Did I dare mention seeing Sarah at the lake? Was that just adding salt to his wound? “You know about the dreams.”
“Yes. I know that you’re dreaming about our past.”
“Alex and I went to the lake today. While I was swimming, I saw Sarah.”
Nick narrowed his eyes. “She was physically there?”
“Yes. I was in the other dimension and she grabbed me. That’s never happened before. She’s always been in my dreams, never in reality. Except when I was a kid, I think she was my imaginary friend.”
A smile brightened Nick’s face. “Because of your innocence, you could see her when you were a child. Now it’s harder. It’s the same reason why Sammy could see you but Trevor couldn’t.”
“Oh.”
“So why did she grab you?” Nick asked.
“She said, ‘We are one!’”
Nick ran his hand through his blond hair and exhaled. “Do you know what this means?”
“No,” I shook my head. “No idea whatsoever. That’s why I’m here.”
Nick grasped my hands. “I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened before. But I don’t think that you have to do anything other than be yourself. Somehow her spirit has lived on in that necklace. And she’s trying to communicate to you through these dreams, so you need to allow yourself to experience them. Don’t resist the urges that are building in you.”
My stomach twisted as I understood his meaning. “You mean be with Alex.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want him, don’t you? You feel the pull.”
“I felt the pull to you, remember? You felt it, too.”
“Yes, I was drawn to you, so much so that I crossed lines that I wished I’d never crossed. I betrayed Alex when I pursued you. I knew how he felt, but I continued on with you because I never believed in Netra’s magic. I never believed any of this was possible, and I thought you should make your own choice. It was wrong of me to disregard Alex’s feelings, and now I am ashamed of what I did. I was selfish. If I could take it back, I would. But the pull you felt for me was probably from Sarah. Somehow, she influenced you. She recognized me. She knew I would keep you safe. She wanted me with you, to protect you through this dangerous time. All she knew was that Alex hadn’t come for her. So as far as she was concerned, maybe Alex was dead and I was your best chance at survival. But now that Alex is around, your desires are changing because he’s the one you are meant to be with.”
But is that her or me?
“Maybe she’s forging herself with you through the necklace. She’s clearly transferring her power to you, somehow making you stronger every day. And now that we know Netra’s magic worked, we have no idea how powerful you may be. You truly are one of a kind.”
“Wait. Am I sacrificing myself in order to become a new type of hybrid? Will all her memories come flooding into me? Will her will overpower mine?
“I don’t know,” Nick said. “But I have faith that you will transform into your true self.” Nick walked over to the desk and grabbed a notebook. He flipped to the page where he’d drawn my image. “This image may be beautiful, but it is flat and cannot grasp your complexities or describe your true beauty. You, we, all of us, are so complex that no one can accurately define us. How one person sees us is not how another person sees us. Your true self is an amazing blend of human and angel DNA, a symbiotic blend that allows you to live in dimensions and have powers that most will never comprehend.”
I grabbed the sketch book and traced the edges of my face. He’d reproduced the details of my visage, but he was right, the complexities of who we are just cannot be captured in a drawing. He understood my frustration and Alex’s need for love. Perhaps this situation with Sarah even brought him peace considering he understood the loss of love and the need for resolution because of his relationship with Hayden.
“When I saw her as a child,” I said, “I thought she was my imaginary friend. We’d draw, talk, and laugh, but now I realize that I saw her just like Sammy saw me. She wasn’t in my imagination. She was actually there, shaping me, preparing me for this day. How is that possible?”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t know how she managed to visit you as a child. But when you explained the mural to me, I realized that Netra’s spell had worked. I felt so guilty for betraying Alex and for misusing you. Can you ever forgive me?”
I smiled back at him. “What do you have to feel guilty for? Saving my life? Besides, I liked you. You liked me. We didn’t do anything wrong. We just followed our hearts. You never believed Netra’s fairy tale, and why would you?
“Because my faith should have been stronger.”
“Faith only gets you so far,” I replied.
“You saw her in the other dimension?” Nick said.
I nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
18. Battleground
My senses were overloaded. The sunlight glared off the surface of the lake and momentarily blinded me. Pounding hooves, trumpeting animals, and squawking birds bleated out an uproar that destroyed this tranquil setting. Vultures circled in the sky; their presence declared death and destruction. A dead unicorn lay on the ground. The tip of its horn was covered in blood, and most of its meat had been stripped away. A group of small, furry animals sniffed around the body, picking at the last fragments of muscles and tendons. When they barfed on the unicorn’s bones, I knew exactly what those cute little things were.
“Osotos,” I said, as the bones began to sizzle and foam. The osotos waited for the foam to dissipate, and then they began to nibble. The way they chewed and moved their mouths, the bone appeared to have the texture of peanut butter because it seemed to be soft yet sticky. “Something’s not right.”
“What clued you in?” Nick scanned the area. “Did you leave Alex over here?”
“Yes.” I nodded and felt bile rise in my throat.
“There must be a group of Dolums or Nephilims to be causing this much chaos. The one that attacked you must have signaled the others. Let’s go!” Nick took off running. “I have a stash of weapons hidden over here.” We ran towards the tree line. Nick stopped at a crooked tree beside a large boulder that had moss growing along one side of it. He knelt down and brushed away the leaves and topcoat of dirt. Under the cleft of the rock, he dug away more dirt and pulled out a trowel.
“Can I help?” I asked. The animals continued on with their sounds of panic. I looked around and grabbed a large, flat rock. “Show me where to dig.”
Nick turned, trowel in hand, and said, “Here.” He pointed and started digging.
My flat rock carried smaller amounts of dirt than Nick’s trowel, but at least I was contributing. I had to do something. As I plunged the rock into the dirt, it hit something hard. I looked at Nick.
He smiled. “Here it is.” He brushed the trowel lightly across the wood and revealed a round pull. The wooden top moved easily as he pulled the ring. He tossed the wood aside and reached into the buried box. “Grab a belt and some knives. Be sure to take a pouch for yourself and an extra for Alex.” He buckled his belt around his waist and attached a sword and tucked knives into their sheaths. He also grabbed a pouch.
“What’s in the pouch?” I asked as I buckled my belt. The pouches and a knife hung at my waist.
“I’ll explain on the run,” he said. He replaced the wooden lid. “Help me camouflage this again.” We dumped the dirt on top of the lid and hid the trowel in the cleft of the rock.
The trees blurred as we raced through the forest. We used the sounds of fighting to lead us towards Alex. Suddenly, Nick flew backwards. He landed on his back with a huff and a thud amidst broken branches, leaves, and dirt. A Dolum stepped out from beside the bushes that camouflaged his body so perfectly. Now his tattooed body swayed eerily over Nick. In one hand he held the thick tree branch he’d used to clobber Nick. As the Dolum growled, his lip curled, and he stared at the blood that poured from Nick’s head. Nick stumbled as he tried to stand, but the world must have spun becau
se he collapsed onto the ground again. The Dolum raised the branch again, but the power surged within my core as my desire to protect Nick swelled. My eyes focused on the branch and I willed it from the Dolum’s hands. The branch flew against the tree and smashed to pieces. The Dolum’s eyes grew wide in surprise and anger. His head snapped towards me, but I wasn’t finished with him. I threw the Dolum against the tree. Fear filled his eyes as I approached him. Nick grabbed a knife from his ankle strap and held it out towards me. “Thanks,” I said to Nick as I telepathically floated the knife in front of the Dolum’s face. I stepped closer to the Dolum. He reeked of blood and death. “Sometimes there really is no choice,” I said.
“You won’t win,” the Dolum hissed. He writhed and squirmed as he attempted to overcome my power, but I willed his body flat against the tree. His fingers splayed along the bark and his claws dug helplessly into the tree. His eyes crossed as they focused on the knife that floated closer to him.
“No? We won’t win? You can’t even move,” I stated. And with a tiny flick of my fingers, the knife sliced through his neck. His body collapsed, and his hypnotic eyes faded to gray. This amazing power that filled my core allowed me to kill him without even getting my hands dirty. This death was cleaner than the one in my bedroom. This death was perfect.
“Kate, come here,” Nick ordered. Blood oozed from an open gash on his forehead and trickled around the outside of his eye and down his nose. “When you need to heal someone, focus your energy on the wound and visualize it healing. Imagine it becoming whole… complete.” Nick swiped his hand over his wound. It stopped bleeding. The skin knit together, and no evidence of an injury remained. “See?” Nick asked as he used the bottom of his shirt to wipe the blood away from his face.
“I want to try the next one,” I said. “I need to learn how to do that.”
“Let’s hope there isn’t a next one. Come on.”
We ran again, passing animals as they fled from the battle that raged ahead of us. Occasionally we passed dead Dolums, so we knew Alex was holding his own, but apparently the battle moved and changed so quickly that locating Alex was difficult.
“Kate, watch out,” Nick growled as a Nephilim popped out at us from behind a tree. Nick telepathically threw the Nephilim towards some boulders, but the Nephilim righted himself in the air and landed on his feet.
“What a gentleman,” the Nephilim said as he extended a long claw towards Nick. “We are never accused of such folly.” The Nephilim laughed as another Nephilim stepped out from behind the trees.
“Kate, go! Find Alex.” Nick said to me. Then he faced the Nephilim. “But you should be careful,” Nick said. “I can be quite scurrilous.”
I took off running and didn’t bother looking back. I knew that Nick could handle them. My footsteps quickened as I thought about Alex. How could I forgive myself if something happened to him? I’d left him here alone because I was upset. He’d watched out for me, waited for me, and I just abandoned him. It was my responsibility to save him. He was my priority.
Some branches snapped; I froze. I breathed in the air and tried to get a hint at what was nearby. It wasn’t putrid or sulfuric. Only the aroma of flowers wafted towards me on the light breeze. I listened and tried to locate the origin of the sound.
“Kate.” Her voice was soft.
I turned and there she was. With her long mahogany hair and green eyes, I instantly recognized her. “Sarah,” I whispered. “How… why can I see you?”
She laughed and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “If you weren’t so young I’d be offended. I’ve been with you since the beginning. I know you remember me.” She picked a rose and breathed in its scent. “Kate, you really didn’t think this was about the necklace, did you? This is about us. We’re a matched set.”
“How is this possible?”
“By some miracle, we coexist,” she said pleasantly. “I am ingrained in you, like a symbiotic aspect of your essence.”
“What if I don’t want you in my ‘essence’?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Sarah broke off a thorn and tossed it to the ground. “Together, our powers will be incredible. Does the spider desire to be a fly or the shark a guppy? You may fear losing yourself, but that is not possible.” She twirled the rose in her hand.
“So you say.” The screeches of animals in the distance distracted me.
“You can’t run from your destiny. You are a predator. It is time for you to accept that. Alex needs you. He is in a clearing by the woods. There are flowers everywhere. They smell like gardenias.” She dropped the rose to the ground. “You’ve been there before.”
“How do you know the spot?”
“Weren’t you listening?” Sarah shook her head. “I was there too. Don’t you remember the way he touched you, massaged your calf?”
My blood raced faster as I realized that if Sarah knew about that day then she had been there. She had been a part of me all along. I realized that I wouldn’t be losing myself by claiming her power. I would be accepting who I was, and that was what I needed to do. I needed to embrace my destiny.
I took off running towards the clearing. I recalled the need in Alex’s eyes that day as he massaged my calf muscle through the spasm. At that time, even though I fought it, I’d been so insanely drawn to him and I couldn’t understand why. Ever since Alex had shown up in my life, he’d been convinced I was somehow connected to Sarah, somehow meant for him, but I hadn’t been ready to face my destiny. Now as I raced towards him, I realized it was my turn to save him. Perhaps we could have a destiny, even if it wasn’t the one he hoped for. He wouldn’t have Sarah, but he would have me, and I had a part of Sarah in me.
The putrid smell of sulfuric blood hung in the air. Iridescent splotches dotted the leaves and branches of trees. A cerberus’s body lay on the ground near a beautiful flowering bush. The contrast was shocking, gore and death versus beauty and life. It never changes; wickedness always ends in death.
I broke through the trees and spotted Alex on the other side of the clearing. He was surrounded by Dolums and Nephilim. Alex slowly spun in a circle, never keeping his back to any one of his attackers for long. I ran and jumped, soaring through the air until I finally landed beside him.
Alex’s eyes connected with mine, his lips a tight line across his face. “You shouldn’t be here.”
The circle of predators tightened. The air stank of the filth and death that oozed from their pores. Their dead eyes seemed to stare straight through us. Energy coursed through me as I felt their hatred pour over me. I realized now that the energy was Sarah’s power preparing me for the fight. I was a fighter. Survival coursed through my blood. “I missed you,” I said. I grabbed the small brown pouch that hung around my waist and dangled it before Alex. “I don’t have to tell you how to handle this?”
“No.” He narrowed his eyes in feigned disgust. “That stuff isn’t easy to come by.” He took the pouch and tied it to his belt loop.
“I’ve got my sources,” I said. We turned our backs to each other so we could better scan the enemy that surrounded us. I opened the other pouch that was attached to my waistband and pulled out a small pink bead. It rested weightlessly in my palm. The enemy charged forward. I threw the bead squarely into the forerunner’s head. An explosion followed, and fire powder rained down on the surrounding predators. I whipped out another bead and threw it again at the next group running towards us. Alex must have thrown a bead also because screams filled the air from every direction. The unharmed Dolums and Nephilim screeched to a halt when they saw their army flailing in pain.
Feeling them go from anger to fear was invigorating. The fear may not have shown in their dead eyes, but it radiated off their bodies and I sensed it wash over me in waves. They stood frozen as they stared at Alex and me while they contemplated their next move. The desire to end this stand-off bubbled up in me. My heart raced with each inhalation as I gorged myself on their fear. This must be what it’s like for snakes, to sense the fear i
n their prey before they strike.
A Nephilim tasted the air with his forked tongue. I smiled at him, knowing he didn’t taste fear in the air around me. His blood red pupils constricted as he focused on me. “Impressive,” he said.
“I’ve seen your type before, and frankly, I’m not impressed,” I replied. The jelly texture of the soft bead rested lightly between my fingertips. “In fact, I’m predisposed to think we should eradicate your kind.”
“Funny,” the Nephilim replied. “I’m under the same impression towards you.” He scanned the field as he surveyed his remaining army. They stood with hatred in their eyes as they waited for orders.
Alex pressed closer to me and slipped his hand into mine. In the faintest of whispers he said, “Three.” Then his thumb slowly tapped against my finger. I noticed him grab a few fire powder beads with his free hand. I prepped my bead in my free hand on the second tap. On the third tap, we threw the fire powder beads, but the beads stopped and hung in the air.
“You are not the only one with mighty power,” the Nephilim said with his hand stretched towards us. It was then that I noticed the ring on his finger. The stone glimmered as its colors changed from blue to purple to red and black. The cycle of colors repeated, and a heat filled the air as the beads remained suspended.
“How did you get that?” Alex asked as he placed himself protectively between me and the Nephilim.
“You are asking the wrong questions. First, please allow me to introduce myself.” He touched his chest and dipped his chin. “My name is Daevas. This ring was a gift from a friend.” A cruel smile showed his razor sharp teeth. “I’m sure you know the power of this ring.”
“He cannot be destroyed as long he wears Vires,” Alex mumbled under his breath.
“The ring has a name?” I said. It’s never good when inanimate objects have names.
“Yes, my sweet lady,” Daevas said. “And your powers are useless.” He jabbed his finger at us and the fire powder beads rocketed towards us.
Symbiosis (Scintillate Series Book 2) Page 24