by Rue Volley
I suddenly saw a flash in front of me, Sam stood there with her blades drawn. I had to drop down to the ground as she jumped over me. I rolled on the ground and watch as she flashed towards Johnathan, he raised his blades and the sun started to break the horizon. His blades glinted from the sun. Sam came down on him and they started to fight in a blur. I screamed out. I saw her roll to the ground and grab at her arm. Blood welled up under her fingers. I stumbled to my feet and cried out. Johnathan stood over her and raised his blades.
I felt a flash go by me and Josh hit him from the side. They rolled to a stop as they yelled out. Johnathan had his blade above his head and Theodore flashed behind him and grabbed it. He slammed it backward and hit Theodore in the face. Theodore stumbled to the ground. He raised it slammed it down into Josh's chest. I cried out as I stumbled forward. Johnathan stood over him and a light started to glow in his palm, Josh lay on the ground in front of him.
I flashed forward, as fast as I could, and hit Johnathan from the side and we rolled to the ground. He looked at my chest and saw the symbol glowing on it.
He grinned and grabbed his blade, he etched the symbol into his skin as I pushed away from him and pushed myself up.
I flashed forward towards the cliff. He raised up and flashed after me. I looked behind me just as he grabbed me around the waist, he whispered, “sleep” in my ear and he scooped me up as I collapsed. He flashed towards the edge.
Josh rolled onto his side and cried out. Johnathan turned in the air as he jumped from the edge, and grinned at him, with me in his arms as we fell down, into the water.
A huge flash rose from the lake and a terrible wind blew across the field. It hit Sam, Theodore, and Josh and rolled them a few yards.
Johnathan broke up through the water and pulled my head above. He started to swim towards the shore pulling me behind him. He got us both up onto the sandy shore then leaned over and coughed up water and looked at me. He grinned. He stood up and scooped me up in his arms. He stepped forward and then he started to flash across the open land. He reached the gateway to Valon and stood there staring at the city. Guards flashed up to us and he looked down at me. I was breathing, but shallow. He looked back up and Sophia flashed up and looked at him. He tilted his head.
“Johnathan?” she said.
“I have come home, and I have brought my mate,” he said with a grin.
Thank Yous
Thanks to many
Jason Milner for the use of his laptop...since I have not bought one yet. Without it, my hand would have fallen off!
Jackae Wilson for reading this book almost as quickly as I could write it. Thanks for living it with me, means the world to me. Thank you for helping me finish chapter 11.
Holly Buckler for reading it at lightning speed and being objective, I needed it. And thanks for the endless hours you spent editing for me. Yes, I love Josh too.
Brooke Simpson for stepping up and wanting to read it... You are a stubborn girl when it comes to books and I am thrilled that you wanted to read it at all.
My sisters, Laurie Lambert, Kimberly Morgan, Samantha Hicks, and my brother, Josh Hicks. No, he is not the Josh in the book...but I did use his name.
My Mother, Melanie Fella, my Dad, John Fella
Thank you to Vamptasy Publishing for carrying the series.
And most importantly to my husband, Von. You are my Johnathan and Josh all rolled into one, and I love you more than you will ever know. You and no other, my love.
Smoke and Mirrors
Rue Volley
The right of Rue Volley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it was published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Cover Design by
Rue Volley
Copyright© 2013
All rights reserved
Vamptasy Publishing
An Imprint of Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing
This book is for all the people who read it as I wrote it. Thank you so much for the feedback and the excitement. It really means the world to me. Thank you for loving these characters as much as I do and making them come alive on the page.
Smoke and Mirror
Chapter One
It’s a Party in Here
I cannot remember who I am. It takes me forever to fall asleep at night, but when I do I have nightmares of falling. Johnathan has been so understanding. He is the only one here who will talk to me. I’ve asked a thousand questions concerning my memory and he has done his best to explain it to me.
I sit here staring at myself in the mirror and I lean in, my eyes are swirling gray. I wonder if my Mother’s eyes looked this way when she lost her mind. I guess I did the same thing she did, from what I can gather. I look down at my hands and then back up at the mirror. I pull my white silk robe off of my shoulder and trace my fingers along the scar I inflicted on myself. I look back into my eyes.
Is it a curse that every Valon descendant should come to this end? I wonder if the creator is simply pulling us all home, one by one. I am the last and not less than a month ago I had done the same as my Mother and her parents. They all had scarred themselves with this symbol on their chests and jumped into the water, none survived except me, thanks to Johnathan. I want to thank him, but every time I look into his face I feel a deep emptiness. I look back at myself again then I lean in. touching my face and whisper, “Who are you?”
I immediately turned when I heard my door opening. Laurie Anne, a young girl who was a part of our host family, walked in and stood behind me. I felt my stomach growl and she lifted her palm to me. I wanted to take it in my hand and taste her sweet blood, but something stopped me from grabbing her. Her eyes looked towards the floor and I turned to her.
“I don’t want to drink of you today,” I said, hoping I would not hurt her. She had been the only one, other than Johnathan, who would speak to me. She looked into my eyes and grinned.
“As you wish,” she said softly to me.
I grinned too. Very little made me smile. I wondered how I was before the fall. Did I laugh? Was I funny? Or did I sit around, looking all depressed and serious, like everyone else there in Valon? I hoped that wasn’t the case.
I pushed myself up and walked to my window looking towards the clouds and watched them drift past me slowly. I looked down and wondered if I ever had a fear of heights. I turned and smiled at Laurie Anne.
“Come here,” I said to her. She walked over to the window and looked out. She stared at the clouds with me and giggled. I looked at her, wondering what she saw that was so funny.
“What is it?” I asked her. She stared at me.
“Well, it’s just funny how you always want to watch the clouds. I do it too,” she said.
I pointed at a chunky one floating by. “That looks like a pig,” I whispered. She laughed as she put her hand over her mouth. I grinned. She stopped laughing and looked at me. I turned to her.
“What is it?” I asked.
She lowered her eyes and fidgeted with her hands. I reached towards her and she let me take her hand in mine holding it as I started to feel a vibration inching into my fingers. She looked up at me and I dropped her hand. She smiled again.
“I come here every day and you say the same thing, you don’t want to drink of me today. Is there something about me that you do not like?” she said as she waited to hear my response.
I sighed.
“No, I want you to keep coming to see me every morning Laurie Anne, I enjoy your company.”
I leaned down to try to see her face as she stared at the floor. I lifted her chin and quickly took my hand away from her face. She looked into my e
yes and I saw her relax a little.
“I enjoy your company also,” she said.
I smiled. I looked back out at the clouds and thought I saw a horse forming. I had a strange flash of memory and grabbed my head. Laurie Anne grabbed at my arm as I stumbled.
“Are you okay?” she asked me. I straightened up and cleared my throat.
“Yea, I just had a white flash of memory when I saw that cloud forming,” I muttered.
“Do you wish for me to retrieve Johnathan for you?” she asked as she led me to my vanity.
I sat down and looked at her reflection behind me. “No, I am fine,” I said, although I was nowhere near fine. Nowhere near okay in any way. She picked up my brush and ran it through my hair. I smiled at her and grabbed the brush from her.
“You don’t have to brush my hair for me,” I said without hesitation.
Laurie Anne looked down at the floor. I felt like I had hurt her feelings. I turned in my chair and looked at her.
“Listen, look at my hair.” She looked up and stared at me. “Do you really think that it has to be brushed? I barely have any.” I grinned at her and she relaxed again.
“Well, I love your hair… it is cute,” she whispered as she leaned forward. I smiled and turned back to look at myself in the mirror.
“Well, I don’t remember when I cut it, but I think it was a good choice.” I paused, “I can’t say that Johnathan agrees though.” Laurie Anne leaned in behind me and smiled.
“It is not always about what a boy wants,” she said in a whisper. I grinned and looked down.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said.
Laurie Anne quickly straightened up when we heard a knock on the door. She looked at me and then at the doorway. I reached onto my vanity table and picked up my blade. I took her hand and sliced it across her palm then dipped my finger in it and put just a touch of blood on my lip. I grinned up at her and closed her hand up. She grinned, backing away from me. I stood up and she lowered her head. Johnathan stepped into the room and I started a conversation.
“You can leave me now,” I said as I waved my hand at her.
Johnathan looked at her and then at me. He smiled as I wiped the blood from my lip and licked my finger. Laurie Anne nodded and walked out of the room. I walked to the window and stared out at the clouds. Johnathan came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I cleared my throat, moving away from the window and from him. I looked round at him and he smiled.
“It makes me happy that you feed Rue,” he said. I didn’t smile back at him.
“Well, I was hungry,” I said.
“I am glad that the creature pleases you,” he added.
“Oh, you mean Laurie Anne?” I said as I walked to my vanity and sat back down.
He walked up behind me and I kept my eyes focused on all the trinkets that sat on the top of my vanity. I reached for my brush and started to fidget with what little hair I had. He grinned.
“If you wish to call it by name that is fine,” he said.
“Well, I asked her what her name was, I guess I wanted to know,” I said, trying not to show any emotion at all. He cleared his throat.
“I thought that you might like to go out with me today,” he said. I turned in my chair.
“Really?” I said. He leaned down on one knee and grabbed my hand.
“Yes, you are not a prisoner here Rue, this is your home.”
I wanted to be calm, but the idea of leaving that room was awesome.
I looked into his eyes and grinned. “I would love to go out, is the council okay with it?” I asked.
He grinned. “My grandmother doesn’t have to know about everything that I do.”
I smiled and pulled myself up. He rose up with me and he gripped my hand.
“Do you wish for your host to return? To assist in a bath?” he asked me.
“Yes, have her return. I want to go out as soon as possible,” I said.
Johnathan looked into my eyes and leaned forward. I tried to feel something other than a void empty feeling, so I let him kiss me. I just closed my eyes and pretended. He was hungry at my mouth and I wished that I felt the same. I mean, this is the boy who had saved me from my insanity, probably against everyone’s wishes. He loved me, right? I was supposed to love him back. I felt a pull in my chest towards him, but it came and went so quickly. I let him linger at my mouth and hoped that this wasn’t it, all I had to look forward to. Had I left my ability to love at the bottom of the lake? I didn’t know. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy… I think.
Johnathan backed away from me and I closed my eyes. I felt his hand touch my face. Once again… nothing. I opened my eyes and tried to grin at him. His eyes softened. I wanted to say ‘I love you’ but every time I opened my mouth, something else came out.
“Well, I will get ready then,” I said. He looked at me and lowered his hand from my face.
I sighed and turned towards my bathroom. I heard my main door open and close so I took my robe off and slipped out of my white silk nightgown. It fell to the floor around my feet. I stepped out of it and walked to the porcelain tub in the middle of room, reached over and turned on the water. I walked around the huge tub and stepped in. The water started to rise slowly. I heard a knock at my door.
“Come in,” I said. I heard it open and close, quietly. Laurie Anne peeked around the corner and looked in.
“You asked for me?” she asked. I grinned as I sank down in the water.
She walked up next to the tub and sat down on the silver chair, grabbing the cloth. She dipped it in the water and started to rub it on my shoulder. I sat up and leaned forward as she rubbed it on my back. I closed my eyes and sat motionless then opened them and bit my lip.
“Did he say where we are going today?” I asked her. I felt her stop rubbing my back with the cloth.
“No… Johnathan does not talk to me,” she said. I leaned back and stared at her.
“Never?” I asked.
She grinned as she reached into the water and rung the cloth in her hands.
“No, except to tell me that you wish for me to come in your room,” she added.
“Why, do you think?” I asked her. She laughed and then stopped quickly. I stared at her.
“I am sorry, it’s just that Protectors do not waste their time with speaking to us,” she said. I crinkled my eyebrows.
“I don’t understand why they do not. You do so much for us,” I said.
She looked at me and then started to rub my shoulder again.
“Well, humans are not equal,” she muttered.
“What? Not equal? That is ridiculous, we have a heart that beats the same.”
Laurie Anne rubbed soap on the cloth as she grinned.
“Well, I would guarantee that you are the only one here who feels that way,” she said.
My eyes darted to her in a blur and she lowered her eyes from mine. I reached out and touched her hand. “I do not feel like you are inferior to me, no matter what I am,” I said to her. She raised her eyes to mine and I saw a spark in them. I was sure no one had ever talked to her that way.
“Listen, I do not have you come in my room to help me because I want you to do things for me. I have you come here because I like you Laurie Anne.” She smiled at me.
I felt like I had finally convinced her that she was worth more to me then a meal.
I looked at the water and raised my hands up to my face. I stared at them. I traced my fingers across my palm and a faint glow rose and then disappeared almost immediately. I looked at her and caught her looking at my hands. I cleared my throat and stood up in a flash, accidently splashing her with water. She wiped it from her face and stared up at me. I stepped out and started to drain the bath. She continued to watch me. I guess she was waiting for me to ask her to help me get dressed, but I rinsed out the tub and started to run the water again. I turned to her.
“You can take a bath now,” I said to her. She stood up and stepped away from me.
“N
o, I couldn’t bathe in your tub Rue.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked her. “Don’t pass this opportunity up. I am going to get dressed, you get in, I will bathe you.” I said as I left the room.
I walked to my closet and opened the door up. I waved my hand at the orb floating to my right and the closet lit up. I looked down two rows of everything you could possibly want to wear. I rummaged through dress after dress and finally came to something simple. I pulled out a silk dress, blue in color. I held it up and a pain went through my head. I grabbed at my forehead and pressed my fingers against it. I thought I heard an echo in the room and I spun around. No one was there. I shrugged it off and slipped the dress over my head, it fell into place. I ran my hands down the front and felt a tingling in my fingertips. I sighed and walked out of the huge closet and headed for the bathroom. I stepped in to see Laurie Anne sitting on the chair next to the tub. I tilted my head and looked at her.
“What are you doing?” I asked her. She looked up at me and at the tub of water.
I walked towards her and took her hand. I pulled her dress up over her head and held her hand as she stepped into the tub. She sat down, slowly. I took a seat on the chair next to her and raised the cloth up. She looked at the water with a look of concern on her face. I dipped the cloth into the water and rubbed it on her shoulder, she winced a little. I stopped.
“This is not a trick,” I said to her.