The Gift of Sky and Soil (Father Sky Book 1)

by Gillian Zane

  So, if he was on that path, a path forged by a god I didn’t have much choice in following, leading to a war I didn’t even come close to comprehending, was this going to lead me to being another footnote in a history book? Miley, daughter of Leigh and Walter, voice of the snake. Lover of Zeke, controller of plants.

  That is what I called our powers in my head. The voice of the snake and the controller of plants. The power to control life. It was a heady experience, and it felt wrong at times, scary most of the time. What I had just done with Zeke had not felt wrong. That bird had been amazing, and when we joined our powers, the feeling had been exhilarating. And that was the problem. It was almost as if it was meant to be.

  I stood and wiped my knees off. There were grass stains on my dress.

  “Miley.” Zeke pushed himself to a sitting position. I tried not to look at his crotch, but it was like a magnet. Boom. Yep, happy to be here. I couldn’t help the blush. I was such a child. He made a motion with his hand, and the grass stains on my dress disappeared.

  “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “How am I supposed to look at you?”

  “Not with that confused, whatever look you’re giving me,” I sighed and kicked at the grass.

  “Well, I am confused. I thought this was something we both wanted.”

  “Zeke, for some reason, I think this is being forced on us, and I don’t like that. Not when it’s got my emotions tied up with it.” His eyes appeared darker than normal. He knew it, he felt it, but this connection could just be a literal roll in the grass for him. Sex didn’t necessarily constitute emotions. He wanted to fuck me, that was clear. I didn't know if wanted me as his forever person. But the thing was, if I took the next step with Zeke, I knew there would be no going back. There would be no one else. It scared the shit out of me.

  “It doesn’t have to be that way. How can this be forced?” He reached for my hand, but I stepped back so he couldn’t make contact. I didn’t trust myself or what I would do if he touched me. I didn’t plan on his reaction, though, the turn of his mouth, the pull of his eyebrows; he thought it was about not trusting him.

  “How do you know this isn’t about me, about my power?” I looked at him, and with the same force that I used to control the hawk, I willed him to stop questioning me, to stop pushing. He closed his eyes, and I could feel his fight, I could feel him slough off my power over him. I couldn’t use it on him, he knew it, I knew it.

  “You know it’s not.”

  “I can’t do this, Zeke. I don’t want this.” I saw the pain cross his face, and it was an instant stab of guilt.

  “If that’s what you want, Miley.” He rolled onto his side and got to his knees, his hands in the dirt, the grass greener where he touched. He was truly magnificent. The gift he had, coaxing life, whereas, I was pure manipulation. Then his words sank in. He could say that so easily. Brush it off. Brush me off. I hurried inside before the tears fell. This fate game wasn’t for me.

  22

  The words I had spoken to Miley delivered instant regret. I was never one for communicating social niceties well or getting my point across when it came to feelings. Typical male, or so I’ve been told. I was quick to let people slip away instead of saying my piece. It helped to avoid messy emotional conflagrations and entanglements I wasn’t ready for. But I couldn’t get over the way she had pulled away from me. She, honestly, didn’t trust me. And why should she? She didn’t know me. We had been thrust together by accident, or by fate, whatever you wanted to call it—but that didn’t give us any deeper understanding to who we were. And here I wanted to make us go from stranger to lovers with no in-between.

  My steps were slow, but I followed her to the house and found the doors closed. I was at an impasse here. There were lines drawn, this was her house, my place was in the little cottage. I always knocked. I felt like I was taking advantage of the situation if I barged in. I was only a guest here. She let me live here for free—all because of the current situation. I had emailed the management company at my apartment complex that I was not renewing my lease. I went to month to month when this last pandemic had started, so it was only a matter of semantics. I had arranged for my neighbor to take my furniture. I had nothing now, everything was in the hands of this woman who didn’t trust me. Who I had tried to force into sex because our powers aligned when we touched.

  I headed to my motorcycle. I needed to get away for a second, maybe a little longer. I started the bike and saw the door open from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t have it in me to stop what I was doing.

  Not knowing where I was headed, I was surprised when I found myself outside the wooded area where I knew the plant was located. It was nearing dusk, and this trip wasn’t planned, so I knew I shouldn't go in there. I shouldn’t try to find it now. I was ill-prepared and ill-equipped. I felt useless. Why the hell had I come here?

  The air was different in this area, murky and thick with the smell of dirt and mold. It was obvious how different this place was from the surrounding swamps with my enhanced abilities; I could see the pollen in the air. It floated on the wind, puffs of white fluff looking for something to cling to.

  Stepping out onto the rocky parking area, apprehension tightened in my stomach as it roiled in nervousness. I rubbed my wrist, a nervous tick I thought I had kicked a long time ago. It wasn’t right here. It wasn’t natural. Why was I here?

  “I can smell the sky on you, boy.” The voice startled me. It came from the trees, but I could see no one attached to the guttural taunt. My body tensed to run. I hadn’t expected to engage with anyone out here. Only if I went into the woods. Especially someone or something that knew what I was. There was no question it knew who I was, or at least who I was affiliated with.

  A man stepped from the trees. He was small in stature, barely five foot five, if that. He was also a few years older than me. It was obvious he made up for his height with weight training. His neck was thick from the extra muscles, his arms strained the stained t-shirt he wore. His face spoke of Asian heritage, his accent told me he was a local.

  “I said I can smell the sky on you. Did you hear me? What do you say about that?” His voice was louder with accusation, a child’s cry when they didn’t deal well with being ignored.

  “You’re fifty feet away from me. I doubt it’s me you’re smelling.” I tried to play it light and abrasive.

  “You joke with me, but I am not your friend. I can never be friends with someone so intent on destroying this planet. A walking pollutant who has denied the Mother. You do not deserve to live as you are trash and trash must be taken out. You’ll be one of the first to die in the third strike,” he laughed an awful laugh, high pitched and staccato like a hyena, setting my nerves on edge.

  A rock shot from near his feet and struck the ground near me. Was that his doing? Could he control the rocks like I could control plants and Miley could control mammals? Another one shot from near him and struck me in the thigh. The pain was intense, as if I had been kicked hard. I winced. It was time to get out of here.

  Another rock struck me in the stomach, and I bent over in pain, holding my waist like a pussy. It felt like getting hit by a baseball. I stepped back, losing my footing slightly and trying not to pitch over completely. I needed to get to my bike, I needed to get out of there. I couldn’t fight whatever this was. I raised my leg to throw it over the bike and the entire bike fell, and this time I did lose my footing. The man laughed maniacally.

  “You’re not going anywhere, sky lover,” the man laughed again. “It’s time to die like the rest of the polluters.”

  “Why would you agree to do this? To kill for her?” I found my voice, still on my back like a fool.

  “Because humans are a scourge. They destroy, they hate, they consume, they elect racist and pedophiles into office because they can only respond to money. They don’t deserve to continue to exist.”

  “But you’re human, you’re just as much at fault,” I argued.


  “Not anymore,” the man laughed and another volley of rocks hit me, and the bike behind me began to shake. I managed to dodge some rocks while getting to my feet. One glanced off my cheek as I stood, and I felt the hot liquid of blood drip down my flesh. A drop landed on the back of my hand and I grimaced. I was never a fighter. But I couldn't go down like this.

  “You’re not the only one,” I whispered. I was too far away, where this man stood was out of my range. I tried anyway. I urged the palmetto and the kudzu vines to reach for him. Barely a whisper of a response answered me because of the distance, but there was something that answered me, yearning for me. A whisper of a response, an awakening, that stretched and pulled, grateful to have someone to talk to, to converge with. It craved my touch. It craved the company. I stoked that response, urged it on, asked for its assistance as more rocks rained down, messing with my concentration.

  Tires squealed behind me, gravel and dirt thrown up in my direction, but not from the lunatic in front of me. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him. I didn’t want to lose any of the concentration it took to get the vines to respond to me. They snaked around his ankles; he hadn’t noticed because he was busy concentrating on the rocks he threw in my direction. I didn’t feel the rocks anymore when they hit, only the slight sting after.

  “Zeke!” Miley’s voice sounded desperate and alarmed, high-pitched because of her anxiety. I couldn't turn to reassure her.

  “Another follower of Sky! Join your friend and die as well,” the man screamed, but his voice wavered. He hadn’t expected another to join me.

  Miley was at my side in a moment, her hand slipping into mine. I felt the power between us surge and the vines snaked up the man’s legs in gusto.

  “What?” He looked shocked when he noticed the vines. Like a man who had been pelting me with rocks couldn’t believe the vines were reaching out to him.

  “Kneel!” Miley yelled, her voice thick with thunder. The man fell to his knees, allowing the vines to overtake him. They curled and slithered over his skin. Rocks began to fly in every direction, a whirlwind flying this way and that. None hit us.

  “What is doing this?” Miley asked me.

  “He is,” I said in a gasped breath as the plants asked for more of me. For everything, and if I let them, they would pull me apart and bring me to them piece by piece.

  “Blasphemy, you speak to the plants yet you follow the Sky!” He screamed as the vines wrapped around his face, pulling him to the ground. “You will all die. you will feel her wrath! She is the Mother. She creates life, and she will destroy it!”

  “Shut up!” Miley screamed, and he didn’t speak again. The vines wrapped around his head like a great creeping snake, his torso was covered, and then his face. I knew they wouldn’t stop until they took him inside themselves as well. They would overtake him until there was no more left to overtake. Until they broke him down, used him like soil and fertilizer. I didn’t know how I felt about that.

  “He’ll die,” Miley said, her voice soft and concerned.

  “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? We’re supposed to stop her plans. That means stopping all of her followers, and they are intent in killing us. They’ll stop at nothing. Why should we not do the same for them?”

  “Does stopping her have to involve death, though?”

  “If I release him, he’ll come at us again, but now he’ll know what we can do. What other option is there?” I hoped like hell she came up with another option, but I knew deep down there was no other way.

  “You’re right, I have no other ideas.” She looked away from the man who was nothing but a pile of vines with an arm protruding from the side.

  “I can’t watch, though.” She turned her back on me and the dying man. The rocks still flew through the air, but they were chaotic with no target in mind. One whizzed past me and shattered the driver side window on Miley’s SUV, making both of us jump, and Miley even let out a small scream.

  “Let’s get out of here.” I tugged on her hand, never wanting to let it go. She turned around and looked at my bike. It would take strength I didn’t have at the moment to lift it back up.

  “Were you leaving?” she asked me. “I called for you, but you didn’t stop.”

  “I just needed to get my head straight. It’s hard that you don’t trust me,” I said the last part in a hurried sort of way.

  “But I do trust you.” She pulled me so I looked down at her. Her eyes were wide and vulnerable. She was so fragile and strong at the same time; it was an impossible way to be, but here she stood with everything on the line.

  “Then what is it?”

  “I don’t trust myself.”

  Miley lured me into her home with talk of food and first aid. The pain had hit me the moment I sat in the passenger seat of the SUV. I was bleeding from a few points on my body, and I was glad her seats were dark leather. I was a mess.

  It was hard to make it up the steps. I had to hold on to her as my leg gave out at one point.

  “Steady,” she said. “You’re a lot bigger than me.”

  “I’m trying, Miley,” I whispered, my voice getting weaker with each step and drop of blood. I could feel it leaking out of me, through my fingers, down my leg.

  We finally made it into the kitchen, and she sat me in one of the chairs, but not before stripping me of my shirt and pants.

  “Oh God.” She held a palm to her mouth as she looked at me in horror.

  “What?” I think I said the words, but I heard no sound.

  “It looks like some of them went into you like bullets. How were you still standing?”

  Sheer force of will.

  She held her hand over my chest. She had broken out a first aid kit and hovered over it as if she didn’t know what to do with it. I made a move to grab her hand, but I was too weak.

  “Some of the rocks are still in there.” She wiped a rag along the cut on my cheek as strands of her hair fluttered near my face. I could smell her shampoo and the lotion she used. It was a tempting aroma, even though I could barely hold my head up. Another pass and I managed to get my hand up and around hers, bringing it back onto one of the more painful rock impacts.

  Closing my eyes, I concentrated on our powers, mixing mine with hers like we had done in the parking lot and with the hawk. This power could heal me. This power could change everything. Against my hand, I felt the rough edge of a rock as it was being expelled from the wound.

  “You’re healing, under our hands,” Miley whispered in awe.

  “Just keep it up.” I let my head fall back, but kept her hand in mine. She moved our hands over my body, over each wound, until there was nothing left to heal. Then she wiped and cleaned my skin until all of the blood was removed and every cut and scrap was either completely healed or on the way to being healed.

  After she was done playing nurse, she gave me a fresh shirt and sat me down at a stool and placed a plate of food in front of me, some sort of chicken with veggies on the side that she had whipped up. I was too tired to make conversation, my mind wandering, and chewing being one of the things I really needed to concentrate on. I needed the calories, and with each bite, I could feel the power coming back to me. Eating in silence, I tried not to think of what happened earlier, but it was almost impossible. The man covered in vines. The death I had caused. The deaths I might have to cause in the future. It was a sickening feeling. I had no inclination to inflict harm on other human beings, not even ones who supposedly deserved it. I was usually content with letting the world have its balance.

  But I had caused the man’s death. It might not have been my hands on his throat, but it was surely my intent that had killed him. I expected to feel extreme guilt, maybe sickness, but it wasn’t there. I had accepted it. I had accepted his death. What did that say about me?

  I picked up our plates when we were done and did a quick clean of the kitchen as Miley sat and watched me from the table. Her eyes looked tired, and there was dirt across her cheek.

&
nbsp; “We had no choice, and I think we’ll have to do this again,” I finally spoke the words that had been haunting me since we returned home.

  “I know.” Her head hung low, looking at her hands. Her dress was high on her thighs, her legs spread slightly, unusual since she usually crossed them. The fact that I knew this baffled me briefly.

  “Hey, I know you didn’t ask for this, I know you don’t want this, but that man, something was wrong with him, and he was intent on killing me—he probably would have if you hadn’t shown up.” I placed a finger under her chin and lifted her eyes to mine.

  “I felt you. I followed you because I felt you needed me,” she said.

  “Is this the fate that you’re so afraid of?” She nodded, but it wasn’t convincing.

  “I’m really glad you felt me, because if you hadn’t, this would have turned out a lot differently.” Sensing her discomfort, I let her chin go. I understood the feeling.

  “Can you feel it, the connection? I know where you are at all times.” She tried to stand, but I blocked her. I wanted to let her go, let her pass, but I was enjoying the moment. I was enjoying that I was making her uncomfortable.

  “I can’t feel it that strongly, something is there, though.” I wanted to touch her. I wanted to at least hold her hand, but the fear that she would push me away again held me back.

  “It’s getting stronger each time we touch.” She finally stood, and my nearness to her as she stood there made her press against me, her small frame fitting against my larger one. The way she looked up at me told me she had done this on purpose, but it was my turn to doubt. My turn to question everything. Stronger each time we touched. Until what? Until we absorbed each other like the plants wanted to do to me? Would we eventually become nothing more than one creature?