by Raven Steele
For the first time in a long time, my mind became clear, and I was able to see how the Vyken’s poison had worked itself into my heart. It terrified me to realize how much control it had over me.
I let go of Liam and dropped onto the floor next to him, mortified. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
Christian scooted over to me, protecting his left arm. “What happened? Why are you apologizing?”
“The poison. I thought I was controlling it, but . . . I’m an idiot. Liam saved me.” I stared at Liam, at his crumpled up body, his face etched in pain. Somehow, he managed to smile. Just barely. “You knew. You knew I needed to use Light.”
“But you have been using it,” Christian said. “Just the other night.”
I shook my head. “I needed to use it out of love. I haven’t done that for a very long time. Not since Tracey died. All the other times, even just now when I wanted to go kill Cyrus, I thought my actions were out of love for my friend, but they weren’t. I wanted to fight him, and everyone, because I love the feeling of contention, and because I yearn to kill.”
I glanced over at Christian to see his reaction, but his blank expression gave me nothing. He may never understand.
Touching Liam lightly on the head, I asked, “How bad is the pain?”
“I’ll survive.”
“I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
He searched my eyes and sucked in a slow, shaky breath like it was painful to breathe. “Just remember what you’ve learned. Only use your power for good.”
“I will. I promise.”
Chapter 33
I woke early the next morning and searched for Christian, thinking he might’ve returned after helping Liam outside of the school, but my room was empty. Poor Christian. He hadn’t understood what had happened and was upset that I asked him to help Liam.
“I should be trying to kill him, not helping him walk,” Christian had complained. He softened a little when Liam popped his shoulder back into the joint and told Christian he could have three free hits as soon as he recovered.
Before I left my room, I glanced out the window. I didn’t recoil from the bright morning sun like I usually did. Instead, it gave me hope. I breathed in deeply, feeling better than I had in a long time.
At breakfast I told May and Kiera what had happened to Tessa. Both of them were shocked and really freaked out.
“You have to get Sophie to close Lucent,” May said, clasping her hands together tightly. “Even if it’s just for a little while. Someone needs to figure out what’s going on before anyone else gets hurt.”
I glanced around the crowded dining room. All these girls: sitting, laughing, eating, having no idea that their world was about to be ripped apart. They were the true victims in all this.
I sighed. “I know. That’s what Liam and Christian said too.”
Both of them were visibly upset after I told them what the Vyken had said about dead bodies filling the garbage.
“Do you think Sophie will listen to you?” Kiera asked. Dark circles hung under her eyes, and I wondered how much sleep she was getting.
“I hope so. I guess I can always call in a bomb threat or something if she doesn’t.”
I waited all through breakfast for Sophie, but she never showed. I looked for her in the halls in between classes but didn’t see her there either. At lunchtime, I decided to skip lunch to go in search of her. I found her in the teacher’s lounge standing at a microwave that hummed softly. By the spicy aroma, she was cooking an Asian dish. Something with curry in it.
“Hello, Llona,” she said. “How are you today?”
“Fine.”
“I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“That’s good. You should study as much as you can.”
I laughed. If only.
“Is something funny?”
I cleared my throat and made my face go serious. “I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
The microwave beeped. “Okay. Come to my office with me while I eat. You want some?”
“No thanks.”
Holding a container of steaming rice and chicken in one hand and silverware in the other, Sophie walked to her office. I followed her.
“Mind if I close this?” I asked, my hand on her office door.
“Go right ahead.”
I closed the door and sat down while Sophie sifted through the rice with a fork. I thought carefully before I spoke, knowing any wrong word would shut Sophie down from hearing another word.
“So,” I began, “remember how you told me that my mother was too trusting? That she let people into her life too easily?”
Sophie mumbled an “Uh-huh” through a bite.
“I don’t remember much about my mother, but from everything my father said about her she was trusting, but she wasn’t stupid. She always tried to do the right thing. I’m sure you knew that my parents also moved around a lot.”
Sophie set her fork down and stared at me. I couldn’t tell by her blank expression if she was angry or just simply listening intently.
I continued, “It took some time for Lander to scheme his way into their lives. My parents were manipulated. It could’ve happened to anyone, even another Aura.”
Sophie shifted her position in the chair. More upright. “I don’t know about that.”
“Sophie, do you trust me?”
She didn’t say anything, but her lips tightened and twisted like she was having a really hard time coming up with an answer.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Sophie. Do you think I would ever do anything to purposely hurt you or your reputation?”
“Of course not, but sometimes I think you can be impulsive. And when you’re impulsive, you unknowingly hurt those around you.”
I shook my head, realizing I was about to get into a debate I didn’t want to have. “Look, I just need to know that you’ll believe what I’m about to tell you. I have no reason to make it up.”
“How about you start telling me what’s going on, and we’ll go from there, okay?”
A deep breath filled my lungs. On my exhale, I told her about the pills. This conversation led into Cyrus and his assistant and how they were Vykens. I ignored Sophie’s skeptical expression, and even her occasional smile, and kept talking even though she tried to stop me several times.
I explained how they were taking our blood and selling it to Vykens, and how they’d kidnapped Tessa. And finally, I ended by telling her about the attack on the school sometime in the next few days.
The only thing I didn’t tell her about was the Shadow. Resolve one problem at a time. “What I need you to do, Aunt Sophie, is tell all the girls to go home for the rest of the week. They can’t be here. It’s not safe.”
Sophie leaned back in her chair. She said nothing for almost a full minute. I opened my mouth to say something else, maybe she needed more convincing, but she stopped me.
“That’s quite a story you’ve told me. Do you have any proof?”
I thought for a moment. “I’d show you the blood bags that have been replaced with Vyken blood, but because you’ve been taking the pills, you won’t be able to tell the difference. I guess I could have you talk to Liam, but you might think he’s lying. Same with May and Kiera.”
“You got them involved in this?” For some reason this seemed to upset her more than anything else. “Who else have you spoken to?”
“Are you saying you believe me?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying just yet.”
And then I remembered something. “Of course I have proof. The secret room in Cyrus’s office where I found Tessa.”
“You found her?” She shook her head. “I thought she ran away.”
“Are you not listening to me?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Wait, what secret room?”
I started over, this time making her repeat certain parts to be sure she was listening. The only part of the story I left out was me turnin
g invisible. I didn’t want to share that quite yet since it just didn’t seem as important as everything else.
When I was finished, she nodded thoughtfully. “The first chance I get I’ll check it out.”
This alarmed me. “But you must be careful. In fact, maybe you should have me go with you. If any Vykens found you, I know they would kill you.”
Sophie laughed, and I couldn’t tell if it was because she didn’t think I could protect her or that a Vyken could kill her.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked.
She cleared her throat. “So dramatic, Llona. Just like your mother.”
I sunk into my chair. “You don’t believe me.”
“No, no. I do believe there is something to your story. I mean, it’s so elaborate, how could you make it up? And there is the fact that Auras are being attacked outside our school.” She rubbed at the back of her neck. “Something strange is going on, but there’s no way Cyrus is a part of it. I’ve known him for far too long. Let me conduct my own investigation. And for your own piece of mind, I’ll be careful.”
“Please do. It’s important. I don’t want to lose you too.”
She stood and walked around her desk to give me a hug. I hugged her back, inhaling the smell of cinnamon laced with curry.
“Nothing’s going to happen to me. I promise.” After a short moment, she let go. “You may not know this, Llona, but I’m good at adapting. This skill has put me where I’m at today.”
“What do you mean?”
Sophie just smiled, like she knew some great secret. “We’ll meet again soon, Llona.”
I left Sophie’s office feeling conflicted. I wasn’t sure what she was going to do, and it didn’t seem she believed me about Cyrus, but it was a start. If she wasn’t convinced by tomorrow, then I’d call in that bomb threat—every day if I had to.
After school I worked with Kiera, trying to teach her all I knew, but there just wasn’t enough time. I wished I had a few months.
When we were finished, I spoke to Tessa. She was staying at the Deific office in Coast City. The way she spoke about the place and the people, I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to find out more about them. Before she hung up, Tessa handed the phone to Liam. He sounded weak and tired but assured me he would be back to normal within a day.
Christian came over that night. The two of us shared a quiet dinner in my room, and I was glad for the time alone with him. I didn’t want to think about anything else. I just wanted to be here with Christian, as if we were the only ones in the world.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, after swallowing a bite of pizza.
We were sitting next to each other, leaning against the wall, with a box of half-eaten pizza between us.
“Just wishing we could do this every night.”
He squeezed my hand. “We will. Soon you’ll leave Lucent. We’ll get married. Move to the coast. Have children. Maybe a dog.” He frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
I wasn’t sure how I looked, but I did know my heart had stopped beating. “What did you say?”
“Um, that we’d have a dog? You don’t like dogs? Maybe we could get a—”
“No. The part about us getting married.”
“Oh. Well, we will, won’t we? I mean, I know I haven’t officially proposed, and we’re both still young, but I just can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else.” He reached up and gently palmed my cheek. “You’re my plan, Llona. Wherever we go, whatever happens, I want to be in your life. Always.”
When I didn’t say anything, he quickly added, “When the time’s right, of course. No need to rush things.” His face burned red. “I freaked you out, didn’t I? Sorry. I just—”
I covered his mouth with mine, wanting so badly to never part from him again. He kissed me back just as fiercely and in one fluid motion, he rotated me so I was sitting on top of him, my legs straddling his waist.
Our lips moved as one against each other, our tongues tangling into each other through desperate breaths.
“I love you,” I breathed. And I meant it. He needed to know my true feelings. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?
His body stilled, and he pulled back, his hands gripping the sides of my face. In his eyes, I saw the promise of a bright future filled with love and passion. “Llona Reese, I love you so much it hurts. You’re my forever, and there’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you.”
His mouth crashed into mine again, and his hands found my hips. His fingers dug into them, as I moved against him. He moaned and gasped for breath.
This is what I wanted. To be with him in every way possible.
“I want you, Christian. Please.”
He stilled and opened his eyes. “I want that too, but … “Pain etched his face. “I want our first time together to be full of hope for the future instead of fear we might never see each again.”
When I began to argue, he kissed the words from my mouth and added, “But I promise you, I will make sure we survive because I’ve wanted you since the first day I met you and I’m tired of waiting.”
“Are you saying I’ll be your reward when we win?”
He brushed his thumb across my bottom lip and chuckled lightly. “I’m pretty sure when I’m done with you, you’ll be the one to feel rewarded.” He kissed me again and mumbled, “Over and over.”
I laughed and continued to kiss him, saying between breaths, “I’ll hold you to that.”
The early morning chimes sounded earlier than usual, but they weren’t the normal ones signaling mealtime. They were the “mandatory meeting” chimes. I slid out of bed and got dressed. After combing my hair to my “bad” side, I pulled on a beanie and left my room. The halls were crowded and filled with excited voices.
“I bet we’re having another dance,” one girl said as I passed.
Another added, “Maybe we’re getting some new teachers.”
I dodged in and out of the girls until I found May.
“What do you think this is about?” she asked me.
“Maybe my talk with Sophie actually worked.” I hope.
Other than being more crowded than usual, the dining room was the same as always. Lizens carried trays of food to Auras who were huddled around the tables, looking happier than they had been in a long time. It made me ill. The smell of pancakes and citrus circulated throughout the room. Comfort food.
Kiera waved us over from across the room where she had saved two seats for us. On the way over, Tessa’s mother caught my attention. She smiled and mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
When I reached the table, I didn’t sit down right away. I glanced around the room searching for Sophie. I found her at the front talking to several teachers. She met my gaze and acknowledged me with a nod.
Kiera pulled me into a chair. “What’s going on?”
I shrugged. “We’ll know soon enough.”
Sophie walked to the front podium. “Can I have your attention? Girls, please. Sit down. I have an announcement.”
Everyone hurried toward a seat and waited expectantly. Just then Cyrus walked in. I think it was the first time I’d seen him in the dining room. It must have been a first for the others too, because they looked just as shocked.
He moved straight to Sophie and whispered something in her ear. She shook her head and motioned for him to sit down. The lines in his face tightened like he was angry but he did what she said.
Sophie’s gaze swept over the room. “You girls are so special. Has anyone ever told you that?”
A wave of laughter and giggles filled the room. May and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.
“Because of this,” Sophie continued, “I want to give you a surprise. Something we’ve never done before in the summer.”
Everyone leaned forward, hanging on her every word.
“We’re giving you a week off from school.” Sophie smiled. “Starting today.”
There was a collective gasp from the audience foll
owed by cheers and high fives. Cyrus stood and stormed over to Sophie. I tried to listen to what they were saying, but even my great hearing couldn’t weed out their voices over the celebration. But a few seconds later, Cyrus sat back down looking seriously pissed.
Sophie motioned with her hands to silence the crowd. “Be quiet, please. I have more to say.”
When loud voices quieted to whispers, she continued, “Because of the short notice, I know many of you won’t be able to leave, as your families may be away. For those of you who can’t leave or who want to stay, we will have activities planned every day. And not the normal ones. We have several field trips planned.”
Excited voices rose again. I shook my head, wishing Sophie hadn’t added that last part. We needed the girls to leave, not want to stay.
“An official announcement has already been emailed to your parents,” Sophie explained. “When we are finished here, you will be allowed to call your parents. All phones, including in the teachers’ offices, will be made available. And finally,” Sophie paused, waiting for the girls to quiet down again, “all Lizens will be given the week off too.”
A blanket of silence dropped on the room. I don’t think anyone was breathing either, including the Lizens. Three tables over, Ashlyn stood and raised her hand.
“Yes, Ashlyn?” Sophie asked.
“But if Lizens are allowed to leave, who will take care of us if we choose to stay?”
Sophie’s jaw tightened briefly before she said, “You will take care of yourself. You know how to do that, right?”
Shocked, Ashlyn glanced around, clearly looking for support, but no one gave it.
“Any other questions?” Sophie asked into the microphone. When no one said anything, she said, “Good. Now get moving.”
May turned to me. “This is good, right?”
“It’s the best we could’ve hoped for.” I pushed away from the table. “I’ll be right back.”
I maneuvered my way to the front until I found Sophie. She embraced me before I could say anything. When she pulled away she said, “I found the room. I can’t believe Cyrus didn’t tell us about it.”
“So you believe me?”