Bitter Magic

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I resolved not to think about Sophie’s words or my nightmares anymore and finished unpacking my clothes into the small closet. I showered and got ready for bed. Still not tired, I read a book May had let me borrow. I was hoping it would put me to sleep, but when I finished at two in the morning, I knew it was useless.

Since that day I killed Mr. Steele, I hadn’t been able to sleep much. Maybe because when I did, my dreams would haunt me.

I swung my feet over the edge of the bed. The full moon spilled in through my window in great ribbons of light, pushing the darkness to the corners of the room. Seeing the moonlight, feeling its warmth, was like remembering an old friend.

Pulling on sweats and a hoodie, I moved to my open window. Other than a few street lamps lighting up the sidewalks between buildings, Lucent was dark and quiet. I leaned out the window and scanned the side of the brick building. Within arm’s reach was a fat pipe attached to the brick wall. I gave it a hard jerk to make sure it was sturdy. The last thing I wanted was to fall to my death on my first day here.

I carefully slipped out the window and wrapped my hands around the pipe. My feet fumbled in the air until they found the metal clips that held the pipe to the bricks. Now what? I glanced down. I had at least thirty feet to go. Using arm strength, I slowly began to slide down the pipe until I could jump to the ground.

Keeping to the shadows, I made my way between buildings. Even though Sophie had said I could come and go as I pleased, something told me that wandering around in the middle of the night wouldn’t be approved.

The moment I was clear of the lights, I sprinted toward the wall surrounding the school. The light from the full moon made the muscles beneath my skin hum with energy, but it did nothing to increase my strength like it used to do. Christian had taught me months ago how to control my power so I could always have Light’s full strength, regardless of the moon’s cycle.

The wall’s dark form grew taller the closer I came, making me feel claustrophobic. I ran alongside it, searching for an opening. It must have been at least a mile long. The only opening I found was where the wall came together at the front gates, which were, of course, now closed and, after a quick examination, impossible to climb due to their long vertical bars.

I was trapped.

I sucked in a deep breath and took off running again, this time toward a shed I had passed earlier. It was in the rear of the property and right next to the wall.

Glancing behind me to make sure I was alone, I scanned the shadows of the trees and buildings. I moved to face forward, but just then swore I saw a shadow detach from another and move behind me. My pulse raced.

I stopped and listened closely but heard nothing and saw no one. Chill out. No one is following you.

Breathing in a slow breath, I started forward again, spotting the shed’s dark silhouette up ahead. I picked up my pace. I was going to need a lot more speed to accomplish what I had in mind.

Within feet of the shed, I leapt as high as I could. My fingers just barely caught the edge of the shed’s roof, and I used my arms to pull me up the rest of the way. I straightened and stared over the wall. Moonlight drenched the top of the forest in a silvery haze, but none of its light was allowed through to the ground. The trees clung to the darkness as if it were its lifeblood. I suddenly wanted to be a part of it, to discover what lay hidden within.

I scooted back as far as I could on the shed’s small roof, sucked in a deep breath, then sprinted five steps. In one giant leap, I jumped from the shed and landed on top of the wall, windmilling my arms backwards to keep me balanced on its narrow top. As soon as I was sure I wasn’t going to fall on my face, I let out the air I’d been holding.

The invisible band around my chest loosened. I was free.

Smiling, I didn’t just jump from the wall, I dove. Before I reached the ground, I turned my dive into a summersault and rolled into a standing position.

I focused on the darkness ahead of me. I should be frightened. I shouldn’t want to go in there. But I did. I wanted to feel its inky blackness envelop me, slide across my skin, whisper its secrets.

A growl deep within my throat vibrated my esophagus. With it came a sudden fierceness I couldn’t explain and it propelled me forward.

I was almost there, about to take a step into the inviting black, when I heard, “Stop!”

My heart skipped a beat, and I stumbled.

I turned around in time to see a boy running toward me, but as he drew closer I could see he was hardly a boy. He looked to be nineteen, maybe twenty, with a buzz haircut. His eyes were big and dark, shadowed by thick eyebrows.

He stopped in front of me with a stiff posture, upright, like a drill sergeant. “What are you doing out here?”

“Running. What are you doing out here?” I countered.

“Guarding the school. How did you get out here anyway?”

“I jumped over the Great Wall of China, and not too easily, I might add.”

His demeanor relaxed, and a sly grin teased the corners of his mouth. “I would have liked to have seen that. But, really, you should go back inside. It’s not safe for you.”

“Not happening. I need to go running.”

“There’s a track on the inside. Go there.”

I shook my head again. “Too confining.”

He looked me up and down as if searching for another reason I’d be out here other than sheer desire. “Who are you?”

“Llona Reese. I just got here today.”

He smiled or smirked—the faint moonlight held the truth from me. “Ah, the special Llona Reese. My name’s Jackson. I knew your father.”

“How’s that?”

“He trained me for a short time when I was younger. Good man. Very talented.”

A Guardian. I should’ve known they’d be around with their special hearing and amazing eyesight. “So you’re out here patrolling?”

Jackson glanced behind me. I couldn’t help but admire his strong Roman nose.

“That’s right,” he answered. “It’s not safe for Auras.”

“I was told I would be safe.”

“You’re safe in there,” he said, nodding his head toward the school.

“Why not out here?”

He looked at me like I was an i***t. “This is a school for Auras. Don’t you think a Vyken might want to hang out, looking for, um, I don’t know, someone like you, an Aura who doesn’t follow the rules?”

“I’m not afraid of Vykens,” I said. The weird thing was I wasn’t. Knowing I could kill one was strangely comforting.

“Just because you killed one, doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous.”

I looked at him, surprised.

“Yeah, I know what you did. The other Auras may not, but most Guardians do. We’re all aware of how Christian screwed up.”

Heat rose to my face. “He did not screw up. I snuck away so no one else would get hurt.” Calm down. I don’t have to tell this guy anything.

“It doesn’t matter what you did. Christian should’ve been there. It should’ve been him who killed the Vyken, not you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re an Aura. You’re incapable of killing.”

It was my turn to look at him as if he were the i***t. “But I did kill one, and I was just fine. In fact, I liked it.”

Hearing my confession out loud was the one thing tonight that had managed to frighten me.

“Then there’s something wrong with you,” he said, as if that was the only explanation.

“I don’t have time for this.” I took a step toward the shadows.

Jackson grabbed me by the arm. His grip was incredibly strong. “I can’t let you do that.”

I shrugged his arm away. “You don’t have a choice. I’m not a prisoner.”

He considered this. “Fine, but if you insist on running out here then I’m going with you.”

“You sure you can keep up?” I darted away before he could answer.

Darkness swallowed me the moment I entered the old forest. There was something seductive about the way the dark felt against my skin, cool and tingly, like it was dragging silk across my skin. My nerve-endings became alive in all the right places.

Giggling to myself, I raced through the trees, sometimes swinging from a branch to help myself over thick shrubs or dips in the landscape. There was nothing to slow my pace except for Jackson, who wasn’t doing too bad of a job keeping up.

I turned a sharp corner into a small clearing and stopped abruptly. The forest felt different here, even smelled different, like burnt pine needles, and I had the strange feeling that I’d crossed over into someone else’s territory.

Behind me, Jackson stopped too, panting. “That was incredible! I never run like—”

He froze as if sensing the same thing I was. He stepped in front of me and returned to his soldier-like stance.

Not more than twenty feet in front of us, a wall of trees, black as night, appeared to shift. Something moved within it. My pulse quickened when a throaty growl, low and deep, rippled the air around us. The hair on my arms rose.

“Run,” Jackson whispered.