Rebel Spring (19 page)

D
arkness became her world, and Lucia was left with two horrible thoughts that echoed, bouncing against each other over and over again.

My mother thinks I’m evil.

My mother wants me dead.

Finally, after far too long waiting in the smothering emptiness, there was a dawning, and she found herself once again in the familiar lush, green meadow with its jeweled grass and crystalline trees.

The Sanctuary.

Or, rather, a dream version of the Sanctuary. But it felt so very real—from the warm breeze to the emerald grass beneath her bare feet, to the sight of the glittering city in the distance beneath the seemingly endless clear blue skies. So real it was difficult to tell the difference.

She sensed Alexius’s presence behind her but didn’t turn.

“You left me for far too long,” she said quietly.

“Apologies, princess.”

Before this, they’d had four shared dreams. Dreams in which they walked through this meadow, as far as the diamond-encrusted stone wheels, talking about everything. About Lucia’s childhood, about her relationship with Magnus and all its recent complications, about her mother, about her father, about her magic. Perhaps she’d shared too much, but with Alexius, she felt . . . comfortable. Which was surprising, considering who and what he was. An immortal Watcher two thousand years old.

She had never felt like this before. About anyone.

He asked her questions about herself, so many questions. And she answered them. However, he was skilled in evading the questions she asked of him in return. She still didn’t know why he brought her here, and her mind was in a fog whenever she was in this meadow. Despite her best intentions, the gravity of what had transpired in her waking life seemed to fade away when she was here.

Death. Destruction. Prophecies. Magic.

She needed answers. Perhaps he had been purposefully evading her since the last dream—letting her stay adrift in sleep all this time.

This, then, was her chance to find out more, and she would not let herself become distracted by this golden creature who made any other thoughts drop from her mind. Lucia turned to face him directly. “What do you want from me?”

The beautiful boy smiled at her as if he couldn’t stop the expression from appearing on his face. “It’s good to see you too, princess.”

Such a smile. Her gaze moved to his lips before snapping back to his silver eyes. “My mother wants to kill me because of my
elementia
.”

His smile fell away. “I assure you, she will do nothing of the sort.”

Lucia looked down at her hand and willed fire into it. It flickered to life immediately. “Will this power I have corrupt me? Will it make me evil?”

“
Elementia
is neither good nor evil. It simply is. The world was created from the elements.
I
was created from the elements.”

“And you’re not evil.” Despite the flames, she shivered as he drew closer.

Another smile. “Evil is a choice one makes, not a natural state of being.”

“Always?”

His brows drew together. “This troubles you.”

“Of course it does.” She wrung her hands, dousing the fire. “How do I get rid of it?”

“Get rid of—?”

“My magic. What if I don’t want it? What if I want to be normal?”

Alexius studied her as if he didn’t understand. “You can’t change what you are. The
elementia
is a part of you.”

“How can you say that when I didn’t have it for sixteen years? My life was—well, it was uneventful and sometimes dreary, but it wasn’t like this. I couldn’t kill someone with a thought by setting them on fire. I wasn’t looked at with fear and hate. I didn’t have to worry about mastering something dark and unpleasant that seeps through my very skin like a poison.”

“You must not think of your magic like that, princess. It’s not a curse, it’s a gift. One many would give everything they have to possess—including many of my kind.”

She shook her head. “Watchers are made from magic.”

“Made from it, yes. But we can’t wield it as easily as you can.”

Lucia paced to the edge of the meadow, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “What do you need my magic for, Alexius?”

She had to know this. She could think of no other reason for this boy to continue to visit her if not to use her in some way.

Not a boy
, she reminded herself.
Not even close.

“There’s not enough time left to explain.” He scrubbed his hand through his bronze-colored hair and glanced back in the direction of the city.

“Not enough time before what?”

“Don’t you feel it? You’re on the very brink of waking. And this time, you’ll stay awake. I feel it because it is taking a great deal of my energy to stay in this dream with you.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She was waking? Finally?

It was all that she’d wanted. But now . . . there was too much more that needed to be said. She wasn’t ready to say farewell to Alexius. Not yet. The thought of it made her heart ache.

“How will I see you again? Will you visit my regular dreams?”

“Yes.” Alexius stepped closer to her and took her hands in his, his expression tense. “There is so much I want to tell you. That I . . .
need
to tell you, even if I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”

So real—he felt so real. Warm skin, strong hands. He smelled of spices—exotic and entirely unforgettable.

“So speak now, quickly—tell me what you need to say. Don’t keep me waiting.”

“Do you trust me, princess?”

“I can’t think of a single reason why I should,” she whispered, locking gazes with him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Not a single reason?”

She almost smiled. “These secrets. They’re secrets about me. Am I right?”

He nodded once.

“I need to know what the prophecy really said about my magic. All I know is that it said I was to become a sorceress, one able to channel all four parts of
elementia
.”

“Yes, it did say that. And you can.”

Frustration welled within her. “But for what purpose? I
can
work some magic, but I don’t
want
to.”

His grip on her hands tightened. “There’s more to Eva’s prophecy—a part that is most important. Most guarded.”

“Tell me.”

“That you will be the one to free us from this prison and reunite us with the Kindred.” He glanced toward the crystal city, a wary look on his handsome face. “That you will save us all from destruction.”

She searched his eyes. “What do you mean by destruction?”

He shook his head. “Without the Kindred in our possession, the magic that existed here a thousand years ago has been fading away little by little. When it’s gone,
elementia
is gone. Not just in the Sanctuary, but in all the world. All life is created from the magic of the elements. And without that magic, there is nothing left. So you see, princess? You are the key to our future—to everyone’s future.”

She shook her head. “That’s impossible. I don’t know how to do that. You think I can help save the world?”

His expression grew troubled. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you this. Not yet. She’ll be angry with me, but—but you have a right to know.”

“Who are you speaking about? Your friend Phaedra? The one who interrupted us before?”

He shook his head. “No. Someone else. Tell no one of what I’ve said to you, princess. And trust no one—
no one
—not even those you feel are worthy of your trust.

“Alexius . . .” His expression was so full of anguish, so full of passion . . . and all of it seemed to be directed at her.

“I wasn’t supposed to feel anything for you,” he whispered, drawing her closer. She couldn’t look away from him. “When I watched you from afar, I had that distance. That objectivity. I lack that now.”

Lucia could barely breathe as she watched him, her skin heating where he touched her.

“You have become very important to me,” he continued haltingly, “more important than I dare admit even to myself. I never understood how an immortal could fall in love with a mortal. It wasn’t logical. I thought them fools to give up eternity for a handful of years in the mortal world with the one who held their heart captive. I don’t think that anymore. There are some mortals who are worth sacrificing eternity for.”

The fire in her cheeks went forgotten. She found she was stepping closer, so close, to him.

“I should never visit your dreams again,” he said, pain crossing his face. “There are dangers ahead that you cannot fathom. But, no . . . there
must
be other ways to get what is needed. And if there are, I will find them. I swear this to you.”

She had no idea what he was talking about now, only that he had admitted that he was falling in love with her. Hadn’t he? “Yes, you
should
visit my dreams. You can’t leave me now. You’re important to me too, Alexius. I—I need you in my life.”

That anguish remained in his dark silver eyes. So incredibly intense. So filled with the answers she needed to questions that she hadn’t even asked. And then he cupped her face in his hands and bent to brush his lips against hers.

Perhaps he’d meant it as a chaste kiss, but it quickly became anything but. His hands slid down to her waist and he crushed her against him, deepening the kiss. She touched his face, his chin, and slid her fingers into his hair. He tasted like nectar, spiced honey . . . sweet and addictive. She wanted more. Her hands moved to the ties of his shirt, pulling them free to bare his chest. He had a mark, a glowing swirl of gold, over his heart. “What is this?”

“A sign of what I am.”

So beautiful. He was so beautiful that she never wanted to wake up. She wanted to be with him forever.

“I love you, Alexius,” she whispered against his lips. He tensed at her words, and she very nearly regretted letting them escape, but then his mouth was on hers again, hard and demanding, stealing both her breath and her heart. . . .

And then darkness spread across the meadow, obliterating it from view and sweeping Alexius away from her.

A cry caught in her throat.

Lucia slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a large, canopied bed, under soft, white silk sheets. Her gaze was fixed upon a flickering candle on her bedside table.

A strange and unfamiliar ache gripped her heart.

Alexius.

A young girl wearing a plain gray dress dozed in a nearby chair. After a moment, her eyes popped open and then widened. “Your highness . . . you’re awake!”

“Water,” Lucia managed to say.

The girl scurried to get water. “I must inform the king immediately.”

“Not yet. Please, give me a moment before you do anything of the sort.”

Of course, the girl obeyed. She brought water, which Lucia drank only after a short hesitation. Then the girl fetched fruit, cheese, and bread.

“Two months,” Lucia whispered with dismay when she asked how long she’d been asleep. “How have I survived so long?”

“You’ve been able to accept a specially prepared drink that has sustained you,” the girl explained. “The healers said it was a small miracle.”

Yes, a miracle. One that enabled her mother to administer the potion that kept her asleep. A tremor of anger coursed through her and the drinking glass she held shattered.

“Princess!” the servant girl cried out, clearly horrified that she’d injured herself, as she began picking up the sharp pieces of glass.

Lucia looked down at her bleeding hand, cocking her head as she considered the stinging wound. The King of Blood was her father. Did that make her the Princess of Blood? Her blood was so bright red it very nearly glowed.

Drops of crimson fell to the crisp white sheets. The girl quickly bound her hand with a cloth.

Lucia pushed her away. “It’s nothing.”

“I’ll get some fresh sheets.”

Lucia regarded her. “Don’t look so scared. Like I said, it’s nothing.”

She unwound the bandage and concentrated on her cut flesh. Her hand began to glow with a beautiful, warm golden light. A moment later, her wound was completely healed.

Her mother had been wrong about her. She wasn’t evil.
This
wasn’t evil. Using her
elementia
, especially after such a long absence, felt right. It felt
good
.

“I have heard rumors,” the girl whispered, awed, “about what you can do.”

The girl was much more of a nuisance than a plain little mouse should ever be. “Rumors that I’d strongly suggest you put out of your mind lest they grow sharp teeth to devour you with.”

The girl paled. “Yes, your grace.”

“Go fetch my brother for me.
Only
my brother.”

As the little mouse scurried away, Lucia found herself shocked by the rudeness of her words. She usually treated servants with much more kindness than this. What was happening to her?

Lucia turned her head toward the balcony window in this unfamiliar room. She looked out at the blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds and the rolling green landscape beyond. Undeniably beautiful, but not home. Not perfect, white, frost-covered Limeros.

A golden hawk touched down on the railing of the balcony and at the sight of it Lucia sat straight up, the effort making her dizzy. The hawk studied her for several moments, his head cocking to the side.

“Alexius?” she whispered. “Is that you?”

The bedroom’s heavy wooden doors swung open, crashing against the wall, and the bird took flight from its perch. Lucia turned with a scowl toward the door to see Magnus standing there.

“Lucia . . .” He swiftly came to her side. “I swear to the goddess, if you fall asleep again, I’ll be furious with you!”

Despite her flash of annoyance at disturbing the hawk, it was so good to see him again. His dark hair had grown long enough that it nearly hid his brown eyes. She hadn’t noticed this on her previous brief awakening. “I won’t fall asleep again because I won’t let it happen again. Magnus, Mother has been putting a potion in my water. She’s the one who’s kept me asleep all this time.”

He stared at her. “Why would she do such a thing?”