Page 24 of Awakened Gifts

I’m alive.

I feel his tears sneak out and run down to my cheek from his face. But all the other faces in the room distract me. Everyone is crying. They all thought I was dead. Now that the adrenaline from the fight has worn off, they’re all catching up with their abandoned emotions.

Jase’s lips slide against mine, but he doesn’t kiss me. His breaths are still too erratic and labored. Leaning back, I look into his soft eyes, feeling his emotions through his mismatched colors.

“I love you,” I whisper, worried this is all still a dream and that I’m really still strapped to the table of torture.

Jase winces, proving he just read my mind, and I try to block out everything.

“That’s something we should probably discuss,” Mel says, sighing heavily as she comes to sit beside me. Mom and Rex join us.

Why is my love for Jase provoke a need for discussion?

Jase looks away, but I see the faintest smirk on his face before he has time to banish it. Before I can ask questions, Melania continues.

“You denied your counter.”

My smile falls, and guilt wracks through me. Kellan.

“How did you take him down in his savage form?” I ask Mom. He should be as strong as her, even though she has control of her savage. And he was full-blown phase three.

“He was weakened from the shots he took from the emergent. She was so damned strong. She was stronger than me,” she says regretfully, making the last part a nearly inaudible whisper. “But she had weakened him enough for my power to override his.”

How am I going to tell her who Alice really is?

Jase tilts his head when he overhears my thoughts, and I tighten my lips, letting him know that now is not the time. But the look of determination tells me he fully intends to grill me on this very soon.

“Is Kellan okay?” I ask, grimacing at the tension that spreads throughout Jase.

I just denied my counter while he was savage. I’m concerned for him. Not in love with him.

Jase forces a smile, and he leans over to me. “I know. I’m concerned for him, too. That’s never been done before. You should talk to him.”

The trust and faith he has in me almost dissolves all the angst that has built up inside me. That look is so comforting—comforting enough to give me strength.

“Where is he?”

KELLAN

“Fucking figure it out!” I roar, slinging everything off the steel table in front of me.

Vials, beakers, and numerous other things clatter to the floor, the noise resounding in the room as though it’ll never stop echoing.

Simone doesn’t even flinch or react at all. She’s allowed my tantrums to continue since I woke up, and she hasn’t batted an eye.

“I’m trying, Kellan. Believe me, I swear I’m trying. I’ve just finished testing their blood. I lied and told Jase I needed his blood for research. Which is true. I’ll use it later to find help for the emergent, but I put it in the machine with Aria’s blood. It was the worst match up ever. They barely rated at twenty percent. They’re not counters. I tested yours against hers again, but…”

She trails off, her voice becoming hesitant.

“But what?” I prompt, sounding as damn irritated as I am.

Her shoulders sag, and she drops her head back as though she’s defeated. “The tests have never changed before. Ever. I’ve used this machine in secrecy numerous times, doing what I could to finish my father’s research. The tests never change. No matter how many times I’ve ever tested blood strands, the percentage always stays the same, because the variables in the blood don’t change.”

I have no idea why she’s rambling on about this. “I don’t really give a damn about all that. I just want to know how the fuck my counter denied me when I felt it—her. I know we’re counters. I don’t need the variables or this test to prove it. I just wanted to know if by some fucked-up tragedy that Jase was also her counter. Aria is a mystery, she’s unique, so it’s hard to rule anything out.”

She stands there, seeming frozen for a moment, and then she exhales regretfully.

“You’re at ninety percent now,” she says, and my expression becomes marred by confusion.

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