Gravity (32 page)
I laughed nervously. “Nothing.” I felt the blood sting my cheeks.
“What?” he prompted again, more forcefully.
I laughed again, my face aflame with embarrassment. “Nothing. Seriously.”
Trace watched me suspiciously for several seconds before his frown faded and he began to grin. It started out as a slight curve to his lips and blossomed into a beatific smile that showed his row of perfectly straight, glistening white teeth.
“Is that the first time I’ve told you that I love you?”
I was breathless. I could do nothing more than nod for fear that, if I made a single sound, my heart might burst right inside my chest.
“Well, that kinda sucked, didn’t it? You should know that
that
wasn’t the way I wanted to say it at all,” he said in his lightly joking way. “Let me try again, k?”
Once again, I nodded and Trace cleared his throat. As I waited for him to speak, everything else in existence faded into oblivion. There was no road noise. There were no vibrations from the Jeep. There were no other people around.
There were no plants growing, winds blowing, animals moving. There was nothing else in life but Trace and me and that perfect, perfect moment.
Trace looked down to where his fingers fiddled with mine and I saw his grin fade as his expression sobered. When he looked back up, he was serious as a heart attack.
“I love you, Peyton. I’ve always loved you. And I
will
always love you. Nothing and no one will ever change that.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “At first I thought that because we were destined to be together, that I had no choice in loving you. But what my father did showed me that we do have a choice. And I made mine. I chose to love you. And I’ll choose to love you every day for as long as I live.”
As if in slow motion, Trace raised my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. Then, just as slowly, he lowered it and leaned further toward me, barely pressing his lips to mine. His touch felt like the whisper of wind in my hair or the warmth of sunshine on my face—light and true and so amazing that it resonated in my soul.
When he leaned back, I was still speechless. All I could do was smile and enjoy one of life’s happiest, most picturesque moments.
Finally, Trace made a soft request. “Say something.”
And then I got to say what had been in my heart for four long years.
“I love you, too.”
We stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity, just like in the movies, before Brady interrupted us.
“We’re here.”
And with that, the moment was over. The real troubles were about to begin.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Once we were stopped, cars started filing in and parking in every available space. We got out and walked halfway into the meadow, turning to watch as our classmates poured out of vehicles and headed in our direction. No one said a word. In fact, it was so eerily quiet, it seemed that the world was standing still in observation of some momentous occasion.
And that scared me half to death.
When every car was empty and every eye was trained steadily, patiently, expectantly on me, my mind raced for where to begin, for how to explain what was ahead for us. How does one go about explaining an uncertain future and an unclear present?
I took a deep breath during which I was hoping inspiration or whispers or something would come to me. Turns out I needed none of the above. A wave of power the likes of which I could never have dreamed of hit me right between the shoulder blades. I gasped as it drove me to my knees. I panted to catch my breath, my mind awhirl with questions, when Trace reached down and dragged me to my feet. With his touch, calm stole over me. It was just enough of a breather for me to collect my wits and take note of what was going on around me.
The first thing I noticed was the look of utter shock on every face in the crowd. The second thing I noticed was that they were not looking at me. They were looking beyond me.
Slowly, I turned around. And there they were. The proof of what I’d been saying. The evidence of what was to come. The embodiment of both what we would fight for and what we would fight against.
From our left emerged a group of those enslaved by the moon. There were werewolves and grendels and windegos and gorgons and all manner of other creatures that I had yet to meet.
To our right, careful to stay within the deep shadows of the forest, were those I assumed were enslaved by the sun. Vampires and succubi and ravens and dragons and more creatures I had yet to meet.
And I knew them all. I felt them all. I could take a piece of each of them into myself and make it my own, even for a short while. And with Trace’s help, I could turn it on them, use their powers and the powers of their enemies against them. But I would need help.
Turning back to my classmates, I spoke softly, using both my voice and my mind as I channeled power from several telepaths in the vicinity.
“You have a choice. But you have to make it today. Right now. We can fight for ourselves, learn to use our powers and win our freedom from them, from the sun and from the moon. Or we can go on as we have been, like ignorant sheep being led to the slaughter, we can graduate and be set free from the school into the hands of monsters who know nothing more than living as slaves to gods and goddesses. I, for one, will never be a slave to anyone, least of all egotistical gods who use and abuse human lives like worthless pawns. Will you fight with me? To save our parents? To save the family that has gone before us and never had a choice? Will you fight to set them free by conquering them? We have to show them the way, or they’ll never find it, never be free.”
If it had been night, crickets would’ve been as loud as sirens in the absolute silence that followed my speech. I didn’t know what else to say.
“Who’s with me?”
My confidence flagged when I was initially met with nothing but blank stares. But then Trace took a step closer to me and spoke loudly enough for the others to hear.
“I’m in.”
Then Brady. “I’m in, too.”
Then Lacey. “Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” She grinned her vivacious, cheeky grin and I felt some of the tension leave me. As long as I was surrounded by those three amazing people, there was nothing I couldn’t do. Nothing we couldn’t do together. Nothing we couldn’t handle.
But then, suddenly, we weren’t alone.
One by one, my classmates started to step forward, their enthusiasm growing in direct correlation with their numbers. When every person in the crowd had stepped forward—even the nasty ones like Amity Ledger—Trace, Brady, Lacey and I walked to the front of the line and turned to face the creatures that hovered just outside the protective barriers of Two Lakes.
“We’ll be ready for you,” I shouted, both with my mouth and with my mind.
Hair-raising cries and growls erupted through the morning air, sending chills rippling down my arms. Then, in unison, our group matched them. Every person in our ranks flexed his second nature, embracing it, owning it, and we cried our own determination. And if they were smart, the others would take notice. We would not be defeated. We could not be defeated. I wouldn’t allow it.
TO BE CONTINUED
IN THE SECOND AND FINAL BOOK
COMING FALL, 2012
A FINAL WORD
A few times in life, I’ve found myself in a position of such love and gratitude that saying THANK YOU seems trite, like it’s just not enough. That is the position that I find myself in now when it comes to you, my readers. You are the sole reason that my dream of being a writer has come true. I knew that it would be gratifying and wonderful to finally have a job that I loved so much, but I had no idea that it would be outweighed and outshined by the unimaginable pleasure that I get from hearing that you love my work, that it’s touched you in some way or that your life seems a little bit better for having read it. So it is from the depths of my soul, from the very bottom of my heart that I say I simply cannot THANK YOU enough. I’ve added this note to all my stories with the link to a blog post that I really hope you’ll take a minute to read. It is a true and sincere expression of my humble appreciation. I love each and every one of you and you’ll never know what your many encouraging posts, comments and e-mails have meant to me.
http://mleightonbooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-thanks-is-not-enough.html
Other books by M. Leighton
Blood Like Poison: For the Love of a Vampire
Blood Like Poison: Destined for a Vampire
Blood Like Poison: To Kill an Angel
Caterpillar
Madly
Madly & Wolfhardt
The Reaping
The Reckoning
Wiccan
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I’m also a proud member of the
Paranormal Plumes Society,
a group of Independent Young Adult authors which includes Abbi Glines, Addison Moore, Amy Jones, CA Kunz, Courtney Cole, Fisher Amelie, Kailin Gow, Laura Elliott, Michelle Muto, Nichole Chase, Shelly Crane and Tiffany King. Please keep an eye on my blog for the link to our official website and schedule of events.
READ ON
for an excerpt of Madly
MADLY
By
M. Leighton
CHAPTER ONE
I looked out the classroom window, wishing I was outdoors enjoying the ambient conditions of Slumber, conditions that I’d come to love in a relatively short amount of time. If I closed my eyes, I could almost feel the humid sea breeze ruffling my hair, the hot sun shining down on my face. I could almost smell the sweet hint of jasmine in the air, too.
