Authors: Nadege Richards

Tags: #Action & Adventure, #Fiction

Burning Bridges (41 page)

BOOK: Burning Bridges

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Echo
’
s voice was soft and barely above a whisper. Of course I had my own doubts
, but they were subtle. I believed in Giovanni, I believed in Echo. That was all the affirmation I needed.

“
Echo, look at me.
”
Echo glanced up and I noticed the tears in her eyes. She was crying so much lately, but I didn
’
t blame her. There was a time for everything and she deserved thi
s moment
.
“
We
’
re not hiding, we
’
re not running.
We
’
re go
ing to fight for this. Burning b
ridges, remember?
”

Echo smiled.
“
Yeah, I remember. I get the flames, you get the bridge?
”

I laughed and glanced over at the guys watching us in the field.
“
Sounds perfect.
”

“
You kids practicing or what?
”
Giovanni called.

Echo kissed me
,
and then walked over to him.
“
Yeah, sorry. It was partially his fault, anyway.
”
She jabbed a finger in my direction.
“
It
’
s the lips.
”

Adamo whis
tled and wiggled his eyebrows. Giovanni gave me a disappointing look and I merely shrugged, laughing silently
to myself
.

“
What can I say? It
’
s the lips.
”

T W E N T
Y–

S E V E N

Echo

I
was to be wedded in two days.
Not that I feared anything
, but I couldn
’
t see how time had flown by so fast.
I was grateful for the time I had with Ayden and wouldn
’
t take it back for the world, but every time I allowed my mind to drift, I thought about the impending war, I thought about my mother, and I thought about Isobeli. I worried myself to the point of depression; I don
’
t think I
’
d ever cried so much in my life.

Ayden managed to make all the pain go away with a single kiss, though
. With
his words alone, he made me feel secure and fearless.

“
What does that one look like?
”
I asked him, pointing to the cloud over our heads.

“
A duck,
”
he said.

“
Really? I
’
d say it
’
s more of a rabbit.
”

“
A rabbit?
”
He laughed and shook his head.
“
No way. That
’
s clearly a duck, do you not see the bill?
”

“
I see ears. Rabbit ears.
”
Still laughing, Ayden rolled over on the blanket we
’
d laid out in the field
and turned to watch me
. We star
ted calling this place The Bleeding H
eart G
arden a
while ago, and it seemed to fit.
I always wondered what was beyond the green hillside, my thoughts of a different world beyond Old or New Haven conjured anew.
“
What was school like for you?
”
I asked
him silently
.

“
Didn
’
t you go?
”

I faced him and stroked the side of his face. I
could never get
enough of looking
into those eyes.
“
No, not really. My mother taught me everything I know right there in the palace until I had turned seventeen. Shadow and Everlae were taught that way as well. Caesar, my older brother, was the only one who went to an actual school to learn.
”

Ayden groaned and crossed his eyes, making the matter seem a lot less serious.
“
You didn
’
t miss much. I kind of wish I hadn
’
t gone, actually. I don
’
t remember learning a thing.
”

“
And what about church? Did you go?
”

Frowning, he said,
“
No. My mother is very religious, but my father and I are at crossroads. We don
’
t know what to believe. Milo and Misty are oblivious to the whole thing.
”

“
You know,
”
I
muttered, staring out at the wispy clouds,
“
I
’
m not sure what to believe either. Mother told me that there are many gods and we should thank them
every day
, but Issy once told me that in Kylon they believe in one god. It
’
s a lot to take in, so I just sort of ignore it. The way I see it, if there is a god or gods, Alwaenia wouldn
’
t have been so horribly destroyed.
”

“
But then everything happens for a reason,
”
Ayden stated.
“
God or gods, they must have a reason. I just have a hard time figuring out what it is.
”

I sighed in agreement and
blew my untamed hair from my face. In the last moments when you know you are about to put everything on the line, you find out a lot about yourself. In a way, I guess you never know how strong you are until you are running for your life. You never notice how important the people are around you until they are gone.

I was determined to survive this.

Pushing back the hair from my face, Ayden whispered,
“
I love you.
”

“
How much?
”
I teased.

“
Another rhetorical question, right? Because there is no limit to the kind of love I have for you, Echo—it
’
s infinite and unconditional.
”

“
You mean that?
”
I mumbled
against his lips.

He smiled and
said,
“
I may
be a lot of things, Echo, but—
”

“
You
’
re not a liar,
”
I finished.
“
Not with me.
”

When my lips touched Ayden
’
s, I couldn
’
t help the tears of joy that came. I was just so happy and alive that, for the moment, nothing else mattered but this feeling of total bliss. It
encased
me from the inside out and every nerve in my body sparked, flew, and then finally exploded in a euphoric ecstasy.

Breaking away, I playfully poked him in the eye
and he winced
.
“
I
’
m going to go blind with all the poking you
’
r
e
doing.
”
He laughed, flashing that cocky grin. I poked him in his side
just to see what he would do
and he yelped out again.
“
That
’
s it. Someone needs to learn how to keep their hands to themselves.
”

I rolled to the end of the blanket before Ayden could grab me
and jumped to my feet. He chased me around the field as I ran in circles trying to escape him
,
and my cheeks burned from smiling so much. I
’
d only seen Ayden smile when he was with me, but his smile reached new limits then; a beautiful, glorious memory I
’
d treasure for eternity.

“
What lesson are we learning, Ayden?
”
I taunted with a smile.

He watched me from a foot away with a heated glare. I stared back.
“
What lesson? No, lov
e, we
’
re adlibbing. First thing is
first: you reap what you sow.
”

In a heartbeat
,
I was running in the other direction and up the hill.
He followed me, of course
, making my getaway a lot more impossible
.
“
It was just one poke!
”
I yelled. I opened my mouth to speak again, but his arms snaked around my waist and pulled me back. He swung me around
and
poked me until I thought I
’
d see stars.

“
It was only fair,
”
he whispered breathlessly, setting me back down on the ground. He kissed my temple and I sighed, laying my head back on his shoulders.

“
I love you,
”
I muttered. My back pressed to his chest, I glanced up and kissed his lips. If kissing was a language I was
sure we
’
d know it well. If it
could measure the amount of love you felt for someone, our love was infinite after all. Even when we hugged I felt a special connection to him. It was in his loving embrace that I sought solace, where I found it, and where I would keep it. Our love was enchanting and magical, secretive and special. Overall, though, it was ours and we would treasure it.

“
Tell me something I don
’
t know about myself,
”
I whispered once I
’
d broken the kiss.

Ayden
’
s chest vibrated with his laughter.
“
That
’
s an easy one. When you
’
re upset or nervous you play with
the thread of your dress like a cat does yarn.
”

“
I do not.
”

Ayden nodded.

“
Okay, well when you
’
re upset you continuously comb your fingers through your hair. Not that it
’
s a bad thing, I love your hair. It
’
s a cute habit.
”

Shaking his head, Ayden mumbled,
“
I can
’
t say the same.
”
I knew he was joking, so
I
lightly elbowed him in the chest to get my point across.
“
Okay, okay. I was kidding. You
’
re
cute when
you’re
mad.
”

“
That
’
s what I thought.
”
I pointed to a cloud in the sky and his eyes followed.
“
What about that one?
”

“
A rabbit,
”
he said.

“
You
’
re kidding. That looks like a rabbit, but the other didn
’
t? That
’
s clearly an octopus.
”

“
An octopus. In the sky?
”

“
It can happen. I suppose.
”
I held Ayden
’
s hands around my waist and closed my eyes. I could have fallen asleep right then. With all the practicing we
’
d been doing, I barely had time to sleep.

“
It looks more like a turtle to me,
”
a voice said.
Ayden and I spun around an
d
searched for the person in the clearing. My first reaction was to assume
it
’
d been in my head again,
but when I saw Noah
striding slowly towards us, I knew the only thing in my head was fear.

Ayden immediately pushed me behind him as he faced Noah. His muscles tensed and my breathing slowed to short gasps.
“
Who are you?
”
Ayden asked.

“
Who am I? Well, I was going to ask you the same question. I also want to know why you have your grimy hands all over my woman.
”

Woman?
I balked inwardly and tried to hold back a laugh.

“
Don
’
t worry about who I am. But she
’
s not going anywhere with you, whoever you are.
”

“
Ayden,
”
I whispered. I noticed then that Ayden really had no clue who Noah was. The fact that Noah had that over him frightened me.

“
That
’
s right,
”
Noah crooned.
“
Tell him who I am, lovely.
”

I blanched and took a step away from him.
“
What do you want, Noah?
”

“
What I
’
ve always wanted.
”
Noah took a stepped towards us
and that
’
s when I saw them. The men dressed in black and embroidered swords emerged from the woods and crowded around us. I took another step back, but no matter how far I went, I still felt trapped.
“
I
’
ve always wanted you.
”