Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of The One #2)(99)

They charged each other.

Horrible, horrible, Lana thought, the blows, the hacking, the swipes of blades. The jerks of their body as the shocks ran through at the illusionary strikes and cuts.

Then, with a speed that made the boys cheer, Simon swung around, caught Fallon from behind, and slit her throat.

“Better than good.” Breath in rags, Fallon lowered to brace her hands on her thighs.

“You, too.”

“Show me that move.”

“Sure, but here’s the thing. If these knives cut, I’d probably have been weak and woozy from blood loss. Adrenaline might’ve pushed me through, but you came damn close to severing a couple arteries. That’s where you should focus if you can. Go for the brachial, the femoral, the jugular, and it’s going to be over fast.”

“I know, but the only way I could’ve gotten to them was to—”

She flicked her hand, jerked him back with a punch of power, then sliced a long line down his forearm. “Do that.”

“Why didn’t you do that?”

“First, I need the training. And more, I might be going up against someone with power, so I’d be pushing or blocking that while trying to get a debilitating or killing strike in. If the opponent didn’t have power, magicks should be used only to save lives. If you have to take a life with magicks, you can’t do it for convenience. You just—you just have to know.”

He shook his head, and looked at her—warrior to warrior. “Here’s what I know. You do what it takes to stay alive. Use what you need to use. Because if you’re dead, the fight’s over, and not just for you. For others under your command, others you won’t be able to protect. Innocent lives shouldn’t be lost because you played fair. Nothing’s fair in a war.”

He sheathed his knife, then caught her face in his hands, kissed her. “You wore me out, baby.”

As he spoke, Lana appeared at his side, offered him a cold beer.

“Hey. Nice, thanks.”

“We’ve been working on it. I think it’s time for a break. And, Fallon, I could really use your help with something,” Lana urged as she led her to the house and closed the door behind them.

“Your father doesn’t understand,” Lana began. “He knows using magicks to cause harm, and worse, is against what we are, but he also knows what it’s like to fight for your life and for others.”

“I get it. I do.”

“It was hard for me and Max to use our gifts to harm. It should be hard. But, Fallon, your dad’s right. He’s right. If you, any of us, need to use our gift as a weapon, we use it. Not lightly, not for—as you said—convenience—but we use it. Whether or not it’s power against power.”

“I’ve already used it. I don’t know how many lives I might have taken when I blew up those fuel tanks, and used magick to do it.”

“How many did you save? Good soldiers, and innocents? You did what you had to do, and I know, I’m afraid, you’ll have to do the same again and again.”

“You can slip into the dark,” Fallon said quietly.

“You won’t. Your fathers didn’t. I didn’t. You won’t.”

“The more I train, the more I’m here … I thought, and told Mallick, I needed time to be home. I thought it was for me, just to be here after two years away. But it’s more. I’m still learning. It’s about training, all of us, and learning.”

She paced away, back again. “I know people are out there, fighting, dying, suffering. And I’m here, still here. I thought when I took the sword and shield, I’d be ready. But it’s been months, and I’m still here.”

“It’s not just about fighting for you.”

“I know, I know, just like I know it’s not time for me to go.”

Restlessly, she walked from window to window.

“But there are people my age, younger, already fighting and I’m waiting to … lead,” she realized. “I’m waiting instead of working toward that, toward leadership. The farms, the village, right here? I’m not leading. I’m not learning who’ll fight, who has needed skills, or knowledge that can be used. We’re not training beyond right here. I’m stupid.”

“Don’t insult me. I didn’t raise any stupid children. You have your time, right here, and only here, with family. Training and teaching and practicing. If it’s time now for you to do more, to begin with neighbors, that’s what we’ll do.”

“If Dad goes with me. They’ll listen to him. They know him better, and with me, they’ll see a teenager.”

Pleased, proud, Lana nodded. “You need to build trust.”

“Yeah, and I will. I will. This is why I’m here.”

“Why you’re still here,” Lana corrected. “You’ve begun what you needed to begin, and now it’s time to begin something else. You are a teenager, Fallon. And you’re impatient. Building trust, armies, movements takes time.”

“Then I better get started. Tomorrow … Do you hear that?”

“What do you hear?”

“Voices. From …”

She followed them, with Lana behind her, to her room. To the crystal.

“Do you hear them?”