“Great.” I try branch after branch, each time targeting something softer, meeker. “Can’t do it.” I suck in deep full breaths. It’s too exhausting to even think about trying again.
“OK.” He looks around at the bed of dead pine needles on the ground. “Let’s try speed.” He positions himself like he’s going to run, but ends up standing next to a tree hundreds of yards away.
“Hey! How’d you do that?” I yell, exhilarated.
He cups his hands around his mouth. “Try it!”
I place myself in the identical position, and start in on a run. The whole world turns into a blur, a carefree whirl on a familiar carnival ride. It reminds me of when my father used to take me up in his arms and spin me. Or at least I thought he was spinning me—it felt just like this.
I appear right next to Logan with my chest heaving from the mammoth effort.
“You did it!” He wraps his arms around my waist and gives me a twirl.
A loud reverberating shot rings out in the forest. A branch the size of a small tree just above our heads begins its silent tumble right for us.
Logan pushes me out of the way as the timber crashes onto the bed of pine needles.
“That could have killed us!” I pant. My heart rattles in my chest like a caged rabid squirrel.
He looks around calm with careful intent.
“I believe that was the plan.”
29
Trouble
Logan and I perch behind the trunk of an evergreen while staring out into the heavy shadow of the surrounding forest.
Logan leans forward and brings his finger to his lips while looking at one of the branches on a tree across the way. He throws his finger into the air with a hard point. A dark-winged creature bolts out and heads to the west.
“It’s that raven,” I marvel. “What is that, your bird or something?”
“It sends a signal.”
“Can’t you just use your cell?”
“It’s more than that.” He gets up on his feet. “C’mon.” He pulls me in behind him using his body as a shield, and we walk light footed through the dense overgrowth. It’s getting progressively darker. The fog illuminates itself like a lantern as it fills in the landscape around us.
The heavy crush of leaves quickens in our direction. A stench of rotting flesh, or putrid fish, clogs up my nostrils, and I find myself fighting the strong urge to vomit.
“What is that?”
“It’s a Fem.” He clutches at my shoulders. “We have to outrun it, or it’ll kill us.”
“I can’t.” I’m gonna die. My mother is going to find me in forest eaten by a Fem. “It’s going to eat me, isn’t it?” A weak groan emits from my throat.
“It might.” He looks around distressed, panting.
He picks me up and starts running. It feels like trees are darting in and out of our path. The sky appears and disappears like lightning. I close my eyes and bury my face in Logan’s chest until it feels like I’m flying in a dizzy circle with my father again. That’s how Logan makes me feel—safe like my father.
An unbearably loud roar explodes right over my head, like that of a lion or a bear. I open my eyes to discover it emanating from Logan. I don’t know whether to be frightened or entertained.
He jumps branch to branch, with me dangling on for dear life, and sits me a good twenty feet up. If I fall, I could easily crack my skull on the waiting rocks below.
He lunges forward and clutches at a dark figure.
I have no idea what in the hell it is. I’ve only seen the things of this world, and I know for certain this isn’t one of them. I can’t make out the proper form. When I see it, I sway in disbelief. I crouch in and hug the trunk with all my might.
A large bear looking creature ten feet high at least, with the girth of five bears up top, and legs like a jackrabbit, lunges and hisses at Logan. It looks like something out of a horror movie, something of pure evil. A shiny-flocked fur covers its flesh, its mouth is open, and it thrashes its bright red pit all over.
I close my eyes and bury my head into the trunk of the tree.
I can hear a scuffle take place, bodies being lifted and thrown to the ground with violent force. The unnatural quiver of the forest lets me know this is no ordinary match. This isn’t human against human. And I have a very distinct feeling, that for one of them, this is going to end very, very, badly.
“Skyla!” Logan calls my name.
It takes all my effort to open my eyes and look in his direction. It might be his dying breath—the last word that leaves his mouth might be my name.
Logan’s standing right there in the clearing with one foot on top of the beast’s chest in triumph.
“You kill it?” I ask hesitantly.
“Take a picture.”
“You’re insane if you think I’m digging around for my phone.”
Gage appears beneath me. “Jump, and I’ll catch you.”
“No.” I strengthen my death grip on the trunk of the tree. “I’m very afraid of heights. I’ll need hours of therapy to repair the damage done here today.”
Logan springs up next to me and grabs me by the waist. That weightless feeling I hate flips through my stomach, and somehow we magically appear on terra firma.
The beast hisses, and a wall of vapors surround it before it evaporates into thin air. The horrible smell penetrates the forest, and we’re forced to cover our mouths as we run for the car.
“Smells like raw sewage,” I say as Logan helps me into the cab of his truck and shuts the door.
Gage appears in the seat next to me.
He pulls a small sprig of pine needles out of my hair and holds it out as if he were offering me a gift. He sneaks a quick kiss on my forehead.
“I’m glad you’re OK,” he whispers before disappearing.
Logan climbs in and shuts the door still out of breath.
“What exactly is a Fem, and please tell me that was the last one.”
“A Fem can change shapes to be whatever it wants—whatever it thinks will frighten you and weaken your defenses.”
Immediately I think of the woman with crazy hair, hanging outside my kitchen door.
“And what do they want?”
“They personally don’t want anything. They’re a lower faction of the Sectors. They do all the spiritual dirty work. It’s been long believed that Countenance hire them out to do their bidding, but of course they deny it. There’s not enough evidence to bring them to the Justice Alliance.”
“You said they hire them out. What’s their currency?”
“It’s a power exchange. I don’t know how it works. All I know is if you ever come upon a Fem—one of you will be leaving dead.”
“I could never kill anything like that. I’d be too afraid.”
“That’s why it looks the way it does because it wants to scare you. You have to remember it’s nothing more than a ball of air.”
“Ball of air.” I repeat the words. But it looked so real—fought so hard.
I don’t think I have what it takes to be an angel. Somehow, I don’t think it matters.
30
Snatched
It’s dark by the time we get to the mall. We made a pit stop at Logan’s house so he could shower and change. All the hundreds of shoppers who were here this afternoon have gone, and it looks like a bona fide ghost town.
I call Mia on her cell but it goes to voicemail, same with Melissa.
Not two minutes later, my mother calls and informs me she’s picking us up—that it’s nearing our bedtime. I leave the word bedtime out of my lexicon when I translate the conversation to Logan.
“So you’re like a superhero,” I push into him playfully.
“So are you.” He gives a playful shove back before circling my waist.
“Yeah, but you killed a dragon. That practically makes you a prince.”
“It wasn’t a dragon, but it might be next time.” He looks resigned to this. “And if I’m a prince, you must be a p
rincess.”
I reach up and give a supple kiss to his neck.
“It’s pretty amazing that we’re both Celestra. We could have an entire faction of perfect Celestrial beings running around one day.”
“Or flying. We could always learn to fly.”
“So we can learn other gifts?”
“Yeah, but it’s like learning the piano for the very first time or another language. It takes great effort to master it. With your natural gifts, you just need to believe. He does the rest for you.”
“Who’s he?”
“Master.” He points up.
Before we can continue on with our conversation, my cell goes off. It’s Mom.
“I’m right here in the parking lot. Come on down.” There’s a hint of impatience in her voice.
I hang up, struck with panic.
“I have to find the girls.”
Logan and I buy movie tickets just so we can get in. We comb through a football field of blackened movie theaters. I’m so desperate I’m shouting their names as I walk in without regard for the movie or the patrons. To make matters worse, it’s nearing ten o’clock, and I keep ignoring my mother’s nagging phone calls.
I meet Logan back outside by the concession stand.
“They’re not anywhere.” A quiver of fear bubbles through me. I can feel the tears building fast. “You think someone took them?”
A hard knock explodes on the glass wall facing outside. It’s my mother with an irate expression, violently waving me over.
I walk past Logan mouthing a goodbye and head out in the cold damp air to meet her.
“It’s that boy again, isn’t it?” Her eyes expand the size of dishes. “Instead of a nice day out with your sisters, you turned this into some sort of romantic rendezvous!”
I hardly consider slaying a beast in the woods a romantic rendezvous.
“No,” I object just above a whisper.
“Where are your sisters?”
Again she’s exasperated. I bet I’ll hear later how she did the exact same things when she was younger, but judging by the intense venomous glare—maybe not.
Just as I’m about to admit I’ve badly misplace both Mia and Melissa, my cell goes off.
“Mia!” I hold it up triumphantly.
“So what movie did you see?” I try to act nonchalant as though I knew they were in the theater all along, which I sort of did.
“Emma Fantastic,” she chortles into my ear.
“Emma Fantastic,” I say, covering the phone. Both my mother and I turn to the display board to see what time Emma Fantastic gets out, only to find out after checking everything twice, Emma fucking Fantastic isn’t playing at the theater.
“Listen, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but I have Mom here and we’re both well aware Emma Fantastic isn’t playing.” I try asserting my authority in an effort to impress my mother.
“I know it’s not playing there.” Mia always sounds about seven on the phone, so it’s impossible to stay mad at her. “We took a bus to the East mall on the other side of the island.”
My fingers shake as I glance over at my mother nervously. Something tells me it’s going to be a long car ride over.
***
And you know what? I was right.
It takes over forty-five minutes with no traffic before we turn into the parking lot. My mother has gone over every single horrifying scenario of what might have happened to the girls. Who knew the harrowing possibilities were seemingly endless? Of course she left out being eaten by a giant, smelly Fem, but she couldn’t have guessed that in a million years.
It occurs to me that I missed a thousand opportunities on the way over to politely nudge her and ask if she was an angel. At this point Mia and Melissa are in as much trouble as I am, so things couldn’t possibly get any worse.
“Mom? Remember when Dad would call me his angel? Why do you think that was?”
“Because you hadn’t bloomed into your teenage years.” She honks the horn as she pulls against the curb.
Mia and Melissa startle in our direction with the flash of the headlights.
“Besides,” she continues, “he loved making you into something special. Mia too, but your relationship with your dad was different. It’s like you shared some special bond. He said you would surpass him in greatness someday.” She shakes a pang of grief away.
Mia and Melissa pile in the backseat. My mother turns up the volume on her glacial queen routine, and we start in on a rather quiet ride home.
I lean my head against the cool glass of the window and watch the stars turn and dance with every new twist in the road. I wonder if my father’s watching me, watching me kiss Logan, and shiver in fear while perched in the branches of trees. I wonder what he thinks of all this. I wonder if he really cares anymore.
31
Leave
I text Logan as soon as I get back up in my room, and let him know I survived— for now.
He texts me back. I’m staying in tonight.
As opposed to? ~S
Lexy Bakova’s party. Gage wanted me to go with, but I said no.
Aww. He doesn’t want to piss me off, so he stayed in. So wise.
Thanx ~S
So what are you wearing?
Flannel pants with a hole in the thigh, and a ragged old sweat shirt that I’ve used to do yard work in.
You’re a pervert, you know that? ~S
I was hoping you’d notice. I can practically hear him saying it.
There’s a soft knock on the door.
Brb. I drop my cell on the bed and scramble to a seated position.
It’s Drake.
“What?” I say annoyed, picking my phone back up and cradling it.
“I’m going out tonight, and I want you to come.”
“You’re going out where?” I ask suspiciously.
“Some party at some cheerleader’s house. Brielle wants me to go, and I don’t really know anyone like you do.”
“You just said Brielle’s going.”
“What if she leaves me?” He runs his hands through his hair in a panic.
“She most likely will,” I say it matter of fact. “Besides, I can’t. I’m grounded, like forever.”
“So what more could they do to you? And it’s not like you’re going to get caught. How many times do they come in your room at night to check on you?”
Never. I start rotating the idea around in my brain.
“We can come back early. And they’re already asleep,” he adds.
Mom did mention how exhausted she was when we pulled into the driveway. Drake’s right, she’s probably being haunted in her dreams by Chloe as we speak.
“Give me ten minutes.”
***
Drake thinks we should walk out the front door as opposed to climbing out the window and swinging down to earth on tree branches like I suggested. Turns out we manage to arouse the suspicions of no one as we make our way to the minivan where Brielle is already waiting.
“I can’t believe you’re sneaking out!” She hugs me as though I’ve accomplished something major.
“Drake has permission.” I nod in an effort to aggravate him by removing some of the mystique he’s trying to build.
“She knows,” he gives a dirty look before unlocking the door.
Clearly the scent of crap does not dissipate as easily as one would think. We drive all the way there with the windows down. And it’s not until I see Gage standing out front that I text Logan and tell him where I am.
Lexy lives just south of the mall, overlooking the ocean in a relatively normal sized home. It looks like the same crowd that was over at my house Saturday is circulating in the driveway. I recognize more than a few faces. I get out and make my way over to Gage.
He takes a full step back as though he’s looking at an illusion.
“It’s really me.”
“You look,” he pauses to take me in, “amazing.”
“Thanks.” I can feel the heat r
ising to my cheeks. “I just told Logan to come on down.” It’s starting to feel a little awkward, so I do a quick survey of the sea of people to try and spot Brielle. Not that I really want to hang with Drake. Maybe we can both ditch him.
“So you all right?” Gage has a soulful way about him. His hair is slicked back wet. The sliver of moonlight that’s out tonight casts a perfect reflection off the top.
“I’m,” I want to say fine, but what’s the point? “Completely freaked out. I don’t know what I’d have done if I was alone. For sure I wouldn’t be standing here. I owe Logan my life,” I gush.
His expression dims.
“I wouldn’t go that far.” He motions for me to follow.
We head toward the side of the house, barren of people. Gage leans in and places his hand on the wall behind me, pinning me in.
Something in my gut loosens, and I feel completely relaxed.
“So why don’t you go in there and fight some of those girls off for a while?” Truth is, I’m afraid he’s going to kiss me. Truth is, I’m afraid I’m not going to stop him.
“I don’t want to be in there. I want to be out here. With you.”
I look past his shoulder into the street. No sign of a car, not one single headlight going in either direction. A warm breeze wafts by, and the strong scent of eucalyptus fills the air.
“You know, I kind of have this thing going with Logan, and…” I let my gaze fall as his body moves closer to mine. I can feel the warmth radiating from his skin, hot as a fever.
“If I’m going to marry you one day,” he says rather dreamily, “we’re going to have to do this. A lot.”
It’s an explosion of emotion when his lips connect with mine. A love song, and every glorious sunset I’ve ever seen all rolled into one. We write a poem with the dull ache of our passion.
I snap back to reality and push back hard. He flies back a good three feet, surprised at how he got there.
I make a beeline for the front of the house where I find Logan talking to Michelle and Lexy.
“Hi,” I try not to sound winded—like Gage’s kiss didn’t leave me breathless.
Celestra Series Books 1-3 Page 11