I almost gagged as my thoughts wandered to the most morbid of possibilities. Was it blood?
Her laughter revealed scarlet-stained fangs, and when Declan’s hold on me became more forceful, I realized that I had tried to move further away from her, but there was nowhere to go. It was only when I lifted my foot to balance myself better without relying on him that I noticed the brutal talons were gone, the only remnant of their presence a ripple over the water where they must have slid back into the lake silently.
Chapter Twenty Five
“The creature of this lake would be overjoyed to relieve you of your charge, princeling.”
The lux’s giggles were bone chilling, and I wondered if her presence had made the taloned beast slither away.
“No one and nothing is going to stop us, so don’t waste your time trying!” Declan declared, his voice loud and defiant in my ears. I still had no idea where we were going, except that wherever it was, it had to be a safer bet than staying here with the lake creature and the lux.
How much further did we need to go before Declan would declare that we had arrived? Would my human counterpart be there? What would it be like to meet her?
“Your lack of memories does you no service. Do you think you can appear in Faerie with this prize and she wouldn’t know?”
The mysterious she was again the subject of the lux’s taunt, and I wondered now if the one she referred to was the human whose place I had taken my whole life.
Now wasn’t the best time to ask Declan any more questions, so I kept quiet and allowed him to battle the lux at her own game, which might have been with words from her bloody lips but promised a physical altercation if it came down to it.
The natural beauty that surrounded us, from the perfectly shaped and innocently colored water lilies to the lush grasses and floral beds that graced the boundaries of the lake, to the sweet calls of the birds in the immediate sky above us to the fresh scent of honeysuckle on the breeze, was in such sharp contrast to the lux’s brutal threats.
Whoever this she was had some measure of control over the lux, and possibly other creatures here as well. Why else would the lux be concerned about her reaction to my presence? For something as malevolent and violent as the lux to worry so much . . .
“You have no power over us, and soon enough you’ll know that by harassing her you’ve chosen the wrong side.”
Declan’s voice returned me to the present, drawing me from my speculation. Surely Declan knew who the lux was talking about, and could tell me more about what was going on and what I could expect as we continued our journey to . . . wherever we were going. Belatedly, I realized that he had been referring to me just now, regarding the lux’s harassment.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And it’s such a pretty thing, it’s such a waste.”
The lux sighed dramatically, but her crimson smile shone with amusement as she turned her attention to me.
“If you change your mind, lovely, just look for me. I’ll be close, and it will be painless. You can live here in the wildlands with us, forever and ever.”
Before I could make any sense of her words, she turned and ran a few feet before disappearing into thin air, just as she had arrived. Her laughter faded away with her more slowly, the mocking pace of it both disturbing and annoying.
“We really have to move quickly now. Please,” Declan shook his head as he continued, perhaps expecting, correctly, that I would have more questions for him. “There really isn’t much time for explaining more, not with so much at stake.”
I had no clue what was at stake or what my place in all of this was, but what choice did I have but to follow him?
We left the bridge, walking and then running through the path of the lux, whose echoed voice had finally faded into silence. Would she come back? Would another creature, one that she claimed wasn’t happy with Declan, accost us, with words or physical attacks?
Declan had taken my hand in his again and was pulling me along as we ran together, and instead of worrying over questions I wouldn’t get answered anytime soon, I glanced around as best I could to take in the gorgeous, pristine landscape. The perfection of every detail was unmarred by human presence, and if there were animals or other beings around, they were hiding themselves well.
If I had been running like this back home, I would have passed out by now, the effort too taxing for my lungs to bear. I didn’t run at all, not until today. Not until Faerie.
Rushing to our final destination could take us as long it needed to take, as far as I was concerned. If there was no physical cost to me for this excursion, I would be happy to continue it and focus on the way the clean air, filling my lungs to capacity, made my heart nearly burst from my chest.
Declan had a lot on his mind, I figured, and his silence while I explored the new world around me would have concerned me if I hadn’t been so self-centered. As long as no lux blocked our path and no tentacled beast attempted to drown me again, I felt sure that whatever else was ahead could be challenged successfully by the two of us.
This newfound self-assurance blossomed until I found myself dead center in a field of flowers, my hand bereft of Declan’s. A flash of sunlight grazed over the tops of the tall, thin trees bundled together in the forest around us, but instead of blinking at the brightness, I leaned my head back and soaked the warmth into my skin.
The freshness of the leafy trees hung in the air, the scent almost visible, and I drank in the clean, vibrant surroundings like the thirsty, deprived creature I had been my entire life.
Far off ahead of me, I saw a flash of movement and took slow steps to follow, speeding up when I realized that I would never catch up to whatever it was if I didn’t hurry. Normally I couldn’t hurry, since it just wasn’t physically possible, but now, as I took off in a run, the breeze rushed past me and I laughed out loud, surprising myself at the pure, unadulterated joy that burst free.
The soft, tall grass of the meadow grazed against my arms as I ran, and Declan’s figure appeared in my sight. He had stopped, obviously waiting for me, but he didn’t look angry that I had halted our progress.
When he turned to face me, his pale eyes caught the glint of the sun and he shook his head slowly, thoughtful and sad.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice repeating the words I had heard once before. “She’ll kill us both now.”
The memory of my vision the first time Declan and I had touched back in the school cafeteria choked any response from my own lips, and I fell to my knees in front of him, the weight of all the unanswered questions light compared to the sad finality of our shared future.
THE END
Hope and Declan's story continues in The Weight of Dreams, available now!
Stunned by Declan's revelations about my identity, I can't help but follow his lead into a realm of beauty and promise unlike anything I had ever imagined. What I don't know, however, might not just hurt me, but lead us both to our deaths.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Molly Lavenza is a 2020 high school graduate headed to Kent State University. She loves her home state of Ohio, her cats, younger sister, and her boyfriend, whose dark, curly hair and obsession with Converse sneakers was the inspiration for Declan.
OTHER BOOKS BY MOLLY LAVENZA
HEIR OF CHARMS (ARDA ACADEMY, BOOK ONE)
Destruction.
In a family of healers who save, all I do is destroy. My enforced solitude is for my own safety as well as that of the world, or so my mother tells me.
When the boy next door beckons, I can't help but sneak out to forge a friendship with him. Loneliness leads me to defy my family, but desperation prevails when I discover that the grounds of his private academy hold a secret that could help me learn why my ability is so disastrous . . . or push me to create a catastrophe that will bring only death and destruction.
Merith Leigh has decided to give herself the best sixteenth birthday present ever: freedom. She's spent the last two years in silent communication with Tara
n, the boy next door, and his encouragement to meet him beyond their bedroom window views has tempted her to finally break free of her family's bonds. With a leap of faith, she trusts Taran with her future, and he takes her to meet his friends at his private academy, where a secret society that studies magic lurks with secrets of their own. Can Taran and his classmates help her discover why she carries the gift of destruction rather than her family's skill at healing, or will their association prove deadly?
The Shadow of a Dream Page 12
