A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(74)

“Seriously?”

“No, not seriously.” He tossed the marble to the bottom of the stairs and watched it roll toward the grass. He waved his hand and it stopped. “Ready?”

Layla nodded, interested in what would happen next.

Jared clicked his fingers and the marble exploded, shooting fire up a few feet into the air and leaving a small crater in its wake.

“Holy shit,” Layla said. “The Incredible Marble Boy can blow stuff up.”

“I create spheres of energy. I can control them to some degree and explode them when I want to. I’ve been practicing increasing the spheres’ distance, but they just dissipate if they lose their connection to me.”

“Isn’t the power linked to some deep-seated emotional connection? You love marbles?”

Jared laughed. “Yes, actually. Marbles were a pretty big part of my childhood, so you’re right. As strange as that might seem.”

Layla stared at Jared for several seconds, wondering if he was mocking her. “I don’t think it’s strange. Okay, I do, but that’s a pretty cool power.”

Jared shrugged. “It isn’t the most convenient power in a fight, but I’ve been working on that. The blasts don’t hurt me, so that’s nice. I hear you can manipulate metal. Like Magneto.”

“Ian McKellen or Michael Fassbender Magneto?”

“Does it matter?”

Layla thought about it. “No, probably not. Is there a female Magneto?”

“Polaris,” Kasey said from behind Layla. “Or Toph Beifong.”

“Both badasses,” Layla said. “I can live with that.”

“Someone created a small explosion at the front of the house,” Kasey said with a smirk. “My dad is pretty close to mobilizing the guard at this point, please don’t give him any more reasons to be stressed.”

“Sorry,” Jared and Layla said in unison.

“You need the practice, Layla,” Kasey told her. “If I was you, I’d go change into something a bit more appropriate and hit the practice area out back. Chloe said she’ll stay away from it while you’re there.”

“I never asked her to do that,” Layla said, sensing the slight anger in Kasey’s tone.

“I know. That’s just the kind of person she is. She puts other people first, always has done.”

“I’ll get changed then,” Layla said, and she thanked Jared before running into the house, back to her room. She burst through the door, slamming it closed, and then realized how stupid that was and sank onto the bed. “Why can’t things just be easy?” she screamed.

“Because it’s life,” Rosa said from the chair beside her. “You need to practice. You need to train. It won’t be long before you’ll need to decide whether or not to accept us.”

“I could tell you that I would, but I’m not sure I mean it. I don’t know how to get past that hump, how to just mean it.”

“It’s different for everyone. Part of you right now is angry and scared, and full of this rage at everything that’s happened. You need to let it out. You need to deal with it.”

“By punching something? Because I’ve been trying to stop myself from doing that for my entire life.”

Rosa shrugged. “It helped me, might not work for you. Or it might, I don’t know.”

Layla got up and opened her bag, removing some gym shorts and a vest. “I need to get out and exercise. I’ll feel better after that.”

A half hour later, after she’d run some laps, she knew she’d been right. Her mind felt clearer, like she’d be able to deal with all of the stresses and trials that she’d faced and would continue to face.

She stopped by a large oak tree and took a swig of water from the bottle she’d taken with her. She was a few hundred meters from the rear of the house, and she looked around, waving at several guards, who returned her wave.

You’re going to get all of these fine people killed, Terhal said, stepping out from behind the tree. She wore an expensive black suit and high heels as if going to some sort of board meeting instead of torturing Layla.

“Piss off. I’m not in the mood.”

“Not in the mood!” she said, her voice reverberating around Layla’s skull. “Well, let’s see if we can change that.”

The scene in front of Layla melted away, to be replaced with fire and the bodies of those who had promised to protect her. Tommy was sitting against a tree, his chin touching his blood-drenched chest and his arms limp by his side. A dozen arrows protruded from his torso. Kasey was close by, three more arrows in her head.

Layla began walking back toward the house, seeing more and more death around her. The mansion was on fire, the flames leaping from the destroyed windows, part of the roof already caved in. Screams of pain and suffering floated toward her, and she tripped and fell onto the grass, where Harry’s body greeted her. Half of his face had been torn off and there was a hole where his heart used to be, as if someone had just punched their way through his ribcage.

“What is this?” Layla demanded to know.

“This is you. This is all you. You are going to be responsible for everyone here dying horribly.”

“No.” She simply refused to believe that as she staggered back to her feet.