Bonds of Light and Fire

31. Promising Explanations

    "Don't you run from me, you worthless ungrateful child!" Dalise shrieked. Her voice echoed through Luciana's ears.

    She ran faster, trying to put as much distance between herself and her mother as possible. That strange glowing male watched her, always one step ahead. He made no move to help. Instead, he just continued to whisper, "Soon."

    Luciana ignored him and skidded around a corner. Her breath came in frightened gasps. Just a few more turns and she'd reach the stairwell down to the kitchen. She'd be safe. Just a few more turns.

    "I've wasted my life looking after you, and this is my reward! Come back here, Luciana. If you don't stop running, so help me, I'll drag you by the hair to the nearest brothel myself!"

    Luciana choked on a sob and darted around another bend. She smacked into a solid figure. Brye grabbed her by the shoulders. "Why, Sunbeam, whatever is the matter?"

    "Let me go!" Luciana jerked against him, but Brye didn't yield. "Please, Father. She's going to..."

    An enraged scream interrupted her before she could continue. "Luciana!"

    "Please!" Luciana pounded her fists against her father's chest. "Please let me go!"

    "If you want protection, Sunbeam, you must come to me. I'm all you have left. I'm all you'll ever have."

    "No!" She strained harder, her heels scraping against the wooden floor with each pull. "Please, Father. Please!" Dalise's footsteps grew louder by the second. "Father, please!"

    Brye's brown eyes darkened and he bared his canines in a snarl. "You wanted freedom. You wanted to experience the world. Experience it, then!"

    He threw her onto the floor just as Dalise reached them. Their leering faces bent over her, screaming and howling with anger. Luciana shielded her face with her arms and strained for her magic. She couldn't find it. There wasn't a spark left in her veins. She couldn't protect herself. She couldn't stop them.

    Hands grabbed her arms and forced them aside. Someone pressed her legs down. Luciana sobbed harder, still floundering for her magic. "Aeron!" She screamed. "Aeron!" There was no answer. "Aeron!"

    Luciana wailed in terror, trying in vain to free herself. A sea of faces had surrounded her. They were tugging at her clothes, her hair, her skin. They were trying to reach whatever resided within her. Pain splintered through her limbs, burning with an intensity she'd never known before.

    She couldn't breath amidst her hyperventilating sobs. Luciana fought harder, still calling for her brother. Pain burst through her again, and she called for the only other person who might be close enough to help her.

    "Vaughan!" Her voice broke mid-scream, and the crowd tore into her, leaving nothing but bloody bones behind.

◦ ── ◦ ☼ ◦ ── ◦

    "Luciana! Luci!"

    She jerked awake to cold hands wrapped around her wrists in an iron grip. "Let me go!" Luciana screamed. "Let me go!"

    "Luci, stop. It's me. Luci, look at me." She fought against the male. He shook her, jarring some sense back into her mind. "Look at me!"

    Anger and concern, not her own, sparked within her chest. She barely noticed the foreign feelings. Luciana blinked back her blinding tears, somehow managing to focus. Vaughan knelt before her, his obsidian eyes reflecting in the light. Her light. Her skin was glowing. Luciana stared at her hands in shock. She was gradually becoming aware of the pain rippling through them.