She'd survived change. She'd survived heartbreak. Now she has to survive one more fight for survival.
Ava Delaney was normal once upon a time, but then she met a boy and she fell in love. Then she kept his secret and fell into his world. She became...
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Tyler waved me off as we got to my house and I stepped through my front door. I hesitated for a moment when I took my phone out of my back pocket. Breathing in a deep breath, I released it before I called Jared.
It rang a few times before he answered.
"I'm coming," I heard him say before I even had a chance to say a word. I listened to the dial tone, which was evidence he'd already disconnected the call.
Minutes later he knocked on my front door. I opened it. Just the sight of him could still take my breath away. I had to hide my feelings under a veil of pretense.
"How did it go?" he asked as he walked into my house. I closed the front door.
"It was good," I answered, trying to act as unaffected by him as I could. I was probably failing miserably. "I managed to exert some energy."
"That's great!" he said as his eyes lit up proudly.
"I can't do anything like you guys can, all I managed to do was kill some grass," I told him honestly with a dismissive shrug.
"And how do you feel?" he asked with concerned eyes as they scanned my features.
"I feel fine," I assured him. "Tyler and I can't figure out why I don't get tired like you guys do. He said it must be the combination of the two energies."
At the mention of Tyler's name I saw something change in Jared. His smile faltered slightly. There was something going on between those two and I had no idea what.
Jared was the Archaic leader and Tyler was his second-in-command, but their friendship went deeper than just that ranking. They were close friends but lately there seemed to be some issues. I wondered if it was because Tyler didn't seem to agree with Jared breaking up with me.
"I'm sure you'll be able to exert power like us soon, you just need to keep practicing," he said with a cold edge in his voice.
"Tyler wants to make sure I train every day," I revealed. I'm sure the grass in the clearing was quaking in its roots. I was so deadly, I couldn't help but smile.
"I think it's important that you get trained by the other Archaic as well." I stopped to stare at him. Any doubt that there were issues between the two Archaics disappeared.
"Whatever," I remarked and shrugged. His eyes watched my response closely. I wasn't sure exactly why.
I remembered Emma. I needed to talk to Jared about my suspicions.
"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," I started as we entered the living room. I sat down on the sofa and pulled a cushion onto my lap and held it close to my chest. He sat in one of the single chairs that faced me across from the coffee table. I was nervous because I didn't know whether he would believe me.
"It's Emma," I said.
"What about her?" He waited for me to continue.
"I think there is something up with her," I explained carefully. His eyes didn't move from my face as he frowned.
"I've been watching her and I've noticed things about her."
He leaned forward and rested his hands on his thighs.
"What have you noticed?" he asked. I hoped it wasn't too obvious why I'd been watching her closely because I'd been jealous of his interaction with her.
"I think she's been changed," I said, revealing a part of my suspicion.
He looked a little perplexed by my statement.
"What exactly do you mean when you say changed?"
"I think she's a synthetic Hue," I answered.
"What makes you think that?" he asked, clearly baffled at my suspicion.
"There've been little things," I began to explain. "I was watching her one day. Similar to my emotionless episodes, her emotions faded away almost instantly and she looked at everyone with the same indifference I did when I was becoming a Hue." I was the only one who had firsthand experience of being changed so maybe that was the reason I could spot the faint telltale signs that no one else had.
Still frowning, Jared stood up and began to pace. He'd gone from easy-going to agitated instantly. It was at times like this that it was hard to believe he was just eighteen. He was so young to have so much responsibility.
"Are you sure?' he asked anxiously as he dragged his hand through his hair. A wave of black hair settled across his forehead, hiding the crease of concern.
"As sure as I can be," I said while I watched him continue to pace in front of me. The changes were so subtle it could be easy to overlook.
"If you're right then it's no coincidence she became part of our group." He said aloud what I'd already thought about. Someone had initiated the change in her and planted her into our group for a reason. His eyes met mine at that moment and I saw the fear in his eyes; he was afraid this had something to do with me.
"No more training until this is taken care of," he insisted.
I was about to argue but he held his hand up at me and said, "I'm not taking any chances. It's my job to keep you safe, you're my responsibility." There it was again, that word, responsibility. I wished I could erase that word from his vocabulary.
"No activities after school," he instructed as he stood before me. I was on lockdown again.
"We're going to have to keep an extra eye on you at school," he said. I could see the wheels turning inside his mind on the logistics of that plan. "We're going to need to find out why she's been changed and why she has been planted into our group."
I watched the hard look on his face. As much as I disliked Emma, I didn't want them to hurt her. There was no proof that she wasn't an innocent, like me, who had been dragged into a world she didn't belong in.
"You can't hurt her," I insisted as I stood up.
His eyes flashed to mine and he stopped in front of me.
"I wasn't going to but I won't allow any harm to come to any Archaics."
It was fair. At the moment she was standing in a gray area. Once we knew which side she would choose, we would know whether she was the enemy or just an innocent who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I remembered Kennedy's funeral was coming up and I didn't want to miss it so no matter what was going on I was determined to go. It was my last chance to say goodbye.
"Kennedy's funeral," I told Jared. His eyes immediately softened. "It's on Saturday and I want to go."
"Sure," he answered, nodding his head.
Just the thought of her being buried was enough for my eyes to sting with tears. I tried to hold them back but a single tear slid down my cheek. Seeing my visible emotion, he reached for me gently and tugged me into his arms.
"I'm sorry, I just can't seem to hold myself together," I muttered into his chest, and a few more tears escaped as I tried to swallow my building emotion. He hugged me a little tighter.
"You don't have to apologize," he insisted as he lifted my chin to look at me. My eyes met his and as our eyes connected I felt everything else fade away. The pull to him was undeniable and I struggled to break our gaze. It was like something stronger was controlling me as I kept my eyes locked with his. His hand released my chin and settled on my hip.
His eyes flickered down to my mouth briefly before they lifted back to my eyes. His eyes smoldered as he leaned closer. I could feel his heartbeat under my fingertips. I wanted to raise myself onto my tiptoes and kiss him but I stopped myself. He was the one who couldn't forgive me and there was nothing I could do if he couldn't move past that.
