Shine: The Knowing Ones (45 page)

Fresh tears spilled from his eyes as the miracle of what she had just said sunk in. He collapsed into her open arms, head against her breast weeping unabated tears of inexpressible joy. They held each other and wept.

CHAPTER SIXTY

A
rushing sound, followed by a blinding light, filled the stairwell of the backstage area of the dance building and Sam and Trin materialized out of thin air. Sam quickly glanced around, taking in their surroundings, making certain she had been successful. Up above, she heard muted music coming from the stage area; the musical score from the ballet she had been cast in before the nightmare had set in. Trin lifted a hand to her chin, tilting it up and kissed her.

“Go on,” he said. “I’ll alert Mikhail and find Anna. We’ll meet you in the lobby when you’re done.”

“How do you know where she is?”

“She’s at the library,” he said, climbing the stairs. “She was there when I called her.” He motioned to the stage. “Go.”

With a swelling feeling of uncertainty and anticipation Sam turned, mounting the stairs toward her performance. She had come in just in time, as she could hear her entrance cue approaching. As she filtered her way through the wings and the other dancers, she tried valiantly to act as though nothing had happened; as though her life had not just been turned completely upside down, as if she had no knowledge of mystical tribes and villages in distant mountain ranges on the other side of the world, as if she had no special power herself, as if monsters and demons didn’t manifest through people who were once good, destroying them in the process.

The music sang out, sounding her cue, and she floated out onto the stage focusing wholly on the sound of it, allowing it to filter through
her and move her body. She tuned it all out, everything apart from the music and danced.

When the showcase came to a close, the audience rose again in a standing ovation, clapping wildly at the remarkable performance of the lead ballerina. Sam curtsied again and again, trying to smile and keep up the façade. All she could think of was bolting off the stage and into the lobby. She needed to see for herself that her best friend was still alive and well; no injuries, no memories.

After what seemed like an eternity, the curtain finally came down and Sam shot off the stage, leaving Ivan in a state of confusion. She bounded through the dressing room and up the stairs, ignoring the fact that she was still in costume and rounded the corner to the lobby.

The audience had just been released into the foyer and it was packed. Sam stood scanning, searching, tracking energy, which was so much easier now.

At first, it was just a myriad of strangers, brilliant human energy in varying degrees of strength and dimension moving consistently throughout the crowd, and then she saw golden blue emerge from the center of it. Her heart rate accelerated as she waited in frantic anticipation of the energy she hoped would follow—it did.

The first thing she noticed was her smile—that contagious, “who gives a crap” grin that lit up a room, melted Vig’s heart, and comforted Sam. She was looking away, talking to someone and hadn’t seen Sam yet, but Trin had and he pulled her in Sam’s direction. Unable to contain herself any longer, Sam raced down the hall and tackled her, throwing her arms around her friend and began to weep.

“Whoa Sam!” she exclaimed, nearly being knocked off her feet. She tried to pull back to ask her what in the world was up but found she couldn’t pry her away. Anna paused a moment and then asked “Sam, are you
crying?”
A look of alarm colored her features as she glanced at Trin to explain what horrible thing had happened. But he was smiling. Her face twisted in confusion. “What...what is up with you two?” She finally pulled away enough to see Sam’s face—tear-stained and unable to speak.

Trin shook his head and laughed. “Come on, let’s go,” he said, guiding Sam back down the hallway to retrieve her things so they could leave. Anna looked from Trin to Sam and back.
“What is going on?”
she demanded.

“She’ll tell you in the truck,” he replied, urging them to keep moving.

“Pop up! You have to pop up, Sam. It won’t work if you slowly stand one foot at a time.”

“I’m trying!”

He had taken her home to San Diego. After a whirlwind trip into the arctic past, he had insisted they go somewhere warm with the time they had blocked off in anticipation of flying to Russia. But now he faced an even more difficult task than defeating Chernobog. Sam had asked him to teach her to surf.

They had practiced on the beach and now they were out in the water, Trin trying desperately to get her up on the board. Every time a wave began to form, she would panic and try to stand slowly and deliberately as though she were pushing herself up on a balancing beam. This tossed her into the sea every time.

Trin reached into the surf and fished her out, coughing and pushing the saltwater away from her eyes. He grinned down at her, shaking his head.

Sam pushed her hair back from her face. “This sport is impossible!”

“You really do suck...”

Sam’s brilliant eyes shot daggers as she shoved him back—hard—not moving him an inch. “Ugh!”

Trin chuckled as Sam pushed her hands through her hair in frustration. “This is seriously the hardest thing I have ever tried to learn.”

Trin laughed out loud. “Yeah...without question.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “This is really hard!”

“You’re making it hard like you always do,” he said. “You’re using all the wrong tactics.”

Sam glared.

“You have more to draw from than most people,” he reminded her. “Don’t just use your muscles, Sam.
Will yourself.
The next wave that comes, engage what you have learned, not just today but since we met. The only thing stopping you from getting up on that board is you.”

Sam climbed back onto the surfboard, grumbling under her breath, but she also knew he was right. If she could hurl two Keepers, a
head Elder and five Veduny warriors backward with just a thought she could get up on this stupid board.

The water began to rise in the distance behind them. “Okay, Sam, here it comes. He climbed onto his board, face down, and watched over his shoulder. “Okay...now!” He began paddling and Sam did the same, trying to keep up. She mulled over the instructions he had given her all morning, but most of all she seized the will to stand over and over believing she could, knowing she could, knowing all it took was the belief it was possible and she already had all the right tools, therefore, nothing could prevent it.

“Ready, Sam? Go!” Trin effortlessly popped up on the board with perfect grace like he always did, and to her surprise, so did she.

“Hahaha!” she screamed, working to keep her balance. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t beautiful, but she did it.

“That’s my girl!”

After a few moments she lost her balance and reacquainted herself with her good friend ocean, but she had done it. She had gotten up on the board.

They spent the whole day at the beach, surfing and messing around. After a while, she just watched him surf, marveling at his symbiotic relationship with the ocean and the ease and grace with which he tackled and rode every wave that came in. He was positively elegant. Occasionally, his hand would carve into the tube, evoking shimmering light as the water responded to his touch.

As the day came to a close they dried off, got changed, and walked along the beach, hand in hand in the setting sun.

“I’m so glad you brought me here,” she said. “This has been awesome, your parents are awesome. It all feels like home.”

Trin glanced down at her, the setting sun catching his eyes for a split second, accentuating the ice blue beneath his black lashes. “We are your home,” he replied squeezing her hand. Then he caught sight of something glinting against her chest. “What’s this?” he said. With his fingers he lifted a small golden locket that hung around her neck.

Sam smiled, took the locket from him, and opened it. Inside was a faded black and white photo of an old woman. He looked more closely and realized it was Natasha.

Raising his eyes in surprise he asked “Where did you get this?”

Sam looked back down at the locket. “When I took you to my Grandma’s yesterday,” she replied. “After you left to go pack I dug
around in her attic and found this.” She gazed up at Trin. “It was the only picture she had of her.”

Trin shook his head, smiling in amazement. “That’s awesome.”

Sam looked down at the sand as the waves rushed over her feet. “It makes me feel closer to her. Even Russia, as intense as that whole thing was, somehow felt like home.”

Trin grinned looking out over the water. “Well, that’s a good thing because we’ll be going back.”

Sam stopped and glanced up. “What do you mean?” she asked. Her only association with Ivanova was impending danger and stress.

“The conduit has been restored,” he said, looking out over the water. “They want their Oracle back.” He glanced down at her with a half grin. “We have an important ceremony to attend.”

She did a quick read of his unshielded aura, and a sweet smile spread across her face. “Yeah,” she replied, “I guess we sorta have to be there for that one, don’t we?”

He gazed down at her with a curved smile and sunlit eyes, taking both her hands in his. “Sorta,” he replied. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Freeman has been writing since childhood. She grew up studying ballet and continues taking class to this day. Amy holds a degree in Criminal Justice and lives in St. Augustine, Florida with her husband and youngest son, Jackson.