Page 76 of Dragon’s Rebel

Chapter 34

Rebel hadn’t gone far. She was just a few yards into the woods, leaning against a tree trunk, when Thorne found her.

Deep down inside, she’d always known the truth. Her ability to evade electrical and magical fields. Tempest’s ability to see the future—and understand how to change it.

The fact that the Keepers of the Seals were descended from long lines of powerful witches.

Now she couldn’t deny it any longer, and she hated it.

Just. Fucking. Hated. It.

She wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to hold in the pain. She hated witches, and she was one. Fucking irony biting her in the ass again.

She felt tears on her face, and then they were pouring down her face and she was sobbing. She fought it, but it was like a dam had broken and there was nothing she could do. The flood couldn’t be held back anymore. She was on her knees, and the tears just kept pouring down, but the pain didn’t ease.

Then Thorne was there, kneeling in front of her, his hands clasping her forearms. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

She wasn’t okay. She was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. Sobbing like she hadn’t done since that night. “I saw them die, Thorne. Don’t you get that? I stood right over there—” she stabbed her finger towards the path— “in the dark, holding my little sister and pushing her face into my shoulder so she couldn’t see.”

She gulped, gasping for air. “They were all around the trailer, in their robes, screaming at my mother. That she was an abomination, that she’d corrupted my father, that her children—“” she gasped again, feeling like a boulder was sitting on her chest.

Thorne was still holding on to her wrists, his blue eyes intent on her face, his hands warm and strong. Solid. Safe.

“Tell me,” he said.

“They said—that her children should be put down. That they—we—should never have been born.” She heard Thorne growl softly. “And I saw—I knew my mother was in the trailer. They were both in there, and I saw the shield around it, like a big bubble.

“But then my mother was next to me, only I could see through her, like a ghost. She whispered for me to run, to take care of Tempe, to remember everything she’d told me, and then she kissed me.” Her hand went to her cheek.

“I knew the witches wanted something, and I wanted to give it to them to save my parents. I would have done anything to save their lives.” She gripped Thorne’s hands with her own. “Anything. Even give them the Seal, if I knew where it was.”

“But you didn’t,” he said softly.

She shook her head. “There wasn’t anything I could do,” she said numbly. “I knew my mother wanted me to go, to save Tempe, but I couldn’t leave,” she whispered. “And then I saw the missiles flying at the shield. Red and blue and green, like fireworks. I knew it wouldn’t hold. I knew.

“And then there was an explosion, like a huge flower made of fire. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. I don’t even remember hearing the ‘boom,’ but a wall of wind rushed over me, almost flattening me.

“Everything seemed to be on fire, and people were screaming, and I ran. I left them there.” She swallowed hard. “But I remembered I’d seen my mother, outside the trailer, and so I thought… maybe…”

Thorne gathered her into his arms. “Shh,” he said. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” She pushed away from him. “I couldn’t be a witch, because magic killed people. And if anyone thought I had magic, they’d kill me too. And Tempest.”

She sat back on her heels, shivering with reaction. “I saw them die, Thorne. I saw them go up in flames. Do you have any idea what that feels like?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I do.”

He sat cross-legged on the ground in front of her. “I was at the battle of Mount St. Helens, when the Draken Lord Zavrek broke free. I saw my father die.”

He picked a stalk of grass and began folding it between his fingers. “I was on the ground, in human form, helping to evacuate one of the towns. I wanted so bad to be fighting.”

He gave a soft huff, like he was laughing at himself. “Like Zavrek wouldn’t have crushed me like a bug.”

He moved his shoulders uncomfortably. “Anyway, the battle was raging, in and out between dimensions, as the Guardians tried to corner Zavrek and banish him through a one-way portal. The battle was cloaked from human sight, but I could see them dropping one by one.”

His voice grew soft, his gaze far away, as if he could see the battle. “Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. The last handful of the Guardians, including my father, were desperately trying to back Zavrek through the portal. I could see they were losing, and I was flying my hardest…”

He shook his head. “They threw the last of their magic into a net to trap Zavrek and push him through the portal. His fire was so much more powerful than theirs, and he was flaming them, trying to weaken them so they’d let go of the net. I flew faster than I’d ever flown, trying to get there in time to help.”