Awan helps Charity to her feet and even Vanessa seems to be coming to. All of them are still here. All of them are still alive.
My body is about to crumble from relief, exhaustion, and the novel sensation of magic sizzling under my skin. With a ragged exhale, I pull Cami toward me for a kiss.
She squeals in surprise which turns into a giggle when I brush her soft lips with mine. Cami represents all the good I hold dear—hope, beauty, friendship, and love. Whatever the hunters throw at us, we can handle it. Together.
Positive that I can manage the rising heat in my body this time, I kiss her deeply, pressing her to me as her hands travel up to my shoulders. I never want us to part, but the others wow and gasp. Cami doesn’t pay attention to them at first. Eventually she smiles and giggles in between our kisses.
When I finally open my eyes, tiny flecks of gold hover in the air around us.
Cami gives me a playful smile I could definitely get used to. “Welcome to the circle, Mason.”
Chapter 33. Cami
The link between us snaps in place amid the hurricane of darkness and pain raging inside me. It’s as if Mason’s flames storm through the newly established bond, ripping the darkness to shreds and burning through the thick smoke that has been choking me for weeks.
Despite the searing pain in every nerve in my right hand, I open my eyes to let a happy tear roll down my clammy cheek.
“I feel you,” I whisper to Mason.
He’s the light, the good, the bright fire to give us hope again. No, to give us ourselves again.
Mason’s skin glows with a golden undertone that makes him look ready to burst into flames whenever he wants to, but my trembling lips curve into a smile. He claimed his powers. He won’t hurt us now.
“Cami, your hand.” Mason reaches for me, then thinks better of it. “We need to get you to a doctor.”
With my other hand, I pinch my nose, fighting to ignore the pain. I whirl around to the others in our circle. “Everyone all right?”
It takes me a second longer to understand why I need their explicit confirmation. The links I maintain to the others in my circle, Mason now included, feel different. There’s no overwhelming flow of darkness and pain streaming from them to me. The absence of the darkness dulls my perception of their emotions.
I frown at the unfamiliar sensation before it dawns on me that this is how I felt before binding the circle of six. This is what normal feels like. Now I don’t have to cope with the suffocating darkness. I don’t have to fight the desperation flooding through the links, twisting my friends’ genuine emotions and shrouding them in darkness.
We’re finally free. From the curse of the incomplete circle. From our own worst instincts. From the burden of always carrying the darkness in our hearts.
This... This is the new normal.
I gape in awe at the others, who seem to be piecing it together themselves. Charity and Sofia still hover over Vanessa despite her insistence that she’s fine. Jean seems to have recovered, too, though Jester keeps an eye on her and strategically positions himself between her and Bryar. Who would have thought he had a soft spot for our human huntress?
Awan approaches me and, without warning, lifts me up into a crushing embrace.
“Awan, I can’t breathe,” I wheeze.
He squeezes a second longer, then drops me with a grin. “You... You risked everything! You’re lucky destiny seems to love you, Cami.”
I wipe the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, too weak to chuckle. “It only loves me because I have something beautiful to protect.”
Awan’s eyes twinkle in bronze, which then sparkles all over his skin. The protector barely takes shape, jumping out of him and into me in a flash. I gasp at the unfamiliar sensation of having another soul inside me, another unit that thinks for itself, scanning my body for injuries and soothing the pain in my right hand. Before my eyes, the charred skin falls away and the bloodied flesh turns pink, until my hand is covered in scars.
Awan pants at my side, cringing as he fights to keep going.
“Take the protector back, now!” I tell him, and though he fights a little longer, when there’s no improvement in the scars on my hand, he concedes and summons the protector.
Both Awan and I breathe easier once the protector is in his rightful place. I stare at my healed hand in awe when Mason cups it into his hands and brings it to his lips for a kiss.
“Thanks, Awan.” I beam at him.
“I wanted to take the scars away,” he says, but I shake my head at him.
“Don’t. They’re a reminder of the everlasting bond we made today.” My gaze meets Mason’s. “I would never want to forget.”
But the hope fluttering inside me dims when a boom from outside Elmwick Academy shakes the entire building.
Charity traces the dust falling from the ceiling with wide eyes. “They’re still fighting out there.”
“We need to go.” I widen my stance with a step to one side.
“Are you guys even battle ready after all this?” Jester makes a face at me.
“Battle ready? No, not really.” I look at my circle with budding pride. “But determined to save this city and Elmwick Academy? You bet.”
We exit the training room at a brisk pace. Free from the darkness, we’re lighter and more stubborn than ever. We make our way out of the Academy against the stream of legacies coming into the building to take cover.
The sight that greets us in the schoolyard reminds me of the fight at my Claiming. The charmers create shields to stop the hunters’ arrows in the air. The cold ones and lions barrel through the hunter army. Wolves and vipers fight the ones who manage to sneak past the others.
“I think it’s time we joined the fun.” Sofia whips her white cane in the air with a devious smile.
Like thunder and lightning, we descend into the madness of battle.
Bryar perches on the steps of Elmwick Academy with her bow, taking shot after shot in quick succession. Her arrows whistle through the air and land at the hunters’ feet, making them halt, or graze their thighs to keep them down.
Vanessa’s legs wobble as she sneaks past the other vipers. She glares with venomous intensity at the hunters running for her with a battle cry. Green sparks flash around them. Vanessa twirls and draws beautiful loops with her arms. The cursed hunters tumble over each other. As they struggle to get back on their feet, Sofia and Ren attack with bold kicks that never miss.
Jean and Jester whoosh through the yard on super speed, pulling our people out of harm’s way and landing as many punches at the hunters as they can. Eddie and Charity join the charmers, trying to halt the attack with the constant fabrication of new shields. Each charm flickers out of existence after a few seconds, but they slow down the hunters enough for the lions to attack. Mauled by the sparkling protectors, or sucker punched by Awan, who is too weak to send out his protector now, the hunters stagger backward.
In his wolf form, Seff howls and takes off after them. The threat of his poisonous bite is motivation enough to send them running.
I guide my screams high into the air to swipe away the arrows aiming at us, then produce tight sonic screams to throw back the hunters streaming through the gates.
But this chaotic fight isn’t what we wanted, even though we’re about to win. I’m happy the darkness can’t twist my emotions anymore. Now I know the tears pooling in my eyes are genuine, not spun from the darkness or magnified by it.
“This isn’t how things should be,” I whisper.
Mason reaches for my hand, making me glance at him. With tentative control on his new powers, I’m glad he’s holding back from using fire in the fight. A stray arrow brushes his shoulder, but his skin only sparkles gold, and the arrow ricochets like a bullet hitting armor. I guess fire isn’t the fire drake’s only ability.
“We can stop this,” Mason says. “Once and for all.”
“But for that you’ll have to—” I gulp, unable to finish that thought.
“Are you ready?” I don’t ask because I have doubts. I just need to hear him say he chooses to rein in that arsenal of untapped power. I need to hear him roar as one of us.
Mason lets go of me. “Let’s get their attention, shall we?”
In sync, we take deep, cleansing breaths, reaching deep inside ourselves, all the way to that core of condensed legacy power. I plant my palms against each other, then spread my arms wide, letting a crisp scream, loud enough to chill everyone in a ten-block radius. Before I’m out of breath, I bring my hands together for a thundering clap, the sound of which carries, magnified by my scream.
Weapons drop to the ground. Hunters and legacies alike freeze mid-fight. Many duck or squirm on instinct. Once they recover, they all turn to me.
Quiet reigns, and I’m the one meant to break it first.
“Stop.” My calm, crisp voice cuts the air. “Stop fighting, stop drowning in hate and desperation. This fight doesn’t have to be our inescapable reality. I know our powers frighten you, and when they are outside of our control, they frighten us too. But I stand in front of you now to tell you that the curse of the banshee’s circle has been broken. Balance has been restored.”
Many among the legacies stare back in shock, hands on their hearts, lips parted as they struggle to believe me.
But Andreev steps out from the hunters’ ranks and spits on the ground. He doesn’t even want to argue. One hand raised, he signals the archers, then says, “Kill them all.”
Bowstrings stretch as the hunters take aim, but a wave of heat on my right makes me look at Mason instead. Fire smolders under his skin like lava, visible in the form of cracks of golden light. His eyes gleam with the flames burning inside him. Mason brings his fists to his chest, then whips them at his sides—flame on.
Like a human torch, Mason walks to the line of hunters, shoulders back and fire in his hands. “Stand down, Andreev.” There’s no menace in his tone, but it holds firm. “All previous circles spun out of control because they needed a fire drake, the seventh legacy to balance them. That’s what we’ve done. We’ll fight if we have to, and we will win.” His gaze sweeps across the crowd of hunters. “Many of you are friends and family of friends. I do not wish to hurt you. Please don’t make me.”
Out of the army of hunters steps a willowy girl in skinny jeans with a heart-shaped, pale face and a raven-black bob.
“The hunter lifestyle grounded me and gave me something to fight for,” Fiona says in a shaky voice. “It was everything to me, but after I was ordered to shoot at Cami at her Claiming, after seeing Mason fight for her, and all of them fight for each other...” She takes a sharp breath. “I had that gut feeling that told me I was fighting for the wrong side.”
Fiona dares to take a few steps closer to me so I can peer into her clear blue eyes. “I’m sorry for shooting at you at your Claiming.” Her throat bobs. “Perhaps if you could forgive someone as guilty as me, there’s still hope for peace in this town?”
Anticipation vibrates in the tension-filled air around us, until my lips quirk up into a smile.
“For being led astray, for attacking me when you thought I was evil, for bearing arms against us all, I forgive you, Fiona.” My voice carries, magnified by magic so they can all hear me—hunters, legacies, and humans. “For your bravery to challenge the hunters’ archaic beliefs, to help us, and to reach a hand in peace now, I respect you.”
We shake hands in front of hundreds of witnesses, turning the power of that simple gesture into a kind of magic in its own right. The type even humans possess.
THE EARLY MORNING LIGHT announces the new day and new status quo. Some of the hunters make to leave right away, but many drop down their weapons and huddle together. Whether they’re wary of the proposed peace or relieved by it, we’ll soon find out.
My circle needs a breath of fresh air now. And a good sleep.
We’re so exhausted that we don’t fight Mrs. Gianni and Eddie when they insist that we march right back home. We take the same route home as any other day after classes, this time with clammy faces, muddied clothes, and matted hair.
Once we’re on our street, the group breaks up as everyone rushes home. In the case of Charity, that’s with her grandma and Rosy on either side of her. Jean asks Bryar to stay with her, leaving Mason and me alone. We halt by the fence between our yards where our dads are waiting for us.
Dad rushes over to envelop me in a hug, even though I probably smell and look like death. He even places a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Are you all right?”
I nod, hugging him tight around his waist. “It’s over. Everything Mom fought for, all the pain we had to endure, it finally resulted in what she believed was possible—a new balance.”
Dad runs his hand up and down my back. “I’m happy to hear that, but starting tomorrow, you are so grounded for running away.”
We both laugh. Dad lets me go when he sees Mason show a flame in his palm to his father. Mr. Fowler’s eyes turn moist as he beholds the sight of the fire drake’s powers. He then steps closer to me. “Carina was right. It was the two of you together that made this possible.”
I smile, at a loss for what else to say. Somehow, despite the exhaustion, my heart feels so light it might flutter out of my chest.
“We’d best head to Elmwick Academy,” Mr. Fowler suggests to Dad. “I want to make sure none of the hunters would try to go back to the old ways.”
“And I’m sure the wounded could use a medic,” Dad adds. “Clean up and get some rest,” he says to me and Mason before he and Mr. Fowler head to Elmwick Academy.
Hand in hand, Mason and I share a kiss. We’ve both been through hell tonight, but we can’t bear to separate, not now that we finally truly belong together, not now that there is nothing standing in our way.
Despite our dreary appearance and sleep deprivation, we stay awake in his room, kissing, talking, learning how to breathe easier. We cover everything that happened while we were apart and everything we felt last night—the spell falling, Mason’s claiming, and our new link to each other.
At last, Mason kisses my forehead. “Get some sleep. I absolutely need a shower.”
The fire he couldn’t control partially charred his clothes, leaving black smears over his skin in places. He pulls off his torn t-shirt and throws it on the floor. It’s hard to swallow at the sight of his well-toned abs.
Barely able to breathe, I whisper, “Would it be all right if I joined you?”
Mason whirls around by the bathroom door. A muscle feathers in his cheek when he shortens the distance between us and lifts my chin with one finger. “Are you sure?”
Not that I need the new link between us to trust him, but it fills me with unshakable confidence. “I’m sure.”
I mean it, and still can’t seem to calm the fluttering, electrifying sensation coursing through my body. I tiptoe to kiss Mason as his palms warm the small of my back.
My breath hitches—part excitement, part tension. In a tangle of limbs, we drop our clothes all over the floor on our way to the shower cabin.
Traces of mud and blood wash away under the running water. Mason’s skin feels almost scalding against mine, further warming the water and turning the air around us to steam.
“I love you,” he whispers, lips brushing against mine.
“I love you too.” I run my hand down the side of his face and relax it around his neck before pulling him to me for a deep kiss.
All I want is for us to be together. And, finally, we can.
Chapter 34. Mason
I consider myself beyond lucky to have made it to my high school graduation. It feels like an accomplishment to be alive after all the running, hiding, scheming, and claiming of powers.
With that last bit taking place just a week before the end of the school year, I had to pull myself together and focus for a week of finals. Lucky for me, I
had so many extra credits from training with Andreev’s elites all year that I could compensate for my absence.
So, on this sunny Friday, surrounded by family and friends—humans, hunters, and legacies alike—Awan and I get to hold our diplomas and pose for pictures after the ceremony in Elmwick High’s schoolyard. The other members in our circle are all finishing their junior year, so they applaud us from the sidelines as the crowd disperses.
There hasn’t been much talk about what comes next, not with everything that happened in Elmwick over the year, but I use the opportunity to share my plans with my family. Since Mom is staying with us for a couple of weeks, that includes her too. She’s still wrapping her mind around me being a legacy, but she seems to be trying.
“I’ve decided to defer college for a year,” I tell my family. “They’ve got an online prep program I can attend to get a feeling of the different majors, and there’s much to do in Elmwick. It’s a new normal. The hunters could use someone they can trust among the legacies if this peace is going to last.”
Bryar smirks while Father squeezes my shoulder. Mom blinks, smiling at me encouragingly. I guess she really is trying.
“Speaking of the hunters looking to you for guidance...” Bryar raises her eyebrows and glances sideways.
Most of the elites stand a few feet away, clustered together, waiting for me to hand my diploma, cap, and gown to my parents and hang out with them. They’ve been curious about the fire drake legacy, and I can’t blame them.
I give each of my parents a hug before Bryar and I wave the elites over to join us and the rest of the circle. On a sunny, beautiful day like this, we sit on the grass under the magnolia tree for a little picnic.
Fiona, as the bravest peacemaker, is the first one that greets the circle and sits near them. “So, what happens now?”
“We strive to maintain the new balance.” I shrug. The elites are all looking at me with a newfound reverence, which I’m not sure how to react to. “Any hunter among you could be a hidden legacy.”
Heritage: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Elmwick Academy Book 3) Page 24
