The Gift: An Awakened Novella

by Amanda Carol

  She’s this sophisticated beauty with a carefree spirit, and I’m pretty sure I’m falling for her.

  I set my eyes on her, and when I reach her, she looks up at me with trepidation. I lean down, closing the gap between us.

  “It’s not a stupid idea, sunshine. I’m glad I’m here with you,” I whisper in her ear.

  I pull back slightly and place a kiss on her lips, then we dance the night away.

  “All right, cowgirls and boys! It’s time to close out the night with a little Panic! at the Disco!” the deejay says.

  Everyone hollers as “High Hopes” starts to blast through the speakers. The bass is thumping away, and bodies are packed close, everyone enjoying the sound of the music.

  Ciera wraps her arms around my neck as we sing the song together. Then I start to get the familiar feeling that a vampire is near.

  My body goes rigid.

  I wish my sister was here. She would be able to tell exactly where it is. But she’s not here, and I don’t know where the vamp is. Just that one is near.

  I pull Ciera off the dance floor and pull out my phone, texting Axton to come get us. He says he’s right outside, so I keep Ciera close as we walk out of the building.

  “What’s going on?” Axton says as we reach his SUV.

  I lower my voice. “A vampire is near. I don’t know where, and I can’t explain how I know, but you have to trust me.”

  Ciera gasps and tightens her grip on my hand.

  “Get in,” Axton commands.

  I sit in the backseat with Ciera and she clings to me as we drive down the road. I still have the feeling when we pull into the driveway of the Compound.

  Suddenly, Axton slams on the breaks, and Ciera and I fly forward.

  “Shit. You guys have your silver daggers?” Axton asks, staring out in front of the car.

  I follow his gaze.

  “Oh, fuck,” I murmur, my mind going to Ciera, and to my sister, who is out in the woods training with Zayne.

  “I’ll fend them off. You guys get back to the barn.” Axton jumps out of the car and shifts into his wolf.

  I climb into the driver’s seat and am just about to put the car in drive when I hear a yelp. I don’t have it in me to leave a man—well, in this case, wolf—behind. Axton has become a friend since our first sparring match. I can’t let him do this alone. Not when I have the power to actually do something.

  “Stay in the car,” I command.

  “What! No!” Ciera shouts.

  I turn to look at her. “Ciera, please.”

  She looks at me for a moment, then leans over the center console and kisses me.

  “Be safe,” she breathes.

  “Get your dagger out and lock the door,” I say, opening the door and slamming it shut behind me.

  A locked car door won’t keep a vampire out, but it will buy enough time for me to notice one is trying to break in.

  I rush forward, and several vamps are ganging up on Axton. I reach into my pocket, pulling out my silver dagger, and throw it at one of the vamps. It hits him square in the chest, giving Axton enough time to attack. I pull my dagger out of the vamp’s chest and am tackled from behind. I hit the ground hard, the dagger flying out of my hand, and I use the air element to bring it back to me. I elbow the vamp in the nose and use my body to toss him off, then plunge the dagger deep in his chest before using the earth element to summon a stick and stake him. A head rolls over to us and I look up to see Axton’s wolf snarling.

  Glass breaks.

  I hear a scream, and my heart sinks.

  A vampire is pulling Ciera out of the SUV, and she’s trying to fight him off, but he quickly overpowers her. Before Axton or I can reach her, the vampire sinks its teeth in her neck.

  For the first time in my life, I freeze. I didn’t freeze when the vampire attacked my mother. I didn’t freeze when I saw Aria being pinned by her throat in the cemetery. But now, seeing the look in Ciera’s eyes as the vampire drinks her blood, I’m frozen in fear.

  I can’t lose her.

  I’m knocked over by another vampire. My hands wrap around its neck, trying to hold it back from biting me. I feel the heat flow down my arms, and I start to burn its neck. Axton rips it off me and I jump to my feet. I look over to see Ciera starting to go limp.

  “Ciera!” I shout and her eyes snap to mine.

  She uses the last of her strength and stabs her silver dagger into the vampire’s eye. He releases her at the same time as I use the air element to send them both flying into the air. I focus on Ciera, and instead of throwing her backward, I bring her to me. She soars into my arms, and I shift us, so she lands on top of me. I gently roll her over and remove the hair out of her wound.

  “I’m going to make it better for you.” My voice breaks as I hover my hand over her neck to heal her.

  She gasps and coughs when I’m finished, then sits up. I cradle her in my arms.

  “You guys good?” Axton asks after he shifts back into human form.

  “Yeah, we’re good,” I say, my tone clipped.

  Screams sound from the distance.

  “We have to get back,” I realize.

  Axton shifts back into his wolf and makes sure we get into his SUV and we follow him back to the parking lot. I help Ciera out and get her into the safety of the barn.

  “Are you guys okay?” Abby asks, running over to us.

  “Yeah, we’re fine,” Ciera answers. Her voice sounds weak, but I know she’s okay.

  “I need to go help,” I say, turning, and just when I go to leave the barn, the doors are locked. “Fuck!”

  “The Alpha has these special locks installed that only lock when there’s a threat. No one can get in or out until the threat is taken care of,” Abby explains as dread filters through my entire body.

  I need to get to my sister. One person I care about was injured tonight and I almost lost her. I’m not about to have the same, or worse, happen to the other person I care about.

  Lately, it feels as though I’m failing to protect the people I care about. I failed as a brother, and now I failed at keeping Ciera safe. I could have saved her from being bitten, but I froze.

  I don’t like to fail, and I failed again tonight. And I refuse to let Ciera suffer for my mistakes.

  The look on Declan’s face after Abby tells him he’s stuck in here breaks my heart. I look around, and I don’t see his sister or Zayne anywhere.

  I hear crying, so I turn and see Maggie sitting in the corner all by herself. I walk over to her and pull her into my lap.

  “Shh. It’s okay, Maggie. I’m here. You’re safe,” I coo, gently running my hand through her hair.

  She clutches onto my arms, and I see Abby walk over to Declan. He takes one look at her, then pulls her into an embrace. A ping of jealousy washes through me.

  They've known each other for years, right?

  “Ms. Campbell, you’re hurt!” Maggie shouts, and all eyes turn to us.

  “No, Maggie, I'm fine. See?” I move my hair and touch my neck, then look down at my shirt.

  “Hello, my lovely. I thought you might want this.” Grace kneels down in front of me and hands me a t-shirt. “You go and get cleaned up; I’ll watch her.”

  “No! P-please don’t leave me! M-Ms. Campbell, please don’t leave me.” Maggie clutches onto my arm, and sobs into my shirt.

  Declan’s head turns at the sound of Maggie’s panicked voice and he starts to walk over to us, with Abby right behind him.

  “Mags, it’s okay. I’ll be right back. I promise.” I place my hand on one of her cheeks and wipe the tears away.

  Her eyes flick to the side and she spots Declan. She quickly gets up from my lap and runs straight into his arms, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.

  “Everything is going to be all right, Maggie,” Declan tells her as he holds onto her tightly.

  Our gazes lock for just a moment, then he glances down at my bloody shirt and before he looks away, I could swear he looks guilty. Lik
e this is somehow his fault.

  “You go get cleaned up. We will watch over her,” Grace tells me, pulling me from my thoughts.

  I trust that Declan, Grace and Abby will make sure she’s okay.

  I nod and stand. I know that Grandma will be in the medical room, and I don’t want to face her right now, so instead I make my way to the training room. I push open the door, then head into the locker rooms. I grab some towels, walk over to the sink, and strip off my shirt. I turn the hot water on and let it run to heat up. I look at myself in the mirror; one side of my neck is bloody, but there’s no evidence of a wound.

  My eyes start to fill up with tears as I grab the paper towel and start to clean my neck, wanting to get the blood off. I’ve never been attacked by a vampire before. I’ve only seen the aftermath of the attacks, but to experience one firsthand is much different.

  A sob escapes my throat as I scrub and scrub. When a firm hand covers mine and my eyes lock with Declan’s in the mirror, I break down. He spins me and cradles my head to his chest. My body shakes as I cry into his shirt, and he holds me tighter.

  A few minutes pass and I finally get control of myself. I pull back, and he finishes cleaning the rest of the blood off me in silence.

  “My mom and dad wanted nothing to do with their gift. They never use their magic and they always yelled at me for using it. Grandma was the only person in my life that allowed me to be who I was. When we heard about this place, Grandma wanted to bring me here, to raise me in this life, because she knew the dangers of being a witch out in the real world,” I say, filling in the quiet.

  Declan doesn’t say anything. He just continues to clean me up, and he heals all the tiny cuts on my body that I didn’t even know I had.

  “My grandma told them it wasn’t fair that they were making the choice for me. She said I should be able to choose if I wanted to live a normal life or live in a world where I don’t ignore the fact that evil exists.”

  Declan stands and helps me get into the clean shirt.

  “Tonight was the scariest moment in my life,” I admit quietly.

  He cups my cheek and kisses me. I use my lips to tell him the things I’m not ready to say out loud.

  I’m falling for you.

  Please catch me.

  But his kiss feels different. It’s like he’s saying goodbye, and that thought scares me because I finally found someone that I want to have a lifelong adventure with. I’ve only known him a short while, but it feels like I’ve known him forever.

  Grandma tells me all the time, “Sweetheart, there will come a time when someone will walk into your life, and everything will change. When that person does, you hold onto them and never let go, because a love like that, it doesn’t come cheap.”

  Somehow, I just know that Declan is that person.

  He rests his forehead against mine. Then he pulls away, and I get a distinct feeling he’s putting much more than physical distance between us. I jump down off the sink, and he grabs my hand, leading me out of the training room.

  I look around and spot Maggie with Callie and Peyton. Their parents are keeping them together. Grace is nowhere to be seen.

  “There you guys are. The vampires have all been killed, so we can go outside now,” Abby tells us.

  Declan starts walking faster toward the door.

  “Where’s Aria?” I hear Hunter ask as we finally get outside.

  That’s when I see where Grace went: she’s standing behind Knox.

  “What do you mean? I thought Aria was training with Zayne in the woods? Once the alarm sounded, this place was put on lockdown,” Declan says, coming up and standing next to Knox.

  “Knox, where are they?” Hunter asks again, more firmly this time. “I am not asking you again.”

  “There was a vampire in the woods where we were. We heard the attack and she told me to go.” Knox sighs as Grace grabs his elbow.

  Declan’s body locks up as he stares off into the woods.

  All of a sudden, there’s a loud whooshing sound and I flinch as the heat smacks me in the face.

  “Did my sister and Zayne come out of those woods?” Declan turns toward Knox.

  The look on Knox’s face tells us all we need to know.

  “Hunter!” Bennett shouts, pointing toward the woods.

  I look up to see Zayne carrying Aria out of the trees; her arm is hanging loosely to the side and her head is draped over his arm. Declan releases my hand and jumps off the porch, quickly starting to run in their direction. Hunter catches up, and then outruns all of us as we rush over to them.

  “What happened?” Hunter snarls, looking up at Zayne.

  “Aria created a distraction so I could get the flames under control long enough so this—” He waves at the flames behind him. “—wouldn’t happen. But the vampire was about to bite her, so I hit him with fireballs. When he was down, I grabbed her, and we started to get the hell out of there. But then something happened with her head and she blacked out.” He winces as he sucks in a hitched breath.

  “Hunt, man, I’m sorry. I just needed to get us out of there.” Zayne bends over, resting his hands on his knees. “He got away. I’m sorry.”

  Zayne looks up at Grace. “We need to get this fire under control.”

  She nods in agreement.

  “Grace,” Knox pleads from next to her.

  “Knox Carter, you can wait here, or you can come with me, but I’m going,” Grace says firmly. She tugs her arm from his grasp, and we all rush into the woods to help put the fire out.

  I’ve got my feet propped up on Grace’s couch with a Greek mythology book in hand, trying to figure out what could possibly be happening to Aria and why she isn’t waking up. We switched from Kat’s cabin to Grace’s, since their cabin is bigger. We haven’t really figured out much, but we do think she’s getting another power, so all of us are trying to figure out what it could be.

  “Hello, Ciera!” Bennett picks my legs up and sits down, placing my feet in his lap.

  Declan is with Luna and Abby. They set up a new cabin for him, so they are showing him around, while the rest of us continue to work. He looked like he needed to get out of here for a minute.

  “Hi, Bennett,” I say, turning the page.

  “I’m bored,” he groans, tossing his head back on the couch.

  I set the book down and look at him.

  “Did you finish your book already?” I ask, quirking a brow.

  “Yes, and the only thing I learned was that Satyrs are half man and half goat, but that brought up a whole new set of questions.” Bennett looks over at me and smirks.

  “Do I want to know?”

  “No, probably not.” He laughs just as the front door opens and Declan walks in. “Where’s Abby?”

  Declan looks over at us. “She went to get Hunter. So we can fill him in on what we know so far.”

  “Okay, coolio. How’d you like your new cabin? I heard you got a new guitar!” Bennett says.

  I look over at Declan. His hair is disheveled, and he has dark circles under his eyes.

  “It’s nice. Luna and Abby really outdid themselves.” Declan comes over and sits down on the coffee table, but he sits on the side farthest away from me.

  “I didn’t know you played the guitar.” I only thought he played the piano.

  “Yeah,” Declan replies.

  I wait for him to elaborate. When he doesn’t, I pull my feet out of Bennett’s lap and walk into the kitchen.

  He’s been extremely distant since last night. I know he’s worried about his sister, but I’m beginning to suspect this might have something to do with me.

  I don’t think last night was the best time to tell him I’m a virgin. We were just getting to know each other, and maybe I dug a little too deep when he asked me to tell him something not many people know about me. At the same time, though, he needed to know. He seemed to be okay with it at the club, but maybe he’s changed his mind.

  Or maybe this is about me keeping Aria’s
headaches from him. I can understand where he’d be upset with me about that. I mean, she’s his sister. His only family. I can tell he’s protective over her. And I kept something huge about her from him. But if that’s the case, why did he tell me it was okay in front of everyone?

  I wish he would just tell me what I did.

  Grace and Knox are cooking, so I sit down and start talking with Kat and Zayne. Moments later, Declan comes in and sits next to me. Grace gives me a sympathetic look as she turns to place some plates on the table. Even Zayne looks like he notices the tension between me and Declan. After a while, Abby returns with Hunter, and we fill him in on what we know.

  Declan says he needs some air and leaves the room. I start to go after him, but Bennett tells me he’s going to check on him.

  As much as I want to go out there and see if he’s okay, I sit back down. If he’s mad at me, I’m sure I’m the last person he wants to see or talk to. And even though we’re eventually going to have to talk about this, I know now isn’t the time.

  All the guys leave and follow Declan and Bennett outside, leaving us girls inside.

  “What are we missing?” Kat asks, pouring herself another cup of coffee.

  “We know that Artemis was the goddess of creatures,” Abby starts to say.

  “But that’s not a power,” Grace finishes.

  Suddenly, it hits me, and it’s like Zeus struck me with lightning.

  “Oh, my God. That’s it!” I all but shout, making the girls look at me. “When Bennett came to me yesterday and asked me to look at Aria about her headaches, I thought it was really odd that they would get worse when Hunter and Bennett would use the telepathic link.”

  Everyone stares at me like I have three heads.

  “What if Aria’s new power is being able to use the link like the shifters?” I elaborate and wait for everyone’s tired brains to catch up.

  “I think you may be right. But only time will tell. We should tell the others,” Kat says.

  I spring up from the table, hoping that good news might help Declan’s mood.

  “We think we may have figured it out,” I announce, and proceed to tell them what the girls and I were just talking about.