The Untouched: THE UNSEEN SERIES, #2

by Sheldon, Piper

  “I don’t need the light. I am the light.” I am so full of power that I’m unable to stay on the ground. I vibrate with it.

  I drop a hand on his shoulder and pour all my anger into the touch. I can’t hear his scream over the crackling white noise filling my ears. But I see his mouth wide open, head thrown back. Tendons in his neck bulge as his shirt smokes. Every feature contorts in pain.

  He tries to pull back but I don’t let him. I grab his wrist so he can’t retreat. I pour the power into him.

  “You’re fine,” I say calmly. “This doesn’t hurt at all.”

  His eyes are wild as his shirt smokes and then catches fire. I don’t feel the heat. It doesn’t affect me at all.

  “Please stop. I’m sorry. Please. I’m sorry, let me go.” His mouth forms the words. I quiet myself so I can hear him pleading. Turn down my flow so that I can talk to him.

  “Is this how your sons begged you when you hurt them?” I ask.

  He shakes his head, still denying. “I was tough on them. I’m sorry. I didn’t kill Lincoln.”

  “Even now you lie?” He manages to convince himself he’s in the right. He says what he think I need to hear.

  “I won’t hurt him. I swear.”

  “You won’t hurt anyone ever again.”

  In his eyes, I see myself. A beam of burning revenge. I am the goddess Nathaniel saw in me.

  I am untouchable.

  There’s a smell—acrid and rotten. It’s his flesh melting, I realize. I could kill him. I could end his life. He deserves it.

  A moment of clarity hits me.

  You are not a murderer.

  I didn’t think I was. But I also thought I was weak. I thought I was unlovable. Now I know that I am powerful. I can do whatever I want.

  Violence isn’t power, little jewel.

  I drop him and he falls to the ground, moaning. “You don’t deserve my mercy. You deserve to burn.”

  He’s whimpering on the ground. His shirt has stopped burning but the air is cloying. Smoke burns my eyes.

  I glare down at him, almost scared of the power that I’m still a little drunk on. Was this the feeling that leads people to murder and cause suffering? I felt unstoppable. Like I could do whatever I want. But that is what exactly what William thinks I’m capable of. Because that’s exactly how he would act if he had my powers.

  But I’m not like him.

  “I’m better than you,” I say, floating in the light of love. “No matter how strong you think you are, you will always be weak. You chose hate and fear because deep down that’s all you think you deserve. I pity you. The world you know is changing and you can’t handle it. You can’t accept that all that power you amassed will be gone in an instant because of women like me. It terrifies you.”

  “I’ll give you whatever you want,” he coughs out.

  “You don’t have anything I want.”

  He spits at my feet, switching to yet another tactic. It sizzles on the ground near me.

  “You don’t think you’re better than us at all, do you?” I tilt my head to study him. “Deep down you understand that we can crush you. Your time is coming to an end. You could have chosen a different path. You could have chosen love and your beautiful children. Yet you chose this.”

  I gesture to his cowering form on the ground.

  “All you know is fear. So you’re right. I am different than you. And my love is a goddamn superpower.”

  I feel the truth of it now. I can harness this at any time. I am loved. I am worthy.

  He doesn’t respond. He’s silent. I let the light go totally out of me. We are done here. I’ve wasted enough energy on this man.

  A shifting near the door catches my attention.

  “Julia?” I turn my head at the voice. It’s Lincoln.

  Lincoln! I think but I can’t seem to find the words to speak. I’m too stunned to find him standing there. He’s okay. He’s fine. Thank God.

  “Where are you?” he asks. “I can’t see. Nathaniel will be here soon with an ambulance. It’s going to be okay,” he calls out.

  I want him to be quiet. In my mind, I yell, Be quiet! I don’t want that man to know he’s here.

  I hear movement. I blast light to find Will raising the gun.

  “This is your fault,” he says.

  I react without thinking. I have to save Lincoln. I will not let this monster hurt him ever again.

  As the gun goes off, I send one huge protective blast at Lincoln. The echo of the gunshot is consumed by the force shooting out of me. I explode like a bomb. It happens so fast that I have just enough thought to pour all my love for him and his brother into it.

  Keep Lincoln safe.

  Lincoln shoots backward through the door that flies off its rusted hinges. I imagine him landing safely as though dropped onto a soft mattress far away from here. I send more energy to make sure that happens.

  That’s when I understand two things.

  William didn’t aim the gun at his son. He aimed it at me. The barrel is still pointing at me. I register it distantly in some part of my brain that I’ve been shot. I feel nothing but adrenaline.

  And secondly, my explosion set off something terrible. The deep rumbling of a mountain starting to implode quakes the earth under my feet. I must have pulled from the very stone supporting the building. Enough residual light glows out of me to see tiny showers of dust falling from the ceiling.

  William’s face is a mask of disbelief. He looks to where his son once stood. He looks at the gun in his hand. His head then slowly turns to examine the cavernous space around us.

  We both run for the door. The movement causes a sharp pain to lance through my abdomen. The pain is intensified when Will tackles me. I slam to the ground, my chin smacking against the cement. My jaw jolts as my teeth snap together.

  “You bitch,” he yells as the madness descends.

  The cascading cacophony of the mountain falling all around us shakes me to the core.

  “Let go!” I kick at him while I pull myself toward the doorway. The pain is distant as I crawl. Inches away. Must keep moving. The ground shakes under my chest. “We have to get out.”

  My fingertips grab for the doorway and pull. But it’s not enough. I’m not fast enough. I can’t move. I look up into the darkened hallway to find Nathaniel limping as he pulls his brother from the ground and out of the cave. Out of sight.

  Lincoln is safe. Nathaniel is safe. That’s all I needed. I let myself go. I slump with relief.

  But then Nathaniel comes running back.

  No. No!

  Our gazes crash. His eyes widen when he sees William behind me.

  “Run!” I scream at him. I try to blast him away but that last one cost me everything I had. It’s a harmless wave of light and nothing else. The pain in my side is making my brain foggy.

  “Let her go!” Nathaniel yells. He raises his arm into the air.

  Nathaniel has a gun too. The image of such a peaceful man so twisted with rage and threatening such violence is too much for my brain to process. I can’t make sense of it. This is what his father has done—turned a perfect gentle soul into this. Time has slowed down to a crawl as the crashing of the mountain deafens his yells.

  Nathaniel’s eyes are black with anger. He’s not this man.

  “No!” I yell but the sound is lost before it leaves my mouth. I don’t want him to kill his father. He won’t be able to live with himself.

  I need to protect him. When he looks at me again I memorize his face. This is the last time I will ever look at him.

  “I love you,” I say.

  I close my eyes. I will summon whatever I can to send him away. My body feels abused and drained beyond anything I have ever experienced.

  A piercing pain penetrates my skull and the lights go out.

  33

  Nathaniel

  My father stares at me, his gun pointed at Julia as she crawls to safety. My own gun is pointed at him. The feeling of it in my hand is as un
familiar to me as the mad smile on his face. Lincoln brought it. I don’t even know when he took it from the gun safe at home; there was no time to ask. Will’s shirt is burned. His skin red and welted. He smiles. Smiles. He looks like a creature from hell.

  He says something I can’t hear in the madness. But I know him. It’s mocking. He thinks I won’t be able to shoot him. I’m shaking. I summon all the anger I have. It doesn’t take much; I think of the years of abuse. Of Lincoln bruised and battered. The rage is all there just under the surface. The pain and the hatred.

  My finger is on the trigger. I just need to pull it.

  It should be so easy. He deserves it. He’s tried to take everything I have ever loved. He’s already taken so much.

  So why am I hesitating? Every millisecond brings Julia closer to demise. My finger squeezes, hands shaking.

  The twisted smile on his face grows. He will always see me as weak. As lesser.

  I glance to Julia. Her eyes are wide and pleading, her head shakes. “I love you,” she mouths.

  Then I understand. I know my value. I know at my core who I am.

  I’m not a monster. I am loved. He will never be so lucky.

  The gun lowers and his smile grows triumphant.

  But then, a large chunk of ceiling falls. One moment he is there laughing, the next he’s gone.

  There’s nothing I can do for him. There’s no time to process.

  I reach for Julia. She is out of it. Fading fast.

  I grab her hand and pull with all my might as smaller rocks fall. The soft light goes out as she goes limp in my arms. We make it through the door just as the room collapses behind us with my father still inside. What remains of a heavy, metal door is just enough of a barrier to protect us from the blast. Somehow the tunnel leading to the cave hasn’t crumbled yet. There’s no time to wait because the deafening rumbling is still shaking the air.

  I throw Julia over my shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Warm wetness slides down my back as I run. My legs protests but I push on. I sprint out of the tunnel as fast as I can. The rocks fall all around us. I stumble over them, twisting my leg.

  “Ah!” I groan in pain.

  I make it out the door just as the tunnel comes crashing down. I drop Julia as gently as I can a few yards away from the door. I gasp large inhales of fresh air.

  Seconds later a giant dust cloud explodes out of the door we just escaped from. I roll on top of Julia, using my body to protect her from the flying rocks. When it settles, it takes all I have left to drag her farther away for safety, my whole body throbbing. I brush her hair off her face as the dust settles around us.

  “Julia,” my voice is hoarse from the dirt and debris. I drop my head to her chest to feel her heart beating strong under my ear. “I love you,” I say. “I love you. You’re going to be okay.”

  I see it then—the blood spreading under her dirt-covered shirt. My voice cracks. “You’re going to be okay. Please be okay.”

  She groans but her eyes don’t open. I kiss her cheek and roll off her and collapse onto my back. Above me the sun shines through the tips of tall pines. It’s a scene so peaceful compared to the madness of the day. The occasional shake still rumbles the earth, but it feels far away now.

  I find her limp hand in the dirt next to mine. I’m never letting her go again. No matter what.

  Voices call out, coming closer.

  “Over here!” Lincoln yells.

  I hold Julia’s hand tighter and let out a deep breath.

  “It’s going to be okay,” I tell her.

  34

  Julia

  Bits and pieces come back to me.

  Running.

  Dirt.

  Nathaniel. Above me. Protecting me.

  Lincoln’s cut and scared face. Nathaniel holding my hand.

  An ambulance.

  Bright light in my eyes.

  Nathaniel sleeping in a chair next to me.

  Nathaniel. Always.

  When I finally reconnect my body to my mind, I blink my eyes open. I’m in a hospital room. Nathaniel is still asleep in a chair next to me. I’m so tired. And thirsty. There’s a constant beeping. The green light of a machine is the only light in the dark room. I close my eyes and decide to try again after a little more sleep.

  The next time I rouse to a bright light shining on my face. I blink my eyes open, turning to face the light shining through a window. The sun on my skin is soothing. I take a moment to focus on the streaks of warmth on my skin. It feels like a little “welcome back” and I smile.

  The pain is there. I feel it all over my body, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m disconnected from it.

  “Julia?”

  I wonder how long I’ve been lying there, blinking in the light.

  “Julia? Are you awake?” I manage to turn my head toward Nathaniel’s voice. He’s standing next to me, holding a hand with tubes taped to the back of it.

  I can’t speak. My throat is really sore. I wonder if I’m sick. I send a little warmth into his hand.

  He shudders out a breath and drops a kiss to my forehead.

  “I was so worried. I love you so much,” he says.

  I send one more little wave of warmth but the effort is too much and I’m pulled back under into the warm abyss of sleep.

  The next time I wake from the darkness I’m far more aware of my body. There’s a sharp pain in my head and body but it is dulled in an unsettling way.

  “Water?” I say before I open my eyes completely. It hurts to say even that.

  A straw is gently put into my mouth and I take a few deep pulls. The coolness feels healing on my raw throat. I sigh and sit back.

  After a minute I open my eyes again to Nathaniel. He looks better than the last time I was awake. He’s shaved and changed out of his rumpled and dusty clothes. His eyes are still bloodshot and concerned.

  “Hi.” I smile, because despite being in so much pain, seeing him again is more than I ever dreamed possible.

  “Hi,” he says back. His chin quivers.

  “I love you too,” I say before I can fall asleep again.

  “How are you feeling?” he asks, gently brushing hair out of my face. I wonder what I look like. I’m sore everywhere but the pain is not sharp, just an overall dull ache. “Do you need anything?”

  “I want to sit up.”

  He helps make it happen with a series of buttons on the bed and tucking an arm under me.

  “The doctor was just here, but you missed her. Somehow the bullet just grazed you. Nothing but a few stitches were needed. But you did have a concussion. She says you’re going to be fine.” His eyes were bright with joy, but the skin around them was puffy from lack of sleep.

  I raise my eyebrows. I forgot that William shot me. But the gun was pointed right at me. How did it miss me? Unless I somehow … But my brain is too foggy. I’m alive, and that’s enough for now. I’m too concerned about Nathaniel and Lincoln. I want to ask after them, but the words don’t come.

  “You’ve been asleep about two days,” he tells me. “They want to keep you one more night,” he finishes and I nod.

  “I fed Ginger,” another deep voice says. I slowly turn my head to the opposite corner of the room to see the most welcome sight leaning forward in a chair.

  “Lincoln.” I smile and feel my lips crack. “My hero,” I say.

  He chews his lip and frowns at the ground.

  “If not for you …” I say to him.

  He shakes his head.

  I look to Nathaniel again and notice he’s leaning on a cane. “What happened?”

  “Just pulled a muscle. It’ll be fine in a few days.”

  “Will?” I ask. I glance to Lincoln, who’s still staring at his shoes.

  Nathaniel shakes his head. “The whole place went down. We barely got you out.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  I’m not exactly sure what for. Sorry I didn’t save him? Sorry that he did all this? Sorry they lost the father lottery?
<
br />   He brushes my arm. “Thanks to Lincoln, the police heard it all. He was recording on the drive up. A few people from town confirmed seeing him driving you. The tape didn’t catch enough to reveal your abilities, but there was enough for the authorities to think Will was some racist xenophobe set on killing women. The abuse came out, too. Hospital workers have come forward.

  “His company is in shambles. His reputation destroyed post-mortem. The truth about him is out. More and more people are coming forward to support the case against him. Blackmail. Extortion. He was more evil than we ever imagined,” Nathaniel explains.

  I let out a breath, taking it all in. I glance back to Lincoln, worrying about how this will affect him. But he isn’t alone.

  “Thank you, Lincoln,” I say.

  He nods. “I have to go.” Lincoln stands and comes to my side. Tentatively he grabs my other hand. “I just wanted to see you when you woke up.”

  “I’m glad you did. And I’m so, so glad you’re okay,” I say. “I was so worried I messed up …” I have to stop talking because my throat tightens up.

  He looks deep into my eyes and I feel so much pain for this young man. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he says. To Nathaniel he says, “I’ll see you back at the house.”

  Nathaniel releases my hand to give him a hug goodbye. “I love you,” he tells his brother.

  Lincoln tugs the hat he’s wearing lower on his head. “Love you too,” he mumbles and heads out.

  When he’s gone, I ask, “Is he going to be okay?”

  Nathaniel shrugs. “Will was still his dad.”

  I nod. There’s so much weighing on my mind. So many questions unanswered. I look back to the window and close my eyes against the light.

  * * *

  When I awake again, I have to squeeze my eyes shut and try to refocus them. They’re playing serious tricks on me.

  “Nathaniel?”

  He drops to my side instantly, hearing the worry in my voice. “Yeah?”

  “I think you need to call the doctor back.”