Scion

by Kelly Oram

  Gabe nodded slowly—a spark of hope in his eyes.

  “Do you have my knife?” I asked Ethan.

  Ethan didn’t question me. He handed the seraph blade over without hesitation.

  “Russ?” Dani asked.

  I ignored her. If I stopped for anything, I’d have a chance to talk myself out of this. Taking a few quick breaths, I sliced my palm with the dagger and fisted the artifact against my wound. A ripping sensation followed that made my entire body shake. I felt aura after aura leave me, and finally, when my own essence was the only power left, I shut my eyes and pushed it into the artifact, too. My instincts screamed at me to stop. This was wrong, unnatural. I was willing my very soul out of my body, but at the same time my heart pounded in my chest with Michael’s approval.

  Before I could chicken out, I dropped the bloody artifact to the ground and slammed my dagger down on top of it. The angelic blade sliced through the artifact and the relic exploded, releasing a blast of energy that shot out in all directions. I had to close my eyes and brace myself against the force of power so it wouldn’t knock me over. A heavy silence settled over the garden, and we all stared down at the place where the relic had been. The only thing left was a small, charred circle.

  I rose to my feet and thrust my hand to Gabe. He understood what I wanted. Taking my hand, his eyes met mine and drifted out of focus as he peeked into my future. The suspense as I waited was enough to drive me mad. Would I still turn evil? Had I stripped myself of who I was for nothing?

  Eventually, he blinked himself back to the present, and took a step back. He said nothing for a long moment, only stared at me with wonder. “You have changed it,” he whispered. He shook his head, as if trying to wrap his mind around whatever it was he saw. “Your priestess was right about your destiny. You will do so much good before your days are over. Thank you, Russ. Thank you for the sacrifice you have made.”

  I swallowed. On the one hand, I was relieved that it wasn’t in my stars to raise an army of demons and destroy the world anymore, but I’d given up my magic—my essence—in a hasty moment of desperation. I was human now. I’d never have magic again.

  “Russ…” Dani reached for my hand, but I pulled away from her. I couldn’t stand her touch at the moment. I backed away from everyone present. All of them gaped at me in shock, and the stares only made me feel worse. I didn’t want sympathy. I couldn’t bear being comforted by people who had no idea how I felt right now. “Are you all right?”

  I snapped at her before I could stop myself. “What do you think? In the last five minutes I’ve lost my father, become an orphan, ended the most powerful warlock line of magic in history, and given up my aura. How am I supposed to live without my magic? Without my supernatural essence? Who even am I now?”

  Grace approached me slowly, worrying her lip as she reached for my hand. I gave it to her. I’d always been unable to deny Grace that way. “You’re still you, Russ. And you’re a hero. You changed your destiny. You stopped your father. You destroyed the relic.”

  “And myself in the process,” I muttered, trying to fight the bitterness that wanted to overwhelm me.

  Grace’s eyes glossed over, and she shook her head. “I don’t believe that, Russ. There is so much more to you than just your magic. You’ve done such a selfless thing, giving up your power. You are truly good.” She nudged me slightly, attempting to smile. “And, hey, being human isn’t so bad. You might learn to like it.”

  “And you’re not bonded to your father and Dani anymore, right?” Ethan asked. “You can be free of that burden, at least.” He tried to force some hope into his grim voice, but he didn’t fool me. Of anyone, he was the only person who understood what I was going through right now. He knew what this felt like.

  It was as terrifying as it was depressing. I felt empty inside, hollow. I felt like less of a man. It was unfair that I had to endure this, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t let Michael down. He was counting on me. He had faith in me. I wouldn’t disappoint him.

  I reached for my crest that Michael had given me when he’d accepted me as one of his own. Though I wasn’t sure how I’d bear this burden, I knew I wouldn’t be alone. Michael would be with me. Michael, Leslie, and Ethan. Grace, Cynthia, Clara… Dani. After all this time, I had my best friend back. I guess life wasn’t so bad after all.

  My father was gone, but I still had a family. A supernaturally awesome family, actually, so fate had better watch out. If my future was anything less than cupcakes and rainbows from now on, destiny was going to get its ass kicked.

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  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review on Amazon. Even if it’s just a sentence or two. It would make all the difference and would be very much appreciated: click here to leave a review on Amazon!

  Thanks!

  Kelly

  Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She’s obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children. Connect with Kelly through social media: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Blog.

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I have so many people to thank this time around. First, thank you to all of my amazing fans. I’m humbled every day by your enthusiasm and loyalty. It’s because of you guys that I am able to support my family by doing what I love. Thanks for helping me out with the cover reveal and the release day blitz. And thank you in advance for those record breaking sales numbers! ;) I have the best readers ever!

  Secondly, thank you to my dear husband Josh, for reading every single book I write even when it’s not a genre you enjoy. Your feedback is invaluable. As is your creative genius. Your covers are so beautiful, and my books would not be the same without them. (I also love you for doing all my formatting, because I could never figure it out on my own.) I couldn’t do this without you!

  Jen Jensen, you know I love you. Whether it’s fixing my commas, cursing me for trying to capitalize half of my book, or talking about Disney original movies with me, you rock. Plain and simple. Thank you for my super-clean manuscripts. I owe you a plate of crepes!

  And last but not least, I can’t say thank you enough to my beta readers on this book. The list is long and distinguished. Mel, Ledi, Francine, both Lauras, Heather, Robin and Tiffany, thank you ladies so much for your insight, encouragement, and honesty. It was all of your wonderful feedback that helped me take a book I mostly liked and turn it into a book I absolutely love. (Mel and Tiffany, your fangirling never hurt either.) Love you all! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

  SNEAK PEEK

  Read on for a sneak peek from Being Jamie Baker, by Kelly Oram.

  CHAPTER 1

  Most superhero stories start with a meteor shower or a nasty insect bite, but mine actually starts with a kiss. Whether it was a kiss of life or a kiss of death I still haven’t decided, but it was, surprisingly, a really good kiss. Not that I’d ever tell him that.

  The kiss didn’t actually give me my powers. Those came earlier, in a freak accident involving toxic waste and something like 40,000 volts of electricity. But it was that kiss that forced me out of hiding and changed my life, eventually making me who I am today, and blah, blah, blah… You know the drill.

  Mike Driscoll actually started it, three weeks before our senior homecoming, when he got in an argument with Ryan Miller over who to ask to the dance. Mike and Ryan were basically the two most popular guys in school, and Becky Eastman held that title by a landslide among the female population.

&
nbsp; “I think I’m gonna take Becky to homecoming,” Mike said casually one day over his cold chicken patty on a bun and coleslaw.

  “Dude, you took her to junior prom,” Ryan immediately protested.

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So it’s my turn. I’m taking her to homecoming.”

  “Over my dead body. She’s the hottest girl in school. As captain of the football team it’s my right to have first pick.”

  “Says who?” Ryan laughed. “I’m the quarterback. Everyone knows I’m the real star. Besides, I’m better looking than you. I bet if we asked her at the same time, she’d pick me.”

  “Would not.”

  “Would too.”

  “So would not.”

  I’m not sure exactly how long they fought about that, but it was long enough for me to want to rip my hair out.

  Superhearing can come in handy every now and then, but most of the time it royally sucks. Especially when you’re stuck in a crowded school cafeteria, surrounded by a bunch of spoiled suburban teenagers, most of whom are having conversations every bit as ridiculous as the one Ryan and Mike were engrossed in. I try to drown out the noise, and it works to an extent, but the annoying chatter is the reason I always sit in the far corner, all by myself. Well, it’s one of the reasons.

  I’d managed to block most of the nonsense from my mind by focusing on the sound of my own chewing, but I’m kind of like one of those government computer programs that you see in spy movies, where they pick up key words and then home in on the conversation. Translation: I’m sensitive to my own name, and when it escaped Ryan Miller’s mouth, I was immediately paying close attention.

  “Technically,” he said, “Jamie Baker is hotter than Becky. If you want to take the hottest girl in school, then you have to take her.”

  Mike burst into obnoxious laughter. “Yeah, she’s hot all right, for an ice queen. Becky is the hottest normal girl in school. Jamie would never go to the dance with anyone.”

  “Not even the great Mike Driscoll?” Ryan laughed. “You always say you could get any girl in this school.”

  “Jamie doesn’t count. The chick’s a total loner.”

  “Maybe she’s just misunderstood,” Ryan teased.

  “Maybe she’s just a cold-hearted freak.”

  I smirked, quite happy with Mike’s opinion of me. When I first arrived here at Rocklin High, Mike Driscoll hit on me before I got to the front steps. He and his buddies were all hanging out at the back of his truck like they were having some sort of tailgate party before school. I knew exactly what was coming when he straightened his letter jacket and smiled at me with that classic crooked smile that every major womanizer has perfected. Maybe laughing in his face in front of the entire varsity football team was a bit harsh, but it did the trick. He hasn’t bothered me since. None of them has.

  Anyway, I’m glad he hates me. Having him spread all those rumors makes it a lot easier for me to keep my preferred “loner” status.

  “I bet I could get her to go with me,” Ryan mused, breaking both Mike and me from our thoughts—which I’d bet were the same right then, though I can’t be sure. Mind reading is not checked off on my list of superhuman abilities.

  This time I nearly joined Mike in his wild laughter. I don’t know why Ryan thought he was so special, and apparently, neither did Mike. “Jamie Baker? I’ll bet you couldn’t even get her to talk to you.”

  “Yeah, I could,” Ryan said. “I bet I could go over there, strike up a conversation, and get her number by the end of lunch.”

  “You think you could get Jamie’s phone number?”

  “I just said I could, didn’t I?”

  “No way,” Mike said.

  “Okay, how about this. If I can get Jamie’s number by the end of lunch, then I get to take Becky to homecoming. If not, then you get to take her instead.”

  “Make it a kiss, and you’re on.”

  “I kiss Jamie Baker, and I get to take Becky to home-

  coming?”

  “Not exactly—anybody can just kiss someone,” Mike said. “You have to get her to kiss you, or the deal’s off.”

  I could feel Ryan looking at me again, probably trying to figure out if he could really do it, and then after a moment he said, “Before lunch is over?”

  “Yup.” Mike slapped his hand loudly on Ryan’s back. “You’ve only got ten minutes, Casanova. Better go make your move.”

  I heard Ryan scoot his chair out from the table and smiled to myself. The guy didn’t stand a chance, but I had to admit, the bet was highly amusing, and I almost couldn’t wait for him to try. When he approached me, I waited for him to quote something I’m sure you could find in any book of cheesy pickup lines, but much to my disappointment all I got was a “Hey, Jamie. Mind if I sit for a minute?”

  I had no comeback. It’s hard to insult Ryan if he’s not making an idiot of himself. So, since I couldn’t make a scene worth any gossip, I decided not to make a scene at all. I didn’t even acknowledge his presence. It didn’t stop him from sitting down, though.

  Ryan pulled out the chair to my right and turned it so that he was facing me. I’m not sure if he sat like that, thinking it would make me look at him, or if he just wanted to have his back to the other genius behind this master plan, so that he couldn’t see Mike laughing.

  He sat there for a minute, no doubt still trying to figure out his strategy, and when I smiled at the way he was bouncing his knee nervously, he immediately leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. “Here’s the thing,” Ryan finally began. “If I can’t kiss you by the end of lunch, then I have to let Mike take Becky Eastman to homecoming, and I already made dinner reservations at her favorite restaurant.”

  Of all the things in the world, I never for one second expected him to tell me the truth. I was honestly amazed. No, I was impressed. This guy was on a whole different playing field than like 99.99 percent of all humans cursed with Y chromosomes. What he said was ridiculous, but surely it deserved, at the very least, a response. “That’s one I’ve never heard before,” I said dryly, still not bothering to look his direction.

  “A girl as hot as you can’t be a stranger to the game, so I figured honesty might be my only shot.”

  “I’ll admit, it was probably the closest thing you had to a shot.”

  “Okay, what about bribery?”

  “Sorry.”

  “Aw, come on, Jamie. It won’t mean anything. I won’t even use tongue. You don’t really want Mike to win, do you?”

  It was true—Ryan was definitely the lesser of two evils. I sighed, obviously softened by the surprise truth tactic, and finally looked at him.

  “I’ll owe you,” he said hopefully.

  I studied him for a minute. He definitely wasn’t bad-looking. Honey-blond hair, blue eyes and a tall, lean build. Okay, fine, he was hot. If you like the All-American-boy-next-door type.

  Which, unfortunately, I do.

  Plus, the pout Ryan was giving me was kind of charming, in a pathetic sort of way, so I considered my options. After realizing that all giving in to his request would do was make people think I’m a freak—which they already think anyway—and give them something to talk about for a few days, I figured, why not? At least this way I could take a little pleasure in Mike’s disappointment and save Becky from a night of drunken groping. “Fine,” I said with a sigh. “Knock yourself out.”

  I sat back and waited for Ryan’s shocked look to fade. I smiled when it finally turned to a frown.

  “Actually,” he said, cringing, “you have to kiss me or it doesn’t count.”

  I already knew that, but I still raised an eyebrow at him. May as well make him sweat a little.

  “You don’t have to pretend to like it,” he said, sounding a little desperate for the first time. “Please?”

  I didn’t say anything. Just glanced over Ryan’s head at Mike, who was analyzing my every move, then leaned over and pressed my lips to Ryan’s.

  It was just over a year si
nce my accident, the one that made me join the comic book persuasion, and I hated to admit it, but I hadn’t kissed a guy since I’d changed. And I know I have a little extra electricity running through me now—I can jump-start a car with my hands if I want to—but I never imagined it would affect something like kissing a guy.

  There weren’t actual physical sparks, but something pulsed through me and pulled me to Ryan. I’d meant to just touch my lips lightly against his, but the instant we connected I lost all self-control. I threw my mouth on his so forcefully that he nearly fell out of his chair—not that he seemed to mind any. Energy passed right through me, and I could feel the warmth of my electricity coming from his hands as they found their way to my face. The next thing I knew, I was straddling his lap with my arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

  Everyone in the cafeteria went silent, or at least to me the sound faded away, and that’s when I realized what was happening. I knew it was not a normal kiss by any means, and if I acted as freaked out as I felt, I risked Ryan realizing that there was something different about me. I just kept kissing him until I had my emotions in check, and when I finally pulled away we were both pretty breathless.

  “You can keep the gum,” I said, trying to keep up my nonchalant reputation, and slowly climbed off him. “Have fun at the dance.”

  When I left, Ryan was still sitting in his chair, kind of speechless. I wondered if maybe I’d electrocuted him or paralyzed him or something, but by the time I turned around he was stumbling back to Mike. He was in a bit of a daze, but he appeared to be okay, so I kept walking. I headed straight for the girls’ bathroom, where I could have a minute to completely freak out in private before I had to get to my next class.

  I was pretty useless the rest of the day since the only thing I could think about was that kiss. Of course I liked it, and I’m pretty sure he did too, but it was weird. It wasn’t a normal kiss, a human kiss. It was some kind of superkiss. Kind of freakish, like me.