The Summer of Bells: The Essences Saga - Book #2

Summer: Chapter 31

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Chapter Thirty-one

I lifted my head from Silas’ kiss as the guttural howl of anguish bombarded my ears. At first, it didn’t register. My mind was on Silas. His kiss, his hands, the glow of silvery light in his hooded eyes…

Silas blinked heavily, fully focused. “Did you feel that?”

My mind was still afloat with all the emotions of desire and love, want and need from his embrace. “Hmm? Feel like the world just flipped over, giving me a delicious head-rush?”

“Exactly,” he said seriously.

And suddenly, I knew what he meant. I did feel it. The sensation wasn’t coming from him…or me. The world did almost flip over. I stared at Silas. How could he be aware of something like that? How could he be instantly in-tuned with the scales of Balance?

But before I could voice my thoughts, a scream – of a different nature – pierced my skull.

“That’s Ashley!”

My feet were sprinting down the hill toward the river before they hit the ground. A crowd of people leaned over the guardrail that separated the river from the sidewalk. Ashley’s cries of help burst from the gathering. As I skidded to a stop, all I could see were her hands, furiously grasping at the slick bars. I looked down. Her body was half-way submerged in the rushing water, threatening to be swept away at any moment.

Someone was already clutching her wrists to haul her back over the rail. She inched up out of the water, and slipped down again.

“I can’t get a grip,” Nick panted with exertion. “The current’s too strong.”

I pushed aside the person next to me, and climbed over the railing. A small ledge offered some footing as I curved one elbow around a post and the other arm around Ashley’s chest.

“Min, no!”

I barely heard Silas’ pleas. Ashley’s eyes blinked rapidly at me. She knew I couldn’t die. She knew I would save her at the risk of my own supposed life. She nodded and scampered a perch with her feet.

With Nick and Silas yanking at her arms and me holding her out of the water, Ashley soon found herself laying on the hard sidewalk gasping for breath. I took a moment to make sure she was clear before attempting to scramble back to safety.

Nick’s hands grabbed me at the same time that Silas’s did. My footing slipped and I smacked my chin on the top rail. With twin muttered curses, I was hauled airborne and landed with a jarring bounce on the sidewalk next to Ashley.

I knelt down to check on the girl. Amber was already there. In the panic, I’d forgotten about all of them, focused only on Ashley. Now the older sister looked sick to her stomach. She cradled her sister’s head in her arms and shook with the near loss. With a muffled sob, Ashley threw her arms around me and buried her head in my shoulder. I squeezed her small frame and whispered a silent prayer up to whoever was watching over her.

“Shhh,” I soothed her. “It’s okay. You’re okay now.” Ashley continued to cry. Silas’ voice echoed above the din of fireworks, “What happened?”

The crowd of onlookers began to thin. I peeked up at Nicole. She sat with Sylvia, looking horrified, but the other girls were there with me.

“It was my fault,” Seth said, a strange note to his voice. I chalked it up to shame, guilt and panic. “I bent over to tie my shoe,” he explained further. “I didn’t know she was hanging over the rail. I bumped her when I stood, and she went over. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to do it.”