The Blue Woods (27 page)

I wasn't just controlling the magic anymore. I
was
the magic.

Beneath the light, Alessia stirred. My vision broadened as the magic began to fade, its work done. The bruises on her face and arms faded, the puncture wounds on her collarbone healed themselves over. Jonah stroked her face and kissed her forehead. Alessia sighed, and at last she opened her eyes.

Jonah drew in a long, shuddering breath. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice shaky.

She stretched a little, licked her lips. “Water,” she said hoarsely.

I jumped up. “I'll get it.” As I backed away from the couch, Jonah bent over and kissed her.

Gross. But also . . . she was going to be okay.
I had made her okay
.

I smiled and turned toward the kitchen.

Cal stood in the doorway, watching me. The corners of his lips curved up, making them seem fuller and redder than normal.

I tried to glance away but couldn't. “I think she'll be fine.”

He nodded, the heat of his gaze never leaving me. “You are magnificent, Bree.”

The force of his words touched something deep inside me. I met his eyes, blaze for blaze, a fiery ball spinning in the pit of my stomach. And then, because even though we'd lost the Waterfall, I'd still won something deeper that night, because the magic was still radiating through me, and because he was just so damn cute, I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine.

The Light in the Dark

Alessia

The world was a mess of pain and darkness. Somewhere below me, an infinite number of souls pulsed and writhed, reaching for me, calling me down to them. But I didn't want to go down. I wanted to go up, but there was nothing for me to grasp onto.

And then, from a great height above me, a golden rope dropped. I grabbed it with every ounce of strength left in my broken body. I'd never been able to climb those stupid ropes in gym class, but I hauled myself up this one, every muscle screaming, every upward inch agony. But still I climbed.

Halfway up, whoever was at the top of the rope gave a tug and pulled me the rest of the way.

Sunshine-yellow light spilled over my face, warming away the cold that had seeped into me from that deep, dark place. The pain disappeared bit by bit, and I could breathe again. I gulped in air, filling up my lungs. Someone's hands lay on my collarbones. Close by, the fire crackled. I opened my eyes slowly. Everything was blurry. I blinked several times and Jonah's face came into focus, just above me.

His green eyes peered into mine. In the forest of his irises I saw everything that I felt: fear, pain, relief. I swallowed; my mouth and throat felt full of gravel. I wanted to say something meaningful, reassuring, loving . . . but all that came out was “Water.”

“I'll get it.” Bree's voice was close to my ear. When she moved, I felt the hands on my chest slip away; they were hers. I turned my head to watch her retreat to the kitchen.

Jonah bent over, blocking my view. With the gentleness of a butterfly, he brushed his lips against mine. A tingle ran down my spine, lessening the pain that still ached through me. “How are you feeling?”

I coughed and stretched a little, testing my muscles. Everything felt tight and slightly off, like my skin didn't quite cover all my insides. “You should see . . . the other guy.”

Jonah winced. “I'd like to kill the other guy.”

“Yeah, those Wild Dogs are not . . . my favorite.” I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain arched across my chest. Jonah caught me as I gasped and laid me back down in his lap. “Ow.”

“Maybe moving isn't the best idea right now.” He brushed his hand across my cheek, tucking loose strands of hair behind my ear. “Alessia, I'm so sorry. I tried to get them off you, but I—I couldn't.” His gaze was locked on mine, but he was seeing something else. The words tumbled out of his mouth like a confession. “That Dog had you in its mouth and I tried to attack it, but . . . something happened. My aura clashed with the Dog's, like it was solid or something. And the Dog's aura blew me backward. It almost knocked me out.”

I closed my eyes. The streak of silver and the yelp of pain just before I'd blacked out . . . that was Jonah. Jonah, trying to help me. Jonah, trying to fight his own side in order to save me. I reached up and touched his face, opened my eyes and looked into his. I had never loved him more than at this moment. “A Malandante cannot fight another Malandante,” I whispered. “It's physically impossible. Didn't you know?”

Jonah shook his head. “How did
you
know?”

“Nerina told me.”

“Actually . . .” Bree came over to the couch and handed me a glass of water. “Nerina told
me
, and I told Alessia.”

I propped myself up a little on my elbow so I could drink the water. It tasted delicious in my sandpapery mouth.

Jonah looked from me to his sister. “And how does Nerina know that?”

Bree planted herself in front of the couch and folded her arms. “If I had a nickel for every time I wondered the same thing, I'd be a freaking millionaire. And she knows way more even than she's ever let on.”

“That's not really what we should be worried about right now.” I set the glass on the floor. Holding tight to Jonah's hand, I pulled myself up to a sitting position with a groan. Jonah kept his arm around me, his hand stroking up and down my side. Every inch of my body ached from the fight, but Jonah's touch eased it away. “Even though you couldn't attack the Dogs, you tried. And they saw you try.” His arm tightened behind me. I leaned my head on his shoulder. “They know, Jonah. They know you're actively working against them.”

A thick silence descended over the three of us. Only the crackling of the fire stretched between us. Finally, Bree said, “I used the Pakistani magic on them. It's possible they got displaced enough that they weren't able to report it to the
Concilio
or Jonah's Clan.”

“Do we really want to take that chance?”

“But what can we do? He'll have to risk it and talk his way out of it if they confront him—”

“Hey, if you guys are done arguing over what
I
should do, can I say something?” Jonah glared at Bree, who had that petulant look on her face that I bet she'd perfected when she was three. “Bree, give me a few minutes alone with Alessia. Please.”

Her jaw tightened, but she nodded and left the room. I turned to Jonah, but before I could say anything, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. My soul blossomed beneath his touch and any pain left from the attack became a distant memory. He kissed me like it was the last moment on earth. I held him to me; I wanted it to go on forever.

“Alessia,” he murmured into my mouth, “come away with me.”

I pulled back. “What?”

His fingers pressed into my skin, his gaze fierce. “If the Malandanti know, then I'm as good as dead. So I'm going to leave. I'm going to get out of Twin Willows, go far away where they can't find me.” He searched my face as though it was the answer to the only question he ever had. “Come with me.”

I leaned into him so that first our foreheads touched and then our lips met again. Heat spiraled between us. A desperate longing overwhelmed me. I lay back, pulling him down with me. He buried his face in my neck, searing my skin with kisses. I held him to me for that moment, that one beautiful, flawless moment, because I knew when it was over, the pain would be twice as bad as anything one of those Wild Dogs could do to me.

He brought his mouth back to mine, catching my bottom lip between his teeth. “So you'll go with me?”

I kept his mouth against mine as I answered. “I can't.”

A groan shuddered through him as he sat up, dragging me up with him. I curled into his lap and laid my head against his chest. Beneath the layers of clothes I could hear his heartbeat, fast and hard. I put my hand at the side of his neck. “You know I can't, Jonah. I can't leave my Clan incomplete.”

“But if I leave mine,” he said, “your Clan could win.”

“The Call . . .” I began. “The Call reaches everywhere, Jonah. You can't outrun it.”

He rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. “I hate this so much. I just want to get out of here . . . leave it all behind me. But I can't, can I?” His voice broke, and he looked away. My heart twisted. I could see it all over him, the pain and stress cracking him like a fractured aura. If the Malandanti didn't kill him, the pressure would.

I threaded my arms around his neck. “We'll find a way, Jonah. Somehow . . . there has to be a way.” I kissed him hard, as though somehow that would make up for the fact that I was probably lying.

The door to the den banged open. We broke apart as Nerina click-clacked her way over to us. The look on her face told me she knew exactly what was going on before she came into the room. “Still here, Mr. Wolfe?”

Jonah stood. “I had to make sure Alessia was okay.”

“Well, you've done that.” Nerina folded her arms. If her gaze could shoot ice, the whole room would be frozen. “So now you can go on back to your little Malandanti Clan.”

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. What the hell was her problem?

“For your information”—Bree had come in from the kitchen and met Nerina's icy glare with one of her own—“Jonah tried to save Alessia. His aura clashed with one of the Dogs'. So now his ‘little Malandanti Clan' knows he's fighting against them and he
can't
go back.”

Nerina's nostrils flared. “If you're suggesting we keep him here, that is never going to happen.”

“Why the hell not?” Bree yelled. I dug my fingers into my temples. The aches from the attack were coming back.

“If the Malandanti track him here, we are all dead.”

“I'll reinforce the protection spell on the house—”

“And the Rabbit could easily undo that.”

I drew my knees up to my chest, trying to make myself small. In front of me, Jonah dropped to a crouch and put his hands on my arms. “Bree's being her usual pain-in-the-ass self,” he whispered. Somehow, in spite of everything, he grinned. “You know I can't stay here, right? No way am I putting you in that kind of danger.”

“I know.” I leaned forward until our foreheads touched again. It was just me and him, our connection blocking out the shouted argument that raged just feet away. His breath was warm on my nose. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. Spice and pine. “But where are you gonna go?”

“I have some friends I could go to. Far from here.”

“Why don't you two stop fighting and ask Jonah what he wants?” Heath's voice broke into our bubble. With a start, I realized the entire household was now crowded into the living room. A ray of heated anger stretched between Nerina and Bree, their eyes blazing at each other. Heath crossed through them and came over to the couch. He put his hand on Jonah's shoulder. “What's your plan?”

Jonah swallowed and rose so that he and Heath stood eye to eye. “I thought . . . I'd go to New York. I have friends there and I figure that's a big enough city for me to disappear into.”

“I have a better idea.”

Everyone turned.

Mr. Salter stood at the foot of the stairs.

I gritted my teeth. I still couldn't get used to him being here all the time. What was going to happen when we got to go home to the farm? Would he just move in? I didn't say anything as he stepped forward.

“He can stay at my cabin. It's way the hell out in the middle of nowhere. That way we know where he is if we need him.”

We?
There was no
we
here. He wasn't a Benandante; he didn't get a say.

But before I could open my mouth, Bree softened her stance and cocked her head at Mr. Salter. “I could do a protection spell around the cabin. No one would think to look for him there.” She turned to Jonah. “But if they Call you . . . I can't do anything about that.”

“I don't think there's anything anyone can do about that,” Jonah said. My chest squeezed tight for him. The thought of him all alone in the middle of the woods, fighting the Call. Hot tears gathered at the corners of my eyes and I tried to blink them away.

Mr. Salter crossed to the couch. “We've only got an hour or so before dawn.” He clapped his hand on Jonah's shoulder. “We should leave now.”

“I'm going with you.” I held Jonah's hand as I got to my feet, but as soon as I was upright, a wave of pain and dizziness crashed over me. I gasped and fell back to the couch.

Jonah leaned over me, cradling my face in his hands. “You need to rest,” he whispered. “I'll be okay.”

“But . . .” My shoulders hunched. There were too many people watching. I wanted them all to leave. But they weren't going to, so I couldn't care what they said. I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled Jonah's mouth to mine. We were back in our bubble, the world belonging just to us, for as long as the kiss lasted. I wanted his lips to brand mine, leave a mark there forever.

He pulled away a fraction of an inch, enough that I could memorize the flecks of gold inside his jeweled irises. “I love you, Alessia. Always.”

“I love you, too.”

A minute later, he was out the door, Mr. Salter, Heath, and Bree following. I sank into the couch, my arm across my eyes, trying to block out the light from the dawn and the pain in my heart.

The Blue Book

Alessia

The next morning when I went down to breakfast, Lidia took one look at the backpack slung over my shoulder and pursed her lips. “You're not going to school today.”

“Why not?” I dropped my bag on the floor and slid into a chair next to Bree, who was already at the table, eating bacon. “I feel fine.”