The Honor Trilogy: Books One, Two, and Three of the Honor Trilogy (16 page)

A rustle behind us catches our attention, but when we turn, no one is there.

“It’s probably an animal.” Ethan reassures us, though I don’t believe him.

“I wish we could just find our way out of here,” I whisper. “I just
wanna go home.” Unable to help myself, I start to cry.

Ethan unclasps his hand from mine and drapes his arm over my shoulder. Pulling me close to him, he whispers, “We’ll be okay, Honor. I promise.”

Storm just snorts.

Ethan and I ignore him.

A loud thud against the ground announces that we are not alone…and it is not an animal. A large tree limb has dropped in front of us.

“Maybe the branch just fell loose from the tree,” I hope in a whisper.

Ethan blocks my way, while Storm takes the phone from him. Shining Ethan’s flashlight on the tree above us, Storm whispers, “Get ‘er outta here. Now.”

Ethan and I are frozen.

“Ethan, I said now.”

But it’s too late. Two large ski-masked men drop from the tree, guns in hand. “Hold it right there,” one of them commands.

Storm jumps in front of Ethan and me. “It’s me you want. Let them go.”

The other one laughs. “Yeah. You.” He continues chuckling to himself. “You know it’s the girl we want.” The men come closer, and one of them grabs my arm and pulls.

Storm and Ethan yank me back, but the other guy grabs Ethan, leaving Storm hanging on to me.

“Storm, can we call the cops
now?
” I plead through my sobs.

“No cops,” one of the bad guys answers. “Besides…no service out here in the woods.”

“Bring us to the elixir,” the other man asks of me.

“No, Honor,” Ethan yells.

Storm snaps his head around in Ethan’s direction. “What’re you crazy? They’ll kill her.”

“Listen to the boy,” Masked Man number one says. “Now go,” he says, directing us to lead him to the elixir.

Ethan wrestles himself away from the man holding him and puts him in a headlock, grabbing the gun from his hand. Now Ethan is pointing it at him.

Quickly, Storm surmises what’s going on and grabs hold of the other guy, yanking him from the grasp he has on me. I scream, “No!” as I see the man cock his gun, ready to shoot Storm in the foot. Storm turns, but I jump at the man to knock him over…giving him more leverage and a better target at both of us.
Damn
, I think,
that did not go as I intended
. Realizing the man is going to shoot at one of us, Storm knocks me to the ground, covering me with his entire body. A loud crack resonates through the air, and I feel the full weight of Storm fall on me.

I hear another crack soon after, and I see the man who shot Storm fall to the ground. Another crack, another thud and man number two is on the ground. I can’t stop to think, but I feel my body go numb. I want time to rewind, because going forward is going to alert my senses to the grim realization that Storm is lying dead on top of me.

“Honor. Sweetheart. Honor!” Ethan exclaims as he runs over and drops next to me on the ground. “Honor. Are you…”

“Ethan,” I squeal, unable to use my full voice because of the crushing weight on top of me.
Then it occurs to me. I’m an empath. I can heal. Maybe I can…

“Oh thank God, Honor.” Ethan begins hefting Storm off of me, but I can’t let him.

“No. Stop.”

“What? We can’t just leave him on top of you, Honor. He’s bleeding all over you.”

“Is he dead?” I ask, hoping that he’s not.

Ethan struggles to find Storm’s pulse on his wrist. “I…I think he is…I’m sorry.”

My heart crushes inside of me.

He’s gone.

Never…have I felt such unbearable pain.

His body wriggles above me. “Ethan. No. I said don’t move him.” I try to yell as loud as I can, but not much sound escapes me.

“I’m not…” Ethan says slowly, but doesn’t finish.

“What?” Something’s going on. “What is it?” I whisper, scared as hell.

“Um…”

“What?”

“Um…”

The wriggling continues and I smell something smoke-like.
Okay, change of plans. I’m getting scared.
“Ethan, get him off of me.”

Ethan moves forward and pushes Storm off of me, creating a soft thud on the ground next to me. I sit and scoot backwards on my rear, aghast at the vision in front of me.
Storm is covered in blood. His limp form, prostrate on the ground. From his back, a dark fog rises above him. His soul? I don’t know…but the fog spirals slowly upward. Another murky cloud rises from him…then another. I reach out to touch…something calls me to it.

“No. Don’t.” Ethan pulls me from my trance. “Get back. We have no idea what that is.”

Looking up at Ethan, I wordlessly tell him that I
need
to touch. I lean forward, extending my hand through the fog. My hand disappears inside it. Quickly pulling it out, I inspect to make sure my hand is intact, then slowly reach back in. The fog lifts high, leaving my hand visible. I lay my hand on Storm’s wound while watching the fog.

Momentarily I close my eyes, absorbing the brunt of pain that Storm had recently felt from the bullet. My breathing picks up, my heart races…my body burns. While I soak in Storm’s death, I force my eyes open to watch the fog. Lightening crackles in the sky, though not a cloud is to be seen. The fog drops and dissipates. Standing behind it are three people – a young girl and a man and woman.

The flaxen-haired woman, dressed in a long white dress, steps forward, her hand extending towards me.

“Don’t touch her,” Ethan demands.

While keeping my right hand on Storm’s wound, I raise my left hand toward the familiar woman. “Mom?”

The woman’s smile lights up the dark. “Oh, Honor. You remember.” Her voice, as soft as an angel, comforts me like no other. I move to stand, but she stops me. “
No.
You can save him…go ahead.”

“But he murdered you all. You want her to save a murderer?” He walks toward the young blond girl who is also dressed in white. “Summer?”

“Yes, Ethan. It’s me…your baby sister.”

I hear a sob escape from Ethan’s throat. His sister hugs him…though she’s quite translucent. Ethan almost looks as if he’s hugging air. “I can’t believe you were trapped inside that monster for so long.”

Summer shakes her head. “He’s not a monster,” she says softly.

My head becomes light, and I feel like I’m fading, but I keep my hand on Storm and try to focus on bringing him back to life. The man, who I’m guessing is my birth father, dressed in a handsome white linen pants suit, kneels next to me. His hand on my shoulder reinforces his love for me. Between my sobs and the reeling sensation that I’m going to faint, I’m unable to speak. But his hand reassures me. “He’s a good man, Honor. Concentrate.”

“A good man? Y’all are crazy…he’s killed all three of you.” Ethan is appalled at what I am doing – at what they are asking me to do.

I am trying my best to concentrate, but with my birth mother so close, I can’t help but focus my energy on her. She presses her hand to Ethan’s cheek. “We died at Storm’s hand, yes…but not because he was
trying to
kill
us. He was trying to
save
us…and he was just a very young boy. He’d run away. We hadn’t gone too far to die, but we had found ourselves a small cabin somewhere. I guess Storm was looking for shelter and came across our cabin. When he saw the state we were in, he tried to help us. He didn’t know he could kill. Even after, I think he just thought he did it wrong…he’s not a murderer…and he’s not immortal, because it was an inadvertent kill. That’s why he still ages. And he’s a good soul.”

Ethan looks as confused as I feel.

“How can I put this so you’ll understand,” she wonders. “There’s a
glitch
in his DNA. He can feel like an empath…all the pain and suffering that we feel, he feels. But when he touches you…instead of
healing
you and taking the pain away…he…well, he takes the life out of you.” My beautiful birth mother turns to me, “Like he did that day to you in his car.”

“You were there?” I ask in amazement.

“Yes, we have no choice but to go where Storm goes…until now that is.” She looks to her husband and to Summer. “I think we need to leave, so that Honor can save Storm’s life. Us being here may be the reason it’s not working.”

“But he’s dead,” I say. “I can’t bring him back to life. I can only heal people who are alive.”

“No, Honor. You’re special.” My mom kneels and presses her hand to my face now. “You
can
bring him back to life. We all can if we try hard enough.” My mom tells me with a sincerity of a heavenly being.

“No. At whose expense?” Ethan says. “She’ll die young.”

My mom smiles her angelic smile. “God put us here for a reason, Ethan. To help others. Yes, our lives are cut short, but we are doing God’s work.”

“No,” he insists. “It is not God’s work to die saving others. It is
His
work to save them if they should be saved. Otherwise, it is their turn to die.
To every thing there is a season…
remember?”

She still smiles, undeterred by Ethan’s rant. “
To every thing there is a purpose,” she reminds him.
“We are heroes,” her sweet voice resonates deep in my heart.

Mom looks at me. “You are a hero, Honor,” she kisses my forehead. Dad follows and then they walk towards Summer.

Summer gives Ethan a hug and says, “Remember who you are, Ethan.” She kisses him on the cheek and grabs both my parents’ hands.

In one white moment, they float to the heavens where they belong…leaving us to live as we should.

Mom’s words invigorate me.

I lay my left hand next to my right. With all my might, I concentrate on Storm – absorb his pain, his blood, his soul.

Closing my eyes, I allow Storm in. My arms heat up again. I convulse as my lungs fill with pain. Screaming because I’m on fire inside, it takes all my energy not to pull away. I hear a swishing sound blow past my face. In the faint background I hear Ethan yell, “The bullet.” Storm’s wound burns under my hands, but the hole gets smaller. Though my eyes are still closed, I know his skin is joining beneath my touch. His hot skin turns warm…then cooler. My hands rise…and fall. Rise and fall. I feel his heart beating through his back. And at the sound of his breath catching in his throat, I collapse on the ground.

I wake lying in my bed in my very own bedroom surrounded by flowers, balloons, and…boys. Well, Ethan and Storm to be exact. Ethan is sitting at my desk in one corner of my room; Storm is on my mended beanbag chair in the other corner. I blink my eyes a couple times to adjust myself to the light, then I push myself up on my elbows and lay my head against the headboard.

“Storm,” I say first, glad to see him smiling and upright. “You’re all right.”

When he stands, I can’t help but notice how beautiful he is. The bed dips next to my hip where he sits. “Thanks to you…I couldn’t
be
any better.” Storm bends to kiss my forehead, but right before he does, I notice that spark in his eye. The same one I see every time he looks at me. And I can’t help but think that he sees the same spark in my eyes when I look at him. But I love Ethan…and I could never disappoint him by allowing him to see my feelings for Storm. Though I can’t help keep him from
feeling
what I’m feeling for Storm. But I’m sure Ethan will ignore those feelings…just like he has been.

Storm’s kiss is warm and tender on my forehead, while the butterflies in my stomach assault me much like stinging wasps rather than sweet Lepidoptera. “I owe you my life, Honor.” Storm smiles. “Thank you so, so much. Anything…
anything
…you ever need or want, I will give to you. That is my promise.” He rises from my bed, tips his proverbial hat towards Ethan and leaves my room, closing the door behind him.

Ethan sits on the other side of the bed and takes my hand. “How are you? You feeling okay?” he asks.

“Yeah. A little groggy…and weak, but…for the most part, I’m good.”

Moving in closer, Ethan kisses my lips, leaving them there for a few wonderful moments. Of course, I kiss him back. When he pulls away, he gazes into my eyes. “Honor,” he pauses, unsure of himself. “Um…about your…um…parents. Do you remember seeing them?”

A smile spreads across my face as tranquility washes over me. “Yes. I remember.” But I don’t dwell on the subject. I’d like the memory to remain untouched. “Tell me, Ethan. What happened afterwards…with the elixir, the Gaffer…are we still in danger?”

He shakes his head. “Not for the time being. Hunter and Uncle Tom helped us lug the elixir out of the school. We know we weren’t followed. We also sort of buried the dead bodies under some brush. Hopefully they’ll stay hidden for a while. No one has bothered us yet and it’s been almost two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” I interrupt. “I’ve been out that long?”

A soft smile plays across Ethan’s lips. “Pretty much. You’d come awake a bit, and then you’d fall right back to sleep. Your parents wanted us to call a doctor, but then we’d have to explain the events leading up to what happened. We
kinda wanted to keep that to ourselves….Storm was good at convincing them you’d be okay. Tamlin helped too.”

“Tamlin?”

“Yeah. Well, she told us you filled her in on your secret, so…we filled her in on the rest. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Oh no, of course not. She was here?”

“Yeah…and I think she has a thing for Storm.”

I watch Ethan’s face and I know he’s looking for a reaction from me, but I just laugh it off…
though it’s killing me inside.
“So no one is after us anymore? I find that hard to believe.”

“Well…I think taking out two of their men halted them for a while. We’re not out of the dark forever, but…I think we’re safe for now…Anyway, let’s not talk about that.
C’mere.”

I fall effortlessly into Ethan’s arms as he slides next to me on the bed. I feel his heart pacing way too fast and I sense his anxiety. “I love you, you know,” I say, knowing he needs to hear it.

“I love you too, baby.” He pulls me close and I fall asleep on Ethan’s shoulder, thinking…
this is exactly where I want to be…for now.

The End of Book One