Their Burning Touch on my Skin

Chapter 7

Emma

“No! Stop!” I scream, panic expanding in my chest.

Kai reacts too slowly, and even if he would be fast enough…

There is no way to stop Ace.

I watch the scene playing in front of my eyes in slow motion, my heart twisting as I see Ace attacking his sister.

Serena rips her eyes open before she pushes out a high-pitched scream. The earth quakes, the shocks ripping the ground open, and as Serena’s eyes turn completely red, she moves her arm upward, making the dirt dolls explode.

We stare at the dirt whirling through the air, reassembling into a giant who lashes out against Ace, making him retreat with a smirk.

“That’s what I’m f*****g talking about,” he laughs as the giant hits the ground, making it tremble even more.

Fire erupts from the created surface ruptures, making the people watching run for cover.

“Serena!” I shout, trying to get an impulse through her, but she isn’t having it. My powers are not strong enough to interrupt her at this stage. “You have to calm down.”

The attack of her brother and his disparaging words must have been too much for her. It’s not that she could do him much damage, but it still blows our cover.

“Serena, please!” I continue to yell, my voice drowning in the illusions set up by her desperation.

Another scream resounds, making the earth tremble even more, ripping it open before Ace attacks the giant dirt doll, making it crumble to pieces.

Touching the earth, I get blue flames to shoot along the ruptures, pushing back the fire she is creating.

Finally, Kai gets to his sister, tackling her to the ground.

“I got you,” he says, hugging her. “Everything is alright.

Serena’s eyes change back to her usual brown colour, the redness reducing to a few specks.

Turning toward Ace, I see him watching me with a stupid grin on his face which causes my blood to boil.

“See! I told you she was better than that,” he laughs, puffing his chest proudly.

Clenching my hands into fists as I only see red, I storm towards him, pushing him at his chest. He is nice enough to take a step back, preventing me from breaking my arms as I would have practically hit a brick wall. “What the f**k, Ace?! Why did you do that? Are you f*****g stupid?”

His smug expression falls as he stares at me flabbergasted, his pea brain struggling to grasp why I’m yelling at him.

“How could you do that to us? Why do you hate your mother so much for wanting to get another pup ripped out of her arms? Haven’t you done enough yet?” My voice flips and shakes as I try to keep it from failing and fight to hold my tears back.

He seems so lost as he looks at me, retreating by a step every time I push him again.

I take advantage of the fact that he would never touch me to stop me from attacking me as he doesn’t want to hurt me again. So, I keep pushing and hitting him while he gets hit by the realisation of what we were trying to do.

“Why are you so f*****g dumb?”

His expression would be enough to break my heart, but I can’t seem to stop myself as all my frustration and sadness bubbles out of me. “Why do you always have to f**k it up? You left us! Why couldn’t you stay the f**k away from us?”

“Emma,” Kai’s voice frees me from my tantrum, and I feel his arms wrapping around my body to hold me against his frame. “It’s okay. It’s done. This won’t help any of us.”

“No, f**k this. Let me go!” I thrash in his arms for a few heartbeats more as Ace’s confusion and desperation morph into sadness.

Throwing my head back, I let Kai lift me up and carry me away from him while I sob.

I slump to the floor as he puts me down, and I see Serena sitting on the stage, looking at me with big eyes.

“I have to say that I’m very disappointed in the Blackwoods. We always just meant well and we had an agreement,” the Judge says, as he steps in front of us.

“Yes,” Kai snarls, making me lower my head. “You had an agreement with my mother. And this wasn’t part of it.”

Judge Attwood lifts his hands as if he wanted to tell us that s**t happens, making another sob escape my chest.

“As we were able to see, it doesn’t seem like she has been stimulated well enough since the departure of your brother, Mr. Blackwood. This is a pity as there is so much potential that will go wasted if we don’t start to train her now.”

Hugging myself, I wait for him to say the last dreaded words while my stomach turns.

“I have to insist on keeping her here for better training.”

“I can’t leave her here,” Kai says, his desperation practically rolling off him. “I promised my mother that I would bring her back home.”

The Judge flashes us a pitiful expression that seems more like utter mockery as he tells Kai that a righteous man should never promise things he can’t keep.

Bastard!

“No,” I skyrocket to my feet, reaching the Judge with fast steps. “Please, she is too young for this. She needs her family. She is just a child and she is still so attached to her mother. This would be hell here for her.”

“What are you doing?” Ace asks as I clasp the judge's hands desperately. “I am here. I will train her. Why are you trying to make it seem like this is the worst place to be?”

I glare up at him, asking myself if he ever got a whiff of how they tested his mother or if he is already so brainwashed that he thinks it is simply duty in the Moon Goddess’ name.

“She doesn’t need you,” I hiss, his expression darkening slowly. “She needs her family.”

Turning back to Judge Attwood, I play the only ace I have up my sleeve. “Listen, let her go home. Let her grow up with her family. As soon as she is old enough, I’m sure that she will be happy to join the Royal Army, but please. I can vouch for this. Luna Blackwood told me that your scientists are struggling to get answers from the testing of her wolf. Maybe if you start testing me it would help you find out what it is. And eventually, you will get to train Serena even better. She is useless for you like this.”

My heart beats wildly in my chest, risking suffocating me as I wait for the Judge to accept my offer.

Sorry, Aunty Artemisia.

“What are you doing?” Ace snarls even before Kai can barge in to protest. “The testing is highly invasive. You can put yourself through it just because my sister has abandonment issues.”

Gasping, I hope that Serena didn’t hear her but seeing her eyes well up with tears on the platform, I might be out of luck. “That’s not your problem. Go take a f*****g hike, Ace.”

Murmuring rises around us, and I guess I’m pushing my luck a bit too much with him.

But I just know that he would never hurt me.

Ace clicks his tongue, stepping between me and the Judge to make me let go of him. “I can go with them if that can be an alternative. I can train her for a year while she stays at home and accustom her to move here, so no potential will go wasted and she has a smooth transfer.”

“You have to be f*****g kidding me,” I breathe out, shaking my head.

“That’s actually a great idea!” Judge Attwood says, clapping his hands. “Let’s do that. I’ll set up the decrees.”

“Thank you, Judge,” Kai and I say in unison, and I smile up at Serena, wanting to cheer her up and show her that everything is alright.

Ace has barely pushed out a breath of relief as the Judge turns around, summoning two other warriors standing behind him. “If you would be so kind to accompany Miss Silvester to the doctor’s office.”

My heart drops to my stomach and Kai charges forward, standing in front of me. “No! It’s either one or the other! You can’t have it all.”

“Mr. Blackwood,” the Judge says calmly even if the warning tone is heavy in his voice. “I suggest you step aside.”

Touching his arm, I get him to look at me with a scared expression and I smile at him encouragingly. “It’s okay. Take care of Serena please.”

“Em, wait,” Ace says lowly, taking a step towards me as I walk towards the guards waiting for me.

I hate to turn around to look at him because the bad person slumbering in me blames him for just standing there.

He could prevent everything.

Maybe with the worst possible outcome, but still…

I’m sure Uncle Fynn would have done that for Aunty Artemisia.

“Step. Back.” I say through gritted before I turn around, letting myself get escorted to the test labs.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, blending out Serena’s distraught voice as she calls for me.

I can hear her steps but she never reaches me, so I guess Kai or Ace got her just in time.