by Raven Steele
“What happened here?” he asked, his voice full of the same kind of coldness bleeding from his eyes.
“Go ask Maisy and Arrow. We were following them and the next thing we know, they are running away, and we’re fighting vampires.”
“Can we go back now?” Bonnie asked and sniffed.
Becca agreed. “I’ll go with you.”
“I really want to find that chick,” Ireland said, rubbing her fist into her palm and eyeing the forest with death in her eyes.
“Please, Ireland,” Bonnie pressed.
“Fine,” she sighed. Ireland looked back at me. “You coming?”
“Yes, she is,” Hudson said, answering for me.
I didn’t argue with him, although I really wanted to know why Maisy and Arrow had taken Becca out here to begin with. They were taking her to see someone else, I was sure of it. And whoever it was, vampires guarded their secret.
The forest seemed darker then before, and colder. Cold just didn’t affect me normally, but right now, I felt it. The absence of warmth in my skin raised goosebumps on my arms and made my muscles tremble. It might not have been the same kind of cold others felt, but I didn’t like it, regardless. Somehow, left me feeling like I’d failed.
“Where were they taking you?” I asked Becca, walking several feet in front of me.
“They wanted me to meet someone, but they never said who. And they said I couldn’t tell a soul. I had a feeling I was about to be introduced into some secret club.”
“What kind of club?” Ireland asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought it was going to be something silly, like a rich girl’s club or something—”
“That is so silly,” Ireland said.
“—but after seeing those vampires, I’m not so sure now.”
“Hey, what’s Arrow’s power?” I asked.
“She controls the weather,” Bonnie answered. “And she’s super good at it, too.”
“Scary good,” Becca added.
I shivered, trying to imagine it. That was a rare gift.
At the top of a small rise, the trees opened up, giving me a view of our surroundings. I could just make out the top of Solar Academy in the distance. I stopped and glanced behind me. An endless forest butted up against a small mountain range. The nearest foothills had been sheared off, as if the earth had split in two thousand years ago. That must be the cliffs Ireland mentioned.
“Come on,” Hudson said and motioned me forward.
Just as I turned, something caught my eye. A flickering light in the distance. I squinted my eyes. “Do you see that?”
He followed my gaze. “See what?”
“There’s a light up there.” I pointed to the mountainside maybe half a mile away.
“I’m not sure—Oh! I see it.”
Hudson’s voice captured the attention of the others.
“What now?” Bonnie whined.
A chill spread across my skin. Not from cold, but the tingly sense that I’d discovered something significant. “I think that’s where Maisy and Arrow were taking Becca.”
Becca moved up from behind me. “Why would they take me to a cave?”
I couldn’t answer her question, but something about it felt right. “I’m going to go check it out.”
“No way!” Bonnie said. “We need to go back to the school. Besides, it’s probably just some hunters camping for the night, which means guns. Plus there’s still that girl vampire out there.”
Ireland rested her hand on my shoulder. “Normally I’d be the first person to follow you into the dangerous unknown, but I’ve got a splitting headache. Maybe we can check it out tomorrow?”
“Listen to them,” Hudson added.
But I couldn’t even if I wanted to. My fire breathing down my neck, urging me forward as if it knew something I didn’t. I had to know what was up there. Maybe it had something to do with my mother. “I’m going to check it out. You guys go back. I won’t be long.”
“Vampires!” Bonnie blurted.
“I’ll be fast and quiet.” I returned down the ravine despite their protests. Footsteps followed me. I didn’t have to turn around to know who was following me. I could feel his ice trying to extinguish my fire.
“This isn’t smart,” Hudson said.
“I know, but what if whoever framed my mother is up there?”
“That’s a huge stretch.”
“Maybe, but I’m fairly certain Arrow’s tattoo was of a hawk. I asked her about it, and she got all weird and changed the subject. Something’s going on here, and I have to know what. There’s not much time left.” I stepped over a thick, fallen tree, keeping my head on a swivel. I didn’t want to tell the others, but the vampire encounter had really freaked me out. I might not have returned to the woods had I not believed Hudson would come with me. The way he’d protected me from that vampire… I could still see the anger in his eyes, feel his arctic storm on my skin. Maybe there was something more between us, but had he saved me to protect me, or just my fire?
He gripped my arm, stopping me. “What do you mean there isn’t much time?”
I scrapped my teeth over my lip, my insides beginning to tremble. I didn’t like to think about how little time I had left. “They’re coming in a few weeks for my mother, Hudson.”
“Who’s coming?”
“The Enforcers from the ISA. Her ten years are up. That’s all the time they gave Linda to try and wake her up so she could get a fair trial. Without that, they’ll kill her for sure.”
He took hold of my hand and squeezed it gently, infusing his icy coolness into me. “I’ll talk to my dad. Maybe there’s something he can do.”
I gave him a half-smile. “Thanks. But in the meantime, I have to do all I can to try and save her.”
He let go of my hand and strode forward, the muscles in his back and shoulders still tight. “Just promise me that as soon as you see that what’s up there isn’t a threat, we’ll return to the school.”
“I promise.” I kept close to him, feeding off his arctic breeze. “Thanks for coming. And thanks for stopping that vampire from smashing in my face. That was some intense power.”
I glanced at him briefly just before my foot tripped on a tree root. Hudson caught me and spun me to him. The stormy gaze had returned to his eyes, and I sucked in a breath at the intensity.
“When I saw what he was about to do to you, I lost it. It’s like something came to life inside me, and I released it.”
His cold touch burned into me, reaching my bones, my muscles, my heart. I didn’t want him to let go. “I’m glad you did.”
He shook his head. “It scared me. I’ve never felt that out of control before.”
“It scared you?”
He dropped his hands from my arms. “Whatever this is between us, it’s powerful … and dangerous. We need to be careful.”
I groaned inwardly and turned around to continue my way through the forest. What could I say to that? I agreed with him, and yet I craved his touch in so many ways.
The trees opened up briefly from time to time, giving me a view of the cliff face growing closer and closer. I couldn’t see the light from here, but I felt strongly we were still going in the right direction. The crackling embers of my fire breathed hotter when I turned away from my goal, calming down again when I got back on track. It was almost like playing a game of hot and cold.
We walked in silence for several minutes, our footsteps the only sounds in the forest. It had grown eerily quiet, and the hairs on my arm rose. Instinctively, I slowed. Hudson came side by side with me.
“Do you feel that?” I whispered.
“We’re being watched.” He slipped his hand into mine. The contact gave me much needed strength.
We continued walking, keeping our eyes on the trees around us. So many shadows. So many unspoken threats hiding within them.
“Not much further,” Hudson said, his voice low.
“How do you know?”
“I’
ve hiked the cliffs a few times during the day with my friends.”
“The school let you?”
He looked at me pointedly. “They didn’t know. But we were smart and came here during daylight.”
“Did you ever see any caves?”
“Some, but not any big enough for someone to light a fire inside.” His eyes sparkled.
“You’re curious too, aren’t you?”
“A little. I don’t sleep very well, so I’ve seen these woods a lot at night, mostly from the roof of the academy. I’ve never seen signs of anyone out here until tonight.”
“The roof?”
He glanced at me and winked. “Secret access. I’ll take you there sometime.”
“I’d like that.” Our eyes met and something passed between us, and it wasn’t my fire or his ice. It went beyond our elements and our power sharing. Something special that touched us at our cores.
He squeezed my hand and helped me up a steep ravine. As we crested the top, I spotted the cliff through the trees. “We’re here.”
“Yeah, but where exactly was the light coming from?”
“It’s close. I can feel it.”
“How?”
I picked up my pace, mindful of where I stepped. “I’m not sure.”
Reaching the bottom of the cliff, I stared upward. It must be at least sixty feet high and jagged as hell.
“How are we going to get up there?”
I pressed my hands against the rocks and shook my head, feeling my fire grow hot. “Not here. This way.”
My fingers grazed the rocks as we walked, and my fire simmered at the contact. There was energy in these stones, something my flames liked. I focused on the feeling and on the tug behind the sensation. Magic pulled me forward.
I stopped when we reached a crack in the rock face. I quickly removed my phone from my pocket and shined it inside. Just ten feet up, the crack widened and a small ladder appeared. “I can’t believe it.”
“What?”
I moved out of the way so he could peer inside. “Look.”
“It’s a ladder.”
I turned to him. “Still think it’s hunters?”
A grin tugged at one side of his mouth. “Let’s go find out.”
Chapter 19
“I’ll go first.” Hudson slipped inside the crack. I didn’t know whether to be impressed or frightened by his sudden interest in what lay in the cave above us. Anyone else would’ve been trying to convince me to turn back. Explore the place in the daytime. If I was smart, I’d be saying the same thing.
But instead, I followed after him. The crack was the perfect width to shimmy up. My fingers and feet easily found grips in the jagged rock face. I reached the bottom rung of the ladder just as Hudson began his ascent.
“Be careful,” he called down to me. “Some of the grips are slippery.”
We climbed upward, hand over hand, step after step. Had I been a normal human, my legs would’ve burned from exertion, but my fire was quick to heal me. Only occasionally did I feel a twinge of pain.
“You good?” Hudson asked after we’d been climbing for over a minute.
I glanced down, my vision dimming briefly at how high up we were. One slip and I’d plummet to my death and probably be impaled by one of dozens of branches. Ireland would’ve loved this.
“I’m fine. How close are we?”
“Almost there.”
“Do you still see a light?”
“Something flickered a minute ago, but I don’t see it now.” He continued upward at a faster pace.
I matched it, just as anxious to see what lay above us. My pulse beat quickly, and I couldn’t deny the elation flooding my veins. Whatever was up there called to me.
“Hold up,” Hudson whispered. He stopped moving.
I glanced up at him. The ladder had ended, and Hudson climbed onto a ledge. I turned my face to the side to avoid small pebbles and dirt sprinkling down on top of me.
His head appeared a moment later, staring down at me. “Sorry about that. Wait here. I want to make sure it’s safe first.” He disappeared.
Hell to the no.
I quickly climbed the rest of the way and peered over the ledge. The dark cave entrance loomed about ten feet ahead. Hudson stood just outside it, peering in like he was about to enter. I scrambled to join him.
He heard me and turned around. “I told you to wait!”
I ignored him and turned on the light on my phone again. “We’ll do better together.”
Panning the light around the ledge showed nothing but rock stretching forty feet below and at least twenty feet above. Green moss grew on some of it, making it look not so ominous up close. To my right, I discovered a narrow path leading down. It looked like a much easier trail than the ladder we’d just climbed.
Hudson spotted it, too. “That would’ve been nice.”
“We’ll take it down.” I focused my light at the cave entrance. It didn’t penetrate very far. We paused and just listened.
Hudson cocked his head to the side. “As far as I can tell, it’s empty. I don’t hear anything.”
He walked forward into the entrance, and I hurried to keep up. Footprints littered the cave floor. A feeling of dread knotted my stomach, and unlike before, when I’d felt drawn to this place, I began to feel sick.
Hudson added his own cell phone light to mine. “It looks like someone was here recently.”
“We probably scared them off.”
Together we walked inside the all-consuming darkness. Even my cell phone light had a hard time penetrating this heavy blackness. I couldn’t see anything beyond it.
“If it’s possible,” Hudson said, his tone hesitant, “do you think you could light some fires for us?”
I frowned and lowered my phone, thinking. I’d started plenty of fires before when my father had taken me camping, but that had involved me touching a bunch of firewood. Fire was easy to transfer by touch. “Do you see any logs?”
He circled his light around us. “No, but do you need them? I saw you create a fireball in the air. Just do that again, but make it stay.”
“I don’t think I can.”
He found my hand in the darkness. “Of course you can.”
“How do you know?”
His fingers squeezed mine. “Just try.”
I closed my eyes, thinking back to how I’d conjured the fireball before, but it had all happened so fast, and we had been in immediate danger.
Hudson’s thumb brushed across the top of my hand, leaving ice in its wake. Maybe I could use his ability to temper mine. “Don’t let go of me.”
“That’s the last thing I want to do.”
I swallowed and tried a new tactic. I imagined fire lighting up the darkness around us. The power gathered inside me, starting at my core where it ate up some of my earlier sick feeling. My stomach burned, but I kept it centered by using Hudson’s ice to shield it from raging out of control.
I exhaled a sharp breath, opened my eyes, and said, “Ignite.”
Fire escaped from me in several bursts. Six flames ignited the air in small pockets around us, chasing the darkness away.
Hudson looked around in awe. “Amazing! Can you maintain it?”
I mentally reached out to the flames. They felt contained, but only because Hudson was touching me. “I think so. Just don’t let go.”
“Never.”
He smiled and tugged me forward. “Come on. There’s lots to explore.”
I turned to see what he was looking at. The cave was much deeper than I expected. Together we walked deeper inside. The flames stayed hovering above us, casting dancing shadows in every direction.
So far the cave looked unremarkable. Black and gray rock. Most of it untouched by time except for the smell of jasmine and eucalyptus, like someone had burned incense recently. Sharp stalactites hung from the ceiling into deadly points. Thank goodness they were several feet above us.
A sharp pang stabbed at my gut for no discernible reaso
n, like a stitch in my side but lower. I sucked in a breath and pressed a hand to my stomach.
“Careful,” Hudson said, “there’s water.”
I glanced down. A natural spring bubbled from cracks in the rocks, making the ground slippery.
“I think we might’ve hit a dead end.”
A wall rose up ahead of us. We stopped by the spring and looked around. When I turned my head to the right, the floating flames followed my eyesight, revealing a narrow crevice. “This way.”
This time I lead the way, even though the rot in my stomach only grew the deeper we progressed. I grimaced in pain. Maybe that burger I’d scarfed earlier wasn’t agreeing with me.
“Are you okay?” Hudson asked. “We could go back if you want.”
“I’m fine.” We were so close to something. I wasn’t about to stop now.
The crack in the cave grew more narrow, and we could no longer walk side by side. Balls of flames continue to dance over our heads. I could feel the heat of them warm my head.
“I’m serious,” I said. “Don’t let go of my hand. I don’t want to be stuck in this place with no light.”
His grip tightened. “And I was very serious when I said I wouldn’t.”
His words comforted me as much as his touch.
I squinted. “I think I see something.”
“What?”
I pulled on him faster. The crack opened up into another wide cavern. “It looks like some kind of large room.”
We stepped inside and the flames raced into the room as my gaze wandered all over it. With a single mental push, I divided the six fires into twelve. Light permeated the wide and tall space.
I sucked in a breath. A white, leafless tree stood tall in the center, its limbs expanding up and outward, twisting in and out of each other.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed, “but how is it here?”
“I don’t know.”
We circled it together in awe. As I did so, I also searched for any other exit. There was none. The pain in my stomach began to spread down my legs.
“Do you see the marks?” Hudson asked.
I lowered my gaze from the white gnarled branches to the thick trunk, moving closer to examine characters etched into the bark. “What are they?”