Page 5 of Designed By Fate

Please don’t. Don’t cry.

This isn’t right. It’s not the place I was shown only moments before. This is corrupted, unbalanced. It’s a blackened and muddy charred version of the beautiful field of flowers that it once was. The pictures we painted, the woman...

I’m grieving? For the flowers? No. Something else.

There are no more fireflies. The moons that were hung casting the beautiful picture in shades of blue are gone. It’s dark but I can see it. I can feel them circling us. No, her. These creatures aren’t like the ones I’ve fought topside. The strange and grotesque lupine features would be a welcome sight. A near skeletal man stands at the edge of the clearing, his long gray hair tucked inside the cloak he wears. A long knotted metal staff held in his boney hand, mimicking the way his bones appear to knot underneath his stretched ashen skin.

“Archeron, please, they need more time.” She pleas, in a language I’ve never heard. Somehow, I understand her words. I wish I didn’t. I really fucking wish I didn’t.

He shakes his head. His eyes are cold and sad, “The rivers have grown violent, the crossing is upon us sisters. I am sorry. We have allowed this to go on for far too long. He’s becoming restless.”

Another woman kneels beside her, her sable-colored skin shines despite the sky being consumed....by what? A frigid chill wraps around me.

The crack, they’re near the crack.

“Sister...”

“No, do not say it, Lachesis. I will not hear it; it is too unstable. We must restore more balance, there is time. We can let him show her now. If they do it correctly-” her voice breaks off into a whimper. Clotho’s hands fist in the dirt as a third woman walks ahead of them, her eyes turned upwards to the sky. The length of her wispy cerulean gown whips wildly around her.

Atropos.

Her thick hair is braided down her back, the color of freshly fallen snow. Adorned with somber shaded flowers. “We all knew the cost. They will understand, we knew this day would come.” Lachesis insists despite the break in her velvet voice. Energy burns through my veins as Clotho let’s out a guttural scream, her frustration and pain leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. “If they come home with this unbalance, they cannot be-”

I gasp as the brightness of the world assaults me, the sun I basked in just yesterday feels brutal on my skin. Unfamiliar and cruel. My heart rages in my chest as I cling to my friend. The smell of her sugary rich perfume reminding me of where I am.

Who I am.

“Kita, I’m calling the twins!” Mara’s panicked voice cuts through the uncomfortable humming in my head. Concern slams through the bond, along with no shortage of anger and frustration. A dangerously possessive amount of power rippling across my soul makes it feel frayed at the edges. I take a shuttering breath, “No...they know. I’m fine.” My hands shake, making the keys I’m still clenching rattle loudly before Mara takes them. All but forcing me to sit inside the uncomfortably warm interior. The black leather burning at my exposed legs.

I’m fine. Relax.

I push that through the bond, thinking it with everything I have, hoping they won’t pick up on the lie nestled between.

What the fuck was that?

I flip my palm over, staring at the angry red indents from where I gripped the keys. The brand on my chest itching as I rub it through the clothes. My nails catching on the raised flesh, it hurts but I don’t stop. It feels like no scratch no matter how deep could stop the uncomfortable sensation. My chest aches for that place, an unfamiliar territory that felt like home. Even in its withering state. As far as visions go, it’s always been pretty limited. This was different. Like I was watching something I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t look away.

“Here babe, take a drink. You fucking scared me!” She exclaims before shoving an old, warm bottle of water in my hand. My lips threaten to turn up at the corners. You can always tell when Milo was the last one to use a car, there will always be a half drank bottle of water inside. Much to the annoyance of Tate. I press it to my lips, letting the warm liquid slip down my throat before resting my head in my hands. My temples throbbing in tune with my pulse. “Sorry.”

“Was that a vision? I thought they only came in dreams?”

I shudder, “Me too. I don’t... I don’t think she willingly shared that.”

“She? Your mom?”

I exhale roughly, “Let’s not call an age-old Greek goddess mymom,but yeah. I saw them Mara... all of them. Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.” Silence follows as the gravity of that sinks in. Something is wrong, very wrong. That man... what was his name again? I panic, grappling as his thin, cloaked frame pushes into my mind. His eyes pools of obsidian.

Archeron! Why does that sound familiar?

Concern and anger flood through the bond from the guys again, which is fine. It’s the panic lingering underneath that tugs at my heartstrings. I ignore it as my phone rings another half dozen times. It won’t be long before they decide to track me down, i need to go back. It’s not fair to put the public at risk because I wanted to make a point. “Just don’t mention this to Sleepy please.” She raises her eyes, glancing at the phone gripped tightly in my fist. “Of course, babe. You have to tell them though, right? I mean-”

“I’m going to tell them, Mara. Just not yet. They’re already stretched too thin. I need to know what it means before I open my mouth.”

She just nods, reaching over and giving me a brief squeeze before pulling on her seatbelt. Thunder cracks across the sky, making a little girl walking with her mom squeal. Her mother tugs her up, hiding her face deep within her the cove of her neck as she chuckles. Rubbing her daughter’s back comforting her the way only a parent could. Her tiny fingers painted pink clutch the fabric of her mother’s jacket as a familiar longing pain fills my chest.

Stop it Kita... that’s not your life. It was never going to be.

I breathe deeply, pulling out of the parking lot, willing my emotions to shut off, to tuck away from them. Constantly having your deepest thoughts on display is as exhausting for me as it for them. Not that they would complain about it. Not for a moment. They take in every burden hoisted unto them; every ounce of pain I feel they absorb into themselves effortlessly. So determined to never let me see them struggle with it, the task they were given by Fate.

All of my struggles are laid bare for them, but they can hide within themselves, within each other. Not me. All this power and I’m still fucking weak.

I’ve complicated their lives, their purpose beyond repair. I didn’t understand it then, how hard they fought in the beginning to stay away from me. I didn’t see it for what it was. Watching them struggle with their own need for me, struggle against each other. Even then, they were protecting me. Sheltering their very complicated gift from the unavoidable crash course we’re on. I feel their love for me as sure as my heart beating in my chest, mixed with their nervous anger and something else... something they keep back. It’s been nearly a week since it happened, since something in our dynamic shifted. They’ve been off, acting out, being aggressive even by their standards. They went into the headquarters that day feeling optimistic about stopping the expansion, fueled by pure unbridled stubbornness. I was halfway through a book on the pervious Harbingers and their gift Lori, getting lost in a life that felt so much like my own when it hit me... Their anguish and rage smashed into me so hard it stripped the air from my lungs, forcing tears to my eyes. By the time I scrambled to the car to go to them.My Harbingershad already closed me off. Sheltering me from whatever had caused them so much pain. Whatever is tormenting them now. We’re off balance and I fucking hate it.

You don’t need to protect me from every single scratch. If you bleed, I want to bleed alongside you.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com