Scorching Secrets (21 page)

Why are you drawing that?
Olive is sitting on the armrest beside me watching me draw. I shrug, “I don’t really know. Usually I just draw the first thing that comes to mind.”

“I still can’t believe that she can talk to the cat,” Bragden says while leaning toward Logan.

My name is Olive, you big oaf, not cat. Get it right.
Giggling, I cover my face with me notebook, trying to stifle the laughter. When I bring the notebook down, I see everyone watching me—some smiling, others confused. I turn toward Bragden and tell him what Olive just said, oaf and all.

“My apologies, Olive. Please forgive me.” I see the slight hint of a smile in Bragden’s response.
Hmph, that’s more like it.
Oh goodness, I’m going to like Olive.

I look past her, and my eyes land on Larkin. He’s standing in the corner against the wall, looking distracted. What’s going on with him? I turn to ask him when something in the room beeps. Larkin looks down at his wrist and sighs. He starts to walk toward the couch while he keeps his eyes down. He places a hand on my shoulder. “I need you to come with me for a moment.” Without waiting for a reply, he transports us out of the room.

Colton

She’s staring at him again. Every time I look at her, her eyes are on Larkin. Larkin is always involved. Studying him, I can tell that he’s up to something. He seems really distracted—fidgeting with his watch and casting nervous glances around the room. A beep sounds, and Larkin starts walking toward us.

He places a hand on Ryanne’s shoulder and says, “I need you to come with me for a moment.” Liam and I jump up when they disappear. Ryanne’s notebook falls onto the floor. Liam closes his eyes, rolls his head back, and groans.

“Seriously? He couldn’t have told us where they were going? What they were doing?” I yell.

“Why does he keep doing that?” Liam’s voice sounds strained like he is trying to control his anger.

Emma walks over to me and places her hand on my arm. “Don’t worry. Ryanne trusts him, and I know he cares about her. He won’t hurt her. She saved his life.” Her attempt to calm me doesn’t work. I hate that she openly trusts him like that. He used to work for Dravin for crying out loud. He was there when she was tortured! Doesn’t anyone else remember that?

I move past Emma and start pacing behind the couch. The only thing that will calm me is Ryanne coming back. I’ll refrain from yelling and taking my anger out on anyone in this room but only for so long. If she doesn’t show back up soon, I can’t promise anything.

*****

We land in the thick of a forest. There is nothing around us. Why would he take us here? I turn around to face him and see him looking around, turning in circles. He stops and faces the area to my right. Grabbing my wrist, he starts dragging me after him. “Larkin, what’s going on? Where are we?”

“I need you to see something. Well, I need you to confirm something before I tell everyone else.”

“Why couldn’t you have told me that before we left instead of surprising me like that? You know that everyone is going to be mad at you.”

“They’ll be angrier if this is true…I didn’t want anyone to come after us. It’s not safe out here. I had to transport us to this location because it won’t set off the sensors. Dravin won’t know that we are here.”

“You’re taking me toward Dravin’s compound?” Is he insane? When Colton and Liam find out where I am, they are going to freak out.

“You won’t be seen. You’re safe with me. If anything happens, I’ll transport us away.”

I stop asking questions and just follow him. I can’t get back without his help anyway. I can’t afford to talk. It’s distracting, and I have to focus to remain on two feet. We aren’t on any trail. I have to dodge low hanging limbs, uprooted trees, large branches and twigs, and pointed roots. Larkin tries to help me as much as possible, but since the ground is wet, I also have to find the correct footing. Low branches keep getting caught in my hair and hitting my exposed skin, scratching my face, arms, and legs.

Finally we get into a small clearing. Larkin slowly creeps to the edge and crouches down behind a row of thick bushes. He motions for me to do the same. Crouching down beside him, I can see through a small opening between the bushes. Dravin’s compound is right in front of me…well part of it. I can only see one of the building’s exits since most of it is covered by trees. Nothing happens for the first couple of minutes. Larkin is watching the door, so I know that something is supposed to happen soon. I’m about to ask him what is going on, when I hear a noise. I peek between the bushes. The door to the compound is opening up.

My mouth drops to the floor when I see who walks outside with Adam.

Colton

“Where the hell is she?” I can’t take this much longer. I need to know. “It’s been over an hour.” Everyone is starting to get antsy. Emma is rocking back and forth in her chair, staring off into space. David is sitting beside her, rubbing her back, but not looking at anything in particular. Liam is tense. Very tense. However, he doesn’t seem to be in any discomfort. Bragden is standing near his brother, not really knowing what to do. I look at Liam, “Can you get anything from her?”

“She’s not hurt. That’s about all I know.” That’s a good thing, but the thought doesn’t console me at all. I understand what Liam is going through…in a way. He gave her that pendant because he’s chosen to protect her. He’s supposed to fight beside her, ensuring her safety. However, nothing can be simple with Ryanne. She’s always going or getting taken to places and not telling us where she’s going. We’re left in the dark, worrying about her.

The wait is agonizing. It feels like something is squeezing my lungs, making it difficult to breathe. This always happens when she disappears, and there’s nothing we can do. In this situation, there is no way to find her. Larkin could have told us where he was taking her—what he was doing. He should have told us something!

I’m about to take my anger out on some poor inanimate object when they transport back into the room.
Gah
, took them long enough. Larkin lets go of her hand when they land on the ground. Ryanne is standing in front of him, mouth open and eyes wide. Her clothes are damp, and her hair is much curlier than it was before they left. She has random twigs and leaves stuck to her. She would have looked adorable if it wasn’t for the expression on her face and her skin. Her smooth skin is marred with small scratches.

Something is wrong.

“Do you know her?” Larkin asks her, waiting for confirmation.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Ryanne yells. Yep, something is definitely wrong. “Are you serious?” Ryanne doesn’t yell, so when she does you know it’s serious. I look at everyone else in the room. No one has any clue what is going on. She lets out a small laugh and runs a hand through her hair. She pulls out a small twig. Normally, I would have laughed at the confused look on her face, but I can see the fear in her eyes. “If I didn’t already have enough people that wanted me dead…” her voice trails off.

“Ryanne, what’s going on?” I ask her.

Instead of answering me, she turns back to Larkin. “Are you sure she’s working with him?”

Larkin reaches out and pulls a leaf out of Ryanne’s hair. “Yeah, I just wanted confirmation before I told everyone else.” Told everyone what? What was going on?

Ryanne walks backwards and leans against the back of the couch, crossing her arms across her chest. “It’s her,” she says.

“Would someone
please
explain what’s going on?” Emma asks. Ryanne doesn’t move, so Larkin starts to explain.

“I got news from a source of mine inside Dravin’s compound of some new recruits. There was one name that I recognized, but I’d never met her before, so I needed someone to confirm her identity for me. So, I brought Ryanne to the forest outside the compound. We had to walk for a while to avoid setting off any of the sensors that Dravin has located randomly in the forest. We watched as this recruit exited the building with Adam, and Ryanne claims that it’s the same girl.”

“Who?” I ask.

Ryanne looks up at me and whispers, “Natasha.”

“WHAT?” David and Colton both jump up.

“Natasha is working with Dravin and Adam?” Emma asks. “The same girl that trashed our room? The one that you shot against the wall and then she tried to kill you? The one that I tackled to the ground?”

“That’s the one,” I whisper. I walk past everyone and start going up the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Colton asks me.

“I need to go on a run again. Liam?” He nods and walks upstairs after me to get ready. I grab a pair of athletic running shorts and a fitted black tank top. My shoes are downstairs, so I put on a pair of socks and head back down. Liam is already downstairs waiting for me.

“Why would she do that? I know she doesn’t like Ryanne or me but to you, Colton?” Emma asks. I try to ignore the twist in my stomach whenever I’m reminded of Colton’s previous relationship with Natasha. It actually hurts to think about them together. She’s gorgeous, so I understand the physical aspect, but she’s horrible. Colton can do way better than that girl.

He doesn’t respond to Emma’s question. Does he still have feelings for her? I can tell by his tense posture and tight jaw that he is fuming. Colton has two types of anger. This silent kind is the worse. I’d much rather he yell it out than keep it bottled up like this.

I grab my shoes and sit down on the bottom stair to tie them. I know Colton is watching me, but I focus only on tying my shoes. I need to get out of this house before I say something about Natasha that will anger Colton and David more than they already are. I walk over to Emma and ask for a hair tie. I always forget about pulling my hair up before exercising.

“Are you sure it is her?” she asks as she hands me the elastic from her wrist.

“Tall, blonde, and gorgeous?” I pause, “Yes, it was definitely her.”

“Could it have been Natalie?” Colton asks.

“It was Natasha, Colton,” I tell him while grabbing Liam’s arm and walking outside to stretch, leaving everyone in the living room. I quickly throw my hair into a pony tail and start stretching. I can tell that Liam is watching me, but right now I don’t want to talk to anyone. I just want to go for a run. With a sigh, he starts stretching too.

I walk down to the end of the driveway and take off running. I know that Liam is following close behind. I push myself harder than necessary, but I really need this. I need to clear my head.

Natasha is working with Dravin—with Adam. I know that she doesn’t like me. I heard
everything
she told me. My whole life people picked on me, even before Adam. However, senior year it got worse. Adam and Lily made sure to make my life a living hell. No one would talk to me in school. No one wanted to be around me. I ate in the library to avoid everyone’s stares and whispers. I can only take so much.

I tried to give Colton space because I thought he was interested in getting back together with Natasha. She cornered me in the hallway one day and told me that I was never going to be good enough for Colton. She said, “No one would want you for you. They want to be with the girl from the prophecy. Not you. Don’t flatter yourself with thinking that any of these people would be interested in you if you didn’t have all that magic.” I never told anyone what she said, not even Emma.

I continue running. By this time, we are miles away from the house. I can’t stop—just like I can’t stop everything that is going on in my life. I don’t get a rewind button here. That’s reserved for Hollywood. I can’t go back to a time before all this stuff happened. In all honestly, despite everything, I don’t know if I want a rewind. I just want to take out certain elements of my life. I want to be given the chance to live a normal life like everyone else.

But that’ll never happen.

Adrenaline rushes through me, so I push harder—enjoying the way the muscles in my legs feel with the movement. When I started running, it was sunny, but because of how mad and angry I am, it is getting cloudy. Dark clouds are battling the sunlight and winning. The wind starts picking up, but I don’t stop. The rhythmic beat of shoes behind me tells me that Liam is still behind me. I push even harder. I wish that I could run away from my problems like that. I wish that I could run away from Dravin. From Adam. From Natasha.

My lungs are on fire. I stop and put my hands on top of my head, trying to catch my breath. When Liam catches up to me, he asks, “Do you want to talk about it now?”

I shake my head right as the first couple drops of rain begin to fall. I know that I am causing this weather fluctuation, but I can’t stop it now. I sit down on the ground and pull out the pony tail, letting the wind blow my hair around my face. I pull my knees up to my chest and rest my head against them. Small drops of water land on my skin and run down my arm. When I catch my breath enough to talk, I look up at Liam. He is seated beside me on the grass. “Why does it have to be me?”

He doesn’t even pause to think about his answer. “Because you’re the only one strong enough. You’re the only one that doesn’t look at it as just having magic. You don’t want to use it for yourself. You see it as a way for protection—a way to protect others. You’re strong enough mentally and emotionally, as well as physically. You have the biggest heart I’ve ever seen in anyone. You have all the qualities to be a leader, but you don’t want to lead. You don’t want power; you want a life. And you’re willing to do what needs to be done to get that. You’re the only one that can do this, Ryanne.”

The rain transitions into a steady downpour. I don’t even care that I’m getting soaked by my own magic. “Are you guys only with me because I’m the prophecy girl?”

Liam looks at me with his mouth hanging open; his grey eyes as wide as saucers. I’ve never seen him react like this before. He seems genuinely shocked. “Why would you think that?”

“Natasha told me that once.”

“Ryanne, I gave you that pendant before I knew you were the girl from the prophecy. And I can guarantee you that no one in that house looks at you like that.”