Gaia's Secret (26 page)

I tried to ignore how close he was. “You were
never that superior in strength before.”

He leaned so close I felt his hot breath on
my lips. “Then you need to find another advantage and use it.”

The green in his eyes was intense. Our faces
were so close I felt the rush of every breath he took. My blood ran
hot and I suddenly felt…confused.

I didn’t remember feeling like this when we
fought. We’d been close before, but I didn’t remember being so
aware of it. My mind raced against my pounding heartbeat. My eyes
were trapped in his. I wanted to pull them away but I couldn’t. The
way his beautiful dark hair fell around his face, the strong lines
of his jaw and cheekbone, the perfect shape of his full lips. I
wanted to reach out and trace my fingers over them, touch his skin
with…

My hands. The ones currently trapped in his
grip because we were suppose to be fighting. And I was lying on the
ground admiring him like some boy-crazed teenager.

I had to move, I had to get away from
him.

Think, Daria!

His grip on my wrists had weakened and fire
surged through my veins. It wasn’t over, not yet.

I ripped one hand free, pulled a dagger from
his belt and held the flat side against his throat. “How’s that for
an advantage?”

Amusement flashed through his eyes, and his
sharp focus returned. He shook his head, leapt off me, and pulled
me to my feet. He held my hand a moment longer than necessary
before letting go.

“Not bad for your first try.” He didn’t meet
my gaze.

I handed him back his dagger. “Not bad? Admit
it. You lost to an amateur.”

“Amateur?” He re-sheathed both blades.
“Please. You knew what you were doing.”

“What? Getting your pretty white shirt dirty?
Yeah, I’m a real expert.” I poked his now brown tunic.

He looked back at me and grinned, but it
failed to touch his eyes. “That’s enough for one day, I think.”

Without giving me the opportunity to protest,
he walked off and started picking through the underbrush.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He didn’t look up. “Searching for your
dagger.”

Oh, yeah, that.

I didn’t know what had just happened, or why
in the midst of a fight, I had decided I wanted to touch his face.
He was my friend, right? It was okay to acknowledge that he
was…decent looking. Okay, maybe he was the most gorgeous guy I’d
ever seen, but that shouldn’t matter. He was practically family.
But as I thought over it, my stomach felt all fluttery again. He
wasn’t saying anything either, which didn’t help matters any, and
try as I might, I couldn’t detect any of his feelings.

My face flushed as I went to work, pushing
aside leaves, searching the ground, kicking aside twigs and
underbrush. Odd, it hadn’t seemed like the dagger slid that far
away.

A light breeze whispered through the trees,
lifting the hair off my neck, cooling the sweat on my skin. It had
been invigorating, the two of us fighting. Much like it had always
been. Except Alex had been a lot skinnier then and he had never
made me feel so self-conscious.

His change in looks really was
unfortunate.

And still, no dagger. I glanced over at the
unfortunate Alex, who was picking through some of the bushes, when
I heard my name.

“
Daria.”

It was only a whisper. I glanced back at
Alex. I hadn’t seen his lips move, and he certainly didn’t look
like he was trying to get my attention.

Thinking I’d imagined it, I went back to
searching for my dagger when I heard it again.

“
Daria.”

“Did you hear that?” I asked.

Alex looked over at me. “Hear what?”

“I heard someone whisper my name.”

He held my gaze. “I didn’t say anything.”

I looked up at the trees swaying overhead. “I
know. I didn’t think you had.”

“
Daria.”

“There it is again, did you hear it?” It
sounded like it was coming from somewhere off to my left.

Alex stood still, features hard as he
surveyed our surroundings.

I had to find out where the sound was coming
from. Step by slow step, I began walking toward the sound.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to…”

“
Daria.”

I walked faster.

“Daria, wait!”

And faster. I moved forward, intent on the
direction of the sound. I felt Alex’s eyes on my back as he started
after me, his anxiety flowing through me. But I didn’t share his
anxiety. My only feeling was intrigue. The voice had a hold on me,
pulling me forward.

I rounded a large boulder and stopped. A
beautiful field of flowers spread out before me. Brilliant oranges,
yellows, and reds saturated the ground in the most vivid pigments
I’d ever seen. Their aroma was hypnotizing as their scents blended
together, filling my lungs with sweet perfume. Surrounding it was a
rim of large trees, a natural barrier to the alpine garden. I’d
never seen anything so beautiful or enchanting in my entire
life.

“
This way.”

I stepped out of the forest into the sea of
color, my feet disappearing beneath layers of flower petals. I
walked forward, intoxicated by the life in this field. There was a
power here—an ancient power—that filled every petal, every leaf,
and every bit of earth.

I took another step forward. A field filled
with so many lush colors should be thrumming with movement: bees,
butterflies, and birds. Maybe not those creatures in this world,
but something. Nothing flew in the air. Nothing disrupted the
ground.

I stopped, bent over, and touched the soft
petals of a red flower. It resembled a rose, except the middle was
filled with a glittering gold dust that sparkled in the bright
sunlight. I plucked the flower from its stem and held it before my
eyes. The petals dissolved into a fine red powder, the breeze
carrying them out of my hand, streaming into the air and scattering
them from sight.

“Daria, don’t move.”

Alex stood at the ledge, his face rigid. His
fear was strong but I didn’t understand it. This place was too
magnificent to feel fear.

Something blurred past my vision. I stayed
still as my eyes searched the empty field of flowers.

But I couldn’t find any sign of life.

Then I felt it—a faint pressure on my
shoulder. I turned my head slowly and froze. It was a tiny person—a
girl—about the length of my index finger. She sat upon my shoulder,
her legs crossed, with a shimmer covering her tiny, delicate frame.
Her hair looked like long strands of silver thread and large exotic
pale blue eyes gazed up at me as her translucent wings fluttered
behind her. The wind rustled her silver strands so that they
floated weightless in the air around her beautiful face.

I couldn’t breathe. I just stared, and she
stared back. Despite her size, there was great power in her. She
tilted her head to one side, studying me.

Then my vision went black.

Before I had time to react, my sight
returned. Except I wasn’t looking at the beautiful garden. I was
looking at an endless desert. The landscape was dead, the air black
with smoke, and all I could feel was excruciating pain. Cries of
lament filled my ears, ripping apart my soul. I fought to keep from
screaming from the ubiquitous pain as the world around me cried out
in agony.

And then the scene changed.

It was Alex. He was lying on the ground, his
body still; blood soaked the ground beneath him. Someone covered in
armor ran to his side, their blade drenched in black blood. The
person ripped off their mask, and it was me. I was kneeling over
Alex, frantically feeling around on his body. Tears streamed down
my face as I screamed at him to wake. He didn’t move, and I knew he
was dead. Sorrow tore through my soul, bleeding it to death. The
armored version of myself sobbed uncontrollably, choking on her
breath in absolute misery as she tried to shake life into him. The
pain was unbearable—torturous. I wanted to die, unable to bear the
sight in front of me, but I couldn’t close my eyes because they
weren’t open.

I heard a voice—a soft whisper—that seemed to
come from everywhere.
“There shall be much violence in your
future, young daughter of Alaric and Aurora. See that you are
prepared, for if you are not, the world around you shall dissolve
into nothing, and everything you cherish will die at your
hand.”

I drew in a sharp breath. There was no
pressure on my shoulder, no desolation around me, but my body was
moving. Someone was carrying me away from the nightmares. It was
Alex.

He carried me out of the garden, beneath the
shade of the trees and laid me gently on the ground as he brushed
the hair back from my face. “Whatever you saw—it’s not real.”

I clung to his voice with everything I had.
His voice was real. He was alive. Everything I’d seen and felt—the
agony, his death—it was all just a dream. He was here, real, and
crouched beside me. Slowly I lifted my hand to touch his cheek. His
skin felt hot beneath my fingertips.

He covered my hand with his and my stomach
retched.

I rolled over, the contents of my stomach
spilling on the forest floor. Alex held my hair back, his other
resting lightly on my back. Now I could feel his anxiety without
even trying; it was overpowering.

Once my stomach had nothing left to give, I
rolled on my back, my body still shaking, and my mouth burned with
the taste of acid. I was a wreck.

He searched my face, his own features
strained. “Please, tell me how you’re feeling.”

“I’m…I feel okay. I think.”

His eyes filled with doubt and his concern
surged. I must’ve looked even worse than I felt. “Really, I’ll be
fine. I swear I don’t feel as bad as I look.”

He looked a little relieved as he tucked a
strand of my hair behind my ear. “We’ll stay here as long as you
need.”

The agony I’d felt still ached within me. It
was a strange sensation. I’d woken up from nightmares before. It
always took a few moments for the horror to fade before I believed
it wasn’t real. But the memories of these visions—and the
feelings—they wouldn’t leave. A tear rolled down my cheek.

He sighed as he wiped the stray tear from my
face, and glanced back in the direction from which we came. “I
should’ve known better.”

“What do you mean?”

He looked back at me with worry in his eyes.
“The pixie—that creature back there. They live in the Arborenne,
particularly in the Fioris.”

“Fiori?”

“That garden. A few exist in this forest.
They are like a sanctuary for Gaia’s rare and dangerous
creatures—like the pixies and that other creature on the leaf. And
because of that, Fioris aren’t considered very safe for human
travelers. When you said you heard a voice whispering your name…”
His voice trailed as he shook his head. “I was stupid to put it out
of my mind, but I didn’t think one would be so interested in you.
Not yet anyway.”

My mouth was dry and my tongue felt sticky as
I tried to speak. “But you said you didn’t hear anything.”

“I didn’t. You can only hear a pixie if they
want you to hear them. It’s the same with their visions.” He leaned
closer, his gaze tender. “She showed you something, didn’t
she?”

I shut my eyes. “It was more…a feeling.” I
couldn’t elaborate further. Even though they were images, they were
too powerful. I watched Alex die again, all over in my mind.

“They see the past, present, and future.
Whatever she showed you, if it hasn’t happened or isn’t happening,
then it will happen.”

No, I refused to believe that. It wasn’t
possible for that much pain to exist. The world had been bleeding
to death—me with it. And Alex…

“Do you want to talk about what you saw?” He
placed a palm on my cheek, the warmth bringing the feeling back to
my limbs.

But the image of him lifeless beside me was
persistent, stabbing at my insides. My throat clamped down as my
eyes filled with water again. I shook my head. “Not now. I will
tell you. Just…later.”

He stroked my hair and waited.

We remained still and silent together, my
hands in his as I lay on the ground. The pain flowing through me
began to subside. It was strange, but it almost seemed as though he
knew how I was feeling. Like he could feel it himself and by the
expression on his face, one might’ve thought he’d seen it, too.
Once my pain became bearable, without me saying a word of it, he
let go of my hands.

My hands felt cold.

“We need to get you something to drink. Are
you okay to go back?”

“Yeah. And I think I’d be just fine if I
never met another one of Gaia’s rare and dangerous creatures
again.”

Alex looked past me. “Don’t worry about that.
I’m beginning to think you’re the most rare and dangerous creature
of them all.”

W
hen Alex and I
returned to our temporary abode—the tree—Sonya took one look at us
and leapt to her feet.

“Alexander.” Sonya’s hands rested on her
hips. Never a good sign. “You promised me you would behave
yourself.”

Alex looked affronted. “Behave myself? What
are you talking about?”

“Look at her!” Sonya pointed at me. “She
looks like a refugee!”

“Uh, Mom, I hate to break it to you.” He
scratched his neck. “But that’s kind of what we are.”

Sonya appraised me with a frown. “I can’t
trust that child.”

Okay, so I didn’t look bad. I looked
terrible. Alex handed me his canteen while gifting me with his
quit-acting-so-innocent look. He used to give me that look so often
I’d thought his face was stuck that way.

“Thanks,” I whispered, taking the canteen
from his hands. I could sort of see my reflection on the metal.
There were splotches of peach, which was my skin, but it was barely
visible through all the dark brown. Apparently my hair had taken
over. I reached up to pat it down when I felt something thin and
crunchy. A leaf, with the twig still attached.