I reached into the backseat of my car and pulled my bag from the floorboard. The early morning sun had been hidden by dark, snow-heavy clouds, and the air was growing colder by the minute.
"You can't do this, Ezra. It's suicide!" Avery's voice was near hysterical.
I shut the door and turned to her. I didn't know what to say. How could I tell her everything that I'd kept so buried in myself that I'd only just realized what it meant? How could I tell her that I was doing this for her, because I loved her?
I dropped the bag at my feet and I took her hands into my own. They trembled a little as I watched her take a deep breath.
"Ezra, I just lost my father, I..." she hesitated, gripping my hands hard. "I can't lose you, too."
She started crying again. I hugged her tight, wrapping my arms around her like at I had earlier this morning. It was funny. I'd spent years sending letters to her, thinking of one day holding her like this and now, I feared that this might actually be the last chance.
I took a slow breath, inhaling her strawberry-scented hair, as I watched the first flakes of snow fall around us. "I have to do this. I can't let Nathan jerk us around like puppets. He acts like the Quadriad is his to control."
She pulled away from me. "That has nothing to do with this."
"It has everything to do with it." I stepped back from her. "I won't stand by and watch you be forced to marry someone you don't love. If I can pass the test, then you'll be free to be with whoever you want. It wouldn't have to be me."
Avery stalked away from me, only to turn back with her hand clutched at her sides.
"But you don't have any power!" she screamed. "How do you expect to complete the test without any Talent? You're going to die if you go through with this!"
I stared at her, as it dawned on her what she'd said. I bent down and picked up my bag. "I've got to get ready."
"Wait, Ezra," she said, "I didn't mean it like that."
I turned back to the house, as Poe glided down from the gutter to sit on my shoulder. I wouldn't look back, I couldn't. I didn't want her to see the tears in my eyes.
I went back up to my room, climbing the stairs as quickly as I could without dislodging Poe from my shoulder and found my father waiting for me. "Shut the door. We need to talk," he said from his seat on the end of my bed, his tone of voice that quiet harshness that parents get when before they really lay into you. I dropped my bag and did as he asked, already dreading whatever it was he wanted to talk about. Poe let out a soft call, rustling his wings as I transfered him gently to his perch by my desk. "Ezra, come sit down." I picked up my bag instead, setting it on my desk and unzipping it open. "I'd rather go ahead and unpack," I said, tossing a bundle of dirty laundry into my hamper. "I might not get a chance to later." "Erza, you can't go through with this. You can't take the test." The desperation in my father's voice made me turn around to look at him. "Why not? Because I don't have Talent?" I felt anger boil up in me all over a
Liam woke me late in the afternoon, as the sun sank below the tree line on the mountain. He set a plate of food and a bottle of water down on my desk and left as quietly as he'd come in.After letting Poe out my little window to find some food for himself, I ate dinner alone in my room, hardly tasting the food. I forced it down knowing I would need the strength later. Sleeping the little I did had helped, but my mind still spun with the story that Dad had told me. If I really wasn't a Stanwood, then why was I found in the Vault? Why would the Great Ones bring me to my mother and father?I closed my eyes trying to force the never ending stream of questions out of my mind. I needed to focus on the test. Dad was right. If I wasn't a Stanwood, I really shouldn't take it. What if we went up there and the Vault refused to open for me? Or worse, it opened but nothing happened.It was eight in the evening when I finally went downstairs. Everyone sat in the living room,
My heart pounded in my ears as my eyes fought to see anything in the darkness. What was supposed to happen next? I turned in a circle, feeling as if the darkness was closing in on me. Poe shifted on my shoulder again, letting out a soft caw."Hello?" I called out. My previous thought of the test not trigging came flying back to my mind. I'm Talentless, I'm not even technically a Stanwood. What if I wasn't supposed to be here?I tried to slow my hectic breathing as the blackness around me closed in. If I couldn't take the test, the door to the vault wouldn't open until it was time for the next test, or the next member in my family died.I spun around, trying to feel around for anything, a wall, the door.Pain shattered my panic, forcing me to concentrate on the sharp, sudden bite on my earlobe. Poe squawked loudly.Reaching up, I felt for his feathers, gently laying a hand on him. "Thanks partner." Poe had cleared my mind enough for logic to take ov
A cool hand was wrapped around my own. That was the first thing I noticed. The second was how much I hurt. Everywhere.I opened my eyes, thankful that it was dark, but confused when I found myself staring up at the ceiling of my own room. My body felt too hot, stifling under the blankets that were piled on top of me."Ezra?" Mom's voice was just a whisper from the foot of my bed, but her eyes were bright with relief when I looked down at her. She clutched at the foot board, trying hard to stay quiet."Mom," I said, my voice weak. "What happened?"Avery stirred next to me. She was sitting in my desk chair and had slumped over the side of the bed, asleep. It was her hand that was wrapped around my own.She opened her eyes, and they reminded me of something. Something that had happened."Your test, it took too long, the others began to think that..." Mom paused a brief moment, then forced herself to continue. "That maybe you didn't make it. But
I followed Poe through the door. The heat hit me immediately. I strained to see the tops of the trees that stood like giants around me. I was in a jungle, but where?Poe was perched on a bush not far to my left. His dark feathers standing out like a thorn against its bright flowers."There you are!"I whipped around to see a girl, tiny and delicate, stepping out of the undergrowth with a spear. She wore a wrap of bright orange, like a monk's almost. But even though the color was vibrant, her expression of suppressed fear and urgency was what really startled me."You're talking to me?" I asked her looking around.She nodded. "Come, my people need you." She motioned for me to follow her, and even took my hand when I hesitated, dragging me forward. "Come, Come!"I followed her as she ran barefoot through the jungle, barely able to keep up with her. Poe glided over us, never too far from my sight. We came around a large root of the tree on a hil
I told them everything, not holding back anything more other than the fact that Poe had changed his form. The elder Heads of the Family shared another look in the silence that followed. It only made me more nervous."He described the lost family's power perfectly," Lyssa said, looking to my father. "Could it really be possible that your son was chosen to revive the Reinhardt line?""How do we know he isn't making all of this up?" Nathan argued.Lyssa stepped in front of him before I even had a chance to defend myself. "You were in diapers when the last of the Reinhardts were killed. How do you know he's lying? You forget that the Emersons worked closely with our lost brothers and sisters. I saw their powers first hand. And that description Ezra just gave was to the T."Nathan's gaze iced over as he held his ground. "I must see this to believe it."My father studied the two of them before turning to me. "I hate to ask this of you while you are still
I stayed in bed for nearly a week, focusing on resting. I talked to Poe once we were alone, but he acted as he always had, like a bird. It got to the point where I wondered if I'd just imagined him as a human. Maybe I'd even imagined it all. But the pendant I wore told me differently, and I could feel the Talent pulse along my skin, spreading like a burning rash."Are you sure you feel alright?" Mom asked for about the billionth time, while I shrugged on my coat. I'd considered leaving it behind, but settled for keeping it unzipped. Sweat beaded on my forehead and I wiped it away impatiently."I'm fine," I groaned, ignoring the slight tremble in my hand as I reached for the door handle. Okay, so I wasn't a hundred percent, but if I had to listen to her fawn over me all day again, I was going to scream; in that girly, horror film kinda way.Mom followed me to the porch to wish Avery and her family a safe trip. The snow glare was bright and hurt my eyes, but the c
For two weeks, I walked up to the Vault every day to study with Poe. We concentrated on meditation until my strength fully returned, and then, slowly, I started working on accessing my Talent. The power had built up in my body over the weeks since my test, to the point my temperature hovered around 105 and I wore t-shirts and shorts on my walks even as the snow continued to fall on the mountain.Mom fretted at first, thinking I was going to catch my death, but after a while she left me alone. I didn't talk about what I did up there, only mentioning I was trying to figure out how my Talent worked. That seemed enough for them to leave me be. Things between my 'parents' and I had been different since my Test. And no one wanted to bring up the herd of elephants that had stampeded into the room.For my physical training, Poe started with the basics, some of which I'd already knew from my training with Dad and Liam from when I was younger. Necroma