Legacy (Endlessly Book 2) (5 page)

“Dude, I just went from six o’clock to noon,” said Cory.

“Yeah, Ash will do that to ya,” Jason laughed.

Once the metal door closed behind me, I stood, mortified. Two redheaded girls in swimsuits stood talking. An extremely busty girl named Coylene Gill was a born knowing. The
other girl looked more athletic and, after a few seconds, I recognized her.

“Christina Girardot?” I asked.

She turned and smiled at me. Christina was one of the three dragons we’d found in Siberia.

“Ashley!” Her voice bounced off the walls.

“Wow,” I said, approaching them. “I thought you went home.”

“I did. But I decided to hit the road and check out all the places. I heard you were coming here. Thought I would check it out.”

So have you found you’re um… mate?
I asked.

Not the steady one they say I will find
, she thought.
That‘s why I decided to keep moving. I’m bound to run into him eventually.

“Show her,
” Jenny said.

“
Okay, but this is the last time,” Christina replied.

Christina looked at the pool and concentrated. The water lifted from the pool, holding the shape of the pool’s floor and walls. It arched into a dome above us, then spread to all four walls. The girls giggled. Suddenly all the water crashed down and rushed back into the pool.

Water,
I stated so that everyone could hear. I wiped the moisture out of my eyes and pulled my drenched hair back behind my horns.

Fire.
Christina looked at me and smiled. “So, what can you do?”

“Not much yet.
I can ignite things without getting burned, but that’s it.” I felt embarrassed at my lack of learning.

“You should take some time to figure it out,” Christina said. “I can do some pretty crazy stuff with mine, like making it rain on a perfectly clear day. What you just saw is all you’ll get out of me today. My energy’s gone, if you catch my drift.”

She was talking about sex and my cheeks pricked at the mention of it.

“Come on,” Lex said
as she elbowed me. “Show us what you can do. I know you’re fully charged.”

I looked at the ground. “You guys are embarrassing.”

Coylene stepped forward. “If you can do what you did in your last life, you will have a powerful weapon.”

I looked into Coylene’s green eyes and saw a well of knowledge. She shoved mental images at me, and I saw earlier lives.

The other girls stared as I looked at my palm. My stomach froze, but I pushed heat from my chest into my arm. My hand trembled as a baseball size flame ignited in my palm.

Lex, Jenny, and Christina gasped. Coylene watched as I pushed the flame, shifting it from yellow to purple. I released more energy. The flame went out. I’d pushed too hard. Christina let out a squeal and clapped her hands.

I tried again. This time I was careful not to push too hard mentally when I changed the color. I walked to the edge of the pool keeping my eye on the fire. I tossed it onto the surface. It burned and slid across the water before it died.

I ignited another ball and tossed it on the water. When I pushed
, the flames grew as tall as me. The flame went from green to black. I extinguished it.

The girls clapped and cheered. I smiled, then glanced at the glass wall between us and the gym. Four pairs of eyes stared back from the other side of the glass.

5
everything faded

With all his loud-mouthed charm Jason had called everyone to the pool. So much for the no-boys rule. I was forced to demonstrate my powers with fire repeatedly. It made me uncomfortable to stand in front of everyone in a skimpy bathing suit, but they were watching the flames, not me.

The voluptuous blonde with the large chest tattoo got there a few mi
nutes late. She carried her cat, petting it as she asked: “What’s everyone doing down here?”

“We’re testing out Ashley’s fire element,” said Lex.

“Cool.” Her eyes lit up. She flipped the cat on his back and cradled him like a baby. The blonde woman used silent thoughts to tell the cat what we were doing. The cat looked at me. I thought this odd until it dawned on me that elves can communicate with animals.

Hania and Coylene directed me in tests of my precision and response times. They had me throwing fire at targets, igniting small items on command, and shaping the flames. They wanted tall flames, then wide flames, then both. Soon they had me encircling objects in rings of fire.

“Fire dragons can give short blasts of the energy and ignite an item,” Coylene explained. “The item burns because it has fuel. But an open flame, with no fuel… not every fire dragon can do that.”

Hania nodded in agreement.

Sarah and some others had put on sunglasses. It hadn’t even occurred to me, but these flames were bright. Sarah took off her expensive shades and said: “I would love to stay and watch, but I have things to do. Cory and Jason, you’re going to want to come with me.”

Both were annoyed at the prospect of leaving. Jason raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say: Can’t this wait?

I aimed a thought at Jason.
If you want to help her pick out our meal, you’ll go with her.

Don’t worry
, boss,
he told me.
I’ll make sure she’s real purdy.
His lip curled into a cruel smile.

Jason…
I thought,
you know it could create a link between us.

He hesitated, his hand on the door
. Don’t worry. I’m getting better with my wall.

Indeed he had. At that very moment he was hiding something.

Jason chuckled as he left. Verloren stood by the door, watching me through his sunglasses. He knew that Jason and I were conversing.

Once Cory and Jason were gone it left an awkward gap between Josh and the demon. Josh edged toward Lex and Jenny.

Hania and Coylene were talking in a strange language. It sounded like the language Hania had spoken when using his wand… like a lullaby. Though I couldn’t figure out the language I could read their minds well enough to see the overall drift of their discussions. Verloren was asking Christina about her trip, but he was also monitoring the demon. The demon’s eyes were on me. That creeped me out. Fabi appeared beside me and called the demon and the elf over to us.

I stared at the demon as he approached
. Verloren’s thoughts raced as he watched us.

The blonde reached me first, cradling the cat in one arm, as she offered me her other hand. “My name’s Aubrey Losen,” she said with a smile.

“Ash Nicely,” I said. Her hand felt warm, human.

She introduced her cat. “This is Ed.” The cat turned large yellow eyes on me. His gaze was indifferent.

“Hi, Ed.”

I knew that Fabi was making these introductions to keep my anxiety at bay. It was working. I felt sleepy and calm.

The cat looked back at Aubrey. Aubrey looked at me. “You can hold him if you want. He’s cool with you.”

I extended my arms, and she shifted the big fluffy cat to me as if it were a child. The cat began to purr. He laid his head on my arm and closed his eyes.

“He’s not as heavy as he looks,” I told her.

“He’s all hair,” Aubrey replied.

I felt Fabi move beside me. The demon slinked up behind Aubrey. I saw fear flash in her mind. She felt his presence. The cat’s eyes popped open. His tiny body tensed. Ed looked at Jesse then Aubrey. He relaxed.

“If you’re still playing with fire I should probably take him over close to
the wall,” Aubrey said.

I handed Ed back to Aubrey. As she moved, the demon took her spot in front of me. He never took his eyes off mine.

“Ashley, this is Jesse Nguyen,” Fabi said, introducing us. “Jesse this is Ashley Nicely.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, offering my hand.

His stare shifted back and forth between my face and hand. When he finally grasped my fingers it was like being touched by an enormous tuning fork. The vibration ripped through me like an electrical shock. I jerked my hand back and searched his face. Blinking eyes stared out from a frozen face. His expression never changed. I rubbed my wounded hand. Was this normal?

Verloren appeared at my side, wrapping his arm around me. I had never seen him so mad. I felt the absence of his gun, and for the first time I wished he’d brought it.

“Hania and Coylene want to try one more thing,” he whispered, nudging me away from the demon.

I no
ticed Fabi standing to the side and wondered if her touch was as shocking. Was this normal for angels and demons?

Verloren was furious.
I know what he did. I felt it through you. I want to destroy him.

What was that?
I asked.

It’s harder for them to take a life from a vampire. He j
ust wanted to test you a little and see if it would be as hard to take yours.

Coylene spoke: “We want you to try one more task. This could be one of the greatest weapons in your growing arsenal.”

Everyone was watching, but I was particularly aware of the demon behind me. Though I’d quit rubbing my hand, I still felt the strange tingling sensation. I wanted to pick at it, like a child does with a scab.

“Verloren, you’re going to want to back away from her,” said Hania.

Verloren complied. His hands shook. His rage had left him unable to erect a mental wall. Everyone backed up against the walls with him.

Coylene addressed me: “Remember how you concentrated all of the power to the palm of your hand?”

I nodded.

“You’re going to attempt to do this to your entire body.”

It seemed like an impossible task. I couldn’t focus on anything but Verloren. I closed my eyes, concentrated, and finally let go of my fear. I let the icy feeling in my stomach spread throughout my limbs. I let loose a flicker of energy. My body ignited. It felt warm, but I felt no pain.

I opened my eyes. Fabi, Coylene and Hania smiled. The reactions of the others ran from fear to fascination. I spread my wings out and up. They burned. Verloren pushed his sunglasses up against his eyes. His anger faded, replaced with euphoria and awe. The demon’s expression didn’t change.

I glanced down at my arms and legs, pushing the yellow flames flat against my skin. Christina and Aubrey cried out happily as I reduced the color to black. When I was done no one needed sunglasses. Verloren slid his up on top of his head.

Just when I think you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen, you go and prove me wrong,
he told me.
To say you are beautiful is an insult. There are no words to describe you, love.

As I looked at his face my eyes welled with tears. It was as if Verloren were seeing me for the first time. He filled my mind with loving words and thoughts, then pulled out his cell phone. He fumbled with a few buttons, and took my picture.

“Ash, do you feel confident?” Hania asked me.

“Yes.” I blinked back the tears.

Hania approached me, gesturing for Verloren to join us. I pulled my flames tight to my skin.

“I only chose Verloren because I know that you will do everything in your power to protect him,” Hania told me.

Jesse had moved from behind me, focusing on Verloren.

Hania pulled Verloren closer, and looked at me. “I won’t let anything happen to him either.” He pulled out
his wand. “You must concentrate and do this carefully. Pull back the flames from your hand and grab Verloren’s forearm.”

I trembled as I followed his instructions, extinguishing the flames near my fingers, and carefully touching Verloren’s forearm. I watched for signs of pain.
Instead, Verloren smiled and thought:
It feels wonderful.

Hania noticed Verloren’s respiration increasing.
Children in love,
he thought
.

If we were alone and anywhere else, I would extinguish both of our fires.
I thought my message was private, but when everyone started snickering I knew they’d all heard.

“Let’s concentrate on the task at hand,” Hania said. “Verloren, touch her with your other hand. Ash, do the same as before, but be aware of where he is placing his hand. I won’t let anything bad happen.”

Verloren raised his hand, his fingers trembling. I pulled back the flames from my face and neck, knowing where he would touch me.

“Perfect,” said Hania. “If you practice this enough, it will become second nature not
to inflict a burn.”

Suddenly I felt light-headed. A strange pressure filled my ears. My vision blurred.

“Love, are you all right?” Verloren asked.

As I fell I extinguished my flames. Verloren caught me. I couldn’t move. Verloren’s lips moved, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. All I heard was th
e rushing noise of a train before everything faded to black.