“Watch out!” Blair called, distracting me just as I was about to throw. I faltered, ducking as if something was going to hit me, and both flame balls fell to the grass, more than six feet away from Sir Burns-a-Lot.
Blair and her goons burst into laughter, and a red-hot rage I’d never experienced before rushed through me, making my heart beat wildly and the blood rush to my ears.
“Shut up, Blair!” I screamed as I spun on her.
Purple flames erupted on the ends of Blair’s hair, and chaos broke out on the field.
I staggered backward in shock as Blair screamed bloody murder. Her hair turned into a full-on fireball as the two students holding the water canisters rushed forward and sprayed her liberally from head to toe.
No.
There’s no way I did that. No way. I didn’t throw out my arms or anything! I hadn’t meant to…
The flames were purple,a strange male voice spoke into my mind.
I yelped, grabbing my face. I was hearing voices?
I glanced toward Ariyon, Ayden, and Eden for comfort but was only met with three horrified gazes.
‘I’m going dark,’I told Yanric. The shock and truth of it hit me so deeply, I felt bile rise in my throat.
He appeared out of shadows and solidified on my shoulder.‘I’m here. You’re not alone,’he said. What he didn’t do was argue with my statement.
I’d made Blair’s hair catch fire out of anger.
I did that.
I looked at her in horror, covered in water from the fire extinguishers. Her hair was a mass of little molten nubs, and she was crying. Her neck looked blistered and burned. Ariyon approached her, the wheels on his hands already spinning to heal her, and I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
I could have killed her. Bile crept up my throat.
“Fallon?” The teacher held her hands out to me, speaking in low, calm tones as if I would light the entire class ablaze at any moment.
She’s scared of me.
I turned and took off running then, away from the class and back toward the school. I wanted to get out of there, to get away from the faces looking at me like I was a monster.
Because I am.
‘Take a deep breath. You haven’t used your powers in a long time, and Blair was being a royal hag,’Yanric said.
‘Don’t talk to me.’I reached up and shooed him off my shoulder as silent tears streamed down my face. He screeched as he was forced to flap his wings and fly a few feet away from me.
It happened. Just as everyone said it would. Just as Emmeric predicted. I was going dark, and I’d be damned if I was going to let my friends get hurt along the way, Yanric included.
I was heaving for oxygen by the time I reached the stables. Within seconds, I had mounted Ranger and was galloping through the city toward Bane Manor.
Solana had remodeled the house to also work as a prison, to contain me if I ever went dark. One letter to the queen telling her to lock it down, and I would be shut in there for the rest of my life. But the problem was, my father was in there with me. I knew he would never leave me, and I would never forgive myself if I hurt a single hair on his head. No. I had to be smart about this. I had to run away, far away, where no one I cared about would ever find me. Because even if I locked my dad out, Ariyon would come for me. He’d never let me spend my life imprisoned, and I couldn’t risk hurting him either.
I raced home, grateful my father was at work and that there was no Royal Guard waiting for me. They didn’t keep watch while I was at school, and the queen seemed to have loosened up ever since I returned with Ariyon.
When I stepped inside, I passed the kitchen and found Daniella baking something. I told her I hadn’t been feeling well and was going to sleep it off in my room and to turn anyone away who came by. She wished me well, and I snuck into my father’s bedroom and lifted the mattress off the frame. The two runaway bags were tucked perfectly beside each other. It would kill my father to know I left him behind, but there was no reality in which I would ever risk hurting him.
Yanric poofed beside me, and I looked at him, my heart breaking for what was happening.‘I’m sorry, Yan, but I’m hearing voices that aren’t my own. I’m not able to feel happiness. I’m having nightmares, and I just lit Blair’s hair on fire. This isn’t just lack of sleep.’
He nodded solemnly.‘We’re going dark.’
I burst into tears, reaching down to heft one of the bags over my shoulder. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Walkingover to the nightstand, I picked up a pencil and a piece of paper, wiping at my eyes feverishly.
