We Promised

Chapter 8

The more energy I put into the form I want it to take, the heavier my chest heaves. The ball grows to the size of my arm before it collapses. I catch my breath, sucking in selfish amounts of air, placing my hands on my hips. "It's okay. I know it's draining. Liam made fun of me for it when I would get exhausted." His face lights up at the thought of his brother, but it darkens a moment later. Tears well up in my eyes and I look away. "Please don't talk about him." I leave Jaxon behind me, looking for a distraction. The closest thing to that is getting a drink of water. The cold stream grounds me, trickling down my throat. His hands are on my shoulders, massaging the tension from it. They sag under his work, and I close my eyes. "You're doing great," he says. He turns me around, making me look at him. "You're doing just fine, Ilvera." He pushes my hair behind my ears and I close my eyes. "Let's spar." He nods. Lets spar.

We circle each other, watching and trying to predict each other's moves. He doesn't throw the first punch like I expect. Instead, he waits for me to do it. Fine. I let the wavelengths take over, pulling him towards me. He stiffens, fighting my control, shooting acid out of his hands. It catches my arm and I cry out, hissing through my teeth. The sparks in my hands grow, and I throw a few orbs at him. His leg falls beneath him under the force of it, a burn peering through a ripped hole in his pants. A punch to his gut makes him hunch over and he lifts me up in his arms, pinning me to the ground. My knee hits his back and he rolls. I'm on top of him in seconds, punching him in his face and his ribs. We take turns flipping each other, trading blows here and there. I make his nerve endings tremble and he drops, both of us a heaping mess on the floor. We take a moment to catch our breaths. "You're not bad, princess." I grin, placing my forearm on his neck to keep him down. "Yield?" He smiles, holding my face in his hands. "Yeah I yield," he mumbles, pressing me flush against him. My face burns, blushing like an idiot. Did he bewitch me? He crushes his lips to mine, and I'm taken by surprise. This can go nowhere, I know this. I pull away, so I don't prolong the inevitable, as much as I don't want to. "I'm sorry." His eyebrows come together. "For?" I lick my lips, crossing my arms on his chest and resting my chin on them. "For betraying you. I just wanted to go home." His eyes darken at the mention of what happened just a few days ago. He shuts off his thoughts to where I can't read them. "I understand. I can never stay mad at you. " My head falls against his chest, steady heartbeat underneath my ear. "If only this world was different," he whispers. If only, I think.

The next day, he taught me more control techniques. He taught me how to throw out atoms like a whip, slashing targets in half, clean through. He shows me more of his abilities, and I adjust the more he and I practice. I started to wrap my head around this new world, this world where people can defy the laws of history. In the history books, nobody has been able to create this. Now, so many people have them, ones who can't control them, ones who can. And I am one of them.

The plan is simple as I relay it to him, and he nods his head with every detail I give him. An oil pipe burst in the southeast, in the ocean by Upresh. "Your brother's not coming with us?" I shake my head. "Well from what I remember, his exact words were 'If I go on a mission with that man? I'll kill him, so be thankful I'm staying home.'" Jaxon smirks, struggling to put on his mission suit. I'm already in mine, the slick black material fitting my curves in a way that I wouldn't normally like. Jax's eyes devour me and roam over my body as if I were a three-course meal. "Go! Goodness, you're hopeless," I say with a small smile on my face. He gives me a sheepish smile. "I need help." I nod, understanding the struggles of the material. I tug on one side of the suit first and work on the other side, pulling the sleeves over his shoulder joints with a grunt. I pull the zipper to the back of his neck and comb back his hair with my fingers. "Ready?" My brother interrupts us and I hold my breath. Jax laughs quietly before looking away, and I follow his eyes. Blayne has disapproval written all over his face as he frowns and I bite my lip to keep from laughing. "You'll have to repair the pipe carefully. The information is in this packet. Follow the instructions and your record will be clear. You will return to whatever hole you came from to live the rest of your miserable life. He will not be staying here any longer." His words are so final, and my heart slams in my chest. "Ilvera, meet me at the birds when you are ready." I nod stiffly and he turns on his heels, leaving just as he came. "Let's go," I say steely, my shoulders square and my hands squeezing the folder.

Jax is still and calm at my side. I make my way up the ramp, sorting through the grappling cables. Blayne pulls me back and into a hug. "When you come back, be prepared. After the tour, Father is coming to the castle," he whispers in my ear hastily. My stomach drops and my face feels foreign, a cold pale thing. A real threat is in their line of focus right now. I need to be here standing with my siblings and put on my mask, a royal mask. That's the only thing that will save us now.

My head is in my hands and I sigh. At times like these, I missed Corbin. I glance at my hands and at Jax's boots. The man who wears those boots hasn't said a word since we left the training room. I let out a small breath. "What is it?" He brushes my hair back and I gather up the courage to look at him. "My father. He's coming to the Osmea after the tour." He tenses, his fists clenching as his veins press against his skin. "You can come with me, Ilvera. Leave this all behind." He grabs my hands, trying to convince me with his gaze. "I can't." He pulls away, running a hand through his hair. His lips touch my forehead light as a feather. "Vivamus, moriendum est," he whispers. I place my hand on his cheek, and he leans into it. "Let us live since we must die. The Bloods took it from the Old World. It's our maxim." He holds my face in his hands, and what I see swimming in them, makes me want to go with him. He makes me want to leave my world behind and fight for something else. Something, anything other than living in a castle where my life is in jeopardy whenever dear old Dad wants to pop in and remember he has kids. "You're not their savior." I can't. I can't leave Blayne, or Thena, or Eve. I owe Blayne everything, and Thena is my beautiful baby sister. Eve, Queen of our Empire, my strong gorgeous sister. I can't leave them to his mercy, something that doesn't exist. But, one day. I'll take them with me. Vivamus, moriendum est. Let me live since I must die.