Chrysalis: The Emergence of Emery (The Gifted Series Book 1) (16 page)

“I’ll meet you in a few hours.” I hear Kade’s voice as I rouse from sleep. My head turns and my eyes immediately seek him out, even though the room is almost pitch black. His back is to me and he’s on the phone.

Blinking I do a quick scan of our surroundings. It’s another hotel, that’s clear within the first five seconds. Bathrobes hung up ready for use, a room service menu sits on the cabinet next to the bed I’m in, and I can see a couple of doors leading off to the bathroom and balcony no doubt, as I twist my head I spot the exit. It’s a basic room, not as opulent as the one Elijah and I stayed in, but clean and warm and most importantly this room contains Kade, and that’s all I need to consider any place home.

I glance down at my body and see I’m still in my jeans and hoodie. My eyes wander back to the bathrobes, and I almost groan out loud with the thought of having a warm bubble bath. Pulling my hoodie over my head I raise my butt and pull the jeans down my thighs, slipping them over my feet before leaning away from the bed and chucking them on the floor next to me. As I twist back into a sitting position Kade is facing me. He’s like a statue, the only reason that I know something awful hasn’t happened to him is because his eyes are blazing golden. I look down at myself—a navy blue lacy bra and matching boy shorts are the only things covering me right now. I gulp as I open my inner-self to him. His feelings flood me. Desire being the most potent, followed closely by a hunger and then love. The hairs on my body stand with anticipation, waiting for him to do what his eyes so clearly display.

“Kade,” I whisper. My word breaks his fixed position and he bites his bottom lip.

“Gotta go,” he talks into the phone before throwing it to one side like it’s acid in his hand.

“Princess, it’s taking everything in me to stay over this side of the room right now. I’m strong, I’m good at restraining myself… but right now, with you looking like that, I’m on the edge and this isn’t somewhere we’re ready to go yet.” He closes his eyes and shakes his head slightly.

I realize that this is hard for him. All his focus is on keeping me safe. I’ve just come out of the hospital and we’ve immediately escaped a fight which saw his home burnt to the ground, and on top of that Miles and Sicily are still missing.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You wanted a bath, right? That’s all this was.” His reply is warm, comforting.

“You knew that?”

“You were thinking about having a bath,” he tells me.

“Oh. I didn’t realize I was thinking out loud.”

Kade ignores my comment and walks toward me, his eyes changing back to hazel. He grabs a robe on the way, slipping it over my shoulders upon reaching me, and I thread my arms through the holes, wrapping it around my body so I’m covered.

“We need to discuss what happened earlier,” he says, and I can still hear the need in his voice.

I hold my hand up to him. “Nuh-uh, we need to discuss the fight, the fire, the fact that Miles and Sicily are missing, and the secret old lady that died in the fire,” I reply counting each thing off on my fingers.

Kade takes my hand in his, then raises his other one swiping it down my face capturing my chin in his fingertips. “Princess, please trust me. Everything you’re asking I will explain. But for right now, I’m leading my family, I
know
all that information. What I
need
to know, before I make my next move and possibly endanger everyone, is what happened with you.”

My shoulders slump on a sigh as I realize he’s right. And I hate that. I’m sick of always waiting to be told, being kept in the dark is starting to grate on me, but I’m also acutely aware that we haven’t got time to talk about it now. “Someone was communicating to me in my head.”

His body stills, his eyes more alert than before, which I didn’t think was possible. “More,” he growls through his teeth.

“Stop growling at me, I know it’s your signature thing but it’s not my fault,” I snap.

He grumbles but shakes his head
,
sitting on the bed. “Emery.” His one word holds the demand in his tone.

“It was the woman that died in the fire.”

“You knew about her?” he questions tilting his head.

“No. I mean not before, I knew something was strange upstairs in that house as I always felt a tingle when I passed her door, but nobody explained what that was.” I search his face for a tell, anything to show what he’s thinking, but he keeps everything locked up tight as usual. “When she started talking in my head, it was like she placed the information in there, too. I can’t explain it, except to say that suddenly I knew she was the woman who gave me the tingles and she died tonight in that fire.”

“Mary-Ann… that was her name,” he says, and I sit a little straighter waiting for him to continue. “What happened next?” His words jolt me as I realize he’s not going to continue with any sort of explanation.

I roll my eyes before continuing, “She told me she was the Convergence.”

“Dammit,” Kade hisses out.

“What?”

“Nothing. Carry on,” he tells me.

Shaking my head, and more confused than ever, I explain what I saw. Once I’m finished Kade says nothing for a minute
,
instead staring down at the bed as though transfixed. Then his head flicks up suddenly, and he studies me. “The Convergence is someone who evolves superficially into having similar characteristics as those with gifts, but only when they’re in the same environment. Basically, she was a non-gifted human who evolved into having powers,” he tells me.

“But, I mean, isn’t that what we’ve all done? We’re human after all. We must have all come from non-gifted humans at some point, right?” I ask.

“I don’t know. As I have explained before, we don’t know enough of our history to be sure how we came to be. What I do know is the Convergence is one person, dark or light, good or bad. There can only ever be one. From what you’ve explained in your vision, Mary-Ann was a child whose family was killed by the dark. Our ancestors took her in, and she became the Convergence. It could be as simple as she was in the right place and time, or it could be that it was in a host waiting to jump and she was just lucky or unlucky, depending on how you look at it.”

“So what’s so special about the Convergence? I mean, firstly, you make it sound like this only happens if someone non-gifted lives with gifted people for an extended period. Then in the next breath the way you describe it… you make it sound like its own entity,” I ask, biting my lip, trying to hide my concern.

Kade shakes his head at me. “The Convergence is what the person becomes, but as I said, there is only one. Otherwise, the dark would be kidnapping humans left and right to live with them. To become like them. The person evolves into the Convergence, but that person has to be chosen. I don’t understand it fully. What I do know is, when a person is the Convergence, they are very strong, and can use power at will from anyone within their vicinity.” He stands and walks over to the window, closing it before joining me back on the bed.

“Mary-Ann was very old, over one hundred years. As the Convergence she could have lived for even longer. You know if we’re not killed then our lifespan is often at least one hundred and twenty years, if not more. A Convergence can live three of our lifetimes.”

My eyes widen at his words and he nods reading my expression.

“That is a lot of destruction if there were a dark Convergence,” he tells me rubbing the back of his neck. “Mary-Ann chose to keep herself hidden so she didn’t use our powers. But she wasn’t stupid, she lived with me, knowing I was the strongest. She was safer with me than anyone else. Still, she kept hidden even within the house.”

I feel his overwhelming sorrow at her loss and I reach over grabbing his hand in mine. We both know, without any words, what the other is feeling. Pulling my hand to his mouth he kisses my knuckles and as he does his eyes alight, just for a second. Not letting go of my hand his thumb explores mine.

“When there’s no Convergence, the seed—or whatever it is that turns someone into a Convergence in the first place—finds a host.” He stops and clenches his jaw. “When this seed chooses someone, it’s based on purity. Pure good or pure evil. It’s not biased. I would assume that it chose Mary-Ann because she was a child and therefore pure. Until that point, it had to sit with someone. You mentioned Kalciffer, he was my great-great-grandfather and from what I know of my family tree, he was a leader and a good man. It is entirely possible that he was carrying the seed. However, he should have known, if that is the case then he would’ve taken in Mary-Ann knowing what she would become—”

I interrupt him. “No, she told me that they didn’t know what would happen.”

“That doesn’t mean that they didn’t. She would
not
have been aware of their knowledge and Kalciffer was very strong, able to withstand mind invasion amongst other things,” he returns.

“Hmm, so I see where you get your abilities from,” I complain arching my eyebrow and thinking about how he locks me out from seeing inside of him sometimes.

He smiles but then mumbles, “If it were me, I would probably have done the same, based on the fact that I could raise and protect the child and guide them in the ways of the light.” Kade is talking more to himself than me now, it’s like he’s thinking aloud, but his words make me pull my hand away. He looks between our hands at the broken connection and back to my eyes with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

“Why would anyone burden an innocent young girl with that? How can that be something that someone of the light would do?” I snap, flustered and frustrated with everything, and aware that I’m taking it out on Kade but unable to stop myself.

“It would be the best thing for everyone, Emery,” he replies and I say nothing while I sit glaring at him. “Emery, the Convergence will
kill
a gifted person if it stays within them for too long.” My head jerks at his omission and I’m lost for words. “Not only that but had Mary-Ann been left, the dark beings would have found and killed her. She was safer becoming the Convergence because much like you are learning with your own powers, the Convergence would protect her without her realizing it.” I find myself nodding to his revelation this time, my brain catching up and ready to chastise my over active imagination.

“Emery, I need to know what it said to you.” His words are quieter this time, and before I can ask why he lowers his voice further. “We cannot trust that someone isn’t listening, after your recent hospital visit I cannot trust that your mind is at full strength, your thoughts may be overheard. This is important so we will speak as quiet as possible, okay?”

I nod. “She said, ‘It’s you, accept yourself.’”

Kade closes his eyes running his palm down his face. Then getting up, he grabs the lamp next to the bed and throws it across the room. I startle, and my heart accelerates as I fling my arms out. Suddenly a blue light blasts from my fingertips and catches the lamp in a bubble just millimeters from the wall.

Kade stares at me for a second. “Emery, you’re tapping into my ability to slow things down without even trying.”

I look between him and the lamp and slowly lower it to the floor. “Why did you throw it?” I ask him quietly.

His jaw works as he says nothing, then stiffly he moves forward before dropping to his knees on the floor beside me. I twist on the bed to face him and he lays his head in my lap. “It’s chosen you to be its host.” His words are sorrow filled and I swallow my emotion, locking it up inside as I reach my hand out and run it through his hair. “It’s because you’re both pure and strong, Emery. It chose you.”

“But you’re strong and pure, too, Kade. Why didn’t it choose you?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I think there was already a connection. You said you had tingles when you passed her room, right?” he asks.

“Yeah, but Elijah had them, too,” I state with a shrug.

Kade looks up from my lap. “It picks the strongest. You’re stronger than Elijah, princess,” he tells me with what sounds like a hint of pride. “I don’t think it’s inside you yet. I believe you’ll know when it is, but it’s only a matter of time. Days… it could be less.” His voice is pained again and I feel inside him. Closing my eyes I reach in and imagine myself coating his pain with a balm. A sharpness pierces my heart and I instantly stop.