Ever So Lightly- Book 1

46

Zephyr would have to thank Bennet a million times for bringing her up here. The quiet, still serenity of the mountain plateau seemed to be exactly what she'd needed. Zephyr felt more relaxed than she had all week. More relaxed than she had since before she'd left Bremerton if she were being totally honest with herself. Up here she could let go of it all. Let go of the expectations, the judging eyes, the decisions she didn't want to make. Even if it was temporary. Closing her eyes, Zephyr leaned her head back against the rock surface and left her thoughts fade off into nothing.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there. A faint noise at last pulled her from her own mind. She almost thought she could hear voices. Were they yelling? Zephyr looked toward the stairs, but that didn't seem right. Carefully, she crept forward, toward the glass dome.

The air on the mountain ledge was perfectly still, not even the slightest breeze marred the quiet serenity surrounding Zephyr as she peeked out over the edge to look at the scene below. A scream shattered through the air. The glass ceiling she peered down through hid nothing of the chaos that was reigning inside the ancient room. Zephyr watched as a man- stars, was that Houndsley?- pulled Chira away from the bodies of her guards. Blood. The fallen guards were covered in blood, twin pools of red spreading beneath their bodies. Unease overtook her, and this time not because of the high rock she was perched upon. She quickly backed away from the edge, heart beating faster and faster, her breath quickening.

This is it, Zephyr thought. This is when I have to choose. She had to help them. From her quick glance she had gathered that Houndsley's soldiers filled the room. Was Matthew in there? She couldn't lose him now, not after everything. Her mind raced as she glanced again back toward the stairwell. What could she do? She couldn't just waltz in through the front door, that would accomplish nothing, but she needed to decide what to do quickly. In an almost humorous way, this decision was a mirror to the larger ones that had been looming over her all week long.

Her entire life from this point onward would depend on this moment, this choice. The only people left that she loved were below her, and their lives too would be forever changed after this. Slowly, ever so slowly, Zephyr could feel the soft brush of air pressing the backs of her arms, pushing her hair forward around her face. Risking another glance over the ledge, she could see everything that mattered to her, right there below. The brilliant orange-red curls belonging to the woman who would stand by her no matter what she decided, and would give a tongue lashing to any who stepped in their way. The men who looked to her now, as even more than just a leader, as a symbol of hope. The innocent people, who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, whose lives were balanced on that ledge with Zephyr, waiting on her to make her decision.

Then a pair of dark eyes met her own. The eyes of the one person who could calm her storm. The person who made this decision the easiest, even though it scared her more than anything ever had. The eyes of the man who seemed to always be waiting on her to make a decision. Those eyes would lose the light of life at any moment. She could almost feel Kade's knife pressing against Jasper's throat, and her blood began to boil with rage, a now familiar sensation that signified power and strength and everything she'd never thought she could be pulsing through her limbs.

The wind was steadily growing stronger as Zephyr took it all in, pressing against her body now, trying with all of its might to send her forward to face her fears. That's when Zephyr knew she had already made the decision. She had made it months ago when everything she thought she knew had been turned upside down. When she left Bremerton, knowing full well that nothing would ever be the same for her, that none of this would be easy, but that it was all necessary. There really wasn't a decision to be made, only one choice remained. She would do anything, anything for the people she loved.

I suppose it's finally time to make the jump. The twisted humor of the situation hit her, and Zephyr had to work to suppress a manic laugh. Her eyes glinted, seeming to burn a brilliant, unnatural green, as her Gift swelled within her. The wind was beginning to howl around her, echoing through the mountains as she pushed against it, backing away from the ledge once again. After a few paces backwards she could no longer force herself toward the wall of air now pounding against her, pushing pushing pushing her to step forward. Just one little step to start it all. Bracing herself, the screaming winds now blocking out even her own distracting thoughts, Zephyr tensed, her face set with determination and a small smile, and took the first step forward.

One step. Another. A third, and then she was running. The ledge came at her like a rushing tide, one last step, a jump and

down

she

fell.