Not Your Average Happy Ending (11 page)

Kendall

It had been a long day and I was exhausted. Instead of taking me home, Ash took me back to his place. I was happy to be with just him for once. We hadn’t been alone together for a long time.

“You should probably change your shirt,” I said, as Ash washed his face in his sink. He was covered in dirt and holes had been torn in his shirt from the dragon’s claws. It looked like his arms had been singed by dragon fire as well. I shivered. He could have been killed.

He looked in the mirror and frowned. “Yep. You’re right.” He pulled his shirt off and threw it in the garbage next to him. He shot me a smile and wandered to his closet to look for another shirt.

I watched him, not realizing my mouth was hanging open. I’d forgotten how beautiful his wings were. Not to mention his toned chest and abs. Really? How could I forget
that
?

He came back in, two shirts in his hands. “Blue or red?”

I giggled. “You’re really asking me for clothing advice?”

“I just wanted to take you somewhere nice tonight. I’ve kind of had a rough day. I almost got eaten by a dragon, and all I want to do is spend the rest of the day with you. Just us.” He smiled and turned, his silver wings nearly touching the doorframe of the closet. “I need a little break. Is that okay?”

“Yes.” A break from our crazy lives would be nice. I’d rather do anything than think about Dax or dragons or magic. “Blue,” I said. “It matches your eyes.”

“You got it.” He came back in, the blue shirt thrown over his shoulder. He glanced in the mirror again, checking a cut on his chest before turning toward me. He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

I didn’t realize I was staring at him again. I couldn’t help it. He was so hot. And mine. It shouldn’t have been real. Me and him. His flawless body and my scarred one. It still didn’t make any sense. “Uh…nothing.” I blushed and turned away.

He walked over and sat next to me on his bed. “What is it?”

I forced myself to turn and look at him, keeping my eyes on his face instead of his body. “I still can’t believe you’re real sometimes.” I reached out, sliding my finger down the edge of one of his wings. I smiled as he shivered.

“They still don’t weird you out?”

“Are you kidding? I told you they were beautiful and I was serious.” I slid my finger down his wing again, admiring the silver swirls. I wondered what it would be like to have wings of my own. I’d always wanted to fly.

His silver blue eyes searched my face before he leaned forward and touched his lips gently to mine. “You’re the beautiful one,” he whispered before he deepened the kiss.

I slid my hands around his back, careful not to smash his wings. He said they were strong, but I still wasn’t convinced. It felt like I could tear them off if I touched them too hard.

“You can’t hurt them,” Ash said between kisses. Even though he claimed he couldn’t, I swear he could read my mind.

I pulled away, just for a second and smiled. “I still don’t believe you, you know.”

He laughed. “Of course not.” His eyes twinkled, looking lighter than usual. Just like they looked when we first met.

“The gold is fading from your eyes,” I said, touching his face.

“Good.” He sighed. “I feel my whole countenance change when I use my magic lately. I don’t want to admit it…but it scares me. I refuse to turn dark like Dax. Or Linkin. They may be powerful, but it’s a dark kind of powerful. I won’t let my magic control me.”

I placed a hand on his cheek. “I know you won’t.”

He hesitated and looked away. “How do you know? It feels good having that much power. What if I hurt someone?”

“I won’t let you.” I leaned forward and kissed him. I wondered why he tasted so good. I’d never asked him about it, but I was sure he’d laugh at me and not give me a straight answer. He loved to do that to me.

He pulled back, a grin spreading across his face. “We need to hurry if we want to make our reservations,” he said. “You keep distracting me.”

“Sorry,” I said, kissing him again.

“Not helping,” he said, kissing me back.

Danger is near.

I jumped and pulled away from Ash so fast I fell off the bed and onto the floor.

It was the voice. The one in my head.

“Kendall, what’s wrong?” Ash leaned down and grabbed my hand, pulling me into his arms.

“I…” I wasn’t sure what to tell him. He’d think I was crazy. I guess he had plenty of reasons to think I was crazy since he met me, but still. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

He searched my face and frowned. “Tell me.” He knew how bad of a liar I was.

I reached up and grabbed my necklace, feeling the heat that spread through my fingers. It was almost hot. I let go of it and flinched as it settled on my neck. The heat radiated through my body, warming me from the inside out. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was afraid to tell Ash. I looked up and gave him a fake smile as he watched me.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

I hesitated, but gave in. “I keep hearing voices. Uh…one voice I guess.” I swallowed. “In my head.” I looked away, not wanting to see the look on his face when he realized I really was crazy. The heat from the necklace faded and my body returned back to normal. Good. At least I could keep that to myself.

He surprised me as he gently touched my face and turned it so I was looking at him. The only emotion I could see was concern. “How long have you been hearing this voice?”

I gulped. I hated to think about it, but it was even worse when I had to say it. “Since Dax stabbed me.”

He leaned back, his expression deep in thought. “You don’t know who it is? You don’t recognize the voice at all?”

I shook my head. “No. I think it’s a protector of the necklace. At least, that’s what it seems like.”

“Protector?” He looked confused.

“I know it sounds crazy. I shouldn’t of–”

He lifted a hand. “No, you’re not crazy, but this doesn’t make any sense. How could the necklace have a protector? And if it does, why?” He paused. “What does the voice sound like?”

“It’s a woman. That’s all I know. She doesn’t speak very often though. I’ve only heard her three times I think. And when she speaks, the necklace gets hot.” I hesitated. “She just told me danger is near.”

“Wait. Right now?”

I shrugged. “I guess. Do you feel any different? Can’t you sense magic sometimes?” I knew he could. He always knew when Sam was about to appear. I usually could feel a change in the air as well, but not this time.

“Yes.” His body tensed and he closed his eyes as if listening to something. “I don’t feel anything right now though.”

I stood and moved away from him. He did think I was crazy. “Maybe I was just hearing things then. I tend to have an overactive imagination. I made you appear after all.”

“No, that was Logan and Shenelle’s doing. You had nothing to do with it, other than our personalities matched.”

“Oh.”

He was quiet for a long time, twisting his shirt in his hands. I didn’t interrupt him, just stared at the floor. All this was too much. I was basically dying, Ash was turning darker every time he used his magic and now he didn’t believe I was hearing voices. I guess I wouldn’t believe it either. It sounded so stupid now.

“I’m gonna go home for a while. I’ll see you later, okay?” I turned and put my hand on the doorknob, but Ash grabbed my other hand and tugged me toward him.

“I believe you, Kendall,” he said.

“You do?”

“I do. I don’t think you’re crazy, I don’t think you’re making it up. I believe you. So please don’t leave. We have a date after all.” He squeezed my hand and stood there, not saying a word. He was quiet for a long time.

“Ash? You okay?”

He shook his head. “I just don’t know what to do.” His mood darkened and a slight breeze teased the back of my neck. My heart ached for him as he let go of me and walked back over to the bed to sit down. He put his head in his hands and sighed. “I can’t find Dax, I don’t know what to do about my magic, and I…” He trailed off and looked up at me. “I don’t know how to save you.” His eyes filled with tears and he cleared his throat. “I don’t know what to do, Kendall. Tell me what to do.”

I walked over and put my arms around him, pulling him close. “I can’t tell you what to do, Ash, but I know everything will work out.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I do.” I leaned back so I could look into his eyes. “We’ve already gone through so much together, Ash. We’ll get through it.”

“I’m losing control. I didn’t want to admit it before, but I am.”

“You’ll figure it out. You told me yourself that you’re one of the most powerful people in your world. You just have to channel your power into something good and not bad. I think that’s why your father…or Linkin wants you. He wants to control you. Your power. You can’t let that happen.”

“I know. It won’t. I have no desire to be like him.”

“Good.”

He took my hands in his and kissed them. “I’m sorry for acting like a freaking baby.”

I chuckled. He’d seen me at my lowest more than once. “You’re not a baby.”

“Yes, I am. I don’t get discouraged very often, but when I do it’s pretty bad. Lately, it’s been horrible. I can’t stop worrying about everything. You, Dax, Logan. And then there’s Shenelle and Linkin. It’s all catching up to me and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“Everything’s going to be fine.” I gave him a quick kiss. “Why don’t we go to dinner and forget all this for a while. Then we’ll get Sam and Misty…and Glade I guess, and we’ll talk about our next move. From what you’ve told me about Linkin and Shenelle and even Dax, I think something big is going on.”

“I know something is. And it all revolves around that necklace.” He pointed to it and shook his finger like he was disciplining a child. “That
thing
is what’s driving me crazy. Usually I can figure things out. This is more than frustrating.”

I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “We’ll figure it out together.”

He tucked my hair behind my ear and I closed my eyes as his fingers trailed down the side of my face. He cupped my chin in his hand and gave me a quick kiss. “Thank you. For believing in me.”

“Always.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky. You’re amazing. You know that?”

I smiled. “You’re the one who can do magic.”

He grinned. “True.”

Ash

Dinner with Kendall was just what I needed to stop feeling like crap. She lightened the mood and made me forget why I was so stressed out. Even though it was only an hour or two, it was nice to stop worrying about everything for once.

As we drove back to her house, I couldn’t help but watch her in the driver’s seat, twisting a strand of her blonde hair around her finger as she talked about how school was going. She was so beautiful. And not just her looks. Her personality is what I fell in love with at first. Her cuteness was just a bonus.

There was one thing I couldn’t forget about though. I could tell by the way she walked and sometimes touched her side that she was in pain and getting weaker, but she never said a word about it. Kendall was like that though. She hid her emotions well and didn’t worry about herself. She only worried about people she loved.

“So, Cameron talked to me the other day,” she said, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.

My fists clenched. I hated Cameron. The stupid jock who Kendall used to like. He was a moron and I wasn’t shy about telling Kendall that. “What did he have to say?” I wasn’t jealous, just annoyed. Didn’t he get the hint that she wasn’t interested? She blew him off at Prom and everything. And she had a boyfriend. Me. Maybe I’d have to show up at his house one day and remind him.

She laughed. “Ash. Don’t worry about him. He knows how I feel. He actually asked me if Misty was available. A lot of guys have asked about her.”

“Did you tell him to go to—”

“I told him she wasn’t interested,” she said.

I shut my mouth and stared out the window. I would have told him plenty of other things to go along with it. He drove me nuts. “Misty wouldn’t go for a guy like him, would she?”

“No. She likes Sam.”

I knew it.

We stopped at a stop light and I drummed my fingers on the dashboard as we waited for it to turn green. “This is seriously the longest stop light ever.”

“I know,” Kendall said. “No one’s even around and I’m sure we’ll be sitting here for another five minutes.”

She was right. No cars were around and the streetlights flickered in the darkness. I stared at them, wondering why they were flickering at all. It was one thing for one light to be weird, but all of them at the same time?

“Seriously? Why won’t the light change?” Kendall asked. “If they didn’t have cameras on them I’d totally just go.”

The light changed then, and as Kendall pushed her foot on the gas, the car lurched forward and rolled to a stop in the middle of the intersection.

“What the heck?” Kendall said, as she tried to start the car again. It didn’t make a sound. “Great. My car’s dead.” She looked around. “We’re gonna have to get out and push.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Don’t worry. I’ll give her a jump.”

“There aren’t any cars around and I don’t have jumper cables.”

“Who says I need those?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You can jump a car with your hands?”

“Of course.” I put my hand on the door handle and stopped when I noticed black tendrils of what looked like smoke, billowing up and around the car. A charge filled the air, full of magic. Dark magic. It seeped into my bones, bringing my mood down with it.

“Ash?” Kendall asked. Her voice shook and she reached over and grabbed my hand. “Please tell me you’re doing that.” Her eyes were wide as she stared at the smoke creeping up the side of her window.

“No,” I said, frowning. “It’s not me.” I knew who was responsible though. Linkin. I tried to open the door, but it was stuck. I even used my magic on it and all it did was backfire and send sparks all over us. How could Linkin and Shenelle stop me from using my magic all the time? I didn’t get it. I looked over at Kendall and her eyes were huge. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.” It wasn’t easy to pretend everything was going to be okay, since I had no idea what to do. Maybe if we sat it out, Linkin would leave us alone.

The smoke crept up the side of the car until we couldn’t see out the windows anymore. A strange feeling came over me. I couldn’t think straight. My mind felt cloudy. Empty. Like someone had sucked all the happy memories from me and replaced them with a feeling of hopelessness.

If you care about her you’ll lose everything.

Linkin’s voice was low and quiet. I wasn’t sure if it was in my head or if Kendall could hear it too.

She’ll make you weak. Your power will start to fade to nothing. It already has.

“No,” I said.

She’ll never love you. No one will ever love you. Your own mother didn’t love you enough to keep you. She left you, Ash. Left you alone in the forest to die. Come with me. Leave the human world behind and live up to your true potential.

“Stop it,” I yelled. I tried to shut out the voice, tried to see past the hallucination, but it was too much. My mind couldn’t focus at all. All I could see were images floating around my head.

Kendall dying on the ground, Logan sleeping in his bed and never waking up, Sam and Misty locked in a dark prison with no hope of getting out.

“Get out of my head!”

I don’t want to threaten you anymore. But since you’re so stubborn, I will. Bring me the necklace and I’ll spare your girlfriend’s life. Ignore my threat and lose her forever.

“Ash!”

Kendall’s frantic voice brought me back to reality.

“Ash, look at me!”

I blinked, surprised to find her sitting on my lap, her hands on either side of my face. “Kendall?” I shook my head, the fogginess fading.

Kendall threw her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder. “I…didn’t…know what…to do!” she cried.

“It’s okay,” I said, stroking her hair. “I’m okay.” At least I thought I was okay.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she whispered. “You scared me to death.”

I hugged her, but kept my eyes on our surroundings. The lights outside weren’t flickering anymore and the smoke was gone. We still sat in the middle of the intersection, but thankfully, no cars were around. “What did he do to me?”

She sniffed and calmed herself before climbing back over to the driver’s seat. “I heard a voice and your eyes turned gold. I tried to snap you out of it but you wouldn’t respond to anything I said. You kept yelling things. I didn’t know what else to do, so…I slapped you.”

“You slapped me?” I felt my cheek and sure enough, the right side was hot to the touch. I glanced in the mirror and saw the outline of Kendall’s hand on my face.

“You wouldn’t answer me. Or focus. You sort of went limp in your seat and I panicked. I’m sorry.”

I thought of Linkin’s voice again. He was trying to bring me down. To break me so I’d go find him. To threaten me by taking Kendall away.

That
wasn’t going to happen.

I glanced out the windows again and rubbed my temples. “Let’s get back to your house.”

“The car won’t start, remember?”

“I’m sure it will start now. He’s gone.”

She turned the key and sure enough, the engine roared to life. I looked over at her, wondering why she hadn’t moved the car yet.

“Can you drive?” She asked. “I mean, do you know how? I’m still shaking and pretty sure I’ll drive us off the road.”

“Of course I’ll drive.” I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “And yes, I took a driver’s ed. class in school. We had to learn how to fit in with humans, remember?”

“Makes sense,” she said. She still looked upset.

“Don’t worry. We’re fine now.” If only I could promise her that.

***

Sam, Misty and Glade sat on Kendall’s couch, all staring at me after I told them what had happened.

“You’re sure it was your...I mean, Linkin?” Sam asked.

“Positive.”

“Seriously, Ash. What does he want with you?”

“I think he wants to use my power somehow. Shenelle hinted at how powerful I could be when I was at the Academy. I don’t know how he could take my power away though.”

“Well, obviously he knows a way or he’d leave you alone,” Kendall said. She held one of my hands and the other played with her necklace.

“I still haven’t figured out why they all want the necklace either.” I glanced at Kendall, wondering if I should tell them about the voice. She met my eyes and shook her head slightly. She always seemed to know what I was thinking.

The door opened then and Kendall’s mom walked in. She looked exhausted, carrying her huge purse in one hand and a mug of I’m guessing Pepsi in the other. “Hi, Hun.” She spotted me and smiled. “Ash. You’re back from your vacation already? Did you have fun?”

“Yep. It was great.” I got attacked by a banshee and almost eaten by a dragon. It was awesome.

“Good.” Her eyes swept the room and landed on Sam and Glade. “Are you going to introduce me to your friends?” She glanced at Kendall.

“You know Misty, and this is Sam and Glade.”

Glade forced a smile and Sam stood and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Corrigan.”

I swear she blushed.

“Well, have fun you guys. I’m going to get a few hours of rest before I start my early shift.” She gave Kendall a hug. “You look tired. Don’t be up too late.”

“Okay,” Kendall said.

“I’ll see you in the morning.” She went around the corner and upstairs to her room.

“Your mom’s nice. You don’t look like her at all though,” Sam said.

“I know. I look like my dad.” She gave me a sad smile before leaning her head on my shoulder. I gave her a squeeze and kissed her forehead. She always acted so strong when it came to her dad, but I knew she still missed him.

“Anyway, back to the subject,” Sam said. “Are you going after Dax again?”

I shook my head. “Maybe I should stay here. If I don’t go looking for him, maybe he’ll come looking for me.”

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all night,” Kendall said. “I don’t want you to leave again and put yourself in more danger.”

“Maybe he’s not trying to find you at all,” Sam said. “He didn’t seem too eager to fight you in the forest. He just stood there. That’s not really like him, is it? And didn’t Shenelle tell him to go back to his assignment after she kicked our butts? What assignment do you think she was talking about?”

I cringed at the memory. I still wasn’t happy about that whole situation with the dragons. “I have no idea. I think you might be right though. If Dax was looking for me, he would have found me by now.”

Kendall relaxed against my shoulder. I could tell she was tired. Or just worn out from the curse.

I nudged her and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Why don’t we go to my place and chat for a while. Kendall needs some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” she said.

“No. You need your sleep. Go to bed and I’ll see you bright and early.” I stood and gave her a quick kiss. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”