Read Scorch Online

Authors: Kaitlyn Davis

Tags: #Vampires, #love, #paranormal romance, #Fantasy, #Magic, #Young Adult, #heroine

Scorch (14 page)

BOOK: Scorch
9.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Instead of a rushing vortex, there was a
numbness that settled over Kira's body, a feeling like she wasn't
in control of her own mind anymore. Something crawled over her
skin, fuzzing up her thoughts and sending a shiver down her
spine.

Pavia pulled back.

"Are you serious?"

"What's going on?" Tristan asked meekly.

"Kira here, the same Kira who promised to
turn me and about a dozen other scary vampires into humans, is
turning to a freaking original vampire!"

Oh right, Kira swallowed, she had momentarily
forgotten about that promise.

"It's okay, I'll be able to turn you," she
said, trying to calm Pavia down.

"Oh really? You could barely even make out
with Blondie over here before going psycho conduit."

"She'll be able to do it," Luke pressed, "but
we need your help."

"Well, what else is new?"

"If you want to be human, I'll make it
happen, I promise," Kira said, leaning in toward the currently
freaking out vampire.

"How?"

"We think there might be a cure," Luke
said.

"You think?"

"This is where we need your help," Kira
sighed, "I need to cash in on those memories." A little twinge of
pain zapped her chest. She had been hoping for more memories of her
parents, but not like this. She had wanted to enjoy them, to get to
know her family, not rush through with an ulterior motive.

"What do you need to see?"

"My father was a Punisher, we think maybe he
always knew this might happen, that maybe he knew something," Kira
paused, licking her suddenly dry lips, "can you see if my mom ever
talked to him about it?"

"That's not a very strong lead," Pavia said,
doubtful.

"Please," Luke lifted his head, looking at
the vampire—a hint of desperation edged into his words, a slightly
lost look leaked into his fiery eyes. "Please, it's all we
have."

Pavia met his look, hesitating, before
releasing a huge exhale and shaking her head. "Jeez, when did I
become such a softie? I need my vampire mojo back."

"So you'll help?" Kira asked.

She blew her ebony bangs from her forehead.
"Yes, I'll help. But you better be able to turn me human when all
of this is over, because this whole compassionate thing doesn’t
work so well in my world."

"Done," Kira said, pursing her lips to keep
from grinning like a little girl. She flicked her eyes to Luke, who
was already staring at her, beaming like the sun itself. Warmth
flowed through the bond, sinking into her limbs, filling her with
hope. It wasn't over, not yet.

"You two are sickening," Pavia said while
standing up, "give me a minute to see if I can find anything."

Kira nodded absently, not breaking contact
with Luke. Why hadn't she told him earlier? Of course he would know
what to do, he had this way of solving all of her problems.

"Kira?" A soft voice asked.

Tristan, Kira thought, crap. She had totally
forgotten he was there. How horrible was she?

"I'm sorry," she looked at him, reading the
confused wrinkles in his face, the slight squint to his warm,
questioning brown eyes. "God, we should have explained this to you
before we told Pavia anything. It's just…"

What could she say? It's just that he didn't
understand anymore? It's just that he didn't belong in this world
anymore? It's just that she didn’t know how to talk to him
anymore?

"I don't want you to worry about me," Kira
settled on that, "you have enough on your plate already."

"Worrying about you feels sort of natural,"
he said, the hint of a smile on his lips. Kira rolled her eyes.
That was so…Tristan. But it was nice at the same time, nostalgic
almost.

"You don’t have to," she squeezed the hand
next to hers on the couch, "I have this odd feeling that maybe
everything will work out," she flicked her eyes to Luke quickly,
"for all three of us." Kira glanced at Pavia, still pacing behind
the couch. Maybe it would work out for all four of them, if Kira
could keep it together long enough.

Pavia stopped walking.

"I might have found something—"

"What?" Kira interrupted, her eagerness
getting the best of her.

Pavia gave her a pointed look—it seemed to
say please shut up. "Am I showing both of you or just Kira?"

"Me."

"Both of us."

Luke and Kira spoke at the same time.

Pavia glanced at her, smirking. Whoops, Kira
thought and coughed. "Uh, both of us."

"Let's do this, then."

Kira nodded and so did Luke. Tristan picked
his book up again, and though it hurt Kira not to include him, this
wasn't his life anymore. Or she hoped it soon wouldn't be.

Pavia scooted her chair over and put her
hands out. Locking eyes, Kira and Luke reached out at the same
time, completing the bond.

And like the last time Kira had connected
with her mother's memories, instead of falling, she felt as though
she were floating, drifting calmly down like a feather in a spring
breeze. It was a gentle process. The thoughts welcomed her, sensed
that she was family, that maybe she was meant to be there.

Rainbows danced before her, blurring Luke's
living room and kaleidoscoping her vision. Cool and warm colors
mixed together with no rhyme or reason, twisting and turning
through a slowly moving prism, until slowly the blue drifted to the
peripheral, disappearing entirely. The greens faded next, leaking
slowly from Kira's vision. The reds and oranges softened to a dark
umber and the purples shifted to an ebony black. The yellow stayed
bright and vibrant, flickering before her almost like a…and
suddenly Kira was there, revisiting her mother in the only way she
ever would…

Fire, it always came down to fire. The fire
sparking in the hearth of their small concealed cabin, the flames
just minutes ago dancing on her palm, or the ones she knew were
hiding inside of the little baby girl asleep on her chest.
Everything in her world always seemed to come down to fire.

Three days—her world had changed
exponentially in such a short amount of time. But she was home,
because their little cabin in the woods finally felt like a home to
her, now that her newly born daughter was there, resting on her
chest, making this whole life seem real for the first time.

"Lana?"

"Shh," she called softly to her husband
Andrew, "I think she might be asleep." Her daughter's tiny little
eyes were closed, her almost impossibly small hand had loosened its
hold and was now resting softly on her mother's chest, right next
to her heart.

Three days ago, this baby was inside of her.
But now she was here, breathing, smiling, squirming. It was all
real—all of those dreams.

 

Andrew footsteps thudded against the wooden
floors of their small home. Even in socks, her husband wasn't great
at being quiet. But the thought triggered a different memory, of
the first time they met, causing a little grin to crease her
lips.

He sat down next to her on the couch, dipping
the cushion with his added weight. Their baby stirred, shifting
slightly in her mother's arm before stilling once more.

Deep grooves cut into Andrew's forehead,
making him look older than the young man she had married just a few
months before. Then again, life had moved along very quickly for
the two of them, faster than was really fair, but she wouldn’t
change a thing.

She shifted slightly, making sure not to
distress the baby, and leaned into his solid chest.

"No change?" He whispered. She shook her
head. No change—their baby still didn't show signs of having
powers, no fire spilled from her adorable little fingers. But she
sensed that it was only a matter of time, that their daughter was
stronger than either of them realized.

"Good," he sighed. A little prick of pain
pinched her chest to hear him say it. "Everything will be easier
this way, we won't have to hide."

No, she thought, we won't have to hide from
our people, but if our daughter doesn’t have powers, won't we have
to hide from her? She would rather run from the conduits for the
rest of her life than hide their heritage from the little girl
sleeping in her arms. Maybe it was a mother's dream, but she didn’t
want secrets to stain their family.

But wait.

What was that?

She looked down. Almost as if summoned by her
thoughts, a soft glow surrounded her little girl's palm.

"Andrew?" She whispered, not looking away.
Was she seeing things? But no, she felt it, felt the heat from the
palm on her chest, small at it was, the flames were strong as they
sank into her heart. "Andrew," she said more urgently, waking him
from whatever thoughts tugged at his mind.

"What?"

"Look."

She shifted the baby ever so slightly, but
enough that a sliver of fire broke free, rising up, cackling in the
still air rather than sinking into her skin. The baby shifted back,
sealing the gap again, but not before she heard a gasp.

Excited, she looked up, but her heart
immediately sank.

Her husband's eyes were full of dread,
widening with a fear she didn’t understand. His mouth opened, but
no words came out. He just stared at the baby in her arms, until a
tremble stirred his hands.

"Andrew?" She didn’t understand, why wasn't
he happy? "What is it?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, shaking
whatever had been gathering in his mind. "Nothing."

She didn’t believe him. He was hiding
something from her.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, just a stupid, nothing. Let me hold
her," he said and reached his hands out, easily holding their
daughter as they made the transfer. As soon as their little girl
was in his arms, his body slackened. The tension in his limbs fell
away and a wide grin spread across his cheeks.

"She's strong," he said, moving so the fire
warmed his heart as well.

"I knew she would be."

"Me too," he said, but somehow the words were
tainted.

Stop, she told herself. Nothing would ruin
this moment, this moment when everything she had dreamed of for the
past few months had become real. They were a family—a real, united,
unbreakable family.

Kira blinked and she was back. A chill
shivered up her limbs from the lack of fire. The room was cold, or
maybe it was just the absence digging at her heart. Once again,
they were gone, pulled away from her, dead—it was like losing her
parents all over again. Her mother's mind was a warm blanket,
making her feel safe and loved, but it had been ripped away.

Another chill crept down her spine.

She wanted to feel the warmth again.

Kira looked up, meeting Pavia's concerned
eyes, but looked away. She knew what those eyes were saying, what
memory they were referencing. The last time Kira had shared her
mother's thoughts, she had begged Pavia to see them again, even
offered her own blood in exchange for another memory. But England
was another time, that castle had made her feel so alone. Here,
now, the warm palm on her knee was keeping her grounded. Or really,
the man it was connected to.

Kira followed the line, running right into
Luke's flaming irises, and they were enough to spark her back to
life.

"My father knew something."

"I think so too," Luke said, squeezing her
leg gently.

"Pavia, is there anything else?"

The vampire shook her head. "I was looking
quickly, but that was the most obvious thing I saw. He was
definitely afraid of something, thinking of something he didn’t
want your mom to know about, but I don’t know what that is. There
were a few more memories of him leaving the cabin, going to meet
with the conduits, and coming back frustrated. But nothing
specific. I'm sorry."

"But Kira," Luke urged, seeing her shoulders
slump, "it’s a start."

But the start of what? If he had truly found
some answers, would he have told her mother? Would he have said
something?

Kira stood and started pacing, something
about moving her legs made the wheels in her drained mind spin.

If the answers weren't in Pavia's mind, where
would they be? Think, Kira, think. Would her adoptive mother know
something? Would her brother have confided in his sister? But no,
she would have mentioned something—'hey my daughter might at some
point turn into a deadly vampire' wasn't exactly the kind of
conversation anyone would forget.

But if he was concerned and he did think that
might happen, wouldn’t he have looked for answers. Kira was
stubborn, and considering her parents had gotten married, run away
from home and had a practically-illegal child, she had a pretty
strong feeling they were as well. So if he thought this might
happen, he would have looked for answers, Kira knew he would
have.

"Research," she said, stopping in her tracks
to clutch the back of the couch.

"Of course," Luke said, looking up from
behind his clenched fingers.

"Huh?" Pavia said, eyebrow raised in
question.

"It's so obvious! He was doing research. He
never met with the conduits. My mother, or I mean my aunt, she told
me ages ago that once they ran away, my parents had stopped talking
to everyone, even her. So if he was leaving, he wasn't going to
talk to the Council, he was doing research."

"And if he was researching," Luke stood too,
his excitement mounting with Kira's, "he has to have notes
somewhere. Probably hidden from your Mom, since he clearly wanted
to keep her out of it."

"But where?" Kira asked.

"Kira." Luke looked at her, widening his eyes
as the idea in his mind grew, "the cabin."

"The cabin!" She gasped.

"The cabin?" Pavia interjected. "The one from
your mom's memories? It's been eighteen years since they died, that
place is long gone."

"You don’t know that," Kira said, grinning so
much her cheeks hurt, "it was in a hidden location. Even if looters
saw it or someone else lives there now, he could have hidden papers
under the floorboards or in a trapped enclosure or something… We
have to—"

BOOK: Scorch
9.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Rebel Wife by Polites, Taylor M
Song Above the Clouds by Rosemary Pollock
The Greek's Acquisition by Chantelle Shaw
Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat
Todo por una chica by Nick Hornby
Betrayal by Jon Kiln