Descendant (8 page)

I open my mouth to tell him what I think of the fact that both his parents pretty well dumped him on their friend, but can’t find the right words to say anything. He picks up my hand and plays with my fingers, checking out my ring again. “We get together for a reunion every few months. It’s great stuff.”

“Don’t you miss them?” I ask.

“Every day.” There’s a shadow in his eyes as he pulls me close. “But we live with it.”

“Why, though? I don’t understand what would keep you all so far apart.”

A wrinkle forms between his eyebrows and he seems to be weighing his words. “Honestly, I don’t understand either. Everyone keeps telling me I will someday soon, but that hasn’t happened yet. I think maybe they just weren’t built to be full-time parents.”

I stare at him for a long minute, feeling like a complete whiner for complaining about my mom and Gram, who—for all their faults—have never once failed me, never, ever deserted me.

He stares back, his face reflecting so many emotions I can’t keep up, and seems to make a decision. Untangling himself from me, he leans against the armrest so we’re facing each other and picks up my hand again, twisting Gram’s ring around and around on my finger. The metal is warm—hot, almost. “I want to tell you more. A lot more. But I’m not sure I should. This is ... don’t you think it’s bizarre how we both just spilled our guts like that?”

“I do. It feels like I’ve known you for years—”

Neither of us notices the bus is slowing down until we come to a full stop in the middle of the road. The Inn can’t be too far away, but I know we’re not there yet.

Kye opens the window, peers into the dark, and swears under his breath. The look in his eyes makes my stomach uneasy. “What?”

He shakes his head and swears again. “I don’t know, but something’s not right.”

I feel it too. My intuition picks up danger vibes stronger than any I’ve ever felt—except once. “Maybe there’s an animal on the road or something.”

“Maybe. I’ll go check it out.” He meets Akers at the front of the bus, and the driver opens the door so they can step outside.

Fear makes my heart thud as I follow Kye’s path to the front and observe through the windshield. An enormous animal stands in the road, illuminated by the beam of our headlights. Kye approaches the animal, petting its glossy white hide. I can’t see Mr. Akers. “Is that a moose?”

The driver, somewhat stupefied, answers with a short, “I think so. Never seen a white one before.”

His words trigger a memory from a conversation I once had with Gram. “Well, a white horse would be boring. A cliché,” I murmur. “Only thing missing is the knight.”

Outside, Kye caresses the animal’s snowy pelt, soothing it as if he alone knows exactly what to do. I step off the bus, careful not to make any noise. Kye sees me and signals for me to stay back. “Is he hurt?” My voice is soft, but Kye hears and shakes his head. He nuzzles the animal’s neck, then backs away and slaps its flank.

I jump, half expecting the moose to turn on Kye and lower its enormous rack. Instead, the beast takes off in the opposite direction, stopping at the tree line to look back at us, and then disappears into the thick of the forest.

Before I can move or respond, Kye has me by the elbow, guiding me onto the bus. “What was all that about?” I realize for the first time that no one else seems conscious of what just happened. I wonder if any of the students even noticed there was an animal on the road. Mr. Akers boards behind us and takes his seat. He and Kye exchange some silent communication.

My head whips back and forth between them, questions floating around my brain like letters in canned alphabet soup. What just happened?

“I’ll explain later, I promise.” Kye reaches up, retrieves a large black flashlight from the luggage hold, and tucks it into his waistband. This doesn’t make me feel any better. “Be back in a sec.”

While he and Mr. Akers have a hushed conversation, the volume of the chatter between the other passengers increases. No one even looks up. They act like we’re still driving along on our way to the party.

My mind swirls with unusual and improbable possibilities and questions until one of Gram’s favorite truisms pops into my brain. “Nothing is impossible for the right person.” I think I might finally understand what she meant.

Standing in the aisle, I turn in a circle, unable to figure out why I’m the only one who’s so confused. A hand squeezes the top of my arm, brings me back to earth, and makes me feel stable again. I don’t understand how or why.

“Abby.” Kye’s voice sounds funny. “I have to get off the bus now.” He grabs his backpack and slings it over his shoulder.

The driver’s intercom sounds. “Sorry for the delay, kids. The situation with the animal is now under control. We’ll be on our way again shortly.” The driver knows. Why is he the only one besides me? And Kye? And Mr. Akers?

“Wait,” I say to Kye. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. What are you going to do, catch a ride on the moose? Climb the mountain and sleep in a volcano?” When he doesn’t answer, I block the aisle. “Tell me what’s going on. Right now. Explain something. Anything. I’m freaking out here.” The idea of him leaving already gives me major anxiety.

He pulls me close and kisses my forehead. I can’t help but cling to him. He clings back with shaking hands. “I have to go. I’ll explain as soon as I can, I promise.”

Someone takes my shoulders, holding me back so Kye can force open the emergency door.

“You’re going to die out there.” Panic rises in my chest. I glare at Mr. Akers, who is holding me in place. “How can you let him leave like this? Don’t you care about what happens to him?”

“Of course I do, Abby. But Kye is ...”

“What?” My eyes narrow into slits. “What is he?”

Kye’s fingers grip the edge of the door frame. “Abby, I’ll see you at the Inn in a little while, I promise. I’ll be fine.”

“How will you get there? On foot?” Tears of frustration burn my eyes. “It’s dark.”

He shares another look with Mr. Akers and says, “Trust me.” He grasps my hand, linking our fingers, and my ring vibrates, glowing blue, then white, as it sends comforting warmth through my blood. Kye’s lips touch mine, so briefly I’m not positive they actually make contact, and then he leaps off the bus.

A piece of my heart tears as I watch him go. I swear I’ve watched this happen before, said goodbye to him before. More than once. I feel like I know what he will do before he does it. He touches his lips with the tips of his fingers and holds them up, and then disappears into the dark.

I can’t comprehend what just happened, but standing in the emergency doorway, breathing in the frigid winter air, my thoughts
churn. I remember all the times I’ve seen Kye since I moved to Jackson, the way I feel when I’m near him, the way my ring flashed when our fingers touched.

Kye’s like a brick wall when it comes to intuition, and I’ve never been able to see his aura very clearly. It takes deductive reasoning to cause a sudden realization to crash down on me. There’s only one possible answer to all the questions that have been forming in my head since the first time I saw him.

Kye’s Gifted.

The
  lobby at the Inn is packed. I search for Rose and Jen, hoping they’ve already checked in so I’ll have a place to hide out while I try to sort through everything in my head. Unfortunately, an organization project of that magnitude might take me all weekend, or the rest of the year. I spent the rest of the bus ride by myself, feeling empty and alone, my brain a blended up jumble of questions. What just happened? Where did Kye go? And why was I the only person around who was so thoroughly and utterly confused?

It’s not like Mr. Akers explained after the bus started moving again. He just returned to his seat and left me alone in mine.

A wave of dizziness hits me on my way to the registration desk. Not a vision, but a premonition—a hollow ache in my gut—that tells me what’s happened tonight is only a taste of what’s coming.
Great.
Every seventeen-year-old girl wants to know in advance that her already unusual life is about to become downright weird.

“Are you lost?”

My eyes focus on a brown-haired Ranger in a khaki uniform. He doesn’t look much older than me, but he’s a lot taller. His gaze seems to take in the whole room at once.

“My friends are here somewhere—I just have to find them.”

“I heard they had to call a second bus. This crowd is unbelievable—
especially pre-season.” The Ranger’s eyes twinkle as he leans against a pillar, arms folded against his chest. “I’m Gabe.”

“Abby.” I offer. “You haven’t by chance seen a couple of girls who—”

“Abby! Over here.” Across the room, Rose stands on a chair waving her arms. “Finally!”

“Looks like they found you.”

“Guess so.”

Gabe turns his head, and I notice an odd swirling flame tattoo behind his left ear. I don’t want to think it’s sexy, but it kind of is. The radio on his belt crackles and a disembodied voice rattles off numbers, using what I can only assume is a sort of Ranger code. “That’s my cue. Glad you found your friends.” A secretive smile plays at Gabe’s lips as he turns to walk away. “Have a good visit in the Park.”

Trying to forget that tattoo, I wind through the crowd. Rose jumps off the chair and wraps her arms around me in greeting. “You made it!”

“You doubted?”

“Nah, we knew you wouldn’t bail on us.” Jen grabs our wrists and drags us to the elevator. Her hands are overly warm, so I peek into her energy field to make sure she’s not feverish.

Rose hands me a plastic key card. “Have you eaten?”

“No.” I check my watch and realize it’s after seven. “Have you?”

Jen grimaces. “Only if you count gummy bears and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups as dinner.”

“What’s wrong with that? Sounds pretty good to me.”

“It’s fattening, for one thing.” Jen presses the elevator button, avoiding Rose’s glare. “And you’ll burn through the sugar high and be starving again in an hour.”

The elevator dings and we enter, Rose still scowling at Jen. “I can eat candy for dinner if I want. It’s my birthday.”

We settle into easy banter. Jen and I take turns teasing Rose about being an old lady who throws classy birthday shindigs for the entire state of Wyoming. This results in a small, hair-damaging pillow fight in our room.

In the end, Jen lobs a pillow at Rose. “You know we’re all here just to get away from the parentals, right?”

Rose tosses the pillow at me, suddenly calm but grinning. “Sugar’s all gone. I’m starving. Time for real food.”

They’ve distracted me for a while, but as soon as the stuffing stops flying, that heart-hammering anxiety is back times ten. I’m tempted to hide out in the room and worry about Kye, but instead follow the others down the hall. A tall man in an overcoat brushes by in a hurry, and I catch a view of a smoky, dark gray aura. I’ve never seen one like it—and don’t mean to look—but the color is so alarming, I can’t miss it. Evil. Bad. Scary.

My skin prickles.

The man and I both pause, turn, and our eyes meet. His are a strange violet color, and the pale brown skin surrounding them creases like a fan into his hairline. Dark hair—almost black—swings past his pointed chin as he angles his head to stare. “Raina.” His voice winds around me, wraps me up in smoke, freezing the blood in my veins until I shiver. So, so cold. “You’re back.”

I feel like all the air has been sucked out of me.
Can’t. Breathe.
Then the elevator dings, reminding me that I’m not alone. “Abby?” Jen asks. “Are you coming?”

“Yes.” The word comes out as a whisper, as if my voice has been trapped in ice and needs to warm up before it can be used again. “Yes.” I clear my throat. “Sorry.”

“What’s going on?” Rose grasps my elbow. “You okay? You’re kinda pale.”

I look up, expecting the strange man to still be standing in the hall, but in the seconds since I looked away, he’s disappeared. “Who was that?”

A wrinkle forms between her brows. “Who was who? That’s Jen, I’m Rose, you’re Abby.”

“But I ... there was a guy.”
Could he have been a vision? Am I the only person who saw him?

Rose urges me forward with a hand on my back. “You need food, stat. I think you’re delirious with hunger.”

“Ahem.” Jen stands between the elevator doors, tapping her nails on the metal frame. “Are we eating or not?”

I let Rose pull me inside and watch her punch the button for the lobby. It cannot be a coincidence that so many strange things have happened in a few short hours, but my brain refuses to make a
connection. Inside my sweater pocket, my hand finds my amethyst crystal and clasps it tight, my fingers rubbing the smooth surface, begging for some sort of clarity. Healing comes, but not from the crystal. I let it go and remove my hand from my pocket. My palm is moist with sweat and the platinum band of my ring feels warm.

The diamonds glow with soft blue light—the heat source—like some kind of dormant power has broken through or been reactivated. Before the other girls notice what’s happening, I shove my hand back in my pocket. The heat from my ring spreads into my blood, flows up my arm and shoulder, down into my toes, and across my chest, searching for my chilled heart. It calms me, fills me up until the cold left behind by the stranger with the gray aura is a distant memory. I’m fine. Everything is going to be okay. I’ll figure out what’s happening. Eventually.