Yeah! Let the writing blitz begin. So Excited. Hope you like the latest chapter!
My heart beat in my throat and made it hard to breathe. I swallowed, feeling my guilt rise and churn in the pit of my stomach.
"Kellan, I..." I was at a loss for words. What could I say? If I were him, I'd be mad too.
His eyes glimmered a faint blue, and he shifted his stance. "Wren, it wasn't..." he said aloud and then changed to speaking in my head, like I thought Jaxon couldn't talk to you. I just...
I bit my lip. What?
He shook his head and pursed his lips. I thought you'd tell me. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
His words cut through me like a knife. The guilt oozed out of me. I licked my lips and lifted my eyes to his. He—
Kellan held up a hand for me to hold my thought and looked around. There are too many people watching us. I don't want to give them a reason to suspect there's more to—us.
Well, at least he was still saying us, I thought. I wiped my hands on my jeans and pretended to glance around for Sage. The two guards glared at me, then glanced at Kellan. I turned and started walking toward Sage trying to throw them off from suspecting anything. With my back turned to him I said, When I attempted to light the fire—Jax somehow knew what I was doing. That's when he connected to my thoughts. I told him I wasn't his girl and to get out my head.
I know. That's the biggest reason why I'm still standing here. But that's not what this about. Is it?
"So not to brag, but that was awesome!" Sage said throwing an arm over my shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"
It's about trust— He walked past me. Come on, he grumbled, indicating this conversation wasn't over. We need to get moving. There are more guards around here, he paused, Remember?
Reciting Jaxon's warning was the swell that capsized me. I was drowning in my own guilt. When I looked up at him, he shook his head, his eyes icy blue. He wasn't mad—the look on his face was worse than that. A picture of disappointment hung on him so heavy it made my chest ache.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I replied turning back to Sage. Nope, not okay, but I wasn't about to say that aloud.
A quick whistle caught our attention. "Hey, are you two coming?" Robin asked pointing to the path in front of him. "Or are you waiting for the group of guards heading this way? From what I can tell there's five more coming from that direction."
"I don't know how much help I'd be with five more." Sage looked over her shoulder at the two injured guards on the ground. "Those two tapped me of any extra energy I had."
"Personally, I think it's amazing you're even standing. Maybe stick close to Robin. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to help you." I grinned at the thought of him wrapping his arm around her.
"If you insist. You won't hear me complaining." She picked up her step and jogged toward Robin. Sage pointed to the guards as I sprinted past the two of them.
I wanted to catch up to Kellan. After a couple of minutes of charging down the path, I could see him ahead of me. "Hey, wait up." He kept jogging, ignoring me. "Kellan, I'm sorry." He continued his pace like he couldn't hear me—or didn't want to. "You're right," I said a little louder and out of breath.
He stopped in his dead in his tracks and turned to face me. "What was that?"
"I'm sorry."
"No, not that. The part about me being right." His eyes lit up a soft blue.
"You're right. I should have told you about Jaxon."
"And..." He raised his eyebrow and waited.
I sighed and closed my eyes. "And I should have told you Jaxon showed me how to create the fire blaze you saw." I cringed and peeked open my eyes.
"You definitely should have told me that," he said looking unimpressed.
"I know." I reached for his hand and kissed the top of it. "I promise, I'll tell you next time. Can you forgive me, pleeaase?" I said drawing the word out. "I don't think I can take you being upset with me."
The corners of his mouth turned up. "Promise, no more secrets then? If it's something I should know in the future—"
"I'll tell you, I promise," I said interrupting.
Two of his charms were lit up against the fading sky behind him. "I'm not your boyfriend. I'm your promised. That means we're in this together. We need to share—even the stuff that might be hard to."
I nodded. "Got it."
He pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. "Good." Then he cupped my face in his hands. "I promise too," he said looking into my eyes.
I lifted my heels off the ground, put my arms around his neck and placed a brief kiss on his lips. I felt a sense of relief wash through me when he returned my gesture, brushing his lips against mine.
"What are you two doing, making out?" I heard Robin say from behind me. "Uh, not sure if you've noticed—but this is not the time for that. There are more Fire Circle guards heading this way, and they're only a few minutes behind us."
"I don't know. I like the romantic gesture." Sage nudged Robin.
He lifted her chin and planted a kiss on Sage so hard I thought my knees were going to buckle. "There," he said coming up for air. "Can we leave now?"
Sage stood there stunned like she had no idea what had just happened. When Robin turned his back to Sage, she fanned herself and mouthed, oh my God, in my direction.
"Second that," Kellan said. "Lead the way Robin. You have the best sense of where we're going."
"Sure." He released his hold around Sage's waist. "Just shout if you need help, okay?" Robin rubbed the side of her cheek with his thumb, then turned and started down the trail.
Sage and I were in the middle with Kellan bringing up the rear. Robin was keeping a blistering pace. Cardio was something he was probably used to with all the basketball practicing he did. Sage and I were clearly not in the same kind of shape, gasping for breath as we tried to keep up with him.
Woosh!
When I turned to look and see what made the sound, I stumbled. Kellan caught my arm and steadied me. Flames shot high into the air from our campsite behind us. "I guess that confirms they found the other guards."
"Yeah, they won't be far behind us now."
Robin had stopped at a fork in the trail. "That way leads out to a look out over the cliffs...and this way..." Robin paused like he was trying to figure something out.
"What?" Kellan asked.
"I don't know. Something is off. This is the way we have to go," he said pointing, "but there's something I can't get a read on. Weird."
"It doesn't seem like a Fire Circle trap?"
Robin shook his head. "No, those I know. I've trained with them for the past five years. I don't think there's a trick they have I don't know. What I sense is something I haven't felt before."
"Okay. Keep your eyes open. It's not like we have much choice."
Robin looked up to the treetops and furrowed his brow. Then started jogging between the trees and around a bend.
Sage and I rounded the corner, and Robin wasn't anywhere in sight. "Hey, where'd he go?" I whispered.
"Maybe this way?" Sage pointed to a track that veered around rock face.
Kellan had already pulled a stream of water and was flipping it between his hands like a slinky. He was scanning the area, looking through the trees. "Sage, have a peek."
She walked a few paces ahead and looked around the rock. "Nope not here. Maybe, he's up ahead a bit more on the main path?"
"Well, let's have a look. You two stay close behind me." Kellan threw out his hands and a stream of water floated around us as we walked.
When we walked around the next bend, something cracked underneath Kellan's foot, and the ground shifted. It sparkled, then he plunged into a hole out of sight.
"Kellan!" I screamed. Sage grabbed my hand and pulled me back.
"Travelers and their stupid portals. Don't move," she said in my ear.
"That's not going to matter as far your concerned," a man said from above us.
Then everything went black. The clouds swirled around us, twisting and turning. I had a firm hold of Sage's hands and wasn't letting go for anything. The next thing I knew we hit something hard and I was lying on my back with Sage on top of me.
"Woo! I told you it was going to work." The man said jumping up and down in front of me."Yeah!" He pumped his fists in the air. "New move, the flying portal. Thank-you, thank-you," he said taking a bow.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into it." A girl replied. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "But it looks like it actually worked. Hmm." She stared down at us.
"Sage, get off. What's poking me? It feels like you have quills." I poked her.
She sat up and pulled out a hairbrush sandwiched between us. A bunch of her other stuff had flown free of her bag, littering the ground. She got to her feet and helped me up.
I looked around. "I don't see Kellan or—"
"That's it. I know I've had about enough. This has to be one of the worst days on record. What the heck have you done with Robin and Kellan?" Sage yelled at the group in front of us.
No one said anything. More people joined the group in front of us. "Well— She asked you a question. Where are our friends?"
A lady pushed through the crowd and stopped within a few feet from us. "Don't worry. Your friends are safe. We sent them back to the Water Circle."
"You what?" I yelled. My hands started to tingle, and the women's charms began to light up flashing on and off.
"Wren, you need to calm down before—"
"Before what? Listen, lady, you have no idea the kind of day I've had." My emotions swirled, and I took a deep breath.
She held up her hands as if to show me she was unarmed. But this was Acklemar, who knows what she could do. "Wren— I'm Astra."
"And how do you know my name?" Her eyes darted to my hand. I followed her gaze and watched the stream of water, wash over and circle my hand like it was ready to follow my will.
Wren! Please god, tell me you are all right. I could feel Kellan panicking. His emotions surged through our connection.
Sort of, I'm not injured if that's what you mean. But I'm facing a mob of people with some lady named Astra telling me to calm down. I'd like to toss her in a magic bag and drag her off to God knows where and see how calm she is.
Is Sage with you too? Wait. Astra took you?
"What I'm trying to tell you is, we're here to help," Astra said. "There's no need for that." She pointed to my hand.
Sage is here. And yeah, Astra is trying to claim they're trying to help, giving me some 'we come in peace' garbage. I'm going to show her a piece of—
I could feel the water flow through me begging to be released.
Whoa, look at you. See told you, you could channel and draw on my talent. He sounded calmer now for some reason.
Thanks for the support. Now, can we focus, please? Slightly bigger issues. What about Astra?
She's likely trying to help, in a screwed up kind of way. When I get there, she's got a lot of explaining to do. You can stand down. I can't imagine her doing any more harm than she has already.
Why's that?
Astra's your Aunt.
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