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Chapter 7

  The Rygon turned toward the Kember and cowered. “S-sir, I’m sorry. I—I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to…”

  Letting out a hair-raising yell, the cloaked man drew out a red titanium knife and slit the Rygon’s throat. The two bodies dropped to the ground. He kicked the Rygon aside and knelt next to the lifeless young woman. Very carefully, he smoothed a few dark strands of black hair from her face, his hand lingering on her cheek. After a moment of staring at her, he stood. Fire built in his palms until they completely engulfed his fists. The Kember touched a nearby tree and within seconds, every treetop burst into flame. The dozen other Rygons followed the Kember, single file, as he walked away.

  Body frozen, my mind spun in a whirl of angry colors, and the world around me turned black.

  “Delmari!” I jolted to a sitting position, strands of damp hair stuck to my forehead. My fists released the death grip they held on the comforter beneath me. Full on, heart thumping panic seized me. “Delmari!” I screamed again. Jumping from bed, I staggered toward the door, vaguely realizing I could move again.

  Aiden jumped up from the floor and held his hands out in front of me. “It’s okay. Calm down.”

  “D-Delmari. Where is he?”

  His eyes widened a little. “Delmari’s dead.” The words were slow—careful, like he had to remind me.

  “No. He’s not. I—the rain. I felt it. It was him.”

  “The rain?” Now he looked even more concerned. Great.

  “Yeah, you know, the wet shit that falls from the sky.”

  For the first time, I examined my clothes. They should’ve been scorched—and wet. I only saw dirt. I gripped the hair at the back of my head. Dry. “What the heck?” I whispered.

  I stumbled backward and collapsed onto the bed.

  The roar of flames, the pain of my flesh burning and the girl…How could that have been a dream? No, not possible. How else had I ended up in bed? It’s not like Aiden would’ve carried me back from the woods.

  “Are you all right?” Aiden sat back down, leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees.

  I averted my gaze to the red glowing numbers on my alarm clock. Three o’clock in the morning. I’d been out for a while. Unless the whole thing was a dream: Mr. Sorenson, Aiden pissing me off, the girl…My thoughts swirled in confusion.

  I slid the comforter down and crawled beneath it. I was so confused, I didn’t know if I was really awake. “Golden.”

  “You collapsed in the middle of the woods, screaming about something burning you.”

  Not a dream then. My hand clutched the comforter so tight, my fingers hurt.

  “If you have some sort of medical condition, I need to be aware. Nothing was mentioned in your file.”

  What the— “Medical condition? I don’t have a medical condition!”

  He cocked his head. “Has this happened before?”

  “No, of course not.”

  Aiden hesitated. “Maybe you should see a doctor.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with me. If you want the truth, I don’t know what happened.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing. Never mind.” I threw back the comforter and stood. Marching to the closet, I grabbed my green hoodie and yanked it over my head. I had to go back—I had to see if the girl was there.

  Aiden stood, an impenetrable barricade, in front of my exit. “Where’re you going?”

  “Where does it look like?” I tried to move around him, but he sidestepped, nearly forcing me into the wall.

  “Sit.” He pointed to the bed. “Please.”

  “No. I’ve gotta see if that girl is still there. Move.” I reached out to grab his arm and physically remove him. As I did, I realized the foolishness behind my rash behavior a moment too late.

  He grabbed my hand midair. Jerking away from him, I tripped over my own feet and failed to regain my footing. Everything around me blurred, except for the corner of the dresser coming closer and closer to my face. I squeezed my eyes shut.

  Aiden caught my arm right before my head connected and pulled me back toward him. I blinked, dizzy from all the quick movements. After a moment, he carefully released my arm but kept his hand outstretched. “Are you all right?”

  Adrenaline pumping, heart racing, my gaze wandered over the thick muscle covering his body. Slowly, common sense returned. Not even Houdini could get past Aiden.

  I shoved his hand away, ignoring the question. “I need to go back. I have to see—”

  “What?” He lowered his head, looking at me levelly. “There’s nothing to see.”

  Stepping back, I figured my chances of sneaking out the window. Yeah right. Mr. Freak-senses would be outside by the time I slid the glass up. Unwilling to lose the little dignity I had left, I gritted my teeth. “Fine.”

  Once I sat on the bed, he moved from the door and crouched down a few feet in front of me. “You were in physical pain when I picked you up. I felt it…” His gaze fell to his hands. “What happened?”

  I took a deep breath. No sense in arguing over something his ability picked up. He’d tell Ian either way. Do they already have my room reserved at the psych ward? “I-I think I saw…something.”

  “You’ll have to be a bit more specific.”

  My hair fell forward, shielding half of my face, and I quickly tucked it behind my ear. “The forest—the same forest we were in…it was on fire.” I expected skepticism in his features. His green eyes were attentive instead. “This girl was being chased by a Rygon, and he—he killed her.” An aching pain shot through my chest. “The Kember—he was there...” I went on and told him the whole thing, exactly how I saw it.

  His brow furrowed and his mouth opened a few seconds before he found his words. “You’ve been through a lot. I’m sure it’s just some—”

  “It wasn’t a dream.”

  “Well, I don’t think so, either, but—”

  “I’m not crazy or delusional, either. The fire burned me. I heard everything, smelled the smoke…”

  Aiden’s eyes skimmed over me, as if trying to decide what to think. “Did you know the girl?”

  “No. Never seen her.”

  “You’re sure Rygons were there?”

  “Yes. They had the markings around their creepy blue eyes.” Some of the Rygons’ marks spread and covered more than just their cheek bones, but I didn’t need to elaborate. The more energy a Rygon siphoned, the bigger their mark became. Some Rygons had their whole faces and even parts of their necks covered in black vein-like markings. That much energy made them a bitch to kill.

  “There was a whole group of them, and I think they all took orders from the Kember.” Rage swelled in my chest. I inhaled, reminding myself to keep breathing. The Kember had been right there. If I could’ve gotten to him—if I could’ve moved… “We need to find out who that girl was. We have to go back to the forest.”

  “Slow down.” He ran a hand through his thick hair. “Kembers and Rygons don’t work together. Is it possible you’re overreacting?”

  “No!” The way the Rygon attacked her, she had to have been a Drea. What if, through her, I could find the rogue Kember? “If it wasn’t a dream or some off-the-wall hallucination, what was it?”

  Aiden rose, walked to my window and drew open the curtain. He gazed out into the darkness before turning back toward me. “I’m not sure.”

  “The Kember is real and so are Rygons. Why not her?”

  He leaned against the window ledge and studied me. “This isn’t about her, is it? This is about finding the Kember and avenging Delmari.”

  The taste of blood filled my mouth as I bit the inside of my lip. I never thought of myself as transparent. I didn’t like that he read me so easily.

  Aiden’s voice lowered. “The Authority will find out who he is.”

  “What if they don’t? We’re going to let someone else die? Do you not have feelings at all?”

  He didn’t say anyth
ing right away. He stayed completely emotionless. “What do you expect me to do? If she’s a Drea, she has a Kember.”

  My frustration finally hit a breaking point. I leapt from the bed. “Something could happen to her. Won’t you feel like crap knowing you knew but didn’t do anything about it because you were too stubborn? We’ve gotta find out if she exists.”

  Aiden adjusted his footing, his voice calm, despite my lash out. “You don’t even know who she is, or where she lives.”

  “I’ll figure it out. She has to be around here if she was running through our forest. Why do you think they killed her?” Him, I wanted to say. Why would that psycho pyro kill Delmari? Would he really go through all that trouble to get to me?

  “From what you’ve told me, I don’t think the intent was to kill her.”I thought back to the memory and agreed. He seemed pissed she was killed. A Drea’s energy was our ability and our ability was connected to our life force. We couldn’t live without it. Something about the mental energy in a Drea’s body allowed Rygons to take it; it acted as a drug. They could never get enough and they’d never stop.

  I paced the room while chewing on my thumbnail. The Kember disappeared at the funeral and while fighting Delmari. Twice now he’d lit a forest on fire. I didn’t dare bring up the multiple abilities again to Aiden. It’d be one more thing he’d make me tell the stupid shrink. “I’ve gotta get back there.”

  Aiden stepped in front of me, intercepting my path again. “It’s late. We’re not going back tonight. I promise you, there’s nothing out there.”

  “I’ve gotta see for myself.”

  “Then wait until morning. You can’t see anything in the dark, anyway.”

  He was right, and I hated it. I turned on my heel and walked back to my bed. The second the sun peaked above the mountains, I’d leave with or without him.

  Aiden, obviously satisfied I wouldn’t be trudging through the darkness, strode toward the door.

  “Hey…” I pulled a pillow onto my lap and fidgeted with the corner. “Are you going to tell Ian? You know, about tonight?”

  He stopped in the doorway and hesitated a moment before turning back toward me. “No.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. “I-I thought…”

  Aiden grabbed hold of the door and began to close it. “Get some rest. If you need to see the forest, we’ll go in the morning.”