by Alicia Rades
I bit my bottom lip.
“I didn’t mean you, Ryn. I saw what you can do. You’re a Davina through and through.”
“Then why is it so hard for me to conjure essence? You do it so effortlessly.”
“Believe me, it wasn’t always so easy.” Marek reached out and forced my chin toward him.
I didn’t resist.
He held my gaze intensely, never dropping his fingers from the side of my face. “You’re doing amazing so far. I mean it.”
I stared into his mesmerizing blue eyes, trying to convince myself he was telling the truth.
Marek shifted forward on the bench until we were just inches apart. It would be so easy to lean over and kiss him.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and we instantly jumped apart. I sighed and stood. It was my mother.
Where are you?
Hanging out with friends, I texted back. Just like I’d told her earlier.
It’s getting late. Which was code for I want you home right now. Probably so I could cook her dinner.
I’ll be home soon.
I turned back to Marek, who looked at me curiously. “Sorry. My mom wants me home. I should go.”
Marek stood abruptly. “Let me drive you.”
“No—” I started to say, but I cut off. I didn’t want to walk home alone in the dark. “Okay, but on one condition.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
I smirked playfully. “Drive slow this time.”
15
We pulled up in front of my house too soon. I wanted to hold onto him longer.
I was surprised when Marek walked me to the door. I turned to him with my hand on the doorknob. The porch light illuminated his features. His eyes danced across my face, and his lips curled into a hint of a smile.
I hardly knew Marek, and already I had this urge to give him a hug goodbye. After everything he’d done for me, I felt like he at least deserved that much.
“What?” he asked curiously.
I wasn’t bold enough to hug him first.
“I still have so many questions.” It was only an excuse to keep him here longer.
“Like what?” he asked.
He reached out a hand to tuck a strand of stray hair behind my ear. My skin heated where he’d touched me. It didn’t even seem like he noticed what he’d done.
I dropped my hand from the doorknob. I’d much rather stay out here talking to Marek than go inside. I didn’t want him to leave.
“I don’t know. Is there more I should know? Besides the fireballs and flying, what else can we do?”
“We can heal,” he said. “Ever been sick, Ryn?”
“No,” I answered automatically. The reality of it hit me so hard it nearly took my breath away. I sank into the porch swing.
Marek sat beside me. “What is it?”
I knotted my hands in my lap. It wasn’t exactly a deep, dark secret, but I hadn’t really talked about it before. It was the reason Mom wouldn’t let me drive anymore.
“I was in a bad car accident last spring,” I said. “The doctors couldn’t believe how fast I healed.”
Marek gazed at me with a look of concern. “What happened?”
I was surprised at how easy it was to open up to him. “We didn’t have anything worth cooking in the house, so Mom sent me to the grocery store to pick up a few things. On the way home, a group of people from my high school ran a red light and hit me. I fractured my leg and broke a couple of ribs.”
Marek gasped. “Ryn, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m okay now,” I assured him. “The funny thing about it is that the accident is one of the reasons I came here.”
He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“I told you Mom always chooses where we move next.”
Marek nodded.
“Well, when I was in the hospital, Mom asked if there was anything she could do to make things better. My only request was that I got to choose where we moved next. She agreed.”
Not that she cared about any of that anymore. It was like she didn’t even remember the accident happened.
“Instinct told me to take another route, but I ignored it,” I said. “After that, I swore I would listen to my instincts more often. I guess my instinct led me here.”
“Grace led you here,” Marek emphasized.
His words struck me, and we both fell silent as we rocked back and forth on the porch swing. My mind flew through everything I’d learned over the past few days.
A thought suddenly occurred to me. If we had the power to heal, what had given Marek those scars on his back?
“How good is this healing power?” I asked.
“Pretty good.” He shrugged. “I mean, it still hurt when you broke your leg, didn’t it? You’d heal about three times faster, though.”
“What about you? Do you heal the same as other Davina?” I thought about how Marek said some Davina didn’t have full powers and wondered if he was one of them.
His features hardened. “It’s not the perfect power. It doesn’t heal everything. When things are bad enough…” He didn’t finish.
My hand inched closer to his. “You can tell me.”
He immediately swatted me away. “I told you before I didn’t want to talk about it.”
I stared at him in confusion. “Why did you show me if you didn’t expect me to ask about it?”
“I didn’t mean to.” He grew irritated with each passing second.
“You told me everything else.”
Marek stood abruptly. “Don’t make me out to be the jerk, Ryn. Some of it you don’t need to know. Maybe some of it I can’t talk about.”
I gaped at him. How could he go so quickly from being playful, fun-loving Marek to the irritated, closed-off guy standing in front of me?
“Go inside, Ryn,” Marek said. It wasn’t a suggestion. “Stay safe.”
My heart sank. I hadn’t meant to offend him. I was only trying to offer him comfort while trying to make sense of everything I’d learned so far.
I pressed my lips together and stood. I wasn’t interested in picking a fight with him, so I did as he ordered.
But inside didn’t offer me sanctuary.
I’d stepped away from one fight just to walk into another.
“Where have you been all afternoon?” Mom stood in the hall with her hands on her hips.
“I told you, I was hanging out with friends.”
Mom pressed her lips into a thin line. “When you said friends, I thought you meant Allie. Who’s the guy on the bike?”
Crap. She’d seen that.
“A friend,” I insisted vaguely.
Is that what we were? Friends?
“He’s a friend of Allie’s,” I clarified. “He offered to drive me home.”
“Home from where?” she demanded.
“His house,” I told her truthfully.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s completely irresponsible. I haven’t met his parents.”
“So?” I snapped. “I’m almost eighteen.”
Mom’s eyebrows raised so far they nearly touched her hairline. It was like she couldn’t believe I had the audacity to point it out.
“You’re not eighteen yet.” She said it like it was a threat. “And until you are, I want to know where you’re at.”
Yeah, I doubted that was going to end once I turned eighteen.
“I don’t want to have to worry about you,” she said.
I wasn’t buying that line. The truth was she wanted to control me as long as possible.
“I’m fine.” I heard the lie in my own voice. Maybe she had a reason to worry, but it wasn’t like I could tell her about what happened earlier.
By the way, Mom. I’m a Davina. Ever heard of them? I wasn’t sure that was a conversation I wanted to have.
Best not, I told myself. Mom’s better off not knowing. She said goodbye to my insanity a long time ago. I don’t need to drag her back into it.
“And
I don’t want you riding a motorcycle,” she demanded. “With a guy I don’t even know, no less.”
“There’s nothing wrong with him. And he’s a good driver.” No point in mentioning how fast he liked to drive. She’d never let me see him again.
“That doesn’t matter,” she argued. “Motorcycles are dangerous.”
She was just jealous she didn’t have a hot biker dude to run away with. She hadn’t dated my whole life.
“How am I supposed to get around town, then?” I asked. “You won’t let me drive.”
She didn’t seem to care that the accident wasn’t my fault. I still couldn’t get behind the wheel.
“You have two feet,” she pointed out. “And there’s a bicycle in the garden shed.”
So my only options were to walk or bike anywhere I wanted to go? I was seventeen, not twelve.
I rolled my eyes. After everything that happened to me today, I didn’t deserve this. “Whatever, I’m going to bed.”
I stared up the stairs, but Mom apparently wasn’t done chewing me out.
“Don’t you use that tone with me,” she scolded.
She huffed when I ignored her. She mumbled something about teenagers, but I didn’t hear her as I hurried down the hall and into my room.
As soon as I fell down onto my bed, exhaustion consumed me. As I was falling asleep, something Fletcher had said resurfaced in my mind. He said he’d stop by on Monday to talk about my enrollment at Galen High.
I had a feeling after the way I just spoke to my mother, she wasn’t going to be easy to convince.
16
Fletcher’s visit couldn’t come soon enough the next day. I waited eagerly in the living room that morning untangling balls of yarn Mom had bought from a garage sale. I didn’t put up a fight when she’d asked me to do it because I wanted to stay on her good side.
By the time lunch hit, the doorbell still hadn’t rung. I was starting to wonder if Fletcher would actually show.
Finally, the sound of footsteps on the porch caught my attention. I hopped up from the couch when the doorbell rang. The floorboards in Mom’s home office creaked above my head.
I swung the door open a bit too quickly.
Fletcher greeted me with a smile.
I was surprised to see a woman standing beside him. She was a head shorter than him, with short dark hair and an air of professionalism in the way she held herself.
Fletcher wore his usual button-down collared shirt, and the woman had on a navy pantsuit. They both looked strangely formal standing on my front porch.
“Miss Tyler,” Fletcher greeted. “This is Mrs. Presley. We’ve come to discuss your enrollment.”
“Yes, come in.” I opened the door wider. “Just so you know, Mom doesn’t know about the Davina.” And I didn’t intend to tell her.
Fletcher nodded in understanding.
The soft pad of footsteps on the stairs caught my attention. Mom descended the stairs slowly, and a confused expression settled on her face. I hadn’t known how to tell her about Fletcher earlier. I thought he might have a better idea how to introduce the topic.
“Ah,” Fletcher said, looking up at her. “You must be Mrs. Tyler. I’m Mr. Fletcher, an advisor at Galen High School. This is Mrs. Presley, our principal.”
Mom reached the bottom of the stairs and stretched out a hand. “Hello. For what do I owe the pleasure?” She didn’t sound anything like herself.
Mrs. Presley spoke for the first time. Her voice was at least a pitch higher than I expected. “We’re partnered with Eagle Valley High to review incoming students’ transcripts, and we believe that Kathryn would be a great fit at our school. We’d love to discuss the opportunity with you.”
“Sure,” my mother agreed, confusion still layered in her tone. “Why don’t we have a seat in the living room? Can I get you anything?”
“No.” Mrs. Presley sat on the couch and adjusted the coat on her pantsuit. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“No, thank you,” Fletcher told her.
Mom and I sat on the loveseat across from them.
Mrs. Presley opened a folder on her lap and glanced up at my mom with a smile. “I apologize that this is on short notice, but seeing as you just moved to the area, it’s to be expected. As I said, we’ve reviewed Kathryn’s transcript and think she would make a great fit at Galen High.”
She glanced back down at her papers. “Her grades are good, all A’s and B’s, and she’s been involved in extracurriculars all throughout high school.”
I didn’t know what record she was looking at, but it couldn’t have been that accurate, unless she counted the prom committee at my last school.
“I’m sorry,” my mom stopped her. “Public school has served Kathryn well her whole life. What is it that Galen thinks they can offer her?”
My jaw nearly dropped to the floor at her words. Did she not want me to go? I had to go. I needed all the help I could get if I wanted to learn what I was capable of.
“But Mom,” I started.
Fletcher was already speaking. “We have a very intense curriculum that would suit a student of Kathryn’s talent.”
“I apologize,” Mom said. “I know my daughter is talented, but—”
“Mom,” I interjected. “I want to go.”
She stared at me. “Is it because Allie goes there? You’ll make new friends at Eagle Valley High just as well.”
“It’s a smaller school,” I tried. It sounded unconvincing, even to me. “I’ll have an easier time getting to know people and connecting with my teachers. I’ve always liked smaller schools anyway.”
Mom pressed her lips together. “Maybe we should discuss this a little more.”
Mrs. Presley shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I’m sorry, but is there something wrong with our school?”
Mom looked shocked. “No, I just—we just…” She glanced at me like I might be able to help her find the right words. Her confession came out in a near whisper. “We don’t have money for a private school.”
The two Davina across from me relaxed.
“Not to worry,” Mrs. Presley assured her. “Kathryn is eligible for a full scholarship. It won’t cost you a penny more than putting her in public school.”
I hadn’t thought of the costs, but it’s not like there was any other option. I was a Davina. I belonged at Galen High.
The thought sent a nervous shiver down my spine—in a surprisingly good way. Mom and I moved around so much that I never felt like I belonged anywhere. For the first time in my life, I did.
I wasn’t alone. The demons weren’t just in my head. Sure, I’d been able to ignore them for the better part of a decade, but they were always there, lurking in my peripheral vision, their voices filling an otherwise quiet room. The other Davina knew what that was like.
More than that, the demons didn’t come into Eagle Valley. I could stay here and forget about them.
“Can I go, Mom?” I pleaded.
She didn’t answer for a moment. “We should really talk about this more, in private.”
“But there’s only two weeks left before school starts!” I argued.
I knew my mom. She was going to put off talking about it for so long that I’d miss enrolling by the first day of school. She never let me have anything I wanted.
“If you need the time to think about it, we can leave the paperwork here,” Mrs. Presley offered. “You can take your time reading through it. I’ll write my cell number down so you can call with any questions.”
I gave her a reluctant smile. I felt anything but cheerful. “Thanks.”
“Yes, thank you,” Mom said. “We’ll consider it.”
Sure we will, I thought sarcastically.
Mrs. Presley stood and shook both of our hands. She held onto mine a little longer. “We hope to see you soon.”
I smiled back. “Thank you.”
Fletcher shook my mom’s hand and then mine. What felt like far too soon, they left.
Mom turned t
o me after leading them out the door. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me with a hard expression.
Here we go again.
I bit my lower lip. “So, can I go to Galen?”
I expected Mom to sit on the couch across from me so we could talk about it, but she remained standing.
“Why are you so interested in going?” she asked with an edge to her tone.
Because I’m a Davina like the rest of them.
“Have you seen Galen High?” I asked rhetorically. “It’s beautiful. It’d be cool to go there my senior year.”
She pressed her lips into such a thin line that they practically disappeared. “Does that boy go there?”
“What boy?” I asked innocently.
“The one with the motorcycle.”
Oh. That boy.
“Yeah, but that’s not why—”
Her brows shot up. “Oh, that’s not why. I was a teenager once, too, you know.”
Oh, hells no. She wasn’t keeping me from Galen High just to keep me away from a boy.
I shot up out of my seat. “You don’t want me to go because you think I’m whoring around?”
Her nostrils flared. So much for staying on her good side.
“I never said that!” she defended.
My eyebrow twitched challengingly. “You didn’t have to.”
Mom dropped her arms to her sides and huffed. “Kathryn, you’re being ridiculous.”
I rolled my eyes. “So I guess that’s a no. I’m not going to Galen High.”
“I’m still considering it, but if you keep up this attitude, the answer will be no.”
“There’s no reason not to let me go,” I insisted. “They’re giving me a scholarship.”
“And I said we’d think about it.”
I huffed. “You never let me do anything I want to do.”
“Oh, really? Who chose to move us to Eagle Valley?”
“You chose to move us,” I emphasized. “You always choose to move us. We move so often I never get a chance to make any real friends. Allie’s the best friend I’ve had in over a decade, and now you’re taking my last chance at making real friends away.”
