Page 62 of Of Flame and Fate

“Taran!”

Gemini’s voice is the last sound I hear before nature’s fury and everything that is Fate and Destiny strikes my arm.

My body crashes to the ground, the world as I know it fading in and out.

Chapter Fourteen

My teeth and skeleton are rattling out of control. Every bone colliding against itself, scrambling my brain and organs into mush.

My body twitches in response to the surplus of power, convulsing, thrashing, taking on a mind of its own.

It takes a long few moments for me to settle—at least, that’s what I think—except for my right arm which can’t stop quivering.

I’m lying on a bed of sand, that’s what it feels like. I can’t be sure how I landed on sand and I can’t make anything out. My eyelids are unusually heavy, giving me only blurry glimpses of my surroundings.

There’s no noise, no sound, no wicked winds beating against my skin and hair. There’s only silence that dreaded silence that always accompanies the end of life.

I think I’m dead.

My racing heartbeat threatening to implode within my chest proclaims otherwise. It also calls me a bitch for putting us through whatever the hell I put us through this time.

Somehow, I manage to pry open my eyes. As I watch, the once tumultuous clouds part, revealing the sun in all its morning glory.

For one quick breath, peace is all I see and feel. That tranquility, however, is abruptly obscured by Gemini’s face, his expression fierce as he clutches me against him.

He’s speaking fast. Not that I can hear him.

“What?” I ask, my voice sounding muffled.

I think he’s yelling. That’s what it looks like. His lips move slower and his features further tense. Something pops in my right ear and his voice fades in and out.

“God damn . . . crazy . . . the fuck . . . die . . . seriously. . . die . . .”

“What?” I ask again.

He lowers me, standing abruptly and peeling off his shirt.

A bombardment of little popping sounds overtakes my right ear. Emme appears in my line of vision. She takes Gem’s shirt and drapes it over me.

“Gemini’s angry,” she says, her voice barely perceivable. “About you devouring the storm. He’s right, Taran. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I ate a storm?” I ask, my voice stuttering out of control.

She turns to where he’s pacing, and I think swearing, too. “Perhaps it’s more accurate to say you devoured Destiny and Johnny’s combined magic. Well, at least your arm did.” She tucks a strand of her hair when it falls around her cheek. “Whatever happened allowed Destiny to pass. She’s off the mountain and headed away from Squaw Valley.”

Emme sounds as if she’s under water. It’s only because I’m straining to hear and reading her lips that I catch as much as I do. “Is she all right?” I manage.

“I don’t know,” she replies. “She was screaming as she passed. The Elders were trying to shield her like the witches shielded Johnny. It wasn’t enough.” She folds the shirt around my waist. “But you were. You were everything they needed.”

“Dude,” Shayna says. She shoves her face in mine as the pressure dulling my left ear eases slightly. “That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.” She thinks about. “Except for the time you set the entire sky on fire. That was pretty cool, too.”

She pulls off her shirt and tugs it over my head, leaving her wearing only a sports bra. I don’t know why everyone continues to take off their clothes and cover me until I realize I’m naked.

“What the hell?” I ask, scrambling to push up on my elbows.

I fall perfectly still when I realize my legs are bent at the knee and I’m buried in blue ash from my shins down.

Shayna holds out her hands. “You should have seen yourself, T. It’s like Thor himself swung his hammer and brought it down on your arm —only there was no, you know,hammer. Just lightning. Lots and lots of lightning.”

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