by Jade Frances
A loud rapping on the door stopped me from answering. It swung open and LJ peered in from the other side.
“Time’s up, sorry little one. Orders are orders,” he said, but at least looked remorseful.
“Let me just say goodbye,” I smiled at him. With a nod, he pulled the door closed a little and mouthed ‘make it quick’. I turned back to Cole, who was looking at me with panic set deep in his eyes. Again, I reached out to him and this time he didn’t move. Instead, he went rigid as I held his arm in my hand. I pulled him down toward me and whispered in his ear.
“I will look into this Cole, and I will get you out of here. Just hang in there, please,” I gave his arm a small pat and stood to leave.
“Evangeline… why would you help me?”
I sighed and walked to the door. When I reached it, I turned and looked him in the eye.
“Because you helped me. And look what it cost you, I owe you this brother,” I said. He bowed his head and a single tear dropped from his face.
“It was always going to be one of us,” he mumbled, then laid on his bed with his back to me. Guilt surged through me, as again, I thought of how he’d been used to fulfil my destiny. A young sixteen-year-old boy, betrayed by the father who had raised him. He had lost more than I ever had.
“But it wasn’t supposed to be you,” I whispered back.
Chapter 4
I hadn’t gone back to Sandra’s room last night. I’d needed some time to myself, to think about what Cole had told me. There was no way that I could ascertain that it was the truth about Avetta, nor would I be able to find out what her intentions were. But there had to be a way to look into the scythe that he had mentioned. Early this morning, I had rolled out of bed and made a beeline for our common room. The shelves in there were lined with books. I doubted any had the information I sought, but it was worth a try. I was sitting at a table with what felt like the twentieth book in front of me when Pearce walked in.
“Morning little siren…” he walked over and kissed me on the forehead, sending a flurry of warmth through me. Then he flipped the book around to see what I was reading. “Objects of the God’s… what’s got you looking into that?”
“My visit with Cole last night was... interesting,” I told him and relayed the little information that I had received.
“A scythe… I’ve never heard of such a thing. I could do with something to focus on though…” he said and pulled a chair out to sit and join me. I pushed the pile of books toward him that I hadn’t flicked through yet and gave him an appreciative look.
“Thank you,” I murmured and turned my attention back to the book in front of me. I was almost finished with this one and wanted to get through as many as I could before Adam came calling.
After an hour and many books later, neither of us had found anything that remotely resembled the weapon that Cole had mentioned. I sighed and stretched out my arms.
“There’s nothing in these,” I said to Pearce, who looked as drained as I did. As a trained guardian, I doubted that reading was his ideal way of spending his time. I knew he would rather be training. But that made him being here that much more important to me, and I appreciated it.
“Maybe we need to delve into the books in the academy library,” he suggested. My head whipped up to look at him. “I’m just saying, they have a wider range. If this information is going to be anywhere, it will be in there…” He held his arms up and tried to reason with me.
“Do you think Cole is right? That Avetta has been disappearing to look for it?” I pushed the books away from me and massaged my temples with my fingers. “Because if she has been, why not just tell us?” I continued.
“She always has her reasons, Evangeline. None that we will ever truly know,” he sighed and walked around the table. Taking my head in his hands, he took over massaging my head. “How’s the darkness?”
I dropped my head back and closed my eyes. The warmth of his fingers was helping with my oncoming headache, but I knew he was trying to deflect from the conversation about Avetta. Pearce has always dealt better with facts rather than hearsay, but he has also stood by me many times.
“Fine. I guess I have to see Dakota soon,” I couldn’t hide the dread in my voice.
“Didn’t go well yesterday, huh?”
“She’s an arse, a bossy and rude one at that…”
“Give her a chance, she is here to help,” he replied. I grumbled an incoherent response. “Tell you what, if it’s ok with you… me and Egan will go to the library and look into this. That way you don’t have to go into the building, and my brother can also have a distraction. I think Sandra’s grief has been hard on him.”
I turned in my chair to look at him, only then did I notice the slight wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. His usually messy hair looked flat. It’s taken a toll on all of us.
“She will get better. Even yesterday helping with Cole seemed to brighten her energy,” I told him and held out my hand to take his. “She has all of us, and we all have each other.”
He nodded and released my hand, just as Adam strolled in. He paused to look at us, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Sorry to interrupt, Dakota was wondering if you would join us out back?” He asked me, not even glancing at Pearce.
“Sure,” I replied, as unenthusiastic as I felt. I stood to leave and gave Pearce a brief peck on the lips. “Let me know if you find anything,” I told him.
“Of course,” he bowed his head and stalked out before me. I sauntered over to Adam and linked my arm in his.
“So, what hell does Dakota have planned for me today?” I asked him with a slight hint of snide in my tone. As I thought, Adam didn’t miss my animosity.
“She’s a good one, Evvy. It might seem like she went hard on you yesterday. But you wanted her here remember, I never said it was going to be easy,” he spoke down to me. I cringed at my childish behavior and told myself to give her a chance. Just like everyone else seemed to be telling me to do. I sighed heavily and Adam nudged me in the ribs. His smile was cheeky. “Plus, it’s not like you to back away from a challenge.”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s see…” I smiled back and we fell into step side by side.
Once we reached the clearing at the back of the academy, an uneasy feeling started to dwell in my mind. This was yet another place I had tried to avoid in the past few months. Our first attack had happened right here, and we were still unsure of who orchestrated it. With Ava’s help, it could well have been the Veil, however since both Egan and Theodore had voiced their opinions on Avetta, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Dakota was standing in the centre of the field; her auburn hair was blowing gently around her in the breeze. Even with the scars, she was stunning. I could see why Adam was fond of her. Although, her personality wasn’t exactly desirable. Stop it Evangeline, give her a chance, I reminded myself. As we drew closer, a small smile appeared on her face, but it wasn’t aimed at me.
“Adam,” she purred as she walked over to join us. When she reached him, she took his face in her hands and planted a kiss on his lips. Shock coursed through me, as well as a bit of jealousy. I looked away and tried to focus on something else. You have Pearce, Adam is entitled to have someone. “Evangeline,” she greeted me. I forced myself to look at her and gave her a simple nod in response.
“I’m going to leave you two to it, play nice,” Adam gave a playful warning to us both, before turning and walking off. A slight panic rose within me at the thought of being alone with Dakota, but I pushed it straight back down.
“Today we will work on blending your darkness and the light that is within you. Are you going to co-operate or give me grief?” she barked. My God, she is hard work.
“Don’t play games with me and it will be fine,” I snapped back. She circled me, much like she had yesterday, looking me up and down.
“Feisty, I like it. But sweetie, I don’t play games,” she spoke into my ear as she passed me. “Now, reach in, feel the darkness and
control it,” she said and came to a stop in front of me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, blocking out the image of her in front of me. It would only feed my darkness. I reached into my mind and saw the ball of darkness. The first time the girl’s energy had come into contact with it, it had unlocked my bond to Aresollo. I felt my hands tremble at the memory of that moment. As I edged my energy to the small mass, I pushed aside any past memories associated with it.
“Good Evangeline, do not fear it. I am here if anything is to happen, I can sense your energy and the feelings it evokes within you,” Dakota’s voice reached me.
Once I was close to the mass, I called it forward. The pulse it emitted grew stronger the closer it got.
“You need to bond your darkness and light, they need to be one within you,” she guided me.
“I don’t see light,” I told her.
“You are the light, your energy is the light Evangeline. You need to believe that you can control both equally, or the darkness will overtake you.”
Not exactly helpful. I took another deep breath and focused on the darkness again. I was hesitating, I knew it, but this was new territory and if I was honest with myself, it did ignite some fear in me. The mass was pulsing more violently, and my pulse was changing to match it. I felt sweat drip down my forehead, but still, I didn’t open my eyes.
“Bond them, now,” Dakota shouted. It gave me a shock and my energy flew into the darkness. A bright light washed over my mind and I lost all sense of myself. Then the darkness seeped through. I could hear Dakota shouting something, but I couldn’t make out what it was. I felt paralyzed and could only watch as the light and dark raged through my mind. More of the darkness was filtering through the light. No, no, it’s going to take over. I have to do something. I calmed my mind and focused on the light, I willed it to contain the darkness. Slowly, the wisps of darkness that had been escaping, were drawn back into the light. Until they blended together and disbanded. My mind was clear, and my senses came back to me. The mist that had once been so prevalent in my mind was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the inside of my mind had a grey sheen, a mix of both. I felt my legs give way beneath me, and just caught myself before my head hit the ground. My eyes flew open. Dakota was crouching over me with a massive grin on her face.
“That was the easy part, ready to see if you can control it?” She said.
I groaned and rolled onto my back. I felt depleted, and she said that was the easy part. Although my mind did feel more lucid without a dark mass manifesting.
“Give me a minute,” I panted. I felt her grab my arm and all of a sudden, she had hauled me to my feet. “What is your problem?” I shouted at her and yanked my arm back. She glared at me.
“Oh, I have no problem, Evangeline. I am here to help. Do you think your enemies will give you a minute? Because they won’t,” she shouted back. “Now you either want to control that power within you, or you want to let it consume you. Either way you aren’t my problem, but here I am.”
For a second, I wanted to hit her. But the logical part of me knew that she was being reasonable. With the others I felt like an equal, maybe even greater. But with Dakota, she put me in my place, and I guess that’s what was bugging me.
“Fine, but you need to work on your people skills,” I told her.
“I’m sure I can meet you in the middle,” she mumbled and positioned herself in front of me again. “Now, we need to work on your control. You have to learn to use both light and darkness to enhance your power. Not one or the other, both.”
This was far from the training that I was used to, but I was committed and there was no point backing out now. Just as I was about to ask her what I had to do; a static filled the air. It grew louder until I could hear nothing but the buzz of it. Dakota’s eyes had gone wide, her mouth was open, but no sound was coming out. All of a sudden, she held her hands up to her ears and fell to the ground, writhing and rolling around as if she was in pain. I threw myself down beside her and rolled her onto her back.
“What is happening?” I tried to shout over the static. But she was incoherent, and I noticed a small trickle of blood dripping from her ear. I tried to lift her, but her dead weight was too heavy for me. I started to drag her instead, back to the academy building. With no warning, she went still and nothing, but a blood-curdling scream could be heard from her as the static went silent.
Chapter 5
As soon as the static had gone, and Dakota’s scream had been carried away with the breeze. An enormous boom occurred in the sky above. I looked up but saw nothing that could have caused it. Then a voice entered the atmosphere. It came from nowhere but was everywhere at the same time. I spun around to look for the source.
“Aresollo has fled, he has failed to steal power that is not his to obtain. Now, Granddaughter, I know you can hear me. Join me at my side. If you choose to defy me, there will be consequences. Anyone who wishes to bring her to me, will be rewarded greatly.”
A single icy chill ran down my spine and buried itself deep in the pit of my stomach. Again, I felt paralysed as the world seemed to stop. All I could hear was Ares’s voice replaying over and over in my mind. Join me at my side. Something I had heard enough of from Aresollo. Now Ares. Someone was shaking me, but I couldn’t release myself from the mental paralysis I was under. I felt my feet lift off from the ground and my stomach thud against someone’s shoulder. Whoever it was, was running. What felt like only seconds later, I was placed back on the ground. A sharp sting crossed my cheek. The shock of it pulled me from my stupor.
“Evvy, get your act together,” Adam was shouting. I looked at him confused and a bit disorientated. “Look around.”
I did as he said, but we were perched up against the wall of the academy and there was nothing but the grounds around us. I peeked around the corner. People were lifting themselves from the grounds, blood dripped from their ears like Dakota’s. At first, they looked dazed, then looks of terror filled their faces. But that was quickly replaced with determination, as they whipped their heads around looking for something. Or someone. I pinned myself against the wall and wished that it would swallow me whole. I was quite possibly in the most dangerous place right now. Anyone who wishes to bring her to me. Most of the people at this academy would be more than willing to hand me over if it meant securing their own safety.
“We need to get you out of here,” Adam was still panting from carrying me. I nodded, unable to form words. My mind was reeling with the odds that I had been put in yet another compromising position in this world. “I don’t know how we are going to get past them though,” he nodded his head to the corner of the building.
“I’ll distract them.”
The voice that came from behind us made us both jump. I turned and looked right into Dakota’s cold eyes. Uh oh.
“Sorry Dakota, I had to get Ava out of sight,” Adam began rambling. His cheeks had flushed red as soon as he had realised it was her. I rolled my eyes at the awkwardness.
“How are you going to do that?” I drew her attention back to me. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed.
“I have no interest in handing you over Evangeline. Adam is bonded to you, it would only hurt him. Just leave it to me,” she snapped and walked around the corner with a seductive sway in her hips. I sighed and looked at Adam.
“She is impossible, you know,” I told him.
“Once you get to know her, you will see past her attitude,” he replied and gave me a slight smile. With a nod of his head, we both looked around the wall. We were trying to be discreet, but we needn’t have bothered. Dakota had somehow rounded everyone up and was pointing in different directions hastily. Pairs broke off and ran in the directions that she told them to, until there was no one left on the grounds for her to command. Impressive.
As soon as she motioned, we made a run for the quarters. Why no one had thought to go there first, I would never know. But it worked to our advantage, so no need to dwell on it. I doubted that we had much time to gra
b some bits and leave. Once I had reached my room, I realised that none of the others had come to look for me. It was also in that moment that I thought of Cole. I couldn’t run away and leave him stuck in the bunker. I’d have to talk to Adam and devise a plan to get him out. One thing was for certain, I wouldn’t leave him behind. I could only imagine that Avetta would use him as leverage against me if it meant keeping herself safe. A knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts. I could sense that it was Pearce on the other side. As soon as the door opened, he came barrelling in and pulled me into his arms. My feet left the floor as he lifted me, squeezing me tight.
"I'm ok, can you please put me down," I mumbled into his shoulder.
"Evangeline, there are so many people here that would be all too willing to hand you over," he said without putting me down. I wriggled my way out of his arms.
"I am fully aware of that Pearce, that is why I'm packing."
He looked around me and noticed the duffel on my bed, his eyes widened slightly.
"To go where?"
"I haven't got that far yet, Adam will think of something I'm sure," I said and went back to packing my clothes. I could feel the tension radiating from him, but I didn't have time for his jealousy. He let out a small grunt, then started to help me.
"You'll have to go to one of the guardian’s outposts, maybe LJ. He can be trusted," Pearce called out from the bathroom. That's not such a bad idea, but still on the grounds where I could be found. I chose not to answer, instead I focused on the task at hand. Once the duffel was full, I threw it by the door and turned to look at Pearce. Concern was etched on his face, something that I was still trying to grow used to. Pearce had never shown any emotion, he was always in his guardian façade. But since Theodore had arrived with what was left of his clan, he had softened, a lot. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around his waist.