The Equinox (37 page)

Authors: K.K. Allen

BOOK: The Equinox

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What is he saying? “Don’t leave. You just
came back.” I don’t care if I sound desperate. Johnny cannot leave. Not right
now. Not ever.

He pulls my face into his hands and
presses his lips to mine. I can feel the emotion between us and something much
more—electric. I understand now why his kiss affects me so much. We’re
giving each other energy.

When our lips part it’s like a volcano of
my built-up emotions finally erupts into a flow of hot tears. I’m exhausted.

Johnny rambles on, but I’m barely making
out what he’s really trying to say. “I can’t just wait around while he’s out
there—and you’ll be safe here. It’s not like you need me to keep you safe.
You’ve got your family, and Alec—”

Something in his expression is off; he
can’t even look at me as he speaks. I’m confident there’s more behind his
reasons for leaving.
How does he know
that I’ll be safe?
I shake my head as a ball of anger grows in my chest. “This
has nothing to do with my safety. You’re going after Erebus, aren’t you?”

When he says nothing and looks away I
know it’s true. His anger toward Erebus is deep. The Equinox killed his parents
in front of him, and he wants to avenge their death. It’s his fury for the
Equinox that blinded him into thinking that I could actually be part of it all.

I grab his arms and give them a shake. “This
is about you wanting revenge? What are you going to do when you find him?
If
you find him. Erebus will be back,
Johnny, and when he does come back, we’ll need you here. And you need us too.”

It seems as if my words do nothing for
him so I try a different tactic. “I don’t want you to go.”

His eyes return to mine. He truly looks
conflicted. “I don’t want to leave you.” He explores my eyes and I think he’s
about to say something else but he doesn’t. Instead, he drops his hands and
shoves them in his pockets. “I have to leave tonight. Arabella says—”

He pauses and my jaw drops, a deep hole
of hurt spreads in my chest. “Arabella told you to leave?”

He shakes his head. “It’s not like
that—she clarified my goals, and she’s right, Kat. I need to be out
there, especially right now.”

I stuff my anger deep down into my chest.
There’s no point in begging Johnny to stay when he’s already made up his mind.
“I’ll walk you.”

We leave the maze and Summer Island
altogether. I can hear the bay waves in the distance; they sound eerily calm
tonight, but nothing in
me
feels calm.
My mind roams, wondering why Johnny could possibly think leaving is the best
solution. Most of all, I’m saddened that he would choose leaving over staying
with me.

When we reach his yacht that sits at the end
of the marina docks, something tugs at my chest in memory of our time together
yesterday. I can’t imagine life in Apollo Beach without him.

I look up at him but his face remains saddened—distant.
I ache for his broodiness now.

“Promise me you won’t wait for me.”

There they are; the words that peck away
at my core like a starving bird. A tear rolls down my cheek and I turn away. If
I speak, I’ll choke on my words. It’s best that I listen now.

“He’s already taken too many people from
us, Kat. Those girls tonight. My parents, your mom, and possibly—”

I
shake my head and glare at him. “Don’t say it.”

He moves away from me and begins untying
rope and tossing it into the boat. I just stand there at first, but then I
start to help him. I’m tempted to puncture a hole in the engine but that would
be too obvious. Instead I conjure up the winds. If I create impossible boating
weather then—

“Kat, stop!” His stern voice throws me
off my elements. I shake slightly in the moment, feeling my lips tremble as the
wind calms back down, but the pain in my chest is too deep.

“Kat,” his voice is gentle now, so I turn
to him and lean into his final embrace.

Without another word I watch him climb
into his yacht, start the engine, and idle out of the marina. As I stand there
watching him drift further away from me, I desperately believe that any second
now he’ll come to his senses and turn the boat around. If he feels for me what
I feel for him he can’t possibly want to leave.

I don’t know how long I stand there in a
puddle of my own tears but it’s long enough to see an empty horizon and the sun
begin to rise.

Johnny is gone.

E
pilogue

It would be a lie to say that I feel any
better throughout the next week. School starts up on Monday and I’ve yet to
prepare a thing, but I couldn’t concentrate if I tried.

Charlotte and Rose just left for the
meeting house where they will greet a new family of Enchanters. I chose to stay
back for many reasons, but mostly, I’m tired of people. I don’t want to run
into anyone I know, and I’m not ready to visit Summer Island yet—not
after what happened.

Instead, I spend the day on the patio
near the pool with the Solstice Law Book in front of me, but I can’t comprehend
a word.

I close the book in frustration just as a
figure appears beside me. I jump. “Alec.”

He’s grinning at me and looks gorgeous
doing it in his ironed white shorts and blue pinstriped shirt.

“You really shouldn’t scare people around
here, you never know what they’ll do in defense.” It feels nice to be humorous.

Alec shrugs. “I could’ve taken you.”

He sits on the lounge chair to my right,
but faces me. “I’m worried about you.”

I raise my eyes at him. “Is that your ice
breaker?”

He tilts his head. “Come on Kat. A lot
has happened. Don’t you want to talk about anything? I’m still here for you, no
matter what.”

I smile at him. How can I resist? He’s
still the sweet, charming Alec from next door. It’s hard to remember there was
a time that I was head over heels for him, and that time wasn’t very long ago.
“A lot has definitely happened…but as for wanting to talk…” I shake my head.

“Okay. Door is always open.”

“What about you? You’ve gone through
quite the transition. How are you feeling? How are your parents reacting?”

It’s nice to know that Alec and his
parents can talk about this stuff now. His parents seemed devastated at the
secret between them. Hopefully that void is long gone now.

“You know, this supernatural stuff isn’t
so bad,” he winks at me. “Chores have become so simple. Just a wave of my
hand,” he gestures with his hand, making the pool water splash.

I laugh.

“Or a swish of my finger,” he moves his
finger in a swooping motion, creating a bigger splash in the pool.” He grins.
“Or…this.” He takes an invisible scoop of water and flicks it on me so water
sprays me lightly.

“Hey!” I sit up and kick his foot. “You
shouldn’t abuse your powers like that.”

He chuckles. “I think I was using my
powers for good if it made you laugh.”

I have to give him that one. “I wonder
how your powers differ from mine, with you being a descendant from Apollo
rather than Astina.” It’s not a question as much as a statement. “Take
Arabella’s family for example. They carry on traits of the descendants of
Triton, so they can live underwater. Enchanters can heal practically anything,
and we can control the earth’s elements. But what can Apollo’s descendants do?

Alec shrugs. “Beats me. Make fireballs in
my hands is all I can come up with.”

“I guess the more you practice the more
you’ll find out about yourself. That’s what happened with me. No one wanted to
tell me anything. I had to figure out most of this on my own. I kind of see why
now. I think it’s made me stronger.”

He smiles. “I think you’re right.” He
pats his legs and stands tall.

“Wait. Your birthday was before mine,” I
say. “So why did you just recently get your powers?”

He shakes his head. “I’m not sure. Rose
has a theory that not all descendants get their powers around the same time.
She thinks mine have been with me since my sixteenth birthday but they just
took longer to build and recognize.”

That makes sense. The question bothered me
ever since the day after the garden maze encounter.

“Well I’ll leave you to ponder that. I’m
going to get some shopping done for school. You’re welcome to join.” His tone
is hopeful but not expectant.

I shake my head. “I think I’ll stay here.
It was good seeing you.”

And with a wink he exits the way he came
in.

My thoughts go back into Johnny-land for
quite some time. It isn’t until I hear the front doorbell that I leave my chair
to see who’s come to visit. I’ve given up hope now that Johnny will turn up at
the door. No. That fantasy vanished after the day FedEx arrived and I leapt to
the door, convinced it was Johnny coming back to tell me that he couldn’t stay
away from me any longer. I spent the next two days balling my eyes out.

I swing the door open this time to greet
the back of a man’s head. He must hear the door open because he swivels around,
our eyes locking at first glance.

For what feels like an eternity my heart
stops beating and my blood runs cold. I’ve only seen a few old photos of him
but I’d recognize him anywhere. Staring back at me are my own eyes, a very
bright and solid silver. The man has long lashes like me too, and long, wavy chestnut
brown hair.

“Katrina.” It’s as if his breath has left
him and a painful smile appears on his face. “I thought it was finally time we
met.”

My father.

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