She smiled and let out a breath, “I love you too, Zack. I don’t want to ruin that with hormones. I wish I would have just talked to you before.”
“Me too, I’ve been going through hell.” He shook his head and smiled, “I do wish you would change your mind and come back home.”
“Zack, I can’t do that.”
“I know,” he smiled again, “I just can’t imagine not seeing you.”
“You can come visit me here.”
“Yeah, I guess, and you can come visit me. In a few months, I’m sure you’ll be all bad-ass. It ought to be safe for you to visit me then.”
“I can’t,” she paused, “That’s the one condition I had to agree to. Since I almost exposed everyone, I had to agree not to leave the island until I’m a full Clutch guard or for three years whichever happens first.”
“What? Why would you agree to that?” he asked, looking perplexed.
“I had to, Zack.”
He looked around, “I guess I understand; especially after the house.”
“Yeah,” she shivered, thinking about it.
“Well, we better get going. It’s time for Ms. Shelby’s ceremony.” He held his hand out for her.
She took it, finding comfort in his friendly gesture. “Okay,” she smiled. “Maybe I can meet the others afterward.”
Zack’s eyes lit up, “Yeah, they would like that.”
Lyssa nodded and walked with him towards the back side of the castle.
Chapter Twelve… Goodbye
…Ava…
Vincent walked slowly towards the podium. There were thousands of people gathered for the ceremony. The Clutch guards stood in a half circle, their hands locked behind their backs. It was silent; the only sound, Vincent’s steps. Reaching the podium, he spoke, “Her Majesty, Queen Avalene Vangeretta!”
Ava walked to the podium. All eyes were now on her. She felt her cheeks heat. Her hair was done in an intricate mix of flowing hair and small braids. The crown intertwined in the design. The dress she wore was solid white and drifted from her shoulders to lightly brush her feet, lovingly clinging to her hips in between. She felt as though she couldn’t breathe, and it wasn’t the dress.
The podium rattled as she sat her speech down on it, “Welcome, everyone.” She paused, feeling sick, “We have gathered here today to honor Shelby Ross. Shelby was a simple woman who spent her life and her gift helping others. She was a Keeper to three separate circles of children in her time and was loved by everyone who knew her.”
Ava scanned the speech and continued. “Everyone has been worried lately,” Ava noticed Lyssa and a young man hurrying to join the crowd. “We all fear exposure and with good reason. With Shelby’s death many of you have grown more afraid, but I can assure you that we have things under control. You are protected. Shelby Ross was the victim of The Waevern and we will punish those responsible for her death. As we all know, the cycle of life comes to an end at some point for all of us. Just like the beautiful growth of a flower. Sometimes a flower ripens until it’s time to die comes. Sometimes a flower is plucked before it has its chance to fully bloom. Shelby Ross was, indeed, a beautiful flower that did not have the chance to bloom to her full potential. We are here to honor her and to send her on her way with the love and respect she deserves.” Ava paused “Please, take your places around the Brooden.”
Each of the members of Shelby’s circle took their places and one of the children she watched over took her place as Earth.
Ava had witnessed only one other ceremony, but the beauty of it still took her breath away. The beach was silent until each of the people standing on the Brooden called their Element; every person on the island was a part of their magic now. The air buzzed with power and the Elements reacted to the connection forged between those on the Brooden and the people in the crowd. Shelby was lowered into the water and sent off. Cries came from every animal on the island as they gathered around and the earth shook with power as Shelby’s body drifted peacefully through the gates.
Ava took a deep breath and sent thunder crashing across the sky as the gates closed behind her.
After she stepped down from the podium and walked back into the castle, Vincent caught her by the arm.
“What?” she asked, feeling the worry radiating from him. “What is it?”
“I’ll show you,” He said.
Ava followed him into the meeting room and he shut the door behind her.
…Lyssa…
Lyssa wiped at the tears in her eyes as she walked with Zack away from Shelby’s ceremony. Zack kept his arm around her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded, “Yeah, it’s just hard to believe she’s gone.”
“Yeah,” he said, stopping. “That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I wish I didn’t have to go already.”
“You’re leaving now?”
He shrugged, “Mom thinks I went to a computer convention.”
“Oh, then I guess you’d better get back, the way your mom is.”
“Yep, the guard that brought me over said he could have me back home before dark.”
“You know you can write me here?”
“No, I didn’t know. What’s the address?”
“I’ll send it to you. For your mom’s sake we will just say it’s my new address with my foster family.”
“She’ll believe that,” he said. “There are the others. Do you still want to meet them?”
“Um,” Lyssa turned, seeing two girls and a boy walking towards them. The girl on the right dressed with way too much makeup and a lot of hairspray, the other girl was small framed and had wide blue eyes. “I guess so.”
Zack waved them over.
Lyssa took a breath, feeling completely awkward as the three of them approached.
Zack smiled, “This is Lyssa,” he said to them and gestured to the girl with too much makeup on. “This is Brandy,” he said, “and this is Johnny, and Destiny.”
Destiny smiled, “It’s nice to meet you, Lyssa.”
“Yeah,” Brandy nodded, “finally.”
Lyssa felt her face heat, “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to meet before.”
“It’s okay,” Destiny said.
Brandy locked eyes with her, “So, are you done with the whole trying to expose us thing?”
“Brandy!” Johnny said.
“What?” she looked at him and back at Lyssa, “I have to ask. I mean you did do that and if you’re part of our circle, we need to be able to trust you.”
“I…,” Lyssa felt her face burn, “I wasn’t trying to expose you all, I just…,” she shook her head.
“We understand,” Johnny said. “Zack explained.” He glanced around, “So, you’re joining the Clutch?”
Lyssa nodded.
“That sounds awesome,” Destiny smiled.
“Maybe I’ll try out one day,” Johnny said. “Gotta give you props; you being a girl and all.”
“Girls can do anything boys can do,” Brandy snapped, “I guess, I gotta give you props for that, too.” The corner of her mouth twitched but the smile didn’t quite form.
“Lyssa!” Thomas called.
They all turned to look at him.
Thomas eyed each of them, “I need to speak with you, now.”
“Okay,” Lyssa sensed the tension in his voice. She looked back at Zack and the other three in her circle. “It was nice to meet you all.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Destiny said, “Maybe we can all get together another day.”
“Definitely,” Lyssa turned from her to Zack, “I’ll send that to you, okay?”
“Okay,” he winked. “Be safe,” he said, as he walked away.
Thomas waited patiently for them to round the corner, and then grabbed Lyssa’s arm “Come on!”
“What the hell?” Lyssa tried to pull away from him.
“I can’t believe you,” he said, shaking his head as he pulled her along.
“What? Where are we going? Wh
at’s wrong?”
He pulled her behind him into the castle and pointed at the door to the meeting room, the one she had been called into when she was here last time. “They want to see you.”
“What is it?” She looked up at Thomas, “Am I in trouble or something?”
“Just go inside,” he said flatly.
Lyssa looked up at him, searching his eyes.
He looked straight ahead refusing to meet hers.
She blew out a breath and stomped towards the door and pulled it open.
Inside she was met with distant stares. No one greeted her.
Lyssa walked slowly to the front of the room. The intensity in the room was like fire, hot and growing with each breath. A chair slid to her and practically knocked her over.
“Sit down, Lyssa.” Ava said.
Lyssa looked up and sank slowly down in the chair.
The screen on the wall came on. What appeared to be a newscast filled the screen and Lyssa tensed as she noticed the KKTT emblem in the bottom right corner and suddenly her voice filled the room.
Before her eyes parts of the conversation she’d had with her birth mother aired on the screen. She listened to herself tell the story of those born of the Element. She even spoke about joining the Clutch. Her heart went wild and her mouth went dry as the newscast seemed to go on forever. It finally ended with a shot of her manipulating the water in front of the church before flashing back to Lyssa sitting on the ratty chair in her mother’s apartment. “They fixed the news.” She said under her breath as it came to a close. She looked around the room. Condemnation was on every face, “They’ll never believe I had nothing to do with this.”
Lyssa sprang from her chair, her heart pounding. She flew towards the door, tears threatening to stream down her cheeks. The door slammed in front of her and she had to throw her hands up to keep her face from slamming into it. She hit it so hard, it stung her palms.
“You may not leave the island until we decide what is to be done.” Vincent’s voice was sharp and cold.
Lyssa nodded, not turning around.
The door opened a crack.
Lyssa pulled it open and walked out. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think straight. Her own mother had used her; her own flesh and blood. Why? Why would she do that?
Thomas was still standing there, but she couldn’t face him now, not after everything that had just happened. She ran to the stairs and up to her room. As soon as she shut the door behind her she slammed herself down on the bed and let the tears come.
…Ava…
Brea entered the room and immediately began to pace. Nisca shut the door behind them, and Ava clasped her shaking hands together.
Brea frowned, “I don’t trust her, Ava. I haven’t the entire time. That girl is bad news. She just wants to expose you. Now she has.”
“No.” Ava met Brea’s eyes, “The council is already on it. The only people who will ever see that story are the ones who saw that newscast when it aired. Most of them won’t believe anything she says after the way we discredited her after the first story.”
“What about the others?” Nisca asks. “What about all the people who know she is telling the truth? What about all the people born of the Element? All hell is going to break loose. They are all going to want something to happen. They are going to want to know Lyssa can’t further expose us.”
Brea paced harder, “You’re going to have to punish her this time, Ava.”
“It just feels wrong,” Ava said, looking down. “There is something about her…,” she stopped. “You can’t pick anything up from her, Nisca?” she asked
Nisca shook her head, “It’s not like that. I’m not psychic. I get visions to do with you. I haven’t gotten any that have anything to do with her unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless, ‘Exposure’ was a warning about Lyssa.”
Ava shook her head, “I don’t know. Something just doesn’t feel right to me.” She stood up and took a breath, “It just doesn’t make sense.”
…Lyssa…
Thomas pushed the door open, shutting it softly behind him.
Lyssa wiped at the tears in her eyes, preparing herself for his questions, his disappointment.
He walked slowly towards her, anger pulling his brows together, “So, was this all a trick?”
Lyssa shook her head, keeping her eyes steadily on him.
“Why did you do it, Lyssa?”
“I didn’t. I didn’t even know I was on tape. I had that conversation with my birth mother. We were just talking. She must have been recording it, and had it changed to sound like I was exposing the secrets of the island and the story of the First Five. Her voice wasn’t even on there.” She took a harsh breath, “You have to believe me, Thomas.”
Thomas paced in front of her, “I don’t know what to believe, Lyssa. Every time I turn around you’re blowing out of control. Either you are the most dumb, naïve, person I have ever met, or you’re the greatest con-artist I have ever met. I can’t help but wonder if all this has been a trick. Having a Clutch guard assigned to you so you could learn more, joining the Clutch so you could find out more by staying on the island…”
“I didn’t know a Clutch guard would be assigned to me and I didn’t decide I wanted to join the Clutch. You pretty much left me no choice, remember? Do you really believe I could plan that? How the hell would I know you were going to come up with that idea?”
Thomas met her eyes for the first time, “I don’t know what to believe.”
“How about believing me?” she asked, her eyes pleading. “How about you’re the only person on this entire island who knows me?”
“That’s the thing,” he looked away from her. “I’m not sure that I do know you, Lyssa.”
She felt her heart break, “You do though, Thomas. You know me. You know why I did everything. Why would I expose the island now? What the hell would I get out of it?”
He looked up, “I don’t know what I believe, Lyssa. I know you’re in way over your head. The Council is going to call for a trial and the evidence is clear. I mean, it’s you, right there on camera, for cripes sakes. It’s your words. There are going to be a lot of pissed off people who are going to want to see you punished.”
“What do you think they will do to me?”
“I don’t know for sure, if Lareina was still queen I know what they would do, but Ava, she’s different.” He sat down on the bed next to her, “She’s kinder, but she will have to do something. A prison sentence, maybe? This will be the time for her to prove she can protect everyone born of the Element. There is no way she can just let this go.”
“What if I could prove that my mother tricked me?” she asked.
“That would be hard to prove; besides, you can’t leave the island,” Thomas reminded her.
“You could go.” she whispered.
Thomas glared, speaking sharply, “Really? You would ask me to do that? I don’t know what to think, Lyssa. I opened my heart to you. Somehow you have managed to take over every thought of every second of my day. Now I…,” he paused.
Lyssa met his eyes, “No matter what you believe, you have to know that what’s happened between us is real, I can feel it. I know you feel it too.”
That’s not the point.” He stood up, “Even if I did believe you, it wouldn’t matter now.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” She stood beside him, noticing his keys hanging from his back pocket.
He looked down at her, “I just need to think. Do me a favor. Don’t do anything else in the meantime,” he said as the door slammed shut behind him.
Lyssa paced the room feeling her heart pound against her chest as she thought about the consequences of what she was about to do. She reached into her pocket and held Thomas’ keys up. She only had seconds to decide. He would realize they were gone any minute. She had to have answers though, she had to save herself. There was only one person who could give her those answers.
&
nbsp; Her mother!
…Ava…
Ava walked down to Aunt Avalene’s room. She needed someone to talk to. Brea was her best friend; but once she made up her mind about something, there was no changing it. She was set on the fact that Lyssa was no good. Ava knew she should probably be feeling the same way, but for some reason she just didn’t believe that about Lyssa. She didn’t know if it was her need to see the good in people or what, but she felt that there was something good in Lyssa. It really felt more like Lyssa was a pawn in someone else’s sick little game.
Aunt Avalene’s door was cracked open and she was sitting at a small desk writing something. “Hey, Shug,” she said, setting her pen down.
“Hey,” Ava said, closing the door behind her. “What are you doing?”
“Ahh, just writing a letter for Nisca’s mother. I want to go and visit her after the festival. I hate to hear that she is struggling with arthritis.” She stood up, “Attending the memorial for Shelby Ross just got me thinking.” She shook her head, “When you get to be my age, you realize the value of your friends and how quickly they can disappear. Time is the most precious thing, Shug.”
“I know,” Ava said in a hollow voice.
“What’s wrong?”
Ava sat on the end of Aunt Avalene’s bed, “Everything.” She shrugged, “Right this second, Lyssa.”
“Lyssa?” She shook her head, “The young girl who just joined the Clutch?”
“Yes,”
“What’s happened now?”
“She was on the news again. She told her story to someone after all. She told the First Five story and talked about the island and the Clutch.” Ava noticed the scorn in Aunt Avalene’s dark blue eyes. “Something about all this feels wrong to me, Aunt Avalene. I know I should see it as black and white, but I just don’t.”
Elementris, Exposure, Eruption Box set: The Vangeretta Curse Series Page 48