The Gift: An Awakened Novella Read online

  Declan comes to stand in front of me as I hear the door shut. I glance behind him and realize that Aria is gone, and I’m left alone with him. I start to get butterflies in my stomach as he inches closer. He steps up to me and leans in close, placing his hands on either side of my legs. My breath hitches in my lungs as he leans in closer. If this was Kai, I’d be pulling away, but with Declan…there’s just something about him that draws me in. I look at his lips, and I guess he notices, because the corners tip up.

  In one swift movement, he’s sitting next to me on the desk and our thighs are touching. I let out a shaky breath. He grabs my hand; his fingers wrap around my thumb and bring it over to my phone…wait.

  “Hey, what are you doing? That’s my phone!” I all but shout, reaching for it.

  He leans back, outstretching his arm so I can’t reach it.

  “I know.” He smirks at me.

  I realize that I’m leaning on him, so I quickly get off him and sit back up. I can feel my face heating up. He jumps down from the desk and his thumbs type away on my phone. When he’s done, he looks up and hands me back my phone.

  “What are you doing tonight?” he asks.

  “Lesson plans,” I answer. “What did you do to my phone?”

  “I put my number in it and texted myself, so now I have your number.” He smirks again, and I find myself smiling. “Anyway, I’m training with Zayne tonight on the fire element. The Alpha and Luna want us to learn how to use our magic and start training.”

  “That makes sense, since your powers have been bound. You’ve never learned how to access or control it.” I hop down from the desk and place my finger on the outline of his amulet. “This is stopping you from using your magic.”

  I look up at him, and he’s staring down at me.

  “I figured it out,” I whisper, revealing the truth.

  “What?” he breathes.

  “What you are. Luna only confirmed it.” I go to pull my hand away, but he grabs it, keeping it in place. “I knew what I was the moment I could understand words. But you just found out. How are you so…okay with all of this?”

  He sighs, taking a step back. “I never said I was okay. I’ve just learned to go with the flow. My dad taught me that there are some things that would be out of my control, and I would just have to learn to accept what I can’t change.” He scrubs a hand down his face. “I lost my parents and found out that vampires are real all within the same night. Nothing ever compares to that, and I don’t think anything ever will. So, finding out that I’m a direct descendant of Apollo and my powers were awakened by this enchanted amulet seems like a walk in the park.” He laughs, but there’s no humor in it.

  Without thinking, I wrap my arms around him. He’s startled for a moment, but then returns my hug. I just want to take some of his pain away.

  “I’m sure they would be very proud of the man you’ve become,” I whisper, pulling away, but my hands still rest on his chest.

  “Will you stop by tonight?” he asks placing his hands over mine.

  I find myself nodding my head. I’m not sure why I agree to go. Some might call it curiosity, and maybe it is, but I think it’s more than that. Declan is one part mystery and one part danger, and both parts are calling out to me.

  Declan looks like he wants to say more, but instead, he gives my hand a tight squeeze before releasing it and walking out the door.

  I had to get out of that room before I kissed her.

  This girl is making me re-evaluate where I stand with relationships.

  She knows what I am, and she figured it out all on her own.

  Ever since I woke up this morning, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things. Aria and I have been out on the road for so long that I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to even have a home.

  Ciera is like finally standing out in the sun, after months of being under cloudy skies.

  But I’m no good for her. Everything about her screams everything amazing and good in this world. I’ve fucked more girls that I can count and didn’t even let them spend the night. I’ve got a darkness in me, and I don’t want to take the light away from her.

  I get to Luna and Abby’s cabin and make my way into the kitchen.

  “Hello, Declan! I hope training went okay for you,” Luna says when she sees me.

  “Yeah, it did. I was able to get out some pent-up aggression. I don’t like it when vampires get the upper hand,” I say, remembering the night my parents died.

  Other than that vamp who killed my parents, only one has ever gotten the upper hand, and that was just the other night.

  “Fair enough. Listen, Zayne will be running late, so you’ll train with Kat and Aria until he comes to get you,” Luna tells me just as Aria comes down the steps, so she repeats herself to Aria.

  “Oh, and I will need your amulets,” Luna adds.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Aria’s hand immediately go to the moon-shaped amulet around her neck. She and I share a look of understanding for a moment. We know that the amulets are the last piece of Mom we have, and we also know that Luna won’t let anything happen to them. I excuse myself and walk into the living room when Abby and Aria start talking with Luna. I see my suitcase and grab a change of clothes and pull my phone out from my bag. I smile when I see a text from an unknown number, I immediately save the number in my phone.

  Me: You’re still coming tonight, right?

  I set the phone down on the bathroom counter and strip off my clothes. It feels nice not having to worry about using up all the hot water. And the best part? Having enough room to move my 6’2” frame in the shower.

  I finish in record time, eager to see if Ciera’s texted me back. I find myself oddly disappointed when I check my phone to see no new message from her. I quickly get dressed, and when I'm just about to walk down the steps, my phone vibrates in my back pocket.

  Ciera: Of course. I’ll be there. I might be a little late, but I’ll be there.

  Me: Can’t wait.

  I slip my phone back in my pocket and we make our way over to a clearing, where we hand over our necklaces to Luna. I know my amulet will be safe with her; Aria struggles for a moment, but with a reassuring glance from me, she finally hands hers over too.

  Kat begins to tell us how to summon the earth element, and just when I think I have it down, Zayne shows up and we walk off, leaving my sister training with Kat.

  “Is summoning fire the same as summoning the earth element?” I ask as Zayne and I approach a fire pit.

  “Sort of,” Zayne answers, turning around to face me. “A witch that can summon fire can also sense emotions in people because fire is the only element that comes from an emotion.”

  “I take it you mean anger?” I ask. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.

  Zayne nods. “You’re good. Luna told me you were smart.” He forms fire in his hand. “You know how it felt when you summoned the earth element?”

  I recall the humming I felt in the stick and nod. “Yeah.”

  “All right, cool, it’s kind of like that. Only you have to latch onto something that makes you angry,” Zayne explains.

  I close my eyes and think of the night that vampire killed my parents. It makes me angry that there wasn’t anything that I could do to save them. I think of my mother and how she didn’t tell us sooner about who and what we were and what was out there. Then I start to feel like my blood is magma, scorching my body, until the heat gathers in my hand.

  “Dude, open your eyes!” Zayne shouts.

  When I open my eyes and look down, I’m holding what appears to be a fireball.

  “Think you can send it to the pit? You’ve gotta be quick, though. It’ll burn you if you hold it too long.”

  “How do I do that?” I ask, intrigued.

  “Think of it like a football,” a feminine voice says, and I turn my head to see Ciera walking toward us. “Feel it leaving your hand and going to the wide receiver. Only the pit is the wide receiver.”
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  “You’ve been doing your research,” I say with a smirk.

  She flushes. Damn, it’s cute.

  “Maybe a little.” Ciera smiles and takes a step back. “Go on, player, show me what you’ve got.”

  I wink at her, then focus my attention to the pit. I can feel the flames growing hotter in my palm, so I picture it as a football. Then, I throw the fireball into the pit, igniting the wood.

  “Fuck yeah, dude! You’re a natural!” Zayne comes over and slaps my shoulder. “Let’s keep going!”

  Zayne and I start a healthy competition of throwing fireballs into the pit. He warns Ciera to stay clear, and she does…until she doesn’t.

  She moves, and it grabs my attention just as I let the ball of fire go. The flames leave my hand, aimed right in her direction, and it’s too late.

  She cries out as the fireball hits her arm. When I start to rush for her, the flames are pulled from her arm, and I turn to see Zayne moving the fire into the fire pit.

  “Oh, shit. Ciera, babe, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened,” I say, gently touching her arm. It’s red and starting to blister.

  “It’s o-okay,” Ciera stutters, but tears start trailing down her pale cheeks.

  “No, it’s not okay,” I whisper, swiping a tear away with my thumb.

  This shouldn’t have happened; I should never have lost my focus.

  “We have to get her to Kora. She’ll know what to do,” Zayne says.

  I scoop Ciera up in my arms and we make our way to the barn. Zayne opens all the doors for us, and when we get inside the medical room, it’s empty.

  “Where’s Kora?” I ask, gently laying Ciera down on a bed.

  “I’m right here, what in tarnation—” Kora comes out of the office and takes one look at Ciera, then her eyes narrow in on me. “What the hell happened to my granddaughter?”

  “It was an accident, Grandma. Please don’t be mad.” Ciera’s voice is shaky.

  All I want to do is hold her right now. Do for her what she did for me earlier: take the pain away.

  Kora looks at all of us, nods her head, and then turns on her heel, running back into her office.

  I go over and sit in the chair next to Ciera; she lays her head down, turning her face toward me. Her cheeks are wet, but she’s stopped crying, and I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not.

  “Ciera, I’m—” I start to say, but am cut off by the door bursting open.

  My sister rushes into the room with Hunter and Bennett right behind her. It doesn’t take me long to figure out that Zayne must have texted one of them.

  “Out of the way!” Kora shouts, pushing her way through the two wolves and my sister. “What happened?”

  I grab Ciera’s hand as Kora gently picks her arm up, closely examining the burns.

  “It’s fine, Grandma. I’m okay,” she insists.

  The sound of her voice just makes me feel even guiltier. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.

  My voice cracks. “No, it’s not okay. I’m so sorry, Ciera. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  Her face softens when she looks at me, “I know, but accidents happen. I knew what would happen if I stayed, and I stayed anyway. I’ll be okay.” She turns back to Kora. “Right, Grandma?”

  Kora nods and leaves to go grab some supplies. I wish I could make this better for her.

  I wish I could take away her pain.

  Something inside me awakens and instinctively I reach over. When my hand touches her burns, it starts to glow.

  I can feel myself doing the thing I so desperately wanted to do. I’m healing her. Taking the pain away.

  “Oh, my gosh!” Ciera shouts, lifting her arm up and looking at it closely. Then her shocked gaze meets mine and she lowers her voice. “Declan, you healed me.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” Zayne whistles, leaning in to get a closer look. “That’s a nifty little power.”

  Kora comes back over. She hasn’t noticed yet that Ciera is better now. Ciera tries to tell her, but she is so focused that her attempts go unheard.

  “Grandma! Look,” Ciera exclaims louder, holding her arms up and showing Kora that both are fine. “Declan healed me. See? All better.”

  Kora drops whatever she was holding and gasps, her eyes going wide.

  “What? How?” is all she manages to say, and she turns her attention to me.

  I shrug. “Honestly, I have no clue. All I know is that I felt really bad, and I wanted to make it better for her.”

  Ciera reaches for my hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go, and I find myself missing her touch, which is a first for me. Kora stares in disbelief for a moment longer.

  “I need a drink,” she says as she gathers up all the materials and turns on her heel. She sets them in her bag and then walks out of the room without another word.

  Bennett raises a brow at Ciera. “Kora drinks?”

  “Occasionally. Usually only if something freaks her out. Since she’s a witch, there’s not much she hasn’t seen. Well, until today, that is.” Ciera giggles, and its music to my ears.

  “Glad I could help.” I smile at her.

  “Alright, what happened?” Aria asks, looking between me and Zayne.

  “Well, I was teaching him how start a fire. He was doing pretty well with it, so we decided to try something a bit more challenging.” Zayne is the one who answers for me, and I turn just as he shoves his hands in his pockets. “We tried to throw fireballs.”

  I start to feel guilty again, but Ciera squeezes my hand and gives me a tiny smile. Bennett snorts, drawing my attention to them as Hunter squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose.

  Hunter glances behind me. “Zayne, you know you aren’t allowed to do that anymore, right? Or have you forgotten about the dumpster incident?”

  “Yes, and if I remember correctly, your drunken ass told me to ‘light the bitch up,’” Zayne chuckles. “Look, that night aside, I had it under control. I’m good at what I do. You know this.”

  Hunter stares at him for few moments, but then sighs. “I know. Sorry, Z.”

  Zayne throws his hands in the air. “Don’t worry about it. I get it. Anyway, we were practicing that when Ciera showed up. And, well, I’m guessing you can put two and two together.”

  “Hold on,” Bennett interrupts suddenly, and we all turn to him. “Didn’t Luna say they would each get a power or powers like Apollo and Artemis?” We all look at him and he rolls his eyes. “Don’t tell me you all forgot.”

  I didn’t forget, but my mind has been preoccupied with the pretty blue-eyed blonde sitting in front of me. Ever since I woke up in this medical room, she’s been on my mind.

  Why can’t I get her off my mind?

  Aria gasps, bringing a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my God. He’s right.”

  “Yeah, duh. And it seems as though our Declan here has the power to heal, just like Apollo,” Bennett explains smugly.

  We all stare at him in disbelief.

  He taps his forehead with his finger and smirks. “What? I’m smarter than I look. I’m beauty and brains.”

  “You know what, Benny? I don’t care what anyone says. You’re not that bad.” Aria pats him on the shoulder and smiles. “But wait, what power would I get?”

  I wish I’d had the sense to research Greek mythology. I don’t really know much about it other than what I was told today.

  “Well, Artemis was the goddess of childbirth,” Ciera answers for him.

  Oh, no. No way. Aria had better not start popping out random babies now.

  “But she’s also the goddess of the moon, the hunt, and archery. But that’s all I know,” Ciera quickly adds when she notices the horrified look on my sister’s face.

  “Have you ever tried shooting a bow and arrow, Aria?” Hunter’s voice is soft when he talks to my sister.

  I notice that his eyes glow when he looks at her, but then he blinks and the glow is gone.

  “Well?” he prods.


  Aria shakes her head. “No, I haven’t. I’ve always used my dagger. Or anything else that was handy.”

  My sister does have a knack for making a weapon out of anything, and by anything I mean….anything. Like this one time when we were in North Dakota and it was in the middle of winter. Aria and I tracked these vamps back to this house, and Aria’s dagger was lost in the fight, so she used an icicle, of all things, to piece the heart. As long as you can pierce all the way through the heart, you can kill a vampire. And I’ll be damned if my sister didn’t plunge that icicle all the way through until it poked out if that vamp’s back.

  “I’ll show you. I’ll talk to my father and see what he thinks. It’s worth a shot at least,” he says.

  She nods then turns back to me, pouting. “Why do you get the cool power?”

  “Guess I’m the favorite.” I wink, making her scowl at me.

  Our mom and dad used to claim that one of us was the favorite whenever we agreed to grab them something, like my dad’s keys or my mom’s purse. Aria claims that she’s really the favorite, but she’s wrong.

  “I’ll help you with your new power, Declan. I’ll do some research and we can work together to help you be able to conjure it on command,” Ciera tells me.

  I nod in agreement.

  She turns to face Hunter. “Tell your father that I’ll work with him.”

  Once a final plan is in order, we all go our separate ways, but I want to make sure Ciera gets home okay.

  Ciera and I are walking so close to each other that our fingers brush a few times. After the millionth time, I lace my fingers with hers, and she doesn’t pull away.

  I want this girl, and I’m not talking about just fucking her. Don’t get me wrong; fucking her would be great, but she makes me want more. I’ve never wanted more before.

  I walk her all the way to her door, and I realize that I don’t want to let her go.

  “Thank you. For healing me,” Ciera says, sucking that bottom lip in between her teeth and looking up at me.

  If I kiss her now, I’m not going to be able to stop at just a kiss. I reach up and cup her cheek, pulling her bottom lip out from between her teeth.