Destiny Divided (2 page)

“Welcome home,”
James said as they pulled into the driveway of a quaint blue house several miles from campus.

The last house Sage had
seen was at least a quarter of a mile away. Driven to a secluded spot with a stranger – this was shaping up to be the perfect start to a horror movie.

He looked
young, for a professor. His chiseled features and regal confidence reminded her of European nobility. Strawberry blonde hair was cut short and styled in perfectly random spikes, as if he were about to shoot a hair gel commercial.

She drank in his deceptively charming appearance. Deceptive, because at first glance he looked like a wealthy gentleman, but what women didn’t see was the lethal potential simmering just below the surfa
ce.

The professor had stayed true to his word and
had talked the Dean into dropping all charges. She had barely repressed a snarl when James had promised to “take full responsibility of her.”

She’
d lost her job and was banned from campus. But honestly, the only thing she’d felt guilty about was lying to Tony. He’d looked so heart-broken when she’d packed her meager belongings and gave him a quick hug. But as a product of the foster care system, she was used to saying goodbye.

James opened the car
door and carried her bag toward the house. At least he wasn’t a complete ass.

“What do you have in this bag?” he asked. “Rocks?”

Definitely an ass.

“None of your business,”
she snapped and tried to grab it back. He jerked it away before she could.

Once inside
, he flipped on the lights to reveal a kitchen that opened to a living room. Wide windows on three sides drew the eye.

It was an attractive home, very clean. Too clean. She cringed. A neat freak.
Did she expect any different from the uptight, perfectly groomed professor?

She
’d assumed he was a bachelor. It didn’t seem likely a woman would take too kindly to her husband bringing home a twenty-five year old girl like a stray dog.

James walked her through the kitchen and down a hal
lway. He pointed out a bathroom then flung open a door across the hall.

“You can sleep here.
” He dropped her bag inside.

A multi-colored
quilt that looked like a grandmother had stitched it lay across the full size bed. A desk with a reading lamp and office chair filled the other corner of the cozy room.

S
he looked longingly at the bed. Tempting as it was, she couldn’t stay. “Can I get a few minutes before you interrogate me?”

“Sure.”

She waited for him to leave. He only widened his stance in the doorway and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Privacy?” she hinted.

“My wallet?”

Busted
. Maybe he was smarter than she gave him credit for. She sighed and pulled it out of her back pocket then handed it to him.

He open
ed it and arched a brow. “There was twenty dollars in here.”

With another sigh she
took the twenty out of her other pocket and slapped it into his palm.

His fingers wrapped around her hand he pulled her into his body.
“I don’t know your background but I understand your desperation. I will tolerate many things but stealing is not one of them.”

She yanked her hand away, stumbling back a few steps. “Fuck off. You can’t talk to –”

“I’ll be waiting in the living room. You have five minutes.” He slammed the door before she could utter another word.

“Bastard,” she hissed at the closed door. But she would get the last laugh.
He couldn’t really think she’d just go along with this.

The bedroom
window was big enough for her to fit through. She took extra care to open it quietly then popped the screen out. Thankfully, the bedroom was on the first floor. She grabbed her backpack and slipped outside.

It was a moonless night and she struggled to orient herself in the darkness. She took several steps before bump
ing into a hard wall of muscle.

“I should h
ave known you’d be trouble,” a familiar voice said.

She groaned. Ho
w could she not have seen him? His pale skin glowed in the black night. She turned to run but a hand shackled her wrist. He dragged her through the dark at a pace that made her depend on him to remain upright. She tried to stay calm.

“Let me go, James. You can’t force me to stay here.”

“Wanna bet?”

Sh
e panicked. He sounded too confident. And he was strong – she could feel it in his grip around her wrist. He could easily overpower her.

A bright blue light burst into her free hand. The magic flowed through her, barely contained, fighting for release. She knew what would happen if she let it go. It had a life of its own.

James swung around to face her. “Cut that out.” He squeezed her wrist until her bones threatened to snap.

“Ow!” Her light flickered then disappeared, the heavy weight of power disappearing with it.

“Control yourself,” he snapped.

A
s it if were that easy. He didn’t seem fearful of her power, which put her on edge. What other weapon did she have against him?

“Look. Bad things happen when I get angry, okay?
” Maybe being reasonable would work. “As of right now, I don’t want to hurt you. Keep dragging me around and I’ll change my mind.”

“Hurt me?”

“I may be small but I’ve hurt bigger men than you.”

“You and I need to have a talk.” He continued his hurried pace, crossing the driveway,
dragging her along behind him.

Inside the house
, he grabbed a wooden chair, set it in the middle of the living room then ordered her to sit.

She remained standing. Out of habit
, she searched the room for exits and weapons.

“I can see you’re thinking abou
t running again,” he said. “Do you think I won’t catch you?”

If there was one thing Sage knew, it was body language. His voice may have been calm, but his body was not. He stood several feet in front of her, sturdy like a tree, blocking her only exit. Had he always been that tall?

“We need to talk,” he told her.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

He sighed. “Must we do this the hard way then?”

The hard way? She didn’t like the sound of that. “I don’t like being backed into a corner
, James. Bad things happen.”

He smiled and took a step towards her. “I know. You’re like a scared little kitten, claws out ready to fight the world.” His voice warmed, his pale blue eyes softened as he looked deep into hers. “Sheath your claws,
anwylyd
. No one is going to hurt you.”

She almost believed him. Then reality hit. Adrena
line burst in her chest then burned through her veins. A ball of neon light formed between her hands. She tried to control it but it was intense, the pressure built, the power yearned for release.

“Impressive,”
he said. “Now what?”

Sh
e narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Please don’t miss. Please don’t miss
.

Squaring her shoulders
, she took aim then released the ball of light, thrusting it towards him. As soon as the energy left her fingertips, she ducked and covered her head. The light soared across the room. It missed her target then ricocheted off a metal cabinet and blew up the wooden chair between them.

A
few fractured pieces of chair bounced off James, but he barely seemed to notice. Sage rose to her feet, studying his reaction.

“You’re going to pay for that,” he said.

In answer, she reached into her pocket, took out the wad of cash – her only cash – and flung it at his chest. It bounced against him then plopped to the floor. He didn’t pick up.

“There’s your payment. Now let me go.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

The
light congregated in her palms again, but it was weaker. “I’ll do it again,” she warned.

He shrugged and took a
step toward her. Seeing no other option, she launched another lightening ball. This time it flew straight toward him. But he put up a hand and the light sizzled then disappeared. He stepped closer. Panicked, she launched another, but he flicked that one away too.

What the fuck?
She tried to pull up more light but her hands only sparked. He took another step, putting himself just a few feet away. She tried again but exhaustion washed over her.

“
Damn it!” She shook her hands as if it would spring power back into them.

The professor s
neered. “Fickle, aren’t they?”

S
he couldn’t deny they were spiraling out of control. And she’d be lying if she said it didn’t scare her. But there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She didn’t even know where her powers came from. Erin was only person who’d known about the mysterious things that happened when she was angry or scared. But Sage had been taken from her sister long ago.

He pulled another chair into the center of the room. “Sit in the chair, Sage.”

Her fists clenched, her nails dug into her palms. “No.” She never did do well with orders.

In the time it took to blink,
he was inches in front of her. His scent hit her like a tidal wave, wrapping a cocoon of comfort around her. Crisp fall days, aftershave, and desire. It was the kind of smell she would have liked to curl up in on a cold day.

He wrapped a hand around her upper arm and set her down on the chair. She tensed to flee when he released her arm,
but before she could move, his hand clamped around her throat. There was something wrong with her that her first thought was how warm it felt against her skin. Was she that starved for human contact?

Though gentle, the grip on her neck was still a threat. “Don’t move.”

She heeded the command.

A
strange stream of light snaked from his index finger and wrapped around her body pinning her arms to her side. The light made a sort of magical rope that tied her to the chair. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t get free.

“There.” He shook
the light free from his finger. “That’s better.” He sat down on the couch opposite her. “As I was saying…we need to talk about your powers.”

Always a s
urvivor, she surrendered. Maybe he would let her go if she played nice. Or at least buy her some time to form a new plan. “Okay. Yes. I have certain…abilities. But I don’t know how they work or where they come from.”

H
e furrowed his brow. “Do you really not know what you are?”

“Do you?”

“Of course,” he scoffed. “You’re a sorceress.”

A flood
of emotion overwhelmed her. A sorceress. She didn’t know much about it, but at least it was a name. Something that explained what had been happening to her, and around her, for as long as she could remember.

She
’d first recognized her power at the age of five when a blender her foster mother used to make a seaweed breakfast smoothie had exploded. Sage had wanted Lucky Charms. She’d won that battle.

She
had long since believed that anything was possible. Growing up she’d been called a witch because of the unexplained events that happened around her. She’d been tossed out of foster homes over and over because she was “bad”. In high school, students, and even teachers, had whispered rumors of witchcraft behind her back. When she went searching for answers, she came up blank. Nothing described the types of things she could do.

Sorcery was not a stretch from w
itchcraft. But more importantly, there were more of her out there.

“A s
orceress,” she said out loud.

“Yes.
A very powerful one.” James glared at her with contempt, knocking the wind out of her newly flown sails. “But I can tell you’re untrained. Most of us have been guided by teachers and mentors since we were very young. We’ve had years to learn how to control our powers. It’s a good thing your aim is shit because the first Bolt you sent could have killed me.”

A Bolt? At
his unbending glare, she yelled, “Well nobody taught me!”

“Obviously.
Who are your parents?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted
.

He folded his arms over his chest. “Why should I believe you? You’re a liar and a thief.
”

The corner of her mouth curled up. “And I cheat at cards too.”

He exhaled a laugh but it was humorless. “Look at you. You’re nothing but a volatile, foul-mouthed, little smartass. Nothing like a sorceress should be. I’m surprised you’ve managed to stay alive all these years.”