Luminescence (Luminescence Trilogy) (14 page)

Somewhere along the trail Gavin and I had fallen behind. There was a group in front of us and I think Tori,
Austin
and Sophie had wound up walking with them.
We must have taken a wrong turn because it was all
too
clear that this tiny path we were following
wasn’t right
.
Not to mention
there hadn’t been
a single
sign of anyone dressed up ready to scare the crap out of us for some time.
I don’t know how else to explain the fact that
I was pretty sure
we were now lost.

“This
can’t be right,” I argued. “We’re
lost,” I declared feeling the first inklings of concern.

“Common
on
,” he said, reaching for me hand. “Let’s see if we can find the trail again and get
us
the hell out of here.
”

For the next
fifteen minutes
we walked in what felt like endless circles.
A layer of clouds had rolled in above the treetops
and the wind started to pick up. The trees offered little comfort in the blackness.

I glanced at my phone
that I shoved in the pocket of my skirt
. “Damn, I have no service,” I
informed, deflated.
Fingering the stones on the
necklace, I nibbled on my lip.

“
Something is wrong,” Gavin said
on guard
, shinning the flashlight over the trees surrounding us
. “I can feel it.”

My anxiety hitched with each step and the wind whipped against our backs, picking up speed.
Dried up leaves covered the ground, crunching underfoot.

Gavin came to stand beside me, scanning the woods. “Bri
it’s
going to be alright,” he assured in his steady husky voice.

A twig snapped behind
us and I jerked around expecting
t
he worst – a faceless
horrid
monster
, a bloody zombie, a thirsty vampire
. Fear laced through me, while the winds
yowled
in the distance.

“There’s something out there.” My voice was shaky and there was no doubt in my mind that we were being watched or worse hunted.

“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you
.
”
H
e grabb
ed
my freezing hand. The night had been fairly warm, but with the abrupt change in the wind it added a bite to the air.

I clung to him, seeking solace. “How are we getting out of here?” My hair blew around in crazy circles, constantly hitting my face.
I gave up trying to control the skirt whipping in disarray.

He must have noticed the chill in my hand. Pulling off his hoodie, he handed it to me. “Here put t
his on.
”

“Thanks,” I murmured,
slipping it over my arms. At once I was enclosed by his scent. Closing my eyes, I savored the security and warmth instantly.
The sleeves fell past my finger
tips and when he went to grab for my hand again, he got a handful of cotton. Grinning at each other, I pushed the end far enough for him to get my hand.

“Lucky for you
I was a boy scout… more or less.
”

I gave him a doubtful look but if
I
trusted anyone to get me out of these confounded woods, it was Gavin. “Let’s get out of here,”
I advised as he led me through a patch of overgrown brush. “Do you think the others are okay?” I asked worrying about Tori,
Austin
and Sophie.

“They have Sophie. She is better at this stuff than me. They’re probably waiting in the c
ar wondering where the heck
we a
re.”

I glanced at my cell phone again, hoping to see a chan
ge in the reception bars. Nope –
no servic
e at all, it couldn’t possibly b
e that easy.

The only light now was the gleam of blue from the moon, casting intimidating shadows in all directions
and the little glow from our flashlight
.
I walked off to the right, looking to see if I could spot anything other than trees, trees and more trees. A
deafening sound reverberated th
r
ough the
woods
, followed by the rapid smacking
of branches.

“Bri
!” he screamed, running straight at me. His eyes were pumped with fear and my heart accelerated in triple time. I knew I was in trouble, but
the
threat hadn’t hit me yet.

Glancing up might have been the biggest
mistake. The blood in my veins turned blue and my legs
were
paralyzed. Above me was enormous
tree, diving straight at me and
knocking away everything in its path. It was only a matter of seconds
before it hit, trapping me under its dominant trunk. A scream tore from my lungs, ripping through the forest. The back of my throat burned from the power.

I don’t know how he managed to get to me as fast as he did, but he knocked the scream right from my mouth. I landed on the ground with an
oomph
and Gavin on top of me. My eyes were squeezed shut, waiting for the monstrous impact of the tree.
He
was breathing hard above me
, winded. His head on my shoulder and my back was
pressed
into
the
pine needle
forest floor.

As the seconds went by without the impact I was expecting, I cautiously opened my eyes. Afraid of what I would see. The image that lay above me was une
xplainable and gravity defying.
A part of me thought I was dreaming.

The tree that was bent on killing me was suspended in the air a few feet above us –
just floating.
He must have seen my eyes widen and the shocked gasp that sprung from my mouth. He stared
above me
into my frantic eyes. A gush of rampant and rash wind blew through the forest around us – throwing leaves and debris in a whirlwind.
The sapphire of his irises burned with a flaming blue
more intense than I’ve ever
seen before.

With a sweep of his hand, the
hovering
tree disintegrated into thousand
s
and thousands
of tiny
pieces of confetti
.
The particles
rained down on us
, covering our clothes, hair and sprinkling in our eyes
.
The wind
continued to protest in anger, pounding with the beat of my heart.

“Make the wind stop,”
I demanded, utterly freaked. My mind somehow decid
ed that he could even do that, now that I was certain it was Gavin that stopped the tree from pulverizing me.

He bit his lip as he watched me
on some internal struggle
. Sighing he said, “I can’t till you calm down.
”

I didn’t question his reasoning. Right then I just wanted to go home
.
I tried to focus on evening my breathing
, calming the racing in my chest
. Hysterics weren’t
far off if I wasn’t careful.

He ran a hand over my hair, sending the confetti tumbling
to the ground and t
hen tra
iled
a finger along my jaw line.
And just like that a
wareness began to seep inside my body. He was still on top of
me and every contour pressed against mine
.
Perhaps
it was the near-death experien
ce, but mostly
I knew
it was just him.
He studied
me
, marveled b
y
something I didn’t understand.

A part of me that was always conscience of him was praying he would kiss me. I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling and not all the successful. He sensed the change and his finger moved to outline
my lip. I had the deepest urge to drag his finger inside my mouth and taste him. And probably would have to.
Now was not the time.

A wandering twig landed
beside us. The winds had died and were
nothing more than a gentle breeze.
Recovering, Gavin
stood
to his feet and
held
out a hand to me.
“Thank you
… for saving me
,”
I said
, breathy
.

“
You will always be safe with me,
”
he vowed.

And I knew that there was no one else in the world that would protect with such ardor determination.

Chapter 1
5

THE TRIP OUT OF THE f
orsaken woods was unmemorable – literally. I
didn’t
remember much of it or how Gavin was
able to get us back
. And I didn’t ask. I assume he did whatever he did.

Tori, Austin and Sophie were leaning against
Austin
’s car as we came out of the trees. They were alright and by the looks of it, overwhelmed with worry. I doubt the sight of our mud stain clothing and
leaf strewn hair helped our cause.

“What the hell happened to you guys
?
” Tori blurted out a closer inspection.

Wincing,
I didn’t even know what to say to that. Keeping quiet seemed like the best solution. Someone else could handle this – I wasn’t even sure I could handle this.

“We got a little lost and Bri tripped on a fallen tr
ee
.
”
Gavin
summarized as much as he could without too many probing questions.
Sophie didn’t look like she bought anything that spewed from
his
mouth.
“I should really get her home,” he added.

“Yeah that sounds like a good idea,”
Austin
agreed keeping his eyes focused on my face. I hadn’t the foggiest what he saw when he looked at me.

“
Austin
, would you mind giving Sophie a ride home? I need to talk to Bri,”
Gavin
said
with a
don’t ask
edge
to
his tone.

He looked between the two of us trying to judge what was going on. “Sure, no problem. Are you guys really okay?” he asked again.

I could tell he was really worried about me and my silence was
n’t
helping. “Yeah, we’re fine,” I reassured
unconvincingly
.
My voice sounded like a zombie.

“Gavin,” Sophie called as my friends turned to leave. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
She gave
him a hard look.

“I don’t really have a choice
.
” A look passed between them and Sophie was content with whatever she saw there. She nodded her head and got in
Austin
’s car.

“Let’s
go Bri,”
he commanded
and led me to
the car
.

I mechanically got in
and sunk into the black plush leather seat. He turned the heat up,
chasing the chill from inside
and
reminding me that I still had on his hoodie. The ride to my house was awkward and quiet. I didn’t know what to say to break the silence. My mind was still having trouble believing and processing everythin
g that had occurred tonight. None
of it now seemed real. If it wasn’t for the awkwardness, it might be all
too
easy to convince myself it never happened.

We pulled up my driveway and the little light was
radiating
on
the
porch
– my aunt had left
it
on like she always did
.
That small action made it all rush back to me in a flood of alarm. A part of me thought
that maybe I should be afraid
– the unknown of what he was and what he might be capable of
doing
. I
studied his profile and
just as quickly shut that
down
as I realized that this was Gavin.
My body screamed that he
would never hurt me
no matter what he was.
I couldn’t feel about him the
way I did if that wasn’t true
. Those thoughts alone validated that I would never turn away from him – no matter what I learned.
Sorting through
those feelings
restore
d
a flow of calm.