Symbiosis (Scintillate Series Book 2)

by Karen Tjebben

  Suddenly, the light that was shining into the heavens fell from the sky and crashed into Sarah’s necklace. The butterfly scintillated. The wings fluttered, and the chain blazed white-hot for a moment. Then all was quiet.

  “It is finished,” Netra said.

  “That is it? You are finished?” Alex pressed his hand against Sarah’s face. He felt along her forehead. “She doesn’t look any different. You said you could save her.” His eyes burned into Netra’s as his fingers traced along Sarah’s neck.

  “I have,” Netra said. “But not how you wished.” Netra stood and pocketed the tiny pouch of powder.

  Nikolas held the point of his dagger inches from Netra’s chest. “I told you we should have killed her. Witch or liar, it makes no difference which word you use.”

  “I am no liar. You have no faith.” Netra’s gold bracelets clanked as she jabbed her finger at Nick. “Sarah’s body is dead. That is true. I cannot change that, but her Asteri soul shall live again.”

  “You speak foolishness,” Nikolas hissed. “A soul never dies. We all know that. You have done nothing!”

  “No. I have given Sarah new life. A chance to be reborn,” Netra said.

  Alex lifted Sarah’s hand to his lips and let the kiss linger. “She shall live again?” When he spoke, his red-rimmed eyes betrayed his hope rather than faith in Netra’s spell.

  Netra nodded. “Yes. But I do not know when.”

  Alex lay over Sarah. His body shook as he wept, and he wove his fingers into her matted hair.

  Nikolas clutched Netra’s arm and jerked her to him. “You give false hope,” Nikolas whispered in her ear. “You have magnified the horrific slaughter that was done here tonight. Now he will not be able to mourn. He will forever wait for someone who will not come back to him.”

  “You are a fool,” Netra said.

  Nikolas looked around, but Netra was gone. She’d vanished from his grasp. All that remained with him was a lifeless Sarah, a distraught Alex, and an overwhelmed Hayden. He stared at his companions and took slow breaths in and out. He repeatedly tightened and released his grip on the pommel of his sword.

  Nikolas knelt beside Hayden. Her eyes roamed over Sarah’s body and she continued to rock back and forth. Nikolas gently placed his hand on her shoulder. She jerked and gave a small scream.

  “Come,” he whispered. “You must say goodbye to Sean.”

  Hayden’s mournful eyes stared back at Nikolas. Tears puddled in the corners and freely sailed down her cheeks. She slowly nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Say goodbye.”

  Nikolas gripped her arm and helped her up. She looked over her shoulder at Sarah and Alex and then leaned against Nikolas as they walked down the hillside. As they neared Sean’s body, the clamor from the village filled the night. People shouted as they dealt with the aftermath of their attackers.

  Hayden climbed over the stone wall and stared at Sean’s headless corpse. She dragged her hands over her face and wiped away her tears. Then she walked over to Sean’s head, gently lifted it, and cradled it against her chest as she carried it back to its rightful place on his body. Hayden smoothed out his hair and dragged her fingertips over his eyelids, closing them. “He died trying to save me,” she whispered.

  “He sacrificed himself for you,” Nikolas said. “There is no greater love.”

  Hayden kissed Sean’s lips and her tears fell on his face. “He wanted to get married, but I wasn’t ready.” She cupped her hand over his cheek. “But I would have given myself to those monsters to save him. I tried.”

  “I know. You were very brave.”

  Her lips trembled as she stared at her dead lover. “This is my fault.”

  “No,” Nikolas said adamantly. “Most definitely not.”

  She sniffled and looked at her hands. “I’m stained. And how heavy a curse I bear, for my lover’s and a demon’s blood stains my hands. Yet I cannot separate the two, for they mingle and mar my flesh. They are forever etched on my soul.” She held her palms towards Nikolas. Sean’s reddish-brown blood was overlaid with the iridescent blood of the Reaper. “But even that is not where it ends. Not only am I responsible for the death of my lover, but I am responsible for the death of my savior.” She rubbed her hands together, as if attempting to remove the stain. “That woman should still be alive.” Hayden looked quickly over her shoulder towards the hillside where Sarah lay. “Sean should still be alive. How can I bear it?”

  Nikolas knelt beside Hayden. “None of this is your fault. Sarah chose her time. She was not a victim.”

  Hayden looked at him with haunted eyes and laughed hysterically as she turned her blood stained hands towards him. “Sarah did not choose her time. It was chosen for her. She just went willingly. There is a difference,” she said slowly.

  Nikolas studied Hayden. His jaw tensed as she fluctuated between laughing and crying. She took a deep breath, ran her hand down Sean’s motionless chest, and finally looked into Nikolas’s eyes. “Why did the Reapers come here?” she asked. “What sacrifice were they after?”

  “They came for Asteri power,” Nikolas said. “They believe eating and drinking Asteri flesh and blood will empower them. They came for you because you are new, weak, and helpless.”

  “I know nothing of the Asteri.”

  “Asteri are not from anywhere,” Nick said. “It is who we are. Asteri are part human and part angel.”

  Hayden swallowed hard and shook her head. “No…no. It is impossible.”

  Nikolas’s lips curved into a small smile. “Nothing is impossible. And you know it is true for you could see them for the monsters that they were. You called them demons because you are an Asteri. You saw their true nature. But you need not fear. For now you are safe from the Reapers.”

  “Is anyone ever truly safe?” Hayden lay over Sean and sobbed. Nikolas watched in silence as she grieved until the voices from the village seemed to draw near.

  Nikolas placed his hand on her back and leaned closer to her. “We should go,” he whispered. “Alex needs our help, and you should clean up.”

  “What does it matter?” Hayden said. “I may wash myself clean… I may cleanse myself of a monster’s blood, but I will always carry the stain of Sean’s and Sarah’s deaths on my soul.”

  Nikolas clasped Hayden’s hand and pulled her up. He took her face in his hands. “Hayden, neither Sean nor Sarah require you to carry the burden of their death. Love gives freely. Love wants happiness for the beloved. Do not shame their sacrifice with guilt.”

  “You are a warrior!” Hayden broke free of his hold. “You are stained too. How do you not buckle under the weight?”

  Nikolas gripped the pommel of his sword. “I live the life that is required of me. There is honor in that. You learn to carry the weight.” Nikolas extended his hand to Hayden. “Come, Alex needs us.”

  Nikolas and Hayden walked silently up the hillside towards Alex. They found him whispering to a woman who would never reply. Sarah lay on the ground, her chest healed. Alex’s tear-stained face looked up at Nikolas. “I fixed her. She is whole, save her heart.” Alex looked down at Sarah’s face. “Her heart was her greatest asset. She loved wholly and unconditionally.”

  Nikolas knelt beside Sarah, across from Alex. Hayden stood behind Nikolas, looking down at them. “We need to leave,” Nikolas said. “We need to say goodbye to Sarah.”

  Alex nodded and scooped up Sarah’s body. He cradled her close. Sarah’s head hung limply by his shoulder and her legs dangled over his arm. They walked to the cave at the top of the hillside that overlooked the ocean. Nikolas disappeared into the cave. Hayden looked over her shoulder and tears filled her eyes again as she stared at the loch in the distance by her village. Nikolas returned a moment later. He carried a small jar and a white linen cloth.

  They walked in silence until they came to a beach. The waves crashed and water sprayed up along the rocks that encircled the beach. Alex knelt and rested Sarah on the sand. While he prepared Sarah’s body, Nikolas and Hayde
n arranged dry wood and grasses into a funeral pyre. First, Alex gently removed her clothes and carried her into the ocean. He held Sarah in one arm while the waves and his other hand washed the blood from her body. When she was clean, when no trace of blood remained, he carried her back to shore and laid her on the white, linen shroud. Then Alex opened the small jar, and a strong, spicy scent filled the night air. He poured the oil into his hand and spread it over Sarah’s body and worked it into her hair. After Sarah’s body glistened with oil, Alex wrapped her in the linen cloth, leaving only her neck and head exposed. Sarah was perfect. No trace of violence scarred her since Alex had healed all of her wounds.

  “Is it ready?” Alex asked.

  “Yes,” Nick replied. “You can bring her.”

  Alex carried Sarah to the pyre. The branches scratched against each other as the weight of Sarah’s body pressed on them. Her beautiful face looked blindly into the starry night sky.

  Alex reached under the linen cloth and freed the ornate chain from the wrappings around Sarah’s chest. “We will be together again,” he said. Alex unhooked her necklace and held the beautiful butterfly in his hands. “I will keep this safe for you. One day you will wear it again.” He bent over and kissed her lips, letting his lips taste her one last time. Then he finished wrapping her face. Alex stepped back and pointed at the pyre. A tiny spark caught at the base and quickly spread. Soon the entire pyre was on fire, and heat and ash engulfed the beach.

  I swiped away the salty tears that trailed down my cheek as I sat up, still sobbing because of the horror that I’d witnessed. I didn’t want to know this stuff. It was too personal, too gruesome, and too intimate. How could I look at Alex and Nick the same after knowing what they’d gone through? They had histories that I couldn’t even begin to fathom. They’d witnessed and lived through horrors that were impossible to understand.

  I touched my beautiful necklace. Why was it showing me this stuff? I didn’t know how to stop it from revealing the memories of past experiences that were trapped in it. I had Sarah’s necklace because she was dead. She’d died saving her friends. She’d died saving people she didn’t even know.

  A gentle tap sounded at my window. “What’s wrong? I heard you crying?” Nick said. He stepped into my room. His concern and compassion was so similar to the concern he’d shown for Hayden as her life unraveled before her eyes.

  “It’s this stupid thing.” My fingertips brushed lightly over my necklace. “It’s not mine. I don’t want to wear it anymore.”

  “Of course it’s yours. Who else would it belong to?” He smiled and his blue eyes lit up as he shrugged.

  “Sarah.” I marched towards the bathroom to get a tissue. “It’s Sarah’s.”

  Nick grabbed my arm and turned my body towards his. He stared into my eyes. His smile was gone, and his lips were now a tight line across his face. “Who told you about Sarah?”

  I exhaled and chewed my lip. Now I’d opened Pandora’s box. There was no good answer for this.

  “Who told you about Sarah?” Nick repeated.

  “The necklace.” I pulled away from Nick. “It’s angry that I’m wearing it. It knows I’m not Sarah. And now you’re going to be angry at me too.”

  “How long have you been dreaming about Sarah?”

  For a while. I shrugged my shoulders. “The dreams are weird. They aren’t always about Sarah. I dream about you too.” Maybe that will calm him down.

  “Kate, when did the dreams start?”

  Right after I danced with Alex. “Not that long ago.”

  “So when you said you dreamed about me, it wasn’t me in the present. You were dreaming about me in the past?”

  “I’m not sure I ever confirmed that I dreamed about you.”

  “Kate, were you dreaming about me in the past?”

  “Yes.”

  “And Alex?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “What did you see tonight that made you cry?”

  I swallowed hard. I knew my answer would once again change the dynamic between us. “It was the night that you rescued Hayden. Sarah sacrificed herself. You made her pyre, and then Alex burned her body.”

  Nick stood motionless. He didn’t breathe or blink for several moments. “How is this possible?” he mumbled.

  “I told you. It’s the necklace.”

  “No, it isn’t.” He shook his head and inhaled deeply. “Kate, it’s over between us. I’ll be your friend and help you develop your Asteri skills, but there is no more romantic involvement between us. We’re finished.”

  “What? Why are you doing this?” A fresh wave of tears filled my eyes. We’d found a new rhythm that worked for us. We’d figured out how to be together without causing too much anxiety to Alex, and now Nick was backing out, abandoning me. So much of my life was already out of my control that I didn’t want him to ruin our relationship and take that out of my control too. I craved some facet of my life that I was in charge of.

  His blue eyes cut through me as he studied me. “I’m sorry. I never believed this would happen.”

  “No kidding! I’m not happy about it either, but instead of helping me, you’re walking out on me,” my voice rose as I lost control of my emotions.

  “I’m not walking out on you. I’m giving you a chance to be who you’re meant to be.”

  “No!” I shook my head. “That’s a cop-out. You’re walking out because you’re afraid. You don’t want me to know the real you. You haven’t been honest with me from the moment I met you. Now I’m learning things about you that you can’t control and it terrifies you. You are a coward!”

  “Being a coward would be easy. Letting you go, so you can be true to yourself shows sacrificial love. That is the only kind of love worth having. One day you will see that.” Nick stepped over to the window. “If you want to know why you’re having those dreams, talk to Alex.”

  “Why? So he can freak out and be angry at me too? This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d overreact.”

  “You shouldn’t have hidden this,” he said softly.

  “Obviously I should have.”

  “Either you tell Alex, or I will.” Nick crawled through the window. I slammed it shut behind him and locked it. His hand passed over the sensor. I knew I couldn’t open it again. I couldn’t plead for him to come back so we could fix this problem between us. I wanted to fix the rift between us even though I was furious at him for getting mad at me for hiding the dreams. But what alternative did I have? Hiding my dreams was my only option. I knew he would overreact. And what right did he have to judge me? He hadn’t been completely honest with me since we met. Why could he only tell me what he thinks I need to know but I can’t do that same thing to him? Why the double standard?

  I walked into the bathroom and looked at my reflection. Puffy red eyes and blotchy cheeks mirrored the distress that surged through me. I thought back to the night of the Valentine’s Day Dance when I realized my Asteri life and my everyday life needed to merge. Now I realized I must merge the past life of my beautiful necklace with my present life. When Nick first gave me the necklace, I thought it was a beautiful gift of love. Then I realized it was to protect me. Now the necklace feels like a collar weighing me down with destructive nightmares that will change my relationship with my friends forever.

  I chuckled lightly. No wonder Alex is always staring at me. He must think of Sarah whenever he sees this necklace. He wants her to wear it, not me. I’m just an interloper wearing his lover’s necklace. How could this necklace be anything but a reminder of her death? “Great,” I sighed. How will I ever tell Alex that I’ve been spying on his past?

  I trudged back to bed and tossed and turned for the rest of the night.

  13. Wednesday

  After school I met Alex in the school parking lot. “How was school?” he asked as he opened the door of his SUV for me.

  “Fine.” I hopped in and dropped my backpack between my feet. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him as he walked
around the front of the car. My stomach twisted on the horrifying revelation I had to relay to him. How do you tell someone that you watched his lover die? How do you tell that person that you watched him say goodbye to her forever? How was I going to tell Alex that I watched him burn Sarah’s body?

  The engine hummed softly as we pulled out of the school parking lot. “I grabbed a change of clothes for you,” Alex said. “They’re in the back.” He pointed to the black duffle bag sitting on the back seat.

  “Thanks. I assume my mom didn’t see you.” I smiled and tried to appear as if I didn’t have a huge revelation to drop on him.

  “You assume right.”

  “She would freak if she knew you were walking around the house without her knowledge. That’s just creepy,” I said with a chuckle. “She’d never recover.” I dragged my fingers through my hair and wrapped some errant strands around my finger.

  “I’ll be sure not to tell her,” Alex said light-heartedly and winked. He had such charm for someone who’d been through so much tragedy.

  We zipped passed neighborhoods and soon came to the rural roads in the area. Trees and thick shrubbery lined the curvy road. I stared out the window and enjoyed the silence. There was peace in the quiet with Alex. We didn’t need to talk. There was no need for forced words. Maybe he was lost in his thoughts the way I was caught up in mine.

  Alex finally spoke, “We’re making progress in our search for Trevor. We found some deer whose hearts were ripped out. I think we’ve narrowed down his location.”

  “Good.” I swallowed hard and nervously tapped on the car door. Does Trevor even realize what he’s doing? Is he aware of his actions, or is he oblivious since the Dolum has him under his control?

  Alex looked over, his green eyes softened as he smiled. “He hasn’t hurt a human. It’s not too late for Trevor.”

  “Yeah,” I mumbled and stared at the scenery along highway 751. We passed over tributaries of Jordan Lake. Bare trees jutted out of the water and created an awkward scene, a scene where trees once thrived only to be overtaken by the overwhelming currents of life. That was how I felt; the overwhelming currents of life were bearing down on me, overtaking my life and drowning me. I needed relief. I needed help, but it seemed that whenever I let anyone know what was going on, they got upset. How was I supposed to get help when I couldn’t let anyone know what reality was?