I traced the curve of her neck with my lips. A pleasant sigh escaped between her parted lips. Pushing me onto my back, she dropped kisses on my abdomen and then swirled her tongue around my navel.
Warmth started to spread in my stomach and a tingling settled between my legs. I wanted her. I wanted to explore every inch of her body and have her know every part of mine. I wanted to know what would make her smile and which things would elicit a moan. My hands wandered to her hips, thumbs resting just above the waistband of her pants. She sucked in a shuddering breath.
“Kaci…” she whispered. “I want nothing more than to make love to you, but I’m leaving tomorrow. I won’t do that to you.”
“What if I want you to?”
“I’ll still say no. You deserve better, Kaci. You’re special.”
“Then don’t leave.” I knew she needed to go, but I had to say it.
She closed her eyes and brought her lips back to mine for a hungrier, more desperate kiss. “I have to.”
“I know.” I lifted my head so my lips could meet hers again. If she wouldn’t make love to me, I was going to take all the kisses I could. I wanted to remember how her lips felt on mine, how she tasted, how I could see the love in her eyes. “Take your pants off.”
“Kaci—”
“I just want you to lay with me and I want to feel your skin on mine. This is our last night together, I want to remember, Ever. Please.” A tear slipped out of the corner of my eye.
She kissed it away. “Okay.”
We lay facing each other in my bed, staring into each other’s eyes. Not needing words. Just being there. Together. Eventually, I rolled over and let her hold me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Everleigh
AT FIRST LIGHT, MY EYES popped open. I breathed in Kaci’s scent while she was still in my arms. I didn’t want to wake her, but I had to go. It would be easier if I just slipped away, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay with her, be with her, love her forever. But I knew I had obligations to my crew, my people, and I couldn’t put her in danger. Not only from the Authority, but from me. I had changed her. She wasn’t a sweet, innocent girl anymore. I’d never forgive myself for that.
“I love you,” I whispered, carefully getting up and taking one last look at her. Then I snuck out the door.
I found Bristow and Galton in the command center. Galton glared, while Bristow smiled. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m leaving now. I know I don’t need to tell you this, but take care of her.”
Galton’s face relaxed. “Of course.”
“May I talk to you?” I asked Bristow.
He nodded and followed me over to a corner of the room. “What’s up?”
“I didn’t want to tell Galton this. He wouldn’t accept it. If she ever needs help or if Valinor ever needs anything, please contact me.”
Bristow nodded. “You care for her.”
“I do. Very much.” I turned to go, but then looked back. “She’s been having panic attacks. You have to get her to focus and breathe when she has them.”
“Panic attacks?”
“Since Caspar tortured her.”
He nodded understanding. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome.”
Outside, I pulled out the jump device.
“Wait!” I stopped hearing the lovely voice, but didn’t turn around.
She came up behind me and wrapped me in her arms. Nestling her face in my neck, she kissed me. I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. As if she could tell how I was feeling, she turned me around and we stared into each other’s eyes. All I saw was love. Even though I had hurt her, betrayed her, tried to make her hate me, and was now walking away from her, she still loved me.
I opened my mouth to ask why, but she put her finger to my lips.
“Shhh.”
Our eyes locked. Her lips met mine like she was a force to be reckoned with. My own lips didn’t hold back and seconds later my arms held her close to me. The kiss wasn’t brief or gentle. It was messy and desperate. It was begging for more. It was longing and angst. Salt from our tears mixed in with her sweet honey taste. I was slightly dazed when we pulled apart.
Holding her gaze, I cupped her cheek tenderly. I wanted to jump back to the Nirvana with her. Wanted to stay here. Wanted to be with her. She was it for me. She was my everything. My soul mate. The one true love of my life. I would never find someone like her again. I didn’t even want to try. If I couldn’t have her, I didn’t want anyone. I was hers. Forever.
But forever would never be.
Kaci wiped away a tear that fell down my cheek. “I told you this when you were unconscious, but I figured I should tell you when you can actually hear me. I wanted to hate you, but instead I fell in love with you.”
“Kaci—”
“You don’t have to say anything. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so I just wanted you to know.” She was blinking a lot, fighting back her own tears. “Will you come back?”
“I don’t know.”
“You could.”
“Being here would put you—all of you—in danger.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“I can’t.”
“You’d give all this up?” She pointed to the planet, knowing I would enjoy exploring the different parts of it.
“You could come with me,” I said, unable to control myself. She’d still be in danger on my ship, but she’d be one of us.
“I can’t.”
“You’d give up all that?” I pointed to the stars.
“I belong here.”
“And I belong there. I have to look for my people. I have to find them.”
“I know.” She wiped away a tear that managed to escape. “So that’s it? Our feelings don’t matter?”
“We’re so different. It probably wouldn’t work anyway.” I swallowed hard.
“Right. Then go without hesitation. Live your life to the fullest. Tomorrow is not promised. Safe journey.” She stepped back and her bottom lip trembled.
I hated walking away from her. Hated it. But it was the right thing to do. I let her go with a whole lot of hesitation. “Fare thee well,” I said, reciting the Valinor goodbye.
I claimed her lips one last time and then pushed the jump drive and was back on my ship. I didn’t see her sobbing as she crumpled to the ground and she didn’t see me do the same.
The End
Book Two Coming Soon
Read on for a preview of
Chapter One
Kassia
JANA STOOD IN FRONT OF me, her hands waving frantically in my face. My gift had taken over, and I could no longer hear her screaming. Jana had never liked me and she tried everything to piss me off. She wasn’t even a student at our school, but she had dated a few of the boys here. Although she was one of the increasing number of normal humans aware of us, she had no idea what my gift was, and that I could easily drop her to her knees in pain.
I narrowed my eyes and focused on her. She suddenly stopped yelling at me and began to rub her temples. I could feel my temperature rise as the anger continued to build in me. A small smile flickered across my face as I felt her pain building.
“Stop!” Mira yelled and jumped in between Jana and me. “She’s not worth it! Don’t let her push your buttons!”
I mashed my lips. Pity that my best friend was immune to my gift. Nobody knew why this was. It wasn’t her only talent; she was also a compeller. She could tell someone what to do and that person would do it. There had been many times I wished I could have had her gift instead of mine. All I had to do was wish someone to be in pain and within a minute, they were.
When I saw the concern in Mira’s eyes, I let up. She let out a sigh of relief and turned to Jana. “Go home, Jana. You were never here.”
Jana turned and slowly began to pace away in a daze with a confused look on her face.
“Sorry,” I muttered, ashamed that I let my gift get the best
of me again.
“You know how annoying this is getting? You need better self-control.”
“You sound like my counselor.”
“Maybe I should be.”
I felt like smacking her, but she’d just smack me back, and she hit harder than I did.
We got in the car and took the two-lane road back to campus, which was nestled in the mountains in northern California. I glanced out the window at the towering trees on both sides of us. The moon had just peeked over the tops of the trees, lighting the way home.
After twenty minutes, the trees thinned out and before us stood Glendale Institute, one of two “gifted” schools in the country. Glendale was made up of a cluster of buildings enclosed by lush forests.
We parked in the parking lot and hiked up toward the courtyard. Directly across from the parking lot was a training field. As we entered the courtyard, there were dorms on our left and right, one for girls, one for boys. Straight ahead were the faculty quarters, dining hall, and learning center.
Each L-shaped dorm had two wings. The longer side housed the high school–aged students, and the shorter side was for the middle school students. When we walked into the room we shared, Mira told me, “Go to bed.”
“You don’t need to mother me.”
“Well, someone does and since nobody else is stepping up to the plate, I kind of have to.”
“What’s your deal?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I happened to be with someone when you went all mental.”
Oh. That’s what this was about. “You met a guy?”
“Yeah, a cute one, and you had to go and ruin it.” She sighed. “I rushed out of there so fast when Noe called I didn’t get his number.”
Guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry, Mira.”
Her face relaxed a little. “I know.”
“I didn’t mean to get so mad. She just…infuriates me.” I got angry just thinking about the little tramp.
“You have to learn how to ignore some things.”
I stuck out my tongue. “Pbbbbbt.”
“Do you know what could happen if you actually hurt someone?” she asked, raising her voice.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. “I’d feel good?”
“No, Kassia. You’d get in trouble. They’d punish you. And then they’d punish me for not stopping you.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll try to do better.”
“You said that last time.”
“Oh yeah. But that guy deserved it!”
She guffawed. “Yeah, he did.” She broke into a grin and we both collapsed on the floor laughing.
I watched Mira as she slept, wishing I could sleep like she did. The nightmares usually woke me up. At first, it was only once in a while, but now it was every night. Mira’s long, ash-blonde hair was spread all over her pillow. Her thin lips twitched now and then. She was my protector, although I think she spent most of her time protecting other people from me.
Sometimes I felt like I was broken. I had this rare gift, but instead of using it to do good, I used it for the wrong reasons. There have only been ten of us documented in history. Ten mind-blowers. Some were locked up because nobody could control them. Others were killed for the same reason. A few were able to control their gifts. And then there was me. I had Mira.
All of the students here at Glendale Institute had gifts. Some gifts—like mine—were only supposed to be used in emergencies. However, with my short temper, I don’t think the gods planned that one out real well.
How then did Mira get to me so fast? Noe. She was a predictor and could see things that hadn’t happened yet. Mira said Noe had called and tipped her off. Although we had driven to the town center together, we went our separate ways when we got there. We needed to be quick so we’d be back to Glendale before curfew.
As dawn approached and the sky brightened with yellows and oranges, I snuck back into bed, quietly pulled the covers up over my head, and pretended to be asleep. One minute later, the alarm clock went off. I heard Mira groan and hit the nightstand as her hand searched for the off button. Finally, the alarm stopped.
“Kassia, time to get up.” She shook my arm.
I moaned. “Okay.”
“We can get to the bathroom before anyone else if you hurry.”
Slowly, I emerged from under the covers, rubbed my eyes, and yawned. It was some of my best acting yet. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
Mira shot me a look and then smiled. We headed down to the bathroom we shared with the two other girls in the hall. I went straight to one of the showers and turned the water up hot.
A few minutes later, Mira called out for me. “Did you fall asleep in there?”
“No, I fell in the drain.”
“Funny,” she said, her voice droll.
I sighed and turned the shower off. I towel-dried my hair and body and slipped on my T-shirt and shorts again. Then I brushed my teeth. The rest I could do in our room.
As we were leaving, Noe and Auralee walked in. “Hey, Kassia, did you leave some hot water for the rest of us?” Auralee asked. She always looked beautiful no matter what time of day it was. Her strawberry blonde, pixie-like haircut required no styling at all.
I laughed. “Of course, but Mira didn’t.” Mira scowled at me. “Oh, lighten up.” I elbowed her.
“Not before noon,” she mumbled.
Back in our room, I unwrapped my hair and stood in front of the mirror for a long time. Same old dark auburn hair, glaring white skin. At least I didn’t have pimples. They wouldn’t dare show themselves.
“Were you expecting something different?” Mira asked, standing next to me. I was about half an inch taller, and a few pounds heavier.
“No.” I couldn’t tell her about my nightmares, about how sometimes I’d change into something awful in them. She’d worry too much. Besides, they were just nightmares.
I fumbled around the dresser for my eye shadow and lipstick—a light purple that brought out my eyes. Mira chose green eye shadow and a light pink lipstick.
“Purple again?” She rolled her eyes. They would most likely be categorized as hazel, but when you looked closer, you would see they were a blue-green, with specs of gold and brown floating in them.
“Violet,” I corrected.
“Whatever.”
“It matches.”
I smiled smugly. My eyes were truly a light violet color. Being curious, I once did some research and found that violet eyes were rare to both the gifted and regular humans.
I pulled on my gray school sweatshirt, which was a little bit long in the arms, just the way I liked it. I always bought my long-sleeved shirts long enough to cover at least half of my hands.
“Ready for breakfast?” Mira asked.
“Yeah. Are you looking forward to seeing Zane?”
She blushed and bit her lip. “He’s not my type.” Her nose wrinkled—a sign she was lying.
About The Author
When Talia isn’t hiding in the bathroom from her six children munching on a chocolate bar, she enjoys hiking the red rocks in Utah or sitting on the beach with a Kindle in her hands and her toes in the ocean. She firmly believes that love is love and hopes the acceptance shown in this book will become canon someday.
Talia has written a number of books including Damaged: Natalie’s Story, Teagan’s Story: Her Battle With Epilepsy, If I Die Young, Secret Bloodline, Lost and Found, Falling for Fire, Touch of Death and The Gifted Teens Series. She also co-wrote The Between Worlds Series and Mesmerized.
Connect with Talia online at http://www.taliajager.com
Talia’s blog: http://taliajager.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taliajager
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/taliajager
Instagram: @TaliaJager
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four<
br />
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter One
About The Author
Talia Jager Page 20