Ascension by Laura Hall (accelerated reader books .TXT) 📕

“Fiona, time to wake up.”

Fingers stroked my forehead, imparting a pulsing warmth. I cracked open my eyes to see Declan leaning over me. He smiled, pale eyes sparkling.

“Hey,” I said weakly.

He disappeared and appeared again with a glass of water. Lifting my shoulders with one arm, he held the rim to my lips. Cool water cleansed my tongue and throat.

I swallowed reflexively until the glass was empty. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, depositing the glass on the side table. “How do you feel?”

I glanced past him, seeing a stormy sky outside the windows of my room in the compound. “Like I was bulldozed then set on fire.” I paused. “My hair? Did I dream…?”

“It was no dream,” he said gently. “It’s white. Kinda sexy, actually. Really shiny and soft.”

His teasing brought more memory back, of the Prime and a beach. Has it been real? In turn, I was forced to acknowledge there was only one way Declan could be touching me with impunity.

I lifted my arms and stared at the new, thicker bracelets on my wrists.

“Dammit.”

“It was for everyone’s protection,” said Declan softly. “You were unconscious and throwing sparks whenever anyone came near you. You killed the engines of five cars on the way back to the compound.”

I winced. “I’m surprised they even started.”

“It took some experimenting, but Connor finally figured out if he held you and absorbed your surges, it spared the engine.”

“Absorbed my—God, is he okay?”

He grinned. “Fine. Adam was the most freaked out by it, but he finally decided you can’t hurt Connor because he’s so damned old and basically dead. His heart beats once every five minutes or something crazy like that. The worst you did was increase his heart rate to once a minute.”

I didn’t feel an inkling of Declan’s humor. “And the bracelets? Didn’t I prove myself to Adam last night?”

His smile fell. “Connor was the one who ordered Adam to replace them. He said that you’d want them.” He frowned worriedly. “Was that not true?”

I had no idea how to answer his question. Or what I was feeling.

Confused was an understatement.

The Prime and our disturbing moment of intimacy aside, I suddenly missed my old life with a vengeance. I missed my tiny apartment. My boring job and my own shampoo.

And I missed my dad, with a depth that felt like a knife in my heart. I missed his gruff voice and the way he chewed his mustache when he was thinking. I wanted to hear his laughter, gravelly and deep, and listen to him yell at the television during his favorite sports games. I just missed him.

Grief was bright and dark, a polarized force that swayed me between hope and despair. Was he dead already? Had it been his blood catalyzing that unnatural crystal sphere?

I knew it was foolish, but I also couldn’t help wondering if I should have gone with those men. If I could have freed my dad and brought him home.

I almost asked Declan where Uncle Mal was and if I could see him. But the twisting hurt I felt was too raw. He’d known the Prime would come for me. All those years he’d supposedly been protecting me, he’d actually been protecting an asset for someone else. If my safety had been of primary concern, he would’ve convinced my father to move us to the middle of nowhere. Change our names. Hide.

I refused to believe my dad had known.

Absolutely refused.

There was a knock on the door and Declan rose, but instead of veering to the entrance he walked to a second door, set between the fireplace and the bank of windows. A door I’d avoided thinking about until this moment. It opened as he turned a thick, pewter key already resting in the lock beneath an embellished handle.

Soft words were exchanged between Alpha and Prime.

“She’s fine,” murmured Declan. “Beat up emotionally.” A pause. “We’ve really done a number on her.”

“I know. Nothing has gone as expected.”

“Can you give it a few days before taking her back to Snoqualmie?”

“We’re not going back. Adam checked the area twice. Whatever alchemy the Liberati performed when they vanished, it wiped their tracks as well.”

“Damn, they’re like ghosts. Anything from Matthew, or word on Frank’s secretary?”

“The bears saw and heard nothing, and local police in Phoenix are checking out the sister.”

Declan sighed. “What now?”

“Charles and Eve have the blood sample we salvaged from the car. It will take a few days for results, but given the trap the Liberati set, the blood could have come from anyone. For now we wait, and in the meantime, Fiona will train.”

I lifted onto my elbows and looked across the room. “Train?”

The Prime’s gaze scanned my face before settling on my eyes. His own were devoid of their usual wryness. Everything about him seemed blank.

“You’ve demonstrated an instinctive talent for releasing lightning, but Adam mentioned you missed your targets twice. We’ve secured a location where you can explore your range and hone your skills.”

Missed your targets.

The words rang dully in my ears, triggering recollection of one target I hadn’t missed.

I blinked hard when the Prime’s face blurred. “I killed a man, didn’t I?”

He nodded. “In self-defense, yes.”

“Was it?” I asked softly, searching his eyes for any hint of feeling. Compassion or humor, irony or sorrow. Anything at all to confirm that the man on the beach was real. That it hadn’t been a dream. I had no idea what I would do with the information, but I wanted to know.

His eyes remained void of emotion—flat, spring green. Which, consequently, was all the answer I needed. It had been real. And he regretted it. He’d likely been drunk on my blood, which apparently ramped up a vamp’s… other needs. Nothing more.

Nothing more.

“It was self-defense,” he said finally. Breaking eye contact, he looked at Declan. “Bring her to the east wing in two hours.”

He vanished and Declan closed the door.

“Lock it,” I said.

He did.