Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance)

by Brint, Cynthia

  Gripping my side, I forced ragged air into my lungs. Why didn't that work?

  As if reading my mind, he spoke gently as he stalked towards me. “Oh, Gale. You know so little, in the end. Even after you've learned so much.”

  Reaching down, he grabbed the front of my sweater, lifting me until we were nose to nose. “I brought you back to life, Gale! Me! You've got some of my energy in you, it's how I messed up your memories.”

  Shaking his head at me, like I was the saddest thing he'd seen, he put his other hand around my throat. I felt so vulnerable, I instantly began kicking at him, tugging at his sleeves. “Gale,” he hissed into my ear, “putting a bit of me inside of you, it was my safety net. You believed everything I said, and now, you can't hurt me because I won't let you!”

  Gagging, my nails digging into his flesh harmlessly, I shut my eyes. Is this really it? I guess I've died before, maybe it won't be so bad to experience it again.

  Breathing was hard, my wind pipe making a grisly whistling noise.

  He put part of his energy in me, to bring me back. How could I have known? How...

  Then I thought about it; that odd, hard ball of sickness that twitched in me when I tried to remember things. When I'd first woken up, I'd felt it, too.

  It had been fading over time, since he'd revived me. Surely, maybe—maybe it meant it couldn't be as strong as he suspected?

  I thought about the power in me, how it would ripple and shine, letting me sense the twaelin. It was what made the back of my skull tingle, what made my tongue numb and swollen.

  Focusing inwards, ignoring the sensation of being suffocated, I reached inside of myself.

  It's warm, and white, and... and there. Like a bit of dirt on a porcelain floor, I reached out for the blight.

  My hand rested on my stomach, clenching, pulling at what was in me. The heat grew, building to a crescendo.

  Opening my eyes, I saw that Valenforth was staring at me in abject shock. In my hand between us, I held a small fistful of energy; blue as the creature I'd seen him become while fighting.

  We both watched as it faded away to white, crawling back into me, reabsorbed.

  In that split second, I saw fear in his eyes. It was a fear that grew when my fingers sank into his forearms, energy rippling along my muscles.

  Screaming at the top of his lungs, he let go of my throat. My desperate gasp for oxygen was sharp, it hurt deep. Grateful, I breathed in even harder, filling my chest.

  “Let go,” he begged, pushing at me weakly. His power, strength, it was all fading so quick. I felt us fall, his legs giving way.

  Kneeling over him, I stared into his frightened eyes, watched him turn white as cheese.

  “Please,” he said, “please, don't kill me. Not now.”

  Shaking my head, I gripped him tighter as the energy pulsed. “I promised.”

  Soon, he closed his eyes. His head hit the floor, like he wanted nothing more than to sleep. “So this is what death feels like,” he whispered. “Why is everyone so afraid of such peace?”

  I bit my tongue, refusing to speak.

  “Gale,” he said abruptly, struggling to open his eyes. “You're going to become more powerful than anything, or anyone. Do you understand that? You have the power of every twaelin inside of you now. All of the sources.”

  Tensing up, my hair rose on end, nagging like healed scabs. “All of them? No, I only have two. The Queen, and now you.”

  Chuckling, he shook his head feebly. “No, you have all of us. Creation was there from the start.”

  “I—no, how is that...”

  “It's what pulled us all to you. The combination of Creation, and a human... so unheard of. It drove is like you were a great magnet. It made Ethlyn think he loved you, and broke him in the end. It let you do so much we could never do as just twaelin.” Snorting, he turned his face away, his smile sad. “Who would have ever thought it, a human becoming so powerful. Or maybe you're no longer human, who knows. Who...”

  He said no more, I watched as his body crumpled away, becoming nothing but swirls of blue energy.

  Alone, I sat there in the throne room. Holding up my hands, I gazed at my palms in a daze.

  What he said, can it be true? But how, how could I...

  Holding my face, I bent low on the floor. I had no more tears in me, my sobs were dry. Inside of me, I felt the swirling energy, thought how pointless it all was.

  What did it mean to be a god, a human, a twaelin? Any of it?

  Hanging my head, my hair fell around me like a curtain. I wanted to get away, I wanted—I wanted Nethiun back.

  “Give him to me,” I said softly. Then, clenching my jaw, I began to shout. “Give him to me! Give him back!” Fists slammed into the hard ground, splitting my skin, but I felt nothing.

  I want him back... I want him back more than anything.

  Behind my eyelids, I saw spots of color. I assumed they were from the tension, the stress, until they began to bloom into a white so intense I couldn't escape it.

  Opening my eyes, lashes fluttering, I found the smokey throne room to be gone. Instead, I gaped at nothing but glowing energy, everywhere. It was as if I'd fallen straight into the sun.

  Standing on trembling legs, I turned in a circle. “Where am I?” I asked, expecting no answer.

  “Inside of you, of all your energy.”

  Spinning, I found a man I had never seen before. He was as white as everything else, save for his hair; a long braid of crimson. Grey eyes stared back at me, an expression of tender familiarity. In my heart, I knew who it was.

  “You're the Duke of Creation, aren't you?”

  He smiled sweetly, reaching out for my hands. I let him take them, too stunned to know what else to do. “I am, Gale. It's wonderful to finally see you like this, I always wondered how you would turn out.”

  Lifting my eyebrows, I yanked my arms back. “No, wait. Who are you?”

  Laughing, he pushed some loose strands of his hair behind his ears. “In a way, I guess I'm your father.”

  That was too much for me. “No, that doesn't make any sense.”

  The corners of his eyes crinkled. “I know it doesn't. I never expected it to happen, either. Let me try to explain it for you.” Rubbing his chin, he stared off to the side. “Your mother and I, we began seeing each other about a year before you were born. At the time, I wasn't sure what I was getting into. But Carolyn, well, she was far more confident than I. Confident in what we were, in what we were becoming.”

  I sat down heavily on the white floor. “Keep going, I think—I think I need to sit.”

  He nodded, folding his hands behind his back. “The short of it, we fell in love. When she got pregnant, you can imagine my shock.”

  I didn't seem capable of not shaking my head any more. “Twaelin can't do that, Nethiun said...” Oh, god, Nethiun. Just thinking about him made my chest tight.

  Creation sensed my mood. Frowning with compassion, he sat beside me. “You're right. I don't know how it happened, I assume it has something to do with my energy. Canendore could dream, she could see the future. Valenforth could raise the dead. It seems having the power of creation, well.”

  He shrugged, staring at me curiously. “Still, what happened in the end was unexpected. When you were born I was very surprised. The biggest shock was yet to come, though.”

  Lifting my eyes, I studied him nervously.

  “When you were very little, and your mother was away, I was watching you. You reached out, and you pulled at me. That day, Gale, you destroyed my existence.”

  “No,” I groaned, hanging my head. “So that's why. We thought you have abandoned us, but I actually killed you?”

  “Calm down,” he said so
othingly, touching my shoulder. “I'm not gone, not entirely. What I was, yes... that's no more. But my energy is here. Gale, you're amazing. You can do anything you want with all this power you have.”

  Laughing sourly, I brushed his hand away. “All I wanted was something I thought I didn't want. And now, it's gone. He's gone.”

  I felt the anticipation in his tone. “It doesn't have to be that way.”

  Turning towards him slowly, I held my breath. “What do you mean?”

  Creation smiled, standing with a grunt. Reaching down, he offered me his hand. I took it, letting him help me to my feet. “I've never known anything like this to happen before. Gale, everything you are, it breaks every rule. Who's to say what you can or can't accomplish now?”

  Looking into his eyes, eyes that were so like mine, I felt a glimmer of hope. “You think anything is possible?”

  “Perhaps. This universe, it's impossible to understand. Circles within circles, everything, all of us. Humans, twaelin, the chain just keeps going. There's far more that exists than we know.”

  I thought about Valenforth's drawing, of the page with the twaelin names and how everything was placed in circles.

  “With the right energy, the right desire,” he said, “surprising things can happen.”

  He's right. I never thought I'd run into things like twaelin, or someone like Nethiun.

  I've died, I've been reborn.

  Who's to say what I can't make happen?

  Closing my eyes, my lashes tickled my cheeks. The passage from English class, how long ago that felt... it weaved upwards from my subconscious. Mortal free-will... it can trump fate. I believe it now, I believe it completely.

  I remembered what Nethiun had said to me, how he had promised to keep me safe. How I had sworn to him I would stop Valenforth.

  So many people have been hurt and had sad endings. Maybe with all of this power, I can change their fates, and not just mine.

  Inhaling into my diaphragm, I squeezed every fiber in my body until my skull was aching. I don't know how, but I have to make it happen.

  I want to fix everything.

  I want—need—to have him back.

  Our story isn't over yet.

  Beside me, I heard Creation wheeze inwards. Refusing to open my eyes, I kept concentrating. I pictured Nethiun, everything I loved about him. His quick wit, how he had suffered and risked his life by refusing to kill me when instructed to.

  How he must have hurt, losing me.

  How I hurt now... losing him.

  The air wobbled around me, my hair shifting like a breeze had come from the sea.

  Remember how he took you flying.

  And remember that night, under the orange trees.

  Nethiun... I love you, so please.

  “Please,” I whispered, my voice cracking, “just come back.”

  With that, the world convulsed.

  White energy flowed out of me, my skin broiling with the power of it. Every inch of me felt like it was being yanked, tugged in an attempt to break me into a million chunks.

  No, I strained to stay focused. I won't give in, I can do this.

  For once, I'm not going to lie to myself.

  I believe I can change our fate!

  Like the storm that raged in me was dying down, I began to breathe easier. Opening my eyes, I saw I was swaying in a sea of opal light.

  In front of me, I lifted my hands watching the energy swirl like tiny ripples in a pond. Inherently, somehow, I knew what I was about to do.

  That it could be done.

  Spreading my hands, I repeated what I recalled Valenforth doing in his yard. The night he had brought back Ethlyn... I remembered.

  Crushing my palms together, I felt the ball form. It reminded me of a tiny star, pulsing to life.

  It was a familiar beat, and I held my hands to my chest, letting it match my heart.

  This time, it truly did.

  Spreading my arms, the energy illuminated, shaping into the figure of the person I would do anything for. I would change the world, if it meant we could be together.

  His body moved, forming perfectly until his blonde hair glistened, his lips parted as he slept.

  Nethiun lay on the floor of the throne room before me, his chest expanding with air. His lashes twitched, then those hard, frosted-glass orbs peeked open to look my way.

  “Gale,” he said softly, “I think I might have had my first dream.”

  Throwing myself over him, I sobbed with relief into the crook of his neck.

  Chapter 27.

  Nethiun

  Her hair was silky, caressing my cheekbone while she crushed herself against me. I could feel her relief, the way the sobs made her whole body quake.

  How am I here? Staring upwards, looking at the ceiling that faded off into darkness, I had no answer.

  The memory of my destruction, the way my being had dissolved into the ether... it was all I could recall.

  That, and the tickling reminder of what had to have been a dream. I've never dreamed before, but that... It couldn't have been real.

  Lifting my arm, I stared at my fingers. She was calling to me, I heard it. Gale was saying my name, begging me to come back.

  Is that how I'm here?

  Lowering my arm, I let it fall over her shivering shoulders. Pushing my face against the side of her head, I nuzzled her until she finally lifted herself up enough to gaze down at me.

  One of her tears welled up in the corner of her perfect grey eyes, dropping down to my skin. Extending a hand, I thumbed away the rest of the wetness from her red rims. “Shh, don't cry, Gale.”

  “Sorry.” Sniffling, she sat on top of me and rubbed her face. Her smile blossomed, unbreakable. “I'm just really happy. I can't believe this is happening right now.”

  “How did you do this?” I whispered, in awe as I grasped an understanding of her power. “How did you manage to change the rules?”

  Her determination was pure, something I had only seen hinted in her before. “I wasn't going to let something like fate take away what I wanted most.”

  What she wanted most.

  In a second, my mouth was on hers. Wrapping my fingers tightly into her wild hair, I pulled her down on top of me. Everything about her, everything she was and had been and could be.

  I needed it.

  I'd never felt so satisfied, and at the same time, so greedy

  She tasted so much like the tang of her tears. Our chests pressed together, the flutter of energy between us in sync.

  Unlike that first time, the scent of oranges thick around us, Gale displayed no hesitancy. I sensed no fear, no doubt. She was a beacon of desire, a true epitome of the passion woven between us.

  The girl who was more human than anyone I'd met, her emotions radiant as an undying star. She'd shown me things I'd never thought possible, come back from the grave and fought against the very concept of a destiny that was bleak.

  She'd fought to bring me back, a creature who'd been called a monster; a demon. Someone who couldn't protect her in the end... “I'm sorry,” I said suddenly, leaning away. “I should have been better, should have been able to protect you like I had said. Instead, I let you--”

  “Shh.” She put her forehead to mine, eyelashes grazing me like feathers. “Don't you see? Nethiun, because of you... because of what you showed me, helped me feel between us... all of that, love and desire and desperation. That's what I clawed for, when everything fell down around me.”

  I had been what allowed her to create this miracle?

  Taking her cheeks, I maneuvered her so I could gaze into her glistening grey orbs. Smiling, Gale stared straight back. “You did keep me safe, Nethiun. You pr
otected me just like you promised.”

  I didn't sense a wisp of sarcasm in her.

  Pulling against her sweater, I tore it over her head. Crimson strands tangled, frizzed like static lived in them.

  She went to smooth them, but I grabbed her wrists, kissing the insides. Closing her eyes, she sighed.

  This woman, this amazing woman.

  I loved her, loved Gale Everette. Loved her more than should have been allowed in one man's lifetime.

  And here I was, blessed with a second.

  I had control, until she leaned down to sink her lips onto my neck. Her hot breath on my ear, it sent a surge through me.

  The sound of her bra snapping was loud in the room; her gasp even more so. My hands crawled down her spine, exploring her muscles as they flexed.

  Holding the hem of her pants, I tensed my arms. Her jeans wouldn't last long, it would be too easy to rip them down.

  Gale sat up, halting me like she sensed I was on the verge of destroying the denim. Removing them the rest of the way, she chided me. “Don't ruin my clothes.”

  Chuckling, I gripped her hips as she straddled me. “Perhaps I'll just ruin you, then?”

  Her eyes burned like fresh smoke, lips coiling into a sly smile. That smile became an ecstatic moan the second I rolled my palms up her stomach.

  Caressing the shape of her breasts as she bent over me, I breathed out hard. “You're perfect, so perfect it's unfair.”

  “How is it unfair?” she mumbled, pinkness infecting her skin as she warmed from her blood outwards.

  “The rest of the world will never know, is all,” I whispered.

  She bit down on the corner of her mouth. “Not unfair for you, then.”

  “No,” I said softly. “Not unfair for me.”

  Gale reached between us, sliding my trousers down my legs. “Not unfair for me, either.”

  I wanted to reply, but she stole my words away when she eagerly slid her wetness over the rigidness of my member.

  It was too much, I couldn't wait. To think, I'd almost lost this girl. That everything about her might have vanished into the void, either by her death, or my own...