Book of Life (15 page)

“I do want the sweet Avery back,” I began, my thoughts forming a plan as I went along.

She smiled, leaning her body against mine. “You
do?
” She looked so happy in that moment. I was afraid to shatter it.

“But, as my friend.” I navigated the words with delicacy. “That is what I miss most. We were great friends and I need you in that way more than any other.” None of it was a lie. Our friendship had always been our greatest power, not love. The two were easily confused.

Avery’s brows swiftly creased with frustration and she pushed away from me. She stumbled back as her foot became tangled in the muddy hem of her long dress. Not only was she angry, but shamed. In an instant all the light she had borrowed faded, her eyes a deeper black than I had ever seen. “A
friend?
”

I stepped toward her, trying to reinforce the idea. I needed to show her the level of support and love I felt for her within this realm of friendship. “Yes,” I replied firmly, trying to show her this was not a joke. “This is not you, Avery. This darkness does not suit you. Together you and I can change all this. You can have power far greater than the fearful power you posses now.”

I could tell she wasn’t hearing me. “You are my true love, Maximus Gordon. I don’t understand how you can’t see that. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be.”

I shook my head. “But I’m not your true love. That’s why this isn’t happening the way you want it to. Your time spent hating me is a waste when the man you truly love is still out there. Your time would be better spent trying to find him. No matter how much you beg and plead, I will never be able to give into your wishes because I do not share the same desires you do.” I stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. “You have to let go of me, Avery. You have to let yourself be happy.”

At first her body relaxed into my touch, but then it quickly grew rigid. “Who have you been talking to? You’ve been talking to Soleil, haven’t you?” She accused. “I can tell. This sounds like something she would say—so high and mighty about the fact that she could overcome the shadow. She’s nothing but a fake. You’re trying to buy me like Lune bought her, but I’m not so naïve. I’d rather kill you like I should have, like the others do.” She yanked herself out of my grasp.

I felt a bout of my anger lash out of my control. My patience for the whole situation was growing thin. “I’d like to see you try,” I stupidly challenged.

Avery’s eyes narrowed as she hunched closer to the ground. She was readying herself, and I began to regret the threat I’d made—this was getting worse, fast.

STELLA:

Still sitting on Jake’s bed, I heard muffled voices from outside his window. I quickly slid my hands under my weight and stood from the mattress on the floor. I crept to the small window in his room which was shrouded in thick, tailored fabric, closing out the light. I fished my finger through the cloth enough for me to peek out. A slice of light burst into the room as I did this. Below on the street, Wes, the girl and Jake got into Jake’s red car. I wasn’t able to see the girl’s face and it bothered me most. I felt a need to size myself up. Next to Jake’s car sat a black Camaro that hadn’t yet collected snow. I tilted my head in strange recognition. There were deep, animal-looking grooves carved across the hood. My hands griped the sill as I noticed this, as though I knew how it felt to make them.

The red car began to back out of the parking spot, breaking my concentration as my grip on the windowsill relaxed. Panic set in. I pulled away from the window and the shade collapsed darkness around me. I turned a few paces, fumbling for the door until at last I clasped the handle and flew it open. I ran as silently as I could down the hall, not that anyone was here. I was downstairs fast enough to see the car pull away and turn left onto the main street a little bit down the road. Now gripping the sill of the front window, I reached and unlocked the front door beside me. I opened it wide as a bite of cold air hit my face. At first it froze me, but I didn’t have the time to worry about it. I backed my way into the middle of the room. Breathing fast, I shut my eyes and shifted into the owl I had suppressed. There was a dull thud as the heavy hunter’s clothes hit the ground. I remained in flight. Struggling to find room as I flew about the small entry and kitchen, I ducked and flew out the open door to freedom.

Once outside, I was forced to arc upward to avoid colliding into the buildings across the street. In my panic I was moving too fast. For a body I hadn’t used in a few hours, I already felt out of place. I swept up and over the roof tops, now dusted with a fresh coat of snow that was still falling, obstructing my view. I kept my eyes slightly closed in order to remedy the visibility in this weather. I banked left and followed the main road they had turned onto. It wasn’t long before I caught up with Jake’s car.

I slowed my pace as I hovered far above them. To my surprise, another owl swept in below me. She seemed unaware of my presence overhead. I watched it as Jake’s car took another left and the new owl did also. I was jealous of her proximity, but unthreatened at the same time. She felt familiar.

EMILY:

I saw a shadow fall over the hood of Jake’s car as I sat in the front seat. Wes leaned forward from the back, his hand brushing my shoulder as he grabbed the seat. I turned and saw him craning his neck to look up and out of the windshield. “Looks like my sister found us.”

I suppressed a less than enthusiastic reply.

Jake looked up as well, long enough that the blue, soft light could be seen in his eyes as his glasses slid down his nose. In my weakened state, I found myself craving that warm light more than I had in some time. It comforted me and made me feel like sinking into my seat with a warm blanket. I was safe.

Jake looked sideways at me.
Stop that.

I wasn’t really surprised to hear his voice in my head. I was so relaxed that I’d let my barriers down and my thoughts fly free.
What is that?
I asked.
What’s that blue light?
I couldn’t believe I was asking. I’d yet to gather the gumption to do so, or find the right time. There was always so much going on, so now was as good a time as any, it seemed.

It’s nothing, Emily. Leave it alone.

But I didn’t want to leave it alone.
You know what I’m seeing, don’t you? Tell me what it is,
I demanded.

I could see him clench his teeth. Wes had leaned back into the back seat, looking out the window. He was unaware of this secret conversation. Times like this made me glad he wasn’t a mind reader.

It’s just something all the vampires have. We use it to lure in our prey,
he replied curtly, but it felt like a lie.

No, it’s not,
I challenged.
Your sister doesn’t have it. You’re lying. Why won’t you just tell me what it is?

Jake turned sharply to the right, his car wheel almost nicking the curb.

Wes laughed from the backseat. “
Whoa
speed racer.”

Jake looked at him in the rear view mirror and then looked at me.
Just leave it alone. Wes loves you.

I laughed inwardly, hiding the smirk on my face.
Who said anything about love?

Stop,
he warned one last time.

I sighed and looked out the window. We were now on the main road toward the priory and the scenery had grown more attractive. Tall, thin evergreens were rooted a foot apart, lining each side of the road. Their branches held a dusting of fresh snow, just beginning to cling as the day grew old and cold.

I watched the trees soldier by. Jake’s blue light was still on my mind, though I’d resumed hiding that from him. Why love? Why had he gone there when I just wanted to know what the blue light meant? Did it mean love? My eyes found their way from the window to Jake and back again. I couldn’t love Jake, though I knew Jake could love me—he’d admitted that already. I loved Wes, like I always have. Jake was nice, easy, and knew how to make me feel comfortable, but he didn’t hold a candle to the sort of past Wes and I had, albeit a past spent at a distance. I didn’t mind Jake’s admiration, though. It made me feel good to have it.

As much as I’d tried to put my wayward past behind me—whether it was for show or not—a part of me still missed the thrill of that person I had pretended to be for so long. That person had been daring, sharp, feared even. My transformation into who I was now meant losing all that, or at least that’s how I felt. Sure, I was more like my
real
self, and in a way that was freeing, but from time to time I still didn’t want to
be
me. Hearing everyone’s thoughts was taxing, and though the headaches I used to get when I was little had faded as my mind grew used to the chatter, every now and then they still came back.

What I needed was a friend I could talk frank with. Alexis hadn’t talked to me since the party where Greg had confused and toyed with her. She had a hunch as to what I was, but luckily she was too chicken to admit that. I could trust that she’d never tell a soul, either. She was too afraid of how an outlandish claim like that would be perceived. My life at school had changed drastically. I suspect even more so once I go back.

I stopped tiring myself with such thoughts as the main priory gates approached. Jake’s car slowed to a crawl before eventually stopping. The gate keeper stepped out of his house, a wintery Element pixie with just a hint of fall still shedding from his hair. He took one look at us before motioning the car through the gate, no questions asked.

“They never do that,” Wes announced from the back seat.

“Maybe they’re expecting us,” Jake offered as reply.

Lacy flew on ahead of us. The Element pixie watched her closely, but didn’t seem too concerned—perhaps he knew she was coming, too.

Jake shifted the car into gear and we moved on after Lacy. Behind the gates we drove past vast, now dormant gardens and right up to the temple itself. There, we left the car with another Element pixie and we all got out. I heard an owl cry overhead as Lacy spiraled down and onto Wes’s arm. She wasn’t about to change into her human form. We hadn’t brought her any clothes.

As we stood there, the doors to the temple opened. We all froze and watched in anticipation, surprised when Srixon stepped out. I’d never met Srixon in person. I’d only heard about him or seen him in the newspapers around town. He was the Crown, our leader, but from what Max mumbled under his breath, I didn’t figure he was that great of a man.

Jake leaned closer to Wes and I. “Remember, that’s Avery’s father,” he whispered.

I felt my muscles tense at the mention of her name. I knew he was Avery’s father. I didn’t need reminding. As he drew close, I noted how his white hair and face were almost the same color. I couldn’t help but pick out the similarities he and Avery had. They had the same almond-shaped eyes, frosted in the season of winter, though hers were permanently so.

Srixon descended a few more steps before stopping.

The four of us looked at each other, Lacy fluffing her feathers.

“Thank you for coming,” he announced, as though he’d invited us. He had his arms outstretched in greeting.

There was no way I was hugging him.

Jake tilted his head, looking like he had a mind full of things to say, but he shared nothing.

Srixon’s gaze fell to me as he dropped his arms. “You must be Emily,” he went on. He ushered everyone up the steps as I remained frozen on the spot. “Come now, we don’t have much time to waste, my dear. What you saw in your thoughts—we need to know more.”

“More?” I croaked. “How do you even know what I saw to begin with?” The others now stood beside Srixon, watching me with wide eyes. They seemed nervous about what I might say to embarrass them. Wes, in particular, was expressing noticeable distaste toward my behavior. His eyes were stern. I ignored him.

“We have our ways, my dear.” Srixon smiled.

“Prophets,”
Jake muttered, though bitterly. Everyone looked at him for a moment, relieving the stress on me. His reaction seemed personal. I knew a lot about Jake, but not enough to know what he was getting at and where the bitterness came from.

Srixon’s attention turned back to me a moment later.

I regrouped. “What do you want from me?” I wasn’t about to treat him with respect, not when he’d let his daughter do what she had to my sister—not when he kept referring to me as
my dear
. If he had such great power and foresight with these prophets, then he should have been able to prevent the whole thing to begin with. I wasn’t so naïve.

“To be blunt, we want you to repeat the process. We need you to reconnect with Gregory Gordon’s thoughts.” He had his hands behind his back, looking smug.

I’d now had the time to form my own opinion. I didn’t like this man one bit. All that Max had said about him, all the positive points—I wasn’t seeing it. The negative points, however—those were obvious. “Don’t your prophets keep you informed? Why do you need me at all?” After all, that was why we were here to begin with. Jake had promised us that the prophets would know why this was happening to me.