At First Sight (12 page)

              Hovering over her was Leo, poised with a glowing orb in his hands. The orb was sparking electricity over her face as she lay there motionless.

              “Hey!” he shouted. “Let her go.”

              Leo turned to him and grimaced. “Dean Baker. I see you found us.”

              “You’re damn right I did. Let her go right now, Leo.” Dean slowly walked towards him.

              “I can’t do that,” said Leo, letting the orb hover in mid air. He looked at Dean with a smirk. “You don’t know, do you?”

              “Know what?” he asked cautiously, glancing at Lola’s limp form.

              “Leader versus leader. Manifester versus Reader,” said Leo, his voice taking on a dark tone.

              Dean stopped in his tracks and caught his breath. “You’re a Reader?”

              “It’s amazing what can happen when a Manifester and a Reader procreates. Unlike yours, my mother kept all of her powers. They transferred to me while my father’s powers transferred to Matthew,” he explained.

              Dean furrowed his brows. “Matthew is your brother?”

              “Yes. He believed that he had taught me to control my imprint. But, he now knows that he can’t beat me.” He looked over at Lola. “I’m ending this war by killing every last one of you. And, I’m starting with her.”

              “Over my dead body,” growled Dean.

              “That can definitely be arranged.”

              Leo’s imprint unleashed a light, knocking Dean to the ground. He groaned in pain but stood up. He stared at his imprint, trying to remember what he had learned from the imprint book. He suddenly remembered that he had fists and punched Leo straight in the jaw, sending him to the other side of the room. The punch had much more force than normal and Dean wondered if it was his imprint that gave him this strength.

              He raced over to Lola and immediately fell to the floor as a blast of power nearly knocked him out. The power, instead, cut through the straps that held Lola captive. He heard Leo cry out in frustration as he struggled to stand.

              Dean immediately placed his hands on her cheeks and his forehead against hers. “Baby, wake up.”

              He watched and waited until Lola’s eyes finally opened. He stroked her cheek gently as she slowly breathed in and out. Their eyes met and their bodies immediately began to feel energized.

              “Dean…” she whispered. She swung her legs over and put her hands on his cheeks. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

              “No, don’t be sorry. We’re going to get out of here.” He put his arms around her waist, prepared to carry her out of the warehouse.

              “No!”

              Lola allowed Dean to help her stand. She could feel her strength coming back to her as she glared at Leo, watching him stand and face her. She was about to walk away from Dean when he stopped her.

              “What are you doing?” he asked.

              Lola looked at him. “Dean, he wants me. He wants to kill me. But, he is going to have to fight me first. I’m not going to let him win.”

              She no longer felt like the scared girl she used to be. She wasn’t the girl who had no parents. She wasn’t the girl that only wanted a life at Harvard. She wasn’t some teenager. She wasn’t some human.

              She was a Manifester. She wasn’t going to let anybody control her anymore.

              She walked toward Leo slowly. “I’m right here.”

              “I see that.” He chuckled darkly. “You really plan on beating me? How naïve are you?”

              “You have no idea who I am,” she started. “You have tortured me for much too long. I want to kill you right now, but I am not that kind of person. I just want you to go away.”

              “It’s too bad you aren’t a killer,” he muttered darkly before flipping his hand to the side, sending Lola to the wall.

              She collided and grunted as she hit the floor. She gasped at the pain as she slowly stood up. She could feel Dean’s protectiveness as he ran over to help her.

              “No, no, no.” Leo kept a smirk on his face as he twirled his fingers toward Dean.

              Dean was thrust back against the wall as an invisible force kept him pinned back. He grunted, struggling to get free. “Lola…”

              Lola’s protectiveness took over as she prepared herself to rescue Dean. However, her bare feet skidded to a stop on the cold floor as an invisible grip slowly brought her back to Leo. She clawed at her throat until Leo’s arm went around her neck. He held out his palm, showing off the glowing orb.

              “This has been really fun. But, I always win.” He began laughing. “Lola, I am going to destroy you.” He glanced at Dean, who continued to struggle. “Dean, you get to enjoy the pain of knowing you never saved your precious soul mate.”

              Dean watched with anger as Leo’s orb inched closer to Lola’s face. She struggled to fight him off, but he was too strong. Her imprint was still new and she didn’t know how to embrace her own strength yet. But, Dean could. He had more knowledge than she did. He gritted his teeth and shouted as he embraced his imprint and its strength. One by one, he freed his limbs until he was back on the ground. He stormed over to Leo and used his power to destroy the orb before punching him in the face again. He caught Lola in his arms as Leo fell to the ground in shock.

              Lola wrapped her hands around his neck and exhaled heavily. “You’re strong.”

              He chuckled lightly. “Yeah. You can be, too. We just need to teach you.”

              They both turned around to see Leo standing up, touching his jaw to feel blood dripping from his skin. He glared at the couple angrily. “You think you two have won? You will
never
win. I will
always
come back! This is only the beginning.”

              “Hold my hand,” she murmured to Dean.                           

              She held out her palm toward Leo, who was beginning to stand. As Lola’s imprint began to illuminate with a yellow glow, Dean felt some unknown power consume him. He glanced at his palm and noticed his imprint shone the same color. He looked at her and smiled, feeling proud of her. She was using her imprint well. He outstretched his palm along with hers as they fired their power at Leo.

              The amount of the power literally threw them back on the ground. Dean rubbed his forehead and looked up, leaning on his elbows. He gasped as he stared at the spot where Leo had been, now only a tendril of smoke spiraling toward the ceiling.

              “Lola,” said Dean, glancing at her. She was sitting up and staring at the spot, too.

              “I can’t believe it. He got away. How could he…?” She scoffed in exasperation.

              “He’ll be back, but we’re safe right now. Everything’s okay. We now have time to plan for the next attack.” Dean helped her stand and held her by her waist. “I’m so proud of you.”

              “For what?” she asked, confused.

              “You used your imprint for good. You’re going to be wonderful with it,” he said, smiling at her and stroking her cheek.

              Lola leaned into his touch, sighing softly. “God, I missed that. I missed you. I thought for sure that I was going to die.”

              “Not when you’re with me,” promised Dean, holding her.

              After rescuing Lola, Dean immediately took her back to his home so they could talk with his parents. They had explained in detail what Leo had planned to do and that he had plans to come back. Frankie immediately knew he had to contact Matthew. He moved his laptop into the living room and hooked it up to the television so everyone could be a part of the conversation.

              “Did you know he would do this?” asked Katherine, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at Matthew on the screen.

              “Of course not. I honestly thought he had it under control,” said Matthew. He sighed and used a handkerchief to dab at his sweaty forehead. “He overpowered me.”

              “Lola could have died!” exclaimed Dean, glaring at the screen.

              “Dean…” warned Freddie, holding him back.

              Jessica looked at Lola as she stood close to her. “You’re okay, right?”

              Lola nodded, refusing to take her eyes off of the screen. “Yeah.” She was reeling from the fact that Matthew was related to Leo. Something just didn’t feel right.

              “We need to take immediate action. You know that,” said Frankie.

              Matthew chewed on his lip. “We are trying to locate Leo right now. But, we are still planning to go to war against the Readers. Dean will still lead us to victory.”

              Dean rolled his eyes. “Great.”

              “We need to gather everybody as soon as possible,” said Matthew. “Our entire race depends on it.”

              Frankie ended the call, leaving the entire room in silence. He looked at his children and their soul mates. “We’re in this together.”

              Dean looked at everyone before keeping his eyes trained on Lola. “I need to speak to Lola alone for a minute.”

              He held her hand and led her outside on the back porch. He leaned against the railing and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

              “For what?” asked Lola, furrowing her brows.

              “Ever since you met me, I’ve put you through hell. I now understand why you have rejected me,” he said.

              Lola stood in front of him and held his hands, causing his eyes to meet hers. “I’m not rejecting you. Like your father said, we are in this together.”

              Dean rested his forehead against hers and sighed softly. “I’m scared.”

              “Of what?”

              “Of losing you,” he whispered.

              Lola stared into the eyes of this boy that she had met barely a week ago. She never thought anything else besides reality existed. But, there was a completely different world out there. There was magic, love, and power that consumed people. It was extraordinary.

              She knew she could never go back from this and she was perfectly content with that.

              “You won’t lose me,” promised Lola.

              Dean looked at her and smiled softly. “Do you want to try that kiss again?”

              Lola nodded and wrapped her arms around his torso, leaning toward his lips. The softness of his mouth met her own as their souls connected with each other, spreading warmth throughout their entire body. Their imprints began to light up as they held each other throughout the kiss.

              Dean reluctantly pulled back and grinned. “Woah.”

              Lola laughed and rubbed her nose against his. “Want to try again?”

              “Absolutely.”

              Matthew adjusted his suit and tie as he entered the meeting across the hall from his office. There were other men and women in business attire, sitting at a long table with tablets in front of them. He sat down at the end of the table and tapped on his tablet before looking at everyone.

              “Phase one is complete. Well done, if I might say.” He paused. “But, now we need to get down to business with phase two.”

              “What have you suggested?” asked the man on his right.

              Matthew looked at him before slowly smiling. “We must taken down the enemy. I can assure you. It won’t be pretty.”

              He looked at everyone before standing up and pressing a button under the table. Everyone turned to face a metal door on the other side of the room. They watched as it slowly slid up, revealing a shadow under the dim light.

              “Are you ready?” asked Matthew.

Check out this exclusive sneak peek from “Blinded”, the sequel to Lola and Dean’s story!

COMING SUMMER 2015!

1

              Today was the day.

              She could do this.

              She wouldn’t fail.

              “And now, I present to you your valedictorian for the graduating class… Lola Adams!” announced the principal. He clapped and smiled as he turned away from the podium, allowing Lola to walk up and take his place.