by Alicia Rades
Maybe something had changed between us this time.
My friends arrived an hour later. The doctor hadn’t come to check on me yet. I guess when you’re not dying, you don’t get the expedited hospital discharge procedure.
I convinced Mom she should visit the craft store while we were nearby and that I’d be fine without her. I needed the privacy.
Allie rushed into the room and pulled me into a hug. “How are you?”
I shrugged. “A little weak, but I’ll survive.”
My eyes traveled past Kyle and Fletcher to land on Marek. His face was covered in bruises, but they already looked a few days old thanks to his fast healing abilities.
Marek stared at me like I was the only person in the room. He stood still for several long seconds, holding my gaze. Then, like he couldn’t hold back any longer, he closed the distance between us in two long strides and bent to place a kiss on my forehead.
My heart danced in my chest.
Marek pressed his forehead to mine. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispered. “Don’t ever do something like that again.”
It took me a moment to recover from his sudden display of affection.
I pulled away from him. “What do you mean?”
“Sacrificing yourself for the rest of us,” he said. “Dorian was bluffing, Ryn. He didn’t have the power to get you on his side; you’re so much stronger than him. He was playing off your loyalty. Every move he made was meant to scare you.”
I let out a breath in disbelief. “And you couldn’t have pointed that out to me sooner?” I swatted at him.
He caught my wrist and laughed lightly.
I glanced toward everyone else. “You’re all okay, then?”
Allie sat in the chair beside my bed. “We’re all fine. It’s you we’re worried about.”
“Don’t be,” I insisted. “Just tell me what happened. Did Dorian get away?”
Fletcher stuck his hands in his pockets and stepped forward. He gazed down at his feet like he was about to deliver bad news.
“What?” I asked in alarm. “What happened?”
“I know you dislike the idea of killing the Aedes,” Fletcher said, “even if it’s what Davina do, but it had to be done.”
“You killed them?” I asked. “How? They had you all tied up.”
Fletcher shook his head. “No, Ryn. You killed them.”
Confusion struck. Had I heard him properly?
I furrowed my brow. “No, I didn’t.”
At least, I didn’t remember.
Marek took my hand and nodded. “You used the Power of Grace.”
My eyes widened. “That explosion that came from me… it killed them?”
“Yes,” Fletcher confirmed. “It almost killed you, too.”
I was struck silent, trying to make sense of it all.
Finally, I spoke. “How’d it kill the demons and not the rest of you?”
“We were lucky,” Kyle said.
“It was a matter of circumstance,” Fletcher explained. “The power came from your heart. It expanded at chest-level and missed those of us on the ground.”
I suddenly realized how close I’d come to killing my friends. If the demons hadn’t forced them to their knees, they’d be dead, too.
I dropped my gaze to my hands. “I didn’t mean to kill anyone.”
Marek squeezed my hand tighter. “No one’s judging you, Ryn. You did what had to be done. Any other Davina would’ve done the same.”
I looked up at him. “But I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Perhaps that’s what allowed you to summon so much power,” Fletcher suggested. “It was never your intention to kill. It was your intention to save.”
I considered Fletcher’s words. I’d done what I had to in order to save them.
“Maybe the power came because I discovered the secret to unlocking it,” I suggested.
Fletcher raised his eyebrows. The other three leaned in closer.
“I thought I conjured essence when I was angry,” I told them. “But I was really angry when I was running through the woods, and I still couldn’t manage to defend myself. It was only when that demon attacked Allie that anything actually happened. This whole time, that’s been the key. I’ve only conjured essence when I was trying to protect someone.”
I thought about the first time I’d conjured essence when I was eight. It was because Clinton was a danger to my mother.
“The first time at the party, I was defending Allie from that douche bag Tad,” I pointed out. “That same night, I was defending Marek from the demon I killed. When we were practicing, I only felt a spark when Kyle was going off at Marek about stuff. See? I’ve only been making it work when I thought one of my friends was in danger.”
“Hey,” Kyle said defensively. “I wasn’t putting Marek in danger.”
“You were still being a dick,” Marek accused.
Kyle shrugged like he couldn’t argue with that.
“It’s an interesting theory,” Fletcher mused.
I stretched my hand out in front of me. “I think now that I know what was holding me back, I may be able to break through this.”
I concentrated hard on my palm, flexing my muscles and picturing a white fireball.
Allie drew in a breath beside me.
A white orb rose from my palm. It wasn’t the powerful purple it had been when we were fighting, but it was progress. I smiled involuntarily and then closed my palm. It disappeared in my fist.
I looked back at Fletcher. “I still have so many questions. How’d you end up fighting with us?”
Allie laughed and shot a glance at Marek. “Same way we did. Marek’s fireworks display.”
Marek scowled at her.
Fletcher nodded. “I was out in search of signs of the Aedes when I saw James’s light show. I thought it was lightning at first.”
“Yeah, so did we,” I said. “I’m also curious about the knife. How’d it work on the demons?”
“It’s a Davina Blade,” Fletcher answered.
I remembered he had mentioned them before, about how they came from the Davina realm and were one of their only weapons.
“You had one this whole time?” I asked.
Kyle smirked beside him. “It was my dad’s. He was a Protector. And a damn good one.”
Fletcher nodded. “I knew him. Your family should’ve returned that blade after your father’s death. Someone’s surely wondering why the Protectors are a blade short.”
“It was my dad’s,” Kyle bit harshly. “Besides, it came in quite handy. You’re not going to make me return it to the Protectors, are you?”
Fletcher fell silent for a moment while considering the question. “No. I think we may want to keep it for now.”
“Good. Because I’m not giving it back,” Kyle said.
I took a deep breath. “What happened to me afterward?”
“I told you before that the power of an Original is too much for a mortal body to handle,” Fletcher explained. “You accessed too much at once. You went into cardiac arrest.”
I gasped. “Oh my God. How did I—?”
“Marek,” Kyle answered. “Marek saved you.”
I looked up at Marek.
He nodded slightly. “I used the blade to cut the fabric off my wrists. I gave you CPR until the medics showed up.”
Tears of gratitude rose to my eyes.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He shook his head lightly. “You don’t have to thank me.”
I didn’t care what Marek said. To me, he was truly an angel.
30
“Why are you stopping?” I asked.
Marek slowed his bike outside of town the next day. He parked along the shoulder of the road. “I told you I wanted to show you something.”
“In the middle of nowhere?” I glanced around us.
A large hill covered in trees rose above us on the left side of the road, and a lush green meadow spanned the landscape to o
ur right. A calm breeze rustled through the grass.
“Yeah,” he answered, climbing off the bike.
I wasn’t ready to let him go. All I wanted was to hang onto him tighter, but I reluctantly released him. I stepped onto the pavement and removed the helmet.
“Leave it on the bike,” Marek said. “No one will bother it. Come on, it’s this way.”
Butterflies danced in my stomach when he grabbed my hand.
He didn’t seem to notice. He looked both ways before leading me across the road.
I scanned the sunny landscape as we walked down the shoulder of the road. “Where are you taking me?”
A wide grin spread across his face. “It’s right there.”
Several paces later, I noticed a break in the trees ahead of us. Slowly, the wonder he’d pointed out began to reveal itself. Piles of rock climbed the hill between the trees, forming a natural staircase. I imagined a waterfall once trickled through the area.
“Let’s go.” Marek released my hand and began climbing the dry falls.
I followed behind him.
Heaven help me. His ass looked perfect from this angle.
I tried to focus less on that and more on maintaining my footing. I used my hands to pull myself over tall rocks.
I tried to keep up with Marek, but he rushed like he’d done this a million times. He seemed to know exactly where to place his hands and feet to propel him up the hill.
Soon, the rocks became smaller and easier to climb over. I stood upright. I dusted my hands off on my jeans just as we broke through the trees onto a rocky hilltop.
“Where are we—?”
I was stunned into silence when we reached the top of the hill. In front of us spanned the entirety of Eagle Valley. More trees than I ever realized filled the town, and houses of all colors and sizes graced the landscape.
The vibrant green landscape stretched for miles past our small town. I longed to fly above it and explore the gorgeous scenery from new angles.
Up here, the world felt full of possibilities.
Marek lowered himself to the ground and rested his elbows on his knees. I sat beside him.
We gazed out onto Eagle Valley in silence. I noticed the roof of Galen High peeking up through a thick layer of trees at the other end of town. I concentrated close on where I thought the valley was. I spotted a thinning of trees, but it was nearly impossible to see unless you were looking for it.
Marek broke the silence. “Did I mention yet that I’m sorry?”
I turned to him. “Sorry for what?”
Marek raked his fingers through his hair. “I feel terrible about what happened. I never meant to put you in danger. I was supposed to protect you.”
My heart sank. I hated to see him so upset.
“It all worked out in the end,” I reminded him.
He stared straight ahead, not looking at me. “This time. What about the next time you’re in danger?”
I shuddered at the thought. “Dorian’s gone. I’m not in any danger.”
Sadness fell across his face when he looked at me. “You can’t know that. You have the Power of Grace, Ryn. There are a lot of people who would like to see you dead before you can find Grace and wake her. The demons would love to see the gateways to their realm open again. Right now, you’re the only thing standing in their way.”
“But they don’t even know I have the Power of Grace. They don’t know a war is coming,” I argued.
“You don’t know Dorian didn’t tell anyone.”
I hated to think Marek was right, but as far as I knew, I’d killed everyone Dorian told.
“If Grace is somewhere in Eagle Valley like Fletcher thinks she is, it won’t take that long to find her,” I pointed out.
Marek raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any clues on where to start?”
I bit my lip. “Well, no. But Eagle Valley isn’t very big.” I gestured to the town to prove its size.
“Ryn,” he said softly. He glanced down at my hand resting on the ground then back up to my eyes.
My cheeks heated under his gaze. “Yeah?”
Marek reached out to slip his fingers into mine. “I want to be there to help you.”
The air between us suddenly seemed charged with energy.
“Help me what?” I asked breathlessly.
“Search for Grace. Prevent a bigger war.”
I nodded gratefully. “And I trust you’ll be there.”
It struck me how much I meant it. It’d been a long time since I felt I could count on someone the way I could with Marek.
His eyes danced across my face. “Just promise me something in return.”
I fell so deep into his eyes that I practically forgot where I was. My mouth grew dry. “Yeah?”
“Promise me you’ll be careful.” He spoke so softly that I barely heard him.
“I—I’m not sure I want to be,” I heard myself say.
“What do you mean?”
I could feel our bodies inching closer. “Sometimes, Marek, you have to take chances, even when they scare you. Even when the outcome could be as equally amazing as it could be devastating. You never know until you take that chance, until you—”
Marek’s lips connected with mine, silencing my words.
In that moment, I forgot what I was going to say. I forgot all about the danger we’d just been discussing. All that seemed to matter were his lips against mine, his fingers tangling themselves in my hair, and my hands running down his back.
My fingers grazed against the scars beneath his shirt. For a moment, I was shocked. Then I only wanted to drag him closer to me, for him to let me kiss him all over and heal whatever emotional pain he’d been through. I knew trying to erase his past would be futile, but in that moment, I thought maybe I had the power to help the boy I’d seen in my dream.
Marek pulled me even closer. His tongue grazed across my bottom lip.
Good lord. This was even better than flying.
Far too soon, we parted.
For a moment, all seemed well in the world, but I couldn’t help but hear Marek’s words echo in my mind.
This time.
This time, things had turned out okay, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Marek was right. There was going to be a next time. And I had the strangest feeling that next time would be even worse. We’d only just won the first fight.
I knew what lied ahead was going to be a very long battle.
Continue the series in book two, Touched by Grace.
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About the Author
Alicia Rades is a USA Today bestselling author of young adult paranormal fiction with a love for supernatural stories set in the modern world. When she’s not plotting out fiction novels, you can find her plowing her way through her never-ending reading list. Alicia holds a bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis on professional writing.
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