Smolder by Abigail Livinghouse (best young adult book series TXT) 📕

"No, usually no. Aurora does most of the talking. In all my years of being here, I've never seen her lose her cool once."

I pursed my lips, considering what had happened in the yard. Izzy and I must've touched a nerve that sparked Lilith's reaction. Something must've happened to her, other than the blindness and the world destroying itself. Something personal about what's been going on. Although Aurora didn't seem to show any emotion to the shouting match, maybe it bothered her and she just kept her emotions to herself. Even though I found that hard to believe.

Maddie and Matthew were sitting in the grass playing with a group of three puppies. I laughed, seeing the joy on their faces. "I didn't know there were many dogs around here."

Dimitri chuckled. "Those aren't dogs."

I scowled, confused. "What are you talking about? They're right-"

But I was cut off when I spun around and the three triplets were kneeling in the grass where the puppies where. My eyes bugged and I looked frantically at Dimitri. He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry they're shape shifters, remember?" He said.

When I turned around again, the girls were once gone, replaced with three fluffy white bunnies. I laughed, from disbelief or amusement, I'm not sure.

"Siren." Aurora lilted as she came around the corner of the building, Lilith by her side.

Izzy followed, small icicles clinging to the ends of his hair. Felix came behind him, looking discouraged.

"Dimitri, Sirenia, come with me." He demanded, and with one look at each other we followed without question.

Felix took us into the Prophets' apartment building but instead of going up we went down a flight of stairs, into what can only be described as a cellar. There were jars and old wine bottles strewn around the cement floor, and there was a faint smell of must lingering in the space. There were no windows, making it nearly pitch black.

"Sirenia, if you will." Felix instructed.

I pressed my hands together, took a breath, and let a little bit of flames rush into my palms, circling each other in a beautiful eternal dance. My fire illuminated the small cellar easily, and by its glow I could see Felix and Dimitri. Felix was sitting in a chair that I wasn't too sure had been there before, running his hands through his black hair.

"I don't know what to think." Felix emitted sadly.

Dimitri and I shared a look of concern before returning our attention to our teacher.

"What do you mean?" Dimitri asked.

"I don't know what to think about our progress, as microscopic as it is." Felix answered through gritted teeth.

"How can you even say that?" Dimitri objected, his temper seeming to rise with every word he said. "We've made so much progress in the recent years, we can kill any of the Dead that get in our way, and you-"

"He doesn't want us to just kill the Dead." I interrupted, my blood running cold and the fire in my hands beginning to dim. I was suddenly realizing what Felix really had in store for us. He didn't just want his little army to kill the fleet of the undead, but he wanted us to kill his enemies for him too.

"He wants us to kill Cal." 

I sat out on the balcony of the apartment I shared with Dimitri, my legs shoved through the wrought iron bars and hanging over the edge. It was a drop that could kill, and then bring back to life. Or some version of life anyway.

Lilith slid the glass door away and stood just at the edge of the apartment, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. I was beginning to get used to the luxuries we had here at the Haven. It was something I hadn't seen for years. It was wonderful to have a warm bed and a safe place to live, not having to look over your shoulder to see what's approaching to kill you every few seconds. Except, I just couldn't get the thought out of my head that there were people out there, maybe thousands that were just like us but clawing to live.

I remembered Kimberly and her gang, just a small group hoping to survive. Of course, pointing a gun at someone's head isn't the best way however still we're all after the same thing. Life. Survival. The hope that one day the world will go back to at least a shell of what it once was.

All we could do anymore was hope. Except for us, the Prophets. We had the power and the will to stop the army of the Dead from destroying the rest of the remaining world. We had the power, and Felix wasn't going to use it. Not yet.

"How are you?" Lilith asked from the doorway. She wasn't looking at me, because she literally couldn't. Instead her sightless blue eyes were set on the sky, which was a creamy orange color with the sun beginning to set.

I shrugged, even though I knew she couldn’t see that either. "As good as I'm going to get."

She nodded, understanding. Something had happened to Lilith in the days before the Plague, or in the very early stages of it. Something that had altered her view on the world entirely. She barely trusted anyone aside from her twin sister and our teacher, Felix. Then there was me, who I felt she was beginning to trust.

"Felix has been gone for a while." Lilith murmured distractedly, trailing her finger along the rim of her cup.

Lilith valued and even on some level loved Felix more than anyone else here. I expected he was the one who had saved her from a life of terror for a blind girl set in a world such as ours. She trusted him fully and undoubtedly. Felix had left hours beforehand with nothing more than an "I'll be back later". Most likely she had expected a more detailed explanation from Felix, but even I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"He'll be okay." I assured her.

He's Felix, of course he'll be okay-

The screaming started then, cutting off my string of thoughts from continuing. 

Publication Date: 09-12-2013

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