her. Silvia’s eyes went wide, with a million questions inside them. “What?” she gasped and then fell into a fit of coughs.
The heart monitor wailed an alarm.
Recovering from her coughing, she looked him in the eyes; and all the bitterness melted away. “Thank you, Simon,” she whispered and then closed her eyes. The heart monitor let out a steady, sustained beep.
Nurses and doctors rushed into the room, all in white and blue clothes, shoving him aside. His mom came running in after them, a paper cup of water in her hand. Cynthia looked from her dead mother to her son, blinking quickly. She looked at his hands, and he hurried to put them behind his back. Understanding spread across her face like a shadow. She dropped the cup to the floor; Simon watched the water quickly run across the white tile.
Cynthia grabbed Simon by his arm and hauled him from the hospital.
Now, driving toward the University, Simon could still feel the anger in her grip, the pure hatred. That night as he’d sat in his room, waiting for his body to heal the welts from his father’s belt, he thought of his grandmother’s last words. She’d thanked him, and he didn’t know why. Why would she thank him for being unable to heal her, for bringing on her death?
The answer had come a short time later as he crawled into bed, his back healed and ready for sleep. She had thanked him because she needed to die, wanted to die. She didn’t need to be healed; she needed to be freed from her disgusting body.
He had realized that night that healing wasn’t always about fixing.
The next morning, he’d started researching medical schools.
Pulling into the parking lot at the University, Simon took a steadying breath. He rehearsed the words he would say to the professor, prepared to beg if he had to. He had to fix this and, as he walked up to the biology building, vowed not to mess up again, no matter what was going on with the Covenant.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
Willa stood out on the end of a diving board at the indoor pool of the Twelve Acres Recreation Center, blindfolded. This was by far the weirdest thing she’d had to do for training so far.
The board gave and bounced with her slightest movement, so she tried to stay as still as possible. With her eyes covered in the black silk blindfold, it felt like the board was only the width of a balance beam, as high as those Olympic platforms. The smell of chlorine burned her nose.
“All right, Willa,” Rowan called out, his voice echoing in the pool area. “We’re ready to begin.” This meant they had enchanted all the windows and doors to the pool, which kept out unwanted guests and made it look like the group was just enjoying a private pool party to any who might look in the windows.
Willa shifted her feet; and the board bounced slightly, bringing her heart into her throat. Some party! She waited for the board to stop moving. She didn’t like the idea of falling from the fifteen-foot board into the water below, blindfolded and fully clothed. Of course, it had to be the highest diving board, not the ones only a few feet off the water. She’d only gone off this board once in her whole life—on a dare by her dad—and it’d scared her to death.
Rowan went on. “This is the first in a series of difficult exercises that will prepare you for the challenge. This exercise tests your psychic awareness, your instincts, and your ability to react to threats you can’t see. You must use magic to feel out what comes at you. You may use the power of Water or Air to defend yourself. Three consecutive defenses without falling counts as a completed exercise. If you fall off the board, we start over.”
“Sun and moon,” Willa mumbled to herself. She felt wholly unprepared and as nervous as she’d ever been in training. This was the first time they’d ventured beyond the back yard of Plate’s Place, and, although she’d spent plenty of summer days at this pool, it felt unsettlingly strange
The heart monitor wailed an alarm.
Recovering from her coughing, she looked him in the eyes; and all the bitterness melted away. “Thank you, Simon,” she whispered and then closed her eyes. The heart monitor let out a steady, sustained beep.
Nurses and doctors rushed into the room, all in white and blue clothes, shoving him aside. His mom came running in after them, a paper cup of water in her hand. Cynthia looked from her dead mother to her son, blinking quickly. She looked at his hands, and he hurried to put them behind his back. Understanding spread across her face like a shadow. She dropped the cup to the floor; Simon watched the water quickly run across the white tile.
Cynthia grabbed Simon by his arm and hauled him from the hospital.
Now, driving toward the University, Simon could still feel the anger in her grip, the pure hatred. That night as he’d sat in his room, waiting for his body to heal the welts from his father’s belt, he thought of his grandmother’s last words. She’d thanked him, and he didn’t know why. Why would she thank him for being unable to heal her, for bringing on her death?
The answer had come a short time later as he crawled into bed, his back healed and ready for sleep. She had thanked him because she needed to die, wanted to die. She didn’t need to be healed; she needed to be freed from her disgusting body.
He had realized that night that healing wasn’t always about fixing.
The next morning, he’d started researching medical schools.
Pulling into the parking lot at the University, Simon took a steadying breath. He rehearsed the words he would say to the professor, prepared to beg if he had to. He had to fix this and, as he walked up to the biology building, vowed not to mess up again, no matter what was going on with the Covenant.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
Willa stood out on the end of a diving board at the indoor pool of the Twelve Acres Recreation Center, blindfolded. This was by far the weirdest thing she’d had to do for training so far.
The board gave and bounced with her slightest movement, so she tried to stay as still as possible. With her eyes covered in the black silk blindfold, it felt like the board was only the width of a balance beam, as high as those Olympic platforms. The smell of chlorine burned her nose.
“All right, Willa,” Rowan called out, his voice echoing in the pool area. “We’re ready to begin.” This meant they had enchanted all the windows and doors to the pool, which kept out unwanted guests and made it look like the group was just enjoying a private pool party to any who might look in the windows.
Willa shifted her feet; and the board bounced slightly, bringing her heart into her throat. Some party! She waited for the board to stop moving. She didn’t like the idea of falling from the fifteen-foot board into the water below, blindfolded and fully clothed. Of course, it had to be the highest diving board, not the ones only a few feet off the water. She’d only gone off this board once in her whole life—on a dare by her dad—and it’d scared her to death.
Rowan went on. “This is the first in a series of difficult exercises that will prepare you for the challenge. This exercise tests your psychic awareness, your instincts, and your ability to react to threats you can’t see. You must use magic to feel out what comes at you. You may use the power of Water or Air to defend yourself. Three consecutive defenses without falling counts as a completed exercise. If you fall off the board, we start over.”
“Sun and moon,” Willa mumbled to herself. She felt wholly unprepared and as nervous as she’d ever been in training. This was the first time they’d ventured beyond the back yard of Plate’s Place, and, although she’d spent plenty of summer days at this pool, it felt unsettlingly strange
Similar Books
