by Ella James
Nathan was the next to flare. Julia was shocked to see him wreathed in orange. It was a neon orange—a vengeance orange—but it wasn’t constant. It flicked to warm burgundy—the aura of a passionate person, which did not surprise her—and below both colors, she saw…light purple? It was a combination of blue and pink: confusion and happiness. That was one complicated aura.
Each of the Candidates burst like a roman candle, and Julia tried to remember what she saw—Carlin, lilac and red wine; Charles, pale green (just green, though not a bad green); Anise, mustard yellow (pent up energy). She tried to focus on each, but there were too many, and they were too large. She felt her legs wobble, and suddenly she was surrounded by purple. Purple and gold.
And then she was sitting on the ground.
“Julia! Are you okay?” Meredith leaned in close to her; Julia felt the girl’s warm hand on her forearm.
She blinked and Nathan and Dizzy came into focus. The colors of their auras still wreathed them. Dizzy’s really bothered her. It was weird; not good weird. Julia tried to scoot away from it.
She shut her eyes and heard Nathan and Meredith talking quickly.
Then, Meredith: “Just get out of her way! Out! Everybody—Marilee! Charles!”
“Stand down!” That was Nathan, and Julia thought, What a tool.
The thought brought him into focus, and then everyone else, too. Julia took a deep breath; the tightness in her chest eased, and was gone a few seconds later.
She closed her eyes, and everyone was gone. Except Meredith. Even with her eyes closed and her focus on not throwing up, Julia could still see the girl’s aura, like a bright light behind her lids.
Meredith, and then Dizzy. Dizzy closer, Meredith farther.
Nathan and Meredith arguing, and then just Dizzy’s dark mess and Nathan’s smear of bold colors.
When she really came around, she was sitting, hugging her knees, on one of the carved-out steps in the theatre. Dizzy and Nathan below her.
Julia cringed.
Dizzy’s real name was Sarah Anne. Charles had said her talent was confusion, whatever that meant. He’d also said she was a “descendent”…and Julia didn’t know what that meant, either.
Note to self—ask more questions.
Dizzy reached out, as if to touch Julia’s hand, and Julia flinched.
“She’s got her senses back.”
“I can take it from here,” Nathan said.
“No, I’m cool. Why don’t you go check on the others. Gods know Meredith can’t handle it. I’m sure she hasn’t summoned Andrew like you asked.”
Nathan shrugged. He looked at Julia guiltily. “Okay.”
Dizzy grinned, and Julia suddenly felt crushed by the room. She was being squeezed, smushed by anxiety, dizziness.
The feeling was gone an instant later.
“Did you feel that?”
Julia blinked at the other girl, unsure what to say. Her mind still felt fuzzy, which…may have been Dizzy. Finally she settled on a nod.
“That’s my talent,” Dizzy told her. “I reach inside you, find your baseline. What you think, how you think. And then I scramble it.” She smirked; her long, layered hair fell over her shoulders, almost brushing Julia’s knees.
“Okay…” She hated herself for not thinking of something better to say.
“What’s your talent?” Dizzy leaned closer, so close that Julia could smell her spearmint breath. “I’ve heard that you see auras, you’re a healer. I believe that, but what else can you do? Don’t lie to me.”
“I— What do you mean?”
“Don’t. Lie.”
Julia felt the painful squeezing in her chest, and she thought about her dreams. No! She thought of Dwight’s pet turtle, Joe. A box turtle they’d found when they were 13—found dead. She breathed again and scrambled up, holding her arms out to keep her balance. “What are you doing?” she gasped.
“Am I doing something?” Dizzy grinned. “You know how these things are. Hard to control sometimes, especially after such a charged session.”
Julia knew she was going to vomit. “Are…you a Candidate, too?”
Dizzy’s grinned widened. “I’m not a Candidate. I’m The One.”
*
Julia walked quickly to the cove where Nathan and the others had gathered, praying the whole time that Dizzy wouldn’t hurt her. She felt embarrassed that she was so afraid, but she suspected the older girl had something to do with that, too. Her hands were shaking by the time she reached the group, but before she slipped into it, a thin hand grabbed her elbow.
“Julia,” Dizzy said perkily. “Are you sure you’re feeling better?”
Those enormous gray eyes were searching, and Julia was pretty sure she understood: Dizzy thought she didn’t remember what had happened.
Though her heart was pounding, she forced herself to smile blandly. “Of course. Thanks for asking.” She stuttered a little on “asking,” but Dizzy didn’t seem surprised. She gave Julia a pat on the arm and they stepped into the group.
Nathan was talking to the Candidates about their Lesson; she only caught the tail end of the conversation, but it seemed like they would be having some kind of sparring contest.
Again, Julia wondered what the heck they were Candidates for.
She hated not knowing anything. Then she realized she hadn’t thought about Cayne for…how long? An hour?
She was chewing her lip over that when Nathan dismissed them. Naturally, she had no idea what she was supposed to do, but that’s when Meredith grabbed her hand.
“We’re not doing Lesson,” she said. “Nathan wants to be sure that you’re okay, so we’re just going to do Tasks.”
“Okay.”
“You look bad.”
“Well thanks.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Meredith lowered her voice. “We’ll talk later.”
Nathan was next in line, and it was alarming to see that he actually looked concerned. “Julia, did Dizzy talk to you?”
She nodded.
“Do you usually have seizures?”
“Seizures?” Her stomach flipped. “No, never.”
“I think you should go to the infirmary. Meredith can take you. Once you check out, she can show you Tasks.”
Meredith’s eyes widened at Nathan’s suggestion, but she recovered quickly, said “Will do, chief,” and steered Julia away.
Julia glanced behind her to catch Nathan staring.
Chapter 10
She felt edgy and off-kilter, and it only got worse as she and Meredith crossed the wide room. The Commons was almost empty at this time of day; except for Chosen cleaning the floors with what looked like balls of neon light and the occasional passerby, it was just Julia, Meredith, and a scattered collection of statues.
It didn’t take a “senser” to get that something was wrong. And it wasn’t just Julia’s freak-out.
Finally they reached a small stairwell tucked below an awning-like stone that jutted out from an area of the wall. Meredith motioned Julia forward, her pretty face cut by the thin line of her lips. When they descended into a little cove with yet another mural of celestial fighting, Meredith grabbed Julia’s wrist and nodded at the wall.
“Is that the infirmary?”
Meredith shook her head. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, Jack.” The other girl didn’t get the lame Titanic reference, which was probably for the best. Somewhat reluctantly, Julia Floated. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in… “A sauna?”
The walls were made of salt-stained cedar and lined with worn wood benches and chairs. The round red bulb in the ceiling was turned off, and the glittering blue embers from an in-floor pit filled the room with a warm glow.
“Yep, this is one of the secret places for the Bishops. Drew showed it to me.”
“Is he a Bishop? I thought he was a Candidate, but I didn’t see him today.”
“No, he’s a Shepherd. He just knew about it. He wasn’t there today because he ha
s a migraine. Or so he said. Anyway…” Meredith leaned close. “We needed to get out of sight—so we can really talk. Can you tell me what happened?”
“Maybe.”
Meredith looked at her expectantly.
“I’m sorry. It’s just…this is trippy. I don’t even want to be here and—” She was surprised to hear her voice crack. Meredith bit the edge of her lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”
Julia shook her head, got herself together. “You’re the least of my worries.” When Meredith didn’t say anything back, Julia brought her hands together, picking at her fingernails.
“I started seeing auras. But it was…I dunno. Overpowering.” She exhaled. “It wasn’t a seizure. It was like…a volcano. Of auras.”
Meredith nodded. “How did you feel before you passed out?”
“I could see everything. Everyone. I mean, their auras.”
“What did Dizzy say to you?”
Freaky. “How did you know she said anything?”
Meredith rolled her eyes. “I can’t help it.”
“She asked what else could I do. Besides what I do, with the auras and healing. She seemed to think there was something more, but I told her nothing. Then she said that she’s The One.”
Meredith laughed, a harsh, dry sound. “That little ho.”
“I think…there’s something wrong with her. She made me feel…”
“Crazy.” Meredith nodded. “I know! She does it to me, too. I think she does it to everyone, and some of them don’t remember it.”
“But you do?”
“Kind of. But that’s not important right now. Look, we’re not going to the infirmary.”
“We’re not?”
“No. The ladies there are spies. I think they keep reports on people—for The Three.”
“Spies?” Julia felt shaky. “What the hell is going on in this place?”
Meredith looked at her solemnly. “There’s nothing wrong with you. That theatre thing? It’s supposed to charge us up, like batteries. I’m not for sure, but I think it puts all our energy together and it somehow magnifies everyone’s power. I think yours just magnified like whoa. Look, has anything else happened?” She pulled out a pack of gum, holding it out to Julia; when Julia shook her head, Meredith popped a piece into her mouth.
Julia considered telling her about the prophetic stuff—and maybe even Lazarus the Turtle—but shook her head.
“That’s good.”
“This place is intense.”
Meredith nodded.
“I didn’t even want to come here.”
“Me neither.”
“Did they force you?”
Meredith nodded. “My aunt and uncle.”
“Nathan like…kidnapped me.”
“No WAY.”
“Cayne and I…” Julia pursed her lips. “Cayne and I were in D.C., downtown. We were fighting off a Bound—this other Nephilim thing—when Nathan and…Drew and some others showed up. They grabbed Cayne, and then they grabbed me. We weren’t even doing anything to them.”
Meredith’s mouth hung open. “That’s insane! Omigod, Julia, I had no idea. That’s like never happened.”
Which made Julia feel even worse. She should have done something to stop what happened. But she’d just…given up.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get the nerve to admit what was twisting her up in knots. “I’m worried about Cayne. Worried that I won’t be able to help him. Does everyone hate Nephilim as much as Nathan does?”
“He hates them a whole lot,” Meredith hedged.
“Why?”
“A Hunter killed his parents.”
A sick, cold feeling settled in Julia’s chest. “Are you sure?”
Meredith shrugged. “He doesn’t talk about it, but everybody knows. Probably heard it from Drew, though. He and Nathan were pretty tight at one point, before Nathan went all Chosen Crazy and started working for The Three.”
“He works for The Three?”
“It’s just this rumor…”
Julia pressed her palm over her eyes. “I think I need to sit down.”
*
She didn’t know why she confided in the girl. Meredith wasn’t a friend. They’d never gone through anything together. And what she wanted—what she really wanted—was to escape with Cayne and never think about the Chosen again.
But Meredith’s eyes were big and solemn, and she kept offering Julia gum, and she went on and on about how awful it was that Julia had been “snatched,” and Julia was tired and confused and…not herself. Just seriously not herself, because the Julia she’d thought she was would never, ever, ever spill secrets to anyone. Except Cayne.
And yet…she found herself sitting cross-legged on the sauna bench, smoothing her creased pants down with her fingers, leaning forward and peeking at Meredith’s aura.
Still purple-gold. Nothing weird.
She felt relieved.
Meredith noticed. Julia knew she noticed, because the girl’s pretty face went blank and curious.
“I…” Her throat was dry. She didn’t want to say it. “Nathan kept saying he knew Cayne was bad. Like, knew knew.”
Meredith’s eyes widened. “Do you think Cayne was the one?”
“I don’t know.” Her stomach churned. “But he told me he’d done bad things, and at the time I told him I didn’t care.” She felt so stupid admitting it, but even now, when she thought of Cayne: Did she care?
“Yeah, okay.” A huge pink bubble bloomed between Meredith’s lips; she popped it, looking contemplative. “But it would have to be a Hunter, and those are really hard to come by. There are only like—”
“Cayne’s one.”
“Oh.” She looked down at her lap for too long, playing with a stray thread in her shirt. When she looked up, her face was stark. “I hope it wasn’t him. You might want to try to find out, because if it was, Nathan’s going to…I don’t know.” Her mouth scrunched. “He also had a little brother. Joshua. He was only one when…whatever happened.”
Julia stood up, feeling like she might tip over. “Can I go to my room now?”
“Why?” Meredith looked skeptical.
“I want to rest.”
“Oh, c’mon.”
Julia exhaled. “I need to talk to Cayne. I need to talk to him right now. Because I don’t think he would do anything like that but…”
Meredith stood up, brushing off her pants. “If you get caught, you could get in serious shit.”
“Yeah, don’t care. I have to do it. I don’t care about getting in trouble. I’m not staying here. I’ve had enough of staying in suck-tastic places in foster homes.”
Meredith looked surprised, but her expression quickly turned around. “Go you! But only if you swear I can come with.”
Julia nodded. “But I need to find Cayne. I can’t go anywhere without him.”
Chapter 11
Julia walked back to her room. She lay on the bed and studied the German flash card Meredith had given her. Inside the huge, red-markered letters of the word “krankheit” were Meredith’s guesstimated directions to the prison. She’d said she wasn’t sure about the directions (“at all”) but she’d pointed Julia toward an area of the compound that was off limits.
While she was studying the card, thinking miserably about Nathan and Cayne, she saw a tall, wide form stop outside the hazy glass door. She sought his aura without meaning to, getting only a glimpse before realizing a) it wasn’t silver (boo) and b) speak of the devil: It looked like Nathan. She waited for another retaliatory gut-punch, and when none came, she jumped up and pulled the door open.
“Nathan, hi.” She smiled, like everything was just gee-golly good.
That had the wrong effect. He eyed her suspiciously. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” she hedged. She waited for him to mention the infirmary, but instead he said, “Meredith told me you came to lie down.”
She thought about nodding, just rolling with it.
Sneaking off later. And she decided against that. She folded her arms. “I want to see Cayne.”