Unforgiven (Wanderers #3)

by Jessica Miller

  When nothing happened I sighed. “It’s not working. Maybe I can only do it with you because you can too.”

  “Or maybe it only works with family. Try mom or Xander.”

  “Why not dad?”

  “Because he can project thoughts too. You want to try someone who can’t.”

  I shook my head and concentrated. “What are you guys doing?” Xander asked.

  “Seeing if I have a new power,” I projected to him.

  He took a step back. “Did you just project that to me?”

  “So you heard it?” he nodded.

  “Well there you go,” Dean said.

  “Yeah, but apparently it only works if the person is in the room,” I said disappointed.

  “Try mom,” Xander suggested. “She’s upstairs in your room.”

  “What is she doing up there?”

  “Why don’t you ask her?” Dean said.

  I turned to go upstairs and Dean stopped me. “From down here, god Ella, seriously?”

  “Shut up,” I said, embarrassed at my own stupidity. I closed my eyes and pictured my mom. “Hey mom, what are you doing in my room?” I could imagine her turning around and pretending to be doing nothing, expecting to see me in the door way. “Mom?”

  “Ella?” she called from the top of the stairs confused.

  “Down here,” I projected.

  She came running down the stairs and looked at me with wide eyes. “Did you just?”

  “Project a thought…yep,” I said. “So you heard me?”

  “I thought you were right behind me, but you were down here the whole time?” I nodded. “Oh Ella, a new power. That’s wonderful,” she cheered, hugging me.

  “Yeah, but we think I can only do it with family,” I pouted.

  “Did you try calling Cameron?” I nodded. “Maybe it just needs to grow and besides what’s wrong with it only being family?” she said.

  “Well, it is kind of nice I can now actually answer Dean back. That was so annoying to have him in my head and not able to yell back.”

  “Great, just what I need. Not only can you get in my head, but you can also talk to me in there too,” Dean whined.

  “I can only read your mind if you let me,” I told him.

  “I think it’s wonderful,” my mom said.

  “So do I,” Xander said, patting me on the back.

  I followed my mom back up to my room where she was – as always – packing stuff for me she felt I needed to take with. If she could I was sure she’d pack herself. “Mom, I don’t need all this. It’s summertime and school is over. I’m sure I’ll be back in a week after I smooth things over.”

  She looked away from me. I knew she had something she had to tell me and didn’t want to. What good was this power to read thoughts if everyone could just block them from you? “I already called the school and in order for you to be reenlisted next year you have to stay through the summer and make up your courses.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Ella, you left without telling anyone. You know there are consequences for your actions.”

  “So I have to go to school for the rest of the summer and straight through till fall semester?”

  “Don’t worry. You won’t be alone. Your partners in crime will be there with you too.”

  I fell back on the bed wishing I could run away again, but that won’t fix my problems and now that it was summer and everyone left for home, I’d have to wait and face my friends and Roman in the fall. Maybe this wasn’t a bad thing after all, give them some time to cool off or more time to get pissed off.

  “Ella honey, don’t worry I’m sure it will go by fast,” she smiled reassuringly.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “So how bad you think it’s going to be?” Cameron asked as we pulled into the school gates.

  “I guess we’re about to find out,” I said. Gabe was waiting for us. He was standing there with his arms crossed and a not so happy expression on his face.

  I stepped out of the car and looked right at Gabe. I tried to think of something witty to say to ease the tension, but nothing came to mind and the expression on his face told me joking would not be my best approach. “You can drop your stuff off at your rooms and then meet Mr. Callahan and I in his office in fifteen minutes,” he said and walked away. He didn’t even look at me which felt like a punch to the gut. I wanted to run after him and tell him I was sorry. I wanted to tell him how much I appreciated all he’s done for me and I never took anything he taught me for granted. His cold brush off told me a simply sorry wouldn’t cut it.

  I bit my lip and tried to keep myself from losing it. I was only there five minutes and already I wanted to hop back in the car and tell them to take me to the airport. I knew coming back to school and facing everyone would be hard, but I never expected it to be this hard.

  The three of us hurried to our rooms to drop off our luggage and then headed to Aidan’s office. Aidan and Gabe were there waiting for us, both wearing stern and unpleased expressions. “Have a seat,” Aidan said.

  “I rather stand,” I replied. On my way over to the office I decided I wasn’t going to let them intimidate me. I was going to stand my ground and defend my actions the best I could. Dean and Cameron, on the other hand, decided to sit. I knew they weren’t looking forward to this conversation any more than I had, but they definitely were not going to argue with what they were going to throw at us.

  “Suit yourself,” Aidan said, adjusting himself in his seat. “I’m going to save the speech and just get right to it. You will have class every day from eight to three. Then you will be helping with maintenance and grounds keeping as part of your punishment.”

  “Why are we being punished? I thought this school was a choice?” I asked, a little annoyed, especially since I never really had the choice.

  “While yes you choose to enroll here and it is not mandatory, this school is still a privilege and you should be lucky we’re even letting you back in.”

  “I’m lucky to be let back in?” I said with a bit of an attitude.

  “Ella, shut up,” Dean said in my head.

  “After all the trouble you caused it took a lot of convincing parents –”

  “The trouble I caused?” I interrupted, taking a step forward. “What in the hell are you talking about? You mean when Jack attacked the school? Or the first time he got in here? This is my fault how? If I remember correctly you were one of the first people to stand up and agree we fight,” I yelled, letting my temper get the best of me.

  Aidan seemed unaffected by my attitude. He looked as if he expected it. “I’m not arguing that and I’m not saying any of that is your fault. I’m talking about how you left after the fact. Just leaving had a lot of parents believing you were behind this in the first place,” he said calmly.

  “What?” I gawked.

  “Ella, your actions have consequences and in order to keep this school open and make parents feel that their kids are safe again we had to promise that you would be punished,” I opened my mouth to comment but he continued. “Regardless of whose fault it was,” he finished. “In addition to helping out around the school you three will also be in charge of helping the new students in the fall.”

  Gabe stepped forward. “You are also to continue with your training while you are here. We will train every day in the morning and the evening until school starts back up in the fall.” I could see the smallest glimmer of a smile on Dean’s face. “This also includes you two as well,” Gabe told Cameron and Dean making his smile fade.

  “Does anyone have a problem with this?” Aidan asked.

  Dean stopped me before I could open my mouth. “Don’t even think about it Ella,” he projected.

  I bit my tongue and allowed Aidan to continue. “As you know, this is the last week of classes and you will be going to class as normal until the semester ends at the end of the week.”

  “Wait, it’s the middle of June?” I said confused.

  “The seme
sters at Hamilton hill are longer because we are a special school,” he said, putting emphasis on the word special. “If you would have been here you would know that we give the students two weeks off in April and then another two weeks off in May and just lengthen the school year. We feel giving the students a few breaks throughout the year helps them relax more and feel less stressed.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes. A little mini vacation here and there would not help me feel less stressed, but then again who would if they had my life. “You may have today to settle back in, but tomorrow you are expected to go to your classes as normal,” Aidan said, dismissing us.

  As happy as I was not to work today, I was not looking forward to what they had in store for us for the rest of the summer. From Gabe’s quick departure I had a bad feeling our training sessions weren’t going to be any easier either. Dean and Cameron left behind Gabe while I stood there in Aidan’s office. “Is there something else, Miss McCallister?”

  “How bad was it…after I left?” I began slowly.

  He dropped his papers and sunk down into his chair, dragging his hands over his face. “Ella, I think this is something we should discuss at another time. I’m still picking up the pieces,” he said distraught.

  “I understand. I’ll just go then.”

  “Despite what you may think…I’m glad you’re back,” he said, giving me a small smile.

  “Thank you,” was all I could manage. I left and walked back to my room. I had no idea what time it was and tried to do the math in my head, but with the time difference and the long flight, it just ended up giving me a headache. I sighed and trudged across the campus back to my room to hide out for the rest of the day.

  I only made it halfway down the hall before I saw him. He was leaning up against my door and waiting for me. My heart stopped. Just the sight of him made my stomach drop. I wanted to run the other way. I wasn’t ready to face him yet. I reminded myself I had to stop being a coward and face the consequences of my actions like everyone was so conveniently reminding me. I looked up at him. His hair was a little longer than normal and he was overdue for a shave. The dark circles and red rimmed eyes told me he hadn’t been sleeping. “So you’re back,” he said roughly.

  “Yeah,” was all I could manage without my voice breaking. I took a deep breath and met him at my door. I wondered for a moment how he even knew I was back.

  “I could smell you,” he said, reading my confused expression. “I thought I was just imagining it at first, but then I saw you with Dean and Cameron heading to the office.”

  “Yeah, we had to see Aidan, I mean Mr. Callahan about our punishment.” He gave me a slight nod. “How are you?” I knew it was a lame question. I knew it before the words even left my lips, but it was the only thing I could come up with at the moment without falling to my knees and begging for his forgiveness.

  “Really? Well, let’s see,” he said, tapping his chin. “My girlfriend almost dies and then when she comes to, she calls for her ex slash angel boyfriend and to top it all off you take off in the middle of the night to god knows where to look for another supposedly dead ex-boyfriend,” he said, his voice getting louder. “How the fuck you think I feel?” he growled.

  I cringed under his harsh stare. “Roman I…”

  “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.” He got in my face and I got a whiff of alcohol and cigarettes, making me feel just that much worse. I drove him to this. I made him this way. “You left me and I didn’t know if you were alright or not. I had no idea where you were or if you were hurt or…” His eyes started to well up and he backed away, fighting the tears.

  “I’m sor –” I stopped myself. What could I possibly say to make it right? “Roman I…I made a mistake. I should have told you from the beginning what I was doing, but I didn’t know how to tell you. You deserved the truth and I was a coward for not coming forward in the first place, but I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

  “Too late for that,” he spat.

  “Roman there’s nothing I can say that’s going to make this right and I understand if you hate me and never want to see me again.” I hoped that wasn’t true, but from the look on his face and the anger seeping from his pores I had a feeling I was right.

  He didn’t agree, but he didn’t disagree either. Instead he asked, “Did you find him?” I nodded. “Are you two…back together?” I shook my head no. “Did you…” he left the question open but I knew what he was asking and I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t look him in the eye and tell him I cheated on him. I reached for him but he recoiled from my touch. When I looked into his eyes all I saw was rage. He pounded the wall with his fist and left, leaving crumbles of concrete and dust in his wake.

  I knew I should let him cool off, but I couldn’t leave it like this. I turned around to chase after him but he was already gone. I tried to think of where he would go and the first thing that came to mind was behind the library. I remember he once told me he liked to go there to think. It was the one place where he could be alone. He also told me the other reason he liked it there was because it reminded him of the moment he fell in love with me. He told me it was the day I punched him in the eye and then tried to heal it outside. I also remember telling him if I knew that was all it took I would have hit him the second I met him.

  When I reached the back of the library, Roman was there smoking a cigarette with his back to me. “Roman, we need to talk.”

  “Did you sleep with him?” he asked with his back still turned to me. I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t make the words form on my tongue. “Did. You. Sleep. With. Him?” he asked again slowly.

  I opened my mouth but no sound came out. He turned around to face me. “Answer the question!” he yelled, slamming his fist into the wall, causing some of the brick to crumble to the ground.

  “You already know the answer,” I said softly.

  “I want to hear you say it,” he growled.

  His hostility was rubbing off on me and I fought the urge to scream. “Will that make you feel better?” I snapped. “Then fine, yes, I slept with him. There, are you happy now?”

  He clenched his fists at his sides. I looked down at his hands. I caught flashes of blue sparks and then I heard a crackling noise. “Leave,” he said.

  “No. We need to talk about this,” I demanded.

  “Leave…now.” I took a step closer and he took one back. “Ella, I’m warning you.”

  “You’re not going to hurt me.” I knew he was angry and I needed to get him to calm down before it all went horribly wrong.

  “Leave!” he yelled, throwing out his hand, pointing behind me. A bolt of blue light flew from his palm and struck the tree behind us. The tree burst into flames the moment the surge hit it. The look on Roman’s face said he was as shocked as I was. “Ella, call for help!” I ignored him and walked closer to the tree. Roman grabbed my arm to pull me back. The entire tree was a blaze with flames reaching the sky. “Ella, get out of here,” he shouted, pushing me toward the front of the building.

  I wiggled out of his grasp and moved closer to the tree. I barely heard the sirens and Roman’s screams as I approached the tree with little caution. I watched the flames engulf all the leaves and branches and all I thought was how can I stop it? The fire was spreading fast and if someone didn’t do something quiclyk it would take down everything in it’s path. I wasn’t sure what I could do or if I could even stop it but I knew I had to try something. I remember Ms. Kraft telling me all things are connected. I looked all around until something crept up my spine and whispered in my ear.

  I closed my eyes and listened. Then I bent down and placed my hands on the ground spreading my fingers throughout the grass. I listened to the wind whisper a soft song in my ear and I knew what to do. I pushed everything I had into the earth and called for my powers. I imagined the flames disappearing. I imagined the tree being as it was before it was set on fire.

  “Ella, look out!” Roman called, just as a large flaming branch fell fr
om the tree. I put up my hand and flung the branch to the side before it landed on me. Then I put my hand back on the ground and concentrated harder.

  It was only a moment’s pass when I no longer heard the crackling of branches, the sizzling leaves, and the breaking bark. I no longer smelled the leaves burning or the birds scattering to safety. I opened my eyes and looked up. The tree was no longer on fire. It was just a charcoaled version of what it once was.

  Roman gasped. “Ella, how did you?”

  I stood up as guardians rushed over with buckets and hoses. I didn’t pay any attention to them as I walked straight for the tree. I placed my hands on the hot, burning bark. I tried not to flinch as the hot ash crumbled beneath my hands and burned my skin. I closed my eyes and willed the tree to heal. I felt the power rush through me and into the tree. When I could feel the sweat dripping down my face I stopped and opened my eyes. I took a step back and smiled. The tree was just as green and brilliant as it was before.

  I couldn’t hold the glee inside from what I had done. I let out a little giggle and turned around to see Roman and all the Guardians staring at me eyes wide. I looked down and noticed I was glowing. I rolled my eyes and willed myself back to normal, thinking calming thoughts. I thought about the amazing feeling I had when I realized I had stopped the fire and healed the tree. When I opened my eyes the glow was gone. I was getting pretty good at figuring out how to diminish my glow. I’ve had enough practice.

  When I finally stopped glowing I looked around and noticed everyone was still staring at me. “What, am I glowing again?” I looked down.

  Nope, no glow.

  Roman slowly walked over to me. “What is it?” I asked.

  “Your hair,” he said.

  Oh god, please don’t let my hair have caught on fire. “What is it? Is it gone? Burnt to a crisp?” I reached up grabbing my head and let out a sigh of relief. Still there. I looked back at Roman and knew before I even asked. “I have another blue streak, don’t I?”