Ava felt the warmth of his element in his lips as they touched hers; soft at first and then harder and warmer. He put his other hand around the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her thick hair. He deepened the kiss; taking just a little more of her. She felt hot from his touch, cold from the wind, and so dizzy. She knew it was only a dream, but she wished it was real. She begged her mind to stay asleep and in this moment.
She felt her legs wobble beneath her and sank back onto the sand. His body mimicked hers and his hands caught his weight on either side of her. The sand cradled them as the thunder roared over them and the rain rippled through the wind.
He stopped, pulling back for a breath. She lifted her head just slightly meeting his lips with hers in a soft, teasing kiss. He pressed back, covering her mouth with his. Her head spun faster and...that was it! He suddenly just stopped and stood up!
Ava stared up at him, not sure how to react to the pained look on his face and the sadness locked deep in his green eyes. He looked away from her, “I have to know…” He looked towards the ocean, suddenly silent. “What have you decided?”
“About what?”
He stared back at her, “About Lareina. Will you challenge her?”
She pushed herself up, “Is that what this is?” She brushed her hands off, “Do you really think you can sweep me off my feet and I’ll just do what you want me to do?” she turned.
“No.” He looked down, “one has nothing to do with the other.” He stepped forward grabbing her arm, “This is serious Ava. Don’t you get it? People are dying and you can stop it.”
“I understand that, but I don’t want to die either!” She looked away, then back at him, “Besides I’m not even sure I completely believe you. How can I even be sure that I can trust you?”
He pulled his brows together, “What do you mean?”
She turned back slowly, staring at the tattoo on his neck. “You are of Lareina’s Clutch, right? I don’t know what to believe.” She shook her head, “I need more time.” She looked at the water and then turned back to him.
He shook his head, “You’re impossible; the only truth you need to worry about is your own. You’re scared.”
“I’m not scared,” she lied. “I just don’t know what to do. I just found out about Lareina and I can’t give you an answer now. Everyone expects me to save the world and be ready to die if that’s what it takes. It’s like I don’t even have a choice about my own future, my own life.” Yeah, she was scared…of a lot of things—including him. “Did he really want her or was it all some terrible trick?” She looked back to him, narrowing her eyes.
“You do have a choice Ava.” He reached out and snapped his fingers, “We all had a choice…choice… Let me show you some of the things that I have seen her do...” His words drifted away.
The dream shifted and Ava found herself standing in a cold room. A large window in front of her displayed an amazing view of the ocean. She turned and saw a woman with long dark hair staring at a wall filled with maps. The woman moved her hands over each continent with care and precision, her fingers twisting as she did so. Suddenly she stopped and slammed her palm down onto the map with such force that the little pins marking various places appeared to shake in fear as they absorbed the shock. Images shot through Ava’s mind; scenes from storms that were happening all over the world hitting her like hard slaps. Massive winds pulled homes apart as terrible storms descended on them. Flooding rivers and streams destroyed everything in their paths as torrential rains allowed them to escape their banks. That was what the woman had been doing with her fingers; she was creating those storms! In the next moment, Ava was horrifyingly aware of what the woman had done when she slammed her hand down on the map.
In one place, houses crumbled as the ground shook and rumbled. In another, what had once been a beautiful day on the beach was fast becoming a nightmare. Fascinated beachgoers stared, perplexed, at ocean waters that no longer moved towards them. Children screamed with glee as they saw all the shells they could pick up in the newly exposed sand. Parents screamed with fear as they began to realize what seeing all those shells meant. They began to desperately pull their children towards safety. People on the shore began to run as they saw the water suddenly rise and form into a massive wave. With a deafening rumble the destructive wall of water raced back towards the people on the beach. They had no chance. Within seconds, the wave had swept them away and then went on to destroy everything else in its path until its energy was finally spent.
The woman in the room walked away from her maps—she was smiling. Ava knew her now, the woman in the room was Lareina.
She woke up in her empty room, her own heavy breathing the only whisper of sound. She glanced around the room. The sun was shining through the window and voices echoed from downstairs. She slipped off the bed and put on her flip flops. Her head still felt a little heavy and she was really confused about the dream. “Did she want Alec? Could she trust him? Did she want to challenge Lareina? Would she ever be strong enough, know enough, to be able to challenge her and win? What a wild dream.”
Her phone vibrated on the night stand. Brea’s name flashed on the screen. She scooped it up and flipped it open, “Are you okay?” She said worried.
Brea exhaled, “Yeah, fine. I was just wondering if you had left yet.”
“No,” Ava walked towards the dresser, pulling clothes out as she spoke. “I overslept.” She flipped on the light, “I’m getting ready now.”
“Okay, I’ll be outside.”
“K, see ya’ soon.” Ava flipped the phone closed and set it on the dresser. She stared at herself in the mirror running her fingers over her lips. “It felt so real…” Her heart was still pounding.
She came down the stairs to find everyone gathered in the kitchen for coffee. Ava popped her head in, “Headed to school, running late.” The door swung shut behind her.
“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Aunt Avalene said.
Ava paused and pushed the door back open, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she smiled.
“Okay then, have a good day, Shug,” Aunt Avalene smiled.
Everyone spoke at the same time, “Bye!”
“Have a good day!”
“Bye!”
Ava waved, grabbed her keys from the small wooden bowl that sat by the door, and left.
She pulled up behind Buck’s ugly green truck. Brea stepped off the front porch and walked towards her car. Ava couldn’t shake the dream from her mind. She hated the decision facing her. “I should be thinking about graduation and my future; instead I’m being pushed towards a future never imagined. What everyone thinks is a gift is really a curse! A gift is something you want not something you’re forced to take.” She didn’t want to fight Lareina. She didn’t want to have to look over her shoulder for the rest of her life. “The magic is amazing, but it might just cost me everything. Then there is Alec…how can I feel something for him? He doesn’t even try to hide how much he wants me to accept the magic.”
She was relieved when Brea got in and immediately started talking, “Can you believe it? I still can’t believe she is pregnant by him. It’s disgusting!”
“Yeah,” Ava said, distracted. She put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.
At school, all everyone talked about all morning was Troy Drake and the party he was having. Everyone knew he was loaded and now he was single again. When it was finally time for lunch, Ava and Brea cut through the crowded hallways headed to the cafeteria. Kids knocked against each other trying to get to wherever they were supposed to be next and the hall smelled like stale carpet and the wax they used on the tile floors. Brea bulldozed her way through, practically dragging Ava behind her. “Excuse me.” She turned sideways looking back at Ava, “Come on,” she urged, “its Hamburger Gravy day!”
“I’m coming. It’s not like they’re going to run out of Hamburger Gravy or something!” Ava said as she squeezed between two girls, “Sorry.”
“Ava, hey,
” Troy stepped out in front of them
“Hey,” she said shyly.
“Are you still coming to the party tonight?” He tilted his head, smiling at her.
Ava’s felt her cheeks get hot. “Umm…” She glanced at Brea, not sure if they would still be able to go now that Buck had returned.
Brea smiled. “Yeah, we’re still coming,” answering for both of them.
“Cool.” He looked at Ava and flashed her a sexy little half-smile, “See you there.”
“K,” was all she managed before he turned and walked away. Ava looked up to see Jenna staring her down. Jenna slammed her locker and then disappeared around the corner.
“What’s her problem?” Ava muttered.
“What do you think?” Brea said. She linked her arm though Ava’s. “Come on.”
Ava expected Brea to remark about Troy. She figured she would have something to say about it; after all…she was right. “Maybe he did like her.” Ava walked behind her trying not to bump into anybody, waiting for her to say something but Brea said nothing about it; she just kept on plowing her way towards the cafeteria.
After they got their food, Brea plopped down in front of Ava and still without saying one word about what had just happened; she started scarfing her hamburger gravy and mashed potatoes.
Ava looked back over her shoulder at Troy’s table. He wasn’t talking, but he still dominated the table and the people sitting with him. Then, as if he knew she was looking, he glanced over at Ava and flashed a quick smile. His best friend, Dill, swung his arm around his shoulder and showed him something on his cell phone. They both watched for a minute and burst out laughing.
Dill was sort of the class clown with a chip on his shoulder. His blonde tips and dimples pulled girls in like cattle, but none of them lasted long. His one-sided sense of humor usually sent them running. Brea had a short relationship with him when they were in the sixth grade. It lasted less than a day and didn’t end well at all. They had a big fight in front of everybody. You wouldn’t think a one-day relationship/argument could last that long and be that intense.
Ava stared for a long moment before she turned back to Brea. She was taking her last bite of hamburger gravy. “Are you gonna eat this?” she reached out for Ava’s tray.
“No, you can have it.” Ava slid the tray to her, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you eating like you’re in a competition or something?”
“I didn’t eat dinner last night or breakfast this morning.” She took a bite and moaned and closed her eyes. “So good!”
“Why?”
Brea took a sip of her grape soda and lowered her brows like she could turn her eyes into lasers, “Buck.” She made his name sound like a curse word.
“Buck?” Ava shook her head, “He wouldn’t let you eat?” Ava felt sick. She pictured his brown mullet and the shiny bald spot on the top of his head.
“No, he wanted me to; a little too much.” Brea looked up, a hard look in her dark blue eyes. “He told me something last night just before dinner. He said that he carries over a hundred different kinds of poisons on his truck and that three of them are undetectable in food.”
“He said he was going to poison you?” Ava couldn’t believe it.
“Not exactly,” she shrugged “More like he implied it. He told me that and then he made a big steak dinner. It looked so good; steak and all the fixings to go with it. He put it in front of me and I got everything all ready to eat and just as I was about to take the first bite, he told me that he hoped I liked it because he made mine special, just the way I like it, and then he winked.”
“What did your mom say?”
“She didn’t hear the conversation about the poisons and she thought he was being nice. She really got mad at me when I wouldn’t eat.” Brea spun her grape soda can around and around in her hand. “She wouldn’t believe me anyway—and it’s not like he came right out and said, ‘I’m going to poison you.”’
“Oh my god, Brea,” Ava pulled her brows together, “That’s crazy! What are we going to do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m definitely going to have to figure out a way to get rid of him.” She smiled slightly, “Too bad you can’t send him away with magic or something,” she joked but then said, “Can you?”
“I don’t know a lot, but I do know we can’t change human will. We can only influence the elements and use book magic.”
“That’s too bad, he would never leave willingly.” Brea took another bite, “I was sort of hoping you could make him shrink into an ant so I could squash him or something.”
Ava took a sip of her soda, “Not, quite. I could talk to Aunt Avalene?”
“No way,” Brea said quickly. “I don’t want her to know about any of this.”
“Okay,” Ava said, “but if anything else happens, we are talking to Aunt Avalene.” She paused, “What about your mom? You don’t think he would poison her?”
“No, I don’t. She’s carrying his spawn. He is absolutely glowing with the fact and already calling her belly Buck, Jr.” She shivered, “I can’t stand it, seriously. You know, honestly… I think he wants to get rid of me so they can have their own little family.”
“That’s crazy, Brea. Are you sure we should go to the party tonight?”
“Well hell yeah! We are going to that party. They’re going out to dinner tonight anyway and I already told mom I would be staying at your house. Are you gonna be able to get out? Will Aunt Avalene let you go?”
“She already said I could, but there might be a slight problem now.” Ava thought about all of them there, wondering what they had in store for her.
“What?” Brea tilted her head.
She thought about telling her, but not here, “Nothing big. I can deal with it.”
“Good, I’ll just ride home with you then”
“Okay.”
Brea took another mouthful of hamburger gravy, “School food has never tasted this good.” She pointed her spork at her tray, “So good!” and closed her eyes.
“Do you want this? I’m not hungry.” She pushed her fruit cup over to Brea.
“Yeah, thanks.” Brea dug her spork in like a shovel.
Ava glanced back at Troy and found him already looking at her. She still couldn’t believe it. For so long she had tried to get him to notice her but now that it was happening, she wasn’t sure that she really wanted it to. The party would be amazing though; a great distraction. She needed something normal, something fun, something that had nothing to do with magic.
The bell rang and everybody got up and headed for their next class. Ava grabbed her soda and her tray and walked towards the door. Brea walked just behind her, scarfing down one last bite left in the fruit cup. Ava glanced over to the second row of tables. Troy was walking just across from her. He stared at her as he walked; those damn blue eyes again.
A boy with a skateboard slid out in front of him.
Troy tripped. It was like it happened in slow motion; his eyes were still on her as he lost his footing and fell forward. The grape soda in his can sprayed out in front of him. He flicked his left wrist and the soda sank backwards back into the can. Not one drop spilled onto the floor. He glanced around…
Ava looked away like she didn’t see it, but couldn’t help her sudden stop.
Brea slammed into her, “Ava!” she said, way too loudly. Luckily her tray was completely empty.
Sorry,” Ava whispered under her breath, so low Brea might not have heard it. She looked back to Troy.
Troy was scowling at the skateboard guy, “What’s your problem?” He knocked into him, making his skateboard fall, and hurried towards the door.
“Sorry!” the blonde haired guy said as he picked up his skateboard and tucked it under his arm.
Troy stalked ahead and dropped his drink in the garbage can by the opposite door. He gave Ava another quick glance before he pushed the door open. She wasn’t sure if he knew what she had seen; or that she would know what it might mean. Could
he be…? Ava slid her tray on the stack and walked out beside Brea.
…Alec…
Alec stepped out of the shower and found Shawn still sleeping, his alarm clock buzzing loudly. Alec reached down and hit the button. “Shawn, get up,” he shook him. “Wake up. I have to talk to you.”
Shawn turned and sat up slowly, “What Scotty?” he blinked and then focused on Alec. “Oh…,” he said tonelessly.
Alec looked down and off to the side.
“I was dreaming…he was still here,” Shawn muttered with a break in his voice. “We’re not late are we?”
“No,” Alec looked back to him, “Not yet. Are you still on watch?”
“Yeah, until she takes the high alert off. “ He looked up, “Why?”
Alec slipped on a solid black t-shirt, “I want to talk to the Elementris they brought in from The Waerven and I have an idea. Can you slip me into the cell with her?”
“Maybe… In the cell?”
“Yeah, it’s the only way I can get to her without anyone knowing.”
Shawn stood up, “Do you really think they let it happen?”
“I don’t know for sure, but…,” his thoughts trailed off as he saw the raw pain in Shawn’s pale blue eyes.
Shawn looked up, fighting back tears, and cleared his throat. “What about the princess? You never told me what happened? Does she have a chance to take down Lareina? Is what your grandmother said really true?”
Alec felt his muscles stiffen, “I’m not sure.” He didn’t want to tell Shawn that she didn’t even want it. They never considered that she wouldn’t want to accept her power and if she chose not to accept it, everything would have been for nothing. If Scott was killed because of what they were trying to do and she chose not to accept her power, then his death would be for nothing. He slipped on his black hat, “I’m going to go and get my assignment and then I’ll meet you down there. I need to find out what that girl knows.”
“Okay,” Shawn said, forcing a smile. “Wait for me by the back gate.”
“Okay.” Alec pulled the door open and didn’t breathe easy until it closed behind him.
Elementris, Exposure, Eruption Box set: The Vangeretta Curse Series Page 10