She’s not a head case, she’s just being safe. She thinks it’s safe for her to live among people who are psychologically unstable. She thinks she can’t control her magic. That’s just crazy! I live around normal people. So what if they think I’m a complete freak? I still live among them. And if I can control myself at sixteen, then my mother should be able to do the same. I won’t let this go. She will go home at some point.
We go through a drive-thru and then start our journey home. I can’t eat anything no matter how hard I try or how hard Adam pushes for me to eat. It isn’t supposed to happen this way, she’s supposed to come home with me and we’re supposed to take care of each other!
At least I did get answers. For one, it’s confirmed that these bad witches are after me for my magic. My purple fire is powerful, and if my purple fire is powerful, then that means that the man in my dreams is just as powerful, even more so since he’s experienced.
I look over at Adam—his eyes are focused on the road. It makes me feel bad for my mother. It would be horrible to find out that the person you are crazy in love with is using you.
It makes sense. He used her to make me. He made me so that he could steal my powers, and it seems that Craven and Eris are after the same thing.
But how do they know about me? My father has to be involved with them. That’s the only option.
I don’t tell Adam all the things I’m thinking since I don’t want to scare him. I don’t want him to know what I know. I know that it won’t be long before Eris and Craven come for me one last time. I know that they’re going to try and steal my powers. I have a pretty bad feeling that stealing my powers will somehow result in my death. Worst of all, I know that no matter how hard I try I won’t be able to defend myself against them.
Chapter 26
The Break
We stay in the same motel that we stayed in on the way to New Jersey—paid double again. I take a long shower, mostly just standing there and letting the water run down my face. I pray that the hot water will wash it all away.
I have to separate myself from Adam. It’s not safe to love him. It’s not safe for him to be around me. I know Adam, if something were to happen he’d try to fight and he’s no competition for the kind of people I’ll be fighting. If something were to happen to him I’d never forgive myself.
I now understand he reasons for leaving me behind before. He was trying to protect me—I have to protect him. He loved me enough to let me go and I’ll do the same. Once this is all over with and if I survive, I’ll go back to him, but right now, I have to think about keeping him safe.
After my shower, I brush my teeth and settle into bed with Adam. He wraps his arms around me and whispers sweet nothings into my hair while I cry on his shoulder.
“It’s okay, baby. Everything’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. No matter what I have to do, I won’t let them hurt you.”
While he’s saying these things I’m trying to figure out how to get him out of my life, at least until all the dust settles. It’s going to kill me to be away from him, but the thought of something happening to him is worse than death.
“Adam, you know I love you, right?”
“I know and I love you, too. I can’t even believe I’m saying that to someone, but it’s the truth,” he smiles down at me and my heart breaks.
“I’m thinking…maybe we should take a break,” his body tenses next to me when I say those words. “Just until everything passes—I have so much going on right now and…”
“Are you breaking up with me?” pain crashes into my heart when I see the look on his face.
I feel like I’m drowning a puppy, which is ridiculous considering Adam’s more of the pit bull variety. Tears flow down my cheeks. The hurt and disappointment in his eyes stabs me in my heart.
“It’s just until I get my life in order, I don’t want to drag you down with me,” I’m desperate for him to understand.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, I’m just not ready for what we have going on right now. I need some space,” I lie.
“Space?” he asks confused.
No girl in her right mind would ask for space from Adam—it’s a foreign concept to him.
“Yes,” I whisper. The word barely makes it out.
“This is because you trying to protect me, right? Well, you can forget it. I know what you’re doing,” he reaches for my hand.
I pull it away. He has to go away.
“No, that’s not it. I mean, I don’t want anything to happen to you, but this is for me. I really do need some space.”
I can’t look at him even though I feel his eyes beating into my face.
“Whatever,” the old Adam returns and I look up in time to see his mask slip into place.
His way of coping is pretending like he doesn’t care. I know he does, but he’s angry and honestly, I’d rather him be angry than dead.
He turns, putting his back to me. Turning off the lamp, he settles into bed.
“Adam?” I squeak.
“Go sleep, Mage. I’m giving you what you want. Let’s just get through the rest of this trip and I’ll go away when we get home. I don’t need all this drama in my life anyway,” he sounds as if he’s talking to a stranger.
My heart aches for him—for me. I know this is what needs to be done, but doing it hurts so badly. I know this pain is be nothing compared to the pain I’d feel if something happened to Adam, but still it’s killing me. No way would he sit by and let me fight without him and I refuse to allow him to get involved.
I feel sick to my stomach. The rain outside the window is because of me as I quietly cry myself to sleep.
The next morning on the drive home he doesn’t talk to me. I spend the first hour hating myself—hating everything about me and my complicated life.
Why can’t I be normal and have a normal life with a normal relationship with the person I love?
I reach out for his hand, trying to hold it in mine. He doesn’t respond, he leaves his hand limp. He’s so upset, but he keeps his sarcastic, asshole mask on.
We go through a drive-thru restaurant and he doesn’t even look at me when he hands me my food. Instead of driving and eating, we go to a little park close to the beach. We eat and then we decide to stretch our legs before getting back on the road. The silence is thick as we walk the strip of beach. It’s beautiful outside and there’s no one else there but us. It’s our own private beach.
It makes me even sadder that he’s not talking to me. We should be holding hands; we should be gazing into each other’s eyes like a couple of love crazed teenagers.
Out of nowhere, I get a sudden adrenaline rush. I feel the need to run…fast. I need to get away. I look around suddenly feeling extreme panic. What is it about this beach that’s so familiar? I’m almost positive that I’ve never been here before.
And then it hits me. There’s a reason why this beach makes me so uncomfortable. There’s a reason why I feel like I need to run. This is the beach from my nightmares—the beach where the wave takes me away.
Out of the corner of my eye something catches my attention. My stomach clinches when I see what that something is. There are two people with flowing robes coming towards us. White ribbons dance in the wind as Eris’ hair blows all around. My heart stops—we have to run.
Chapter 27
The War
I begin to pull Adam down the beach and back towards the truck. I have to get him as far away as possible. I need to run just for a little while, just long enough to get Adam to a safe place and long enough to learn more about my powers. I pull Adam harder. He struggles.
“What’s wrong with you, Mage? What are you doing?”
“Just pick up your feet and come on,” I say as I drag him across the beach.
It’s too late. No matter how fast I think I’m moving to get away, they’re moving faster. Before I can even get Adam out of the sand I hear the two of them on our heels. There’s nothing for me to
do but turn and fight.
“Run, Adam—please just run,” I whisper so only he can hear me.
I don’t want them to hear me. I don’t want them to know that Adam’s my weakness.
“No, I’m not leaving you,” his face is stern and his eyes beat into mine with his determination.
“I’ll be fine—please, Adam, just go. Please!”
It’s Eris for sure and with her is the older man, the one with the black and gray hair. He’s the first to speak.
“Listen to her Adam, a smart boy would.”
His voice sounds the same as it did in my nightmares, a soft caress before the blow. Fear grips my heart. Not only am I fighting for my life, I’m now fighting for Adam’s as well.
Adam steps in front of me. “Go to hell.”
The old man laughs in his face.
I need Adam out of the way.
I step from behind him and look into his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Adam.”
He looks at me with confusion.
I don’t give him time to respond, I shoot out a small amount of blue flame into his chest. It’s the weakest of my flames, but still it’s enough to knock him into the sand. If he’s knocked out he’s less likely to be killed. I use my powers to lift his body and then I lay him softly onto a big pile of sand tucked out of the way.
“Smart girl,” the clear eyed man says.
This is it, this is what all my nightmares were warning me about. There’s no more time for running, there’s no more time for anything. It’s kill-or-be-killed and since I’ve never killed anything in my life, I’ve never been more afraid.
“Who are you?” I ask even though I know the answer.
The man smiles a sickening smile.
“I’m Craven,” he points to the girl. “You’ve already met Eris.”
Eris has a huge satisfied smile pasted on her face.
“Nice to see you recovered from the last time we met,” she hisses.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask.
It doesn’t really matter what they say. I’m too busy trying to think of my next move. I can’t go crazy with it this time. I can’t be sloppy and wild with my magic the way I was the last time I came across Eris. The one thing I’ve noticed about these evil people is that they’re always so calm. Maybe that calmness is what helped Eris that day.
While I was busy being crazy and throwing magic whichever way I could, Eris was calm and thinking her next step through. That’s how she beat me. She wasn’t stronger than me, just a little smarter. I’ll be smarter today.
“You know how powerful you are, Mage. You’re almost as powerful as me. Just imagine how powerful I would be if I had your powers as well as my own.”
The more I stare at Craven as he speaks, the more I notice the resemblance between him and myself.
“Who are you to me?”
“It doesn’t matter. Either way, one of us isn’t walking away from this. I’ve spent the last eighteen years of my life planning for this exact moment, and here it is. I’ll celebrate your life when you’re gone. It’s the least I can do,” he smirks. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The choice is yours. You either hand yourself over to me or we fight it out; the fight will be worse for you—that I guarantee, but like I said, it’s your choice.”
His confidence is scary, but I can be confident too. I’m confident that I’ll fight to the death. I’m confident that I’ll fight like I’ve never fought before. I’m confident that I’ll spend a lifetime with Adam, and no one, not even the man standing before me is taking that away.
I look over to check and make sure Adam is secure. I have to win. If I don’t, there’s no one to keep them away from him.
“I think…I choose the hard way.”
Before I finish my sentence Eris goes on the attack. One of her red fireballs catches me by surprise and knocks me into the sand. The tiny granules of earth cover my eyes; I blink trying to get my vision back.
This isn’t starting out good.
I hear Eris approaching me so I sit up quickly and shoot purple fire straight into her chest. Her feet lift off of the ground as she flies backward towards Craven. He smiles a secret smile as Eris and I continue to fight to the death.
Before she’s ready, I shoot out another burst of purple flames directly at her stomach. It lifts her higher this time knocking her into a big palm tree. She cries out when her body arches around the tree. I think I hear something snap, but I don’t stop to check on her.
It’s either her or me…kill-or-be-killed. I repeat that in my head over and over again.
I lift her with one hand and hold her suspended in air as I try to figure out what to do with her. Even from afar, I can see fear in her red eyes. I can’t find it in me to kill her.
I look over at Craven who’s still smiling, even though I have Eris’ life in my hands.
“This stops now!” I growl at Craven. “Promise to leave and I’ll let her go.”
He sniffs to himself. “Go ahead and finish her. She’s obviously useless to me.”
I can’t believe my ears. He’s telling me it’s okay to kill someone that I think is close to him. He’s an animal, a sick creature.
I lift her higher before tossing her towards the heartless monster staring back at me. Craven grabs her by the arms forcing her to stand directly in front of him. She looks afraid for her life. I feel her fear. Before I have time to try and pull her away from him, he lifts his hands to the sides of her head and snaps her neck. I gasp as her lifeless body falls to his feet. There’s no remorse for what he’s just done.
“Useless,” he shakes his head in disgust. “I have no time for useless people. Come here, my sweet,” he waves me towards him. “Let’s get this over with. I’m tired of these games.”
“Please, just leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that. What you fail to realize is that you were born for me. You were made for this very moment. It’s your destiny. Just let it happen—accept your destiny.”
“It’s my destiny to die for you? Yeah, I don’t think so.”
Craven lets out a growl before shooting a huge ball of purple flames directly towards me. I lift my hand and my purple fire meets his. It’s just as it was in my nightmare. We both push harder and harder trying to see who’s more powerful.
He looks perfectly capable and he seems convinced that he’s going to win this fight. I’m not so confident anymore—I’m scared.
We both drop our hands at the same time, both jumping out of the way of each other’s fire. I send out another flame. It doesn’t connect with its target either.
I reach out my hand and shoot different fires at Craven over and over again. He dodges each one. I can hear him laughing as he starts jumping from palm tree to palm tree. I follow him—closer to the water. He doesn’t consider me a threat. He could easily finish me off; instead he’s here playing tag with me.
I stop and decide to wait for him to attack. My wait doesn’t last long. Craven holds out his hand to me, but no fire comes out. Instead, I feel his hands around my throat. I stare back at him—his clear eyes reflect the ocean.
My feet leave the ground and the grip on my throat tightens. My oxygen is slowly being cut off. I try to lift my hand to stop him, but I can’t move my arms. My body begins to convulse. I don’t know what he’s doing or how he’s doing it.
I think of all the different things my mother said I could do. I focus on bending his mind, nothing happens. I try harder to force him with my mind to put me down—to release me. He shakes his head.
“Don’t even try it. I’m way too powerful to bend my will. I’m not one of your little friends.”
The world is starting to tilt. I’m suffocating! I need oxygen and I need it now!
“Please,” I croak past his choke hold.
I’m starting to get dizzy. I need to breathe!
“Leave her alone!” I hear Adam scream.
I panic when I see him running across the beach towards us. In my head, I
’m screaming for him to stop.
I’m about to die, little swimmers fill my vision. I take one final look at Adam who’s running in full force. I can’t give up. If I give up and Craven wins then Adam’s next. He’d kill him just for the fun of it.
Adam makes it to Craven and his fist connects with Craven’s jaw. The choke hold disappears as Craven falls to the ground. Oxygen floods my lungs and I choke trying my hardest to suck in more. I’m shaking so badly I can barely move.
Once I can stand, I see Adam and Craven fighting. Craven sends out a purple ball of flames straight into Adam’s stomach in the form of an upper cut. Adam flies to the side.
He gets back up and goes for Craven once more. It’s like slow motion to me. I try one more time to lift my hand. There’s hardly anything left in me. With my last ounce of strength I shoot one final fire ball at Craven. It’s completely unexpected so it connects with his arm and flips him into the sand. I fall to my knees again and suck in as much air as I can.
Where is my strength? I need more strength! My eyes connect with Adam’s as he continues towards Craven. I hold out my hand begging him with my eyes to stay back.
Craven sees Adam coming and jumps back onto his feet. I see the sparks starting at his fingertips. Then I see them leave his hand and go straight for Adam. I get up enough strength to make my own fire. My fire knocks his blaze away.
“Go away!” I scream at Adam. “Please, go away!”
Combustion from Craven connects with my stomach and I lose my breath. My knees hit the sand again. I quickly look back up, I don’t see Adam anymore.
And then there he is, fighting Craven uselessly. Craven is obviously playing with Adam. He could make it to where Adam never touched him. I know he could, he’s powerful. I see Adam’s fist connect with the side of Craven’s face.
Suddenly, Craven attacks one more time, this time his purple inferno smashes into Adam’s stomach. I watch as he flies through the air. When he lands in the sand I’m already by his side. Speed is apparently something I’ve suddenly inherited out of fear. I land on my knees next to him. He looks me straight in my eyes and the pain he feels is evident.
Wicked Fate (The Wicked Trilogy) Page 20