Destiny's Fire (Kythan Guardians 1)

She blew out a long breath. “Destiny…”

“What?” I asked. Her eyes were dark. “Tell me. What is it?”

“Your eyes are still the same.” She looked away. “You do have the Egyptian ink. But I’m not sure of your power.”

I threw my legs over the side of my bed, waving away her protests. I stayed there for a moment until I felt strong enough to walk. Slowly, I took a step forward toward my dressing mirror.

I studied my reflection. A black, swirled design, with the mark of the Kythan was centered on the left side of my lower neck, just above my collarbone. The ink wasn’t large, but anyone could see it at a glance. For added secrecy, most Kythan hid it when they shifted into human form. But I wanted to keep mine visible.

My heart plummeted to my stomach as I stared into my familiar violet eyes. Frustrated, I leaned in closer to the mirror. Whatever Reese was, his eyes were red. He’d shifted them from red to purple and back without the use of eye lenses. Unless he was some kind of magician.

“Destiny, come back to bed,” Mom said. “We have plenty of time to figure this out.”

I ignored her as I stared into the mirror and concentrated. During the change, our bodies shifted by themselves, revealing to us how it was done. I’d obviously missed that part. But I was a shifter. I had to be able to do it at will.

I concentrated harder, willing my form to change. My eyes glowed, my body shook. Before my eyes, I watched as my ears pointed, becoming longer. My skin paled to a rich porcelain color, like something off an Egyptian wall painting. I parted my mouth, feeling my two top eyeteeth press into my bottom lip. “Cool.” I was actually pretty sexy, though I still looked like death.

Mom stood beside me. “Can you feel which power wants to come forth?”

I lifted my arms, stretching my hands out, palms up. Something crackled, and a bright current zipped across my fingertips. My spirit soared.

But before my elation was complete, a white flame burst from the center of my palms—lightning white, with currents firing in a swirling vortex around the flame. I panicked. Shaking my hands, I tried to douse the power, but froze when I saw my reflection. Fierce glowing eyes stared back at me. Blazing white.

Chapter Eight

MONDAY MORNING, I LAY on the couch. Mom brought me soup and beverages, attempting to nurse me back to full strength. Every time she sat near me, I averted my eyes from hers.

During my first—and only—shift, I’d panicked. I’d reached out and grabbed onto her wrist and burned it. The guilt gnawed at my stomach, making it hard to eat. I didn’t remember doing it. And that scared me almost more than the power itself.

There was no way I could go to the Academy, now. We both knew it. So I lay there, staring at the ceiling, wallowing in my guilt and self-pity. What was worse, I had to avoid Jace.

I could keep Lana and Nick in the dark about my power—they wouldn’t press me the way Jace would. I had to find a way to get out of my promise to spar with him. I lifted my arm, watching the light twinkle off the blue gem of my bracelet. My chest ached, hollow and burning.

Mom entered the living room, carrying a laundry bag. “I’m taking the laundry down to the cleaners,” she said. “I grabbed everything from your room already, so just lay there and rest.” She smiled. “I’m going to grab my clothes.”

“Okay,” I said, still not looking at her as she set the bag near the front door and headed upstairs.

The worst was yet to come. Mom was preparing to run—I knew this. Whatever that power was, it had scared her. I couldn’t get that frightening image of glowing white arms and eyes out of my mind. I buried my head under my pillow. It was only a matter of time before she announced we were going on the lam.

Maybe while Mom was at the cleaners I could…wait. Something came back to me. My clothes. Reese had stuck something in my pocket. Or had he? Had I hallucinated? That evening was still a blur. I thought I’d imagined him bringing me home. But I had to make sure.

I heard Mom shuffling around upstairs. I sat up, willing my body to stop nagging me. Finding my laundry bag in the foyer, I untied the string and rummaged through the clothes, pulling out my leather breeches. My insides fluttered as I drew a folded piece of paper from the back pocket. Opening it, I saw a string of numbers—his communicator number.

I fought the fog in my head, trying to remember. He needed to tell me something. Then heat crept to my cheeks as I recalled the feel of Reese’s lips. I lightly pressed my fingers to my forehead. Maybe that part I had imagined. Mom’s bedroom door shut upstairs, and I quickly tucked my pants back into the bag and scurried toward the couch.

“All right, I’m leaving.” She walked over and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Just rest, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay.”

As soon as she closed the door behind her, I bounded up the stairs to my room and grabbed my communicator. My stomach sank as I scrolled over messages from Lana and Jace. They were so worried about me, and I hadn’t contacted them once. I felt too horrible to even type out a quick message to let them know I was all right. I just couldn’t yet. I wasn’t all right.

I pressed the first number into the communicator, then halted, my thumb hovering over the second key. Could I trust him? Sure, he’d revealed his eyes to me, but what did that mean? Was he like me? And if so, how? Why would he reveal himself to me? Too many questions, but at this point, I decided things couldn’t get much worse for me. I needed answers, and he might have them. I entered the rest of the numbers.

I didn’t know what to say, so I sent a simple message: Hi. Dez. What else could I say? There wasn’t enough room on the analog screen to ask all the questions swimming in my head.

Falling back on my bed, I waited. Finally, my communicator vibrated, and I read the message: The falls. Meet now?

I bit down on my lip. Mom was out for a couple of hours, but could I meet Reese and make it back before her? There was a trace feature on our communicators, and I didn’t want her walking into an empty house, freaking out, and tracking me down—to find me with a Narco. I could leave my communicator here…No. I needed a way to contact someone if things went bad. I scrunched my eyebrows, thinking. I had to chance it. Reese could have information that might help me. I typed back: Yes. See you soon.