“Sweetheart,” Josh’s soothing voice whispers to me, but I hold my hands in the air, seeing and feeling nothing but the lightning flashing through my body and blocking out the intense pain in my chest and the tears that I want to let fall. I can’t fight my body, I can’t fight the power controlling me, and I don’t want to.
“You aren’t here,” I cry out.
“I am,” he whispers, and I gasp as I feel like Josh is so close to me, but I’m too scared to open my eyes to look. I gasp again as I feel some of the power leaving me, feeling like it is drifting from my body.
“Why would you come for me? You don’t even like me,” I ask, knowing this is just my imagination.
“I want to save you,” Josh tells me.
“Why?” I cry out, the words feeling painful to say. “I’m not worth saving.”
“Because you are worth saving, Adelaide. You are worth fighting to save, and I am here for you,” he tells me, his words feeling soothing.
“I’m scared to let go of the power. I’m scared to open my eyes and you won’t really be there,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “My parents are dead, my mother is dead, and everything is so wrong. I am alone.”
“No. You have a pack. You have us and Sophie. We need you, now let go. I will catch you,” Josh whispers, his voice is so seductive that I open my eyes. Blue energy bounces everywhere, making it hard to see, and the lightning is crackling around all of my skin. Josh doesn’t let that scare him as he stalks through the storm like there is nothing there. Like there is nothing that would stop him from getting to me. My power doesn’t touch him, letting him walk to me with his glowing blue eyes. Josh holds a hand out to me.
“I thought you didn’t like me, yet you’re really here,” I gasp, seeing his blue eyes, and the blue veins crawling from his eyes. He is using his demon powers.
“Take my hand and let the power go,” Josh demands. “I like you, Adie, and I’m here.”
I stare up at the lightning flashing from the skies before meeting Josh’s eyes again, and I lower my hands slowly, staring at the crackling electric sparks covering them before moving my hand and sliding it into Josh’s. The moment our hands touch, a massive boom sends everything around us flying away in a whirlwind of blue energy, and we are left holding hands, staring at each other as Josh’s eyes fade back to their normal blue. I’m smiling when suddenly, my knees give out, but Josh sweeps me into his arms before I can fall.
“Thank you,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck.
Josh wordlessly carries me over to the others, gently putting me on my feet, and Rick wraps his arms around me first in a tight embrace.
“Are you okay?” he asks, and I nod, still feeling dizzy as I try to stand on my own. Nath’s eyes meet mine over Rick’s shoulder, and he smiles at me, looking relieved, but there is guilt in his eyes that I don’t understand. I look up in shock as an owl flies out of the trees, landing on my shoulder, and I stare into its pink eyes, recognising the owl as Tay. Was she worried about me?
“Maybe I should have a look at her?” a male voice says behind us, and I turn to see an angel walking over to us, a woman holding his hand. The man is a light angel I suspect, with his white hair, purple eyes and white wings. The woman is a little shorter than me, with long dark brown hair and a kind smile as she holds her hand out to me.
“I’m Winter, nice to meet you,” the woman says. I step away from Rick and to Josh’s side as I reach for her hand as I introduce myself.
“I’m Adelaide,” I say, sliding my hand into hers. Her eyes widen in shock, and she falls to the floor, holding her hand as she screams in pain. The angel looks at me in horror, falling to the woman’s side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Dozens of people start running out from the trees towards us, and I step closer to Josh, feeling confused. Did I hurt her?
“Run!” Winter screams just as a blurry blue wave of light appears in front of us. I go to run when the light seems to pull me into it, and I can do nothing but let it. The last thing I see is Josh grabbing my hand before the light burns so bright that everything real is lost as we start falling, and a voice whispers to me:
The true prophesied queen of the Fray comes home…with death as her shadow.