Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (48 page)

I
sat down heavily on the white floor. “Keep going, I think—I
think I need to sit.”

He
nodded, folding his hands behind his back. “The short of it,
we fell in love. When she got pregnant, you can imagine my shock.”

I
didn't seem capable of not shaking my head any more. “Twaelin
can't do that, Nethiun said...”
Oh,
god, Nethiun.
Just
thinking about him made my chest tight.

Creation
sensed my mood. Frowning with compassion, he sat beside me. “You're
right. I don't know how it happened, I assume it has something to do
with my energy. Canendore could dream, she could see the future.
Valenforth could raise the dead. It seems having the power of
creation, well.”

He
shrugged, staring at me curiously. “Still, what happened in
the end was unexpected. When you were born I was very surprised. The
biggest shock was yet to come, though.”

Lifting
my eyes, I studied him nervously.

“
When
you were very little, and your mother was away, I was watching you.
You reached out, and you
pulled
at me. That day, Gale, you destroyed my existence.”

“
No,”
I groaned, hanging my head. “So that's why. We thought you
have abandoned us, but I actually killed you?”

“
Calm
down,” he said soothingly, touching my shoulder. “I'm
not gone, not entirely. What I was, yes... that's no more. But my
energy is here. Gale, you're amazing. You can do
anything
you want with all this power you have.”

Laughing
sourly, I brushed his hand away. “All I wanted was something I
thought I
didn't
want. And now, it's gone. He's gone.”

I
felt the anticipation in his tone. “It doesn't have to be that
way.”

Turning
towards him slowly, I held my breath. “What do you mean?”

Creation
smiled, standing with a grunt. Reaching down, he offered me his
hand. I took it, letting him help me to my feet. “I've never
known anything like this to happen before. Gale, everything you are,
it breaks every rule. Who's to say what you can or can't accomplish
now?”

Looking
into his eyes, eyes that were so like mine, I felt a glimmer of
hope. “You think anything is possible?”

“
Perhaps.
This universe, it's impossible to understand. Circles within
circles, everything, all of us. Humans, twaelin, the chain just
keeps going. There's far more that exists than we know.”

I
thought about Valenforth's drawing, of the page with the twaelin
names and how everything was placed in circles.

“
With
the right energy, the right desire,” he said, “surprising
things can happen.”

He's
right. I never thought I'd run into things like twaelin, or someone
like Nethiun.

I've
died, I've been reborn.

Who's
to say what I can't make happen?

Closing
my eyes, my lashes tickled my cheeks. The passage from English
class, how long ago that felt... it weaved upwards from my
subconscious.
Mortal
free-will... it can trump fate. I believe it now, I believe it
completely.

I
remembered what Nethiun had said to me, how he had promised to keep
me safe. How I had sworn to him I would stop Valenforth.

So
many people have been hurt and had sad endings. Maybe with all of
this power, I can change their fates, and not just mine.

Inhaling
into my diaphragm, I squeezed every fiber in my body until my skull
was aching.
I
don't know how, but I have to make it happen.

I
want to fix everything.

I
want—need—to have him back.

Our
story isn't over yet.

Beside
me, I heard Creation wheeze inwards. Refusing to open my eyes, I
kept concentrating. I pictured Nethiun, everything I loved about
him. His quick wit, how he had suffered and risked his life by
refusing to kill me when instructed to.

How
he must have hurt, losing me.

How
I hurt now... losing him.

The
air wobbled around me, my hair shifting like a breeze had come from
the sea.

Remember
how he took you flying.

And
remember that night, under the orange trees.

Nethiun...
I love you, so please.

“
Please,”
I whispered, my voice cracking, “just come back.”

With
that, the world convulsed.

White
energy flowed out of me, my skin broiling with the power of it.
Every inch of me felt like it was being yanked, tugged in an attempt
to break me into a million chunks.

No,
I
strained to stay focused.
I
won't give in, I can do this.

For
once, I'm not going to lie to myself.

I
believe I can change our fate!

Like
the storm that raged in me was dying down, I began to breathe
easier. Opening my eyes, I saw I was swaying in a sea of opal light.

In
front of me, I lifted my hands watching the energy swirl like tiny
ripples in a pond. Inherently, somehow, I knew what I was about to
do.

That
it could be done.

Spreading
my hands, I repeated what I recalled Valenforth doing in his yard.
The night he had brought back Ethlyn... I remembered.

Crushing
my palms together, I felt the ball form. It reminded me of a tiny
star, pulsing to life.

It
was a familiar beat, and I held my hands to my chest, letting it
match my heart.

This
time, it truly did.

Spreading
my arms, the energy illuminated, shaping into the figure of the
person I would do anything for. I would change the world, if it
meant we could be together.

His
body moved, forming perfectly until his blonde hair glistened, his
lips parted as he slept.

Nethiun
lay on the floor of the throne room before me, his chest expanding
with air. His lashes twitched, then those hard, frosted-glass orbs
peeked open to look my way.

“
Gale,”
he said softly, “I think I might have had my first dream.”

Throwing
myself over him, I sobbed with relief into the crook of his neck.

Nethiun

Her
hair was silky, caressing my cheekbone while she crushed herself
against me. I could feel her relief, the way the sobs made her whole
body quake.

How
am I here?
Staring
upwards, looking at the ceiling that faded off into darkness, I had
no answer.

The
memory of my destruction, the way my being had dissolved into the
ether... it was all I could recall.

That,
and the tickling reminder of what had to have been a dream.
I've
never dreamed before, but that... It couldn't have been real.

Lifting
my arm, I stared at my fingers.
She
was calling to me, I heard it. Gale was saying my name, begging me
to come back.

Is
that how I'm here?

Lowering
my arm, I let it fall over her shivering shoulders. Pushing my face
against the side of her head, I nuzzled her until she finally lifted
herself up enough to gaze down at me.

One
of her tears welled up in the corner of her perfect grey eyes,
dropping down to my skin. Extending a hand, I thumbed away the rest
of the wetness from her red rims. “Shh, don't cry, Gale.”

“
Sorry.”
Sniffling, she sat on top of me and rubbed her face. Her smile
blossomed, unbreakable. “I'm just really happy. I can't
believe this is happening right now.”

“
How
did you do this?” I whispered, in awe as I grasped an
understanding of her power. “How did you manage to change the
rules?”

Her
determination was pure, something I had only seen hinted in her
before. “I wasn't going to let something like fate take away
what I wanted most.”

What
she wanted most.

In
a second, my mouth was on hers. Wrapping my fingers tightly into her
wild hair, I pulled her down on top of me. Everything about her,
everything she was and had been and could be.

I
needed it.

I'd
never felt so satisfied, and at the same time, so greedy

She
tasted so much like the tang of her tears. Our chests pressed
together, the flutter of energy between us in sync.

Unlike
that first time, the scent of oranges thick around us, Gale
displayed no hesitancy. I sensed no fear, no doubt. She was a beacon
of desire, a true epitome of the passion woven between us.

The
girl who was more human than anyone I'd met, her emotions radiant as
an undying star. She'd shown me things I'd never thought possible,
come back from the grave and fought against the very concept of a
destiny that was bleak.

She'd
fought to bring
me
back, a creature who'd been called a monster; a demon. Someone who
couldn't protect her in the end... “I'm sorry,” I said
suddenly, leaning away. “I should have been better, should
have been able to protect you like I had said. Instead, I let you--”

“
Shh.”
She put her forehead to mine, eyelashes grazing me like feathers.
“Don't you see? Nethiun, because of you... because of what you
showed me, helped me feel between us... all of that, love and desire
and desperation. That's what I clawed for, when everything fell down
around me.”

I
had been what allowed her to create this miracle?

Taking
her cheeks, I maneuvered her so I could gaze into her glistening
grey orbs. Smiling, Gale stared straight back. “You did keep
me safe, Nethiun. You protected me just like you promised.”

I
didn't sense a wisp of sarcasm in her.

Pulling
against her sweater, I tore it over her head. Crimson strands
tangled, frizzed like static lived in them.