“I don’t think so, asshole.” I pulled him off balance and sent him to the floor.
“I don’t take orders from anyone, kitten.”
I started shaking again and my anger was reaching unknown bounds, “Stop calling me kitten!” Some unseen force knocked Travis back and had him running to the end of the hall before I could even say another snappy remark. I took one deep breath and looked at Daris.
“Ready to go?” He smiled.
“Definitely. I think it’s time we went home.”
“You think?” He led me outside and looked at me before wrapping his arms around my waist and taking off. We flew for a few moments in silence, the only noise being the wind in our ears.
“How did you know?” I said softly, thinking out load. He still heard my whisper.
“I didn’t.”
“Then—”
“You were taking too long and I got worried. I pulled my hood up and decided to make myself known when he wouldn’t listen to you.”
“Thanks. But why did you put the hood up? More importantly, why do you have my favorite hoodie?”
“I rather not have people swarming me. The best way to avoid that is to look unapproachable.” He seemed like he was hiding something, but I let it slide.
“Sound logic. But that still doesn’t explain why you have my hoodie.” I was amazed it even fit him. I know I usually get my clothes, especially my hoodies, several sizes too large to be comfortable, but I never imagined they were big enough to fit him.
“It started getting chilly before I left and I decided I needed something to bundle up in.” He smiled sheepishly and I knew he was lying. I played along for his sake.
“And you couldn’t get it from your own house because?”
He shrugged and I sighed in defeat.
“Fine, but in the future, get your own jacket because this one,” I said indicating the black fabric, “is mine.”
“I can live with that.”
I wiggled a bit.
“Something wrong?”
“I haven’t been running in a while. I’m getting antsy”
“How about this: You can go running when we get to the apartment for half an hour.”
“But that’s a quarter of our usual run!”
“Take it or leave it, Blossom. It’s not safe.”
“I know.” I pouted and Daris looked pained for a moment.
“He’s not gone, Sky.”
“I know.” My voice was shaky and I shut my eyes.
“I want him gone just as much as you do, Blossom. Believe me.”
“He didn’t make your early childhood a nightmare.”
“I don’t have to see him to fear him. Every Luxator fears him. He’s the Rex Tenebris.”
“The what?”
“Skyler, your dad is the leader of the Acerlums. If you think he’s the only one who’s going to come after you, then you’re wrong.” He sounded so much more serious and stern when my dad was mentioned. I felt sheepish for even hoping I had been able to get rid of him for good this time.
“Oh.”
We flew the rest of the way in silence and separated when we landed just outside my door. Immediately, I felt colder than I was on the flight and I couldn’t help but miss Daris’s arms around me.
“Can get my hoodie back now?” I held out my hand expectantly but Daris didn’t move.
“You have to wait until the dryer’s done.” He smiled and I nearly lost it.
“Why?”
“I stained my shirt and thus threw it in the washer. So, unless you want me walking around your apartment shirtless, you have to wait.”
I pouted. However, a decently sized part of me wanted to keep asking for my hoodie back. “And you can’t just upstairs to your apartment and get another one?” I asked as I went to my room to change.
“Nope,” he called after me.
I laughed quietly while I changed. When I came out, Daris looked like he was weighing pros and cons.
“Want to try something?” Daris asked.
I just shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head.
“Do you trust me?”
I nodded again, shocked he even had to ask that. He smiled widely and dragged me outside again. He locked my door, put me in a bridal carry, and took off. I don’t know if it was the sun or his smile that was blinding me. Then, his arms were gone and the world became a blur.
“Daris!” I screamed.
He was there in an instant, tucking his arms around my back and under my knees. I caught my breath, paralyzed with shock and exhilaration as I felt Daris laughing.
“Did you just throw me?”
“Yep. Again?”
Like a little kid, I nodded in excitement, completely forgetting about the fear I had a minute ago, and screeched in joy when I was up in the air. I felt like I should have been terrified with the hard ground who knows how far below me, but instead, I felt complete freedom. Daris caught me once more and I just kept laughing, the liberty of the air making me giddy. That was all we did for the half hour I should have been running. Instead of my feet hitting the pavement, I was flirting with Death. My apartment building came back into view and Daris lowered us to the ground.
“You are so teaching me how to do that,” I told him as I put the key into the lock.
“All in due time, Blossom.” He threw himself onto the sofa and put his arm over his eyes. I threw a pillow at him.
“Can ‘in due time’ mean this weekend? You did just take up my running time.” I pulled out my biggest pout and begged to any deity that would listen for him to say yes.
He laughed. “I had to keep you in one place somehow.”
“You could have come with me.”
“But that’s not as fun.” He grinned. “How about this? If you beat me in a spar this weekend, I’ll teach you how to fly.” I thought about it. He was definitely stronger than me and had more powers, but I was a loose cannon, ready at any moment to let all hell break loose. I beat him once before, that morning in the rain, but I knew when Daris was sparing and when he was messing with me. I’ve never been able to beat him in a fight. Beating him when he was actually trying? That would be difficult. I just had to hope he wouldn’t go all out.
“You’re on, and when I win, you are not allowed to teach me how to fly by throwing me out the window or off the roof.”
“But that takes the fun out of it.” He thought for a minute. “Can I throw you at all?” I nodded. He was whining like a petulant five-year-old and it was funny in a cute way. I kept my face hard, though. He smiled at me and chuckled.
“Fine. I promise that if—”
“When,” I corrected.
“When I teach you how to fly, I will not throw you out the window or push you off the roof.”
“Thank you.” I headed to my room.
“Where are you going?”
“It’s Monday, Daris. I have homework.”
“Have fun.” He did this silly wave and fell back on the sofa with a content sigh.
“Not likely,” I muttered to myself. “It’s homework, not fun work.”
While Daris napped on my sofa, I opened my books and began doing the minimal homework I was assigned. Book after book, subject after subject, was completed and set aside in a pile. I hate homework.
Finally, I had put the last period in my Spanish essay and was able to close my books for the night. I slumped into my pillows feeling mentally exhausted. At the same time, however, my body was wide-awake and ready to burn some pent-up energy. I stuck my head out of my room and saw that Daris was still snoozing. He had turned so that he faced my door and his feet were dangling over the edge of the armrest. His eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. Perfect.
I took my dagger from under my pillow where I had left it that morning and strapped it to my waist. I grabbed my running shoes and maneuvered around squeaky floor planks until I was at the front door. I opened and shut it as quietly as possible and put my shoes on before running to the fie
ld where I fought Daddy dearest. The memory shot through me, giving me another taste of fear and anger, but I pushed it aside.
Out in the open, I felt a surge of bliss. I unsheathed the dagger and channeled my energy into it, willing it to become the sword I knew it could be. My excitement grew as the blade glowed a bright sunset red and stretched until it was the length of my arm. It was beautiful and by far the best birthday present I had ever received.
“Whoa.” I don’t think I would ever get over the sense of pride and accomplishment I felt every time I used my own power to manipulate the metal. I took a few swings and felt like I was being too stiff. From my limited knowledge that consisted of movies and the occasional book, swords were supposed to act as fluid extensions of one’s own body. Suddenly, the blade started glowing blue. Instead of the blade shrinking back to its original size, however, it began to direct my energy. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I began to move.
The steps were strangers to me and the way I was moving the sword made me fear I would just hurt myself or at the very least cut off my flying hair, but that same terror and doubt were replaced with a strong sense of confidence. I opened my eyes and turned sharply, using the blade to slice through a nearby tree branch. It cut like butter and I smiled, coming up with an idea. If Daris could regrow an entire tree after setting it on fire, what’s to stop me from growing some smaller trees for practice? The blade turned blue and that was my answer.
I touched my hand to the ground and concentrated, picturing the small saplings in my mind. When I opened my eyes, though, nothing had happened. I was still in the empty field. One more try and nothing.
I looked at the blade in my hand, watching the light fade. I gripped the blade tightly and the light instantly darkened, becoming more of a deep royal blue that reminded me of Daris’s eyes. I touched the blade to the ground and watched as several small sprouts surrounded me in a circle. They weren’t thicker than my wrist. I giggled, feeling the happiness fill me up.
The blade shone red as the power coursed through it, permeating my body, wrapping around my mark, and repeating the cycle. I swung the blade and didn’t even feel the resistance of the bark stop my sword in the slightest. With every swipe, one tree fell, and with every fallen tree, another quickly rose to my command. I started making the saplings closer to me, prompting me to get creative. The blade crossed over my body and kept taking down each ‘enemy’, often changing in size to be easier to use.
I felt the sweat before it occurred to me to look at the sky. The sun was setting. The bright orange ball of fire contrasted the rapidly darkening sky. I stopped to breathe and glanced at the dagger in my palm, feeling it’s energy tangle with my own. I smiled, tracing the edge. Power surged through me and the blade glowed a bright yellow. The wind picked up and my hair whipped around me and caressed by skin. The trees near me bowed forward, as if in respect. I panicked a bit, but only gripped the handle tighter. Soon enough, almost as quickly as it came, the light died down and the metal returned to its natural glow. It had never done that before.
Taking another breath, I felt different, like the world was no longer resting on my shoulders like someone else was there. Searching for the source, I was attracted to the dagger. I smiled as its strength flowed through me. It was invigorating, intoxicating.
Stars began to speckle the opposite horizon as I bid the trees away, shrunk my blade, sheathed it, and began the short walk home. I felt lighter like I could take on the world. I wasn’t worried about homework or about the girls at school. I wasn’t dealing with my emotions from losing my mom or teenage hormones. I was at peace. At least, I was until I reentered the apartment.
I slumped against the door when I saw Daris sitting up in the chair that faced the door like a parent waiting to catch their kid coming home after curfew. Busted. If I hadn’t been so scared, I would have laughed at how he looked. His face was drawn tight and his arms were crossed. I could tell he was trying so hard not to yell at me. He settled for using the quiet voice we all associate with disappointment. I would have preferred a screaming match.
“Where were you?” He sounded tired. “I fall asleep for less than an hour and wake up to find you gone. I went into your room to ask if you were done with your homework and saw your homework done, the books stacked on the floor and your dagger gone. No note, no explanation. You just left.”
“Yep.” I walked into my room and grabbed a towel. I had no excuse and I wasn’t going to try to make one up. I wasn’t going to play prisoner.
“That’s it? Is that all you’re going to say? You could have been killed!” His anger was finally starting to come out and the adrenaline that was starting to fade jumpstarted. “You can’t just go wherever you want whenever you want anymore, Skyler!”
“Why not?” I yelled back. “Why can’t I? I’m not a child! And if you were so worried, you could have gone to look for me! I just went for a run.” The lie fell from my lips before I could stop it. Daris’s eyes darkened and fear shot down my spine.
“You honestly think lying is going to help you?” His voice was soft again, and underneath the tense tone, I heard the disbelief, the hurt. “I did go out to look for you. I went up and down all our routes and into every place I thought you might have stopped in. But you weren’t there. I came back here in case you had somehow eluded me. That was about an hour ago.”
“I’m sorry I worried you, but you can’t expect me to stay here under lock and key forever. I’m not a little kid who always needs to be protected.” Even I thought my voice sounded cold.
“You’re certainly acting like one. Do you want what happened to your mother to happen to you?”
I had been ready to retort, ready to fight anything he said, but those words shut me down like a light switch. I looked at the floor and shook my head.
“Then if you want to survive, I suggest you listen to me.”
I felt tears prickling my eyes. It had only been a few days since I found out my dad killed my mom and I hadn’t cried once, but hearing Daris yell it in my face had me heading out of the room with tears streaming down my face. My destination was the bathroom that adjoined my room, and I wanted nothing more than to step beneath the hot water and pretend that that didn’t just happen. I locked the door. And for the first time in years, I finally let myself cry. I wanted my mom. I was close to calling for her, but the rational part knew she wouldn’t come, no matter how loud I screamed and sobbed.
I didn’t know how long I was in the shower nor did I care, but when I came out, the world was dark, the moon shone, and the sky was speckled with stars. The clock on my bedside read that I had been in the shower for over an hour. The house was silent; the only indicator that I wasn’t alone was the light in the kitchen. My stomach growled, but by satisfying my hunger, I would have to deal with Daris, assuming he was still here. My stomach growled again and I was forced to obey its insistent demands.
When I walked into the kitchen, Daris didn’t even look at me. He stayed focused on the glass of water he had a vice-like grip on. His knuckles were white and the cynical part of me hoped he shattered the glass before the silence.
Without a word, I moved around him to collect the ingredients for a sandwich. I prepared my food quickly and ate it faster. I was desperate for a brownie, but Daris ate them all the last time I made them so I settled for a packaged cookie. It was nowhere near as good as my mother’s.
“You know we have to talk eventually, right.”
The semisweet chocolate in my mouth turned as bitter as straight cacao.
“I have nothing to say to you.” My voice was cold and ruthless, bitter and sharp. I walked away from him, but he put his hand on my shoulder. I spun around and jumped away from him, my hand clutching the end of the dagger I had yet to put away.
“Don’t touch me.” No amount of hostility could mask the hurt in my voice. He moved to touch me again but froze when the dagger came out and stared him in the face. His gaze shot from my narrowed eyes to the blade that wa
s keeping him from moving anywhere near towards me. We both knew he could easily disarm me if he wanted to, but the blade was glowing a brilliant blue, and I was sure it was seconds from taking over my actions.
I left him there with his arm outstretched and a regretful look on his face. I was acting childish, but my emotions were running on high and I didn’t care. I fell asleep that night aching for my mom. She may not have been around much because of work, but waking up to the sound of pots and pans was better than the hollow pit I now felt as I longed for her cooking and her company.
The incessant knock at my door roused me from my sleep and I nearly fell out of bed when a particularly long bang hit the old wood. I rubbed my eyes as the tapping got faster. It was too early for this.
“Go away.” My voice was sore after crying last night and my face felt puffy and sticky with tear tracks. The knocking continued. “I said go away, Daris. Leave me alone.” I covered my head with my pillow and threw the covers over that, hoping to drown out the obnoxious rapping until it was nothing but a dull pounding that could lull me back to sleep. I didn’t want to deal with him.
“Blossom,” He said louder. I nearly groaned at the sound, my frustration building. “Blossom, please let me in.”
“Why should I?” The hostile tone could have been enough to silence to most persistent parent with guilt. The thought had me curling into the fetal position with more tears soaking my pillows. My dad was an evil king and my mom was gone. I had no parents to riddle with guilt. I had no parents, period.
The door creaked open slowly and I realized I forgot to lock it last night. Damnit. The floor squeaked slightly under his light footsteps until he reached my bed. He sat at the end, but I refused to move. I refused to speak. I refused to acknowledge him. I stayed in my ball and concealed my red face from view. I felt the warmth of his hand on my calf and felt the slight pressure he was trying to use to turn me over, but I stayed put, staring at the wall.
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