Page 16 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

Where were the teachers? How come they never stopped this?

Iwaited for the next assault to come, but the surrounding voices became fewer and quieter. I lay in the sandbox for what seemed like an eternity, humiliated. But no more blows came. I opened my eyes with apprehension.

Everyone had disappeared, including Jacob. In his place stood a boy I’d never seen before. He looked about two years older than me, perhaps a fifth grader. With short black hair and striking blue eyes, he gazed down at me with a frown. As beautiful as the blue eyes were, they didn’t feel like they belonged to him, more like they were a disguise.

“Are you okay?” asked the boy. Secrets hid behind those eyes, yet a strange familiarity resonated within me. I recognized the masked emotion: pain. Others might see rage, but me? I saw his suffering. It mirrored my own.

I took a shaky breath and nodded my head. “Yeah. Wh—where did they all go?” I swallowed, cringing as the built-up saliva took bits of sand with it, scraping my throat on the way down.

“They left. I don’t think they’ll be bothering you anymore,” the boy said as he crouched down to eye-level with me. “Next time, I’ll beat their ass.”

“She can’t stay here. He’ll never give up.” Hushed voices drifted into my frail consciousness.

I struggled to open my oppressed eyes, weighed down from exhaustion. A bright light stabbed my eyeballs through the cracks in my lids, forcing me to snap them shut again. I tested my limbs to see if movement had returned to my body. Using my remaining strength, I lifted my arm inches from the mattress, only for it to plop back onto the sheet.

My body tried to heal, but my magic reserves were detrimental, not allowing the healing to happen as it needed to. Weak and depleted, I released a pained groan as I remembered the events that led me here—whereverherewas.

The memory of fire scorching my veins and organs was the first to come to mind. The blackness that engulfed me was a shade that didn’t exist in this reality. No light could penetrate it as it seeped into my soul, tainting it with despair.

Whispers quieted at the sound of my groan.

Footsteps approached my side. “Gray?” a commanding feminine voice cut through the room.

I rolled my pounding head to face Scarlett’s direction, every fiber of my body aching.

“Shit, Gray,” Scarlett said, worry mixed with relief in her tone. “You can’t move?”

“Of course, she can’t, Kittle. Her energy was spent purging the remaining redfern from her system. She needs to replenish, but she doesn’t even have the energy to absorb on her own right now.” Hazel’s usual calming tone was clipped, but it was the mention of redfern that piqued my attention.

After several failed attempts, I opened a squinted eye. I hoped these two had the answers I needed.

“Ww…what…happened?” I asked, the deep scratchiness making my voice unrecognizable.

“Hazel,” Scarlett snapped. “I think you should start explaining a few fucking things to the princess.Now.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Her long, vibrant curls were pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. Somehow, she still looked stunning.

My vision cleared the longer I lay in the foreign bed. And once both eyes were fully open, I tried to place my location. I lay in a small, bare room with large windows that gazed into the pitch night. No photos or art decorated the cream walls, and only essential black furniture occupied the space. The bed I rested on was hard and felt unused, judging by the lack of sheets and the one blanket that draped over me.

“Fine,” Hazel said with a sigh. Her bronze hair was still in its updo from the revel, but she was alert and focused as she led this operation. “Let me share some of my energy with her first. She needs to be present for this, and I’m sure she’ll have a ton of questions.” She paused. “You two might want to join me.”

My leaden body wouldn’t allow me to scan the room. I shifted my gaze to spot the third person, but whoever it was remained out of my line of sight, only increasing my curiosity.

“Okay, but hurry. We don’t have much time, Helair,” Scarlett said, failing to mask her impatience.

The edge of the bed dipped with the weight of Hazel’s delicate figure. She offered a gentle smile before wrapping her warm hands around my ice-cold ones. Energy waves emanated from her body, her black currents pulsating up her pale arms as she pushed her energy into my aura for me to absorb. Hers was the embodiment of warm comfort as it washed over my icy body.

I was ravenous, so I drew on the energy she offered and took it for my own. I couldn’t feel the effects right away, as deprived as I was. Several minutes passed before I began to feel lighter.

“That’s enough. I need to keep some for myself,” Hazel said, breathless. She cleared her throat and looked up at our ruby-haired friend. “Scarlett?”

The warmth of Hazel’s hands disappeared, and I shivered in their absence. She rose from the bed to stand nearby. Despite returning to a baseline level, I was still low enough that my healing couldn’t do what it needed. Energy-sharing would be the fastest way to replenish my magic reserves.

Scarlett dropped into Hazel’s vacated spot on the mattress, jolting my aching body. “Damnit, Scar,” I grumbled in irritation. She flashed me a smirk as she grabbed my hands in a firm grip.

The high-voltage energy of her nuclear magic electrified me. As I did with Hazel’s energy, I absorbed Scarlett’s, adding a tremendous boost to the baseline Hazel had provided me. I no longer felt trapped in quicksand, and my healing began to ease the aches plaguing my bones.

I moaned at the reprieve and gave Scarlett’s hand a slight squeeze in appreciation. She continued to share, and I continued taking. “All right, Stoney,” she said in a gentle tone. “I think that’s enough.” Scarlett released my hands. The bed shifted as she rose to join Hazel.

With my body’s functionality returned, I could better scan the room. An ash-gray carpet lined the floor. There were no lamps or curtains thatgave personality to the space. My bed pressed against the far wall of the room, and a chest of drawers sat at the foot in the corner.

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