The Marked Son (Keepers of Life) (14 page)

And I love her. I have since…forever.

I can’t breathe. Worse, I can’t accept what she wants to give me. I’ve been burned too many times.

I shake my head, and pull away. “Stop.”

She frowns, not letting me go. “You are one of the
firsts
. I know it with my whole being. We are Keepers of Life. Living here has kept your powers dormant.”

“I don’t think so.” I take a step back. “I’m a regular guy, and not a very interesting one at that.”

“Who lied to you?”

Her sharp demand causes me pause. “No one. It’s the truth.”

A strange light enters her eyes. She pulls me down, and we fall to our knees on the loamy ground. She twists my hand, palm down. As I try to pull away, I feel her body crackle with tension. She holds tight.

“Call to the earth.”

I don’t understand, but worse, her quicksilver mood reminds me of Mom. I don’t like mood swings. I’ve learned not to trust people who flicker from one emotion to another. If she were Mom, I’d simply walk away, but this fragile-looking girl is strong. Insistent.

“Do it!”

I stare at her, reading her as I would Mom, seeing the quick rise and fall of her chest, the wild look in her eyes, the tightness around her mouth. The strong sent of burnt almonds, bitter and unpleasant, overshadows her summer scent. And then it hits me.

She’s scared.

The violet of her eyes grows hot. Instinct guides me. I slide my fingers along her cheek and ease my thumb back and forth along her cheekbone, willing her to calm down as I stare into her eyes. Slowly, her tension eases.

“Let go,” I rasp.

Her pink lips part and the tip of her tongue darts out to wet them. “You don’t understand. I’ve risked so much to come here.” She pulls away and wraps her arms around herself, as if she wishes nothing more than to disappear. “You have to believe me. You belong in Teag. I know it’s true.”

It’s one thing to accept that somehow we’ve been sharing our dreams. It’s a whole other leap to believe I’ve got magical powers.

Like a fledgling bird spreading its wings, she uncoils her arms and stretches out a hand. In mere seconds, the earth rises beneath the shimmer of her palm. Her fingers contract into a tight fist and the earth settles, as unremarkable as it was before. “It’s our gift. To refuse it is unthinkable.”

What she’s offering would explain a lot—dreams spent riding on the wind, the feeling of being watched whenever I’ve entered the forest, of knowing things I shouldn’t know, of the unstoppable desire to move quickly, of feeling the ground rise under my feet tonight as we hurried to the clearing. It’s a crazy thought, but…

I raise an eyebrow. “Call to the earth, huh?”

She nods, and a spark of anticipation flickers behind her eyes.

I hold out my hand, close to where she put hers, and wish for the earth to rise. My palm glows warm and under it, the dirt mounds higher and higher. As it rises, Kera straightens, excitement building within her.

I rear back, shake my hand as if I can blow out the light, but it’s too late. The glow that infuses my palm creeps up my arm. I bolt to my feet, yelping and shaking, willing the progression to stop. In less time than it takes me to flick on a light switch, my skin shines with a soft, earth-friendly wattage all its own. The hum of magic rushes in my veins. I can feel the power slowly build, then decrease, then build even higher.

“There,” she says, her smile not at all reassuring. “Is it proof enough? You’re in the wrong place with the wrong people.”

“This isn’t funny. Make it stop.” I hold my arms out as if I’m diseased.

“You’ve tapped into the power. Once done, it can never be undone.”

“You mean I’m going to be like this forever?” I don’t recognize the tense pitch in my voice. My life is over. Not that it was fantastic before, but now it’ll be positively depressing, because who wants to be friends with light bulb boy? I don’t.

“Power always has its drawbacks.” She touches my arm and the glow quickly fades. “There are ways to control it.”

Seeing it fade allows me to relax, almost. “I’d rather stay off the grid, if you don’t mind.”

Excitement flashes in her eyes. She grabs my arm and tugs me forward. “We must catch the
pux
, erase any imprint we have made here, and return to Teag.”

She wants me to go with her? I pull away. Too much is happening too fast. “Slow down. Let me think.”

She crinkles her nose, annoyed with me already. “What is there to think about?”

A lot. If I disappear, what will my grandparents think? Not to mention everyone who knows I’m here.

They’ll think I’m my mother’s son. A complete waste. Doomed to fail.

The thought sours my stomach.

Kera steps close and cups both sides of my face, immediately regaining my attention. She’s so close, I can smell the promise of never-ending summer rising off her skin. I should step away, but I don’t. It feels natural to be near her. To touch her like I have a million times in my dreams.

Waves of compassion roll off her. “You have been in so much pain, knowing you were different but not knowing why.”

I focus on her lips. They’re perfectly shaped. Perfect for kissing. I sway forward, itching to touch her. My head bends, and my hands reach for her. She closes her eyes. The lure to let go hovers so near…

Jason’s deep sigh worms into my ear. The events of the night leading up to this moment come crashing in. If it weren’t for my impulse to find Kera, Jason wouldn’t be lying helpless on a pile of rotting leaves in a dead sleep.

Action without thought is a life guided by impulses.
The saying describes Mom perfectly. I’ll be damned if it will me.

My hands stop. I feel the heat radiating off her skin, hear the pounding of her heart. I don’t know how it’s possible to be so close, yet still not touch. It’d take only a slight nudge to end this torment. Not too long ago, I would’ve given in. Not now. I drop my hands and pull away. The control it’s taking to not give into my desire is going to kill me.

Her eyes flutter open. Confusion plays on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Everything.” My throat is thick. I hear Jason sigh in his sleep. “I can’t go.”

“Your heart is torn?” She looks from me to Jason and then back again, as if she’s taken aback by the possibility.

The way she says that…

“No! No. Seriously, me and him, we’re just friends, and not even good ones.”

One of her perfectly arched eyebrows lifts, and she backs away. Is she leaving?

“Wait,” I cry, and make to follow. When her skin slowly brightens and the trees begin to sway and whisper among themselves, I hesitate.

The earth quakes, and I jump back as tree roots bubble up like worms after a heavy rain. I stumble onto firmer ground as they grasp Jason.

A sinking feeling hits my stomach. “What’s going on?”

The roots twist and roll over Jason, pulling him close to the base of a huge tree, where several spindly limbs lower, wrap around his limp form, and drag him into a protective hug, high in its crowning boughs.

My mouth hangs open. “I should probably be concerned about this, huh?”

Kera takes my hand in hers. “You worry too much. Up there, he’ll be safe until we return.”

When I continue to stare at Jason resting high in the branches, she forces me to look at her with a touch of her finger on my chin. “Trust me, Dylan.”

When I look at her, everything makes sense. But it shouldn’t make sense.

I swallow and the knight in shining armor I didn’t know existed within me rises to the challenge. “All right. I’ll help you find the
pux
, but I can’t go back with you. This is all too…I don’t know—”

She gently lays her fingers on my mouth, stifling my words. “Don’t worry. Tomorrow will answer itself.”

Her answer is said with confidence, but if I listen closely enough, sadness lingers close to the edges of her words. I wonder at its cause. I itch to know everything about her.

She felt me. What the hell does
that
mean? This strange, gorgeous girl entered my world because of me. I feel the pulse of our heartbeats within our clasped hands, how they’ve merged as one, and God help me, I don’t ever want her to let go.

The Trouble with
Pux

Our fingers entwine as we step from the small clearing into the forest. I can’t deny her, or the feelings I have for her, but they scare me.

“We haven’t much time,” she explains. “The
pux
have been here too long already.”

I give a start as branches and brambles skitter out of our way. I look back and see them crowd together as if to better spy on us as we go. Crazy.

When I continue to follow, I can feel her pleasure. It’s tinged with a feeling of desperation that still alarms me, but I’ve fallen for her bait. What guy wouldn’t?

“We need a trap.”

“There’s a net in the shed.” I don’t want to risk getting it, though. Whatever magic fills these woods, it’s coiled tightly around us. I want this moment to last forever. I want
her
for forever.

A knowing light enters her eyes. “We needn’t go so far.”

She lets go of my hand and the separation is like a sharp bite. I want her back. She sinks to her knees, muddying her gown, and sifts her fingers through the forest debris until she’s collected a handful of twigs.

She tosses the twigs in the air. They quiver, split, twist, and bend, then fall into her glowing hands. With a shy smile, she hands me the perfectly woven, ball-shaped trap. “Come on, let’s go.”

She tugs on my arm as I stare dumbfounded at what she’s done. “So the
firsts
have the ability to control nature?” It’s the only explanation, though I really don’t get the whole nature moving on its own thing. Twigs that are on the ground are the bits trees shed—like dead skin. No life in them.

A frown mars her face. “Not exactly. Through magic, we learned to harness the power of the earth. We’re bound by law to work in harmony with nature.”

She stops and touches a tree. It shivers and lowers a branch where a vine has grown. With one touch, a small, pink bud appears and blooms. She picks the flower and hands it to me. “We strive to maintain perfect balance, in nature and in life.”

It’s a real flower, soft and fragrant like the soap in my bathroom.

“Can everyone from Teag do this?”

She nods. “Through an amalgam of magic and science, but some of us are more powerful than others.”

“You must be one of the powerful ones.”

Startled, she asks, “Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. You’re here, aren’t you?”

Those violet eyes slip away. “I’m not so very powerful, Dylan.”

Who is she kidding? “From where I’m standing, you are.”

She shakes her head vigorously. “You have more power than anyone I’ve ever known.”

I let out a disbelieving laugh. I’m a reject. It’s the only life
I’ve
ever known. “You’re saying I can do what you do?”

“Yes. Call on the power. For real, this time. Believe it.”

The earth did rise for me. Just a little bit, but I panicked…

I glance at the vine.

Believe. Just believe
.

I touch it, and instead of one, a profusion of flowers springs forth, like yellow popcorn kernels popping white along the vine. I yank my hand away.

Kera gasps as the spectacle continues up the branch.

“Um…sorry about that.” This whole magic thing is more complicated than I thought. I need to relax. I roll my head, and then I touch it again. The flowers curl back into buds and recede into the vine. I grimace. I just want a few to sprout. I touch it again, and the perfect number spring forth this time. I stare at my finger, at its tiny glowing tip. I barely had to think, and I’d done that?

Awe fills Kera’s eyes. “Dylan, I’ve never seen anyone do that. Ever. No wonder I felt you.”

And we’re back to the ‘I can feel you’ thing. There’s no denying we have an odd connection, but some part of me resists the thought that I’m a magical creature. It’s all just too surreal.

I play a solo game of catch with the soccer-ball-sized trap and avoid the subject of me having magical power. I’m like a computer that’s been fed too much information. I need to shut down that particular file or crash.

I spin the trap in my hands, impressed with its construction. “So, these
pux
. They’re small, but I get the impression they’re not good?”

Kera’s eyes cloud. “They’re creatures of chaos. In my world their powers are contained. Because of that, their temper falls on each other, and they war non-stop in a bid to eliminate the competition for their master’s affection.”

“Who’s their master?”

“The Lost King. He was banished to the underworld when he tried to claim himself a god. Now we’re leaderless and suffering under a man who’s grasping for power.”

I toss and catch the trap again. “A magical guy with a god complex. Nice. Sounds like you guys have as many problems in your world as we do in mine.”

“No place is perfect, no matter how much you wish it were.”

I couldn’t agree more. “So, how do we catch your
pux
?”

“That’s been my problem. It’s like they have a sixth sense when I’m near.”

“Then we need bait. What’re they attracted to?”

“Humans. In times past, they took great pleasure in tormenting them.”

That doesn’t sound good. At least Jason and Leo are safe. “Oh, no—Leo. I forgot about Leo!”

The terror etched on his face when he ran past me flares in my memory, and I know exactly where the
pux
are. Leo is too good of an opportunity for them to pass up.

I toss Kera the trap, grab her hand, and pull her back toward the clearing, fighting back the brambles and tree limbs. Why don’t they move for me like they do for her? As soon as I think it, they start moving out of our way.

“Where are we going?” she asks as she runs to keep pace.

“To get Leo. The
pux
were chasing him before you appeared.”

We come to the clearing, and I dive into the forest at the point where Leo darted into the trees, flailing and shouting. The
pux
have had free reign over Leo for more minutes than I want to count. What if they’re torturing him, bleeding him dry like they did the ewe? My fingers clamp Kera’s more tightly as I pull her along.

A flash of tiny lights appear ahead of us.

“Quiet. The
pux
are very skittish,” she says.

Her skin pulses bright, and the ground beneath us rises. It’s like riding a skateboard. I flex my knees as it carries us along on a silent wave of forest debris.

As we move further down the random path Leo left behind, I hear a muffled groan. Kera squeezes my hand. The rolling mound fades beneath our feet, and her glow quickly dims. She points toward a clump of trees framed by tall grasses, thickly-leafed deer ferns, and wildflowers.

We creep along, hunched over, until we’re squatting behind the natural screen. I separate a few fronds and spot Leo laid out flat on his back. His shaggy black hair is tied in knots, his clothes are torn, and he’s bound with thin rope made of finely-woven grass blades. Varying sizes of mushrooms have sprouted around him in a tight circle.

“What’re they doing to him?” I whisper.

Kera’s eyes grow round. “They’re preparing him for his new life as their slave.”

“You’re kidding. He’s a hundred times bigger than they are. How can they enslave him?”

Her whisper is tense. “I told you. Their powers are far stronger here. If we can’t rescue him, they’ll enslave him in their underground world, and he’ll be only the first of many. That’s why it’s imperative we catch them and take them home.” She nips nervously at her bottom lip. “We have to break the circle before they realize our intent. Otherwise, we may lose him.”

Great. Tiny beings with supernatural power that have taken an odd liking to Leo. Pop, with his superstitious mind and evil glares, will kill me if I don’t rescue his grandson. I take stock of what we have. Kera’s quickness and strange powers, me and some iffy powers, and a trap made of twigs. Surprise is the only thing we have that’s of any real use.

“Is there a special way we need to break the circle?”

“Crush it. If we’re not quick enough, it won’t go well for your friend. He’ll disappear into their underground labyrinth, where we may never find him.”

Her words startle me. “You’re serious?”

She nods. “They may be small, but they’re nasty creatures when riled.”

Lucky for me, so am I. A hasty plan forms. “I’ll rush in and destroy the circle. Hopefully that’ll keep them busy, so you can start rounding them up.”

She puts a heavy branch in my hands and I look at her blankly. “To hit them,” she says, and moves into position.

I’m no hunter, and I’m definitely not a guy who’s willingly swung any kind of club before. I’m out of my element. Rescuing someone is for Boy Scout types. Doubt slams into me, and I hesitate.

Kera catches my eye and smiles. Her faith in me has a calming effect. Okay, so I may not be a Boy Scout, but how hard can smashing a few mushrooms and catching some crazy lightning bugs be?

After I’m sure Kera’s in position, I leap forward, hold the heavy branch over my head, and scream, naked warrior style, as I head straight for the circle.

The bulk of the tightly knit
pux
squeal and burst apart like an exploding firework, their trails of light streaming up, out, and away. Both of Leo’s legs have begun to sink into the ground. I dive for the mushrooms and slam headfirst into an especially stubborn
pux
who yanks at my hair, as if to steer me away from my target. I don’t slow down, and crash through the circle. Coming to a stop beside Leo, I roll on my back and shake off a couple of
pux
clinging to my branch.

I pop to my feet and start swinging. With one swipe, mushroom caps explode and stems crumble. Yet more appear as the
pux
scamper to re-knit the circle. The
pux
on my head tries to wrangle me away from the mushrooms and the destruction I’m determined to complete, but I ignore his painful urgings and obliterate one of his comrades with a swing that would make my old high school PE teacher proud. I quickly backhand another one, sending it flying. Kera pops out of hiding and chases down the
pux
, snapping her trap like a greedy turtle.

A slew of
pux
dive at me, and I get a taste of their true nature. Their little knives dig into my skin, slashing and poking like fire ants on a rampage. When one gets a little too close to my eye, I take no prisoners. The branch leaves nothing but splats of smooshed
pux
in its wake. With an especially vicious yank, the one in my hair sounds an alarm, and he and the remaining
pux
I haven’t killed go careening into the woods, where Kera gives chase.

I stand, both hands gripping the branch in front of me, panting like I just broke the Olympic record for Whack-A-Mole. I feel every nick and scrape, yet I’m happy. I’m the one left standing over Leo. I grin at the dead tree limb. Maybe I should have taken up baseball.

Leo moans, and I chuck the branch into the bushes. He’s restless, fighting to get up as he sleeps, but the grassy ropes and the ground over his legs keep him down. In no time, I free him. He doesn’t appear to have any serious injuries, just a few rips in his clothes, a daisy-chain necklace, and one crazy hairstyle.

“Leo?” I grip his chin, his lower face puckering in my hand. “Leo!”

He struggles free of my grip and lashes out, nearly punching me in the face. His words are muddled and his reflexes slow as he lurches to his feet. He stands, swaying for a moment, before stumbling around and falling to his knees. “Bro,” he says clearly before falling flat on his face.

Kera reappears, and I turn to her. “We’ve got a sleepwalker.”

She frowns. I follow her gaze and find Leo lazily chewing on a clump of grass. With a slap and a yell, I get him to spit it out. I wipe the green spittle off his mouth with the edge of his shirt. “We’ve got to do something.”