Kissing Danger ✔️

THIRTY FIVE

Word Count: 1359

~Aven

I stare at the rushing water, trying not to let the memories overwhelm me.

I grip his hand, letting him pull me down the trail.

Nerves flutter in my stomach, fingers quivering as I walk steadily along the path, trying not to stumble over and into the river below. The sound of the waterfall we walk toward roars in my ears, allowing my hurried breaths to go unnoticed to my recent boyfriend.

This is going to be my first kiss.

Shaking my head, my gaze drops to my hands on my lap. Those memories still haunt me. Back then, things were far simpler, even if it was only moments before I was plunged underwater, coming closer to death than I ever want to experience again. After that, everything seems to be cast into the dark.

That is, until Stace came into my life. I can't tell if it's the fault of the mate bond, or the fact that he has successfully distracted me from my old life, the people in it. And yet now the darkness seems to be back, with my discovery of powers that I can't control.

Which is why I sit before a tall waterfall, looking down at the water gathering below it, rushing down a stream and into the forest.

And I have a demon blooded old lady beside me.

"Your power comes from within, entwined with your emotions, but also your unconscious. If parts of your mind you can't control are troubled, you will struggle to have a handle on your emotions," she explains, flipping through a decrepit looking old book. I've tried multiple times to read over her shoulder, but it seems whatever language is inscribed in that thing, I've never seen before in my life.

"Okay..." I draw off.

"Take a deep breath, and spend the next hour sorting through your thoughts. Come to terms with what you feel," she tells me, getting to her feet.

I stare at her for a moment. I'm trying to figure out what it is about her that makes her different from Stace or Eryk. Appearance wise, she looks no different to any Angel blood, like me, and she doesn't act all that much different. And yet Stace insisted to me that if anyone knew about her, terrible things would happen.

"An hour?" I splutter in disbelief, watching her collect her things. I can't sit here for an hour and think. Not with this waterfall next to me, in this forest with Stace just down the path at her cabin with Eryk.

"Do you want this to work or not?" she deadpans. "That includes thinking about accepting your mate bond with Stace."

I roll my eyes, hating this topic. "I hardly know the guy."

"That doesn't matter. It's time to stop pushing away, and accept what is right in front of you," she grumbles, turning around back to the path.

I stare at her back. What does she know? She has no idea what has culminated in my life to lead up to me doubting the mate bond. Can she not see that Stace is capable of many terrible things? Is that why whatever force that puts mates together in this Realm paired us? Because we don't know the extent of our own powers?

"I am so ready to kiss you," he murmurs, reaching up to gently hold either side of my face. His fingertips are cold against my skin, an icy breeze sweeping down the valley, pulling strands of stray hair across my face. Alec brushes them away, leaning down slowly. I close my eyes, bracing myself for his lips to press against mine.

Instinctively, I step back with my right foot, right before Alec can kiss me. My boot slips out from under me, the ice forming at the side of the river cracking and collapsing, drawing my leg straight down into the river. Alec reaches out to grab me, but slips, letting me glide through his fingers.