Fledgling

by Tabatha Palomo

Chapter Twenty

  “I don’t want you staying the night at Kai’s anymore,” Aiden said, leaving no room for complaint, “It’s not safe, so I need you where it’s protected.”

  “He was here,” she said, her hands still clenched around the cold metal of the necklace, “Aiden, he was here. Dustin was here.”

  “It might not have been him. You are like a magnet for the chaos,” Aiden sighed, looking at her from her head to her sneakers, and back again, “Maybe it’s because of how you dress.”

  “What’s wrong with how I dress?” she asked, tugging on the hem of her shirt. It already hung down to below her belt, so she didn’t see the problem with it.

  Aiden didn’t answer, just shaking his head. She put a hand on his arm, feeling the cotton fabric of his dark shirt. Aiden jerked away, “Austin, not is not the time to try to comfort me. I’m…”

  “Anxious?” she supplied words, knowing that she was feeling those exact things, “Perplexed? Livid?”

  “The words aren’t important. What’s important is that you’re safe,” Aiden said, brushing off her suggestions. The sun had fully gone down now and some people had started giant bonfires, strategically placed around the training fields. Austin wondered if they did this every night.

  She followed Aiden as he led her to the nearest bonfire. The soft, hot light lit his face in an orange glow, his fiery hair shining. When she saw her own hair, moving slowly in the soft breeze, she saw that it was almost glowing in the fire’s light.

  Aiden took one of the people farthest away from the fire and turned her around. Austin grimaced when she saw his chosen’s face. Sage. She was a sweatshirt over her training clothes to ward off the cold.

  Sage whistled, “She’s definitely a fire dragon.”

  “Was there ever any question of it?” Austin asked. She noticed how well she shut down that topic and Aiden gave a small nod, a gesture deemed insignificant to everyone and anyone but her.

  “I guess not,” Sage laughed, looking back to Aiden, “Are you finally planning on joining in on the fun?”

  “Dustin was here,” Aiden said, “Can you look after Austin while I go report this to Brandon? I’ll be back and then I’ll…join in on the fun.”

  “Sounds good with me,” Sage said, unfazed by Aiden’s news. Aiden thanked her and took off at a fast pace through the tents, quickly disappearing from view. Austin searched the inky darkness for a few moments, expecting him to reappear. She wasn’t used to him leaving so abruptly.

  Sage told her, interrupting her thoughts, “I’m not going to hover over you like everyone else does. There’s marshmallows over there. Go make some friends. But if you try to leave, well, you don’t stand a chance against me. I have seventy years on you.”

  Austin was reminded, yet again, that she didn’t like Sage.

  “Do you like Aiden?” she asked. That question caught Sage off guard, though the info about Dustin had not. Figures.

  “He’s my partner. A friend,” she said, recovering instantly. Still, Austin knew that she was lying.

  “You have a good poker face,” Austin complimented her. She watched with empty fascination as Sage’s cheeks reddened.

  “Thanks,” Sage cleared her throat. Gesturing towards the marshmallows again. Austin took the hint and used a sharpened stick to spear one of the sugary treats. She held it over the fire, roasting it until the marshmallow caught on fire. She waited for the fire to spread over the entire surface before blowing it out.

  She sat on an empty log, taking a bite out of the melted marshmallow, and watched the people around her. Their echoing laughter, mostly drunken, made her feel small here. She saw Sage throw her arms around another girl in greeting, and she wondered if most people did that. The only girl she had gotten the tiniest bit close to was Chelsea, and she was dead.

  Kai must be doing better now, since he had Derrick to talk to. One problem stricken from his list of troubles, but a few million remained. If she went to the shop now, would he be there? The key still sat in her jacket pocket, right where she put it. She could easily go there now, just to see.

  Checking to make sure Sage was preoccupied, she slunk off in the direction of the city, following the lines of lanterns through the streets. She walked in a daze, barely managing to put one foot ahead of the other.

  “Help!”

  Austin turned her head and stared into a dark alley. Her eyes immediately adjusted, letting her see a small girl, still a Fledgling, being pinned against a wall. The girl’s eyes searched her face in a wild panic.

  Just a few days ago, she had been in that exact position.

  Keep walking, a voice in her head urged. She was shocked at herself and did the opposite of that. She walked forwards, her thoughts becoming more defined with each step, and said, “Let her go.”

  The man laughed and just said, “If I do that, you’ll just have to take her place.”

  A strange thing was happening in Austin’s mind. A pressure was building up in her from the inside out. She would have felt congested, but the pressure carried with it a burning electricity that kept her on edge, sharpening everything she sensed.

  The light hit the man’s face just right, and she recognized him. Davey. He hadn’t been caught yet? The last time she had seen him, he’d been left unconscious in that alley, and now she could barely see a spot of skin that wasn’t bruised.

  “Let her go,” Austin said again, this time as a warning. The man did nothing but glare at her, pressing the girl harshly against the wall. Austin started forwards, but before she had gotten within five feet, he fell to his knees, clutching his head in pain.

  “Aren’t you a Fledgling?” Davey groaned, rocking back and forth slowly, “Your kind are always so easy to-“

  “I thought you were a Fledgling, too,” the girl whispered, “Was that your first time using your ability?”

  Austin shook her head. That wasn’t her. She hadn’t done that, but it sure felt like she did. She couldn’t see straight, and the shadows seemed to be moving. She felt sick,, “Kai’s shop, the storyteller’s place…that’s where I was headed. Do you…know-”

  “It’s right there,” the girl announced, her voice slightly warped by an accent. Austin was slightly disturbed; shouldn’t this girl be more upset? Another bout of dizziness took over and she dropped that train of thought. The girl guided her up a set of steps and Austin unlocked the door in front of her. The hands let go of her as soon as she stepped into the shop, its heat a welcome change. She probably closed the door.

  She made it one, two, three steps before she fell. Her head hit the hardwood floor with a loud noise, one that no one heard.