Under the Burning Stars (21 page)

“How could he do such a thing?”

“He wasn’t right in the head. She could have easily fought Corbin, but since she was distraught over George and the entire town dying, she didn’t. It took us years to move on from that. In the meantime, Corbin’s army just grew. During that very dark period, it was just the two of us.”

“How did everyone come together
to defeat him?”

“A few
Enchanters learned the story of Corbin’s betrayal to his children, and they never wanted to harm Ephemerals. They eventually learned of our location and convinced Savina to start her own army. A lot of Ephemerals helped the Enchanters by hiding them from Hunters or Cimmerians. No one was safe from Cimmerians.”

“Why didn’t Savina want to fight back? After everything Corbin did?”

“Savina hates violence.”

“Sometimes it’s necessary.”

“It’s never necessary, per se. But to put an end to the most ruthless witch we have ever experienced, yes. It wasn’t up to her to start anything, though. She was just very strong and close to the situation. Even though Corbin abandoned us, we still knew how he thought. But his army was too much for us.”

“Why did Corbin let Savina live? Couldn’t he have easily killed her to prevent her from coming after him?”

“He never wanted us dead.”

“But he betrayed you both. He blamed Savina for all the deaths in that town. They were going to kill her.”

“They were. You are right. But he wasn’t going to let that happen. He came back and I saved her from the cell. He was only trying to prove to her that the Ephemerals would turn on her in an instant. Which, they did. Except George.”

“Didn’t he try to kill you both though?” Ava asked.

“He had once told us, we would never die by his hand, but if we came after him since we refused to join him, he couldn’t save us if we died by war.”

“Wow. And then he grew weak and Savina killed him. How was he weakened?”

Colden inhaled a sharp breath and held his chest.

Ava shot out of her seat and kneeled beside him. “What’s wrong? What can I do?”

He shook his head, and then a few minutes later, relaxed. “I apologize for that.”

“Are you okay?”

“I am fine, dear.”

She eyed him warily, but returned to her seat.

“I do not know how he was suddenly weakened. Perhaps the overuse of his ability took over.”

“I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.”

Colden gave a sad smile. “It wasn’t easy. Times have changed though. Things are much different.”

“Are they?
Ephemerals are still freaked out by the notion that there could be witches. Aren’t there still Hunters?”

“There could be.
Ephemerals are only afraid of what they don’t know. If they knew powerful Enchanters lived among them with abilities that went beyond their imaginations, Ephemerals would be fearful of what we could do to them.”

Ava swallowed a building lump in her throat. “Like what I did.”

“You were protecting yourself, Ava. If those boys had attacked you and you were an Ephemeral, yet you grabbed the gun and shot them dead, would you still feel guilty?”

“For ending two lives? Yes. They only attacked me because they thought we
bombed the school. If I were a human, they wouldn’t have attacked me.”

“You don’t know that for certain. They are violent toward each other every day. My point is you should not feel guilty. You did what was necessary to save yourself. And it’s about time you th
ought about yourself for once.” Colden coughed and grabbed his chest again. He wheezed and his face paled. “Forgive me, Ava. I need to rest.”

“
What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,
dear. I just need to rest.”

“Do you need help to your room?”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

She put his arm around her neck and helped him to his room and into his bed. He looked as though he had aged quite a bit. “Do you need anything?”

“You are too kind. I will be fine. Go seek the answers you desire. I wish you good luck.”

She hesitated to leave. “Should I call Savina?”

“I will get her. Thank you.”

Ava left the parlor with her stomach in knots, but felt sad for Colden. What was wrong with him? Was he sick?
She wished she could help him. He had helped her in so many ways. She couldn’t lose another person in her life.

She shook her head.
She wasn’t going to lose him. Savina could heal him. Ava was worried for nothing.

Now, to ask Gabriel to take them all to New Orleans.
She felt like now, with her ulterior motive, she would be more insistent that Gabriel take them. It was perfect. She would have people go with her, but she could sneak off to see the Necromancer. Finally, she felt as if things were going her way.

Ava closed her locker harder than she meant. She didn’t want to be at school. There were too many other things going on for her to be worried about her grades. Like how she killed two Ephemerals and almost killed her best friend. Or how she could be going to New Orleans to see the Necromancer. But she had to be patient.

“Do we really have to be here?” she asked Peter.

“It really isn’t that bad anymore,” he said. “It’s a distraction at least.”

Ava
eyed him doubtfully. “I need a bigger distraction then.”

He smiled. “Should I make it worth it?”

“How are you going to do that?”

He moved closer, her back against the locker, and leaned down. He kissed her
, softly. She reached around him, and pulled him closer, but he ended the kiss. “After each class I’ll give you a kiss.”

“That’s my incentive?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Not good enough?”

She smiled, then grabbed him by neck of his sweater, and crushed her lips to his. She felt his
hand on the small of her back holding her closer.

“It’s plenty good enough, but I can kiss you anytime.”

He cleared his throat. “Good point.” He looked down the hall both ways, grabbed her hand, and started walking.

“Where are we going?”

Peter slipped inside a bathroom, closed the door, and locked it. He kissed her again; the intensity of it sent shivers throughout her body. He moved her backward until she felt the counter against her bottom. Then, he lifted her on top of it and kissed her hard.

He surprised her with this new edge, but she liked it.

Someone banged on the door outside and then complained about it being locked.

Peter groaned, but Ava kept him in place. Her pulse quickened and she wanted more. Sh
e raked through his shaggy hair and pressed her lips to his.

Another bang on the door.

Peter pulled back, breathless.

Ava thought it was probably a good idea for the person outside the bathroom to stop them.
“Maybe you can come over after school,” she said.

“I have to work.”

“So come over after.”

He lifted her off the counter and set her on the floor.
“I can’t. I’m busy.”

She was immediately suspicious.
“Busy with what?”

“Nothing.”
He tried to pull her along, but she tugged back.

“What is it?”
Why wouldn’t he tell her?

He sighed and turned back to her. “
I have to go check on Valerie.”

“What?”

“Please don’t get upset. I’m trying to maintain some civility with Valerie and Amanda. They are my friends.”

“Were you not going to tell me?”

“I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Keeping a secret is definitely not the way to avoid that.” She brushed past him, unlocked the door, and walked out. Whoever had been
banging on the door was gone.

“Ava, don’t be like this,” he called after her, but she ignored him
as she pushed her way through the crowded hallway.

Why would he keep that a secret? What was he hiding? She hated being angry with Peter, but he wasn’t making it easy. Thomas was right. Peter did regret his decision and he acted as if he wanted to be
Ephemeral again.

Metal lockers slammed. The chatter was loud and obnoxious.
Ephemerals always talked about nothing. Various noises sounded from cell phones. A couple of people bumped into Ava because their eyes were glued to phone screens.

She clenched her teeth. Couldn’t they watch where they were going? They were stupid. Weak and no regard for anyone but themselves. Why was it their job to protect the
Ephemerals? They annoyed her. She didn’t want to be around these people. How did she fall in love with one?

She wanted complete silence. And to be far away from these people as possible.

Then, she heard nothing.

Ava halted in the middle of the hallway. Everyone carried on as Ava watched them, but couldn’t hear a single sound. She looked around. What happened? Why couldn’t she hear?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. Turning around, Ava saw Melissa.

Melissa said something, but
Ava couldn’t read her mouth.

And then the noises slowly came back.

“Earth to Ava,” Melissa said. “What is wrong with you?”

Ava shook her head. “Sorry. Just…” She didn’t know how to explain that. “I
don’t want to be here.”

Melissa looked at her
like she was crazy. “Not many people do.” She linked arms with Ava and they walked down the thinning hall.

Ava tried to figure out what was going on with her. Loss of hearing suddenly. The bad thoughts running through her mind. Was she going crazy?
Was Trudy or another Cimmerian messing with her?

“
So what shall we call this new soap opera?” Melissa asked.

“What?”

“You know. With you and Peter. As the World Turns? The Spellbinding Diaries? Ooh, what about The Secret Life of a Teenage Witch?”

Ava rolled her eyes. She knew Melissa was only trying to be funny, but it annoyed her.
“He’s going to see Valerie after school and wasn’t going to tell me about it.”

She
arched an eyebrow. “Ouch.”

“He said he didn’t want to upset me.”

“Which clearly you are.”

“Only because he wasn’t going to tell me.”

“I doubt that. Look, I know Valerie is a bitch, but you gotta let it go. He’s not with her. He’s with you. And he loves you. This isn’t easy for him. So what if he’s trying to hold on to his old life. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I know. But he doesn’t need to keep these things from me.”

Melissa cleared her throat and gave her a knowing look. “You’re certainly one to talk. Not telling Peter about what really happened in the attack for whatever reason.”

An aching stab of guilt shot through Ava.
She couldn’t argue with Melissa. But she was angry with Valerie for what she said, and didn’t understand why Peter didn’t stand up for her. “Because. You saw his reaction.”

“It was shocking news. I’m sure once he thought about it and actually heard the whole story he was fine. You
gotta let him in, Ava. He wants to be with you. Don’t think you’re in this alone, because you’re not. I know Peter would do anything for you, but he’s struggling right now. A lot of us are.”

Melissa was right. Why couldn’t Ava come to that conclusion? She always got hot headed and jumped to conclusions.

“I’m sure you two will make up at lunch. By the way, have you asked Gabriel about Marcel, yet? Thomas is getting really antsy.”

“No. I haven’t seen him. But I talked to Colden last night. I think he’s sick.”

“Sick how?”

Ava shrugged. “I don’t know. He looks pale, he has trouble breathing sometimes, has to rest a lot.”

“That’s strange. Does Savina know?”

“Yeah
.”

“Why hasn’t she healed him?”

“I don’t know. She probably won’t say anything. She wouldn’t tell me about my mom. Colden did.”

“She wouldn’t tell Thomas about his dad either
, or about G’s mom. She kept dodging the question. I don’t get why she’s hiding all these things. I mean, we’re all in this together. Why keep us in the dark?”

“Unless she’s not really who we think she is,” Ava blurted. Where had that come from? Did she really believe Savina was going to betray them?

Melissa wrinkled her forehead. “You don’t really think that, do you?”

She thought for a moment. “No. I’m tired of the secrets. She always
acted like my mom was a saint when clearly she wasn’t.”

“You don’t know the whole story.”

“I know. Because no one will tell me.” But she would soon speak to her mother.

The bell rang and Melissa and Ava parted ways and headed to class. While she stared at Drew’s empty seat, Ava wondered how she could stop the negative
Ephemeral thoughts. They seemed to come out of nowhere. She’d never felt like that toward them before. She always protected them.

And what was up with her losing her hearing? Did she have the ability to do that? She tried to test it again in class, but nothing happened. Did it only happen if she was upset?

In the next class, she silently dared Valerie and Amanda to come near her. But neither one showed up. Good. She didn’t want to have to look at them.

Melissa was right. She and Peter did make up at lunch, both promising to tell each other everything.
Again. They even all sat together as a group. Gillian still wasn’t flowers and daisies, but Ava could feel her anxiety. The same anxiety Thomas had. Why would the Cimmerians only mess with three Elementals and not all of them? Link and Nicole seemed to be more comfortable; however, Seth was still on the fence.

When school ended, Ava needed something to
divert her attention from thinking about Peter being at Valerie’s house. Checking on her. Spending time with her. What if she kissed him?

She shook her head. She had to stop being jealous.

The library called to Ava and maybe she would find Gabriel there. She wasn’t sure how to approach going to New Orleans to see Marcel though.

As she walked inside, she inhaled the comforting scent of the books. It was familiar.
She couldn’t wait until she and her dad moved, but having these books at her fingertips made it all worthwhile. 

“Hey.” She jumped at the greeting and looked to its source.

Gabriel chuckled and closed his book. She read the title: 
A Hero of our Time
. How ironic. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” His crystal blue eyes smiled. His tall, muscular, lean build fit perfectly into a Queen Anne chair. “How was school?”

She plopped down in the chair next to him.
“It was school.” 

“
Are you okay?”

“
Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s just say I’ve been playing the Queen of Hearts role to perfection.”

“I felt your anger earlier.
What happened?”

“I punched one of Peter’s friends the other night and now it’s like he’s at her every beck and call. He’s over at her house now, but wasn’t going to tell me.”

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow. “You punched an Ephemeral?”

“She just…” Ava groaned. “
She causes so much drama. She told me that Peter would wind up dead if he stayed with me. She said my mom being dead and my dad almost dying was proof. After everything that had just happened, it was like a red flashing light inside my head that went off. I was so angry and I reacted. Then he consoled
her
.”

“Damn.
I’m really sorry. I would’ve hit her, too.”

“You? You’re like the calmest person I know.”

He smiled. “I didn’t used to be so calm. I used to have a bad temper.”

Ava couldn’t imagine h
im with a bad temper, like hers.

“Why do you feel so threatened by this girl?”

“I don’t, I guess. I mean, the night of my accident, Seth told her to tell Peter but she left that part out so Peter would stay with her all night. It’s like he doesn’t see through her bull. I just don’t see why he doesn’t believe that she can be cruel. He always defends her over me.”

“
Maybe he’s just trying really hard to hold on to that part of his life.”

“That’s what Melissa said. I feel like he hasn’t fully committed to his life as an
Enchanter. I know the transition must be hard, but he wanted this. I feel like I can’t tell him anything about my Cimmerian-like thoughts. I finally told him about Drew and Jonah and he flipped out. I didn’t have to kill them, but I didn’t know my own strength. And knowing my mother was a Cimmerian doesn’t help. I was afraid to tell him that for fear he would distance himself.”

“Wait. Y
our mother was a Cimmerian? Do you know this for a fact?”

Ava froze. She
hadn’t meant to let that slip out, but Gabriel made it so easy to talk to. “Yes,” she mumbled. “Colden told me.”

“Damn. I’m sorry.”

She nodded. Now was as good a time as any to ask him about Marcel. She shifted in her chair to face him. “Actually, there’s a few of us who’ve been having Cimmerian-like thoughts.” She lowered her voice.

“Like who?”

“Thomas and Gillian. We were kinda wondering if you could help us with something.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“I told them about Marcel. And they want to see if he can help them with anything. They want to know if one of their parents were Cimmerian. Could you take us to see Marcel?” She braced herself for whatever backlash she was going to get.