Starlight (The Lightning Strike Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  I took a breath to steady myself.

  “If he finds out, he’ll kill us.”

  “The thing you won’t tell me.”

  “I can’t. It’s not safe.”

  “We’ll be safe again. I promise.”

  “I believe you.”

  I leaned back, meeting his eyes again.

  “Promise me you won’t give yourself up to keep me safe,” I pressed. “I don’t. . . I can’t do this without you.”

  Zach was silent.

  “I’m not leaving you. I—I don’t think I could. It would. . . it would hurt too much.”

  “I know how you feel,” I mumbled. I was definitely blushing by now, and my eyes flickered away.

  Zach took my face between his hands and I looked at him unwillingly.

  “I promise we won’t have to feel that, Em. I will do anything I have to for us to be safe. You don’t have to worry.”

  If only we were the only ones who had a say.

  ****

  Zach let me sleep during the night, and

  resultantly he slept during the day. As I had nothing else to do while he slept, I watched him. I hated how he made me feel, but I couldn’t help it. Well, at least I could stop myself from daydreaming about him, from acting rashly, when we were both awake. After that talk, the topic became taboo. Instead, we spent the time we were both awake asking each other questions. They were slightly mundane, and I hated myself for asking him more philosophical questions, or anything about his plans after school. He had no choice in what he did; he never had a choice.

  Lucas never came in here, and we never heard any noises outside the door. We were able to use our Magic to summon food and to keep ourselves clean, but that was it.

  The minimalistic use of my Magic was making me feel helpless. My Magic was racing around inside of me, begging to be let loose, and no matter what I did, it stayed locked away. At one point, four days after being taken here- I could feel the sun, I knew when he rose and when he set- I began to lose my mind. While Zach was asleep (on his back, as usual, I noticed), I curled up in the corner of the room, hugging my legs to my chest. My Magic was growing too strong inside of me, causing tears to stream down my face. I felt as if I was going to burst any moment, but I was still aware of Zach. He had been sound asleep for hours, now; I didn’t want to wake him. I sob escaped me and I wrapped an arm across my chest, holding onto my shoulder, trying to keep me from breaking. To keep the fire that I felt was raging inside of me from burning me alive.

  Stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP!

  “Emma?”

  I looked up, and, through the tears, saw Zach

  watching me worriedly. He had vacated the couch and was crouched before me.

  “What’s wrong? Did he hurt you?”

  I shook my head, almost violently.

  “I can’t—can’t breathe,” I gasped. “I n-need to do. . . do something.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “My Magic’s going to k-kill me,” I said in a rush. “Too—too much, too strong. I can’t—”

  “Touch me.”

  I looked at him like he was insane.

  “W-what?”

  “Do it.”

  I half-realized what he was saying. The current. But. . . it was going to hurt. It was going to hurt in a good way. My Magic grew even hotter, and I knew I had no other choice. The current was the only thing that would release enough Magic.

  Swallowing, I unwound myself and Zach moved closer to me. I hesitated, but then reached out towards him, placing my hands against his cheeks.

  It was sudden. It was strong. The Magic that had been welling inside me burst forth at the contact. The current was so potent, I forgot how to breathe. Pupils blown wide, Zach’s hands shot out and wrapped around me, pulling me flush against him so that I was practically in his lap. Our eyes never left each other’s. A sea storm was raging in his eyes, the waves turbulent. One of my hands moved around the back of his head, locking into his dark brown hair. His hand fell onto my neck, his thumb against my jaw. The storm in his eyes became curious, slightly determined. I tightened my grip on him as he pulled my face closer to his. It didn’t even matter. God willing, I was going to let Zach just take me now on this floor. I belong to him. I fit so perfectly in his arms, like that one missing puzzle piece.

  It’s so strong. . .

  The door flew open. Our heads shot to face it, but it was not Lucas who walked in. A brunette Witch, probably about our age, came in with a smirk. Her eyes looked us over.

  “Now this is interesting.”

  Realizing how this looked, we disentangled our bodies. We stood, keeping our distance from each other, and we faced this Witch.

  “Oh, he’s going to just love that.”

  “Who are you?” I asked, my lungs finally filling back up with air. “And why the hell are you working for Lucas?”

  “The second reason is none of your business. As to the first, my name is Tess Wilcox.” Her head cocked to the side. “Lucas wanted me to deliver a message.”

  “What message?” Zach demanded, his voice husky. A blush filtered up in my cheeks.

  “Time is running low for you two. You’re never going to get out of here with your lives.”

  “I wouldn’t place any bets on that,” Zach retorted.

  Tess’ eyes shifted over him.

  “He was right about you, Stone. You’re fighting a losing battle just to protect her.”

  “It’s not a losing battle.”

  He sounded so furious that I looked at him, but he didn’t look at me.

  Tess Wilcox laughed and I looked back at her.

  “Oh, wow, you two do have it bad. Not that after what I walked in on wasn’t obvious.” She snickered. “You can’t hide anything from Lucas.”

  I resisted from laughing right back at her. I was hiding the two biggest secrets in the Galaxies from him right now and he had no idea what they even were.

  Tess flicked some hair behind her shoulder.

  “Now—”

  She stopped, her eyes widening, and then she fell forward and hit the floor, unconscious. Zach and I looked at each other in shock, before back to the figure that was stepping away from the wall. He had used the Invisi charm, which had blended him into the wall.

  “It’s about time I found you two, this place is enormous.”

  Choices in the Stars

  I stared at the Wizard.

  “Who are you?” I asked cautiously.

  “The name’s Boone Lewis,” he answered. He watched us. “Well? You two want to get out of here or not?”

  “How do we know we can trust you?” Zach asked. “That this isn’t one of Adler’s tricks?”

  He materialized a note and handed it to us. It read in a slanted scrawl: Boone Lewis is legitimate. He is there on my orders to bring you two home. -President Keenan Maripai.

  “That’s Keenan’s handwriting,” I told Zach, keeping my eyes on the paper.

  We looked back at Boone, who took the paper from us.

  “Get us out of here,” Zach said.

  He nodded and we left the room after Boone. Zach walked right behind me, continually looking behind his shoulder.

  “He’s not here,” Boone whispered. “He left right before I got here.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Heard that Tess talking to herself about him going somewhere.”

  “Did you check for traps? Adler wouldn’t leave this place unguarded,” Zach asked.

  “I knocked out two guards outside and got rid of the alarm on the door. It wasn’t easy, mind you. Almost set it off twice. . . Okay, here we are.” He stopped us near a door, looking back at us. “Now, when we get outside, we’re going to run into Farbreach. Don’t stop until I say so. If anyone comes after us, I’ll hold them off. If that happens, whatever you do, do not stop running. Just get back home.” We nodded.

  Boone eased open the door and stepped slowly outside, lookin
g around. He motioned to us, and then we were running.

  ****

  Okay, we can stop here,” Boone said after what

  seemed like miles. “We’re far enough off that Adler won’t get us when Wilcox wakes up and tells him you’re gone. . . Though he may spend some time yelling at her.”

  “He’s found me before because of my Magic; we can’t stay here that long.”

  “Yeah, well—”

  “Freeze!”

  We all jumped at the voices coming out of the wood.

  “Trespassers, if you move we shall fire!”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Boone called out. “We didn’t know we were trespassing. Just—don’t fire.”

  “Emma, get behind me,” Zach said under his breath.

  I looked at him.

  “No, Zach. You can’t use yourself as some sort of shield!”

  Ignoring my reply, Zach grabbed my arm- the current smacked our hands like a scolded child- and put me behind him.

  “Please,” he whispered.

  “I told you before,” I whispered back, “I can’t let you put yourself first if it means losing you.”

  “Lower your hands!” shouted a new voice. “If you fire, you will be exiled!”

  A tall, dark-skinned figure moved quickly out of the trees, and when the moonlight hit him I saw that he is a Gnome. He stopped in front of Zach and me, watching us. It made me uncomfortable, and I could tell Zach was, too. After a few moments, the Gnome turned around and looked back at the trees, saying something in quick Runic. There was a soft rustling, and then silence. The Gnome looked at the three of us.

  “My name is Niall. I know who you two are,” — he said to Zach and I— “but not you.” He looked at Boone.

  “Boone Lewis.”

  “It is an honor to meet all of you.”

  His eyes flickered back to Zach and I; it made me wonder how close the Gnomes and the Council are.

  Boone sighed and started talking again, “Yeah, well, not to be rude or anything, but, we really have to go. Adler could be on his way any minute and we don’t want to be here when he finds out they’re gone.”

  “Going through Farbreach alone at this time of the night will only land you three in our traps. You need a Gnome.”

  “We—”

  “Boone,” I said, “he’s right. Besides, if Lucas does find us, we could use all the help we can get.”

  He mulled this over and then looked at Zach.

  “What’s your say on this?”

  “He should come. He means more protection for Emma.”

  Boone looked back at Niall.

  “All right, then. Lead the way.”

  **** After two more hours of walking, we came into

  a small, tree-enclosed field.

  “We will be safe here,” Niall declared. “The trees

  will not allow Adler to come near us without a fight.” We nodded and Niall went to sit by the fire

  Boone had just made. It wasn’t bright, but the heat was

  there. I stood watching the flames dance, but then a

  different heat burst under my skin. I turned around to

  find Zach standing behind me.

  “I need to talk to you,” he muttered, so Niall and

  Boone couldn’t hear us. I frowned at him. “Alone.” “Zach, we shouldn’t go anywhere. It’s too dark.” He paused.

  “Don’t you trust me?”

  I opened my mouth to tell him that of course I

  did, but choked on the words. He understood my answer

  anyway. He looked over my shoulder at Niall and Boone. “We’ll be right back.”

  “Don’t go far,” Niall instructed, “and stay on

  guard.”

  Zach nodded and then motioned me to follow

  him. Once we got into the trees a bit, he slowed and

  walked beside me instead of in front of me.

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re almost there,” was the only reply I got out

  of him.

  I sighed and continued to follow him. Soon the

  trees thinned and we came out onto a hill, overlooking

  the perfectly-clear night sky. I stared at the vastness of

  Farbreach Woods.

  The pure beauty of our planet resembles that of

  the original Elysia, in the Arusia Galaxy. That is why,

  once Queen Allu- the Elf Queen who had founded Quanwas finished creating this Galaxy, she named our planet Elysia. The original Elysia, however, was so very old. After its death, the name was a touchy subject with people, and our home began to be called “e2.” Like the original Elysia, e2 is magnificent. There are so many glorious trees across her, all which thrive. In the fall, they change their colors, making Capitol City and the surrounding cities a sight to see, Farbreach especially. It’s in the nature of all Magical Beings to appreciate nature and all she gives, so we make sure the plants are loved. I shuddered as I realized this great, vast world was inside

  of my soul.

  “Emma?”

  I looked at Zach. He was watching me.

  “How’d you know about this place?”

  He shook his head.

  “I didn’t. I just knew the trees were thin where

  we were, and that Farbreach has hills.” He looked at the

  sky. “It was really just chance that this is the hill.” I watched him in silence, ignoring how he made

  my heart ache, resisting the urge to move closer to him.

  Then he looked at me, and we stood there in that

  awkward silence. I swallowed, finally able to speak. “You said you needed to talk to me.”

  “Yeah.” He hesitated, turning to face me

  completely. “We’re safe, Em. We have Niall and Boone

  and we can use our Magic now; he’s not going to get us.” I felt myself pale, remembering that I would tell

  Zach who we are once we were safe.

  “I—”

  “Emma, you can’t keep this from me. I need to

  know what the Council told you about us. I need to

  know why every time I do this” —He reached out and

  held my arm; both of us caught our breaths at the

  current— “we feel that. I need to know what the hell

  happened back there between us. Hiding this from me

  isn’t going to—”

  “We’re the Kahi,” I blurted out.

  His hand fell from my arm.

  “We’re—What?”

  “You heard me,” I mumbled, turning my back on

  him. I sat on the hill.

  After a moment, he was sitting next to me. “The Kahi.” Zach sounded like he was in shock. I nodded.

  “Yes.”

  “Is—I that the current?”

  I shook my head.

  “No. This current. . . it is so much more than us

  being the Kahi, Zach.” I looked at him for a moment. “I

  just haven’t figured it out yet.”

  Lie.

  “How is this possible? How can we be the Kahi?” I shrugged.

  “The Council just chose us, before we were even

  born. I asked, but they don’t give straight answers very

  often.”

  “And we can’t get out of this.”

  I shook my head.

  “We’re stuck. . . forever.”

  He frowned at me, and I looked at him.

  “We’re immortal,” I whispered. “Age can’t touch

  us the way it’s going to touch everyone we care for.” He looked away.

  “Immortal,” he repeated, staggered.

  “We’re going to live forever—unless we’re

  poisoned or physically injured or something. We will

  never die of old age.”

  His voice lowered, “What about Magic?

  “I don’t know,” I whispered.

  “So we could still die.”

  “You’re f
orgetting that we have Magic, too.” I

  looked at him. “That we’re stronger than he is.”

  He looked at me, and after a moment he spoke. “We have to keep this a secret, don’t we?” I nodded solemnly.

  “We can’t tell anyone. Not our closest confidants,

  not our parents.”

  We looked back at the forest below us.

  “How have you kept this to yourself since you

  found out?”

  “Not very easily. When I went downstairs after I

  found out, I was so close to telling my parents a thousand

  times. I know they wouldn’t tell anyone, but their

  reaction isn’t something I want to deal with right now.” I

  sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I’ve been

  going through so much lately and I just couldn’t figure

  out how to phrase it. Not to mention that every time

  we’ve been together, there are people close enough to

  overhear.”

  He shook his head.

  “It’s fine. I get why you didn’t tell me; I wouldn’t

  have been able to tell you right away, either.”

  I looked up at the sky, seeing the countless

  number of stars.

  “Do you think anyone out there knows?” I felt him look at me briefly and then up at the

  sky.

  “Knows who we are?”

  “Yeah. . . Like other kings and queens. Ones that

  had a choice in ruling. Do you think the Council told

  them? That they’d help us if we asked them to?” I took a

  breath. “That they’d even like us?”

  “Someone would have to be out of their mind not

  to like you, Em,” he mumbled.

  I forced myself not to look at him, but not

  blushing was out of the question. I was thankful it was

  dark.

  I looked at the moon, checking the time. “We should get back; it’s getting late.”

  Zach looked, too, and nodded, getting to his feet.

  Before I was able to get up, he was offering me his hand.

  I hesitated for only a second, but then took it. He pulled

  me up to stand, and our breaths hitched. Our faces were

  inches from each other, just as they were a few hours