Reaching Retribution(10)

“You don’t want to rest?” Tom asks.

“No, I don’t need to rest. I’ve slept long enough. I’m fine. My magic is healing me as we speak. We need to get a move on. Claire told me what would have happened if I actually died, and I am not going to let that happen, so we need to go and put the future back on its intended track.”

“You spoke with Claire again?” Tom asks me.

“Claire, Lily, and my mom, but that’s beside the point.”

“Lily?” Colton asks, “Lily’s dead?”

“No, I helped her. She wasn’t supposed to die yet either. She’s probably in the hospital right now. Anyway, stop distracting me. The point is I know what will happen if we don’t continue on the intended course. I’m not going to mention specifics, but you won’t like it. Like Incendia said before I…stepped in front of the dagger, we need more mages. We need more help.”

Everyone continues to stare at me. They all expected me to sit down and rest for the next couple days. I promised my mom that I’d try to get over my insecurities and I’m trying to. I don’t think I’m strong enough yet to accomplish this task, but I can feel my magic coursing through my veins. I can feel the power flowing through me, and every day, my magic grows. Every day, I’m getting stronger. I’m getting closer and closer to the mage I need to be, but I know I’m not going to become that mage by sitting down and resting for days. I need to move. I need to do something purposeful. I need to start accepting my responsibilities and do what needs to be done.

“Oh, and I need to put the protective enchantment on you, Incendia,” I tell her.

Still no one talks. I know what they want to know. “You want to know what happened to me while I was…dead?”

They all nod. Taking a deep breath, I look up toward the ceiling and begin, “I woke up in this hotel room alone. You guys were gone and everything looked perfect. Claire came and told me that I wasn’t supposed to have died and that there was a way to get back, but she couldn’t tell me anything. I left the hotel. Pretended to see some tumbleweed. Ran into Lily. Walked away from Lily. She caught up to me. Told me how she died. I forgave her. She forgave her step-dad. Poof, she’s alive. I walked to the cemetery. Cried. Boo-hoo. Tears. The whole she-bang. Then I promised to overcome some insecurities and viola, here I am.” I rush through the explanation because I don’t want everyone to dwell on it for too long. I don’t want to have to explain anything in more detail. I’m not ready for that yet. “You guys good?”

They all continue to stare at me. Thankfully, I feel the familiar pull of my magic. Since everyone is sitting and I am standing, I know that there is no way anyone will catch me. I close my eyes and fall to the ground, going into a vision before I feel the physical pain of landing on the floor.





Chapter Three


Colton


Insecurities? What insecurities could be so bad that she would have to overcome them in death? I’ll have to ask her about it later. Ryanne bites her lip and looks around the room, waiting for everyone’s reply. She spoke really fast, so I’m sure everyone is trying to catch up with her words. They all look surprised. I know that Ry left out a lot of information. She doesn’t want to tell us everything.

She sighs and opens her mouth to speak again, but freezes. “Travis,” I warn as Ryanne starts to sway. There’s no way I can make it across the room fast enough to catch her. As she starts to fall, Travis jumps forward and catches her right before she hits the ground.

“Dadgumit. That was a close one,” he says as he sits up, adjusting Ryanne on his lap. “Does she always just fall like that?”

“She didn’t use to. When she first got her magic, she would have enough time to warn us before she fell. Now, it just happens so suddenly that she’s unable to say anything,” I explain.

Tom moves forward. “She’s right though. We do need to get a move on. We’re sitting ducks right now. Ryanne’s enchantment seems to be working since Dravin wasn’t able to detect the magic in her, but we can’t just rely on that. We can’t stay in one place for too long. We attract too much attention as it is.”

“Can we discuss on this when she wakes up?” I suggest.

“Colton’s right. She could be seeing something that changes everything,” Liam says.

“I’m not,” Ryanne mumbles as she sits up. Travis helps her. Ryanne turns around and thanks him.

“What did you see?” I ask.

Ignoring me, she turns and looks at Larkin. I hate when she does that. She knows that it annoys me. I see the small smile she’s trying to hide. Stubborn girl. “Come on, Larkin. We gotta go.”