The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  “Stay away from me,” I said as I crinkled my eyebrows.

  “Oh... and how do you suppose I could do that?” he said.

  “I don’t know Josh… go camp out with Elin in a cave somewhere,” I yelled at him.

  He tilted his head. “You are jealous,” he said.

  “No… no, no… I am not,” I said as I turned again. He caught up with me and looked over at me.

  “Yep… you are.”

  I stopped again. I swear to god I am going to pull my blades and stab him. He smiled. I looked at his face and realized how pretty he was. He stood there with his hair all messy, breathing harder than I had noticed before. I could hear his blood in my ears. I shook my head and tried to pass him by and he blocked me. I looked off to the side and sighed.

  “Do you think that you could move?” I said to him.

  He leaned toward me and placed his hand on my face. I felt a whiplash of energy go through me and I stumbled. He caught me as I stumbled backward. I let him hold me. He looked down and stared into my eyes.

  “I just hate you, you infuriate me,” he whispered.

  “I hate you too,” I whispered.

  He kissed me in a flash and I wrapped my arms around him. He grabbed at the back of my head and we fell down to the ground like a dead weight. I pulled out my blade and cut his leather on his chest. I pulled it away and looked at his skin. It was swirling. I put my mouth to his chest and bit him. The blood welled up under my mouth and I drank it in. I closed my eyes and he threw his head back and moaned. I came up to his lips and hovered near his mouth for a moment. I had his blood on my mouth and he slowly kissed me. His tongue gently parted my lips and I felt his tongue move inside. My fists clinched up and he moved me onto my back. He kissed me slowly and I just melted into him. I had never kissed that way, the way that makes your head get light and your stomach flip. He pulled his mouth from mine and looked into my eyes.

  “I still hate you,” he whispered. I looked at him and grinned.

  “I hate you too,” I whispered back.

  He leaned in and I grabbed at his back. He moaned in my mouth as I tried to pull his shirt off. He leaned up and started to take it off. I ran my hands over his chest and watched the color swirl under my fingertips. He sucked in his breath in a tremble. I felt him flinch under my hand. He reached down and started to pull my leather strap across my chest. His hands were shaking, so unlike him. I looked down and laughed at him.

  “Quit it,” he mumbled. I smiled. I felt a vibration in the ground and grabbed his hand.

  “Stop,” I whispered. He looked at me.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Did you feel that?” I asked him. He leaned forward and kissed my neck.

  “I am feeling all kinds of stuff right now,” he mumbled.

  “No,” I said as I pushed him up. “I felt a vibration in the ground.”

  He grinned at me. I looked at him and tilted my head. “No... It wasn’t you Josh.”

  He sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. He mumbled something and I pushed myself up. I leaned down and placed my hand on the ground. It vibrated under my fingertips. I looked up at him.

  “Something is coming,” I said.

  He stood up quickly and looked around us. He pulled his blades and they started to glow. Elin popped out from the trees and he grumbled. She looked at him shirtless and me with my shirt half open. She grinned and placed her hands on her hips.

  “Well, isn’t this just pretty,” she said.

  Josh placed his blades on the ground and grabbed his leather shirt up. He put it back on and looked at me. I grabbed the front of my leather and closed it. She laughed.

  “So, does Johnathan know?” she asked me.

  “Shut up Elin,” I said. She played with her hair as she smiled and rocked back and forth.

  She looked at Josh and winked at him. He looked away from her.

  “Well, if you two are done, we have a window of opportunity to retrieve Johnathan, that is if you still want him,” she said with sarcasm towards me.

  “I don’t like you at all,” I said as I started to walk.

  She laughed and looked at Josh. “I didn’t take you to go for little girls Josh, I’m impressed.”

  “Shut up Elin… Let’s get Johnathan out of memory. God knows what he’s going through with that twelve year old.”

  I turned around. “What twelve year old?” I asked.

  Josh looked at me. “You, Rue, your memory at twelve is there.” My eyes got big.

  “Really?” I asked.

  Josh smiled. “Yea and you were something special at that age, let me tell you.”

  Elin caught up to us as we walked. “So Josh, did you grope her too?” she asked him.

  He stopped and looked at her. “No, I am not the freak that you are Elin.” She grinned at him.

  “Disappointing,” she muttered.

  I kept moving. I didn’t know where I was going, but anywhere away from this was better.

  “Silly girl, let me lead,” Elin said.

  She flashed forward and I looked at Josh. He shrugged his shoulders and I rolled my eyes.

  “What?” he asked me. I looked at him.

  “Really?” I said as I flashed after her and Josh followed.

  ***

  Johnathan opened his eyes and flinched when he realized that he was floating in the air. He looked down and saw that he was hovering above a shoreline. He took in a breath and he dropped onto the sand really hard. He rolled to his side and caught his breath. He pushed himself up and looked around. He didn’t see Rue anywhere. Good. He didn’t think that he could take any more games. He bent over as a pain rolled through his brain and pushed on his stomach. He looked down at his hands and watched as his skin started to bruise. He stood up and rubbed his neck. Taking a step forward he felt a vibration under his foot…

  He lifted it and saw a shiny necklace pushed into the sand. He reached down and started to pull it towards him

  He held it up in front of his face and it spun. It started to slow and he saw that it was a double-sided watch on a necklace chain. One side had a sun and the other a moon. He wiped off the sand and watched as the hands started to slow down. He felt lightheaded and dropped it from his hand, it floated in the air. He took a breath and it sounded loud in his ears. Suddenly Rue appeared in a flash in front of him and the watch dropped to the floor. She smiled at him and reached down and picked it up. She lifted it over her head and held it in her hand. Her eyes flashed to him in a split second and he relaxed, as if he was being held in suspended motion. He looked down at her and raised his eyebrows.

  “Why didn’t you kill me?” he asked her.

  She tilted her head. “Why would I do that?” she asked him.

  “Well, you knocked me off a cliff!” he said in a panic.

  She shook her head. “You don’t get it do you? I need you,” she said as she let the watch go and it swung at her neck. Johnathan stared at it as the sun shined from it.

  “I’ve seen that before,” he said as it slowed to a stop against her chest.

  “’Yep, it’s mine now. My Dad gave it to Mom and then Kai gave it to me,” she said.

  “You know about Kai?” Johnathan asked her.

  She grinned. “Well, of course I do… I know a lot of things.”

  “I thought that you only knew what you did at twelve, Rue?” Johnathan said.

  She leaned down and grabbed some white sand in her hands, she let it slowly release through her fingers.

  “Time is like sand,” she said.

  Johnathan watched the sand fall and disappear back into the sandy shore.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” he said to her.

  She looked at him. “You see all this sand?” Johnathan looked down at the sandy shore.

  “Yea,” he said.

  “Well, looking at it, it looks like one big pile, like a solid mass, but if you grab it up…” She leaned over and grabbed another hand full. “…You can see t
hat it’s a bunch of tiny pieces, all huddled together.” She let her hand open and it started to fall out again. “Time is like that… all huddled together, but it’s a bunch of tiny pieces that make it so big.”

  She opened her arms and the ground shifted. Johnathan tried to keep his balance as everything turned into white sand as far as he could see. He raised his hand up and shielded his eyes from the blaring sun. He looked out and saw just a few trees and a white tent. He stumbled forward as the sand moved under his feet. He climbed up the incline and finally made it into the tent. He looked around and saw a fountain flowing with silver metal instead of water. He stepped towards it and could see his reflection in it. He flinched when Rue’s reflection appeared in the reflection behind him. He turned.

  She looked beautiful, seventeen again. Her hair was long and braided over one shoulder. She had what looked like silver threaded through her hair. Small silver beads hung across her forehead and dangled by her temples. Her lips looked soft and inviting. He looked down and she had a sheer white dress on, it plunged in the front, with a silver bird at the end. He looked up at her and shook his head.

  “You have to stop messing with me,” he said.

  Rue reached up and touched his face. He closed his eyes and felt a vibration run through his body. He opened his eyes up and grabbed her hand away from his face.

  “Don’t,” he whispered.

  Rue smiled. “Why do you refuse me?” she asked him.

  “Oh my god… Please stop messing with me Rue,” he whispered.

  She took a step back and he looked past her. A large bed stood behind her. She turned and walked to it. She kept her back to him as she pulled the dress off her shoulders and lay down on the bed pulling the white silk sheet over her before leaning back. He looked at her and clinched his fists.

  “Geezus,” he muttered.

  She rose up and let the silk fall from her chest. He looked down.

  “Put your clothes on… please,” he said.

  He squeezed his eyes shut and felt her hand on his lips. She traced her finger over his lips and it felt wet. He opened his eyes and she had flashed to him. He grabbed her hand and pulled it away, her fingers had blood on them. He shuddered and backed away from her.

  “You need to settle down, right now,” he said.

  She flashed up to him and grabbed his wrist, she bit into it, and he started to sink towards the ground.

  “Please… stop,” he muttered.

  His vision started to blur as she leaned toward him. He felt her lips press against his. She pushed her tongue into his mouth and he tried to push her off. She whispered, ‘Bind’ into his ear. He fell onto his back. She crawled on top of him and he looked up at her in a panic.

  “Listen to me Rue, this is wrong… you have to get off of me.” She grinned as she pulled a blade.

  He watched it and his breathing became harder.

  “Okay, let’s go back to library! I’d love to read to you now,” he said as he strained under her. She smiled and pulled the blade across her palm.

  “Oh shit,” he muttered.

  ***

  We flashed up to Sam and Theodore who were scribbling symbols onto a large mirror on the forest floor. Kai flashed up to us and looked at me then at Josh. Elin flashed up to the mirror and stared into it.

  “Oh my god, my hair is a mess,” she said, like anyone cared.

  “You’re a mess,” I muttered under my breath.

  She turned to me and grinned as she put her finger into her mouth and pulled it out slow.

  “Gross,” I said as I walked over to the other side of the mirror.

  Josh walked to her and leaned in.

  “Behave,” he said. I kind of clinched up. I turned to him and half smiled like I hated him.

  “I am going through the mirror to get him.” I said, more as a statement and less as a question of whether anyone would let me. Elin laughed.

  “What boy here hasn’t had you come to the rescue?” she asked me.

  “Theodore and Kai,” I said quickly. Elin laughed and looked at Theodore.

  “He doesn’t count, anyway,” she said as she pointed at him.

  Theodore looked up and grinned.

  “Thank you,” he said and then went back to writing symbols.

  Elin walked over to me slowly. I felt her bullshit coming, but I tried to concentrate on the mirror and what Theodore was writing.

  “So,” she said to me. Sam looked at me and shook her head ‘no’. I looked at Elin.

  “What is it?” I asked her. Monumental mistake to the 100th degree, I just opened the bitch gate.

  “Who do you think was bigger?” she asked me. I straightened up and looked at her.

  “Excuse me?” I said. Sounding a lot more dignified then I am.

  She grinned and bit at her finger. “You know, between Johnathan and...” she nodded her head in Josh’s direction. My face crinkled up like a 90 year old in Florida.

  “What?” I said, just adding fuel to the fire.

  “My money is on Johnathan, well, I would bet it on my life,” she said.

  “Oh my god, are you serious...?” I turned to Josh who looked mortified. “Is she serious?”

  Elin laughed and poked at me. “Oh come on, its girl talk, tell me what you thought.”

  “I don’t have an opinion, I haven’t… you know, with either one of them!” I said as my voice pitched. Josh looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

  “Are you going to stab her, or am I?” I asked him. He flashed between us and raised his hand. Elin laughed, I hated her laugh, her smell, her overall existence. I bit my tongue and grabbed my cheek.

  “Yea, just makes you flustered thinking about it huh?” she asked me.

  “Oh my god, I am going to take my blade and stab you in the…”

  Josh pushed me backward as I looked at her. I looked up at him.

  “Why don’t you say something?” I asked him. He sighed and turned to her.

  “You need to quit,” he said. I hit him on the arm.

  “That’s it? ’You need to quit’...? You are kidding me,” I said. Elin grinned at the both of us.

  “Johnathan,” I said to her. Josh turned and frowned at me.

  “How would you even know?” he asked me. I grinned.

  “Well, when you press up against somebody, you can kind of get an idea,” I said as I shrugged my shoulders at him.

  Kai stood up next to Sam. “If you guys are talking about what I think you are, I am going to bust someone in the mouth, namely Josh,” he said. Josh shot him a look.

  “Okay, Mr. Fist bump,” he said sarcastically.

  “That was not my sister,” Kai added. Josh shook his head and looked at me.

  “I know that it’s not true, so… go ahead and say it,” he said as his arms crossed.

  “No,” I said as I stared at him.

  “He kisses better than you too, not all sloppy,” I added. Elin giggled.

  “That’s true,” she muttered behind him.

  Josh shook his head. “Now I know that you are just being a brat,” he said.

  I tilted my head at him. “Really?” I said as I tried to keep a straight face. He stared me down.

  “Okay… it is ready,” Theodore said as he stood up.

  I looked at Josh and walked past him. I heard him grumble something, but I didn’t catch it.

  I stood over the mirror and looked at it as it started to roll like water. I turned around and crossed my arms then I dropped backward and into the mirror. Elin ran up and did the same. She looked at Josh and winked. She mouthed, “bigger” at him as she fell backward. Josh jumped in, like he didn’t care how he came through. He was out numbered on the other side anyway… by the unlikeliest of teams. Team ‘Hate Josh’. Ha.

  I broke through the water and sucked in air. I managed to not swallow any water… that’s new. I was so used to drowning myself that I totally expect for someone to be pounding on my back and screaming in my face. Elin popped up next to m
e and I flinched. She raised her head up slowly like a shark fin. God she sucks. I looked around and didn’t see Josh. He suddenly broke the surface a few feet from us and he spit water out. Maybe he was bitching when he dove into the mirror. He looked at me.

  “I am not a sloppy kisser!” he spluttered.

  I grinned and started to kick my feet towards the sandy shore. I pulled myself up and looked out. It was all white sand. I placed my hands on my hips and raised my hand over my eyes. The sun was so bright and suddenly my body heated up ten degrees. “God,” I muttered. I wanted to peel the white leather off. I looked back as Elin stood up and Josh right behind her. She looked out across the sand and then to me.

  “Why is it a desert?” I asked her.

  She shrugged her shoulders and started to walk. I looked at Josh and he was shaking his hair. He reached up and tried to push it out of his face. There was nothing worse than being wet and standing in heat. He unstrapped his white leather shirt and dropped it. He stood there with the white leather vest on. He looked at me and I looked away from him. He stepped up to me.

  “You need to apologize,” he said to me. I laughed.

  “I won’t,” I said as I stepped forward. He sighed.

  God, a boy’s pride is so funny. There we were in a desert and he wants a clarification on his kissing, among other things I’m sure. Nope, he suffers... I love it.

  Elin was a few yards ahead of us. She stood at the top looking down. I sped up to her and Josh stepped up beside me. We both looked out and saw a white tent. I crossed my arms and looked at Josh.

  “This looks like some old movie,” I said. He looked at it and then back at me.

  We all started to walk down the sand hill. It started to get harder to walk. My stomach growled and Elin’s heartbeat welled up in my ears. I stopped and grabbed my stomach. Josh leaned over next to me.

  “You okay?” he asked me.

  I stood up and started to walk without saying anything. My need for blood was becoming more dominant, much more so then I wanted it to be. The last thing I wanted was for him to pull his blade and cut his hand, in some gesture of peace. It would only make it worse. Elin stood at the edge of the tent and looked back at us. We sped up and we all stepped into it together. It was much larger; why I was surprised. Everything is never what it appears to be anymore.