Highest rating: #19 in fantasy!
Edlyn has never fit in. With her unusual white hair and silver eyes, she sticks out from her village of brown. To make matters worse, unexplainable things tend to happen around her-things that she can't control. In a...
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A scream claws its way up my throat, but I choke it back down. I force myself to stay calm and tell myself that Alec is not dead, he can't be dead.
"Alec," I whisper. I put my hand on his cheek. It's cold. "Come on, wake up. Please, wake up..."
I accept the crying that comes next.
A crushing weight settles over me, so strong it feels like my chest is caving in. I crumple onto the ground and sob into his chest.
I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
With shaking hands I take out the Scale and place it in Alec's hand, curling his fingers around it and wrapping my own hands around his. Tears drip into my lap, onto our hands. "If you can do anything," I whisper to it, "now would be the time."
Nothing.
A curse is what magic is. Stupid, good-for-nothing. Useless. It's worth nothing to me if it can't save Alec.
The weight pressing down on me becomes heavier. I wrap my arms around shoulders to keep myself from shattering. Despair and fury build inside of me, a swirl of dark emotions, until I feel like I'm on fire.
I am on fire. My skin is tinted red and I can feel intense heat, although it doesn't hurt. My clothes are turning to ashes.
I take my hands away from Alec to keep from burning him, although it wouldn't matter now. The ashes of my clothes flake to the ground around me. Soon I'll be naked, but I can't control it—I can't stop the fire within me.
Then the Scale starts to glow. At first I think it's just a reflection and that I'm literally covered in flames. But no, the light is coming from the Scale itself. It grows brighter and brighter until I can't look at it anymore. I shield my eyes with my hands. Then the light abruptly stops, pitching me into darkness again. The Scale explodes harmlessly into tiny sparkling particles that flake onto the cave floor, leaving no trace behind. My heart swells with naive hope and I lean over Alec, careful not to touch him. I swear that I see his finger twitch.
His mouth parts and he takes a deep breath. His eyes open, as green and beautiful and alive as before. He focuses on me, but my vision is becoming blurry. His lips move. I think he says my name, but I don't know. I can't tell. All I can do is cry again, although I try not to, and say something that might be his name.
Eventually he gives up trying to communicate and just lets me cry. I half expect him to push me away when I hug him, to be annoyed that I'm smothering him, but he seems to be as relieved as me. He hugs me tightly and his face presses into my shoulder. His breath is warm on my neck. I feel his fingers knot in my hair and he pulls me closer, and I suddenly feel like everything is okay now that he's holding me.
