Eliane’s voice sounds kind of bitchy, but I like it.
Damn.
“Now, tell me where I can find Hazel’s room.”
Her parents exchange looks and speak in silence, something we can’t understand.
“Honey,” her mother starts, stepping closer. Eliane speaks up immediately.
“Don’t,” she sputters. “Don’t call me that,” she snaps. Her mother looks down.
“Sorry, Eliane I mean.” She looks down at the ground like the words can’t leave her throat. Kyan walks towards the woman and gives her hand a comforting squeeze, encouraging her to speak up.
“Eliane, Hazel died three years ago.”
Chapter 23
Eliane
“Hazel died three years ago.” The words circle in my head.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
No, that can’t be true. I saw her. In the trials. She rattles, just like me. I felt the sister bond.
“You are lying,” I breathe out. “You are lying!” I shout at them, aiming forward. My hand shakes with anger, my blood boiling. Anisha takes a step back as I rush forwards furiously, livid even. Kyan steps in front of her. I need to throw something. My first dagger flies through the air, landing just next to Kyan’s brown beard. Before I can throw another dagger, something bursts. Glass crashes onto the floor. Light shines so bright, the lanterns hanging on the walls and lightning balls must have snapped.
A scream erupts from my throat, and suddenly something lifts from my shoulders. The sun shines blindingly bright through the now open window, warming my skin. Sweat drips down my back.
“Honey, your skin,”Braxton whispers concerned. I look down at my hands and Braxton answers at once.
“It is giving light.”
My gaze goes up through the window and from there straight to the clock.
It is 5:30.
The sun is shining bright, probably brighter than ever before.
It is only then that I notice my whole body is tingling. I blink my eyes and as I open them, Kyan drags my mother outside using his flash ability. I don’t bother following them. I must look for proof. My hands look like light erupts from them. In front of me, a path of light lays down, leading upstairs into a room. I follow it, stamping through the house. Another lantern bursts and the candle standing inside it falls to the ground. The wooden floor burns fast, but I don’t care.
I am already burning.
The first door swings open and a girl’s bedroom appears behind it. A room covered in green—plants and flowers. A room of a girl with a nature signet. The plants are alive. Green and bright and healthy. Not the type of plants you would expect when somebody died three years ago. My hand brushes one of the green leaves and my fingers leave a trail of light sparkles behind on it. A scream erupts from my throat.
“I knew they were lying. She isn’t dead.”
The heat must have gone up with at least fifteen degrees in the last few minutes. My body burns as I open the first drawer with violence. A kid’s voice filling my ears, like there are memories floating in the room. Or is there really a kid’s voice? The voice tickles my brain in a familiar way.
I must be hallucinating.
It is the only explanation. My attention gets dragged towards her bed. I kneel down to the floor, light flying under the bed. My hands try to find something.
Yes.
