Except for Sloan. With a little encouragement from Isaiah, he had returned to Allenmore to turn himself in. He would plead guilty and accept whatever sentence the human courts handed down for the murder of Officer Simmons. He’d spend thirty or forty years behind bars, his Veil altered to give the illusion of aging. A life sentence was a drop in the bucket for Race, but at least he was eligible for parole. Ava knew, however, even when he was released, he’d never walk free again.
Madeleine cleared her throat, and Ava sat up a little as the Council chamber grew silent.
“For centuries, we, the First Race, have lived according to the Law our forefathers put forth,” she said, her voice ringing out, loud and clear. “We have lived by the credo to aid humanity in whatever way possible but have learned to maintain our secrecy if we are to protect ourselves. Recent events have challenged those ideals and led to an uprising that, if it had succeeded, would have destroyed everything we hold dear.”
Ava saw a few nods, heard a few murmurs.
Madeleine gripped the back of her chair and lifted her chin, always the leader. “Our recent alliance with the Guardians has shown me, and I believe shown you all”—she waved a hand to encompass the crowded room—“that our current mandate regarding Half-Br”—she pursed her lips and shook her head slightly—“regarding Race of mixed heritage is outdated and misguided. I believe, and the Council agrees, that the Law must be amended on this issue, and that these people—our brothers and sisters—should be welcomed and trained, taught to use whatever gifts they possess for the good of the Race and of the world as a whole.”
Applause broke out, a few whistles cutting through the cheers as people jumped to their feet.
Madeleine waited, a small smile on her face, until she lifted a hand to quiet them. “In addition, we believe that secrecy might no longer always be in the best interest of the Race,” she said. “Humans are growing, learning, some are quite”—she caught Ava’s eye—“impressive. We believe there may be situations where revealing ourselves to certain trustworthy and carefully vetted humans may prove valuable, especially when it comes to seeking out Rogues and others who may wish ill on our people—human and Race alike.
“Over the coming months, the Council, along with a special committee, will be creating an amendment to the Law addressing these issues, to be put to the Race—the entire Race—for a vote in the fall.” Madeleine swept the room with a soft look. “I hope—I pray—that you will consider these things carefully as you consider your vote. The future of our people is changing. I believe it will be for the better if we all work together.” She locked eyes with Gideon, her cheeks pinking slightly as the room erupted in loud applause and cheers once again.
“Well, that was interesting,” Ava said once the Council had filed out and they made their way toward the doors.
Caleb shrugged. “It’s what we expected. She said what she told us she would.”
“Not that.” Ava took his hand. “I mean the little moment between your mom and dad.”
“Moment?” He glanced back over his shoulder at the empty Council table. “You think?”
“Oh, there was definitely a moment,” she said with a nod, stepping outside as Caleb held the door open. “Think about it. Everybody’s told me how the bond is forever. They obviously still feel it—still love each other—and now there’s nothing really standing in their way.”
“Except themselves,” Caleb said, throwing an arm over her shoulders. “Decades of stubbornness are hard to get past.”
Ava slipped her hands under his coat to hold him around the waist. “Oh, I think they’ll figure it out,” she said. “You’ve always said I should trust my intuition, and I have a definite feeling about those two.” She didn’t imagine the slight smile lifting Caleb’s lips.
She was about to suggest they find a quiet corner to talk—and things—when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She smiled at the caller ID. “It’s my mom,” she said, pressing the connect button. “Hey, Mom. Was the flight okay?”
“Bumpy as all get out the last hour, but we got here in one piece,” she replied. “Did Lucy make it back to school?”
“Katherine drove her herself,” Ava said, swinging Caleb’s hand joined with hers between them. “She should get back to Allenmore sometime tomorrow night.”
“Good, that’s good.” She paused, and Ava was about to end the call when she asked, “Will you be home for the Fourth of July?”
“Uh . . . I’m not sure yet.”
“We’re planning a family barbecue, and I thought maybe we could celebrate your birthday at the same time,” her mom said in a rush of words. “I already talked to Grandma and Auntie Kay, and it looks like the whole family’s coming. I know they’d all love to meet Caleb.”
Caleb snorted, and she nudged him with her elbow.
“Not really sure what we’ve got planned yet—”
“Oh, come on, now. Surely you two could get away for a long weekend?” Sarah tutted reproachfully. “The family hasn’t seen you in months, Ava.”
“I’ve been kind of busy, you know, saving the world and stuff,” she mumbled.
“Not by yourself, sweetie. I don’t care what kind of superpowers you have, there’s no need to get cocky.”
Caleb burst out laughing.
“I’ve really got to go, Mom,” Ava said. “We’ll try to make it for the Fourth, okay?” When Caleb raised his eyebrows at her and prodded her with an elbow, she sighed. “We’ll definitely be there.”
“I knew I liked that boy for a reason,” Sarah said.
“Hey! How do you know it was him?”
“A mother knows,” Sarah said, like a wise old sage.
Ava found it irritating and a little bit endearing.
“Talk to you soon, sweetie.”
“Bye, Mom. Love to Dad.” She hung up and glared at Caleb. “I think my mom likes you better than me.”
He smirked. “Can you blame her?”
She pushed him away but moved closer a second later. She scanned the thinning crowd. “Have you seen Tiernan lately? I haven’t talked to him for days.”
“He was in the meeting, but he left before it was over,” Caleb replied.
Ava frowned. “Maybe Evan can help me find him.”
“Ava, leave it alone.” Caleb pulled her close. “He probably just needs some time to himself.”
She pulled free and turned back toward the central building. “I only want to check on him.”
“Tiernan can take care of himself.”
“I know that. I just . . . we’ve been through a lot together, you know? I want to make sure he’s okay.” She looked up at Caleb hopefully, and after a minute, he pulled her close and kissed her gently.
“I’ll find you later, okay?” he said.
“Yeah. Okay.”
It took some doing, but Ava found Tiernan just outside the city, seated on a boulder on a rise overlooking the valley.
He didn’t look up as she approached but scooted over to give her room to join him.
She tore apart a yellow flower, letting the petals fall to the ground, and glanced at him sideways. “So what are you going to do now? Go after the missing Rogues?” The pit Ava had created was empty once the Protectors had gotten back to it, the Rogues on the run once again.
Tiernan looked off into the distance and shrugged slightly. “Nah. I told Madeleine I needed some time off.”
“Time off? You?” Ava laughed. “What are you going to do? Work on your tan?”
Tiernan just shrugged again.
Ava sobered and touched his hand lightly. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He seemed to chew on the question before answering. “I don’t know. I’ve been at this a long time. Maybe it’s time for a change of pace, you know?”
“Where will you go?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe back to Europe for a bit. Or I have a place up north. Haven’t been there in a while. Might head there.”
Ava felt a sudden prickle of tears, a
nd she linked her arm with his, leaning her head against his thick bicep. “What am I going to do without you, though? You’re my best friend.”
Tiernan scoffed, but he didn’t shake her off. “You have Lucy. And Caleb.”
“Okay, then, my best friend who could crush a man’s skull in his bare hands.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“Shut up.”
“Seriously, you’ve become kind of bloodthirsty. I think you need therapy.”
“Tiernan!” Ava laughed through her tears, and after a moment, Tiernan gently pulled his arm free.
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “You’re always fine.” He smiled at her and lifted a hand to wipe the tears from her cheek. He rubbed the wetness between a thumb and forefinger, his green and blue eyes focused on hers.
It hit Ava how those eyes had once struck terror in her but were now associated with a person she held so dear.
Tiernan opened his mouth as if to say something but shut it a moment later, shaking his head as he stood and brushed his hands on his pants.
Ava realized he had a rucksack sitting at his feet, and her heart stopped as he hoisted it onto his shoulders. “You’re going now?”
“No time like the present.” He started toward the forest.
“But . . . what if I need you? Can I call—”
“No cell,” he said quickly. “Katherine will know how to contact me if there’s an emergency.”
She stood, wringing her hands, her heart racing. “Will you be back?”
He slowed but didn’t stop. “Not anytime soon.”
“That’s not never,” she called out stubbornly.
Hopefully.
Tiernan looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Never is a very long time.” He lifted his hand in a final wave, and he was gone.
Ava stared after him until his imprint vanished as surely as the rest of him. Wiping her tears, she turned to head back, smiling when Caleb’s gift announced his arrival a few seconds later.
He materialized a few feet in front of her, his smile falling when he spotted her. “What’s wrong?” He hurried over and cupped her face. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine . . . it’s just.” She shrugged. “Tiernan’s gone.”
“Gone? Gone where?”
“Away, for a while,” she replied, leaning close as he put an arm around her shoulders, and they started to walk back toward the center of the city. “Said he needed a change of pace.”
“I can understand that,” he said quietly.
“I feel bad for him. He seemed so alone.”
Caleb was quiet for so long that Ava prodded him with her hip. “What’s up?”
“You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“How Tiernan feels about you.”
“What are you talking about? He’s my friend.”
Caleb shook his head, his gaze locked on the ground. “He is your friend. And he’s mine, too. Which is why he had to leave.”
Ava’s heart sank as the reality of what Caleb was saying hit her. “You think he—”
He squeezed her closer and kissed the top of her head.
“But he never said anything.”
“Have you met Tiernan?” he asked, lips quirking slightly. “You think he’d actually talk about his feelings?”
Ava winced. “Now I feel even worse.”
Caleb stopped and pulled her into a hug. “Which is another reason why he’d never say anything.”
“So why did you?” she grumbled, smacking him lightly on the chest.
“Because, Miss Intuition, I assumed you’d already figured it out!”
“Nope,” she said quietly.
“Nope?”
“Nope.”
“Sorry.” He kissed her again and took her hand. “He’ll be okay, Ava. I promise. Tiernan’s been through worse.”
She nodded, but the sadness hung over her as they walked through the city. She would miss him. And she hoped he would be okay. That someday he’d come back or they’d cross paths.
“There’s plenty of time,” Caleb reminded her. “You’ll see him again.”
“I thought I told you a long time ago not to read my mind.”
“And I thought I told you I can’t read minds,” he said with a laugh, his eyes twinkling. “I’ve just gotten a little better at reading you.”
They continued toward the center of town in silence their joined hands swinging between them.
“So what now?” she asked.
“Now?” He tilted his head up, considering. “Now, I’m thinking a lazy evening watching a boring movie . . . maybe some Chinese food—”
She shoved him, he laughed, and her gift seemed to laugh with him.
“You know what I mean,” she said, resisting a little—only a little—when he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.
He leaned down to nuzzle her cheek and breathe into her neck. “Now, I kiss you, then we go to my place, and I give you something I’ve got hidden in my top drawer.”
“Something?” She let out a shaky breath and tilted her head as he trailed his lips over her skin. “What kind of something?” She shuddered at the scrape of his teeth and the gentle, teasing bite on the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
Caleb pulled back and smiled softly. “Something I’ve been saving for a special occasion. Or at least until we weren’t running for our lives.” He rested his forehead against hers, all teasing gone. “I meant it when I said that I wanted you forever.”
Ava’s stomach flipped and warm, tingling electricity swept through her. Whether it was her gift, or simply adrenaline, she wasn’t quite sure. She smiled and placed a palm on his cheek. “I meant it when I said yes,” she said.
His smile widened until his eyes—his beautiful blue and green eyes—crinkled at the corners. “Good,” he said, and he leaned in to kiss her properly.
Ava wasn’t sure how long they stood there in the middle of a city street, making out as if breathing was an unnecessary inconvenience. She wasn’t sure if Caleb would give her a ring that night, or if they’d end up watching a movie and eating Chinese food. She wasn’t sure about a lot of things. But she knew, in that moment, that whatever lay ahead, Caleb would be right there beside her. And as she drew closer to him, breathing him in, tasting him, feeling their gifts winding together—exuberant and free—she knew that was enough.
It was more than enough.
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About the Author
T.M. Franklin started out her career writing nonfiction in a television newsroom. Graduating with a BA in Communications specializing in broadcast journalism and production, she worked for nine years as a major market television news producer, and garnered two regional Emmy Awards, before she resigned to be a full-time mom and part-time freelance writer. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days. MORE was well-received, being selected as a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book Awards, as well as winning the Suspense/Thriller division of the Blogger Book Fair Reader’s Choice Awards.
In addition to MORE and its sequels, The Guardians and TWELVE, Franklin penned the Amazon best-selling short stories A Piece of Cake and Window, which also won a Blogger Book Fair Reader’s Choice Award for Short Story/Fantasy. Her new YA romance, How to Get Ainsley Bishop to Fall in Love with You, is Franklin’s first love story without paranormal or fantasy elements, although she believes love is the best kind of magic.
Connect with T.M. Franklin
Website: www.TMFranklin.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TMFranklinAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TM_Franklin
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/T.M.Franlin/e/B009NV2HHG
Acknowledgements
This series has been a long time in the making and now that it’s come to a conclusion, I would be remiss if I failed to thank those who’ve put so much work into the MORE trilogy all along the way.
To my lead editor, D.J. Gann, who’s been there since the beginning—thank you for your support, encouragement, firm talking-to when I needed it, and your friendship. It’s been quite a ride, and I loved sharing it with you.
To Jennifer Matera, my copy editor on the first two books, Deanna Noga, who took over on this one, and Andrea McKay, who’s been the proofreader on all three books—you ladies are amazing. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
To Kathie Spitz and Shay Donovan, who brought me to TWCS in the first place—thank you ladies for the crazy ride!
Thanks to Sydney Logan. You passed my name on to Kathie and Shay in the very beginning, and you’ve been a great friend and colleague ever since.
To the readers who’ve gone above and beyond to share MORE with their friends and family: Fern, Mich, Leslie, Chao, Nikki, Marty, Alyssa, Ashley, Lauren, Kristin, Jacqueline, Mackensey, Olivia, Shandi, and the countless others I’ve failed to mention here, but who have my gratitude as well.
To the many bloggers who’ve reviewed and promoted my books over the years—thank you!
To the fabulous ladies at Author to Author and to my fellow TWCS authors—thank you so much for all your support and cross-promotion.
To my son, Ryan, for being an amazing and sometimes tough pre-reader, my mother-in-law, Bobbie, who is a street team unto herself, my sister-in-law, Pam, for bringing my books to her book club, and the rest of my family and friends for their unwavering support.
To Jennifer McGuire for her help nailing down the cover of TWELVE when I was pulling my hair out, all her help with graphics, and her patience in setting up signings and such.
To Jenny Pedroza and Christa Beebe for all their marketing and promo help on the first two books and their incredible support.
To Catherine Edwards for her help with the blog tour and marketing, and to Amanda Hayward, Cindy Bidwell, and Lea Dimovski for backing me and encouraging every step. It’s been a pleasure, ladies, and I’m sad it’s coming to an end.
The MORE Trilogy Page 72