Perilous Light (20 page)

“
Your Essence was using me for some practice.” Lawson chuckled.

Calvin’s deep laugh startled me. It was so rich, it matched him perfectly, but it wasn’t familiar yet. I wanted to know everything about him, every habit and mannerism, and the laugh was a good start. I caught myself staring at him. His arms and chest were so strong, but not from a gym. It was from work.

“
What is it?” Calvin asked, studying my face.

“
I like your laugh.”

“
In other words, she likes the way you look without a shirt on.” James smirked before turning to walk back toward the house.

I blushed, but Calvin caught my chin before I could look away. He kissed me gently. “I love bringing color to your face.”

I smiled at him, momentarily forgetting we had an audience.

“
Let us go get some rest and let the boys stay out in the cold for now.” Mom gave me a meaningful look, and I knew we would be having a talk.

Chapter Twenty-One

Kevin

Darkness greeted me when I woke up. Memories of the night before flooded in as I held on to the end of a particularly enjoyable dream about Samantha. Letting my eyes adjust to the dark hotel room, I stretched. Thankfully, I had snagged a bed, so I wasn’t sore. After quickly getting dressed, I headed out for a run. After weeks of daily practices at Carolina, I missed the physical activity. The streets were empty, a nice change of pace from the usual. It felt so good to get out. The last few days had been stressful, so it was good to relieve some of the tension. I was pumped up from everything with the council and Samantha, and probably could have run forever if I hadn’t found myself back at the park.

I saw her just as I rounded the corner to the pond. A light haze coated the sky, but the rising sun gave enough light to illuminate the area. I stopped several feet away and just watched. She was doing some kind of yoga stretches. I had no idea someone could be that flexible, and it only accentuated her beauty. Although it made me wince thinking about how painful it would be to hold my leg up like that, I couldn’t turn away. Her eyes were closed, so I decided to enjoy the view.

“
Can you feel it?” Samantha’s voice broke me out of my near trance. Did she realize I was there? “Kevin?”

She knew. Damn! Hopefully, she didn’t know I had been practically ogling her.

“
Yeah. Sure. Sort of?” I had no idea what she was talking about.

She turned around and strolled over to me. “Ever since you and your sister arrived in Energo, there has been a change in the air. Now it is even stronger.” Samantha seemed so confident and excited that I didn’t want to let her down.

I tried to play it off as though I actually understood what she was saying. “Yeah, it’s great, huh?”

Samantha laughed. “It is almost like a large weight has been lifted. We can do this. We can defeat Blake.” I gave her a weak smile, but couldn’t help focusing on her lips.

As if she read my mind, she filled in the distance between us. I was sweaty from my run, but figured she had been working out, too, so I didn’t let it stop me. I kissed her, and just like the night before, it was incredible. A warm chill spread through me, giving me goose bumps as I lightly touched the small of her back.

She pulled back, breathless for a moment. “Whatever is developing between us cannot get in the way of our duty and our fight. We can only continue if you understand that.”

“
I get it. I completely understand.” I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I would have agreed to anything at that moment; things just felt
right
. My life back home started to feel further and further away, but that didn’t bother me. My biggest concern was somehow doing my part to save Energo while trying not to screw things up with Samantha.

Wordlessly, Samantha started running, and I joined her. We took the long route back to the hotel, and I let myself relax and enjoy the exercise. By the time we separated and went to our respective rooms, I felt recharged. I took a shower and got changed before any of the other guys were even up.

***

After pacing the lobby for at least a half hour, I was relieved that someone else finally woke up and joined me.

Henry stepped out of the elevator eagerly and walked over to me. “I thought about going out to explore, do you want to come?”

“
Sure, there’s nothing much to do here.”

The streets were no longer empty as we exited the hotel, but it was still early enough that we didn’t have to deal with the bustling crowds.

“
If I remember correctly, there is an open air market nearby. I need to find a gift,” Henry explained as we headed in the opposite direction from the park.

“
Who’s the gift for?”

“
Rachel. I do not know when I will see her again, but I want to have something to give her to help make up for my unexplained absence.”

“
Good point, a gift can’t hurt. So are you two serious, then?” I asked as we continued walking.

“
I have never met anyone like her.” He smiled momentarily, but it quickly faded. “Yet I do not know how it would ever work between us.”

“
Why? Because you come from different worlds?” I laughed, realizing how true the words were.

“
I am a Guardian. I have to stay with Charlotte, and eventually, she will take her place in Bellgard. Rachel would never leave her life behind.”

“
You know I never really thought about that before.”

“
About what?” he asked.

“
About Charlotte and I really living in Energo. I mean, she hasn’t even finished high school.”

“
She is the Essence; she does not need to finish school. I suppose there is no reason to worry about any of that now. None of it matters if we cannot overthrow Blake.”

“
Right.” I let Henry’s words sink in. For a few minutes, I had actually let myself forget about Blake.

After a short walk, we arrived at the market. Set up along the water, it spanned several city blocks. Rows of stalls were covered with canvas canopies that made it difficult to see the goods unless you ducked underneath. We walked through the market slowly. Henry stopped occasionally to look at some stalls.

“
So what about you and Samantha? What is happening with the two of you?”

“
I wish I knew.” I shook my head. “I have no idea what I’m doing or how to date someone in Energo.”

“
Samantha probably does not have any idea how to either. She is not exactly a
typical
Energo girl.”

“
Yeah, I can see that. Even Charlotte is forced to wear dresses in Energo so she blends in, yet I’ve never seen Samantha in anything but pants. I don’t think there is anything typical about her.” I continued to peruse the items in the stalls with little interest. “I like that she’s different. I can’t really imagine myself with a traditional Energo girl. Well, I guess we are both in impossible relationships.”

“
Maybe, maybe not. You may have been raised somewhere else, but your home is Energo. You have that advantage.”

“
Possibly.” I thought about the truth in his words. Energo may not have been home, but it was definitely growing on me. “I hope things work out for you and Rachel,” I said genuinely. It was obvious that Henry had real feelings for her.

“
Thank you.” Henry stopped at a stall selling jewelry. He lifted a bead necklace off the table and held it up to the light. The small beads looked somewhat like pearls, but they seemed to be glowing. “This seems like Rachel.”

“
How are you going to explain glowing beads? They’re not exactly the type of thing you find in Charleston.”

“
I will tell her I bought it somewhere in Europe,” Henry joked.

“
Do you wish to buy one for someone special?” the old woman manning the table asked.

I reached into my pocket and fingered the coins that Monty had given me before I left the caves. Energo’s currency was accepted almost anywhere. “No thanks. I don’t think she’s really a jewelry person.”

“
Every woman loves jewelry.”

“
I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe next time.”

The woman smiled kindly. “Please come back if you change your mind.”

Henry paid for the necklace, and we headed back in the direction we came.

After fending off an eager merchant trying to sell us some sort of pottery, Henry pointed to a small food stand on the corner. “You have to try one of these
calu
; they are incredibly delicious.”

“
I have no idea what it is, but why not? I’ll try anything once.”

Henry handed over a few coins to the seller and accepted two pretzel-like items wrapped in paper.

I bit into the snack Henry handed me. Crunchy and shaped like a figure eight, it was covered with a sweet seaweed-like coating. “Wow, that’s awesome.”

“
I am glad you like it. I love pizza and everything, but have missed the foods I grew up with.”

“
I can understand that. You ready to head back?”

“
Sure. We do not want to be late for your big speech today.”

“
Thanks for reminding me,” I grumbled.

***

Bry had warned me there would be a large group, but the mass of people in front of me was huge. Bry and I stood on a balcony by the port. Hundreds of boats lined the port, all preparing for launch. The boats were nothing like the dump of a boat we had sailed. They were sleek ships, many extremely modern. The crowd swelled below us. Each nation had sent a sizable contingent of soldiers, and they nearly filled the port. When I had first arrived in Alak, I would have been shocked by the differences in those assembled. Between the ox-like people from Kenset, the blue people from Cardian, and the shimmering diamond people from Zale, the crowd was clearly not a typical Carolina one. Even the most human-looking people, like the Sutonti and Nordicos, had an otherworldly feel to them, similar to Naomi and the rest of the cats from Zatamania. The group that took me most by surprise was the Aves, tiny people who barely came up to my knee. I wasn’t sure how much help they were going to be, but I certainly wasn’t going to turn away more support.

Bry nudged me forward to stand on a blue square etched into the balcony. “You have to say something.”

“
What am I—” I stopped when I heard my voice amplified over the crowd. The blue square must have been part of some sort of speaker system.

Once Alexander agreed to get the Nordicos involved, it seemed like everything in Alak stood still while everyone’s attention focused on getting ready to face Blake back in Energo. With everything going on, I had failed to prepare myself to make another speech, so I just winged it.

“
Hi, everyone. I’m glad you have all decided to join us.” The crowd fell silent, watching me intently.

“
I know the decision to support our cause was not an easy one, but I appreciate the sacrifice each of you are willing to make. Just remember we are doing this for our family and friends, for our people.” I paused, and the crowd started to cheer. Maybe the whole speaking thing wasn’t as hard as I thought.

“
We leave for Energo tomorrow, and we will not stop until Blake is put back in his place. We must aid the Resistance and find a way to defeat the darkness surrounding Blake.” I paused. “Are you all ready?” The crowd roared again, and the only thing missing was loud music.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Charlotte

While the guys continued talking outside, Mom and I walked inside and upstairs to the room we were sharing. We sat on two beds, both covered with old quilts. Although the house hadn’t been lived in for a while, it was comfortable. After lighting a small fire in the fireplace located in the corner of the room, Mom and I sat quietly for a while, enjoying the warmth and each other’s company. My hands started to thaw as I rubbed them together. I was really tired of the cold.

Mom broke the silence. “It is not supposed to feel like any other attraction, Charlotte.”

“
Then what is it supposed to feel like?” I wasn’t quite prepared to jump right in discussing my feelings for Calvin, but I forced the awkwardness away.

“
Magic. Magic you cannot possibly repel, stronger than anything you can imagine. That is what a bond between an Essence and a Gerard is.”

“
So you admit it isn’t natural?” I understood what she was saying, but I needed more.

“
That depends on how you define
natural
. Maybe it is not natural the way you were raised to view relationships. I suppose using that reasoning, your feelings for Liam feel more natural than the ones you have for Calvin, but for us, it is the most natural connection possible.”

It took a second to process that my mom had actually just called me out on having feelings for Liam. “Mom, I know it’s weird that I kissed Liam like that, but—”

“
There is no reason to explain. I have been thinking about it, and I think that it was the Source.”

“
The Source made me kiss Liam?”

“
Yes. The Source must have known that his presence on your Guard held a great purpose and made you kiss him to make it possible.”

I gawked at her. If only all actions could be explained away that easily. Maybe the Source made me do it, but I had a feeling the crush was all of my own design. “What kind of purpose?” I wouldn’t have believed her, except that I remembered that intense feeling to kiss him and the heat that resulted when we had touched. Besides, I had no other explanation for how he had become a Guardian.