Chrysalis: The Emergence of Emery (The Gifted Series Book 1) (18 page)

“Rethink this, Em,” Elijah says trying to grab my arm.

I shake him off. “You’re either with me, or you’re not. Make up your mind now ‘cause with or without you I’m going to him.”

He groans closing his eyes and I slip out the door. Not a second later, I hear the door click as his footsteps meet mine. “I’ll take you to him,” he grinds out.

“Thank you, brother,” I answer.

We move out of the hotel and Elijah leads me across the town until we’re walking down an empty street. Buildings line both sides, but they all appear derelict. I stop, looking back down the road. It seems really eerie, something feels off.

“This place is strange,” I whisper, turning back around to Elijah. When I do, he’s disappeared.

I’m alone.

“Elijah!” I shout.

Laughter bounces around the deserted street.

“Elijah!”

The laughter stops, silence replacing it. Fear throbs through me, but there’s also something else. Power. It tingles like little spikes of electricity across my body. I take a deep breath in and steady my heart, and I know in that half second, I’m ready to face what’s coming.

“Well, well…” a cold female voice pierces the quiet, and I turn toward her. The moment I do, my feet automatically take me a step away. Her face is the mirror image of mine. Her hair is the same, her clothes are a little out there compared to my taste, but she looks like me— attending a slutty Goth convention. She stands at my height, it’s unnerving, it’s like looking in a mirror—one that just so happens to talk back.

“So… you’re her?” she asks, staring at me with her eyebrow arched and her lip curled. Her mouth moves like mine, but her voice is her own. And that small thing allows me to corral my control, bringing me back into the here and now.

“Who are you?” I ignore her question, instead asking my own. She smirks and as the corner of her mouth moves turning her face from impassive to calculating. I open my heart reaching out to feel her. I move another step backward, h
itting a warm, firm and unwelcoming wall I didn’t expect
. Even while my brain splits two ways for a second, and I momentarily wonder about the person behind me, I’m quickly tugged back to her as I start feeling everything. She’s consumed with hate, it’s overwhelming and suffocating.

“I’m Elodie, your twin sister, and your worst nightmare,” she says stepping toward me. I’m immediately on alert as the fear flows, and I know Kade will be on his way as strong cold arms grip my shoulders and drain me completely. I have no time to prepare as Elodie punches me square in my jaw, and then pulls back before thrusting her fist forward once again. This time she hits my nose, and the cracking sound echoes through the air as pain ripples throughout my whole face, throbbing and temporarily blinding me.

My head springs backward from the force as everything turns foggy, none of my powers are within reach. They’ve been doused again. I have no fight as the big, strong, cold wall hoists me over his back. He walks the few feet until I’m next to a truck, then he chucks me in the back like a piece of trash, before jumping in next to me, making sure we’re hidden.

I hear Elodie shout, “Stay over there. He’ll be here soon, I don’t want him to see you.”

Seconds later I hear a whoosh and then I feel him. The pull is as strong as ever. Warmth and power surround me, but I have no strength to move, to alert him to my whereabouts and I know he can’t see me.

“Kade, hey baby,” Elodie coos to him. My stomach twists as I fight the urge to be sick as well as the need to shove my hand so far into her face that she’ll never look like me again.

He doesn’t say anything and I can feel his hesitation. “What’s wrong, baby? Don’t you want to go somewhere, just you and me? We’ve been so busy lately, it would be good to take some time for ourselves.” I can see her through a crack in the truck bed, she’s running her fingers up his chest and the power that was absent is starting to sizzle in my fingers.

“Night, night.” A deep rumble sounds from beside me and then pain grips my scalp before my head is slammed down. I keep my eyes closed for a second as I roll away from the great lump crouching in front of me, standing sentry. He has a mixture of boredom and lust for Elodie flowing through him. I listen to his thoughts for a few seconds, suddenly pictures, words and understanding starts filtering into my brain. He is level eight, but only because he has the power to drain people’s gifts. But it feels wrong like he isn’t supposed to have that power. More information rushes through, and knowledge I can’t imagine I’ll even need settles itself somewhere inside me. It fills me so fast it’s like my inner being is on fire. I want to scream and cry and jump into a lake to take away the burn.

It’s coming… clear your mind, Emery. The time is now.

Everything is suddenly silent like I’ve lost my hearing. I know, without a shadow of a doubt that the Convergence is here, and it’s ready to become a part of me. I breathe in and out, slowly, calmly, knowing this will change things. My brain switches, and I realize that as I could hear the thoughts of the Meat-bag next to me, then I must be able to talk to Kade. But as soon as I think it I know that there’s no time to take in what’s happening with him, as right then a green aura surrounds my whole body. It lifts me an inch off the truck bed. I glance toward Meat-bag, but he’s entirely focused on Elodie and Kade. Abruptly, he jumps over the edge of the truck, running away and that’s when my back arches, pain and power flow through every vein within me as the green aura turns electric, sparkling like glitter in the air surrounding me. My eyes shut of their own accord and I see maybe a thousand women.

We were many. We move to one. We came before. Now it is you. Find someone worthy, we will pass everything onto you.

My eyes pop open and calm settles over me. The green mist has gone, and I’m once again lying on the truck bed. I sit up and see Kade fighting both Meat-bag and Elodie, as well as five other dark beings, his eyes are blazing golden and I can feel his rage. I jump over the edge of the truck and jog over to him. The minute I arrive three of the dark beings turn to focus their attention on me. They all rush me at once.

“No!” Kade bellows jumping in front of me and fighting them while walking backward, trying to herd me away.

Kade. I have this.
I whisper into his head.

No. I need you safe, Emery.

Trust me.
I’m still whispering to him and this time I place my hand against his back. His shoulders drop and although I can feel it pains him to do it, he steps to the side, allowing me to face off against them. I glance over to Elodie, the smirk that she wears drops quickly from her face when she looks at my nose. I reach up and touch the tip. It’s not broken anymore. It’s completely healed. I smirk at her. She’s the one I want, I can still see her purring at Kade while touching his chest, and it sets my teeth on edge. Meat-bag stands next to Elodie, seemingly guarding her and two dark beings run at me as Kade fights the other three. I raise my hand, clench my fist and punch the first one in his stomach. He’s thrown backward into the other guy and they both fly across the street, smashing against the truck then dropping to the ground. I’m momentarily stunned at my strength.

Kade finishes off the three guys he was dealing with and they shatter before my eyes. Meat-bag runs at Kade just as six more seem to come from nowhere. Two of them come toward me and I notice Elodie trying to slip away. Something inside snaps and I raise one hand allowing a crackle of white power to flow from my fingers. I capture and hold her in the air, while I use my other hand to blast the men coming at me. They try to shoot me with their powers, but mine are stronger and they all panic as one by one they shatter. The two I knocked over earlier get up making their way over to join back in the fight.

“Oof…” Kade grunts beside me. I glance at him and see his eyes have dimmed as he fights Meat-bag and the other four men. My mind works quickly, picking up everything and assessing it like I’m a machine.

I’m draining your power!
I shout in his head.

He doesn’t reply and it’s then that I drop Elodie, and she scrambles away. I pull everything back into me and watch as Kade’s eyes ignite. Before I have a chance to help him, Kade has dispatched everyone except Meat-bag who Elodie calls and he quickly runs to her. They disappear as the last remaining dark beings shatter.

“Kade!” I cry out running to him, but his strength is all there now. He doesn’t need me to worry. I can feel anger, I can almost taste it on my tongue. His arms pulse, as does a vein in his neck as his jaw ticks.

“You should never have put yourself in harm’s way, Emery. Something could have happened to you,” he says shaking me gently.

Emery.

“Elijah!” I shout, and Kade steps away, looking around. “He’s in my head, Kade. He’s here somewhere.”

Elijah, where are you?

Feel me, Em.
Even though he’s talking in my head, I can hear the struggle in his voice. It’s like he’s gasping for breath.

I close my eyes and feel him. Pictures run
s
through my head, and I open my eyes moving forward.

“Princess, where are you going?” Kade asks, all anger now forgotten.

“I can feel him, I can’t explain it, except to say it’s like a beacon in my stomach and the closer I get to him the hotter it burns.”

“Okay, I have your back,” he tells me.

“You always do, Kade. You’re my savior.”

He follows me as I move toward the heat. And upon reaching a pile of dirt, everything that was dragging me to Elijah vanishes, and I feel nothing.

Elijah!
I scream internally.

“There’s nothing, Kade!” This time, my scream is external.

“I feel it,” he replies.

“What?”

“This space, it is some kind of hold. There’s something here that’s tramping down our powers. Now don’t freak out,” he says cupping both sides of my face. “I think Elijah is buried beneath this dirt, and there’s something that has been placed with him to stop his powers.”

“What the what?” I shout.

“Calm down, princess, I’m going to get him out.”

“How? You have no power either,” I cry out, panic rattling around, trying to push up my throat.

“I have my strength. Step away until you feel your powers, and watch my back, okay?” I nod immediately taking a step away until I feel revitalized. I know Kade doesn’t really need me to watch his back, he just wants me in a place where I can restore my powers, enough to protect myself anyway.

Elijah.
I try again, but he doesn’t answer me.

Kade digs into the clay like substance until I can’t see him. It takes three whole minutes—

I count every second—until he pulls a mud covered, unmoving Elijah from the hole.

“Elijah,” he shouts shaking him, but he just lays limp in his arms. I rush over and grab Elijah tugging him, trying to pull him from the pit.

“Wait,” Kade says, and before I have a chance to complain he feels up Elijah’s arms then moves to his neck. “Here,” he says, pulling something from his skin. It looks a little like a pellet. “I don’t know exactly what this is, I’ll have to get Tristan to look at it.” He drags Elijah away. “There will still be something here dousing our powers. Otherwise yours wouldn’t have evaporated when we were in the vicinity.” He turns from me to Elijah and shakes him gently. “Elijah. Elijah.” He shakes him again more vigorously this time. Panic builds in my chest as I realize that Elijah is dying. I spread my hands out and close my eyes.

Revive
. I whisper in my head and open my eyes to see white and blue light flowing from my fingers into my brother’s chest.

Elijah splutters and moves to sit up, unable to get his breath he falls back to the ground. I slump next to him. “Elijah, slow breaths.”

Kade leans down and passes him a bottle of water, I have no idea where it came from, but I don’t care as I watch Elijah sip gently until his breathing is easy and his eyes are alert.

“I’m fine. I’m good,” he tells us both and I know he’s right, I can feel him.

“Come on,” Kade says. He picks me up, and we rush through the streets.

“You know I can run myself, I’m fast enough,” I tell him as we fly.

“I like you here. I know I have you. That you’re safe. I can breathe when you’re in my arms.”

We say nothing else until he stops.

“Where are we?” I ask looking around at the lone house and hundreds of trees surrounding us.

“This is one of our safe houses. The others are here,” Kade tells me, as I feel a gust of wind blow past me and I know that Elijah has arrived too.

“If you’ve been here with the others, why did you leave me at the hotel?” I ask him feeling something scratching across my heart.

“I had to know you were safe. I didn’t know if this place had been found by the dark, and I wasn’t going to risk your safety,” he tells me and just like that a balm covers the surface wounds.

Once we’re inside, the hellos pass quickly until we’re all sitting around a table in the kitchen.

We go through what happened with Elodie, and everyone is as shocked as me that I have a twin. Elijah is probably the most freaked out, he told us that when the dart hit him from behind he was paralyzed and then lost his powers. He was buried but never saw Elodie. I decide to move the conversation away from long lost siblings, mainly because I can’t deal with that situation right now.