The Chronicles of Winterset: Oracle (17 page)

Chapter 36

I asked Calix to leave shortly after Kellin disappeared through my mirror. He nodded tightly and left abruptly without so much as a good-bye.

I felt torn.

I had been a whole person only a few weeks ago, and now I was being pulled in different directions by two people I deeply cared for, each taking a piece of me with him.

I’d been angry with Kellin over the whole woods incident, but I hadn’t known then what I knew now. I felt like I’d been hit with a storm and the rain wouldn’t stop coming. I didn’t know who to trust since I’d been lied to so much. Even Calix, just randomly turning up out of nowhere, left me with an inkling of doubt. Regardless of that doubt, though, I wanted him. I needed him. It wasn’t just a lovestruck thing. We were meant to be together. I knew that much, and it was frightening.

Deep down, I think he knew it too.

The skies were dark and cloudy the remainder of the weekend, and when I awoke on Monday morning for school, they were so dark it was difficult to discern night from day. The rains came down in torrents of huge drops that hurt when they hit you. The wind was blowing so hard, the trees were bending from the pressure being exerted on them. There was really only one reason for any of it.

Kellin.

I rushed into the school with the other students, completely soaked and shivering. I made my way straight to Kellin’s locker and saw him standing with the door open, not really even there, his mind somewhere far away.

“Kellin?” I said softly, coming up behind him. He didn’t turn around to look at me. Instead, he shook his head and reached into his locker for his books.

“I’m sorry for what I said,” I continued, biting my lip.

“Why are you sorry for speaking the truth, Ana?” he asked after a tense moment of silence.

“Because it hurt you,” I whispered. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“I think it’s fair to say the journey to good intentions can leave a path of destruction,” Kellin said dryly, turning to me. The dark circles beneath his eyes made me draw in a sharp breath. He was exhausted beyond measure. He was hurting.

“Everything is happening too fast. I’m lost, Kellin,” I said softly.

“I can only make sure no harm comes to you, Ana. I can’t change your mind about how you feel. You’ve clearly moved on from any semblance of affection you had for me. I’m sorry I messed up. I can’t apologize enough for it. But this, you with him, it tears my heart out, Ana,” his teeth were clenched tightly as he hissed the words through them, his blue eyes shining with a layer of tears. “I’m gone after today. I’m going back to Winterset, and you will be assigned a new Sentry. If Calix is who he says he is,
he
will be your new Sentry.”

“Kel—” I started but was interrupted by Courtney.

“I thought I told you to stay away from my boyfriend,” she said, stepping between me and Kellin menacingly.

“I … Kellin?” I asked in disbelief.

Was he really still with this horrible beast? After all the things he’d been spouting to me?

He must have sensed what I was thinking, much like Calix could, because I stared wide-eyed at him when he spoke.

“Courtney, you are a horrible, terrible person. I have wasted too many nights with your name on my lips. For some reason, I thought courting you would make the pain of my reality disappear. Instead, it took what could have been and twisted into a knot I cannot undo. You are my second biggest regret, my first being that I ever stepped foot into this godforsaken realm in the first place. You, Courtney Fox, are not my girlfriend, nor will you ever be again. We are through, and I don’t even want my name to ever touch your harsh lips again. This has nothing to do with Ana. It has to do with me and you. Me because I was a fool for thinking I could do this, and you because, well, you’re you, and you will never make anyone happy until you figure out what makes you unhappy. We’re done.”

He didn’t wait for her answer and pushed by us without so much as a backward glance. Courtney’s face fell but she recovered quickly and glared daggers at me.

“You!” she hissed, advancing on me. “You! You did this! We were fine until you started bothering him!”

“I didn’t do anything!” I shouted as she lunged at me, her claws flashing.

She dug at my skin and pulled at my hair. I felt the fire burning beneath my skin and I cringed, taking the beating she was handing me, but only because I didn’t want to hurt her.

We fell to the ground in a twisted knot of long hair, arms, and legs. I could hear people cheering around us and I ground my teeth as I tried to control the flame aching to get out. I landed a hard hit to her face in an effort to get out from beneath her. That only fueled her fire more when she saw the trickle of blood coming from her nose.

She hit me across my face and that was all it took for me to lose what little control I had. The fire burst from some unseen area of my body and ignited her thin blouse, the flame quickly climbing up to eat at her long hair. I stared down at my hands and noted that they held no flame, but burned like they may.

She screamed and batted at the fire as I watched in wide-eyed horror at what I must have done. Luckily, someone remembered Fire 101 and knocked her to the ground, smothering the flames.

“Ana,” Calix’s voice cut through the horror.

I looked up to see Calix standing above me breathing hard, his eyes flashing dangerously.

He held his hand out to me and I took it without hesitation, desperately needing to get out of there, to get away from the accusing eyes of my peers, to get away from the stench of burned hair, flesh, and clothing.

He led me out into the raging storm as fire erupted from my hands.

“Calix,” I whimpered, clutching my hands to my chest. “Calix!”

He turned to me in the rain, wrapped his hands around my flaming ones and rested his forehead against mine.

“Breathe, Ana,” he said gently. “Remember what I said. You control the flame.”

I pulled in deep breath after deep breath as Kellin’s storm raged around us until the flame had died out and I was left standing drenched in the middle of the parking lot, Calix’s arms around me as I cried.

“Let me take you away from here,” Calix murmured, kissing the top of my head. I nodded and let him walk me to the edge of the dark tree line.

“What? W-where’s your car?” I asked looking around confused.

“I have a much faster way to travel,” he answered, smiling down at me. He opened his arms and I stepped into them.

The moment he wrapped his arms around me, I felt a pulling in the very core of my body. It was so strong, it made me tremble.

“The first time is always the most uncomfortable,” he whispered.

The pull grew sharper, and I felt like the air had been sucked out of my body. I clung to Calix as I caught glimpses of passing scenery, followed by blackness, then a flit of more scenery.

When our feet finally touched down, I was trembling and shivering so badly, Calix pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around me.

“It won’t always be that bad,” he said, hugging me.

I looked around and saw we were standing in the middle of a cozy log cabin, a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace.

“What is this place?” I asked, looking around in wonder, my teeth chattering. “How did we get here?”

“This is my secret hideaway,” he said, leading me to the oversized couch in the center of the room. “I used one of the many ways Fae can travel.”

“Will I be able to do that too? Travel like that?” I asked, thinking about what good time I could make to class in the morning, then realizing I never wanted to return to school. I’d just set Courtney on fire. There was no way I’d ever be able to go back.

“Perhaps,” he answered delicately.

“Why perhaps?”

“Only a very small handful of my people can travel in such a way. I would imagine you would use a different route, so to speak. However, if you enjoy it, you can always adapt to it.”

“I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it,” I replied hastily. “I felt like we were traveling through a black abyss. It was cold and frightening. I was afraid of falling.”

“I was with you, though, Princess. You were safe. I’d never let you go,” he said, leaning in and kissing me gently on the lips. A swell of electricity flowed through my body at his touch, and I ran my hands through his thick, black hair, wanting more. Demanding more. I wanted to distract my mind from what had just happened with Courtney, and Calix was the perfect distraction.

He obliged my desires, his hands roaming every curve of my body, his touch warm and gentle with the undercurrent of electricity.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d been there, but it must have been for hours. When I opened my eyes, it was to see myself wound tightly around his hard, warm body on the couch in front of the dying fire.

His eyes were closed, his long, sooty lashes resting gently on his flawless ivory cheeks. I had a flashback of my vision of him dying beside me, and I shuddered. He squeezed me tightly in his sleep, and I laid my head back on his chest, feeling the thick muscles through the T-shirt he was wearing.

I’d only just found him, and I didn’t want to lose him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured, and I jumped at the sound of his sleepy voice.

“It creeps me out that you can do that,” I said, shaking my head, my long, blonde hair falling over my shoulders. “Are you sure you don’t read minds?”

“I’m sure,” he replied softly. “I think I was just thinking the same thing as you. That’s all.”

He kissed me gently on the lips and pulled the blanket up around us.

“People are going to begin to wonder what happened to you. To us,” he murmured, noting the time.

“I don’t care,” I replied. “I-I can’t go back. Not now.”

“Really? You don’t care? What happened to my uptight princess?” he teased lightly, brushing my hair back from my tear-stained face.

“I’m still here. I’ve just decided there are some things I can’t change, like what people think and what I’ve done.”

“You may be able to someday,” he said thoughtfully.

“What?”

He shrugged. “Well, you’re Fae. Some are fortunate enough to possess the power of suggestion.”

“You mean compulsion?” I asked, my brows furrowed.

“Yes, I suppose you could call it that if you’re gifted enough to actually control someone. I was talking more about persuasion.”

“You can do it, can’t you?” I asked, sitting up and staring down at him. “The night at the game, on the bleachers with the nachos! I almost kissed you! I couldn’t explain it at the time, but that’s what it was, wasn’t it?”

“Perhaps,” he answered sitting up. “Are you mad?”

“Yes! How dare you try to control my mind!”

“Believe me, Ana, I wasn’t controlling your mind. Besides, I wouldn’t have kissed you. Not like that. I was testing you. I wanted to know how strong you were, if you would be able to fight it, and you did. I was proud of you.”

“Proud of me because I fought off your freaky mind powers?” I asked skeptically.

“Yes. If Zaros … if he gets you, Ana, he has the power of compulsion and it’s powerful. It’s extremely strong,” he whispered. “It doesn’t help that he also has the Ankh of Dominus, either. You wouldn’t stand a chance in your current state. He has men who follow him without question. Not because of compulsion, but because they have dark hearts like he does. They can control the mind. I want you to be able to fight for yourself when I’m not there. You need to be able to.”

“Why wouldn’t you be there?” I asked, my heart racing as I replayed the horrible vision in my mind.

“Because,” he said sighing and taking my hands. “I might get called away. If that happens, I won’t be of any help to you. You have to be able to fight on your own.”

“Then teach me, Calix. I’m afraid.” My voice shook as I spoke the truth. It was more than fear. It was terror. I’d seen what the Master was capable of. I saw what he was doing to the Nihilist, his own son.

“I will,” he promised.

“I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here with you,” I said, untangling myself from him the rest of the way and getting to my feet. “If we go back, there’s a good chance I’ll be in a lot of trouble for what happened with Courtney. I want to stay right here, far away. I want to learn everything I can. I don’t want to hurt anyone!”

“Ana,” he breathed, standing up to join me. “Come here.”

He opened his arms wide, and I fell into them sobbing. I was terrified. Was Courtney OK? Had I really hurt her? Was this the beginning of what I was to become? Someone who hurt people?

“Shh,” he murmured, holding me tightly. “You still have a choice in who you become. What happened today was an accident. I should have told you sooner, and then I could have taught you how to control your powers. I’m so sorry, Ana. It’s my fault.”

I let him hold me until the tears subsided. Leaving unexpectedly like this was like tearing off a Band-Aid. I knew this day was going to happen, I just didn’t want it to be like this. My parents were going to be worried about me. My friends would be worried. In the end, though, maybe this was simply for the best.