“Maddie!” I sobbed again while the boys laughed and pushed me down to the ground. No one was coming. No one would help me while I fought for freedom against these three boys with a disgusting agenda. Hands groped my breasts, lips caressed my neck and chest, as fingers pulled at the button on my jeans.
I was alone and unwanted.
Suddenly pain shot into my skin, and my eyes widened to see what those boys had dug into me. Tearing and slices from what had to be little knives all over my body wrought havoc on my senses.
“What the fuck?” one of the boys cursed, and their hands vanished.
“No, I’ve been waiting for this. I’m not letting a few pricks stop me,” Jarrod growled and yanked at my pants. I had no clue why he said those words but I wanted him to stop. I wanted him gone and if my horrifying pain made that happen, then I’d suffer until I was ripped apart.
“Fuck! That hurt! You freak bitch!” Jarrod’s cruel hands disappeared before their screams began.
I wiped the tears blurring my vision. When I could finally see, I didn’t believe the sight before me. All three boys were tangled in vines against the trees closest to them. Slowly the plants wrapped around their teenage bodies, clothes still unbuttoned from what they’d planned to do to me. Instinctively, I looked down to my hands and screamed. Thorns covered every inch of my body. The pain, the ripping hadn’t been from them using something on me but had sprouted from me.
“Let us go!” Kenny shouted, and I wanted him to stop yelling. I couldn’t think. I didn’t understand what was happening. His hollering turned to muffled screams from vines weaving between his lips to silence him.
This power . . . this defense of nature . . . had it come from me? I looked at the thorns on my skin and imagined them disappearing, and one by one they did.
“You freak, let us go!” Jarrod snarled and for once I stood with absolute confidence in the face of monsters. Maddie was gone. He left me vulnerable to these jerks, but I wasn’t without protection anymore. I’d been the damsel, and now I stood as the knight. I willed the vines to tighten, and the boys screamed louder in response.
“You fucked with the wrong girl.”
I wouldn’t kill them, even though they didn’t deserve to live. However, I’d make sure they never attacked another girl again.
“You will not touch another like you’ve touched me today. If you so much as think about it, I will find you and I will make sure to touch you in ways you’d never imagined.” Strong and empowered, I didn’t care how I had gotten this gift of nature. I didn’t need someone to save me anymore. I now could save myself and others. To emphasize my promise, the vines dipped into their mouths and nostrils. I could kill them with one sharp point to the brain, down the throat and out. I knew it, and they knew it.
“We won’t. We promise,” Jarrod gurgled against the vine and instantly I released the boys. Their bodies collapsed on the ground with mingled grunts of pain, and they ran off without another glance. After adjusting my clothes to how they were before the attack, I touched the necklace Maddie had wanted to give me and saw a dandelion seed preserved in the glass. The wishing plant. Every time we saw one, we’d pick the flower, make a wish, and blow our wishes into the universe. He never let me know his wish, but I always hoped he wished for me like I wished for him.
I guess he didn’t, since he left me alone. I’d never let myself be so vulnerable again, nor would anyone be allowed near the shattered pieces of my heart. I didn’t need a bodyguard. Now I was the force to be reckoned with. I would fight for others who had no one. I could be the hero others needed.
Thorns sprouted up from the soil and clung to our once-favorite hiding fort. I walked back to the house with a purpose to make the most out of my life and use the painful events of my past to forge armor around the heart broken by Maddie.
Chapter One
Present
Hazel
My hands shook as the announcer opened the envelope. I amazed myself that I managed to lock my powers inside while my emotions went wild beneath my skin. Someone in the room probably had a flower appear in their hair or a tree outside bloomed before its time. My stomach churned as I plastered a smile on my face.
“And the winner for best album of the year goes to . . .”
The world stopped its circling around the sun in that five seconds of waiting. My heart beat faster in my chest and the echo of the beats could probably be heard around the ballroom. I looked to the other four people on the screen and saw the hope and nervousness hidden beneath their perfect faces. We were all a bundle of emotion right now. Every nomination deserved to win, but only one artist would walk away with that golden gramophone in his or her sweaty hands.
“Hazel Kennedy’s ‘Black-Eyed Susan!’”
I heard my name clearly, but my body didn’t move. I’d practiced for this moment just in case it happened, and now sat frozen to my seat.
“Hazel, get your butt up there.” Someone nudged me, and it could have been pop star Rhonda Raynes or my friend Korrie but I couldn’t think beyond hearing my name to notice. Steadily, I rose and ascended the stage to the podium where legendary singer Lucy Tao waited with the golden award for me. My team of producers, engineers, and everyone who helped make the winning album possible followed.
Lucy’s knowing smile gave me confirmation that this moment was real, and she knew what the impact of my winning would mean to me, to my fans, to my purpose in this world.
“I’m so proud of you.” She pulled me in for a hug and tears of happiness spilled onto my face.
I’d done it. All the years of hard work, good times, and bad moments became validated in this moment. I’d shown every person who ever doubted me, a black singer who had no proper upbringing could amount to anything. Now here I stood, having won the highest award coveted by every musical artist.
“Wow.” I smiled toward the crowd and geared myself up for the acceptance speech I’d prepared beforehand, hoping for this exact moment. I savored every second to memory, from the weight of the award in my hands to the way my cheeks ached from smiling so hard to the clapping of the people who I hoped were genuinely happy for me.
“I can’t believe I’m up here.” I looked to the people smiling from ear to ear beside me. I nodded once to them, then faced the waiting crowd once more.
