Enduring Light (10 page)

“Hmm? Explain what?”

“Even before we knew she was the Essence, Charlotte was always good at reading people.”

Hearing dad talk so much was weird. I was used to him being quiet all the time. “I guess. I never really thought about it.”

“Here comes the snow.” Samantha leaned over me to point out the window. Large flakes fell from the sky.

“How bad is it going to get, Talen?” Evidently, Dad was ready to trust Talen on the storm thing.

“Bad. We will need to stop.”

Dad and Monty exchanged glances. “Let’s try to get a little further. There’s a town about thirty miles from here where we may be able to stop.”

“We will see if we make it that far.” Talen looked out the window, and I had a feeling he was tuning out the rest of us. I wondered if his animal side helped him sense trouble. If so, I was freaked out. The tension rolling off him was palpable.

The heavy flakes became a steady stream until it was impossible even to see out the window. There was something foreboding about it. With everything else we were dealing with, we also had to fight a storm.

 
“I don’t know how much farther I can drive in this.” Dad hunched over the wheel, trying to see through the small clear spot left by the windshield wipers. His Yukon had four-wheel drive and chains on the tires, but the roads were in rough shape.

Monty pressed his face against the glass of the window. “We need to find some sort of shelter.”

I put an arm on the back of the seat behind Samantha. “Now this is when I really wish Charlotte was here.”

Talen laughed. “No kidding. Your sister has some serious power when it comes to controlling the weather.”

“I still can’t quite imagine it. Charlotte controlling weather?” Dad gripped the wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

“Believe it. She’s really something else.” Monty spoke of Charlotte with such admiration. She’d really stepped up to the challenge, and I thought we were all a little surprised by how far she’d come.

Talen tapped on his window. “Stop. I see something.”

Dad stepped on the brakes, causing the car to swerve. I instinctively reached for Samantha, pulling her against me. With only a lap belt, she was most at risk. For the second time, I regretted not offering to take that seat. Thankfully, Dad was able to bring the car to a stop safely. I still couldn’t see anything. The air was all just a whirl of white.

 
“Let’s make a run for it.” Dad pushed open his door without waiting for the rest of us to agree.

Talen popped open his door, letting in a heavy dose of snow and wind. I still hadn’t let go of Samantha, and I pretty much pulled her out my door. She didn’t fight me, or if she tried, I didn’t notice. We pushed our way through the snow to a building I could barely discern from its glowing light. The snow and wind stung my face, and I did my best to block Samantha from the brunt of it as she leaned into my side.

I heard the jangle of a door opening and hoped we were almost there. Finally, we stumbled through a doorway. A wave of warm air hit us as we walked in. It took me a second to react. My eyes were practically frozen shut.

“Dear Lord, how did you even find this place?” A middle-aged man stood up from his stool behind a desk. By the keys hanging behind him, I deduced we’d somehow managed to find a motel.

“Do you have any rooms available?” Dad brushed a coating of snow off his shirt. The flakes joined the rest of the snow that was currently creating a puddle of water on the floor.

“Yes. I have three rooms available. Two adjoining on the ground floor and one on the second.”

Dad pulled out his wallet. “We’ll take them all. What do we owe you?”

“Nothing tonight. I’d give you a room even if you had no money.” The man looked at Samantha when he said it. It wasn’t in a skeevy way, more like he was actually concerned.

“Thank you,” I said quickly. We’d seriously lucked out. We easily could have ended up stranded on the side of the road somewhere. Even the best gear is hard to set up in a storm like that.

“How should we do the rooms?” Monty asked. “Kevin and Talen together?”

“I want Kevin to stay with me.” Samantha kept her eyes on the floor as she spoke.

I thought my heart would stop. “Really?” Had she just asked me to share a motel room with her? Maybe things weren’t all that bad.

“Kevin, can I have a word?” Monty gestured for me to join him off to the side.

I swallowed my annoyance and followed, not willing to make a scene. I also ignored the smirk Talen was shooting me. “What?”

Monty looked me square in the eye. “Don’t do something stupid. She’s from Energo. She’s innocent. If you sleep with her, you unite with her, which is more serious than marriage. You got it?”

“She just wants me around so she’s not alone.” I hoped it was more than that, but I wasn’t going to admit it.

“Just remember that, Kevin. I’ll make sure of it myself.”

I nodded, positive I didn’t want to know how he planned to force me to unite with someone. “Got it.” First Mom, then Monty. What kind of jerk did they all think I was?

We walked back over to where everyone else waited at the desk.

Samantha was already holding a key. “We’re upstairs. The owner says it’s nicer.”

The man smiled. “It’s got the best bathroom.”

I nodded and asked her, “You ready to go back out there?”

“I’m ready to get it over with.”

Chapter Twelve

Charlotte

Icentris sounded pretty good at the moment. The thought of ice—or anything cold—taunted me as I wiped sweat off my forehead. I had known the desert would be hot, but after a full day of traveling, I’d just about had it.

“Are you feeling ill?” Calvin asked.

As nice as it was to be close to him, sharing a horse was only making me feel hotter. “I’m fine.” I rolled up my sleeves.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

“It is my job to worry.”

I turned to look at him. “No. It’s your job to protect me. Those are two different things.”

He brushed his hand against my cheek. “You are so beautiful it is hard to believe you are real.”

I felt blood rush to my face. He’d said nearly the same thing the night before—when I wasn’t wearing clothes. “Thank you.”

He moved his hand to my shoulder. “If only we weren’t on a horse...”

Liam coughed loudly. “If you two are done doing what you’re doing, we have things to discuss.”

Calvin squeezed my shoulder as I turned to face forward. “What is it that you want to discuss?”

Liam turned away when I looked at him. “We’re lost. Maybe we should discuss that.”

“What makes you think we are lost?” Calvin gazed out at the barren landscape.

Liam used his shirt to wipe his face. The action gave me a brief look at his toned stomach. “Let’s see. We’ve been traveling for at least twelve hours, yet the end still isn’t in sight.”

“It is a big desert.” Calvin kept the horse moving at a slow trot.

“How much further do you think the mountains are?” Henry asked tentatively. I had a feeling that’s the way Guardians were supposed to speak to the Gerard.

“We should be close. We cannot be far from the river.”

“A river in the desert?” Liam asked.

Calvin nodded. “Yes. There is only one I know of.”

“At least it’s going to get cold soon.” I figured focusing on the positive side was the only worthwhile thing I could do.

“Why would it get cold?” Calvin asked.

“It’s a desert. Don’t deserts get cold at night?” I looked at Liam again. He’d agree with me. I was never good at science stuff, but surely I was remembering that detail right.

“Not this one,” Henry said.

“Oh. So it’s going to stay this hot all night?”

“It will not feel quite as oppressive when the sun goes down.” Calvin handed me a canteen.

I savored the last few drops in it. “I hear water.” The sound was faint, but I knew I heard it.

“Are you sure?” Henry asked.

“Yes.”

Calvin ran a hand down my arm. “Can you lead us there?”

“I think so.”

“Without tapping into any energy,” he added.

“It would be easier if—”

“Please, Charlotte. It is too dangerous.” He took the empty canteen from me and stowed it in the saddle bag.

“Okay, I can do it by just concentrating, I think.” I closed my eyes and focused only on finding the source of the sound. “It’s that way.” Without opening my eyes, I pointed. The more time I spent in Energo, the more connected I felt to the world. I could practically feel the water flowing. Confident we were heading the right way, I opened my eyes.

“Okay, let’s go.” Liam took the lead.

We rode for a while longer. The heat had become unbearable.

“I see it!” Calvin cried, speeding up our horse.

As soon as the water came into view, everyone’s morale improved. It was an oasis, a river in an otherwise barren desert.
 
We all dismounted and ran to the river’s edge. We refilled our canteens and drank immediately. The cool liquid tasted like heaven flowing down my throat. I gulped down one whole canteen full then refilled it. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get enough to drink.

Henry moved onto his third refill. “I never imagined water could taste so good.”

“I agree.” I fell back onto the sand. With water in me, the hot sand didn’t feel quite so punishing.

“You are exhausted.” Calvin wasn’t asking a question as he stretched out next to me. Unlike the rest of us, he seemed fine. He was tired but no more than usual. Sometimes, he seemed superhuman, and I guessed he was. As the Essence, I had unique powers, and he had his own set of abilities designed to assist him in protecting me, as if he was my own personal superhero.

I attempted to nod. “Yes.”

“I want you to stay here with Liam and Henry. I am the only one who still has strength, so I will find the source of the river. We cannot waste time or energy taking the wrong path through the mountains.” He moved to his knees.

I reached out to hold his hand. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I will be back before you sleep. I promise I will be right beside you.” His eyes were so full of longing. He had to know there wasn’t a chance I was fooling around with him near Liam and Henry, but I had awakened a side of him. He’d awakened a side in me too. I felt even closer to him. I wanted to be near him. I needed him next to me.

He glanced over at where Henry and Liam lay sprawled out on the bank of the river. “I would send one of the other two, but I think they may be almost as exhausted as you are.”

I laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will. I will know if you need me.” He pulled my necklace out from under my shirt and touched each pendant. “I am ready for us to find peace. I am ready for you to wear that necklace proudly. I am done with this sneakiness. We belong in Bellgard.”

“I agree completely.” I pulled him down to kiss me without worrying about Liam watching us.

He kissed me back hungrily, deepening the kiss, but then stopped suddenly. “If we continue this way, I will never leave.”

“Go. That way you can get back sooner.”

He laughed. “At least I know you will miss me.”

I didn’t miss the glance he shot Liam. Even the fact that I had given myself to him fully didn’t completely assuage his jealousy. I couldn’t blame him, but I didn’t know what to do.

Calvin left, leaving me with an empty feeling. I unrolled my sleeves, tired of having the fabric bunched up on my arms. I heard a splash and looked over to see that Henry and Liam had jumped into the river.

Alarmed, I sat up and yelled, “What are you doing?”

 
“We’re cooling off and washing off the sand.” Liam smiled. “Care to join us?” He pulled off his shirt, rinsed it, and tossed it onto the sand.

Henry did the same thing. I wasn’t surprised when they moved onto their pants. I was glad Henry had picked up on our custom of underwear. Seeing him naked wasn’t something I had any interest in.

The offer to join them was one that seemed almost too good to pass up. Hot, sandy, and sticky, I could picture how amazing the water would feel. Still, unlike the guys, I couldn’t just swim in underwear.

Liam seemed to read my thoughts. “Come on, Char. You wear bikinis, don’t you? Your bra isn’t any worse.”

Henry nudged him. “I think Calvin might have a different opinion.”

“And Calvin isn’t here. She’s hot and wants to clean off.”

The water looked so cool, and all the sand was starting to get uncomfortable.
After another moment’s hesitation, I gave in to the sheer need for relief.
 
“Can you guys turn around?”

 
“Sure.” They both turned away.

Liam was right about the bikini thing, but that felt different. A bikini was supposed to be worn in public. A white cotton bra—not so much.

“No peeking.” I slipped off my boots then stripped off my shirt and pants. I brought my clothes down to the edge of the water to rinse them out.

Henry laughed. “No offense, Charlotte, but I have no desire to see you naked, or to deal with Calvin if I did.”

“I’m not naked!” I quickly submerged myself in the river. The water immediately cooled me off.

Liam turned. “Not completely.” His eyes zeroed in on what he could see of my chest above the water line.

“Swimming in my clothes would defeat the purpose of cleaning up.”

Liam smiled. “I don’t have a problem with it.” He joked around a lot but not usually about my lack of clothing. He treaded water next to me. “So you never told us, what did the message from Ruth say?”

“What do you mean I never told you? I told you we had to look in the swamps.”

“That’s all she said?” Liam asked skeptically. “That would be a really short message.”

“Some things should stay between Essences.”

Henry grinned. “Yeah, I am certain that is what happened.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’ve gotten mighty sure of yourself since I first met you, Henry Ashwell. Don’t forget I have powers.”

“Powers you cannot use right now.”

“It would be easy to do—”

Liam swam over closer to me. “Are you threatening us?”

“Me? Would I ever threaten someone?”

Henry splashed me. “You threaten Kevin all the time.”

I splashed him back before pulling the leather tie out of my hair. I leaned back to get my hair wet. “That’s because he’s my brother. You and I are not related.”
 

Liam moved behind me. “Do you need help?”

“Help with what?”

“Your hair. You have a lot of sand in it.” Without waiting for an answer, he took my hair in his hands and started to wash out some of the sand.

There was something so intimate about the action that it made me nervous. I jerked away slightly. “I can do it myself.”

“There’s no reason to.” His voice was soft, almost like a whisper.