guessed I was being murdered. Over the roar of the wind, I didn’t think even Marek could hear my screeching. We sped quickly down a secluded road near the edge of town the following afternoon. I wrapped my arms tightly around his torso.
“Slow down!” I cried, but I didn’t think he heard me. I tried to peek over his shoulder to view the speedometer on his bike, but I didn’t want to loosen my grip on his body. We had to be doing at least twenty miles per hour over the speed limit, and our speed was only increasing.
My screams turned into laughter. “Seriously, slow down,” I called, but I sounded anything but serious.
Marek had said he wanted to show me something fun. I didn’t think he meant this. I squeezed my eyes shut. For a moment, I could imagine myself flying.
Marek slowed the bike. I was surprised to find a wave of disappointment wash over me. He pulled over to the side of the road and twisted toward me. I forced myself to release him. Cool air rushed between us.
“Having fun yet?” he asked.
No matter how much I tried to suppress the smile on my face, it only grew wider. “I’m having more fun than I thought I would.”
“Good.”
“I thought you said earlier you were going to show me magic.”
“No,” Marek corrected. “I said I was going to show you something like magic.”
I laughed. “That’s not fair.”
Marek smirked. “Oh, you thought the bike ride was it? No, this is just a warmup. What I’m going to show you is much, much more amazing.”
