“Come back to my office at one, and we’ll have that meeting of yours,” Dr. Han said.
“Right. See you.” I walked to the door, but Mrs. Crawford stopped me.
“Hey,” she said, and I turned around. “That thing you wanted from the Lycans. You’re going to get it.” She winked at me.
I left Dr. Han’s office, hoping she was right. Because if she was, then she really was psychic, and we’d get Sophie back. I glanced at the clock. In one hour I was supposed to teach Auran Sparring with Kiera. Normally, if I had time to kill, I’d hang out with Liam.
Liam.
I pulled out my phone and looked at it again. Nothing. Liam’s fine, I told myself, but I sent him a message just in case. A moment later a text came back saying he was at the Deific. My chest seemed to lighten. He was okay. I replied that I wanted him to meet with the others and me at one. His answer surprised me. “I’ll try.”
I leaned against the wall, my chest tightening again. But why? I dropped my head back and thought of Christian. I had to find him.
The halls were quiet now. My sensitive hearing picked up the lecturing voices of Auran teachers behind closed doors. I decided to go running. My muscles felt stiff from being in bed for almost three days.
Within ten minutes I was standing outside the school in my yoga pants and running shoes. It was a cool autumn morning. Most of the leaves had already turned all kinds of reds and oranges, half of them already fallen to the ground. Winter should’ve been here by now.
I sprinted down the long lane leading away from Lucent Academy. Trees on each side of me blurred past. I slowed only when I passed Waverly Hall, the house where the Guardians stayed. It used to be that you couldn’t go by this place without seeing several Guardians outside playing basketball or doing something rowdy. But now only a handful of Guardians lived here. All the others were sent to watch older Auras on the outside. The Guardians who didn’t leave with Cyrus, of course. I hadn’t seen any in a long time and wondered if Cyrus had changed them.
I picked up my pace, knowing I had to be back soon. In a short time I reached Rose’s house. I stopped and stretched on her lawn. I even contemplated knocking on the door to ask for a glass of water but decided against it. I only saw her at night, so she probably slept during the day.
When I was finished, I stood up and admired the dozens of rose bushes crowding her yard. One particular bush drew my attention. I walked over to it and studied the white petals of the roses. They were unlike any I’d ever seen before. Tiny red veins spread across the petals until they ended in a solid red tip. Amazing. I glanced around to see if I was alone. I was.
Very carefully, I took hold of the bottom of the rose stem and snapped it back. I had to show one to May. A cold wind picked up just then, startling me. I sucked in air and glanced up into the sky. Dark clouds were moving in fast. Where did those come from?
I stepped back, holding the rose in my hand. My hair whipped around my face, and a chill exploded all over my skin. I looked around, wondering why I was suddenly creeped out.
A vibration in my hand made me look down. The rose. I lowered it into my other palm, barely feeling its weight. Despite it being broken, I considered putting it back. Then it began to move—crumble is more like it. In a matter of seconds it became a powdered gray dust.
“What the?” I dropped it and brushed my hands off. Wind carried the particles toward the same rose bush I’d plucked it from.
Glancing around, I slowly moved back until I reached the road. The sky had grown darker, and the temperature felt like it had dropped ten degrees. Time to go.
I took off, running fast. When I was a safe distance away, I slowed up and giggled uncomfortably. I couldn’t believe that just happened. Something was seriously wrong with Rose or her house or something.
A drop of rain fell on my arm, followed by another. The more it rained, the more relaxed I became. At least it wasn’t snow. There were no cars on the road. Just me attempting to balance my way along the yellow line in the center of the road. Always balancing.
“Llona?” a voice called from my right.
I stopped.
“Over here.”
I turned slowly and stared into the forest. A dark figure stood deep within the shadows. I probably wouldn’t have gone, but I knew the voice. My knees went weak, and as I went to take a step I almost fell. “Christian?”
The figure said nothing but remained still.
I continued forward, having to know for sure. If only the sun were out, I’d be able to see better.
As I drew closer, his features came into focus. But so did something else, and I stopped, shaking my head. “No,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Llona.”
By the way I was feeling, light-headed and dizzy, I knew Cyrus had bit him. Christian had Vyken poison inside him. My strength gave out, and I fell to the ground.
Christian came to me and knelt down. “I won’t hurt you.”
I shook my head again, unable to look at him. I couldn’t bear the thought of him having to fight the constant darkness. I would never want that fate for him.
He touched me then. His fingers caressed my cheek and slid gently to my chin. He tilted my face up.
The tears clouding my vision fell now, warming my cheek. He was even more handsome than I remembered. His hair was the same light brown, shorter than before, and his eyes were an even brighter blue, like the color of sapphires illuminated by white light.
He smiled at me and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, I was scrambling into his arms. They came around me and held me tight.
I ignored the intense dizzy feeling and just breathed him in. All those nights that I’d wished for just one more moment with Christian—that moment was here. Rain poured onto us, but I’d never felt warmer. We were together.
After several minutes, I finally pulled away and looked at him, my hands on each side of his face. “Where have you been? What happened?”
He smiled again, exposing the dimple I fell in love with more than a year ago. “Before I answer your questions, how are you doing? When I saw you get hurt the other night, I lost it. They had to lock me up to keep me from coming to see you.”
“They?”
He cleared his throat. “I guess I should explain.”
“Please. I’m so confused.”
“Part of it, I’m sure you already guessed. Cyrus bit me that day.”
Another tear fell, partly from joy and partly from sadness.
“For a long time, I thought I was dead. The last thing I remembered was being buried by that wall of dirt. When I finally came to, I was in a dark room. I think I was there for several days, maybe weeks. A Vyken, Charles, came to me soon after. He explained what I was and that I would be fighting with them from then on.”
“But why didn’t you escape when you had the chance? And the other night, when I was running, was that you?”
He nodded. “I’m not supposed to see you. They’ll kill me if I’m caught. That night I was going to show myself, but at the last second I realized I was being followed and had to leave.”
“But why stay with them?”
“To help you, of course. I figured it would be good to have someone on the inside.”
“That’s extremely dangerous.”
He stood up, taking me with him, as if I needed to be steadied. “But necessary.”
“Do you know where Sophie is? The Auras?”
He frowned. “Not yet, but I’m getting closer. They just recently allowed me to get out.”
“But why do they trust you?”
He glanced away. “I had to do some things to gain their trust.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “What kind of things?” The rain continued to fall. I wiped at my face.
He looked back at me. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m free now. We can see each other again.” He leaned into me and gave me a kiss. It was harder than I expected, and I gasped.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that you’re back, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. Does your father know?”
He smirked, a sarcastic expression I’d never seen on him before. “That’s the one good thing that’s come out of all this. I never have to see him again.”
“But I thought you loved him.”
He shrugged. “I’ve moved on. So what about you? I saw you with Liam.”
The way he said it made me feel like I’d done something wrong. I stepped away from him. “What’s your deal?”
“It’s just that I’ve only been gone, what, a few months, maybe? And then I see you with Liam and—”
“I wasn’t with Liam. We—as in May, Aaron, Arik, Liam, and I—were chasing after Jackson. Speaking of which, where is he?”
“He’s around.”
Now I was getting really annoyed. “Where?”
Christian reached for me. “Forget about him. Forget about Vykens and Auras, and just be with me. I’ve missed you so much.”
I looked at him. Really looked. His eyes were different. Not just more blue, more cold. “How are you handling the effects of the Vyken poison?” I asked.
He looked past me. “It was hard at first, but I’ve gotten better at it.”
“But how? There was no one to help you.”
“I don’t need a ‘Liam’ to help me,” he said, his voice bitter. “I did it on my own.”
I didn’t know what to say. He clearly had some darkness going on, but how much? “I’m worried about you, Christian.” I was starting to feel cold, and I silently cursed the rain.
His expression softened. “Don’t. Everything I’m doing now is for you. For us. We just have to be careful, but that’s nothing new for us, right?” He reached out and rubbed the necklace he had given me with his thumb.
He was right. We were familiar with keeping our relationship a secret. “But does it have to be that way now? Come back with me. We will find Sophie and the others without your help.”
“How?”
“There’s a warehouse. In Albion. The Council discovered that Cyrus had purchased it several years ago.”
“I’m familiar with it.”
“Is that where you were being kept?”
“No, but not far from there. In a house in this ritzy neighborhood.”
“Have you been to the warehouse? Could Sophie be there?”
“I’m not sure. But if you check it out, don’t go alone. Take Liam.”
“Now it doesn’t bother you?”
He took hold of my hand. I ignored how foreign it felt. “Sorry about before. I didn’t mean what I said. It’s just that, well, my emotions are sometimes hard to control.”
“I understand completely.”
He brought up my hand and kissed it softly.
“So you’ll come back with me?” I asked.
He lowered my hand. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I’m so close to uncovering the truth about where Cyrus is keeping Sophie and the others.”
“Please, Christian. I’m begging you. Come back with me. We’ll find another way.”
He shook his head and stepped back. “I need to go.”
“Now? But when will I see you again?”
“Soon.” He kept backing up. “Tomorrow.”
“But can’t you tell me anything? Where’s Cyrus?”
“If I tell you, then you’ll just run off and get yourself killed.”
“So you’re saying you know?” My voice was growing louder.
He raised his arms as if I had a gun pointed at him and kept moving away from me. “I didn’t say that either.”
“You haven’t said much of anything!” My hands had become fists.
He laughed. “I love your feisty side. It’s so adorable.” He was almost hidden within the trees.
“Adorable? What is wrong with you?” I would’ve gone after him, but he was pissing me off.
“Don’t tell anyone about me, Llona. This is our dirty little secret.” He laughed again, making me feel like I needed a shower.
“Get back here, Christian!”
“Good-bye, Llona. I’ll come see you tomorrow.” He turned and disappeared into the trees.
I was breathing deeply, water running down my face and onto my already drenched clothes. That wasn’t the Christian I remembered. Not even close.
TEN
I turned toward the road, feeling miserable. I had to help Christian. The Vyken poison inside him was stronger than I liked and would only grow the more he was around Vykens. Maybe Liam could help. I longed to see him, to have him help me make sense of all of this. This thought spurred me on, and I ran all the way back to Lucent Academy.
The halls were quiet as it was still the middle of class. I looked at my phone and checked the time. Shoot! I was late for my sparring class with Kiera. But did that even matter right now? I’d seen Christian not more than thirty minutes ago, held him, kissed him even. Nothing else seemed important.
I checked the time again. May was still in class too. Besides her and Liam, I didn’t want anyone else to know about me seeing Christian. Not yet anyway.
Maybe I should check in with Kiera, just in case there was a sudden surge in attendance. I glanced down at my soaked clothes, wondering if I had time to change. I decided to go straight to the classroom to see who had showed up. If there weren’t many, I’d skip out early to change before lunch.
The new sparring class was over in Denelle Hall. I hurried across campus, the freak rain and windstorm finally letting up. On the way over, I passed two Lycans standing eerily still near the clock tower. Man, they were huge.
I reached my destination and peeked into the elongated window of the door. Kiera and two Guardians, Mason and Alex, were practicing different fighting techniques with the Auran girls—all four of them. I took a deep breath and opened the door. “Sorry I’m late,” I said.
Everyone stopped moving and turned toward me.
“What happened to you?” Ashlyn asked. “You look like a wet dog.”
“Thanks.”
Kiera glanced out the window. “Was there a hurricane I didn’t know about?”
“Sudden storm is all. I got caught running in it. So what happened to our class of six? Where are the other two girls?”
Kiera began to unwind her wrist wraps. “They quit the class when Lycans showed up.”
“Lycans may be strong and fast,” Mason said, “but they’re not always going to be here. You’d think the Council would get this, especially with the shortage of Guardians.”
I liked Mason, who was a couple of years younger than me. He was one of the few Guardians who agreed that Auras should learn to fight. He reminded me of Christian. “Thanks for helping us out, you two,” I said.
Alex dropped into a nearby chair. He was so tall that his long legs stretched out far. We were the same age, but because of his height he looked much older.
“How are you doing?” I asked him. He hadn’t talked much since Chase died. I hoped in time that would change.
“Getting by,” he mumbled.
Mason patted him on the back. “He’d probably do better if there were more Auras to train. No offense, girls, but we’re bored.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I said. “I think I’ll have some more recruits for you tomorrow.”
“And just how do you plan on doing that?” Ashlyn asked. The other girls were standing behind her, looking at me as if they were afraid. Probably sensing my Vyken half, but unsure what to make of it.
“I’d like to know that too,” Mason said.
“No, you don’t. Trust me.” It would’ve been nice to share my plan, but I was afraid to involve anyone. There was a good chance that by night’s end I might no longer be welcome at Lucent, and I didn’t want anyone else to share the same fate.
I turned to Mason and Alex. “Can you two be at dinner tonight with the girls? I may need your help.”
Alex shrugged, but Mason said
, “You’re not going to do something you shouldn’t, are you?”
“You know me well. Back to fighting?”
“We’ve got this,” Kiera said. “Why don’t you go change? I’ll meet you at lunch.”
“You sure?”
She nodded.
“Great, thanks.”
I left Denelle and headed back to my room where, instead of changing right away, I collapsed into bed and thought of Christian. Had I really just seen him? I smiled, remembering when we first met. I’d liked him early on: his loyalty to a cause he believed in, his strength, and his unwavering determination. But most of all I loved the way he looked at me as if he’d found the secret to life.
I rolled over. He didn’t look at me that way today. This realization stung. So did the fact that he hadn’t come to me the moment he was away from Vykens.
He needed help, that was all. Vyken poison was almost impossible to overcome, but it was possible. I clung to this hope.
A short time later, after I had showered and dressed for lunch, I was about to leave when there was a knock at my door. I opened it.
“Kiera said you were up here,” May said and came into my room.
“Yeah, I went running but got caught in a freak storm. But that’s not all that happened.”
“What storm?” She was adjusting her hair in my dresser mirror, completely unaware of the bombshell I was about to tell her.
“It’s kind of a long story.”
She pulled on my arm toward the door. “Tell me on the way down. I’m starving.”
I hesitated briefly, thinking I should probably tell her about Christian in my room and not where someone might hear, but she tugged on my arm again.
“It’s a long ride down,” she said. “Come on.”
I sighed and followed her out. By the time we exited the elevator and I’d told May the story about the rose, she was laughing. “You made this up, right?”
“No. Serious. The rose turned to dust in my palm.”
“So cool. Think we can go back there and see if it will happen again?”
I shrugged as I sidestepped two girls passing by us. “But it wasn’t just the rose. It’s like as soon as I picked the flower, storm clouds appeared.”
“I’ve really got to see this,” she said.
Fractured Truth Page 7