Starlight (The Lightning Strike Trilogy Book 1)

  All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, except for small excerpts for reviews or articles, without the prior permission of the author.

  Copyright © Text Kristine Rasmussen 2015 Rygaard, K.A.

  Starlight

  ISBN 1475267797

  Starlight, Book I of The Lightning Strike Trilogy Printed in the USA

  K.A. Rygaard

  Star ght

  Book One of The Lighting Strike Trilogy

  Contents

  Currents Aren’t Just From Lightning 8 Curiosity’s a Boom 16 Hey, Sparky 28 What a Way to Spoil the Morning 35 Where’s the Life Raft? 42 Unsettled 47 Choices in the Stars 59 Escape 70 One Big, Dysfunctional Family 72 Soft Hallelujahs 77 Superiority and Life Debts 85 Everybody Loves a Scene 91 Let’s Kill All the Lawyers 95 How Hard is it to Say? 114 I Have this Thing for You 116 Just Overwhelm Me 120 Consequently 127 Well, that was a Godsend 132 A Major Irritation 137 Risk 143 History Teachers Know Too Much 146 I Just Signed their Death Certificate 150 This is Seriously Problematic 156 I am the Keeper 168 Secrets are a Powerful Thing 177 The Life and Times of E. Fitch 184 How to be your Own Security 190 Family Faults 198 Silent Night 202 Evening the Odds 205 Warpath 211 A Dash of Joy, a Smidge of Panic 221 The Drastic Change 223 Ours for the Taking 230 Explanations 234 How to Rule the Worlds 238 Our Bond 241 The End of Normalcy & the Beginning of Forever 243 Making Enemies 253 Faith 258 What Needs to be Settled 262 Dark and Light 267 Death is Reversible 269 Let’s See how this Goes 278 Where the Heart is 284 Life of Joy 293 The Trick Master 295 This Place is Death 298 Keeper Powers 310 The Dormant 314 To Beat him at his Own Game 323 Secrets Kill Slowly 331 Back at the Mausoleum 338 Destruction 341 Sheer Pain 345 Desperate Times Call for War 356 Dysfunctional Recruitment 361 On the Offensive 367 Making Allies 371 And the Winner Is 376 Enchanted 379

  Pronunciation and Translation 384 I wish I was either in your arms full of faith or that a thunder bolt would strike me

  -John Keats to Fanny Brawne

  Currents Aren’t Just From Lightning

  I felt the lightning as it raced across the sky. I

  couldn’t see it, because the professors had darkened all the windows, but I knew it was happening. I always knew when it was happening.

  I looked around the auditorium at everyone taking their assessments, seeing how concentrated they were. Of course, there were always a few who were staring off into space. . . I saw Jessica, my best friend for most of my life, struggle with the test she was on. Mythology was never her best subject, but she’d been fine when we’d studied yesterday. Thalia was a test behind her, but she’d be finishing up soon; astronomy was usually her strongest score.

  I had breezed through my previous tests like always, for I spend the months before the assessments studying some every day, making sure I was prepared. I had just one test to go, but the testing area was being used.

  I looked back in front of me as the curtain hiding the levitation testing area rustled, seeing one of my classmates come out. A small smile graced his face as he saw me, and I told myself not to blush; he was just being his usual kind self.

  “Good luck,” Zach Stone said as he reached me. “Thanks,” I replied, looking up at him (he was a few inches taller than me). Zach’s blue eyes looked grayer than usual, and I wondered why. “Are you done?”

  He shook his head, causing his messy, dark brown hair to get in his eyes a bit.

  “Still have an elective test left. This your last one?”

  I nodded.

  “Yeah. I have to wait for Jessica and Thalia to get done before I can go home, though, so I’ll be out in the rain.”

  Zach’s brow furrowed.

  “I thought the storm was over.”

  “No, it’s still raining.” He looked at me curiously and I shrugged. “Don’t ask how I know that, I just do.”

  He gave me a look; one I was used to. Ever since I could remember, I would feel the storms approach, and I could feel them happening. The feeling was always stronger when the celestial scars appeared on my palms. When the scars weren’t present, I could still feel the storms, but not as strongly as when they were there.

  “Emma Fitch! You’re up!” a voice called from behind the curtain.

  “Well, I’ll see you around, Emma,” Zach said, walking slowly away from me.

  I nodded.

  “Yeah, okay.”

  He smiled slightly and then turned to leave. I headed toward the curtain the levitation assessment was behind and pushed it aside, quickly slapping down that fragment of a feeling I had for Zach Stone.

  Professor Woodkins, who teaches levitation, smiled at me as I came in.

  “Is this your last test today?” I nodded. “I’m sure you’ll do well!”

  Professor Woodkins waved his hand and a boulder appeared on the pad behind him. He stepped aside, picking up a clipboard and a pen.

  “Please levitate the item until it touches the ceiling. You will be graded on your proficiency, ease of levitation skill, and overall quality of the skill of levitation. Shall you succeed in raising the boulder to the ceiling, you are to then lower it back to the ground without causing any damage to it or to your surroundings. Good luck.”

  I faced the boulder and reached for my Magic, raising my hand toward the rock. It shifted upwards just a tad, but when I latched onto my Magic and lifted my hand upwards, so moved the boulder. My arm was shaking—something that wouldn’t count against me—as I continued to lift the boulder toward the ceiling. Once it reached the ceiling, I shifted my palm to face downwards and pushed the boulder down. It shook the ground slightly when it hit, but I saw Professor Woodkins smile and scribble something down on my test form.

  “Very good, Miss Fitch!” he exclaimed, handing me an exit slip. “You are free to go. See you in the fall!”

  “Thank you, Professor.”

  I slipped out of the curtained area and headed toward the doors. Jessica was in line for the levitation test and she stuck her tongue out at me.

  “Lucky. Don’t leave without me!”

  “I won’t, Jessie. I’ll be outside the front doors. Just take your time; I don’t have anywhere I need to be.” She nodded. “Good luck, Jess.”

  “Thanks, Em.”

  I smiled at her and headed out of the auditorium. Only a few of the upper classmen were done, reclining exhausted on benches. I handed a professor my exit slip and then headed down the hall and out the two front doors of the Capitol City Academy. It was still raining, though lighter than it had been this morning. Lightning streaked across the black sky, illuminating it in its savage beauty.

  I breathed in the fresh scent of rain that often filled Capitol City and headed toward a bench under the cover of the school.

  Suddenly a sharp, stabbing pain erupted from my right palm and my left hand immediately grabbed hold of it, pulling it to my chest. A pained gasp escaped me and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to erase the pain. The ache dulled, only to then burst out of my left palm. I leaned against the wall, keeping my eyes shut and my hands against my chest. After a minute or so, the pain stopped completely and I opened my eyes warily. I was still alone, and the rain was falling from the sky a bit harder than it had been before my fit. A large bolt of lightning struck across the sky, followed by a deafening boom of thunder.

  I took a deep breath, and unclenched my hands from the fists.

  They’re back.

  The two scars that so often adorned my palms looked back up at me, and for a moment I was worried. The crescent moon scar was on my right hand, and then there was star, with its points threading across the skin my l
eft. The scars were still red along the edges, as if they were infected, but the burning was gone entirely. These scars have always come and gone, ever since I could remember, but never have they looked so prominent and never before have they hurt. . . Even the star’s points have extended further up my hand than usual. I’d never told anyone about them, figuring it was just my imagination at first and then just some Witch Faerie thing- as that is what I am- later on. Now I don’t understand what they are. All I know is that they have always seemed to calm me in times of trouble, as if they were more than just scars.

  I looked up toward the tree line surrounding my school, only seeing their silhouettes through the storm. A new bolt of lightning flashed, but it didn’t die away; I didn’t even feel this one. As I focused on it, I realized that it wasn’t even in the sky, nor was it a bolt of lightning. I leapt out of the way just before the curse flew past me, denting the brick wall behind me with a loud boom.

  I was shaking from head to toe, and the burning in my scars acted up again. Someone was out there in that storm, someone deadly.

  “Who’s there?” I called out, preparing myself to use any and every defensive spell I knew.

  Another spell came at me and I avoided this one as well. I looked toward where the curses were coming from, trying to see through the rain. To my surprise, it lightened just enough for me to see, just enough for my heart to start beating erratically. Everything in me told me to run, but it was as if I’d been paralyzed at the sight of him.

  The man standing in the courtyard had his palm was facing me, which made my own hand inch upwards. I wasn’t sure if I could match him, but I had to try.

  Lucas Adler watched me carefully, not moving, not speaking. The man was homicidal, always killing people and stealing away their Magic to gain Levels. When someone’s Magic is completely taken out of them, their life goes out like a light. From books and news articles I know that Lucas is only about three years older than I am, but that he has been killing since he was ten. He was relentless, a sociopath who I now knew was going to try and steal my Magic. I willed myself not to cry; he was stronger than me, and I knew that nothing I did would save me now.

  When he finally spoke, his voice sent chills down my spine.

  “You’re not going to win, Emma Fitch,” he began. “I don’t care what your Level is; you’re not stronger than I am. Your Magic is mine.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” I refuted. I was trying desperately to control the shaking in my voice; I didn’t want to reveal my fear to him.

  “No one ever fights me and wins. You’re no exception. You’re alone, and the sound blocks on the school’s walls will keep anyone from hearing you die.”

  I gulped, knowing that everything he said was true. I wished Jessica and Thalia would take longer on their tests, that they wouldn’t come outside until I was dead and Lucas Adler gone. They would try to stop him, and he’d kill them, too.

  I barely missed his next silver curse as it flew at me. I managed to cast one of my own at him, something that would render him unconscious, but he easily dodged it.

  “Emma?”

  My heart skipped as I whirled around. Zach was standing at the entrance to the school, staring at me. He couldn’t see Lucas from where he was; I had to warn him!

  “Zach—”

  My attempt to warn him was cut off as Lucas finally succeeded in hitting me with a curse. It felt as if the wind was knocked out of me, and the scars—oh how they burned; it felt like they were on fire.

  Unable to keep upright, I stumbled to the side with the impact of the curse. I saw the horrified look on Zach’s face, and saw as he turned away from me, a bright burst of light erupting from his palm and hurling toward Lucas. There was something else coming toward me— something red and surely more lethal than the silver bit Lucas had already hit me with. The curse was racing toward me, but I was powerless; I could barely even move.

  Moments before it collided with me, I felt something strong and comforting, which was not what I was expecting to feel in my impending doom: An arm around my waist and a hand on my arm were pulling me out of the way.

  I gasped at the contact, my heart feeling like it was going to beat out of my chest, my Magic suddenly coming back to me full force. I looked up, bewildered, only to see Zach.

  I then realized my hand was firmly holding onto his arm, my other having its fingers wrapped securely over Zach’s shirt, and that whatever I had felt, he had felt it, too. His skin was flushed, the look in his eyes not nearly as angry as it had been before he’d pulled me out of the way. He was still able to block Lucas’s next curse from hitting us, by keeping his palm toward him and projecting a spell-deteriorating shield.

  “Stone,” I heard Lucas hiss, even over the rain. “That was the biggest mistake of your life, protecting her. She’s not worth fighting me.”

  “You’re wrong, there,” Zach retorted, his arm suddenly pulling me closer to him. I was right up against the side of his chest now, my Magic racing through my blood so fast it made me dizzy. Zach’s expression changed again as this happened, but he still didn’t back down.

  I saw Lucas smirk over Zach’s arm.

  “We’ll see.”

  And then he disappeared. Zach waited a few seconds before he reached for my arm again. I tightened my fingers around the material of his shirt unintentionally and he looked at me, his eyes tracing over my face.

  “Emma, are you okay? What did he hit you with?”

  I tried shaking my head, but it hurt too much. Surely—Surely my system should have shut down by now?

  “I don’t know. It was silver, but a lot of help that is.”

  “You haven’t said if you’re okay or not,” he mumbled.

  We still hadn’t parted from our close proximity, keeping that unfamiliar current present. What was this?

  “I’m not,” I murmured. “I can’t feel my legs anymore and when the spell hit me I lost the feeling of my Magic.”

  “But now?” he asked cautiously, his eyes shifting between mine. I guessed he was trying to figure out if I felt what he had—if he had at all; I don’t even know if he felt the Magic. But he must have. What other reason was there for the look in his eyes?

  “It’s irrationally present.”

  His arm shifted around my waist and my vision blurred.

  “We should get a teacher,” he continued, “I’ve never figured out how to heal curses.”

  “I don’t think a teacher’s gonna do me much good,” I breathed. My grip on him lightened.

  “Why not?”

  “Because. . . it’s too strong.”

  Everything went black and my legs gave out, but Zach caught me.

  “Emma!”

  My eyes shut and everything faded.

  Curiosity’s a Boom

  When I came to, I was in a warm bed staring up

  at Jessica’s bright green eyes, with Thalia’s hazel ones right to the side of them. Jessie sighed and whirled her head around.

  “Mister and Missus Fitch! She’s up!” she hollered behind her shoulder.

  I squeezed my eyes shut to reduce the distortion in my vision, and then opened them again, seeing my parents by my side. Mom stroked my head, but I’m pretty sure her hand was shaking.

  “Emma,” she breathed, “how are you feeling?”

  “Out of it,” I sighed. “Where am I?”

  “You’re in the hospital,” Thalia answered promptly, as if she had been rehearsing this. “Zach Stone got you here and then called Adam, who told Jess, who told me, and we called your parents.”

  Flashes of a memory appeared behind my eyes and I prayed that I wouldn’t turn red from that feeling of over-rushing Magic I’d gotten.

  “Do you remember what happened, Em?” Dad asked. “Anything?”

  I nodded.

  “All of it. Lucas Adler, too.” I took a breath. “Where’d Zach go?”

  Jessie shrugged.

  “He was here until we came, but then he went out into the
hall. I dunno where he got to. . . Haven’t seen him in like an hour. . .”

  I stared at her, feeling my skin heat up.

  “Lucas—” I started.

  “Hey, calm down, Em,” Dad said, putting his hand on my shoulder to keep me in bed. “I saw him a few minutes ago; he’s giving the police his statement. Adler isn’t gonna get to him, or you.” He scowled. “Shouldn’t have in the first place.”

  “She’s fine, James,” Mom told him calmly.

  “The school’s security should have seen him, Rachel! They should have gotten him before he was able to hit her!”

  “What did he hit me with? Did the doctors figure it out, or are they being slow?”

  “It was a disabler, something he created himself,” Dad answered. “We’ve seen it before with his attacks and they were able to erase all traces of it. You’re going to be fine.”

  A nurse and a doctor bustled in then, and made the four of them back away from the bed. The nurse checked all of my vitals while the doctor talked to me.

  “So, Emma, how are you feeling?”

  “Fine.”

  “Do you hurt anywhere?”

  “No.”

  “Not even where the curse hit you?”

  “No. I feel fine. When can I go home?”

  “We just need to keep you for a while longer, as you’re awake now,” she said. “We don’t want you passing out the moment you walk out of the hospital.”

  I scowled.

  “Fine.”

  The doctor smiled and looked at the nurse.

  “Good. Mena, how’s everything looking?”

  “Healthy. Her heart and lungs are good and there seem to be no repercussions from the curse. I just have to check her Level. . .” Her fingers grabbed my wrist and wrenched it around, finding my pulse. After a second, she frowned. “Well, that can’t be right. . .”

  “What’s not?” everyone in the room asked.

  “Her Level. Must’ve done something wrong. . .” She grabbed my other wrist, and after a few seconds she dropped my wrist and stared at me. “How did you get that high?”

  “What’re you talking about? I’m only on Level Seven.”