Collide (28 page)

“Yes,” she said, smiling at all three angels.

“Can I take you somewhere before we go, though?” asked Walter. “I’m sure we’d all feel better knowing that we didn’t leave you alone here in the park.”

“Yes,” she said again. “I’d like that. Can you take me to Tessa’s, please?”

“Of course,” Walter replied.

She made sure to thank Henry and Phinneas once more, and then she and Walter quickly teleported over to Tessa’s condo. After giving him one last hug, Melina said good-bye to Walter, knowing she would see him again soon. She watched him disappear and then made her way up to Tessa’s front door and knocked. A few seconds later she heard rapid footsteps coming toward her.

Tessa flung the door open and wrapped her arms tightly around Melina. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you!” she exclaimed.

“And I you,” said Melina, returning her hug.

When they finally looked at each other again, tears of joy were streaming down their cheeks, and they both started to laugh.

“Tell me everything,” said Tessa as she pulled her inside, “and I’ll make us some tea.”

Melina continued to smile as she followed Tessa into the kitchen. Just a few hours ago she'd thought she might not ever see her friend again, and now she was getting ready to share a cup of tea with her. She was so grateful for that and happy to be able to sit down with her to chat, even if it meant recalling all the terrifying moments that had happened at the park.

Chapter Thirty-Four

When Melina woke the next morning, she saw that it was already nine o’clock. She obviously needed the rest and was pleasantly surprised that her body allowed it. The pain didn’t plague her even once throughout the night, and she didn’t feel any now either. It really was over.

She stretched as she sat up and wondered if Tessa was awake yet. They had stayed up late, talking about what happened at the park and what Melina’s plans were for the future, and she'd ended up crashing in the guest bedroom. But surely Tessa was up by now. She had said last night that she was going to call Gwen in the morning to have her open the bookstore.

Melina opened the bedroom door and was greeted by the sound of Tessa singing along with the radio in the kitchen. A short laugh escaped her at the expense of her out-of-tune friend, and she made her way into the room. Tessa quickly came into view, dressed in a fluffy, pink robe and matching slippers, her blond hair piled high atop her head in a mess of curls.

“Good morning, Tess.” Melina raised her voice as she spoke so she would be heard over the music.

Tessa abruptly stopped singing and turned off the radio. “Well, good morning, sleepy head. How do you feel?”

“Really good, actually.”

“No pain?”

“No pain,” Melina said with a smile.

“That’s wonderful,” Tessa said as she smiled back. “Do you want something to eat real quick, or do you just want to get going?”

Melina cocked her head and let out a short laugh. “Get going? Are you kicking me out?”

“No, silly! I thought you’d probably want to go and see Lee.” Tessa gave her a quick wink and then turned to fix herself a cup of coffee.

Melina couldn’t help but smile. Tessa knew her pretty well. “Okay, so you’re right about that. You’re not upset that I’m leaving so soon?”

Tessa shook her head as she turned back to her. “I’ll even be so nice as to let you borrow some clothes and use my make-up to get ready.” She smiled at her again and then took a sip of her coffee. “Oh, and I’ve already laid a towel out for you in the bathroom.”

“Thank you, Tess, for understanding.”

About an hour later Melina was on her way to Lee’s. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen once she arrived, but for once she didn’t feel the need to have a plan. She didn’t even know if he was home or not. Twenty minutes later, she parked her Jeep in front of his apartment building and walked up to the front door.

Barry, the regular doorman, greeted her with a smile. “Good morning, Miss Rowe.”

“Barry,” Melina said with a surprised expression. “You remember me.”

“Well, of course,” he said as he turned to punch in the security code. “Mr. Atwood is looking forward to seeing you.” He opened the door and ushered her inside.

“Oh, well, thank you,” she said.

Barry tipped his hat to her and then closed the door behind her. Melina walked slowly over to the elevator.

So Lee was expecting her. Hmm… Even though Lee had said that he trusted her now, she didn’t want to assume anything and get her hopes up. She took the elevator up to Lee’s floor and then knocked on his front door. He opened it within a couple of seconds, as if he had been waiting by the door just for her.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he replied, giving her a sheepish grin. “I’m so glad you’re here. Please, please come in.”

Melina walked inside, and he led her over to the couch in the living room. They both took a seat and then were silent for a moment until she finally spoke up again.

“So… were you expecting me to come here?”

Lee let out a short, nervous laugh. “It’s more like I was hoping you would come here.”

Melina blushed. “Oh. I see.”

“After the way you just disappeared on me, I wanted to be sure you were okay. I guess I can assume that since you’re here, you’re not in danger anymore. Am I right?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I now have full control over my powers and—”

“You still have these powers?” Lee interjected. “You didn’t get rid of them?”

“No,” Melina said, giving him a nervous look. “I didn’t get rid of them.”

Lee looked away from her and started to bite his lip.

“Is that a problem?” she asked.

There was a moment of silence and then Lee looked back up at her. “No, it’s not a problem. I’m just trying to wrap my mind around everything.” He smiled at her and then waited for her to continue.

“Well,” she said, “I’m out of danger now. Out of danger with my powers and with the demons, and it’s all because of you.”

“Because of me?”

She nodded. “I needed you to trust in me and you did, just in time.”

He smiled. “Just like you came along to help me, just in time.”

She smiled back at him. “So where do we go from here? Should we wipe the slate clean and start over or…”

Lee looked at her for a moment and then shook his head. “No. Starting over means that we’ll act like everything didn’t happen, and I don’t want that. I could use a very thorough explanation, though, considering I’m still not sure I believe everything that happened.” He let out a small chuckle. “Could we maybe try out another dinner date? You know, so you can explain things to me and maybe even…” His voice trailed off as he reached over and took both of her hands in his.

Melina squeezed his hands in return as happy tears started to form in her eyes. “I would love that,” she said with a radiant smile.

“Good,” Lee said as he started to rub his thumbs over her knuckles.

She slowly leaned over to him, and as her lips met his, she couldn't help but think, once again, about the exciting new direction her life was taking. Running into Walter was definitely no accident. It was a collision designed by fate. And even though she was a bit scared of her new powers and her budding relationship with Lee, she was the happiest she had ever been.

About The Author

Ashley Stambaugh grew up in a small town in Illinois where she and her two siblings created some of the best memories playing on their family’s farm. She stayed in the southern region of the state to attend college where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and also met her husband.

Now, she and her husband live in central Illinois and spend their time creating new memories with their two rambunctious boys and their comical black Pug. She also enjoys reading, taking long walks, and finding great bargains. When her sons are a little bit older, she has a great desire to travel with her family. Oh, and she also has a slight obsession with chocolate.

When she’s not busy chasing after her two young children or losing herself in a good book, you can find her curled up on her couch with her laptop, writing.

Also From Astraea Press

Chapter One

Park City, Utah, Present Day

Arianna Delacour thunked her black duffle bag at the foot of her bed, wondering if she should even bother unpacking. This was her sixteenth boarding school. Sixteen in nine years, but there would have been more if she hadn’t been home schooled until third grade. That was when the Family started sending her out to hunt.

Wrong life
. She shoved the thought away, jumping to a safer one. She had to focus on this life now. She was about to start her senior year, and she wanted to graduate. So, quieting the flames running through her blood, she started unpacking.

“Who are you?” a high pitched voice demanded behind her.

Ari didn’t turn to investigate. “I’m Ari. Who are you?”

“This is my room,” the voice said.

Ari thought it over, decided there was nothing to respond to, and continued unpacking.

“I said, this is
my
room.” The voice grated on Ari’s ears and made her teeth ache. Sighing, Ari stood up, shoving her long black braid over her shoulder as she turned. A much shorter, somewhat round blonde girl stood in the doorway with her hand on her hip, green eyes glowering back at her.

“Apparently, it’s also my room. If that’s going to be a problem, you should take it up with the headmistress.” Ari’s dark brown eyes clashed with the girl’s green gaze. The girl’s lips tightened as she gave Ari a slow once over. Ari folded her arms and glared back. Finally, the blonde gave up, shaking her hair away from her face.

“I’m Brittany.” She dropped her hand from her hip and pushed her way into the room. She threw herself down on her unmade bed and scowled at Ari.

“Hey.” Ari turned back to her unpacking. Brittany stayed on her bed, filing her nails and watching, until it was obvious that Ari wasn’t going to attempt to socialize. With a huff, she got up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Ari smirked.

This school had uniforms, which was nice. They saved her the time and effort of trying to decide what to wear that would make her stand out the least. But she was five foot ten for one thing, when most girls her age were closer to five foot four, and for another thing, her long black hair had dark red streaks running through it — streaks that were natural yet looked anything but. Between the two, and the fact that she was always the new kid, fading into the background was impossible.

She put her clothes away and stuffed her bag under her bed. Satisfied, she stood back with her hands on her hips and blew a stray hair out of her face, surveying the room. The bed against the right wall was covered in a sparkly pink bedspread and a dozen shiny pillows thrown all over. Ari winced away from it, afraid it might attack her with rhinestones and glitter.

Inching around the chaos across the room, she flopped on her safe bed with its crisp white sheets and a gray blanket. With a grunt, she rolled over. School started in two days. Another first day at a new school.
But on the bright side
, she thought, studying the yellow walls next to her head,
it’s a lot of other people’s first day too
. Not a lot of seniors, but she’d take what she could get.

Ari closed her eyes, fighting the headache coming on. But the second she did, her thoughts raced to her
other
life. The life she tried so hard to banish from her thoughts. She never succeeded.

Her grandfather didn’t see the point in school at all. Ari was a warrior. What did she need school for? It was Ari’s mother, Vivian, in her passive aggressive way, who suggested sending Ari to school. It was Vivian’s secret hope that Ari might have something of a normal life. She got around the whole grandfather-saying-school-is-pointless-thing by telling him there was no better way to hunt the Carules than in schools, where they were young and untrained.

Carules.
Ari gritted her teeth at the word. She was an Edren, a red-flame-throwing sorceress. Carules were her people’s ancient enemies. She threw red spells. They threw blue. And that was why she hunted them.

In a compromise between her mother and her grandfather that Ari had had no say in whatsoever, she was sent to boarding school after boarding school, where she attempted to fit in with Normals, or regular humans with no magic. Her mother sent her there to try to let her be a regular teenager. Her grandfather sent her there to hunt, and then he would pull her out and stick her somewhere else as soon as she found any trace of Carules magic… and eliminated it.

Ari must have dozed off sometime during her battle to not think, because the next thing she knew the door was slamming against the wall, jerking her out of sleep. Her eyes flew open as Brittany strode through. “I need someone tall,” she announced, stopping at Ari’s side.

Ari frowned in confusion. Maybe she’d been more soundly asleep than she’d thought, but it felt like she’d come into the conversation when it was half over. “Good?” she answered slowly, lowering her brows and trying to focus her bleary eyes on her new roommate.