Read Online The Violet Awakening (The Elementum Trinity Book 2) by Styna Lane - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Styna Lane
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last bit of defeated cobra.
Before I could turn to Lakin, Cora came trotting back to us, face hard as she stretched her hand out toward me. In the brief moment that her skin touched mine, my vision fogged over. I discreetly closed my eyes, ensuring nobody could see that I was looking into her past. Through Cora’s view, I saw the burning ruins of the store, and people hurriedly carrying buckets of water to the destructive flames. In the midst of all the neighborly love—townsfolk selflessly helping each other to extinguish the devastation—there was one body frozen behind the smoke. I was not in control of my movements, as Cora’s hands helped bring water to the fire, but I was able to identify the image of the man in my peripheral vision. In his pristine gray suit, he stood out amongst the ash-covered civilians. And he was staring right at me.
My vision cleared as Cora dropped a stunning necklace into my hands. Curtis had managed to craft my one stone into two tiny, intertwined loops— shackles . They looked like a miniature version of my shackles, connected to each other. He had no way of knowing what my Electro-Cuffs had looked like, and I suddenly understood what he’d meant when he said our stones would become whatever we needed them to become. My cuffs had been a part of me for so long, I felt incomplete without them. And now that I had them back, without the restrictions of those little green lights, I felt… invincible.
At first, I thought Al was only watching me gawk at my gem in awe. After feeling him inside my mind, I realized he must have been aware of my vision. He knew I saw William standing in the crowd watching Cora.
‘Say nothing,’ his voice ordered. And that was exactly what I did.
“You need to go. There may be survivors, and they will need your help,” Lily said, giving Al a final hug.
“What if—” I began.
“If… if there is no one to save, then you return,” she answered quickly, keeping her eyes on the ground.
I felt the heat start to grow inside of me again. All of those bodies—those people—and we were just supposed to leave them there to be forgotten? To decay into nothingness?
‘There were hundreds of people there, Angie. There is nothing we can do for them.’ This time, it was Lily’s voice ringing in my head.
I sighed out my exasperation and turned to Lakin, taking both his hands in mine. He seemed surprised that I was not fighting harder to take him with us. I picked up on his slight feeling of betrayal, and it filled my chest cavity with acid. I leaned my forehead against his, as I’d seen Al do earlier with Lily, and I closed my eyes. I moved my palms to his face, and forced his vision to cloud over. I replayed the moment when we’d first seen each other—really seen each other. The overwhelming feeling of oneness and infinity as the blue and orange light surrounded us. I had not expected to open my eyes to see his brimming with tears. He nodded and kissed me more passionately than he ever had before. It felt a bit awkward sharing that moment in front of other people, but I didn’t care, and nobody dared to try and stop us.
“No,” I said, just loud enough for Lakin to hear, “this feels too much like goodbye.”
“It’s not goodbye. It’ll never be goodbye.”
Chapter ten
Silent and Unseen
I couldn’t bring myself to look back at Lakin before the darkness of the stone-tunnel blocked out all light of the Eden behind us. I knew I would only find sadness in his face, and I didn’t want to remember him like that—just in case that would be the last time I’d ever set eyes on him.
The flames in Al’s palms cast shadows against the walls as we travelled down the passageway. They told the story of my first true mission as an Elementum, even though the adventure only led me back to the place I had spent my entire life trying to distance myself from. I wondered if the shadows would also tell the story of our return, or if the pages
Before I could turn to Lakin, Cora came trotting back to us, face hard as she stretched her hand out toward me. In the brief moment that her skin touched mine, my vision fogged over. I discreetly closed my eyes, ensuring nobody could see that I was looking into her past. Through Cora’s view, I saw the burning ruins of the store, and people hurriedly carrying buckets of water to the destructive flames. In the midst of all the neighborly love—townsfolk selflessly helping each other to extinguish the devastation—there was one body frozen behind the smoke. I was not in control of my movements, as Cora’s hands helped bring water to the fire, but I was able to identify the image of the man in my peripheral vision. In his pristine gray suit, he stood out amongst the ash-covered civilians. And he was staring right at me.
My vision cleared as Cora dropped a stunning necklace into my hands. Curtis had managed to craft my one stone into two tiny, intertwined loops— shackles . They looked like a miniature version of my shackles, connected to each other. He had no way of knowing what my Electro-Cuffs had looked like, and I suddenly understood what he’d meant when he said our stones would become whatever we needed them to become. My cuffs had been a part of me for so long, I felt incomplete without them. And now that I had them back, without the restrictions of those little green lights, I felt… invincible.
At first, I thought Al was only watching me gawk at my gem in awe. After feeling him inside my mind, I realized he must have been aware of my vision. He knew I saw William standing in the crowd watching Cora.
‘Say nothing,’ his voice ordered. And that was exactly what I did.
“You need to go. There may be survivors, and they will need your help,” Lily said, giving Al a final hug.
“What if—” I began.
“If… if there is no one to save, then you return,” she answered quickly, keeping her eyes on the ground.
I felt the heat start to grow inside of me again. All of those bodies—those people—and we were just supposed to leave them there to be forgotten? To decay into nothingness?
‘There were hundreds of people there, Angie. There is nothing we can do for them.’ This time, it was Lily’s voice ringing in my head.
I sighed out my exasperation and turned to Lakin, taking both his hands in mine. He seemed surprised that I was not fighting harder to take him with us. I picked up on his slight feeling of betrayal, and it filled my chest cavity with acid. I leaned my forehead against his, as I’d seen Al do earlier with Lily, and I closed my eyes. I moved my palms to his face, and forced his vision to cloud over. I replayed the moment when we’d first seen each other—really seen each other. The overwhelming feeling of oneness and infinity as the blue and orange light surrounded us. I had not expected to open my eyes to see his brimming with tears. He nodded and kissed me more passionately than he ever had before. It felt a bit awkward sharing that moment in front of other people, but I didn’t care, and nobody dared to try and stop us.
“No,” I said, just loud enough for Lakin to hear, “this feels too much like goodbye.”
“It’s not goodbye. It’ll never be goodbye.”
Chapter ten
Silent and Unseen
I couldn’t bring myself to look back at Lakin before the darkness of the stone-tunnel blocked out all light of the Eden behind us. I knew I would only find sadness in his face, and I didn’t want to remember him like that—just in case that would be the last time I’d ever set eyes on him.
The flames in Al’s palms cast shadows against the walls as we travelled down the passageway. They told the story of my first true mission as an Elementum, even though the adventure only led me back to the place I had spent my entire life trying to distance myself from. I wondered if the shadows would also tell the story of our return, or if the pages
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