Salvaged Soul (The Ignited Series Book 3) (2 page)

The Kala had no idea how the Skotadi had turned her, and no idea how to convert her back. Even after we had supplied them with the information we had acquired in West Virginia—that Incantation had been used somehow—they didn’t know what to do.

Probably because any Incantator that could help wouldn’t dare step forward to do so. Incantators were often persecuted because of fear of their power. That was why we had decided to keep Kris’s identity as an Incantator a secret, and why she worked on her skills in secret with Micah, away from the eyes of Kala leadership.

Only Jared knew. But I knew he could be trusted with that information. He was just as eager as I was for her to reach her potential. Especially if it could save herself, Alec, and Lillian all from living the rest of their lives as Skotadi.

The guard stationed outside of Jared’s office knew me by name, apparently. “Morning, Nathan.” He opened the door for me, but I hesitated to look at him before entering. He must have guessed what I wanted to ask because he supplied, “It’s Rodney.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Rodney.”

As he shut the door behind me, I smirked at my old friend. “It doesn’t look natural. You sitting behind a desk.”

Though his head remained tipped down as he studied a stack of papers on the top of his oversized mahogany desk, I glimpsed the curve of a smile on Jared’s face. “A lot has changed in the seven years you’ve been gone, buddy.” Finally, he looked up and flashed me an over-the-top grin that showed off his perfect teeth.

According to most of the girls on the island, Jared was—what did they say?—dreamy. I didn’t get the ‘Tom Cruise from
Top Gun
’ label he had acquired amongst the female Kala. But then, I had once navigated the Mohave Desert with him for five days without a shower or a shave, and forever had the ‘Tom Hanks from
Cast Away
’ image of him burned into my memory.

“So I’ve noticed,” I muttered as I sat in a plush leather chair opposite him. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “What do you need me for this time?”

“I wanted you to hear it from me first,” Jared started, taking on that authoritative tone which sounded odd coming from the guy I’d once witnessed skinny dip off the pier for ten bucks. “We flushed out another mole. He’s not talking any more than Travis had. Not yet anyway.”

“Where was he stationed?”

“In Geography. He worked directly under Travis, so we’re going through that entire division. There have to be more hiding there.”

Geography was a part of the ‘prophecy specialty’ division given the task of tracking Skotadi movements around the world. If there were spies in there, they could easily hide the locations of the Skotadi’s strongholds, and
that
would be a very bad thing for the Kala.

“You’ve got to get them out of there, Jared.”

“No shit.” He laughed humorlessly. “We’re working on it. I could really use an extra set of eyes that I can trust.”

I groaned. “I’ll keep my eyes open, but I’m not going to take on any kind of official role. You’ve got me busy enough with that damn class anyway.”

“We’ll get rid of the class,” Jared offered quickly. Too quickly, like he’d been giving this some thought.

While it would be nice to not have to instruct the two combat classes I had been given upon moving back to the island, I knew that if I gave them up I would have no excuse not to become more involved with the Kala system.

“No,” I responded firmly.

Jared sighed in defeat. “Fine. Stay a measly instructor.”

“I didn’t even want to be that.”

“Well, you have to do something while you’re here. It was either that or a custodial job.”

“I guess you expect me to thank you?”

He grinned at me, and for the first time since I had walked into his office he wasn’t Jared the supervisor, but Jared, my friend. “You and I both know words like that don’t come out of your mouth easily.”

“You’re absolutely right,” I agreed with a chuckle. I stood to let myself out. “I’ve got to get to class. I’ll let you know if I see or hear anything.”

“Nathan! One more thing,” Jared called. “You asked about Callie last time?”

I stopped with my hand on the door handle, and turned to face Jared. “Any change?”

He shook his head. “Only getting worse.”

I nodded glumly and let myself out.

Only getting worse. . .

Though I had yet to tell her, Kris’s best friend was in trouble. Big trouble. Callie was sick in a way that could only be caused by Incantation, and there was nothing anyone could do as her life slowly slipped away. There were two people who could potentially help her. One was Kris—an Incantator in training who struggled with the basics. The other was being held a mere fifty yards away and, in her current state, laughed demonically when asked what she had done to Callie.

Lillian. The girl I used to love, the reason I had left this island seven years ago, and the one who had brought me back to it now. The one central to everything. The one who needed to be saved . . . before everything was lost.

And we had no idea how to do it.

Chapter 2

{Kris}

“You’re not focused enough!”

The sound of Micah’s voice had a way of doing the opposite of what he coached. He said focus; I wavered. Well, in actuality, my focus simply shifted. Instead of trying to move the rock with my mind, as he wanted me to do, I imagined what it would be like to make his head explode. That was when it happened.

The rock exploded.

“Holy shit!” Alec laughed hard. So hard he doubled over, clutching his stomach, and looked close to falling over and rolling in the sand.

My lips twitched from watching him, but my anger held the smile back. I picked the tiny pieces of rock shrapnel out of my hair and tossed them to the ground. “I’m done for the day.”

“You still have ten minutes before you need to leave for class. We need to keep working,” Micah argued. “You made something happen. You can’t stop now.”

I spun on him quickly, forcing myself to bite back the truth—that the rock had nearly been his stubborn head. “We worked all morning, and we’ve been working nonstop since lunch. I need a break.”

“Micah, why don’t we call it quits a little early today?” Gran placed a gentle arm around my shoulders. She often came to my aid when Micah pushed me too hard, and I welcomed her comfort.

Alec often did as well, though usually with threats against Micah’s life. That was, of course, when he wasn’t the one dying from an unstoppable fit of laughter.

“Fine,” Micah relented. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

I gave Micah a look to portray just how
not
excited I was about that. For now, I was just eager to get away from him. As far as he would allow me anyway. As my appointed guard while we practiced, I couldn’t really go far without him now.

We had decided to keep Kim out of the loop as far as what we did on the beach every day. Since we were practicing my Incantation skills, along with strengthening my specialties, it was best not to involve anyone that we didn’t need to involve. Alec’s guard, Bruce, kept a good distance, usually hanging out on the pier while we practiced, and though he knew some weird stuff was going on, he didn’t know the half of it.

I picked up the spell books I carried with me and dusted the sand off of them before slipping them into my backpack. Coming up alongside Alec, who had finally managed to pull himself together, I whispered, “That rock? It was nearly Micah’s head.”

He snorted. “I figured as much from the look on your face.” He cast a glance over his shoulder at Micah as we walked away. Lowering his voice for my ears only, he asked, “How’s that stone working out for you?”

My hands instinctively reached for the charm that hung around my neck. Gran had given one to both Alec and me last week. She had enchanted it to weaken the wicked impulses we both tended to have from time to time as a side effect of our souls gradually spiraling down the drain of evil.

Gran wasn’t a natural Incantator, but she had always had a special interest in it, and had taught herself a few spells that really anyone could do—just not as well as a true Incantator could. She wasn’t great, but she was better than I was right now.

Her charm actually seemed to work. Most days.

“It might have been the only reason it
wasn’t
his head that exploded,” I admitted with a grin. I glanced over my shoulder. Micah remained a few feet behind Alec and me, visibly moping as he trudged after us. His always present protector, Richie, followed closely behind.

Alec pulled his charm out from under his shirt and kissed it gingerly. “I think mine has saved me a few times, too. Otherwise, he might be fish food by now.”

We both chuckled. Alec and I often bonded over our mutual dislike of Micah. Since Alec had recently admitted to being in love with me, but still chose to let me go, and even approved of my blossoming relationship with Nathan, moments with Alec were at times strained. When we ganged up on Micah, things flowed easily between us as they always had before the big L-word came between us.

It wasn’t that a part of me didn’t love Alec in return. I did. In fact, a big part of me would always have loving feelings for him after what we had shared. Those feelings just weren’t nearly as strong for him as they were for Nathan.

I glanced at my watch excitedly. Ten minutes until class started.

The Kala leaders had insisted that I take a combat class to hone my skills while I stayed on the island. Little did they know I had a hidden romance with the instructor they put in charge of that class. It filled me with a sense of naughty goodness every time I thought about it. Luckily, I fought the other students during drills and not Nathan, otherwise our cover would have been blown by now. As Callie had once said, anyone who watched us fight would know that there was something going on between us.

Not that I cared. I didn’t want to keep our relationship a secret. But Nathan insisted that it was in my best interest, and so I dealt with it.

Grudgingly at times.

Especially times like now.

As we moved through the village center, we ran into a large cluster of Kala, many of whom I recognized from the combat class. A few stopped to let Alec and I pass. Others skirted around a tree to avoid crossing our path. Their actions didn’t bother me anymore. I had grown used to their skittishness around us in the few weeks we had been here. No. That didn’t bother me.

The two girls giggling in front of us bothered me. Every day, and I meant
every
day, I stood behind them in class and listened to them swoon over Nathan. I couldn’t help but suspect that the excitement on their faces now had something to do with the fact that they would be getting a glimpse of him soon.

I said goodbye to Alec before following the annoying gigglers into the Education Building. I didn’t look back, didn’t acknowledge them, but I knew Micah and Richie followed me. They had to, until I got to class, and Nathan took over.

Except Nathan wasn’t there yet.

Regardless, I turned to Micah in the doorway, and said, “You’re dismissed.”

Micah glanced into the classroom behind me. “Where’s Nathan?”

“I’m a few minutes early. He’ll be here. Just go. It’s fine. You know I won’t go all
Carrie
and kill everybody in the two minutes before he gets here.”

Micah made a face. He didn’t like discussing what I was, and he definitely didn’t like me making jokes about it. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you later then.”

“Yep,” I said with far more gusto than I felt. I hated that I had to have a babysitter everywhere I went. I especially hated that Micah was often that babysitter.

Fortunately, I got to stare at a sexy, sweaty Nathan for the next hour and a half. Along with the rest of the class. At least they were all in the dark, blind to our stolen glances and the festering heat between us. But then, that meant I was forced to bite my tongue instead of confronting those who found it necessary to drool over him like a bunch of hormone-crazed groupies.

I took my usual spot in the back and dropped my backpack to the floor with a thud. The two girls in front of me turned to look over their shoulders—briefly halting their Nathan worshipping—and I returned their stares with perfect indifference. They regarded me warily before tipping their heads together to continue, now in whispers.

I sure wasn’t making many friends among the Kala.

Not that I cared. These Kala girls were a unique breed. Very much like the typical teenage girls I had experienced in high school, only worse. In fact, pretty much all the students on the island were spoiled brats. They were like the popular kids on crack, and with a much bigger god-complex. Probably because they were actually part gods.

They all acted the part perfectly.

“Kira said she saw him in the Infirmary the other day.” My ears perked up as the brunette’s voice drifted back to me.

The other girl, the blonde, was quick to wave it off. Quicker than I was. “Yeah, but probably only because he feels like he should. Sure they have history, but it’s been a long time.”

“Well, Kira doesn’t think they’ll ever figure out how to change her back. Even if they do, it’s not going to stop Kira from making a move now that he’s back.”

They were definitely talking about Lillian. And Nathan visiting Lillian. And some girl named Kira making a move on Nathan.

I had the sudden urge to hit something. Or someone. Specifically, the girls in front of me. And this Kira, whoever she was.

I instinctively reached under my shirt, withdrew the charm from around my neck, and twirled it between my fingers. Technically, I couldn’t feel it working, but at times like this, I knew it had to be doing something.

Something
kept me from banging their heads together like a couple of cymbals.

Nathan’s timing couldn’t have been better. He walked in with his usual oversized duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Dressed in black mesh shorts that dropped to his knees and a black sleeveless shirt that hugged his upper body in all the right places, he looked every bit the part-god that he was. As all female eyes in the room followed him, it was obvious that I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Even the boys surveyed him with respectful admiration.

He dropped the bag and turned forward. His eyes darted to mine quickly before skimming over the rest of the class.

I knew it immediately. Something was off. Something was wrong.

“Group drills,” he declared, effectively silencing the chatter in the room. “Count off by fours.”

I smiled to myself. This was his “lazy lesson.” It was the one he did when he had something on his mind and didn’t want to bother teaching something new or difficult. With group drills he could hang back and watch the class spar, only offering assistance when it was necessary, thus freeing himself to mull over whatever he had on his mind.

And he thought he knew
me
so well.

I ended up calling the number three, and ventured across the room to where the rest of the threes had assembled. One of the boys grumbled under his breath while two of the girls exchanged catty glances when I joined the group.

“Yeah, yeah . . .” I muttered as I dropped my bag to the floor with a thud. “You all hate me. Nothing new to me, and I really don’t care. Can we get started now?” One at a time, I met their eyes with a hard stare. “Who’s going first?”

The group stepped back as the two other girls took positions. While they sparred, I pretended to watch and critique. In reality, my gaze remained fixed to the front of the room, on Nathan. 

Though I knew something was bothering him, I hadn’t mastered the ability to tell what exactly that was yet. One thing I had learned about Nathan was that if he didn’t want me to know what was troubling him, he wouldn’t make it easy for me to figure out. While things between us were far from where they had started, some things had never changed.

The only thing worse than unintentionally blowing up a rock two days in a row was getting hit in the face by the shrapnel produced by one of those rocks. It hurt. A lot. At least I was capable of healing abnormally fast, and stopped bleeding after a few minutes. By the end of the day, not even a scar would remain.

As I stormed off the beach, leaving everyone behind me, I realized that my anger was fueled more by the frustration I felt with my difficult-to-control specialties than it was by any concern I had about my face. Only one thing—or person—could make my barely contained rage worse.

Micah.

“Hey, wait up,” he called from behind me.

I didn’t slow. If anything, I sped up. “Just once, it would be nice of you to forget your babysitting duties,” I tossed over my shoulder, and glimpsed Richie as he scrambled to catch up to us.

“Never.” He chuckled as he took a few quick steps to come up beside me. “It could be worse . . .”

“I doubt that.”

“You could be stuck with Kim.”

I scoffed. Though Kim was a tough and very intimidating Kala, she wasn’t nearly as annoying as Micah. And she at least gave me some space. Micah, on the other hand, knew no boundaries. Apparently, since he thought we were soul mates, he thought he was entitled to get within my comfort zone, despite me repeatedly telling him he was not welcome.

“Where are you going?” Micah asked.

“To the gym.”

I didn’t need to elaborate. Micah knew why I was going to the gym, and who would be there this time of the day. Nathan always worked out during the hour he had free between the end of his morning combat class and when he met us for lunch.

Micah’s steps faltered briefly, but he quickly caught up. Despite his silence, I sensed the agitation rolling off of him in waves. I waited for one of his snarky remarks that I had grown accustomed to hearing, and good at ignoring, but he said nothing. As the gym came into view, Micah’s steps slowed to a sulky crawl.

He knew as well as I did that if Nathan was there—and he would be—then Micah would promptly be dismissed. The one thing Micah hated more than anything was relinquishing any sort of control to Nathan, especially when it had anything to do with me.