Under the Burning Stars (19 page)

Ava turned over in the bed. The morning light tried to sneak past the curtains. She watched the room slowly brighten as time went on. She knew she couldn’t stay in bed all day, but she didn’t want to move.

Part of her wanted to know if
Peter had even tried to call, but part of her was angry since he promised he would be back after taking Valerie to the hospital and never showed. Hadn’t Seth told him anything when he got there? She didn’t think Seth really cared much for her, but still. He would’ve said something to Peter. Was Peter so worried about precious Valerie?

Ava
shouldn’t even worry about such trivial things. Her mother was a dark witch. But how dark could she have been if she didn’t kill her father? Or her. But she’d betrayed them. She’d lied to them. What else was there about her mother that she didn’t know? And her father was in the dark about all of it.

Ava sighed and sat up.
She rubbed her swollen eyes and yawned. She hadn’t slept at all. How could she?

She wondered if Colden was feeling okay. She wanted to continue their talk from last night. Had he meant she could speak to a Necromancer about communicating with her mom? Maybe he knew where she could find one.
At first the idea was laughable, but the more Ava thought about it, the more she wanted to try.

Her necklace glowed. Thomas had been worried about something all night long. But then again, they all had been worried for some time
, especially because of what happened the night before.

Her phone buzzed and she reluctantly looked at it. It was a text from Thomas asking the group to meet him at the cabin as soon as they could. What had happened? Had he found out who burned his house?
Or were they going to take matters in their own hands?

She
let him know she was on her way and then checked for any missed calls. There was one from Peter but not a single message, voice or text. She shook her head and clenched her teeth. How could he act so uncaring?

Ava
pulled on some jeans and a sweater. Shoving her feet into her comfortable boots, not the stupid heels, she laced them up and opened the door.

She jumped.

Peter stood before her with guilt-laden eyes. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

“Sorry I didn’t come back. It was late.”

“Yeah.” Ava crossed her arms.

“I tried calling last night.”

“Yeah. Once. And you didn’t even leave a message.”

“Why are you being like this?” he asked.

Was he serious? “Because you were with V
alerie all night. She’s milking her minor injury for all it’s worth.”

Peter sighed. “Why are you so angry with her? I mean, what
was
that last night? You gave her a mild concussion and broke her nose.”

Well I suffered a broken leg, ribs, and I almost killed my friend. Oh, and I killed some
guy.
“Did you not hear what she said?”

“They’re just words, Ava.
Why should you care what she says?”

“
Why can’t you defend your girlfriend when someone says something like that? If anyone had ever said that about you, I would’ve given them a piece of my mind.”

“I think you did just that last night. And if someone had said that to me, I wouldn’t have cared. I would’ve gotten over it pretty quickly.”

She stared at him. “Is that why you’ve been struggling at school? Maybe I cared because there’s some truth to what she said.”

He dragged his hands down his face. “I’m not going through this again.”

Ava bit back a harsh response. Why was he so frustrated with her? He still hadn’t asked if she was okay from her accident. What was so special about Valerie? “Go through what? That she thinks I completely forced you into this and that I’ll kill you?”

“She didn’t say that
.”

“Why are you defending her? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Peter stepped closer. “Ava, I didn’t become an Enchanter so I could be with Valerie. I love
you
. You know this.”

Her heart faltered. She hated
being jealous and what she had done. She hated fighting with Peter and it seemed like they’d been doing a lot of it lately. She felt her shoulders drop. “I’m sorry, Peter. I just get defensive. But I wish you could understand that it hurt my feelings to see you rush to her side like that.”

“You just have to think before you
act. And not be jealous.”

Ava
rolled her eyes. “Sorry but it was a little difficult last night.”

“Look, I’m really not in the mood to argue and I just got home.”

Ava fumed. “You stayed with her all night?”

Peter pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can I just have my car keys and then we can talk about this later.”

Ava froze. He didn’t know anything had happened. But didn’t he feel Ava all through the night or was he so busy tending to Valerie? “Didn’t Seth tell you?”

“Tell me what? I didn’t see him. He came
when I had left the room trying to call you. I came back and Val told me he took Amanda home.”

That bitch.
Of all the things Valerie could have done. Seth had probably told Valerie what had happened but she neglected to tell Peter.

Peter touched her arm. “What’s wrong? Why are you angry?”

She sighed. “Your car is sorta.” She cleared her throat. “Totaled.”

His face wrinkled. “What?
What did you do? Were you that pissed off?”

Ava was defensive.
“I got into an accident last night.”

His face twisted into shock.
“Are you okay? What happened?”

“I lost control and flipped the car.”

His eyes widened. “How?”

“Trudy McVaine.
”

Peter tensed and the muscle in his jaw twitched. Trudy had tortured him for a month to get him to join their side. He wanted her dead more than
Ava, she was sure.

“
I wanted to kill her but I couldn’t. Then this guy came out of nowhere and tried taking Melissa and me away, but I killed him.”

“Wait, how did this happen?”

“Trudy was invisible, and I kept feeling something cold around my neck and it was her choking me from the backseat.”

“How did she even get in the car? I always lock it
. Were you hurt?”

That was an understatement. “I’m fine.”

“Did she make you see a vision?”

The ima
ge of her mother as a Cimmerian killing someone flashed in her mind. She felt sick to her stomach and her knees seemed to tremble. She sank onto the edge of the bed.

“What is it?” Peter moved next to her.

Ava didn’t want to talk about it. She hadn’t told anyone that her mother was a Cimmerian and she wasn’t sure she wanted anyone to know. What would they say? She was the daughter of a Cimmerian. They would look at her differently. Would Peter treat her differently? He was still so attached to his Ephemeral life and if he knew she was connected to the dark witches, he would leave her.

“Ava, talk to me.”

“Thomas wants us all to meet him at the cabin. I think he found out who burned his house.”

“Oh wow. When are we going?”

“As soon as we can.”

There was a knock at the door and Ava invited them in. Melissa and Lance came inside and Ava immediately felt
apologetic. Melissa didn’t look as if she had been in an accident last night. She looked well rested, but she couldn’t hide the worry.

“Don’t feel guilty,”
Melissa said. “I’m fine. You two wanna ride with us to the cabin?”

“Sure.”

Ava and Peter followed them out to Lance’s car. The ride to the cabin was quiet and Ava felt weighed down. The secrets she kept from Peter were piling up and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep them inside. But he hadn’t seemed very understanding lately and no matter how many times he told her he hadn’t regretted his decision to become an Enchanter, she knew part of him did. He hadn’t told his father, and she knew he was struggling just as much as Seth had been. Which only made her feel guiltier. She loved Peter, but she wondered if she had been selfish in convincing him to change his entire life for her.

Maybe things at school would calm down and then it would be easie
r for him. She could only hope.

Peter squeezed her hand as they pulled up to the cabin. She offered a small smile and then they got out of the car. The harsh wind blew her hair all around her and the skies threatened to storm.

They walked inside and found Gillian, Jeremy, Link, and Nicole standing behind the couch watching Thomas pace in front of the fireplace. His anger and anxiety infiltrated them as their necklaces all blazed red.

“Are you okay?” Gillian
curled and uncurled her hair.

They all stood around watching him clench and unclench his hands and stare at the ground.

“We’re all here, man,” Lance said. “What’s up?”

“Did you find out who burned your house?” Melissa asked.

Thomas stopped for a second and his eyes drifted from Ava to each of them. “It was me. I killed my dad and almost killed you guys.”

Gillian gasped.

Ava’s jaw dropped and she exchanged looks with Melissa and Lance. Peter clutched her hand.

“What?” Lance asked.

Thomas started pacing again. “It was me. I’ve been dreaming that my dad was a Cimmerian.”

Ava stiffened. Her heartbeat felt far away.

“The dreams have been incessant and powerful. They convinced me that my dad was evil and needed to die. It was the strangest thing though. I really don’t remember doing it. But I did and now I don’t know why.” His eyes watered.

There was a heavy silence in the room for several minutes.

“I’ve been having them, too,” Gillian said.

Jeremy turned
to her.

She blushed
and hugged herself. “Yeah. About my mom.”

Could they be part-Cimmerians
, too? How could Savina keep such a secret from them?

Ava cleared her throat. “
My mom was a Cimmerian.” She swallowed hard and refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Peter
released his grip.

“I just found out last night.”
When she looked up, they all stared at her in shock. “When I went to New Orleans, one of Joss and Gabriel’s friends, Marcel saw a vision of my mom and I saw one last night. That’s why I lost control of the car.”

“
Omigod!” Gillian said.

“A vision of what?” Thomas stepped closer.

“My mom standing next to Corbin, like she belonged there.”

“It was Trudy,” Melissa said. “She gave you the vision.”

Ava nodded. “Yeah.”

“How did you find out about your mom?”
Link asked.

“Colden told me.”

“Does this mean that your dad and your mom were Cimmerians?” Jeremy asked Thomas and Gillian.

Thomas ran his hand through his strawberry blond hair. “I don’t know. But I killed my father.”

“Thomas, it wasn’t you,” Ava said. “The Cimmerians are controlling us. Making us have bad thoughts and getting inside our dreams.”

“It makes sense,” Gillian said.
She shifted her weight from side to side. “I’ve been having awful thoughts about Ephemerals.” She bit her lip. “Like hateful thoughts. Probably why I haven’t been nice to you at all, Peter.” Ava knew the nervous way she acted, there was more she wasn’t telling them.

“I’ve been having them, too, Gillian.”

“Is that why you punched Valerie?” Peter asked.

No, it wasn’t the reason and it upset her that he was looking for a better excuse than what Ava had. But maybe what she was about to tell them would help him understand.
Ava drew a deep breath. It was time to confess. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “But I’m the one who killed Drew and Jonah.”

She heard them all gasp and she was afraid to look at them. Her eyes watered and her throat felt
swollen. Her mouth dry. Her heart raced and her hands shook. She wanted to flee the room. Get some fresh air. Anything not to have all of them staring at her in shock.

“What?” Peter spoke.
She could hear the disappointment in his voice. “Why would you do that? What happened?”

Ava couldn’t breathe and didn’t realize she’d been crying.

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Peter,” Melissa sternly said. “They attacked her.”

“Wait, you knew what happened?” Peter asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ava jumped when she felt Melissa grab her hand.

“They shot her because they thought she was responsible for the bombing and made claims that they were going to come after all of us.
”