THE ASHES OF LIGHT ✔

Chapter Thirty-Three: Valencia

Valencia carefully wrapped the syringe in a towel, careful not to spill any of the substance inside. She shoved it in her coat pocket and left the house, wanting nothing more than to get away from the body. She knew that she had to get this over to Red—if her suspicions were right and this was the same weapon that had killed Dad, then Red would be the first person to need it.

Valencia let out a groan as she slammed into someone, flying backwards and landing in a seated position. Her head slammed roughly against the ground, dirt flying into the air around her.

"Shoot," the person muttered, reaching out a hand to help her up, "what were you doing out here?"

Valencia gladly accepted the hand and let herself be pulled up to her feet. She blinked in surprise as she took in the face of the boy in front of her, "Ronan?"

"We meet again," he grinned, pushing back the messy curls from his face. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't you not be in Gallomia?" Valencia retorted, looking at him skeptically. She knew he was from Gaiwei, but she couldn't do anything about it—he was still the only person who could help her learn about her abilities.

"Touché," Ronan shrugged. "Did you like my present?"

"You mean the paper?" Valencia frowned. "I didn't learn much."

Ronan pretended to look offended, dramatically grabbing at his heart, "Ouch! You should be appreciative of gifts, you know." He stumbled backward, faking a pained expression.

"Shut up," Valencia couldn't resist the smile that twitched into existence at the edge of her lips. She knew she was fraternizing with the enemy, but she had to admit, Ronan wasn't the worst company to have.

"Well, now you know the order of the abilities," Ronan's face became serious as he stepped forward again, "and with my help, you can have someone to train you as they each manifest."

Valencia's heart sped up, "You would really do that?"

"Well, for a price, of course," his eyebrow twitched with humor as he locked eyes with her. "I want you to work with me."

"Work with you? On what?"

"Come on, V, we already talked about this. Am I really so boring that you forgot our last meeting?" Ronan grinned. Valencia remembered back to their previous conversation, where Ronan had wanted her to work with him to master all of the abilities. Together, they would be an unstoppable force.

Valencia shook her head, "I said no."

"I suppose it's a shame that I won't accept that for an answer," Ronan tsked, clicking his tongue indignantly.

"What are you going to do about it?" Valencia surprised herself at the sarcasm that laced her words. She cursed internally—Ronan was rubbing off on her.

You forget, I have more abilities than you. Ronan's voice echoed throughout her mind, causing her to take a step back in shock. He was using telepathy on her.

Valencia blinked and the world around her faded away. It was soon replaced by a white room, where the walls seemed to melt into the floor and silence was the loudest noise.

She spun around, coming face-to-face with Ronan.

"Where am I?" she asked, frowning at him. Her voice sounded muffled, as if she were speaking underwater.

"We're in your consciousness," he grinned, watching her with an amused expression. To him, she was simply entertainment. "Let's see, perhaps we would do better in a nice memory?"