Becoming (23 page)

Gabriel’s arms encircled her, holding her
tightly but not pressing on her still-tender injuries. His lips
moved gently over hers again. She wanted to lift her left arm to
touch him, but it wouldn’t seem to cooperate. Her right arm was
pinned against his body. So she used her mind.

Guess I scared you, huh?

He abruptly pulled away from her. She finally
allowed her eyes to open. He was studying her closely, his
expression a mix of hope and anxiety.

I love you.

His breath left him in a shudder at her
focused thought. He buried his face next to her neck.

Oh, God. I love you, too.

“Is she okay?” Skye asked in a small
voice.

Gabriel nodded. Amber leaned a bit to her
right and kissed the part of his jaw that she could reach.

“We must move,” Ini-herit said. He managed to
sound less brusque than usual. “Our goal is not much farther.”

“That’s what you said an hour ago,” Olivia
pointed out. “We’re tired, thirsty, hungry and scared. And now
Amber is hurt. This isn’t at all what we set out for earlier
today.”

Amber turned her head to look up Ini-herit.
The Estilorian was staring at her. His gaze moved between her and
Gabriel and back again.

“You will feel none of those things when you
transition to the other plane.”

“Oh, sure,” Olivia argued with a wave of her
hand. “
This
you seem sure about. Everything else has been,
‘I don’t know’ or ‘We have no way of knowing.’ But when you’re
trying to convince us to get on board with your plan, suddenly
you’re the voice of authority. You must think we’re a bunch of
gullible idiots.”

Amber choked out a laugh. Gabriel leaned back
enough to catch her gaze and grinned.

“I really think I’m beginning to believe
she’s my sister,” she said, then watched Olivia flush with
embarrassed pleasure.

Ini-herit’s lips pressed together.

Rolling her eyes, Amber said, “Fine. Let’s
go. Goodness knows I’m not fairing very well on this plane as it
stands.”

Gabriel helped her get to her feet. That was
when she realized that he had taken his shirt off.

“Oh, my.” Deliberately ignoring the nagging
pain in her left shoulder, she wiggled her eyebrows at him to keep
the mood light.

One corner of his mouth rose and his eyes lit
with humor. Then he untied the sweatshirt from around his waist and
slipped it on, shaking his head at her when she made a tsk, tsk
sound.

“I, um, found the sweater you were wearing,
Amber,” Skye said. She reached out to extend it toward her without
making eye contact.

“Thanks.” Sensing Skye’s tension, Amber gave
Gabriel an inquiring look as she reached out with her right hand to
take the sweater.

“There’s, well, not much left of your
T-shirt,” he said by way of explanation. She sensed there was more,
but didn’t push it.

Glancing down, she realized why she felt
every breeze as though it was touching her bare skin. It
was
touching her bare skin. Only the front of the T-shirt remained
intact. When she turned her head to look over her left shoulder,
she realized that the neckband and the right arm of her T-shirt
were the only things keeping it up.

“Well, that’s attractive,” she said at last.
At least it looked as though her bra had made it through. Not that
it would matter in a short while, anyway…and what a waste of money
that
was. With that thought flashing through her mind, she
sent a quick glance around. “A moment?”

They all turned around and stepped a few feet
away to give her some privacy so she could change.

Not you.

Gabriel stopped in mid-turn, giving her a
surprised look even as she used her right hand to lift the neckband
of the ruined T-shirt over her head and tossed the tatters on the
ground.

You wanted to know what I had on
underneath
, she conveyed to him.
This is your one and only
chance to see it.

At first, she received no thoughts from him
at all. She took that, as well as his wide eyes, to mean he was
completely stunned by her actions. And as the shocked silence of
his mind eased into wonder and pleasure and his eyes narrowed in
intense consideration, she knew she had been right.

He approached her and took the sweater from
her. Positioning the left sleeve so that he could slide it over her
arm without aggravating what remained of her injuries, he got the
garment up over the first half of her upper body. Then he closed
the distance between them so that mere inches separated them. Using
his fingertips, he traced the edges of the lacy rose-colored bra
she wore, allowing his feelings as he did so to flow into her. She
gasped lightly in surprise at the wave that overtook her.

Thank you
, he thought as he slid the
right sleeve up and began buttoning the cardigan.

You’re welcome. Oh—and I just want to say
for the record that you are absolutely out of your mind if you ever
think I’m letting you get a dog.

Just as she had intended, he laughed. And she
knew it would be all right.

Are you going to tell me how you ended up in
a tree?

She decided to communicate with Gabriel
silently since she continued to read intense anxiety in Skye’s body
language. He held her right hand and gave it a squeeze.

Skye’s power decided to make itself
known
, he returned.

Okay. Vague. So…what? She can fly?

Well, it was more like the air lifted
us.

Whoa
. Amber glanced again at Skye, who
had yet to meet her gaze since she had woken up after the attack.
She doesn’t look like she’s handling this well at all.

She got a sudden influx of thoughts and
emotions from Gabriel that she sensed he was buffering. Rather than
pursue the conversation, which was obviously just distressing him,
Amber let it drop. His relief was evident.

Ini-herit hadn’t been exaggerating. They
reached their destination within fifteen minutes of walking. He led
them to a small clearing, about the size of Mrs. B’s kitchen back
in Newnan.

As soon as she stepped into it, Amber felt a
surge of energy like a kind of electrified field. All of the small
hairs on her body stood on end and there was a slight vibration
coursing through her, not as intense as the vibrations that usually
resulted in a convulsion, she was relieved to note. It was more
refined somehow. Strangely, more natural.

“Wow,” Olivia breathed as she stepped into
the clearing. “Can you feel that?”

Finally, Skye seemed to shift from her somber
mood. Her eyes widened. “Yeah.”

Gabriel held his hands in front of him as he
stepped into the clearing, obviously just as sensitive to the
energy change as the rest of them. He studied his hands as if he
expected to see them transform right then and there.

“You have now all experienced the beginning
of your powers Becoming,” Ini-herit said as he moved into the
center of the clearing. “We anticipated that the process would be
expedited when you came into contact with each other at last. It
appears, on that count, we were correct. I am sure it is now also
evident as to why you cannot remain here on the human plane.”

It almost sounded to Amber like he was trying
to convince himself. When his gaze again moved from her to Gabriel,
she began to wonder if it was possible that he was feeling guilty.
And that thought then made her wonder if he knew more about how
this transition would affect Gabriel than he let on. Her heart
started pounding more fiercely in her chest.

“As Olaya has already reasoned,” Ini-herit
continued, “we often use what the humans call the Aurora Borealis
to transition between the planes. Although this energy stream is
found across the earth in varying degrees, this particular location
has been found to be the most potent store for our needs. The fact
that this stream is not visible to the human eye at this time of
year does not at all diminish its power. It was decided to bring
you here for the transition, believing it has the best chance for
succeeding without negative results.”

Amber watched Olivia and Skye exchange
worried glances. “So, how’s it going to work?” she asked, trying to
keep the other two girls from dwelling on the term “negative
results.”

“We will join hands, and I will establish the
connection with the other plane. The Gloresti awaiting us on the
Estilorian plane will funnel our Estilorian energy along the
pathways to the other side. We will assume our Estilorian forms.
After that…”

“Yeah, yeah. You really don’t know,” Amber
finished. She thought briefly of how it was going to feel to
suddenly find herself in this strange place. It wasn’t at all a
comfortable thought. “So, will we understand the language over
there and everything? I mean, does everyone speak English?”

“No, but your mind will interpret everything
said into your native language. There are no such communication
barriers on the Estilorian plane.”

That was helpful, she mused. “Okay. And what
happens to our, um, bodies?”

“Some Corgloresti will return to this spot
tomorrow and dispose of them in the human manner.”

“What—
bury
us?” Olivia asked, her eyes
wide.

“Actually, they will burn our remains.”

That was a lot to accept. Instinctively, they
all looked down at themselves and rubbed a hand over an arm,
stomach, face…something to establish a connection with their
soon-to-be-dead human forms. Vigorously pushing aside the thought
of her body lying among a pile of flaming corpses, Amber squared
her shoulders.

“Okay,” she said. “Is it time?”

Before Ini-herit could respond, Skye burst
out, “No! Wait.”

To Amber’s surprise, Skye walked over to her
and Gabriel. Her eyes were sad, but dry, a huge relief to Amber.
She was wringing her hands together when she stopped in front of
them.

“I just…want to say…” she was staring at the
ground. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked up, her gaze
drifting from Amber to Gabriel and then back down to the ground. “I
might not have another chance to say this. We could all forget all
of this in another few minutes. I hope not, but…anyway.” She again
looked up. “Gabriel, I’m so, so sorry. I was a coward. I could have
cost you more than anyone should have to lose. I would have, if you
hadn’t forced me to—”

He abruptly cut her off by pulling her into a
tight hug. She sobbed against his chest, and Amber caught his
pained gaze over Skye’s head. She knew then with absolute clarity
what had happened, and understood what the flashes of fury and
helplessness she had sensed a short while ago meant.

“You’re stronger than you give yourself
credit for,” Gabriel said to Skye after a long moment. “Once you
realize that, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

She pulled away and wiped her face. “You
forgive me?”

He gave her a smile. “You were brave enough
to ask me for forgiveness. Why wouldn’t I give it?”

With a hiccup and nod, she turned her ashamed
gaze to Amber. “And you?”

Raising an eyebrow, she said, “What’s to
forgive? I’m here, aren’t I?”

Amber accepted Skye’s vehement, grateful hug
without flinching. She saw Olivia wipe a tear from her cheek out of
the corner of her eye.

I’m so sorry you had to go through
that
, she thought, catching Gabriel’s gaze.

He didn’t respond. But when Skye pulled back
and walked over to give Olivia a hug, he pulled Amber against him
and kissed the top of her head.

“Very well,” Ini-herit said, sensing that
they had all said what they wanted to communicate with each other.
“Join me in the center of the clearing.”

After hours of questioning, worrying and
indecisiveness about the path ahead, they all moved together
without another word. Amber joined hands with Gabriel on her left
and Olivia on her right. Ini-herit stood on Gabriel’s left and took
Skye’s right hand, and then she linked hands with Olivia to
complete the circle. Aurora sat directly in front of Olivia, her
tail curled around her legs. Amber felt another surge of energy
course through her. Olivia and Skye gasped. And it suddenly seemed
quite right, like a moment they had awaited their entire lives.

I love you, Gabriel
, Amber thought as
she sensed Ini-herit begin to open the connection that would lead
them to the Estilorian plane.

I love you, Amber. See you on the other
side.

Excerpts from the Great Foretelling:

“
And so it will be strength, courage, wisdom and
faith that bring them to us. But it will be love—that of which we
know nearly nothing—that will prove most vital to our
future.”

“
With their coming, we will welcome a new class of
being. One that can guide and teach as much as it can
learn.”

Amber floated. The release from her human
form was smooth and painless. Although her thoughts felt quite
fuzzy and nebulous, she had the sense enough to wonder what she had
been so worried about. She was soaring, part of something much
bigger than she had ever known. And she innately understood that
she was willing to accept it because it was the path to returning
to Gabriel.

Colors whirled, rainbow hues as well as
blacks, whites and grays. Every color she had known as a human and
a few she didn’t even recognize. There was no sound outside of a
soothing, indescribable white noise. No scent at all. There was a
flying sensation, but no feel of wind or even a body against which
the wind would contact. Weightlessness. She had no sense of
direction, but somehow knew that she was being led where she needed
to go.

Time ceased to matter or exist. It might have
been seconds or decades that she floated. Her cotton-padded
thoughts couldn’t crystallize into a coherent form. One name,
though, repeatedly drummed itself into her altered
consciousness.