ago. Subconsciously I moistened my lips, which only
made his eyes flicker toward my lips. The breath caught
in my chest. If I moved just an inch, I’d finally be able to
know what he tasted like, to put that piece back in the
puzzle. My thoughts flickered back to earlier; I wanted
him to begin with, and with my Magic having burst
forth all at once like that. . . What would happen if we
kissed? If I allowed myself to feed the passion I felt for
him?
A branch snapped, and we jumped apart. Niall
came through the thicket.
“There you are,” he said. “We were growing
worried. Come. It’s late and we still have a long way to
go tomorrow.”
“We’ll be right there,” I assured him, nodding. Niall looked at us briefly, before turning and
going back the way he had come. I looked back at Zach
as he released my hand. Did I imagine the look of
disappointment in his eyes?
Silently, we headed back to the clearing.
“Boone and I discussed it, and we think it would best if the two of you sleep behind that tree,” Niall said as we came to the fire, and he pointed at a tree opposite from where Lucas’s house was. It was very wide. “All right?”
We nodded. Wanting to cease the current, I told them I was going to bed. I headed back to the other side of the tree, Materializing a quilt and sitting down on it. I heard Zach talking to them over the crackling fire, but zoned out his voice.
Leaning against the tree, I looked at my scars. Part of me had wanted to tell Zach that, too, so I could have someone who knew everything. I don’t know why I had talked myself out of it. Was my being the Keeper part of what I felt for him? The current and the trust? Being the Kahi was a title, but being the Keeper was a matter of my soul.
Hesitantly, I brushed the moon scar with my thumb. My eyes widened as a light shimmered over it, following where my thumb moved.
“Em, what’re you doing?”
I jumped, moving my thumb from the scar and looking over at the voice. Zach was standing at the other end of the tree, looking at me with a frown on his face.
“Nothing,” I lied.
He crossed his arms.
“Your palm was glowing; that’s not ‘nothing.’
What aren’t you telling me?”
I forced myself to lie to him, to lie to the one
person in these Galaxies that truly mattered.
“It’s nothing. Really.”
I saw him scowl in the darkness, but then he came
over to me and materialized a quilt of his own, sitting
down next to me.
He was silent, then: “You know you can tell me
anything, right?”
I looked at my entwined fingers guiltily. “Yes.”
“So whatever’s keeping you from telling me
what’s going on—” I opened my mouth to interrupt, but
he kept talking. “—when you can look past that, I’m
here.” He paused. “Why won’t you tell me what’s going
on with you, Em?” he asked quietly.
I looked up at him, about to tell him that nothing
was, but he glowered at me.
“Don’t lie to me. Shouldn’t we be past that, with
everything?”
“Yes,” I whispered, “we should be.”
“Then—”
“I can’t tell you.”
His brow furrowed.
“Why not?”
“I just—I can’t.” I paused, my eyes flickering
between his. “Don’t you trust me?” I took his words
from earlier and he knew that.
“You know I do.”
“Then please drop it. I want to tell you, really I
do, but I can’t.”
“Who’s in charge of you, Em? Not just because of
who we are, but since when do you let people give you
orders? Is it your parents, or—”
“The Council,” I whispered. “They told me I can’t
tell you what’s up with me.”
“Even though we’re—who we are?”
I shook my head.
“They have a plan for us, Zach. That—What’s
going on with me and you finding that out just isn’t part
of the plan.”
“That’s ridiculous, Emma.”
“I know it is,” I mumbled.
Zach stayed silent for a bit, before he brought up
what I really didn’t want to talk about.
“You never answered my question.”
I sighed.
“Which question?”
“You never told me what happened between us
back at his place. You said that your Magic was going to
kill you, and then. . . I don’t even know what happened.
All I remember clearly is the current.”
I hesitated, my eyes meeting his against my will. “I don’t know what that was. My Magic. . . it felt like it was going to eat me alive from the inside out.
There was too much at once, and then you—”
“I told you to touch me. I thought that the current
would help.”
“It definitely got rid of the pressure my Magic
was creating in me.”
“But there was something other than the current.
Something other than us being the Kahi.”
My lips pressed together in a firm line.
“I can’t tell you, Zach.”
“Seriously, Emma? We almost—” He stopped,
hesitation evident in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” he asked immediately, his eyes
boring into mine.
I swallowed, unable to answer right away. What
was I supposed to say? ‘Yes, Zach, we almost gave in
completely?’’ No. I couldn’t.
“For everything.”
Half an hour later, I was curled into a ball under another quilt, half asleep. But I was still able to know that Zach was still awake, that he was watching me. I was still able to hear him whisper: “When you realize you’re above them, I’m here. I’m always going to be here.”
Escape
I woke to a severe stabbing pain rushing through
me, emitting from the scars. I rolled over onto my back, trying to even my breathing. A sharper stab, and I realized what was going on.
He was coming for me.
I looked over to find Zach sound asleep. “Zach!”
“What?” he moaned.
I got rid of my quilts and shook his shoulder. “Get up!”
“Why? S’too early.”
He rolled over so his back was facing me. “Zach, get up! Lucas is coming!”
That did it. He rolled back over, completely
aware.
“How do you know that?” he demanded, groggy. “I can feel him. It hurts. Zach, let’s go. We need to
get out of here!”
He nodded, getting rid of his own blankets before we got out from behind the tree. I went to Niall, Zach to Boone.
“Niall,” I said, shaking his shoulder. “Niall, wake up!”
He wearily opened his eyes.
“Miss Fitch? What are you waking me for? The sun is far from up.”
“He’s coming.”
Niall didn’t even question how I knew that.
“We won’t stop moving.” He climbed out of his blankets, getting rid of them. He extinguished the fire and erased all traces of it.
Zach had gotten Boone up, but his hair was a mess and he looked ready to fall right back asleep where he stood.
“We have to—to run,” he yawned, stretching, “as fast as we can.”
“If we run, he’s just going to catch us!” I objected.
“
There’s n-no other way to get out of here.”
“Niall,” Zach said, “what if you teleported us? Could you do that?”
He nodded.
“Yes. You two, over here.” He motioned to Zach and Boone to come to us. He held onto my arm as well as Boone’s. He looked at Zach and I. “Hold onto each other somehow; arm, hand, I don’t care. It just makes it easier.”
I suddenly had a bought of fear; what if Boone and Niall felt an aftershock of the current like Lucas had? I still looked at Zach, seeing that he had the same worry in his eyes. But when he reached for my hand, I didn’t hesitate, slipping my hand into his. My fingers tingled, but then I could feel nothing but the suppressive blackness pushing against me. There was a slight whistling in my ears as my feet left the ground, but then the blackness was swept away and I was on solid ground again.
One Big, Dysfunctional Family
Out of the darkness appeared an enormous
building. I saw from the beginning of the sunrise that ivy crawled up the walls, lining some of the windows. There are two huge doors in the middle of the building. To the left of the building, as you face it, is a large, grassy field. There is a small patch of trees to the left and in front of the field.
“Niall, where are we?” I asked, releasing Zach’s hand as Niall released our arms.
“The Garders of Quan Head Quarters,” he answered.
The three of us exchanged surprised looks. The Garders of Quan are sort of a spy organization, operating outside of the main government, but I thought they were just a myth. No one ever sees them.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they can protect you more than Keenan Maripai can. I know them, through my father. Trust me.”
We nodded. We don’t even know where this building is, so how could we get home without Niall?
Niall walked forward and knocked twice on the doors. They opened, and he gestured at us to follow him in. Once Boone had entered behind Zach and I, the doors shut again.
“Niall, what are you doing—” A tall Wizard, who has soft green eyes, stopped as he saw Zach and I. “HHold on.”
He went back behind the marble counter and touched something.
“All available Garders, please come to the Adiai Lobby! All available Garders to the Adiai Lobby. Thank you.” His voice rumbled through the building.
The next thing I knew, the Garders were appearing left and right.
“Kingman! You better have a good explanation for this! I was in the middle of watching the game!” fumed a tall male Elf. He has messy brown hair and brown eyes.
“I said, ‘all available Garders.’ You didn’t have to come,” said Kingman.
“No, you didn’t!” objected the Elf.
“Yes, he did,” interrupted another Elf, walking up to the other’s side and crossing her arms. Her blonde hair waved to the middle of her back and her blue eyes sparkled. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t wonder about that now.
“No, he didn’t. Stop defending him, Leora,” the first said bitterly.
“Yes, he did, Tristan. You just have selective hearing, as always!”
“Dammit, Leora—”
“Excuse me! Aidan called us here for a reason, let him say it,” instructed another Elf.
“Shut it, Genevieve!” shouted Tristan.
“Don’t tell Gen to shut it!” Leora demanded.
Niall whistled loudly and everyone stopped shouting, looking at him.
“Niall?” Leora asked. “What are you doing here?”
He gestured at Zach and me.
They looked at us; Leora and Tristan exchanged glances that clearly said they were hiding something from the other Garders.
“Why are they here?” asked Gen, looking back at Aidan.
“Keenan cannot protect them as you can,” Niall answered.
“Isn’t that the truth,” one Garder muttered under his breath.
“Shut up, Jerome!” everyone shouted.
“Aidan, we should call Keenan,” Leora implored. “We still have to abide by Quan’s rules and they’re looking for them!”
“Call Keenan here?” Tristan asked. “That’s insane, Leora! We don’t want the government knowing where we are!”
“Then what do you suppose we do, Tristan? Keep their parents worrying? My mother will have my head if anything happens to either one of them! Especially under the Garders’ protection.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to them! Adler doesn’t know where they are!”
“If I’m not safer here than I am at home,” I cut in, stopping their argument, “then I’m leaving.”
I left the building before they could comprehend what I had said, pulling the door shut behind me with a loud click of the lock.
I wandered to the grassy field, pressing my hands against my sides. The sudden stab in the scars made me flinch, pressing my fingers against them. I turned, and the sun was rising behind Lucas Adler, placing him in an ironic halo.
“You can’t sneak up on me anymore,” I told him.
He frowned.
“How inconvenient.” He shrugged. “Well, I’ll make this quick, then.”
“You should know by now that you will never get my Magic.”
“Just because you’re on Level Twelve doesn’t mean you know the Magic I do. I’ll do whatever it takes, kill whoever I have to.” He paused. “You wouldn’t. You’re too. . . good.”
“You have enough Magic of your own.” “I will never have enough.”
“Earn the Levels. Practice spells until you get higher just like everyone else does.”
“What’s the fun in that?”
I shook my head disbelievingly.
“You’re so determined to take my Magic, Lucas, so if you have to kidnap me, kill me—just do it now. You keep telling me everything you’re going to do, but you don’t act on it. Otherwise I’d prefer you stop emotionally attacking me. It’s not getting you anywhere.”
He scowled, looking like I didn’t get the whole story.
“The only part of you that I cannot control is your mind. So by attacking your emotions, I can subdue you.”
From over Lucas’s shoulder, I saw Aidan. He motioned at me to be quiet.
“Where are your goons, anyway?” I asked, changing the subject and buying time for Aidan.
“Home.” He didn’t seem to care. “They seemed to think that by coming here, they would be arrested.”
“How smart they are,” said Aidan.
Lucas’s eyes narrowed and he looked around. A large group of Garders and police officers were with Aidan now.
Lucas looked absolutely furious, but he didn’t try anything.
“Lucas Adler, you are under arrest for the thievery of Magic, kidnapping, blackmail, and murder,” said a man, coming slowly up to Lucas with a swirling blue light in his hand.
“Don’t even try to use Magic, Adler, you can’t,” informed Aidan.
The blue light bound itself around Lucas’s hands, and then he and the officers were gone. The weight in my chest eased.
“Are you all right?” asked Aidan, coming to me. “I’m fine.”
“Good. Niall is going to take you home now. Come see us again, even if you aren’t in need of protection. We’re here to help you.”
“Thank you.”
The others were visible now, but Zach was practically running towards me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his hands on my arms. His eyes ran over me, searching for evidence of foul play on Lucas’s part.
“I’m fine, Zach. Really.” I looked at Niall. “Can we go home, now?” He nodded.
“Please don’t tell anyone you were with the Garders,” Aidan requested. “The government doesn’t exactly like us.”
We nodded and Niall grasped our arms again, Zach and I hands. We disappeared.
Soft Hallelujahs
We appeared before Keenan Maripai’s home,
outside the front gate, and everyone released each other. Boone pushed it open, but Niall
asked for a word with me.
“I have to return home, Emma. While Keenan has never promoted anti-Gnome legislation, it’s probably best that I am not here.”
I nodded in understanding.
“Thank you, Niall, for everything.”
He nodded, glancing briefly behind me to Zach
and Boone, who were waiting out of earshot. Then his eyes met mine.
“I know who you are, Emma,” Niall whispered, and I froze.
“I don’t know what you’re—”
Niall shook his head at me.
“You do, and I do. Queen Allu herself told my father, as he is Kensworth King.” My eyes widened, but I said nothing; Niall understood. “If you ever need me again, come to Kensworth. We will do everything we can to protect you, Queen Keeper.”
I had been expecting the scars to feel panicked when Niall revealed he knew, but they didn’t.
“I—Thank you, Niall,” I whispered.
He nodded, raising his hand in farewell to Zach and Boone, and then he was gone.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but then Zach was behind me, placing his hand between my shoulder blades.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
We met Boone back at Keenan’s front door, and he pressed his thumb against the doorbell.
“Yes, yes! I’m coming.” I heard from inside.
The door opened, and Keenan’s eyes went wide.
“You found them!” Keenan exclaimed.
“Sorry it took so long; Farbreach is tricky.”
Keenan nodded.
“Your parents are here, in the den,” he said to Zach and I.
We nodded in return and I led Zach into the den. Our mothers shouted our names and rushed forward, hugging us tightly.
“Oh, Emma! Are you okay?” Mom said as Dad hugged me.
“I’m fine,” I said as I sat down next to my parents. “He didn’t hurt either of us.”
“I need to know what happened,” Keenan interrupted. “From the time he kidnapped you until you arrived here.”
Zach and I exchanged glances.
“There’s something you need to know first,” I said.
“What is more important—?”
“Lucas Adler was arrested.”
Everyone stared at me.
“When?” Keenan asked.
“About fifteen minutes ago.”
“I—I’ll go after I learn everything.”
He nodded at us, and we told them everything, except about being on the hill and the Garders—and my panic attack. Keenan took notes the entire time.
Starlight (The Lightning Strike Trilogy Book 1) Page 6