both keep rising in them. Emma, as the Keeper, you will
always have more.”
I nodded, almost miserably.
“I’ll be seeing you.”
She disappeared. I wish Louisa or Horatio had
come; they were much gentler with this whole situation. “Let’s go up,” Zach whispered in my ear. I looked at him, nodding, and then we made our
way up the stairs. My body was so sore, so tired from this
past week, that all I wanted to do was sleep. Zach being
right next to me was a comfort, and I went into my
bedroom. I collapsed onto my bed, sighing. I felt the bed
dip as Zach sat next to me.
“Emma—Hey, look at me.”
I opened my eyes, looking into his. He took my
hand and had me sit.
“What’s—?”
“Did he hit you?”
The question was sudden, and it caught me
unawares. Zach’s voice was filled with anger and hate,
but the worry was evident.
“Oh,” I mumbled. “He. . . he broke a lot of bones.
He kept saying I had to ‘learn’. I had to do what he said,
to do what spells he demanded of me, or he’d break
something.” I shuddered. “He has no sense of personal
space.”
“Did he—Did he touch you?” I met his eyes, aware of what he was thinking. I
touched his cheek. I shook my head.
“No, Zach. Not that way.”
“I saw the way he—how he touched you before
you Opened them, Emma.”
I swallowed.
“That was the extent of it,” I whispered. “Just
enough to make me uncomfortable.”
“Then why are you bruised? You have bruises on
your face and your neck—”
“I have a lot of bruises right now.”
It came out before I could stop it, and Zach’s eyes
darkened significantly.
“Where?”
I sighed.
“Arms. Ribs. Probably elsewhere, too, I’m just not
sure. I can’t—I can’t remember all that happened
yesterday. It’s blurred together.”
He swallowed thickly.
“Let me fix you.”
My eyes flickered between his, and then I nodded.
He helped me out of my jacket, and then he touched
every bruise with a featherlike essence. Goosebumps
covered my arms as his fingers ghosted over the purple
and green marks. It took him mere minutes to remove all
the bruising he could see, and then he kissed me. It was
long and deep, and I could feel the healing spell seeping
its way across whole of me.
When we broke apart, tears were in my eyes. I
know it wasn’t Zach’s intention, but every time he
healed a bruise, my brain was flooded with negativity.
Zach must have understood, for he rotated us: he lay on
his back and pulled me up against his side, his arms
secure around me. I moved so my head rested on his
chest, and tightened my hand into a fist among the fabric
of his shirt. He detached it immediately, instead locking
our hands together.
“Please don’t leave me,” I begged.
If he left me now, I don’t know how I would
survive this. It hurt too much.
“I will never leave you.”
****
Zach’s presence soothed me close to sleep. He
had wrapped a blanket around me, tucking me in almost like a cocoon. He still held me, his thumbs brushing against both the back of my hand and against my shoulder at a gentle, relaxing pace. I was able to banish the negativity of the week- of what Lucas had done- from my mind, just by being in Zach’s arms.
When the door downstairs slammed shut, I gasped and jumped, only to have Zach squeeze my hand in reassurance. He got off my bed and I followed him, standing by his side with my arms laced through his.
I felt him itching for a fight, but I felt no pain, only peace.
“No,” I whispered. “It’s—”
Our parents were in my room a second later, and I released the breath I was holding. Zach and I had to separate, to be embraced by our parents. I felt his consciousness on the edge of mine, however, emitting a comforting dose of our current.
“Emma—Oh, Emma, are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
Mom’s hands fidgeted against my arms.
“I’m fine,” I promised. I couldn’t tell her what he’d done; she’d blame herself even more than she probably already was.
I heard Zach assure his parents of the same, but the skepticism was heavy in the air.
“Were you two together?”
I focused on Zach’s presence instead of the memories that were being combative against my resolve. Thankfully Zach seemed to know exactly what I was doing, for he answered.
“The first time we saw each other was this morning.”
Five pairs of eyes fell on me and I shifted on my feet, clasping my hands together.
“He was persistently annoying,” I mumbled.
“Emma—” Dad started.
“He kept making me do spells. Doing. . . Keeper stuff.” I whispered the last bit, my eyes dropping away from the look on my parents’ faces.
“How long—”
“I really don’t want to talk about this.”
“Emma—”
“No. Please, Mom, I can’t.”
My parents looked up at Zach, who had come to stand by me, his hands rubbing my shoulders.
“Did you know?” Dad demanded, his stance becoming defensive.
“I told him before the trial. I had to.”
“Why?”
“I was going insane, I had to tell someone.”
“You couldn’t tell us?”
“Later,” I begged.
“Zach. . . we should head home. Ian and Addy are really worried. . .” said Mrs. Stone.
Zach looked back at his mother, hesitating. Swallowing my fears, I turned to face Zach.
“Go,” I whispered. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
His eyes looked pained.
“Are you sure?”
Not really, I thought.
I nodded.
“Yes. I’ll be safe; my parents are here.”
He hesitated, but then nodded, and kissed me gently.
“I’m here the second you need me.”
I nodded, and he hugged me tightly, lingering. But then he left. I watched him until he was completely out of sight, and stayed quiet until I no longer felt the current.
Then, I turned and faced my parents.
“Why didn’t you tell us, Emma?” Dad asked.
“I couldn’t. The Council asked me not to.”
“We’re your parents!” he objected.
“You would have wanted the Council to take them away.”
“Them?” Mom asked.
“The Galaxies.”
“Of course we would!” Dad exclaimed. “They put you in danger!”
“They didn’t!” I objected, the fierce need to protect them igniting in me again. “They are the only reason I’m alive right now.”
“Everyone’s—” Mom started.
“What’s everyone saying? That I’m selfish for putting them in danger?”
“Emma!” she cried.
“No, Mom. That’s what they did when they found out about him attacking me the first time! The story that Lucas Adler had attacked Emma Fitch was headline news and now they can just gossip about me some more! ‘Emma Fitch: The Keeper of the Galaxies’!” I watched them watching me. “I didn’t ask to be the Keeper. The Council chose me to be the Keeper and now I can’t have a normal life. Lucas will always be after me, there will be
constant headlines about me, and I can’t even go out into public without people whispering behind their hands.
“I just want to finish school without any more gossip, but I can’t do that. I want to get through the day without worrying if Lucas has gotten to either of you. Every time one of my professors asks to speak with me alone I start to panic because he could have gotten to you.
“And what I want is to have one calm day with Zach. I love him but we can’t—we can’t be normal with this. Every second I’m worrying about whether or not he’s okay, and I hate that. I want to know that he is always okay. If I could change how things are with this, with being the Keeper, I would. Trust me, I would change it. This is too much stress for me!”
“Then ask for them to be taken out,” Mom suggested. “Tell them you can’t!”
I stared at her.
“But I want them. I need them. It. . . They’re like my conscious sometimes. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
With faltering looks at each other, my parents nodded, and they hugged me.
“We’re right down the hall if you need us,” Dad said.
“We love you, Em,” assured Mom.
“I love you, too.”
One more hug, and they left, closing the door most of the way. The candles were immediately extinguished, the curtains drawn. I changed into more comfortable clothing, and collapsed into a dreamless slumber.
The Life and Times of E. Fitch
I woke up in the morning to the heavy scent of
breakfast wafting up the stairs. Another sniff told me someone was baking cookies. Wait—cookies? I rolled over onto my back, pushing the covers back so I had more motivation to get out of bed. Zach’s spell had done the trick; I wasn’t sore this morning. Well, physically, at least. . .
I slipped on a pair of fuzzy socks and a sweater before heading to the kitchen. The second I got off the stairs, however, Clara popped up out of nowhere. I shrieked, scrambling backwards and falling upon the stairs. My parents were out of the kitchen a second later, Mom looking about frantically.
“I’m sorry!” Clara cried, her hands balled up under her chin. “I didn’t mean to!”
“You just. . . startled me, is all,” I breathed, getting off the steps and winding my arms around my middle.
“I wanted to see you. I’m so sorry, Em!”
“It’s fine, Clare. I’m just. . .”
“I won’t do it again, I promise!”
“It’s okay,” I pressed, hugging her.
“Ugh. I was supposed to make you feel better!”
I couldn’t figure out what to tell her, so I just forced a smile and went into the kitchen, sniffing.
“Are those—?”
“Ginger snaps,” Mom responded, nodding. “I wanted your day to start on a good note. . .”
She handed a cookie to me and I bit into it immediately.
“Hopefully it ends on a good note,” I mumbled. The three of them stared at me. “Um. . . I’m gonna go shower.”
****
I dressed warmly, still half-expecting Lucas to
come torture me again. That he. . . No. He couldn’t get in here. Dad had upped the security spells on the house the first time Lucas had attacked me. . . But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be waiting for me outside. The thought made me hesitantly make my way to my window. I moved the curtains aside just an inch, and found that there was someone outside.
I raced down the stairs, calling for my father. He came out of the living room just as I made it to the foyer, looking for danger.
“What? What is it?”
“There are a whole bunch of people on our driveway.”
“What?”
“I think they’re reporters,” I answered quietly. “Some of them have cameras, others notepads.”
His eyes narrowed and he stood up straight.
“Stay here.”
He went out front, slamming the door shut behind him. I hastened to the door, using a spell to extend my hearing.
“Get off my lawn!”
The reporters threw questions at him, asking where I was. Asking all sorts of questions about me being the Keeper. I heard more people arrive, but when they started telling the reporters they were trespassing and if they were on this block or within two hundred feet of me, they would be tossed into jail, I realized they must work for Dad.
I cut off the extended hearing when Dad started coming up the steps, hurrying back a few steps. He opened the door, looking disgruntled, but then he looked at me.
“They won’t be bothering you, Em.”
“Were they security from Ecerbion?” I questioned.
The corner of Dad’s mouth moved up, like he was trying not to smile.
“Yeah, they’re from the security team. They’ll be keeping watch on the house.”
I nodded, and then my head shot over to face the door.
“What’s wrong?”
I ignored him, slipping by him and out the doors. He yelled after me, but I was already halfway down the driveway.
“Zach!”
His eyes locked onto mine and he shoved past the security guard who was trying to keep him away. I leapt into his arms, holding him tight.
“He’s fine, Mike,” I heard Dad say.
I was too focused on the way Zach’s arms felt around mine to notice anything else, until Zach was whispering in my ear, “C’mon, let’s get inside.”
I nodded, gripping his hand as we followed Dad back inside.
“We’ll be in the living room if you need us,” Dad assured us, and we nodded, disappearing up the stairs.
**** Somehow it still surprises me how warm Zach is.
I felt as if I couldn’t get enough of him, of his warmth. I have been so cold this past week and no number of blankets did the trick last night. But, as I sat curled up against him in his arms on the couch, I found myself focusing on the rhythmic beating of his heart. I wasn’t cold anymore. And the current—it was so calm, and present. Not like it had been for the past week. Still, being apart from Zach but still feeling the current had gotten me thinking about it. I knew it was my Galaxies, not that Zach and I were the Kahi. I knew it was my Galaxies protecting Zach as much as they could, so that—so that we could never be parted.
“They were outside my house, too,” Zach said conversationally, and I looked at him.
“I don’t know what they’re expecting,” I replied.
“They’re waiting for you to mess up. That’s what they told me, anyway.”
“I don’t understand.”
Zach took a breath.
“They said they’re waiting for you to do something that ends up with Adler getting you again, or for you to just. . . do something public with your Keeper powers.”
“They’re insane.”
“Don’t let them get to you, Em. They’re corrupt, remember?”
A smile tugged at my lips.
“Yeah, they are.” I sighed. “And ridiculous. I’m not doing any public Magic.”
“Did he say anything to you about why he told everyone?”
I shook my head.
“He wouldn’t answer.”
“He must have lost his mind,” Zach mused quietly, brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“I’m sure he did. He would. . .” I bit my lip, stopping myself from saying anymore.
“You can tell me.”
“I don’t think I can,” I said truthfully, moving my legs so they rested over his. The pins and needles started up, but I focused on ignoring them. Zach pulled the blanket over my legs, resting his hand on my knee.
“Why not?” he murmured.
I swallowed.
“I couldn’t put it into words, other than ‘torture.’”
Zach’s eyes went very dark, very fast.
“He tortured you? You said he broke bones, but—” He quieted momentarily. “You said he didn’t—”
I held his face between my hands, stopping him.
“No,
Zach. Don’t go there. Don’t let yourself think that! He didn’t.”
“But you said—”
“Shhh. . .” I pressed my lips softly to his. “Let me try something. I—I can’t tell you, but maybe, just maybe, I could show you.”
He looked at me curiously, but then he nodded. I took his hand in mine, locking our fingers together as I worked on bundling the memories of the past week together. Then I sent it to him, almost as if I were Pathing him, but it was stronger, and faster. Everything went to him in quick procession, but he would still be able to process it. His eyes became unfocused during the duration, but then he blinked heavily, and he pulled me completely onto his lap. His arms made a keep around me, and I burrowed my face in the hollow of his neck.
“I’m so sorry, Emma,” he said softly. “I should have been there. I should have gotten to you.”
“He made sure we couldn’t feel each other, Zach. I could barely feel the current the entire week. But I felt some, and that’s how I knew you were still alive. That he hadn’t been lying to me every morning.”
“But I should have been there.” He looked at me. “I swear to you, Emma, he won’t be able to keep us apart that easily again. I will never just lie down when we’re apart. I will always come back to you.”
How to be Your Own Security
I had hardly heard from Jessica and Thalia since I
left them at the Capitol. They asked after my health every day, but that was it. I asked if they could come over, but they always made up some excuse. My parentsand Zach’s- kept us home from school until the middle of the week. He was over every day, trying to help me cope. After the newspaper came out on Dieus, I panicked. The entire front page was an article about me being the Keeper. They hardly got anything right—and of course the gossip column tried to decimate my character. Dad disappeared for a few hours that morning, newspaper in hand and a livid look in his eyes. When he came home, he told me the newspapers wouldn’t be writing those sorts of articles about me anymore. I didn’t ask how he had managed it, all that mattered was that it would stop.
I was up before the sun on Theve, but remained lying in bed. Winnie came in around four, purring loudly as she crawled up to lay on my chest. I kissed her nose, which only made her purr louder, and petted her until the sun rose.
It was seven-thirty before Mom came in to check on me. She eased open the door with minimal noise, but when she saw I was already up and dressed, she came and sat by me.
Starlight (The Lightning Strike Trilogy Book 1) Page 15
