Chrysalis: The Emergence of Emery (The Gifted Series Book 1) (12 page)

If I could still use my powers, I’d be able to feel if she was still breathing.

Turning to me he grins coldly. “Now it’s your turn.”

I close my eyes and try to keep my breathing calm. Not able to feel anything I’m surprised when a warmth flows through my chest, a soft heat that can only mean one thing.

He’s here.

My eyes struggle to take in the sight before me without my powers, as everything is so quick. But then, with a rush, I realize Iric is captured by Kade, his gold light is twisting in the air, making a whirlpool and all my power rushes back to me now Iric doesn’t have me in his hold. Kade’s eyes glow gold, and I’m momentarily mesmerized. Watching him, I miss his shouts.

“Emery!” he bellows, and I snap from my trance. “Leave.
Now.
Take Isobel with you. Go out through that door and follow the corridor. When you get to the window… jump. Don’t look down. Then call to Elijah, he
will
come.”

I sit there just staring, once again feeling my heart pick up speed as my chest pulses with feelings for this man.

“Emery… please go,” he implores. I can hear and feel his panic building up, he’s worried about me and it snaps me into action. Grabbing Isobel as Iric shouts garbled
,
muffled words which I can’t make out, I run at speed out of the door, down the corridor and I only stop upon reaching the window. Looking out my stomach drops at the sight. I’ve never been good with heights and this looks like at least a sixty-foot drop. Isobel moves and murmurs on my shoulder and that thankfully pulls my thoughts into a good place, now I know she’s still alive.

Kade will only ever protect me.

Remembering that, I yank the window open, close my eyes and take a leap. Instantly, I land and spin around to see the window right behind me. It was an illusion. The window was actually on the ground floor. Dropping Isobel at my feet my stomach pulls me toward Kade. I know he’s fighting but I can’t feel much, which is a good thing... I think. Shouting for Elijah, it takes no more than ten seconds for him to appear.

“Emery. Thank God.” He sags forward and his fear infuses me, showing just how worried he truly was. “Let’s get you both away from here.”

“But Kade,” I say looking back through the window.

“He’ll be fine,” Elijah says frowning.

“No. Take her, I’m waiting for him.”

Don’t try and stop me. I mean it.
I purposely push the thought to him.

He needs to know I’m deadly serious. Elijah grinds his teeth but nods grabbing Isobel, he then turns and with a gust of wind he’s gone.

I pace back and forth not knowing whether to go back in or not. A minute passes and I’ve had enough, I hoist myself into the window and with one leg on either side Kade appears in the hallway.

“What the hell are you doing?
”
he snaps.

“Don’t you snap at me! I was worried,” I shout.

His frown drops and he chuckles. “You were worried about me?”

His turnaround surprises me, and I open and close my mouth not knowing what else to say. He walks up to me then stops, looks down but says nothing.

“What?” I ask.

“Well, could you maybe move out of the window so I can get out?” He grins.

“Oh. Yeah, okay,” I mumble, climbing back out the window. I walk off and within seconds Kade is next to me. I feel his warmth deep in my stomach and it causes butterflies.

“I was worried about you, too,” he says seriously.

“I’m sorry. I went with them out of choice, I trusted my gut, thought they were good. I’m seeing my gut can’t be trusted.”

“That’s not true. Iric and Isobel are good. Iric lost his other half—”

“Pith,” I correct him.

“What?”

“They told me the correct term for your
other half
is Pith. It means your core or essence,” I explain.

“That makes sense,” he mumbles. “Either way, Iric lost her. Sandrine. She was killed only six months ago. He’s suffering, I have no doubt when his head clears he’ll feel awful.”

“What?” I shriek, causing Kade to stop and pull me to face him.

“What’s wrong, Emery?” His eyebrows cave inward, as concern washes over his face and swirls in my stomach.

“He wanted to end me, and you’re saying he’ll feel better when
he
his head clears?”

Kade scowls and works his
j
J
aw. “He was never going to end you. If I’d had to, I would have killed him first. But I know him, he’s a good man. When people lose their other… Piths. It can make them crazy, and some do join the darkness unable to see clearly anymore. It’s why a lot of us choose not to be with our Piths,” he tells me. Then he stares at his feet and wraps his hands around the back of his neck. I feel his pain coursing through me. Either he isn’t masking it anymore, or I’m getting stronger because I feel everything, all his hurt, his anguish, it’s all wrapped up in me.

“I-I… ” My babbling stops as I collect my thoughts. “I’m hurting you by being here. You can’t help your feelings, maybe it’s worse… me being near you?” His head snaps up to me, but I place my palm up asking him non-verbally to wait until I’ve finished. “I feel it, remember? I hate that I’m doing it to you. Your pain is my pain, you know? Because you’re my Pith,” I say smiling, trying to break the ice.

“If you feel the pain, do you also feel how much I care, Emery?” he grits out and it’s confusing because he looks angry but I can feel his heartbeat picking up as he steps to me.

“No,” I answer.

“You block it out, that’s why you only feel the pain,” he says pushing his hand into my hair at the back of my head.

Whatever he thinks and whatever he says, I know his feelings for me are all a fabrication of an ancient tradition or spell… or maybe it’s a curse. Either way, they aren’t genuine.

“You feel the way you do because you have been built to or cursed to… or something. Don’t you see, Kade? Whatever it is, I know one thing… it’s not real.”

He steps back and lets his hand drop. “You just don’t get it do you?”

I shake my head, my own confusion fills my chest now.

“I first saw you when I was thirteen, I’ve had nearly eight years to shut myself off from you, from the feelings we’re
supposed
to feel. I could have moved away, I could have turned away from you, I still could. When we meet our Piths, we don’t love them because we’re
told
to, or because our body
makes
us. Yes, we have a natural reaction to them, they are after all our perfect fit. But if we couldn’t live without them then nobody would ever choose not to be with them, and I can tell you, Emery, there are more people these days who decide
not
to travel that road. It’s because it makes us vulnerable. The truth is we
can
live without the other person. We can. I can.
You
can. The more time I’ve spent with you after all these years of just watching has made me realize that I don’t
want
to be away from you. I’ve been trying to push you away from the beginning.” He sighs and starts walking. I quickly catch up to him, but he remains silent leading us to a bench and sitting down. I sit too, then turn slightly to face him.

“There are reasons I tried to push you away, it’s every reason I’ve ever said, but it’s also more. I’m the strongest, I fight a lot.” He grabs my chin and pulls my eyes to him. “A lot, Emery.”

Nodding I feel the weight of his words.

“This whole time I’ve been thinking about what I would feel like if I lost you, but it’s just as likely you’d lose me. I’m always on the front line when it’s needed, I could easily be killed. I don’t want you suffering that pain.” He drops his hand and closes his eyes, and I wrap my fingers around his hand, making him open it back up.

I stare into his eyes, the deep hazel pools are filled with emotion. I decide it’s time to open up. “What I feel, what’s growing every day inside me… it’s real. Completely real. I’ve been trying to deny it, knowing you don’t want me.” Saying it out loud makes me catch my breath. This has been one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with since learning about this new world.

“Emery, this is me being totally honest. I can’t stop it anymore, it’s bigger than me
,
than us. It’s not an ancient prophecy telling me I should feel like this, it’s simply my heart screaming that you’re the one for me. I’m in love with you Emery, and there’s no alternative. I’m not fighting it, not anymore. I’m taking you, and I’m keeping you forever.”

I jolt, standing up suddenly. His words have shocked me. Kade stands, prowling forward, he clutches my upper arms and pushes me backward until I’m against a tree.

“Thought about this so much more than is healthy,” he says, slipping his hand around my neck before leaning in and kissing my mouth softly. The kiss builds like a slow burn until I thread my hands into his hair and then it turns frenzied. My whole body is warm and soft, and it feels like bubbles are rushing throughout me as
I
enjoy my first real kiss. Noticing, with every second, every breath, every moan, I can feel both of our emotions, entwined, mixed, fused with each other. Love being the strongest feeling of all.

Pulling away from me
,
Kade smiles and I try to bring my senses back into focus. “You feel it too, don’t you?” he asks, and I just nod knowing exactly what he means. “There’s a lot of crap swirling around us. But you have to know, Emery, it’s you and me against the world. I have to know you’re right here with me,” he states.

“Kade… I-I…” I look across the field we’re in, back to the house where Iric was and notice the flash of light. In a split second, I see Kade’s eyes widen, and he spreads himself wide to cover me. Then instantly, I’m immobilized. I try to scream but my voice is tied tight. Moving my eyes slightly, until they fall upon Kade, I see that he’s on the floor unmoving. He took the whole hit, straight to his back.

Looking back up into the face of a man I’ve never seen before. Cold, dark, heartless eyes stare at me and a feeling of death washes over my body.

“Block her vision and hearing. She’s Earthed, she isn’t strong enough to pull free yet, and Kade’s not a concern. Collect them both. We leave now.” There’s a click followed by a loud clash, and suddenly everything is dark and silent.

I’m in my head, somewhere I’ve been so many times before, but never like this, never forced. Now it’s scary and empty, and yet all I can think about is how I didn’t get the chance to tell Kade that I’m in love with him, too.

That I
am
his to keep.
Forever
.

Motherfu—
l

Kade?...Wait… what?

Emery.
The word is a whisper from him, but none of the words coming from either of us are spoken.

Kade, am I hearing your voice? Is this a dream?

My body throbs, I’ve been in my own head, I’m not sure for how long but it’s been killing me. Finally, I know he’s okay
,
unless it’s not real.

It’s me, I’m able to reach you with my mind.

What? How?

There isn’t time to explain right now. Just answer me one question.

Okay
.

Do you trust me?

Yes.
My response is instant because everything in me knows instinctively that I trust him one hundred percent.

Good. I want you to feel inside of you. Feel deep down, search for your power, it’s there. What they’ve done to you has placed your body into a kind of sleep-like state. You need to look past the darkness inside your mind, the black that you can see right now is only a cover. Locate the light that’s hidden, and imagine it getting bigger.

I search inside myself and feel like if anyone knew what I was doing, what I was searching for, they would undoubtedly question my sanity.

It’s not working.
I whine.

Emery, concentrate. You can hear me… can you feel me?

I imagine Kade in my mind. Extremely tall, with a beautiful body, one I’ve felt up close but never seen. Dark, almost black hair with deep hazel eyes, then I see them in their golden state.

Suddenly, I can feel emotion beyond my own, fear, worry, anxiousness, but it’s his and it’s all for me, for my safety. Anger bubbles on top of it, so much anger he’s ready to kill someone. Again, it’s all because they have me, he doesn’t want them to hurt me. His fear pulses again, but there’s more. There’s an overwhelming river of love, flowing from him.

It’s all for me.
I stupidly think out loud.

What?

Nothing. I can feel you. You’re scared, angry, and worried about me.

Yes. I am. Now, take those feelings in again. Concentrate on them. Let the light come out.

Wishing I could sigh at his bossiness, but instead doing as he says, I feel him. Allowing his emotions to penetrate starts a whirl inside of me. Then I focus on his golden eyes. They get bigger—no,
closer
, much closer to my face, and they’re burning with love. It makes my heart skip then skip again. I hear his words from when we were at the tree, him admitting how he feels. As my emotions grow with his, my heart skips more beats. Then my mind moves to Kade being shot with power in the back—
skip skip
—him protecting me—
skip skip
—his body still on the floor—
skip skip skip
—not being able to tell him I love him too. My heart stops as a wall of darkness shatters, and light emerges through. I can’t breathe, spasms start in my chest and I feel like I’m falling, noises filter into my consciousness.

“Look! She’s slipping out of it.”

“This can’t be possible!”

“Re-earth her!
Now!
”

“I can’t, she’s too strong.”

“Re-earth her!” The words are bellowed as my heart stops skipping, it stops pulsing, the beats cease altogether, and I feel like I’m about to die.

Emery, listen to my voice, let me guide you.

Hearing Kade I try to pull myself back, but there’s something tugging me, something stronger, making my body shut down.

Emery, it’s you and me, don’t give up now. Fight baby, come back to me. I was scared of destroying you. Prove to me that you’re stronger than anyone knows. Take me, I’m yours.

Screaming silently, I force the darkness out from the inside and draw up the light, my eyes spring open and I only have a second to take in the three men in front of me before they push different colored flashes of power out of their hands. Their fear fills the room, draining it of oxygen. I look down at myself and see that I’m lit up. Blue and white light covers every inch of my body, and I’m hovering in the air like an electrified angel. When the bolts hit me they’re immediately absorbed by the light and that’s when they run. I raise my hand and a blue flash blazes from my palm, splits into three and hits all the men at the same time, they shatter into pieces like glass, then they disappear. My power stops, the light extinguishes and I gently lower until my feet hit the ground. I’m shaking so hard from exertion and fear.

“Kade…” I whisper but get no response.

Closing my eyes I try again.
Kade.
I think his name aloud repeatedly, still there’s no answer.

I start walking, trying to find my way out of wherever I am. The room I’m in is practically empty, except the bed I was laying on, a table, three chairs and a couple of doors. Trying handle one, I turn my nose up as the smell of three men sharing a bathroom hits me square in the face. I move to door two, turn the handle and peek outside tentatively.

Kade.
I think again while walking along the dark corridor.

There are no windows and if I were to place a wager I would say I’m underground. Passing a door I jump in fright as I see a woman. Freaking for a second, I raise my hands and blue flickers appear. It’s then I notice the woman has done the same, moving my left hand gently
,
my mind catches up with my eyes and I see it’s a mirror. I can almost hear my blood pumping in my ears as I move toward myself.

Cupping my chin, I’m confused, it’s not me, I look different. I’ve got auburn hair, not my normal bright blonde. My face is similar but not entirely the same, the eyes are not mine. The clothes I’m wearing cause me to take a step back and look down at myself. It’s then I realize these weren’t the clothes I had on, they must have changed me. Barely covering my body is a sheer nightgown, underneath is lingerie.

What were they going to do with me?

Backing up, I twist and start running through the corridors, every turn seems to lead me somewhere else and before I know it I’m back where I started.

Kade!
I scream in my head.

Then I walk back to start again. Making a different turn brings me somewhere I feel is new. However, the walls, the floors, the ceilings, everything looks the same. Then I see a sliver of light at the bottom of the wall opposite where I stand. My memory jumps back to the window, the illusion. Walking over and laying my hand on the wall, I close my eyes and push my hand, it melts into the brick. I try with my whole body and suddenly I’m through, the sun hits my face, but so does the fist that I didn’t see coming. Stumbling backward, I jerk to the right and luckily miss the next fist swinging at my face.

“You should be dead. Why are you here?” A man with scary crazy eyes shouts.

I back up slightly, then ask, “Who are you?”

“If you were alive, then why come back? Nobody will accept you now. You ruined us all. You should have let them in, let them take over, then we’d still have our House,” he shouts. His hair is blond, his eyes blue. Though right now they’re tinged with red, like someone on the edge. “You can’t even feel me anymore, can you? What have you been doing, and who with? It doesn’t matter… don’t tell me… I’m sorry, but you need to die now.”

He reaches toward me and I take a step back. “I have no idea who you are,” I tell him. His eyes narrow and he shoots a blue and red light out toward me. I don’t quite manage to move in time and it hits my neck, the pain forces me to my knees, then he steps forward and punches me in the jaw.

“I hate you,” he hisses and raises his hand. The light flickers across his fingers again and instinctively I put up my palm, my power zaps him, running up his arm. “What trickery is this?” he shouts holding his hand in the air. Just as he’s about to bring it down again, he’s tackled sideways and falls to the ground. Elijah is on top of him, punching and hurling abuse.

“Stop, son!” The man shouts and my insides freeze.

“Don’t call me, son!” Elijah hisses, but it’s obvious he knows this man. He knows this is our father and what’s more… he hates him. I can feel it.

“But Elijah—”

“No,” Elijah states, pulling himself off the disheveled man who’s still on the ground.

“But—”

“I said… no. Come on, Emery,” he says turning to me. I can’t pull my eyes away from the man in front of me, a man whose own eyes have widened, a man with a shocked expression that matches the pain and confusion racing through his body.

“She can’t be,” he whispers.

Elijah looks down to him. “She is. Look…” He clicks his fingers and I feel a coating being pulled off my body, I look down and see my hair is now back to natural blonde. I want to ask Elijah what that was, but he continues speaking. “No matter, though, you lost your chance with either of us when you never came back. Now you’re nothing, we don’t need you. Go clean up their mess, be nothing more than a lowly scout, or messenger, or whatever else they have you do. You sold out, father, and when you did you hung our asses out there. We were kids but you still didn’t hesitate. Now you have what you want.” He turns back to me holding his hand out.

“But you looked just like your mother,” the man whispers to me.

I touch my face and feel pain piercing Elijah. “Come, I’ll explain, later,” he says dragging me away. He quickly pulls me around a corner, and I try to pull back wanting to know what’s happening. Elijah faces me. “We have no time for explanations right now. Kade needs you.”

His words slam into my body and I close my eyes. The minute I do Kade’s face appears. He whispers my name and suddenly my insides throb, making me double over.

“Emery.” I drop to my butt and bring my knees up, deep breathing. “Emery, push through this, Kade needs you.”

I glance up at his face, concern evident in every pore. “What do you mean? You keep saying that.”

He sits next to me. “Emery, we don’t really have time for me to explain, so I’m going with the quick version.” Nodding I say nothing, allowing him to continue, “I found Kade. He’s not good. When he took that shot for you he was momentarily knocked out. That shot was a kill shot. Kade’s tough, though, so it’s gonna take more than that to take him out. When he was down they hit him with some other shit… fucking cowards.” Elijah works his jaw as my head starts hurting. I will myself to keep my emotions in check. “They tried to drain him, Emery, tried to take all his powers.” I suck in air, as an ache courses through me. “They didn’t succeed, he’s too strong for them all. So they all sat around taking pot shots while he was out—”

“How do you know this?” I ask.

“Because they knocked him out momentarily but he woke up, he just couldn’t move. When I found him he was able to tell us—”

“Us?” I interrupt him again.

“Yeah, me, Sicily, Tristan, Tess, Miles and Katarina. We all came. We needed everyone to help rescue Kade. When we disposed of the people in that room and he was able to speak, he was gradually gaining his strength back. It wouldn’t have been long until he would have taken all those guys out anyway, even without our help.” A flash of pain passes across his face.

“What happened?” I whisper as dread fills me.

“He asked after you, Em. He wanted to make sure you were okay. When I told him we hadn’t found you, that your emotions were untraceable for me, he lost his shit. Honestly, I’ve never seen him so on edge. He reached out to you. Em, you have to understand, him speaking to you in your head normally, not a problem, but they had put some kind of old time power on you, something even I don’t know about. It cloaked you, switched everything inside you off. To find you, to connect, he had to push through all the power that had been used to hide you. It took everything in him. All his power, all the strength he had, everything. He reached you, Em, he told us where you were, and managed to pull you out.” Elijah drops his head and grabs my hand.

“What Elijah? What aren’t you telling me?” Every hair on my skin is on end. There is something coming, something I don’t want to hear.

“He’s not got long, Em, he used whatever he had left to save you. He’s… nearly gone.” Elijah’s voice breaks and there’s an ear-splitting scream circling us. It’s so loud it makes me feel like my body is about to shatter.