Hidden Light

by Nikki Bolvair

  “She’s chilled,” the rough voice sighed. “We need to wake her.”

  The bed dipped as someone sat down beside me. “Honey, you need to wake up. Kenneth needs to heal you.”

  My eyes stayed closed, and I stubbornly kept quiet, curled up in my blanket ball. I didn’t need Kenneth to heal me. I was just fine. It was the flu or the mark like Colten said yesterday. I'd get well eventually.

  Mom gently shook my shoulder. “Honey?”

  “Go away,” I muttered, shifting onto my stomach. “Don’t need him.”

  “Carly, this isn’t the time to be stubborn,” Kenneth snapped. “You’re sick. I can heal you. You just need to roll over.”

  I clutched my pillow. “No.”

  “Carly,” Mom stated in the mom tone where she wouldn’t tolerate an argument. “You will roll over and let Kenneth take a look at you.”

  My bones ached and my head pounded; at this point, maybe it was best for him to check me over.

  “Might be her mark,” he muttered. “If it’s that, there's not much I can do.”

  I sighed and rolled over, eyes still closed. “It’s not the mark. I have one more day until that.”

  Kenneth grunted. “And how would you know?”

  Warmth seeped into my chest, and I stayed still. My body relaxed as I finally felt relief. “Because of Hydrent. You get your mark when you turn thirteen, right? Well, since I’m already past that age, we can only assume the light is the same age as the giver, whose thirteenth birthday would’ve been tomorrow. Ergo, I get my mark in one day.”

  “Then why are you sick now?” Mom asked skeptically.

  “Don't know.”

  The warmth of Kenneth’s healing hands left me, and the pain came back. I moaned, and curled into a ball. “Can I have that back please?” I couldn't believe I begged Kenneth for his healing hands. The beast.

  “I’m sorry, Carly.” As Kenneth scooped me up into his arms, I moaned at the movement. “Dana, hold onto me.”

  Bright lights came, and in seconds, we arrived at the clinic. Kenneth set me down on a table as Uncle Henry and Uncle Patrick showed up.

  Kenneth moved away, and Uncle Patrick took his place. He swept a hand across my forehead. “Hey, little one. You know, getting sick doesn't keep you out of Lydent school, right?” he joked. “We just patch you up and send you on your way.”

  I chuckled then coughed. Kenneth and Uncle Henry worked around us, hooking me up to machines. Whatever was going on with me must be awful for them to resort to human equipment.

  Wearily, I glanced at Patrick. “I thought you said the light couldn't hurt me.”

  Mom came over to my side, her tears evident, and Patrick hugged her to him. “What are you saying?”

  I reached out and held her hand. “You know as well as I do that for Kenneth to resort to human equipment, things must be bad.” I turned to Patrick. “My body can’t handle a Lydent’s light.”

  “Don't say things like that,” Mom whispered.

  Henry came over, his eyes worried. “How do you feel?”

  My lip trembled, and my soul shifted. “Like I’m dying.”

  More lights filtered into the room. Hale was there. Why was it just him? Myra and Hooks stood beside him. Maybe he’d been with Myra? Or Hooks?

  Hale went to the end of my exam table and held my feet, the only other place not taken. “What happened?” That voice of his skirted along my bones.

  “I’m sick,” I told him bluntly.

  Hale didn’t smile. His sea-green eyes looked lost and worried, wild black hair sticking out like he ran here, but I knew better. He turned his gaze to his dad.

  “We’re not sure what's going on,” Kenneth answered, dragging his hand through his hair. He actually seemed worried about me.

  “Could it be her mating mark?” Myra asked, joining the group, impeccably dressed as always.

  Hooks stayed back, listening. He, too, seemed worried.

  “No, this isn’t anything like that,” Kenneth answered.

  While everyone kept talking, Hooks disappeared then came back with a book. He finally spoke as he stood beside Hale. “Carly, tell me how you feel.”

  Shadows crept in around the edges of my sight, giving me tunnel vision. “I feel hot and cold.”

  “You have the chills, honey.” Mom smoothed her hand once again over my damp forehead.

  “My bones ache like they’re swollen, and I’m tired and dizzy.”

  “Just hang in there,” Patrick murmured, patting my leg. “Kenneth and Henry are figuring it out.”

  Hooks’ attention focused on Patrick, and his mouth pressed into a thin line. He flipped through the pages of the book, more of a notebook really, and wrote some stuff down. Or maybe he was drawing?

  He stopped and peered at me. “Carly, listen to me. Your body’s rejecting Philip’s light. You need something to even out your levels.”

  “I’m rejecting the light?”

  “Yes.”

  He sounded uncertain, but I nodded. “Levels need to be evened out.”

  He was grasping at straws.

  “She’s delusional.” Hale squeezed my feet. “Carly, you have to fight this. I can’t lose you. I can’t. You have to fight.”

  Hooks gave Hale a sympathetic glance before his eyes set on mine. “You need the serum. The one Ann made.”

  My eyes widened. “Serum. I need the serum.”

  Clarity flickered in Kenneth’s eyes, and he seemed to perk up. “That makes sense,” he agreed, shaking his finger in thought. “Just a second. I'll be right back.”

  As he rushed out of the room, exhaustion set in. My eyes closed.

  “Don’t sleep,” someone demanded, but it was like echoes in a dark room.

  “Carly, don’t you leave us.”

  I couldn’t help it. I was being pulled away.

  “Kenneth!” my mom yelled. I knew she did by the strain in her voice, but it was quiet. Soft.

  “Here…” was a whisper of an echo.

  I felt the pinch and minutes later I felt relief. Then, I slept.

  ***

  Light glinted through my eyelids.

  “Child,” an old, crackly voice demanded. “Time does not wait for those who never move. Time waits for no one, not even Lydent. You need to wake up, child.”

  I didn’t care. I moved back into the darkness.

  “How many more flowers can she get?”

  “You have to think about how many guys there are who want her to choose them.”

  “Mom, you have to get them to stop.”

  “Does your brother know how you feel about her? Or how about your friends? Your bond mates?”

  A door opened. “That’s enough, Dana.”

  “Kenneth—”

  “Dad—”

  “I said that’s enough! The boys searched the mark database, and no matches were found.”

  “But Kenneth—”

  His voice softened. “No, Dana. Don’t you see? The mark never bonds with a family member, and Carly will have her own mark. Never has a Lydent female not been bonded to a group.” He paused. “Do you understand, son? You can’t do this to her, to you. Leave it be. Protect your heart as well as hers.”

  I drifted off once again, and the light came back.

  “Child, did you not hear me? Save the light, accept your fate, live. He did not sacrifice his light for you to die. Wake up. Your time here is not done.”

  Consciousness stirred, but the darkness came back.

  “Still not awake?”

  “Give it time.”

  “It’s already been a day!”

  “I know.” My mom’s voice broke on a sob. “I know.”

  “Has Dad tried to heal her again?”

  Someone else answered. “He said it wouldn't work on a life that’s given up. On—on the half-dead.”

  Half-dead… was that what was happening to me?

  The light came back, and this time the crackly voice gave no leeway.

  “Wake
up, Chéad Solas!” she boomed.

  My heart lurched. The light brightened, and burning seared my back like a thousand bees stinging. I gasped, my eyes opened, and the pain dissipated. I felt sick. Not terribly sick like I had before, though. This felt more like the mark flu everyone talked about.

  I hissed as a burning sensation tingled at the back of my neck when I moved and remembered the stinging of bees along my skin. I must have been out longer than a day because I was pretty sure the Mating Mark had happened. I shifted my tired body to peer around the room. What day was it?

  Taking in the unfamiliar space, the metal rail on the bed, and the wires hooked up to me, I came to the conclusion I hadn't left the clinic. I twisted around toward the beeping machines and reached over to turn them off so I could remove the sticky patches attached to my skin.

  As I peeled off the wires and stickers, I noticed a million flowers overflowing on a windowsill, blocking some of the moon's natural light. Who were they from? Beneath the window, a lump formed on a cot, a purse beside it. Probably Mom asleep.

  I eased out of bed in search of a mirror and found one in the en suite bathroom. I tried to take a look at the back of my neck, but I couldn’t quite see it. I bit my lip, brainstorming, until I remembered Mom's purse. I tiptoed back into the room and silently sifted through its contents until I found a compact with a mirror.

  Slowly, I got up and made my way back to the bathroom, quietly easing the door shut behind me. Taking a deep breath, I put my back to the vanity and lifted my hair out of the way. I raised the compact and maneuvered it to show the back of my neck; I studied my mark.

  The beat of my heart seemed to stop when I took in the shape, then raced a second later. It was silver, just like the guys’, and in the exact same place on my body. It looked the same...to a point. Whereas the guys had nothing in the center of theirs, mine had three leaves in a circle with each leaf pointing out.

  I dropped the mirror as shock set in; I didn’t share their mark. I wasn’t theirs. How could the Spirit Whisperer be so cruel?

  Tears filled my eyes. The revelation brought me back to the conversation I overheard. What I remembered. And it tore me up.

  Kenneth was right. How foolish was I to ever believe I could change things, to take a chance that fate and the Spirit Whisperer had a plan? Her plan and my plan were different. I wasn’t their mate. I was someone else's.

  My nose started to run as I tried to keep quiet. I set the compact on the counter and leaned over to pull toilet paper from the roll. I froze, noticing the lack of the silver restraining bracelet. I wiped my nose as a thought came to me. Hesitant, I glanced at my blotchy face in the mirror. I could leave. Go back home and wait the whole thing out.

  I shook my head. No, they’d come and find me. What would I do then? What would I say about my mark? I didn’t want anyone to know. Didn’t want to be paired off right away. It felt wrong.

  My eyes caught on the makeup compact once again, and an idea formed. I could cover it up, leave my hair down. No one would ever know.

  I had to lie.

  I opened the compact and hurriedly painted over the silver mark, making sure to cover the whole thing. Then I went back to the room and put the compact back in Mom’s purse. I stood there, watching her sleep. Did she ever leave my side? Was anyone else here? I didn’t care. Exhausted, I wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed. I wanted to go home, but knew I couldn't. So, I settled for the cabin and shook Mom awake.

  Her eyes shot open, and relief filled them when she saw it was me. She sat up, grabbing hold of my arm. “You shouldn’t be up. You need to lie down.”

  My mouth moved into a smile as I sat down beside her. “I’m fine. I feel a little bit under the weather, but I want to go back to the cabin.” I gestured to the hospital bed. “That mattress is not soft at all.”

  “Are you sure? Let me ask Kenneth—”

  I put a hand on her arm. “Please?”

  Convincing her was easy. She relented. “Fine. Patrick shimmed me here last time. I’m not sure how we’ll get home.”

  I grabbed her hand and pictured my room at the cabin. “Leave that to me.”

  She hesitated. “Are you sure you can?” I didn’t reassure her; I showed her by shimming us into my room. One brow rose when she realized where we now stood. “I guess you can.”

  She helped me into bed and tucked the covers around me. “It’s late, but if you’re hungry, I can whip up some soup.”

  I chuckled. “I’m starved.”

  Mom ran down to get the soup. Then, Kenneth shimmed into the room. His panicked expression transformed into relief when he saw me. “You shouldn’t have left,” he reprimanded as he walked over to the bed and touched my cool forehead.

  I moved away from him. “Ack, stop. I’m fine. Mom even went to make me soup.”

  He tilted his head to the side. “You shimmed your mother here?”

  I rolled my eyes. “How else were we going to get back?”

  He drew away, eyes narrowed. “You were out of it for a few days. Did you find any changes on you?”

  I glared at him. “Like my mark? No.”

  He nodded and moved away. “Okay. I have a question. How did you know?”

  Confused, I stared up at him. “Know what?”

  “That the vaccine would balance out the light?”

  Puzzled, I asked, “What do you mean? Hooks told you.”

  His eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Who?”

  “Hooks, from Hydrent. He was there.”

  Kenneth shook his head, bewildered. “No, Carly, you told me. I never saw this Hooks guy.”

  I sat up, my skin prickling in alarm as I tried to come up with a reason why he didn't see him. “He was there. Right by Hale. You must have missed him.” My mind couldn't come up with a reason why Kenneth would have missed Hooks. Why Kenneth didn’t see him. “He was there.”

  Kenneth nodded, but didn't look like he believed me. “If you say so. Take it easy and drink a lot of fluids. If you feel under the weather, let your mother know, and I’ll give you a pick-me-up. Okay?”

  I stared down at my blanket, barely paying attention. “Fine.”

  “And don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed to tell her, either. Believe it or not, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Hooks was there, right? I didn’t imagine him. He told me…

  “Carly.” Kenneth’s tone became firm.

  “Yeah.” I waved him off, my thoughts still stuck on Hooks. “I won’t wait.”

  With a nod, he headed out the room, and a breath escaped my lips. I lied to him. What happened in that room? Then realization dawned; Kenneth cared about me. I lay back in bed.

  Shit.

  This—everything—was getting too weird.

  ***

  Mom brought me soup as the sun peeked over the treetops. I scooted up in bed into a sitting position and she lay the tray on my lap. “Chicken soup. And salted crackers.”

  My stomach grumbled. “Thanks, looks good.”

  “Carly, we need to talk about something.”

  I glanced up inquiringly as she sat down on the side of the bed and bit her lip. “What?”

  “It's about what Kenneth told you all those years ago. I want you to know he was wrong. To say what he did, he had no right. It infuriates me. And he knows it. Henry and Patrick are angry, too.”

  I shook my head. “I know, Mom. But he's right. I did have a crush. I still do, but it's not right to be hanging on like this, knowing that it can never be. So, today, I decided to stop pursuing them like I have been.”

  Her brows knitted together. “That’s not what I was going to say.” She leaned in closer and folded her hands over mine before I could pick up my spoon. “I was going to tell you to follow your heart. If it’s telling you there’s something between you, Hale, and Zander, as well as their friends, then maybe you should see where it takes you. Your mark doesn't decide your destiny.” She squeezed my hands. “You do. And I hope you’ll li
sten to your heart and not a fate that’s been created for you.”

  What she said was right, but I also knew my mark didn't match theirs. They weren’t my destiny. But I was the only one who knew that.

  I nodded in agreement. “You're right, Mom. I’ll do what's right for me. And right now, my heart is telling me I need to hold off on relationships. Why rush? I'm new to this world. Let me learn about it a little bit more.”

  She moved her hand away, her gaze filled with worry. “Whatever you need, just do what's best for you.”

  I gave her an encouraging smile. “I will.”

  “Myra offered to shim by your dad's house and grab your phone.”

  I shook my head. “Mom, you can't do that. What if someone's home?” Then my eyes narrowed. “And what was with that note and rose yesterday? You knew who it was from. Is Myra trying to get her son and me together?”

  Mom grimaced. “Maybe yes on both counts. But don’t worry. Today’s the day. We’ll just have to see what happens. As for your dad’s house, we won't bother anyone. We'll shim into your room and grab your phone and charger.”

  My shoulders dropped. “Sure. Fine. I guess that's okay.”

  Mom grinned. “Yeah, it is. We need to have some way to keep track of you.”

  “Speaking of tracking,” I questioned carefully, lifting my wrist, “what happened to the restraining bracelet?”

  “They had to take it off of you to hook you up to those machines. The bracelet interrupts their results.” She bit her lip. "I probably should talk to Patrick about that.”

  She patted my leg and stood. “While Myra and I are out, you rest up. No one should bother you. Your stepbrothers have the day off, but I think they have some more stuff to do. One of them might come in and check on you again.” She raised a brow. “Remember what I said.”

  My eyes softened. “I got it. Follow my heart.”

  She grinned. “You got it, sweetheart.”

  She left, and I sighed with relief. The conversation with her about relationship stuff exhausted me, especially when I was keeping stuff from her.

  I ate my soup and some of the crackers then set the tray on the floor. Lying back against the headboard, I glanced down at myself and realized I had once more been changed again into PJs, purple ones this time. Soft and comfy against my skin, they even smelled good despite the sweating and sickness.