by Lola StVil
“What do you mean?”
“When you’re in distress, your soul is affected. The pendant can sense that. It will then activate one of the markings on my arm. I will know you need me. I will come. I will always come.” Before I can say anything, he unhooks the Shopour and places it around my neck.
“Bex…thank you, it’s beautiful, but I think we need to talk.”
“Yes, we do.”
“And once again, I have no idea where to start,” I admit.
“Then let me,” the Kon suggests.
“Um…sure.”
“In addition to the pendant, I came here to tell you that I’m sorry I got in the way of your relationship with Silver and that I will leave you alone.”
“Really?”
“Yes, that’s what I came to say, but it’s a lie. Pry, I’m not sorry. I want to get in the way of your relationship with Silver. If I could order every single Para alive to stand between you and him so that the two of you don’t ever touch, I would. I would battle him for a thousand nights if it meant I could spend just one night holding you.”
“Bex, please don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry, I know this makes things complicated for you, but just because this is complicated doesn’t mean it’s not worth fighting for.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to all this.”
“You don’t have to say anything right now. Just let me get this out,” he pleads.
“Okay.”
“I look back and I’m blown away by the number of times I messed up when it came to you. I should have told you how I felt about you the day we met. I should have told you that the day after meeting you, it became impossible to focus. Things got so bad my family sent me to a Healer to see if someone had done something to me. They were right, something had been done to me, but it wasn’t a mixture or a poison. It was you. Pry, it’s always been you.”
“How is that possible, Bex? What about Key? You were with her for years,” I remind him.
“Yes, and I love her, but it’s not the same. Key has every right to hate me because I should have shown more courage and told her the truth earlier.”
“Why didn’t you tell her how you felt about me? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because there was no room for me in your head or your heart. It was always Silver. And I did the ‘right’ thing. I stepped back and let it play out. I knew you’d soon see that Silver wasn’t right for you. But no matter what he does, you refuse to see it.”
“You had another girl for years. You were going to give her your Rah. Don’t stand there and blame Silver. I mean, how the hell was I supposed to know that you loved me?”
“I never left.”
“What?”
“No matter what happened, I never left. Silver walked away from you for over a year and couldn’t be bothered to call, let alone come see you. But I would never do that. Do you know why? Because I don’t know how. I cannot stay away from you. When you left us and went to human school, I would come down and watch you all the time. Not seeing you was never an option for me. But for Silver, your absence is an acceptable occurrence. It will never be that way for me.”
“You were with Key. That means something, Bex.”
“Yes, it means I was an asshole who didn’t want a ‘complicated’ situation. There are countless times in my life where I’ve chosen the easy way. When you left the team and went to Earth, I blasted you for it instead of admitting that I was going to miss you like crazy. When we were in the school hallway the other day, I wanted to kiss you, but I didn’t because I knew what a firestorm that would cause. And now, me coming here to say I’m sorry for the way things went down Saturday, when I’m not…that’s yet again me choosing the ‘least complicated’ option. But I won’t do that anymore; I can’t. Something’s changed.”
“What’s changed?”
“Me! Pry, I realize that it doesn’t matter how easy the path I’m taking is; if it doesn’t lead to you, it’s not worth traveling. So bring on the complications. Bring on the judgment of the Para world, the team, our families; bring on the fury, the fire, and the wrath. I will take it. I will stay and fight for you, for us.”
“Bex, it’s not that simple.”
“I know you and Silver have a history, but that’s exactly what it is—history. You deserve an angel who loves you enough to always include you in his life. Given everything that’s going on with Silver and Diana, you know he’s not ready to do that. I am. Pryor, I’ve waited all my life for a chance to love you. Please, tell me I finally get to love you…”
Chapter Sixteen:
One Night
“WHAT WAS YOUR ANSWER?” Randy shouts as I recount my walk with Bex.
“Can you be any louder?” I reply as I walk over and close the door to my bedroom.
“Sorry, but I need to know.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Still gonna need more info,” Randy pushes.
“There is no more.”
“Pry, conversations like that only happen on TV or in books. Romantic sweeping declarations of love that have no final answer. Well, this is not a book. And this is not a TV show. And even if it was, the commercial would have ended and we would take it from you and Bex in the park. Now, tell me what you actually said to him,” Randy insists.
“I didn’t say anything. I was about to, but he said that he wanted me to take some time to think about it.”
“So what were you going to say if he didn’t stop you?” Randy asks.
“I have no idea. I think if I’d opened my mouth, question marks would literally have come flying out of it.”
“I’m not a big fan of Bex, but I have to say, that speech…I’m a little in love right now.”
“Oh really? So now you’re ‘Team Bex’?”
“No, I’m ‘Team Pryor.’ I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy. I’m happy with Silver.”
“Really? Then why are there question marks coming out of your mouth? When another guy says he loves you, you’re supposed to come back with a strong and certain reply.”
“Yeah, Silver pointed that out.”
“I know you have feelings for Bex. The question is, just how strong are they?”
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be asking Key out?”
“I was going to, but…”
“But what?”
“I heard her on the phone; some guy is coming to pick her up.”
“What guy?”
“Whoever he is, he’s now my arch-nemesis. He’s the Joker to my Batman. The Sabertooth to my Wolverine. The Dr. Doom to my Fantastic Four,” he says in deep contemplation.
“Hey, come back from Comic Con!”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Did you catch this guy’s name?”
“No, I was too busy looking for a broom to sweep up what was left of my heart.”
“Aw, Randy, I’m so sorry,” I reply as I embrace him.
“It’s my fault for waiting so long.”
“In all fairness, asking someone out is not an easy thing to do.”
“Yeah, but I went into the cave on our last mission and that had spiders in it. Why can’t I just ask Key out on one stupid date?”
“Spiders can’t reject you.”
“So you think she would have said no?”
“I think if she’s smart, she’ll say yes whenever you ask. In fact, I wish you and she were going out; maybe you could get her to stop hating me for what happened between her and Bex.”
“She doesn’t hate you; she’s just dealing the best way she can.”
“By challenging me at every turn?”
“Apparently.”
“Great.”
“Hey, it’s your birthday, and we need to focus on the fact that you are having a ball. I mean, how many people can say that?”
“Speaking of which, get out so I can get dressed before Swoop kills me.”
“Okay, okay. Hey, Pry?”
�
��Yeah?”
“Are there mixtures that give humans power?”
“They’re rare and usually come with more trouble than they’re worth. Why?”
“No reason.”
When I jump out of the shower, there’s a figure in the mirror behind me. I turn quickly and prepare to fire. That’s when he grabs my hands and claps them together so that I don’t blast him.
“It’s me, Pry!”
“Aaden, you scared the hell out of me!” I reply as I wrap myself in a towel and go into the bedroom.
“Sorry, just wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, good job,” I reply.
“I know we have to head to this ball thing, but I wanted to give you your gift first.”
“I told you, I’m okay with not getting any gifts,” I remind him.
“Well, too bad.”
“How did you get here?” I ask.
“By Port,” he says, signaling to the black Frisbee-like object hovering in the corner of my room.
“You’re supposed to ask someone before you pop in on them. I was naked.”
“That was the hope,” he teases.
“Seriously, I could have hurt you.”
“Okay, okay. Next time I’ll knock first. Which reminds me, how long am I going to have to be on this Port crap?”
“As long as you don’t have your powers, the Port is the only way to get around,” I reply.
“And how long will my powers be gone?”
I look over at him and sigh disapprovingly. He holds his hand out as if to say he surrenders.
“I’m just asking my leader a question.”
“Your leader is off for the night.”
“Can you get her back here? I need to talk to her.”
“Okay, but she should put some clothes on.”
“Why? She’s fine with just a towel, or better yet…” He tries to tug on my towel, and I back away.
“Focus, Aaden. What is it?”
“Diana laid into me because I didn’t put Sparks first when I drew the Fight or Flight. She accused me of being selfish and worrying our kid over bullshit. Her words.”
“She’s right.”
“Yeah, she was. But Sparks isn’t the only one I let down. I know it was hard for you to take my powers away given what we’re facing with this mission for East. I made it worse and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Good, because I don’t want to repeat myself when I give you an order. We can’t fall apart. You’re my second in command; if something happens to me—”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“Aaden, we’re in battle all the time. Something could happen to me, and I need to know that you have what it takes to run this team.”
“Fine, I get that, but can we stop saying something is going to happen to you?”
“It’s the reality of the situation. You know that.”
“Stop talking about this.”
“No. Aaden, you never know, I could die tomorrow—”
“DAMN IT, PRYOR, STOP IT!”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t die! I won’t stand here and contemplate what would happen if you did.”
“I know that my boyfriend loves me and wants me to be safe. But my second in command knows that angels die in battle all the time. He knows that he needs to be ready in case he has to lead. Tell me you know that, Aaden.”
His expression grows dark. The intensity in his eyes gives me a window to the turmoil my death would cause him. He furrows his brow and crosses his arms in front of his chest. I go over to him and study his face; he looks away, pained and pissed.
“Aaden, if I die, I need to know that you can put this team first.”
“Yeah,” he says softly.
“Aaden.”
“Yeah, I got it. If something happens to you, I will take care of the team. I will put them before what I want.”
“Thank you. I’m glad we had this talk, but…I’m not ready to give you your powers back. I’m sorry.”
“Fine, whatever, just…don’t die, okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” I reply as I squeeze his hand.
“Hey, is that necklace new?” he asks.
Damn it, I meant to take it off and talk to him about Bex’s gift before he saw it on me. Argh!
“The diamond pendant, is that new?” he asks again.
“Um…yeah.”
“From one of the twins?”
“No.”
“East?”
“No.”
“Tell me it’s from Randy. Tell me he won the lottery and was able to buy you what looks like thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry.”
“The necklace is from Bex.”
“Let me get this straight. You tell him you don’t have feelings for him and he gives you a present?”
“I didn’t really get a chance to tell him—he had things he wanted to say.”
“I’m sure that Kon asshole had a lot to say.”
“Aaden!”
“Don’t ‘Aaden’ me! This is bullshit. If I had put off telling Diana I didn’t have feelings for her, you would have gone ballistic. But it’s okay for you to string Bex along?”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Oh, so the angel you’re stringing along is me?”
“No.”
“THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?”
“Bex told me to consider being with him.”
“And so you’re considering it?”
“No, I’m not. But the least I can do is wait a few hours before I tell him. I don’t want him getting hurt. I’ve already thrown him off the team.”
“You don’t want to hurt Bex, but you’re okay with what this is doing to me? To us?”
“You’re right. I need to be clear with Bex. And I will be. But tonight, I just want to enjoy my birthday with the people I care about. Please, can we just have one night without any drama? I will tell Bex first thing tomorrow. Just give me tonight.”
“Okay,” he says, clearly not okay.
I reach out and kiss him gently. He’s barely responsive. I try again and still nothing. It takes nearly ten minutes, but I finally get him to kiss me back with the same hunger.
“I promise, tomorrow I will have that talk with Bex.”
“Fine, but go put some clothes on so I can show you your gift.”
“I can’t get the gift dressed like this?”
“You can get on the Port in a towel if you want, but people will talk,” he warns.
“Wait, why are we getting on a Port? Where is this gift?”
“Not telling you.”
“Aaden, where are we going?”
“No more questions. I’m trying to do the romantic-boyfriend thing. I’m new at it, so give a guy a break—get dressed and move your ass,” he says teasingly.
I quickly change into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Aaden promises me that I am not underdressed for wherever we’re going. He takes my hand and helps me step onto the Port. He then takes a black silk scarf from his pocket. It hovers over to me.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“The scarf is made of Samson string fiber. That means the only one it will take orders from is the being that first held it. That would be me.”
“You’re blindfolding me?”
“Yup,” he says as the scarf wraps itself around my eyes.
“You don’t have to do that. I won’t peek until we get to where we’re going. Don’t you trust me?”
“Not even a little,” he says as the Port takes us away.
“Can I open my eyes yet?” I ask.
“No!”
“Aaden! Where are we?”
“Just wait a few more seconds, then everything will be in place.”
“What will be in place? Aaden, tell me!”
“No.”
“Can I open my eyes now?”
“No.”
“Now?” I joke.
“Nooo!”
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nbsp; “Now?” I reply, only half kidding.
“Seriously, how are you a leader? You are the most impatient girl I know!” he teases.
“I can’t stand it anymore. Can I open my eyes, please?”
“Okay, okay, it’s ready. Open your eyes,” he says.
The fabric falls from my face and onto the ground, revealing my location. I step off the Port and look around in amazement. I’m standing on top of a mountain range that looks very familiar. I’ve only seen it in pictures, but I know right away where I am. Yet I also know it can’t be. It just can’t.
“Aaden, are we…?”
“Yes, standing on the Green Mountains.”
The Green Mountains is a mountain range that spans from Vermont to Canada. It’s my father’s favorite place on Earth. When he was facing hard times on a mission, this is where he would go to figure things out. This is where he took my mom when he told her his Core, the story of how he died when he was a human. Telling someone your Core is the hardest thing for a Guardian to do, and he picked this mountain range to do it.
At one point during the mission, my father had to make an impossible choice, one that would hurt my mom deeply. She couldn’t handle it, so she ended up doing crazy and reckless things. My dad took her here and told her he would stop what was happening if it hurt her that much. My mom said that moment on the mountain with him showed her just how much he loved her. But the most incredible thing about the Green Mountains is that this is the place where my mom and dad got married.
“Wait, how did this happen? How could this be here? There was a demon attack on this region years ago. It damaged the area indefinitely. That’s why we could never come here.”
“The effects of the battle made it impossible to rebuild the entire mountain range, but with time and a little work, I was able to restore the section that your parents loved.”
“What mixture did you use to put this together?” I ask, baffled.
“No mixture. In order to ensure the stability of the foundation, I had to see to everything by hand. That way I knew for sure it’s safe to stand on.”
“You built me a mountain?”
“Remember back at the clinic when Randy got hurt? The reason I wasn’t there was because I was here, finishing up. I had to add a mixture that makes it impossible for humans to see the mountain. I’m just glad it was done by your birthday.”