Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) (26 page)

Savina brought her hands over Peter’s chest, then to his ribcage, hovering in the air.
Then, a loud crack sounded, and Peter cried out.

Ava took a step forward, but
Jeremy held her back.

Savina moved her hands over his legs, and there was another crack.
Peter cursed, and Ava winced. Savina shifted to his face, and slowly, the swelling around his eye faded and his eyelid opened. His lip was sewn back together, and he took a deep breath.

He
slowly sat up, still with a wary look in his eyes. “How did you…What just hap—.”

“You will need some rest,” Savina said. “But you will be fine.”

“Thank you,” he stammered.

She stood. “You are welcome.
Where are Gillian and Thomas?”

“They’re at the cabin,” Melissa said. “I sent Gillian a message. They’re okay.”

Savina made her way to the other bodies. “Lance, could you and Jeremy please take them upstairs to a room? They will need extensive healing.”

“Are they going to be okay?” Ava asked as Lance and Jeremy carried the two people out of the room.

“Yes.” Savina walked up to Melissa and healed the gash in her head. “Better?”

Melissa nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Always,” she said, and then looked to Peter. “May I ask what happened to you?”

“This kid at school kidnapped me
, and kept me in this dark room,” Peter said. “They kept beating me up. Saying they could never get through to me. I don’t know what they were talking about. I don’t know how long I was there.”

“
A month,” Ava whispered. So that’s who Xavier and Kristen were talking about. She felt sick knowing Peter had spent an entire month in a dark cellar beaten daily. How could she have done this? She led them to him that night they kissed.

“How many were there?”
Savina asked.

“
Two. They would come at different times.”

“Do you remember what they looked like?”

He thought for a minute. “The woman had blond hair and was kinda overweight. The guy was thin with glasses. It was so dark and that’s all I remember. She kept ordering the guy around and he seemed fine with it. And even when he was beating me, there was something odd about it. Like he didn’t know what he was doing.”

“I am very sorry this has happened,” Savina said. “I promise that you are safe now.
”

“Thanks,” he said, but still held a wary look.

“Melissa, would you and Peter please excuse us? Perhaps he would enjoy the library.”

“Sure.”

Peter stood and Ava met his eyes and then he walked out. She couldn’t imagine what he was thinking.

Savina
raised her hand to Ava’s forehead and Ava could feel her skin pulling together to seal the wound.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
she asked.

Ava shook her head.
“No.”

“
Does Peter have a power? I cannot read his mind.”

She
gasped. “Did they make him into an Enchanter?”

“No. I can tell he is not. I believe
he may be a Paramortal with a sort of protection.”

“A what?”

“It means extraordinary human.” She paused. “Ava, please sit,” she said.

Ava moved to the couch and sat next to Savina. She knew this wasn’t going to be good.

“Does this boy know anything about us?”

She shook her head. “No, but we must keep him safe.”

“He will be. Do not worry. You care for him very much. I can tell.”

“
Yes, I do. He is my friend.” There was no way she was going to tell Savina he was much more to her than that.

Savina nodded.
“I was in love with an Ephemeral once. Long ago.”

Ava looked up in
her green eyes. She hadn’t expected that. “You were?”

“
Yes. His name was George. We were very much in love and I knew he would ask me to marry him.”

“What happened?”

Her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes softened. “This happened around the same time that Corbin and his sister returned to Caprington. She had murdered her husband after finding out he was an Enchanter hunter. When Corbin returned, he was angrier. He became volatile and hated Ephemerals. That was when Corbin spread a plague around the village. He refused to allow me to help them, but even if I could, there were too many that were dying.”

“Why was Corbin so set on killing the
Ephemerals?”

“Revenge. But if he had not made a spectacle, none of them would have died.”

“What happened to George?” Ava asked, but deep down she knew what happened to him.

“
George contracted the illness, and I was able to save him. I tried to make him leave town before things got worse. But he refused.”

Ava knew where this was going.

“Rumors of me being an Enchanter circulated and I was taken as a prisoner. They sentenced me to death, all because Corbin spread the illness, and blamed it on me. George came to me that night and told me he loved me and that it didn’t matter what I was. Colden helped me escape, but that was when Corbin and his army obliterated the village. George was killed in the process.”

Ava felt sick. She knew what Savina was trying to tell her about being with Peter. That it was too dangerous and she could get him killed. She knew this all along. Why wasn’t she strong enough to fight her feelings?

“Sometimes your feelings are trying to tell you something, Ava. I was naïve. I didn’t think Corbin would ever have done that.
I told you not to get involved, for this reason exactly. I will keep him protected and heal his mind of these traumatic events.”

Her heart dropped. “What do you mean?”

“His mind will be erased of all this.”

Ava cleared her throat. “How will you do that?”

“Same way I healed his physical injuries.”

“When will you do this?” Her pulse quickened.

“After tonight.”

Ava twirled her ring.
“What if he protects his mind?”

“I have an elixir
that will relax his mind so I can get through.”

“How much are you going to erase?” Her voice cracked.

Savina gave her a knowing look. “It’s safer that he only know you as a classmate.”

Ava bit back tears. Everything they had ever shared would be as if it never happened. He would only know her as
some girl in his chemistry class. She didn’t want that to happen. But what choice did she have?

Ava tried holding back her thoughts and feelings. But the fact of the matter was she was devastated. Savina was going to erase Peter’s memory of Ava.

The only thing she wanted to do was leave the Manor and take Peter home. Just so she could have a few last
moments with him.

Ava was grateful when
Lance and Jeremy entered the room because it gave her something else to focus on. She’d been doing a somewhat good job of putting aside her thoughts, but any second she would explode.

“Thank you for taking them to their rooms,” Savina told them. “Now, who is this boy at school?”

“Xavier Holstone,” Ava said.

“He seemed to have been trying to brainwash Peter
into joining.”

Brainwashed. That’s what happened to Kristen and the others.

“What others?” Savina asked, having read Ava’s mind.

“A whole group of them went missing and came back
being Xavier’s friends. And they bombed our school. He kept threatening me to join his group.”

“Did he ever mention
Devon?”

“No, but I’m sure he’s working for him.”

“The woman Peter described as his attacker, sounds like Trudy McVaine. We must kill her tonight.”

“Who is she?” Jeremy asked.

“I’ll discuss it with you later. Do you remember how to get back to their hideout?”

“Yes,” Lance said.

“What about Xavier?” Ava asked.

“Not until we know who he is for sure.”

“He kidnapped all of us,” she shouted.

“
He may have been turned into an Enchanter like the rest of them. Completely compelled. We will not kill the innocent.”

“
Xavier is not innocent. He’s helping Devon build his army.”

“Yeah, I think I’m with Ava on this one,” Jeremy said.

“I will meet you all at the cabin to discuss Trudy,” Savina said with finality.

“
Where is everyone else?” Lance asked.

“Colden has taken the other Aureole to find
Devon.”

“They found him?” Ava asked.

“Colden received information. Now, I will be at the cabin in thirty minutes. Be safe.”

Why was Savina being so vague? Was there more that she wasn’t telling?

“And Ava?”

Ava
halted. “Yes.”

“Give this to Peter.” She handed her a tiny vial of a clear-yellow liquid.
“I will come to him tomorrow after Trudy is dead.”

She nodded
begrudgingly made her way out of the room. She wasn’t sure what she was even going to say to him, but she just wanted to be near him.

Melissa and Peter came out of the library and
Ava’s stomach clenched. She felt cold and ashamed for what was going to happen to him. She couldn’t meet his eyes, and they all walked outside in silence.

The rain
poured hard, soaking them. They climbed into the SUV and Lance started the engine. Ava sat in between Peter and Jeremy.

“Just drive to the cabin and I’ll take Peter hom
e,” Ava said, and then turned to Peter. “How are you?”

“
What did she-how did she do that?”

“Savina’s…” How could she word this? “Special.
”

“How did you find me? Did you guys fight Xavier or something?”

“No,” Ava said. “Xavier took us.”

“How?”

“He and his friends bombed the school and carried us out. I blacked out and woke up in the same room as you.”

“Bombs?” His mouth dropped and then he took Ava’s hand.
Her heart accelerated. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,”
Ava said, but her voice was empty of any feeling. She subtly removed her hand from Peter’s grip.

“How did we escape?”
he asked.

Well, we used our powers to break out of the underground cellar.
“We found a door.”

“I never found one. Then again, I pretty much stayed unconscious. What does he want?
Why did he do this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Was anyone else hurt in the bombing?”

“
We don’t know,” Melissa said.

“I should call my friends.”

Ava felt even guiltier. What if his friends had been hurt? And he’d wake up the day after not knowing about the bombing? Or was Savina going to tamper with his mind in that regard?

“How did he kidnap you?”
Melissa asked.

“
I drove home from school, and when I got out, Xavier pulled up. He just smiled and then someone from behind put a cloth bag or something over my head. They kept telling me to stop blocking them, which I’m not sure what that meant. Then they’d get frustrated and start hitting me.”

Ava bit her lip and blinked away her tears. She knew Xavier would not live much longer after this. She would kill Trudy, but then Xavier would be next.

Lance pulled up at the cabin, and Ava was glad to see her car, but wondered how it got there. They got out of the car and while the others were walking toward the cabin, Ava and Peter went to her car.

“Thanks for your help,” Peter told them.

Melissa, Jeremy, and Lance turned around.

“You’re welcome,” Melissa smiled. “We’ll see you soon, Ava.”

She nodded and then turned to see Peter within inches of her. Seeing him, alive and standing before her, relief overcame her. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried about you.”

“I thought about you the whole time.”
He wrapped his arms around her and she relaxed. “Ava, I don’t care what it takes anymore. I don’t want to be apart from you.”

His words made her stomach twist tighter into knots.
He wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow. Or every laugh they’d shared. Every intimate secret. Each look or touch. The few, but heart-stopping kisses. Every bit of it would be gone.

S
he pulled away. “Come on. I need to take you home.”

“Okay.”

The drive to his house was quiet, except for the downpour that pummeled her car, like marbles, in the humid night.

Ava knew he was exhausted and scared and his mind was muddled. She couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through
in that month. But if she had just stayed away from him from the beginning, none of this would have ever happened. It was too late now to worry about what ifs though.

When she pulled into his driveway to his house with a lone light on in the
front, she put the car in park.

“Did my dad come looking for me?”

Ava shook her head. She realized someone had tampered with his mind. She turned to him. “I’m so sorry you got hurt,” she said. “I tried so hard—.”

He reached over
, pulled her face to his, and kissed her. His lips were urgent and eager as they moved with hers. She wrapped her hand around his neck to make the kiss longer. She never wanted it to end, but time was running out. Ava wanted to relish this moment before she said goodbye.

“Thank you for saving
me,” he whispered.

“You shouldn’t thank me.
”

“If it wasn’t for you, who knows what would have happened.
Ava, I can’t be without you. I want us to be together.”

Ava
looked away, even though she could barely see his face from the soft glow of the blue interior lights, she felt his eyes on her. “This is bigger than you and me, Peter. I’m so tired of denying my feelings and pushing you away.”

“Then don’t.”

“I have to.” Ava glanced at the clock, and then reached in her pocket and pulled out the vial. “This is for you.”

He took
it. “What is it?”

She cleared her throat, and stared at the small lines of water streaming down her window. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold back the tears. “It’s to help you.
I-I have to go.”

“Please stay
.”

The sadness in his voice made her ache more.
“I wish I could, but I can’t. You need to rest and see your father.”

“I don’t want to let you go. The last time
I did, I…”

“You’re safe. I promise.”

“Will you come back?”

She didn’t answer.

“Why does it seem like you’re holding back information? Are you avoiding me?”

“I can’t do this, Peter.” She spoke to the window. “You need to go.”

“Why do I feel like this is a goodbye?”

Ava took a deep breath, and then
met his eyes. They were full of confusion and sadness. Her eyes blurred. “I’ll be back in the morning,” she said, and then kissed him quickly before it completely consumed her.

“Promise?”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I promise.” Even though he wouldn’t remember, she still felt ashamed of lying to him.

“I’
ll be waiting,” he said, and then got out of the car. He jogged to the front door and went inside.

Ava took a
shaky breath and buried her face in her hands. She gave into the tears, but only for a moment. She wiped her eyes and readied for the next kill.