Fractured Light (34 page)

“You’ve been fighting really well, but you need a more realistic environment. Where I’ve been teaching you is too easy and too safe. It’s not like the real world.”

I turned around. “And this is?”

He ignored my question. “You did well keeping up with me,” he said. “I thought it would take a lot longer for you to figure out how to work Light on your off days.”

I pushed the hair away from my face again. “Me too. I wish I would’ve known about that sooner. It sure would’ve saved me a ton of embarrassing moments.”

“But you needed those moments.”

“For what? To feel even more like an outcast?”

“It’s through hardship that greatness is born. You don’t know how different you are from other Auras. Most of them have lived a privileged life, never knowing how to work hard or sacrifice for others. They’ve been surrounded by a wall at Lucent, pampered and treated like royalty. I used to think that’s where they belonged because of their sacred nature, but after meeting you and seeing what you’re capable of, I realize there’s a whole other side to Auras that’s being ignored. You guys could do so much good if given the opportunity. Of course, if I were to ever mention any of this to anyone, it would be considered blasphemy.”

“Maybe we could change their minds?” I offered.

Christian stared into the distance. His face and eyes looked strangely dark beneath the shadows of the storm clouds. “Maybe,” he whispered. He turned to me suddenly. “You ready to fight?”

I rolled back my shoulders and cocked my head side to side. “I’ll go easy on you.”

I was going to trash talk more, but before I could, Christian swung his right fist at my jaw. I easily ducked and returned the blow. He sidestepped it and did a backwards kick to my head. I caught the kick midair and flipped him hard backwards, forcing him into a somersaulting flip. He landed expertly into a crouched position.

“Good,” he said, voice low. “Now faster.” He lunged for me again.

We fought against each other: two warriors pushing each other faster and harder with every step. Neither one of us could overcome the other. That is until thunder exploded, shaking the whole mountain. For a split second I became distracted, giving Christian just enough time to swipe my legs out from under me. I fell hard against the rock beneath us. In a mock pro wrestling move, Christian slapped his elbow and fell down upon me with a huge grin. “You’re mine!”

“Now what are you going to do with me?” I teased.

“Nothing I want to do.” He stood and helped me up. “Let’s cool down.”

Following his lead, I maintained various yoga positions, while the storm above gradually subsided. It was oddly empowering being on top of a mountain in the middle of a storm. My heart beat from within my chest, yet my mind was as clear as the sky on a cloudless day. I felt at one with the world.

After our bizarre, yet invigorating meditation session, I sat down on the ledge, my legs dangling over.

“Do you have to sit so close?” Christian asked

I looked down into the gully below. “I guess not.” I slid back several feet. Christian sat next to me and peered up into the overcast sky.

I decided this was the perfect time to ask him about May, indirectly of course.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“Have you ever heard of a human who has the ability to use fire?”

I expected him to give me a strange look, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “Of course. They’re called Furies. How do you know of them?”

“Something I heard once,” I said, telling a half truth. “Where do they come from?”

“I don’t know their history too well, but like Light, fire has become a part of certain humans. Furies aren’t too popular among the Auras, though.”

“Why?”

“It’s the fire within them. It craves power and domination. Eventually the lust becomes too great to control and their hearts turn black like Vykens.”

“So they’re bad?”

“Not all of them. In fact there’s a Fury who sits on the Council with your aunt. He’s a mean sucker, but he knows the line between right and wrong.”

The rain had finally stopped, and in the distance the sun began to push through the clouds. I could feel its warmth against my skin.

“I was going to tell you that night,” Christian said suddenly.

“Huh?”

“That night I was late. I was going to tell you everything about me.”

“What happened?”

“When you left your house, I followed you up the trail. But we weren’t alone. There was someone else there that night. I turned directions and pursued them to make sure whoever it was, wasn’t a threat. At the time, I didn’t think it was a Vyken.”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Honestly, when the Council assigned me to you, they said it was ‘for precautionary measures only’ and it was also at your aunt’s insistence. They said Vykens don’t prey on young Auras. They like the blood of a stronger, more experienced, Aura. Supposedly it gives Vykens more power,” he paused. “I’m telling you this because I’m beginning to doubt a lot of what the Council has taught me.”

“Why?”

He stared off into the horizon. The deep lines in his forehead told me how conflicted he was. “I’ve been taught all my life that Auras couldn’t fight, but you proved that wrong. I was told Vykens can’t change their appearance multiple times, but obviously they can. I was told Vykens are super strong and fast and that’s it—no other abilities, but that isn’t the case. One touched you from a distance and somehow took control of you. It’s like they’re getting stronger. And all this after they told me the chances of a Vyken coming for you were slim, but now one is hunting you, torturing you. I feel like I’ve been lied to. And there’s something else.”

“What?”

“After the second murder, I spoke to the head of the Auran Council. I told him about what was happening and he said not to worry. He said the murders were a coincidence. A coincidence? If the same thing were to happen to an older Aura, they would’ve moved her far away. This whole thing just doesn’t feel right.”

Because I didn’t know what to say, I asked, “So when you asked me to meet you in the woods that night, why didn’t you tell me the next day who you were?”

“I was going to, but when I showed up at your house the next morning, you were mad or sad—I couldn’t be sure which.”

“Right,” I said, remembering.

“I was afraid if I told you, you’d move away. I realized then that I’d have to earn your complete trust.”

“Good call.” I shifted positions. Something he had just said nagged at me. “Christian?”

He looked over at me. “Yes?”

“If you don’t trust the Council, maybe I shouldn’t go to Lucent this summer.”

He shook his head. “No, you should. There may be some inconsistencies in what they’re teaching, but I can’t be sure. I need to do more research before I accuse them of anything. No, you definitely need to go. You’ll learn a lot there. You’ve been too sheltered out here.”

“Won’t I be sheltered there?”

“Only from a life you already know. You need to go learn about the life you know nothing about, like Furies. In a way you’re lucky. It’s not always good to know what’s really out there. Some of them will terrify you.”

“Like what? Wait. Never mind, I don’t want to know yet.”

“You’ll learn soon enough. Once you go to Lucent in the summer everything you know will change.”

“Including you.”

A few seconds passed before he said, “I guess so.”

I wanted to talk more of the future and hopefully find something positive in it, but before I could, he said, “I’d better get you back.”

That night I focused more on my light bullets, and with the moon’s cycle no longer affecting my strength, thanks to Christian’s very dangerous, yet highly effective training on the mountain, it came much easier. In a matter of days, I had them piercing through just about anything. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, because I couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was coming. The tick-tock of death’s clock was growing louder.

“I
HAVE TO ASK YOU SOMETHING,
” C
HRISTIAN SAID AS HE
swung a balled fist in my direction.

I ducked and countered it with a high kick to his face. “Is it personal?’

He caught my foot—“I don’t think so.”—and flipped me hard backwards.

I completed the back flip and landed on my feet. “Would you say your question is a C-SPAN question, or more of an MTV red-carpet question?” I attempted to kick him again, but he ducked.

“I would say somewhere in the middle.”

“So it’s a David Letterman question.”

He stopped. “Can I just ask?”

I plopped down on a blue mat. I loved sparring at Christian’s house. There was a ton of room and it smelled a lot better than the dojo. “Go for it.”

He sat down next to me and pretended to tie his shoe even though it was already tied. “Prom is coming up and I know you’re going to be asked by a bunch of guys, but it just wouldn’t make sense for you to be on a date and have me stalking you the whole time.” He took a big breath. “I think it will be a lot easier if—”

“Are you asking me to prom?” I teased.

“Yeah, but I understand if that would be too weird for you.”

I didn’t hesitate. “I couldn’t imagine going with anyone else.”

His eyes met mine and he smiled. “Good. Then it’s a date—a protection date—I mean.”

“Right. A protection date, like on the movie
Bodyguard
, right?”

He frowned as if trying to recall the movie.

“You know, Kevin Costner has to protect Super Singer Whitney Houston, which he does, but not without falling madly in love her. That kind of date right?”

He grinned. “I think we’re way past that. Come on, let’s get some dinner.”

I accepted his hand and followed him out of the room. I would’ve given anything to have him mean what he’d just said, but I was all too familiar with his teasing tone. I could cross out any chance for romance at prom. It would be just me and my friend Christian. Yippee.

*     *     *     *     *

“That doesn’t surprise me,” May said after ingesting a sub sandwich. “I knew Christian would ask you. I’m just surprised he didn’t do it months ago.”

“Why’s that?” I crumpled up my garbage and stuffed it into the fast food bag. Instead of going inside the crowded restaurant, we had decided to eat in May’s car.

“Because it would drive him crazy to see you with anyone else. You’ve seen how he gets when you’re with Matt.”

“But it’s not because he’s jealous or anything. Christian doesn’t like me like that. He’s just overly protective.”

May shook her head. “I don’t buy it. I see how he looks at you. I’d give anything to have Adam look at me that way.”

May had liked Adam for a long time, but other than a few casual dates, he didn’t seem too interested in her. “Why don’t you ask Adam to prom? We could double.”

“I can’t ask him. That’s going against tradition.” May tilted the rearview mirror to inspect her makeup.

“Since when do you care about tradition?”

She held still, staring at herself in the mirror. “You’re right. I don’t. I think I will ask him. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“That’s the May I know. We should see if we can get Matt and Tracey to come too,” I suggested.

“Oh, that girl has it bad for Matt. What a perfect idea.”

And so the ball was in motion for the perfect prom setup. True to her word, May asked Adam that very day. He accepted so easily that I began to wonder if maybe he did like her.

Matt was another story. He had no desire to go to prom with anyone.

“Llona,” he told me the next day at lunch. “I attended a bunch of school activities this year thanks to you, and I admit I had fun, but prom?”

“What’s the big deal?”

He laughed. “When I think about prom, all I picture is the prom scene from
Napoleon Dynamite
.”

“That’s not how it’s going to be. At least I don’t think so,” I said.

“Sorry, Llona, but I’d rather chew glass.”