Destiny's Fire (24 page)

Lana had sent me a data message, wondering where I’d disappeared to. She obviously hadn’t talked to Jace yet or she’d be freaking out about our breakup. I was sure Jace would tell her that much. Her message was too calm. I sent her one back, telling her I’d gone to visit my mom. I’d have to invent an explanation for why Jace and I’d broken up, eventually. But I couldn’t think about that now. Truthfully, I was tired of all the lies and secrets.

I lay down on Reese’s bed, and he covered me with a blanket. “Just relax,” he said. “Don’t try and figure everything out right now.”

My eyes stung as I pressed the heel of my hands against them. “I could’ve handled that better somehow.” Tucking my hand under his pillow, I glanced up at him. “There are so many problems now. Not just with Jace, but the Councils, too. I feel like things are completely falling apart.”

Reese sat down on the edge of his bed and stroked my hair. “It seems worse right now because you’re upset. We’ll figure it out, but not now.” He raised his eyebrows. “Okay?”

I nodded into his pillow. “So we’re good? I mean, you and me…together?” My face prickled with heat. I wanted things to be right between us.

“Yeah.” Reese lay down beside me and stared into my eyes. “I’m sorry. But when I saw Jace kiss you”—his eyes flashed—“I went a little berserk. Not to mention when you kissed him the other night.” He huffed out a long breath. “I’ve been raised differently than you. It’s not an excuse, but it does make it harder.” He pressed his lips together. “I figured out I was being an ass, though.”

“You do realize I only did that because I had to stop Jace from starting a fight in front of everyone. I was angry you wouldn’t talk to me, and he thought you’d done something to me.” I lowered my eyes from his. “But I’m such a jerk for what I did to the both of you. I deserve whatever Jace says to me or calls me.”

Reese tilted my face up. “No, you don’t. Things are complicated.” He brushed my hair from my eyes. “I just couldn’t handle it. I knew how much closer you were with Jace, and I wasn’t going to go through the long process of losing you to him.”

“You kind of forced that to happen, you know.” I ran my finger along his forehead, feathering his dark hair away from his eyes. “I want to be with you.”

Reese’s lips tugged into a smile, and he pressed them to my forehead. “I know that now.” He sighed. “But I have a lot of competition with Jace.” I squinted, but he continued. “You didn’t want to hurt him, Dez, and you didn’t want to hurt me. One thing Jace and I have in common…we’re definitely
both
hotheads. At least when it comes to you.”

I smiled. Then the day came rushing back to me. “But what are we going to do? I mean, the Councils are definitely up to something. That’s why we snuck onto the airship last night. We were trying to find out what.”

“Well, you won’t find anything on the airship. They’re way too cautious for that.” He paused a beat. “But, there’s some good news about all this at least.”

“What?”

He smiled. “We don’t have to hide our relationship anymore. If nothing else, we’re doing the right thing according to them.” Reese traced his thumb over my lower lip. “That’s at least one thing solved.”

“True. But I think most Kythan will still have a huge problem with it. Although, now that Jace knows, there’s no reason to keep it a secret.” It killed me knowing I had to explain this to Lana. How was I going to tell her I’d rejected her brother for a Narco? After what we went through breaking into the Council’s airship, and after she revealed her feelings for Devon…it was like a whole new betrayal.

No. There was one way. I could tell her the truth about me and Reese—who we were. Reese’s comment reminded me about my thoughts of telling them the day before. It was at least time to tell Lana. She’d still feel hurt for her brother, but then she’d maybe understand how I could be with Reese over Jace.

Reese’s comment also reminded me about the Shythe girl. “So, Shythe tutoring?” I asked, studying his face. Part of me wanted my suspicions validated, though I probably didn’t deserve as much.

He raised an eyebrow. “I see you met Shawna.” He grunted. “She hates me. Though, I helped that along pretty good. I wanted it to seem like I knew nothing about the Shythe race.” He smiled. “Extra precautions.”

“Yeah. I suspected that the whole time.” I buried my face under his blanket, hiding my shame.

Reese pulled the cover down. “Do you really trust Jace not to expose us?”

“Yes.” I bit down on my lip. “He’s hurt and angry, but he’s still Jace. I trust him.”

“Are you going to tell Lana?”

I blew out a long breath. “I guess it’s time. But I’m still worried that this information will endanger her.”

“Jace knows. You’re not worried about that with him.”

“God, you’re infuriating.” I smiled, my heart feeling a little lighter. “Why are you being Mr. Logical right now?” I thought for a moment. “But I won’t tell Nick. Lana needs to know, but Nick doesn’t have to. I feel bad, but really, it’s for his own good.”

Reese hugged me closer to him. “Makes sense.” He rested his lips against my forehead. “And, Dez, Jace will get past this.” His breath fanned my hair as he thought. “What about that crazy power? I’d never seen anything like it. Where did it come from?”

I buried my head in his chest, inhaling him. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Or, how about nothing.” Reese inched down, his face close to mine.

I traced my thumb over his cheek, staring into his violet eyes. I allowed mine to fade to purple, as well. He smiled and brushed his lips against mine. All my worries paled as he deepened the kiss. Whatever we had to face, I knew we could. We belonged together. And I wouldn’t have to be apart from him again. I latched onto him, bringing him closer. I was home.

After I felt I could face the world again, Reese walked me to the girls’ wing. I’d stayed until curfew. Reese had wanted me to stay the night, but I couldn’t. Not because I feared we’d get caught, but because I didn’t want additional questions from Lana.

When I got back to my unit, Lana was loosening her corset. “Hey,” she said halfheartedly as I entered.

“Hey.” I closed the door and plunked down on my bed.

She looked over at me. “Where were you? And don’t say your mom’s. I know better.”

I took a deep breath. “No. I wasn’t there. Sorry I lied.” I glanced at the floor. “I have something to tell you. I didn’t want to get into it over the communicator, so I just said that.”

She nodded. “Okay, shoot. What’s up?” She finished dressing for bed and then sat across from me.

I took another deep breath and dove in. I told her about the Council’s trial repopulation test, about my father being Narcolym, and about how I’d hidden my identity. I told her everything, baring my soul, right down to the last minutes I’d spent with Reese. By the time the room fell silent, after I’d spilled everything, her mouth hung agape. Her eyes stared through me—not seeing me.

“Lane?” I snapped my fingers in front of her face. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “Oh. My. God.” She jumped up and stared at me. “You’re serious. I knew it!”

I squinted. “What do you mean, you ‘knew it’?”

“I just did. After your change, somehow I sensed something was off about you, but I couldn’t place it. And your power, it’s way stronger than ours.” She smiled. “I mean, I could never have put this crazy scenario together, but somehow, I’d been trying to figure out what was going on.”

I tilted my head. “You’re not freaked about me being half Narco?” I studied her. She seemed to be taking it well—extremely well—compared to Jace.

She waved her hand through the air. “It’s not like you chose this. But regardless, this is something that’s a part of you. And besides, the only reason I don’t want to bond with a Narco is because I’m in love with Devon. That whole rebel thing is Jace’s deal.” Her eyes became wide. “Oh, Jace. What—”

“He kind of walked in on Reese and me today.” I bowed my head. I’d skimmed over the details of that part. “We were making up, sort of, and Jace saw.” I looked up quickly and watched Lana’s face fall.

“Oh.” She kept her mouth a perfect “O.” Then she sat down next to me. “You should have told me sooner. I could have talked with him. Crap, I should’ve never told him it was a go with you.” She slapped her forehead.

“Lane, it’s not your responsibly to handle Jace. It’s mine. And I messed up big time.”

“We can fix this. I know my brother. He’s definitely stewing right now, but we can make him understand what happened. And I know he’ll get past the half Narco thing. We can—”

“Leave him alone for a while?”

She lowered her eyes. “Yeah, probably a good idea.”

“Thank you, Lane.” I took her hand. “I know you want to fix this for me, but just having you accept it, that’s more than enough.” I shook my head lightly. “I was scared of losing you, or of endangering you.”

“No way. I love you no matter what. And I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.” She winked and wrapped her arm around me. “Now tell me about Reese. I can’t believe it’s him. He was such a hothead.”

“You have no idea.”

Lana and I talked about Reese and Devon, strategically avoiding the Jace topic. I think she knew it was too painful. I felt bad. This was her brother. But she said she didn’t feel torn. She could love us both and hope that soon things would get patched up. It was the first time our group was ever divided.

I lay in my bed that night, trying not to think. But there were too many worries swimming around in my head. Although I felt better after unloading to Lana, I realized I should have told her long ago. I couldn’t help wondering if the same went for Jace. Had I told him the truth about me before, the events of today wouldn’t have happened. Or maybe they would have, only sooner.

I closed my eyes, trying not to picture Jace’s expression after he found out what I was. But that image was permanently etched in my mind.

Chapter Twenty-One

T
HE
N
EXT
D
AY
, L
ANA
agreed that I should get away from the Academy. I wasn’t ready to bump into Jace. I felt he needed the extra time to settle down before we had to face each other in class.

Reese and I decided to go to our place. The falls. We had catching up to do, and he also wanted to test out my power. With everything that was going on—Jace, the Council’s secret mission—my power just didn’t register on my list of concerns. Especially now that I could control it with the help of my crystal. But I’d agreed to practice with him. It was at least a distraction from other pressing worries.

The river’s familiar trickle soothed my nerves as I settled onto the bank. Reese stood above me in his Kythan form, calling forth his White Flame on command. He’d been trying to replicate what I’d done the day before, but with no luck. His power was stronger than that of any Narco or Shythe, but he couldn’t figure out how I’d surrounded myself.

“Maybe it had something to do with what I was feeling at the time,” I said, watching him shoot blazing white flames into the river.

He turned toward me, his face lighting up. “You’re right. I think our power is more connected to our emotions than it is for most Kythan.” He rubbed his chin. “What were you thinking at that moment?”

I shrugged. “Stopping you guys.” I thought back, it hadn’t been that long, but I was having a difficult time pulling up those emotions again. “I just wanted to protect you both.”

Reese sat down beside me and raised his eyebrows. “Protect?” he said, clipped.

“Yes. I couldn’t jump into the fight, so I was wracking my brain for a way to save you guys.” I glanced at the river. “I thought you were going to kill each other.”

Reese took my hand. “So you wanted more than anything to protect us, and a shield went up.” He rubbed his thumb across the top of my hand. “That’s amazing. Not only did it protect you, closing you in, but it reached out, pummeling us.” He laughed. “Not so sure it endeavored to actually
protect
us, but it did work in theory. We stopped fighting.”

“What do you think that means? Are there other things we can do, or was that just some kind of heated moment thing?”

“I’m not sure. I think it’s your power alone. I don’t think it would work the same for me. You’re stronger than me.” He bowed his head. “But I know there’s more to our power. We just have to figure it out.”