Treasured Secrets (Coveted Saga #1) (The Coveted Saga)

by C. M. Owens

  I could feel the guilt knocking around inside of me, almost stealing my breath. Now I was worried I had just endangered him.

  I should've just kissed him and been done with it. Now he was out there without a guard, and his head was anything but clear. I was nothing but trouble. All I had been since I had gotten there was trouble. All I was doing was hurting everyone and causing problems.

  I almost snapped at Gear when I spoke. "I guess he decided to bump up the date. Why don't just you ask him and leave me alone?"

  Gear looked shocked as I barged by him on my way inside.

  "Aria, is there something you're not telling me? Did something happen?"

  "The same thing that always happens just happened. I made yet another mess. I need to be locked in a padded room right now. I'm done trying," I mumbled, keeping my back turned.

  I ran to my room, stumbling and whimpering the whole way. I lay on my bed, crying for at least thirty minutes. All I could think about was how much I loved Tallis. I couldn't believe how broken I was. It all came out in a vengeful rush. My tears were furious for having been held back for so long, so they ravaged my cheeks mercilessly, refusing to creep back into hiding or be subdued any longer.

  I clutched his picture against my chest, weeping into the pillow beneath my head.

  Then I worried about how Jared might possibly being in danger... because of me. I was so tired of all the messiness.

  In my old home, the most complicated thing I had to worry about was my schoolwork. The most drama I'd ever dealt with was arguing about having to leave my home. This was all too much to take on at once. It was all too different from what I was used to, and I was doing a horrible job adjusting. I needed a break from it all. I needed somewhere that would provide me with an escape. I needed to recharge and start all over.

  I got up and walked into the upstairs library and turned on the computer. I pulled up the tickets I had bought earlier in the year. I reserved the first flight to Brazil and changed my name to Ashiara Weislen.

  I snuck downstairs, weaving through the people who never seemed to go home, and found Ash's purse. I carried it into the bathroom and took out her license and passport. Then I put it back just like I had found it - minus the few borrowed items.

  I glanced toward the unlocked cupboard - the place where Iris kept all her goodies. I had heard her speak of a stripping potion. I needed it. It took a minute to find it without anyone noticing what I was doing, but I finally succeeded.

  I went back to my room and changed my clothes. I had three and a half hours before my flight. It was midnight, and I hadn't slept at all, but it was a long flight, so I could sleep the whole way there.

  Absentmindedly, I tossed a bunch of clothes in a suitcase and threw it out the window. I heard a thud as it hit the ground, and I sucked in a steadying breath. Everyone would be mad, but this was something I needed. Selfish? Probably, but I just wanted to breathe again, and I couldn't do it here.

  Still questioning my resolve, I went to the window and started climbing down the shaky, weak lattice that stretched the full length of the house. The vines that grew in between the gaps were wet and made it slippery. I inched my way down, carefully and cautiously moving before the creaks grew too loud.

  Then, when I only had five feet left to go, the slippery vines bested me, forcing me to lose my grip and fall the rest of the way. My arms whipped wildly and uselessly in the air, as if I could take flight and spare myself the impending slam. It didn't even slow me down.

  My side pounded the ground with too much force. A grunt was forced through my lips, and a gasping wheeze followed as I strained for a new breath. After a minute, I was breathing normally again, and the pain dulled. I scowled at the wicked lattice and vicious vines.

  "This night is just freaking wonderful," I griped to myself while heaving my protesting body upright.

  I picked up my bags and threw them in my car. Fortunately, I wasn't blocked in, and I kept my lights off until I reached the end of the driveway. I was glad my car was so quiet. And with so many coming and going, they never even noticed the car cranking.

  I turned on my lights and headed toward the airport. This had been the worst week of my life. I needed comfort and warmth. I was sick of the snow and the cold. I was sick of the magic. I was sick of the lies I had believed to be truths, and all of the rules disguised to seem arbitrary, when they actually held such severe consequences.

  I was tired of learning about all the ways magic could ruin my life before I could even use it. I was exhausted from constantly being confused and feeling like I had just moved to another planet. I couldn't rest or relax anywhere there.

  I was tired of being hunted down by the Dramians... Yes. I called them Dramians. It wasn't comforting to feel like a trophy someone wished to hang above a mantle.

  I wanted to go to the one place that made sense. I wanted to go home.

  I knew everyone would be worried, but I was taking precautions. I had grabbed some of the talismans that helped to block my scent for the times I wasn't in my car. I also grabbed the vial of stripping potion.

  Iris told me once that it was a special concoction that would strip you of your scent for up to four days. I would wait until I got to the airport before I took it.

  She said it couldn't be made anymore because the main ingredient was extinct. It was for emergency purposes only. I felt bad for taking it, but I had to go. As far as I was concerned, this was an emergency.

  I'd left a note telling them where I'd gone, and told them I would be back before the four days were up. I knew they'd still be worried, but I had to go. I needed to feel peace again. And I couldn't get that anywhere but my rainforest.

  I reached the airport with two hours to spare. I turned up the protective concoction and cringed as I drank it down - or forced it down, rather.

  "Oh my damn!" I coughed out. "That's disgusting."

  It was a slimy, wretched, foul tasting monstrosity, and it lingered, refusing to leave my mouth completely. The slimy film covered my tongue, my teeth, and my gums. I wanted a toothbrush.

  "It sure as hell better work after going through that," I murmured to myself while grabbing my bag. I locked my car and headed inside the airport, ready to escape.

  Chapter 16

  Home to Haluali

  Sometimes you spend your whole life looking back, and then you stop moving forward until it is too late.

  "Now boarding flight 151 to Brazil."

  The loudspeaker snapped me out of the catnap I had been taking. I got up and wheeled my small bag over to the stand to hand in my ticket. The lady warily examined my stolen identification and my ticket, skeptically glancing from the photo to me.

  I knew Ash and I favored, but we didn't look a lot a like. I was only seventeen though. I would have needed parental consent. I'm sure Jaslene wouldn't have agreed to that. Alvin either.

  She handed me back my things, still regarding me skeptically, but a whoosh of air left my lungs when she motioned for me to board.

  It worked.

  The flight was long, but I slept for the majority of it, so I didn't mind it much. I woke up when I felt the plane landing. I looked out the window to see the sun was just peeking out. I didn't have long to be there, but I was going to soak up every bit of warmth I could.

  I was going to take in every radiant color I could see. Most importantly, I was going to breathe in the freshness of my rainforest and let it calm me.

  I paid a cheesy local tour guide to drive me to my favorite spot. Then I paid him more to drive faster, feeling rushed to start enjoying the few days I had.

  I planned to go to the village after I visited my hideaway.

  I almost giggled nervously when we neared. "Stop," I said, deciding that was close enough.

  As soon as the car stopped, I got out of the jeep and tossed my bag on the side of the trail. I pulled out my sketch book and started walking down to my favorite spot. I could hear the falling water getting closer.

  I sat dow
n on my sitting rock that had gathered more moss in my absence. I stared up at my peaceful giants, all of them looking different. I appraised them, regarding them with more appreciation than I had before.

  The waterfall glistened with reflective specks from the radiance of the sunlight. It seemed excited to have me back, and I smiled a true and genuine smile, though it was brief. My pain hadn't left me the way I had hoped.

  I started sketching, trying not to think. Unfortunately, I was thousands of miles away from Tallis, and still, his face was all I could draw. I studied as I shaded in each line. My drawings never gave his beauty true justice.

  I shook my head. Heartbreak wasn't easy at all. A harsh breath entered my lungs as an unwelcome realization came to light. Haluali was no longer my home. It wasn't the cozy hut I had grown up in. It wasn't the forest I had marveled at for so long. It wasn't my serene hideaway I had come to for peace. It wasn't even anything at all in South America. I thought I had left Grayford to run home. I abruptly assessed I actually ran away from home. Tallis. Tallis was now my home. My broken, screwed up home.

  I started shouting at the treetops as the excruciating pain in my voice echoed through the forest. "I think they're all idiots! They're all wrong! I know I love him. I know he's the only person in the world for me! Why can't that just be okay? I hate magic and all of its stupid plans and stupid rules! It's not fair! It's not fair! It's. Not. Fair. Dammit!"

  Tears ran from my eyes in such a relentless flow that they rivaled the gushing waterfall behind me. I was weak and wounded. I thought being here would make things easier, but it didn't. I was still in pain - too much pain.

  The one place I thought I would be able to escape wasn't strong enough to take my mind off the pain. It only made it worse. Now I was so far away from him that it was torturous to even think about him at all. Considering he was all I could think about, the pain was verging on the boundary of unbearable.

  The sun was lower. I must have been there for at least six hours. I continued to scream at the forest, making my voice feel strained and rasp.

  "Why do this to me?" I asked through a sobbing hiccup.

  I tried to compose myself, but it was pointless. The pain refused to dull. I was crying harder, and my words were muffled by the stabbing waves of piercing heartbreak that paraded itself in my tone.

  "Why can't he just see how much I really do love him? Why can't he believe it's real? Why can't he believe I am his one?"

  My once smooth fingertips felt like sandpaper as they brushed the cheeks that had been left ravaged and raw from the ruthless, never-ending flow of scalding tears.

  Still sobbing, I dropped back down to the rock, and my sketch book fell from my lifeless hands to the ground. I wept for a few minutes longer as I thought back to the first time I saw Tallis. The way his touch burned through to my soul with such captivating power. The way his lips felt so soft against the bits of my skin he had touched with him. The first night he slept in the bed with me, and how safe and peaceful I felt just being with him. The first time we almost kissed, when our bodies were radiating such magnificent heat. How intensely surreal it was the night when our lips had just brushed, before Taryn interrupted.

  I lay on the ground, crying, looking up at the streaks of sunlight escaping through the leaves of my once serene giants. Even they looked smaller and sadder now. Nothing was as it should have been. There was no peace and no escape from my insufferable misery.

  Chapter 17

  The Foul Smell of Danger

  When there's a voice in your head telling you something bad is going to happen, listen to it.

  I stopped thinking, suddenly feeling danger. A chill ran up my spine, making every hair stand on end. I felt the unwelcome eyes of someone watching me. I smelled something putrid invasively stifling out all other smells, and I became sick to my stomach.

  "Oh no," I gasped, feeling the warning prickles of death consume me.

  I knew that smell and the imminent danger that followed it. I knew what was watching me. I knew it was there for me and there was no escape. No one to save me.

  "How did you find me?" I screamed into the forest with absolute panic.

  There was no sense in trying to run, hide, or call for help. All I could do was end the game of cat and mouse.

  I felt the swishing winds that made the leaves shake. Then a face came into view - a deceitfully young face.

  He smirked, letting his eyes rake over me as he licked his lips. I grew sicker, and my body was conflicted with hot and cold chills.

  "Mmm," he hissed softly. "I can't smell your essence, little witch, but I can smell the Bradbury blood that runs through your veins. I can smell the power that surges through your weak, pathetic mortal body."

  He licked his lips again with sadistic delight as he inhaled deeply, searching for the scent of my absent essence. I stood there, shaking, unable to say anything threatening in return. I tried to speak, but only a squeak crept through my tight lips. I was going to die a trembling young girl instead dying with any dignity at all.

  He circled me from a distance, and I stayed frozen, letting him analyze me. I wanted to cry, just like I had done every time. I wasn't made for this. I wasn't strong enough. Magic made a mistake in choosing me to join its cause.

  "I'm supposed to bring you to Graven, but I may just keep you for myself," he said, smiling wickedly.

  He was far more intimidating than the guy I had encountered in the woods of Grayford. His yellow long nails hung from his hands like twisted vines drooping from the limbs of trees. His teeth were just as yellow as his nails, and his stench was far more grotesque than I had smelled thus far. He was so skinny that his bones showed clearly through the pale layer of skin that seemed to barely cover them.

  I tried to block out the pungent odor, the chilling sight, and the promise of death. I had to try something, anything. I didn't want to die. I didn't want this monster to have me.

  "You'll be slaughtered by my family if you try anything," I murmured in a hoarse whisper, not sounding intimidating or convincing at all.

  "I don't think so, little one. The Bradbury's have been a peaceful coven for a really, really long time; too scared to stir up any trouble without Isis to protect them. I'm not too worried about any retaliation from them. They'll just weep over any remains left of you - if there are any to find."

  His low hissing tone was mocking me now. He really did not fear them in the least bit. I could only imagine the agony my family would have to suffer now because of me. I was such a fool for doing this to them.

  The smell was so atrocious that I fought back the overwhelming urge to vomit... until I couldn't anymore. I leaned over and heaved forth all the meager possessions of my stomach. Now I would be dying with even less dignity.

  As I wiped my mouth and stood up, my eyes found him again. An eerie smile spread over his lips, as if he'd enjoyed my body's sudden crude expulsion.

  "You're scared, little one. That's a natural reaction when you're about to die."

  I pulled the bottom of my shirt up to wipe my mouth, needing to be fully rid of anything on my face before trying a last ditch effort to sound strong.

  "I'm not scared," I lied, sounding steadier and more convincing this time.

  "You just smell disgusting. Do you quit bathing when you're immortal?"

  He snarled at me, somewhat growling. Then he cracked his neck and his smile returned as the sinister gleam in his eyes deepened.

  "I'll take care of that. I'll just make it to where you never have to breathe again." He leapt through the air toward me. Dirt splattered beneath his feet as he impacted it with his monstrous force. I didn't flinch. I didn't move. It wouldn't have done me any good anyway. I would never be able to stop him. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing pure fear in my eyes any longer.

  Painful as it was, I calmly accepted my fate and gracefully awaited death.

  Suddenly, I saw a flash out of the corner of my left eye. The flash flew in front of me, and in
an instant, the creepy man was flying through the air.

  I gasped in pure astonishment as Tallis dusted his hands off in a casual manner. Then he put himself directly between me and the putrid fiend.

  He cut his eyes at the skeletal man he had surprised. "Well, she does have a point. Your scent is far more appalling than the usual maggots I encounter."

  Without any warning, Tallis turned to me and pushed me hard, knocking me thirty-feet backwards into the water. The water engulfed me instantly, drenching me as thoroughly as my confusion. I didn't have time to collect air before I was thrown in, so I was frantically clawing my way back to the surface.

  When the air finally reached me, I was gasping and coughing. Ignoring the burning of the water in my eyes, I stared in disbelief, still trying to wrap my mind around Tallis really being here. I shrieked loudly as I saw another man appear. Tallis must have smelled him. That's why he launched me backwards.

  The new monster knocked Tallis into a tree. A harsh crack made it sound like his back broke, which forced a squeal through my lips. I clamped my hands over my mouth to keep me from making another sound.

  Tallis got up and shook himself off, acting as though he had merely stumbled. The two men attacked him simultaneously. The tears gushed from my eyes as I watched helplessly. I couldn't do anything but witness the brutal double team. This was my fault. If he died… I would beg for death to take me as well.

  They pinned him down and the larger man started to put his hands on him.

  There was only one thing I could do. Distract them. Draw them to me and save his life.

  "You want me! Take me!" I screamed, praying for a miracle.

  The bigger brute quickly took the bait and he started to charge at me, but the skinnier one tripped him up, refusing to share me. Tallis seized his opportunity and quickly leapt to his feet. He hit them both with a blast to draw their attention back to him.

  They raced him again. He ducked in the gap between them and they blew past. Then he ran up, grabbed the new guy's arm, and it exploded into ash. The scrawny man charged him as the ashy, one-armed man screamed in agony.