by K. G. Reuss
“Yes,” I lied, kissing him again. He smiled through the kiss and I could feel a ribbon of sadness flow through him. We were so connected, it was frightening. I wondered if all Fae were like this.
“I’ll have to go away more often,” he mused, his lips trailing a line of tender kisses down my neck.
“Where did you go? Are you sure you’re OK?” I breathed out. He stopped the progression down my neck and pulled away from me, an all-business look on his face. I guess I ended that tender moment.
“I was curious about whether anyone was looking for us, so I popped into the school,” he said, shrugging his broad shoulders and turning away from me to walk to the kitchen.
“And?” I pressed, following him. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to know.
“They’re looking for us,” he said, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of water before turning to me. “And no, no one saw me.”
I regarded him silently, my heart hammering a million miles an hour in my chest. My parents must be devastated.
“H-how’s Courtney?” I croaked out, scared to hear the answer.
“Well,” he said thoughtfully. “Terrible. Her entire face was burned pretty bad all the way down her neck. She would have been disfigured for life.”
“Oh no,” I moaned, closing my eyes, the tears stinging my eyelids. I had hated Courtney, but I never wanted to see harm come to her.
“She’s going to be OK, Ana. I made a stop at the hospital and healed her. She will be fine now. I owed it to you. I hate to see you sad and upset.”
“Y-you healed her? How? How were you able to not be seen?” I asked, opening my eyes, my heart beating fast at the prospect of things not being as bad as I thought.
“You forget what I told you, my dear,” Calix said softly, his dark eyes wavering. “I am a Silent Sentry. It’s my job to be undetected.”
“Thank you, Calix,” I managed to say before the tears slipped out. “I can’t thank you enough. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I-I didn’t want any of this to happen!”
“Hey, Ana, baby,” Calix said putting his water bottle down then coming to me and cupping my face. “This was going to happen whether it was yesterday, tomorrow, next week, or next year. Your disappearance was inevitable. At some point, you had to return to Winterset. Hurting Courtney was a hiccup, but I fixed her.”
“I know,” I mumbled, my stomach churning with worry. “I just don’t want to be remembered as the person who set her on fire and then disappeared.”
Calix leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips.
“Let’s not waste what time we have worrying, OK? We have a lot of work to do,” he said, taking my hand and squeezing it. “Come on, let’s get to it, shall we?”
I nodded and let him steer me outside to the open space behind the house.
“Fire,” he stated, walking away from me as I stood on the edge of the clearing, the kind, caring Calix now replaced by the serious teacher. “You are of fire. Think of it as passion, Ana. It’s capable of burning a hole through your entire world. It can open new doors and destroy the ones built to keep you out. Wield it with caution, for a flame always burns someone.”
“That sounds dark,” I said, eyeing him as he turned to me with a demure smile on his face.
“I suppose that’s all a matter of perception, much like the way fire can cause pain if you allow it to,” he said, nodding toward my hands. “Now, my beautiful Princess, let’s fight!”
He whipped out razor sharp shards of ice and whizzed them at me. I was able to duck right before they would have hit me square in the chest. I stood back up and gaped open-mouthed at him. He only grinned at me and shot another volley in my direction.
I ducked, dodged, flipped, and rolled, using my gymnastic knowledge to avoid his onslaught, my lungs aching as I tried to breathe through it all. He was relentless, and I couldn’t imagine having to face him in a real fight.
“Ana! Attack back! I’m not going to get worn out here, so you need to try to take me out!” he called, the air around me freezing. I shivered as it grew colder and colder. I looked down at my hands and saw a thin layer of ice had formed on them and it was becoming harder and harder to move.
“Quick, Princess! Best plan your next move!” he yelled out, a wicked glint in his dark eyes. I was just about to call him a harsh name when I became immobile, completely frozen in place as ice quickly built a wall on my skin. I gaped at him, unable to speak.
“I told you,” he grinned, walking calmly to me. “Now what are you going to do? You’re frozen in place. I bet that’s really cold.”
I wanted to slap the skin off his smug face. I knew he was doing this as a lesson, but it was still irritating.
“Should you meet the Master, you must be able to fight. If he doesn’t take your mind, know that he will take your body and put it through the harshest lessons you’ll ever learn,” Calix continued, his voice bitter and angry. “The pain and torment you will endure will make you want to succumb to him, Ana. I don’t want to see you broken like that.”
Broken. Just like the dream.
He reached over and pressed his very hot hand to my forehead and the ice around me immediately melted, leaving me shivering. It was very reminiscent of what I’d seen the Master do in my visions. Something churned deep in my stomach, and I looked up at Calix with wide eyes.
“You speak like you know the Master’s lessons well,” I said softly, searching his face for a hint of explanation.
“All too well, one might say,” Calix said painfully, a shadow falling over his already dark features. “He killed my mother.”
Chapter 38
I stared at Calix, dumbfounded, my mouth opening and closing in an effort to find the right words to say to him.
“Don’t,” he whispered when I reached out to touch him. “Don’t pity me, Ana.”
“Calix, I’m so sorry,” I said gently. “I had no idea.”
“It’s not something I tend to talk about,” he answered, straightening himself and turning fiercely toward me. “You need to focus and learn how to do this, Ana. I couldn’t bear it if my mother’s fate became your own.”
I nodded wordlessly, knowing there weren’t enough words in my language to express the grief I felt for him. Instead, I focused on the task at hand, and we started round two of practice. By the end of the day, I was sore and exhausted out of my mind but had been successful multiple times in sending a flaming ball of fire in the direction of Calix. He had grinned jubilantly as it hurtled toward him, only to freeze it midair. I stared sullenly as he turned the ice to water, fully extinguishing my attempts.
He had congratulated me on being able to create the fire and had rushed toward me and scooped me into his arms, feeding my mouth with his excited kisses. That was really all I needed to push myself even more. The thought of him so happy and holding me made me try even harder, and when the day ended, I counted it as a complete success.
“You know,” Calix said, looking at my red, nearly blistered hands from all my fireball throwing, “you really need to focus on how you control the fire, baby. Remember what I said?”
“I control the flame, the flame doesn’t control me,” I repeated, remembering his words.
“Exactly,” he said, taking my hands in his. The warm electricity and energy flowed through me, and I stared down, still amazed, as he healed my hands.
“You can heal too, Ana,” he murmured, kissing my hand gently. “Just because I borrowed from you doesn’t mean you’re barren in that department. We need to work on that as well.”
I nodded, wondering the circumstances involved and cringed. There was really only one way to do it, and it meant one of us getting hurt. No matter the amount, it still made my stomach churn.
“How about we relax for the rest of the night?” Calix suggested as we walked into the house.
I nodded eagerly at the idea of resting. We’d put in so much hard work all day, the prospect excited me.
I made my wa
y to the bathroom and quickly showered, my mind on what must be happening back home. I let the tears stream down my face as I thought about my distraught parents and Mel. I knew leaving without so much as a good-bye was wrong, but I also knew it was for the best. Saying good-bye would only make the pain worse, and I knew I may not have been able to take the steps needed to leave.
It was better this way.
I dried my eyes and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. Calix had the place fully stocked, and I silently wondered if he’d planned this getaway all along.
“Hey,” Calix said, looking up at me from the breakfast bar in the kitchen, where he was placing large sandwiches onto a plate for us.
“Hey,” I answered, forcing a smile onto my lips.
“What’s wrong?” Calix asked immediately, his brow knit in concern.
“Nothing,” I said, waving him off. “I was just thinking about my family.”
“Ana,” he sighed, coming around the bar and hugging me. “I know this must be hard on you. It’s worth it, though. Someday, when all of this is over, you can go back to them.”
“I’ll never be able to go back,” I sniffed. “I think we both know this is a one-way ticket, Calix.”
He didn’t say anything as he held me, and I knew he didn’t want to chime in his thoughts because they were the same as mine.
“You’ll have me forever, Ana,” he murmured, tilting my head and planting a gentle kiss on my lips. “I promise we’ll make this right.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. No sense in crying over it.
We went to the living room and sank down onto the plush couch. Calix handed me a turkey sandwich and flicked on the television.
“What would you like to watch?” he asked, flipping slowly through the channels.
“How about a movie? A funny one,” I added in the hopes that comedy would make me lighten up a bit.
Calix obliged, and before I knew it, we were cuddled up on the couch watching a movie about four friends time traveling through a hot tub.
I began to tune the movie out midway through, my thoughts circling around the impending future. My heart rate picked up, and I swallowed hard, trying to get myself to calm down.
I may not have a very long future ahead, and if I did have one, it was looking pretty bleak considering I was just a puppet for my Master.
Nausea rolled in when I realized I had silently acknowledged him as my Master. There was no way I could allow it. I’d die before I’d let it happen.
And then it struck me—the words from the Ascarian king. He planned on killing me not out of anger and hatred, but out of protection. He wanted to protect people, and my death would mean there would be no Oracle, and without an Oracle, Zaros wouldn’t be as mighty. I could die and make it all go away. Maybe that’s what the whole vision I’d had with Calix had been about. I didn’t want him to suffer the same fate as me, but my death could just end it all. It would give the kingdoms of Winterset hope. If I weren’t there, then they may be able to overcome Zaros.
My breathing picked up as I acknowledged I had less than a week until I Transitioned. My birthday was only days away. I was on a countdown to oblivion. My inevitable end. I’d die either way because there was no way I was going to let Zaros take me.
I cried out as my hands burst into flames. Calix immediately wrapped his hands around mine and looked me in the eye as the tears streamed down my face.
“Ana, calm down,” he murmured. “Calm down.”
I shook my head, my sobs racking my body.
I felt the coolness of his ice cover my hands and the heat disappeared, followed by the familiar zing of his healing powers course through me.
“What’s wrong? Talk to me,” he said gently, pushing my hair away from my face and thumbing away a rogue tear.
“Calix,” I said, my voice shaky. “I think I know how to save the world.”
Chapter 39
He stared, waiting for me to speak.
“The Master needs me to bind with the Nihilist, right?” I asked delicately, licking my lips nervously. “Well, what if … what if he can’t make that happen?”
“He will make it happen if he gets you, Ana,” Calix interjected. “If Zaros gets to you, then it’s game over.”
“I know,” I continued slowly. “But what if I’m not around?”
“Ana, while the idea of staying hidden is a great one, I don’t think it will work for long. He’s been planning this for a long time. We won’t even be able to stay here for much longer. He will find you.”
“I know, and that’s the problem, right? But what if I’m not here to be found?”
Calix looked at me, the confusion evident on his face.
“I’m not following you, sweetheart,” he said, shaking his head, his dark locks falling into his eyes.
“What if I died?” I breathed out painfully, the thought one that was all too frightening.
“What?! Are you kidding me, Ana?” Calix jumped up from the couch like I’d set him on fire.
“If I’m dead, he can’t get to me, Calix! It’s the only way!”
“Like hell it is,” Calix growled, coming at me and grasping my face firmly in his hands. “No, Ana. Get that thought out of your head right now!”
“Calix,” I said, wrapping my hands around his. “You know it’s the only way.”
“No,” he said fiercely, a muscle twitching in his jaw. “There are other ways, Ana. There have to be. Your death won’t be what you think it is.”
“What are the other ways, then? Because the way I see it, we’re at a dead end! With me o-out of the picture,” I stammered, my stomach rolling. “There’s no Oracle. If there’s no Oracle, then the binding can’t happen. And if that can’t happen, Zaros won’t have all the pieces. He can be fought and beaten if I’m not around! Admit it, Calix! It’s a way out.”
“No,” he responded, his voice small and vulnerable. “No, Ana. It’s a way out of one life. It is not the answer you seek. Believe me.”
“Will you help me?” I pressed on, not caring about his cryptic words as a tear slipped out of my eyes. “Please, Calix?”
If I had to die, I wanted it to be at the hands of the one I loved, and I had to face facts. I loved him.
“No,” he replied again, his voice shaking with sadness. “I will not, Ana. It is a way out, but I won’t help you do it. Just the thought...”
He turned away from me and walked to the large picture window, where he stood staring out into the darkness. He remained silent, and I noticed his shoulders shake a little.
“Calix?” I asked gently, coming up behind him.
“I love you, Ana,” he said, turning around, a tear slipping down his cheek. “I’m in love with you and have been since the moment I laid eyes on you. I have done terrible things to be here in this moment with you. I will not be the one to end your life. It can’t be me.”
“Calix, I love you too,” I replied, falling into his arms and holding him tight.
“Then don’t talk like this anymore, OK? We need you. I need you as you are now.”
I nodded and felt his body relax against mine. I wouldn’t talk like that anymore. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t still think about it.
It was the means to an end.
Chapter 40
“She’s gone,” Kellin’s worried voice rang out through the dense fog.
“How could you lose the Oracle!” an enraged voice shouted, and I narrowed my eyes in an attempt to see who was speaking.
“I failed. I was caught up in my feelings, and I lost her. I’m sorry. I will find her. I swear it.”
“Seventeen Earth Realm years you have stood by and watched her! And now, when she is needed the most, you’ve lost her? I trusted you with her!”
“I am sorry,” Kellin murmured.
The voices faded away, and I was swept to the clifftop again.
I watched myself from a distance as I walked to the edge of the cliff, my long blonde hair whipping behind
me. I was wearing the white dress from my previous vision. My face was stricken with sadness, and tears rolled down my porcelain cheeks in waves, my black mascara following in a dark trail.
I stopped at the edge of the cliff and looked out to the horizon then closed my eyes.
A means to an end.
The sentence caressed my mind, and I embraced it, wanting it, needing it.
Jump.
The word was a whisper on the wind.
Jump.
In my head, pressing me, demanding.
Jump!
“Yes,” I whispered, my eyes closed.
I was now the girl on the edge of the cliff. I felt my heart hammering painfully in my chest, and I raked in a deep breath, my last effort at life.
I held out my arms and fell to the jagged rocks below, a peaceful fall, the cold wind whipping through my tangled blonde hair.
For someone so close to death, I’d never felt so alive.
I knew the cold, cruel stop was fast approaching, and my heart rate picked up. I let out a scream, my lungs aching as my final cries filled the evening air.
“Ana! Ana!”
Calix was shaking me through my screams. When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me, a terrified expression on his handsome face.
“It’s a dream. Just a dream,” he said, pulling me close to him. “Are you OK? What did you see?”
“They aren’t all dreams, Calix,” I said shakily. “It is the future, and I can’t run from it.”
“Talk to me,” he said painfully, holding me tighter. “What did you see? Who did you see?”
“I-I heard Kellin,” I said, trying to regain my composure. “I think he works for Zaros.”
“Kellin?” Calix asked, pulling away from me, his eyes narrowed. “Why do you think that?”
“Because he was getting scolded for losing me. Whoever it was, they were very angry at him, and he kept apologizing for it.”
“I see,” Calix said, sitting back and releasing me.
“He’s coming to find me. Soon. I can feel it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I answered resolutely.