“I was offended,” he answered in a forceful voice, “by her emotions—by the very feelings that you arouse in me.”
He stepped toward her, and Hailey took a step back, looking over her shoulder at the edge of the platform. Should she misstep, there was no railing to stop her from plummeting over a hundred feet, and Asher’s eyes boiled as he took another step forward.
Instinctively, Hailey put her hands up in defense, which seemed to enrage the Envoy. He lunged at her, and she staggered back a bit too far, teetering on the edge of the mezzanine with wide eyes.
Grabbing her around her waist with one hand, he grasped a tight fistful of hair at the back of her head with the other, holding her over the edge as he glared into her eyes.
“I shouldn’t blame you for the perversion of love that has gripped me, but often times, I do,” he said, and Hailey let out a whimper.
He was two seconds away from dropping her—she knew it. She grabbed hold of his shirt and hung on for dear life as he fumed.
“This passion—thishateand love—I am maddened by it.” He dropped his seething gaze to her mouth. “And just when I think I should rid myself of you, I’m stung by compassion and longing.”
“Don’t let go of me,” she breathed, and Asher jerked her roughly away from the edge, still holding her head painfully tight. She shoved at him, but it was like pushing against a block wall.
“Don’t fight me, Hailey,” he whispered to her ear, and still clutching a fistful of hair, he pressed his lips to hers, unleashing a surge of soothing heat that spreadthrough her mouth, across her face, into her eyes, down her throat, and all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. As Asher’s calm washed over her, Hailey relaxed into his arms and slid a hand onto his shoulder.
When he finished, he released her and gently stroked her cheek. “I’ve given you a gift, my love,” he told her tenderly. “I’ll teach you to use it—to tune your eyes and ears to pick up the discord in others before their evil touches you.”
“Okay,” Hailey whispered, overwhelmed.Gift?She’d have to process that later. At the moment, she was still reeling from his biting words.Rid myself of you.It played over and over in her head. She pressed her palm to her chest and sneaked a peek over the edge.
“I thought you were going to…let me fall.”
“Don’t you remember, Hailey?” said Asher, tilting his head. “I will never let you fall.”
That night, the Aether was different…uncomfortable. The usual pale, soothing light seemed offensively bright and there was a din—a jumble of hideous screeching that grew so loud it hurt. Hailey pressed her hands over her ears and sank to her knees. Then quite suddenly, it stopped, and when she opened her eyes, she was standing inside Fin’s room, watching a heated conversation.
Squinting her eyes brought the hazy scene into sharp focus. It was Asher speaking through clenched teeth to Fin, and neither of them seemed to notice her eavesdropping from the shadows. She was only getting bits and pieces of what they were saying.
“I won’t do it!” Fin yelled.
Asher’s voice faded in and out. “…cannot control…have her…destroy her…”
Fin took a swing at Asher, and Asher caught his fist. Fin let out a yelp, and Asher’s voice rang clear: “I’ve gone mad.”
Hailey bolted upright, soaking wet and clutching her chest, her heart beating like a snare drum.
“Was it a good one?” asked Giselle. She was wide awake and sitting on her bed with her legs folded.
“What?” Hailey panted.
“You just had a premonition. Woke me up with your wheezing. Was it a good one? You should try to remember it before it fades away.”
Giselle was right. It was slipping through her memory already—just like a dream. She tried to catch her breath and held tight to a few tendrils of images and sound bites…Asher and Fin. Arguing. Fin refused to do something...something Asher wanted him to do…
And then it was too late. The memory was gone.
Fin caught up to her as she walked to breakfast that morning. “Hailey,” he called, and she stopped, waiting.
“Hey,” she tried to sing happily, but her despondence rang like a bell. “Ready for your big game today?”
He thrust his chest out and scoffed. “I was born ready.”
Flashing a weak smile, Hailey’s shoulders drooped.
Wrapping an arm around her, Fin walked hugging her in silent support for several minutes. Then he gave her an encouraging squeeze and said, “So, the student bus leaves from Chinook at noon—you’ll be on it, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss seeing the Yetis kick some Anchorage Ice Pick butt for anything,” she told him, and he beamed.
