18. Nova

Chapter 18

Nova

A t fourteen, I made my grandmother a promise on her deathbed. I promised I would never let my grandfather’s sacrifice during The Conflict be in vain, nor would I allow my special ability to be used for harm. I channeled the bravery of that promise as I stood up to face Rowan. I dropped Ezra’s hand, immediately feeling the gravity of my choice.

“ You ,” Rowan muttered, rushing toward me.

All the remaining eyes in the ballroom were suddenly trained on me, followed by surprised gasps and confused whispering.

I raised my gaze to meet Rowan’s and knew danger looked at me through covered eyes. He had come prepared to face me since I could only enter someone’s mind to control them with direct and unobstructed eye contact. Once I connected with their eyes, they couldn’t look away without my releasing them, and my access was limitless. Only Manipulators could enter each other's minds without eye contact, but that was only for communication purposes. I wouldn’t be able to control another Manipulator.

I walked around the table toward Rowan. “Don’t hurt anyone else,” I pleaded. “I’ll come with you.”

“Nova, no!” Ezra screamed, drawing Rowan’s attention from me.

“Quiet!” Rowan demanded, striking Ezra’s shoulder with a bolt of light that sent him flying toward the wall by his parents. His body thudded on the ground as he groaned. Eva ran to him, starting to heal his shoulder.

“Stop!” I cried, moving between Rowan and the table. Ezra softly called my name. I turned to run to him, but Rowan reached for me, sternly gripping my bicep to prevent me from moving any further. His fingers dug into my arm, pain ripping through my arm. Eva helped Ezra up, and he sat against the wall, still stunned by the shock.

“This witch,” Rowan’s booming voice addressed the horrified faces left in the room, pulling me with him toward the platform and pushing me up. He shoved me forward, and I saw everyone’s eyes glazed over in confusion and a hint of betrayal. “She has been living under your nose as a Manipulator!” He turned to me and stalked around me like I was his prey, murderous eyes inspecting every inch of me. His gaze made my skin crawl. “And now, you belong to us.”

“She doesn’t belong to you!” Ezra shouted as he rose to his feet.

“I. Said. QUIET!” Rowan struck Ezra again, throwing him against the wall more forcefully than before.

Ezra’s painful scream tore through me. The spot on his shirt where the bolt had landed on his chest was burned. Rowan wasn’t killing him because he didn’t want to, but the ability was there. As much as he promised nothing would happen to me, I wouldn’t let him suffer for my protection.

“Stop hurting him!” I begged, stepping between Rowan and Ezra across the few tables. “Please!” My voice broke as tears streamed down my cheeks.

Ezra raised his head as he slumped against the wall. Dark, rust-colored eyes met mine. Unlike the man currently holding me, Ezra’s eyes were bare, so I had his gaze.

“Please stop, Ezzy. He’ll keep hurting you.”

“I can’t let them take you, Nova. I promised your grandma I would protect you!” A small sob escaped my lips. His promise to my grandma directly conflicted with mine.

In this reality, no ending involved my safety and everyone else’s.

“For decades, people believed no Manipulator walked amongst us,” Rowan said. He grabbed the back of my neck, and I yelped as he pulled me toward him. His grasp on my cheeks between calloused fingers caused a dull pain to spread across my jaw as he forced me to look at him and then at the rest of the ballroom. “For decades, our society has allowed lesser wizards, like Healers, to pretend they are the most powerful.” Rowan’s gaze turned to me, and he turned my head toward him. “With you, Nova, the Carmines—a pure family of Handlers—will regain their place on top. Like it was always meant to be.”

“The Gods will spite you for disturbing the peace in your world,” I tried muttering through his grip.

“The Gods have sent us to restore the rightful balance! It’s time for a change; it’s time for things to go back to how they used to,” Rowan said, looking at Baron, who was also crowded by Elias. “Combined with your abilities—sweet, innocent, gorgeous Nova—” With his free hand, he pushed a lock of hair behind my ear as a devilish grin spread across his face. It turned my stomach as I tried to move my face, but he held me with a machine-like grip. “The Carmines will again be the most powerful family in the supernatural world. Handlers and Manipulators are a perfect match.” I grunted, trying to fight against his hold, but every time I moved, he brought me closer. His touch made me want to burn my skin to cleanse it.

“No!” My voice trembled. “I’m not going to help you hurt people!” Rowan looked at me in disgust and disbelief.

A lie that Sinclair Carmine perpetuated during his lifetime was that Manipulators were power-hungry creatures to be feared. My grandfather had been the evidence against this, but changing public perception was almost impossible, so that image prevailed. For someone like Rowan, my very existence contradicted the foundation of everything he believed in.

He pulled me forward but tripped over his own feet. I took advantage of his stumble and yanked the sunglasses off him. Rowan was taller than me, so stretching to meet his eyes as fast as I could intensified the pain in my arm as he tried to keep me away. With the glasses off, I captured his eyes and entered his mind before he could react. I commanded his limbs to release me and threw him across the room with force. A few screams spread through the crowd, and Rowan’s men ran to him.

Tara had worked on Baron, healing the burn on his shoulder, while Eva took care of Ezra. I dashed across the room, jumping off the platform and ignoring the dull pain in my arm. That was nothing compared to the pain Ezra had been in moments ago. As I crouched in front of him, I saw a small burn mark on his chest that was exposed by his ripped shirt. It was rapidly healing thanks to Eva, and Ezra’s pain-filled eyes from the healing sting made anger course through my veins.

“It will be okay,” I whispered, taking Ezra’s face in my hands. He met my eyes and reached for my hand on his face.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Rowan’s voice boomed before I knew what was happening.

A bolt of electricity struck my back, sending a rippling burn through every inch of my body. I hissed as I landed after hitting the wall and tried to regain my scrambled nerves. A small stream of blood dripped down my forehead, its metallic taste landing on my lips before I wiped it away.

A pair of strong arms weakly pulled me up from the wall. Ezra. But as fast as they reached me, they were ripped away by a crackling sound and Ezra’s scream. The smell of burning fabric and blood attacked my senses. My back smacked against the floor, and a stinging pain shot down every single one of my limbs. When I opened my eyes, I saw Ezra was pinned to the wall by rings of electricity. He tried forcing his arms through it, but they only burned his skin if he tried to push them.

Rowan had his glasses back on as he strode to me. “If you don’t join me, Nova, things won’t end well for you,” he said.

His hand clutched my hair, forcing me to stand, pulling the strands up before shoving me in front of the platform. I looked around the room, pleading for someone to do something to help, but everyone’s feet were bolted to the ground, carefully watched by the Fire Handlers. All of these people descended from two of the three most determined and strong wizards the world had ever seen, yet Rowan had paralyzed every single one of them with fear. I wasn’t going to let him do the same to me.

“I would rather die than let you use me!”

Rowan nodded as he clutched my arm again.

“Nova, please!” Ezra yelled.

I turned to face him and joined his now dark amber eyes. I prayed they would shift back to the light orange I loved as tears crowded my vision. “ I love you, Ezzy. But I can’t let myself be used.”

Rowan shoved me forward with another bolt of electricity striking my back, close to where the first one had. The impact forced me to kneel and set my hands on the platform to regain my footing. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep the sound of my pain from escaping my lips.

Taking a last look at Ezra before Rowan forced me up on the platform, I severed contact with his mind. Hearing his voice through this would only intensify the pain of what I knew was coming. Rowan would make me an example, and I would let him. Without me here, everyone would be safer, and no one could be controlled against their will.

“Nova, please,” Ezra’s voice echoed in my head. I wasn’t listening to his thoughts anymore; I heard him in my head. Was he in my mind? “I love you." I snapped to face him through the blur of tears, exhaling a shaky breath and confusion clouding me.

“Last chance, Nova.” Rowan crouched and placed his hand just under my jaw, not constricting my airway but sending a clear warning. “Join me, and I’ll spare you or die like a coward, just like your grandfather.” He chuckled. “One thing I can promise is that it won’t be quick or painless.”

“I would only be a coward if I let you use me for your own greed.” My voice was steady as I stood, but my body was trembling. When I woke up this morning, nor when I was cradled in Ezra’s arms earlier, did I expect to die today. Man, my life had taken a sudden turn. “ You are the coward here.”

Rowan slapped me, and my cheek burned from the harsh contact. His ring left a cut under my eye, and I felt blood slowly drip out of the gash. He stalked around me, zapping my back again until I lost the strength to stand, and a blood-curdling scream escaped me. My knees hit the floor as the next zap trickled through the skin on my shoulder blades. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I clenched my scream, preventing Rowan from reveling in my pain.

I raised my head and faced the window in the back, focusing on the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

“Nova!” Ezra’s voice cut through the silence. I focused on that being the last sound I heard before the electricity jumbled my thoughts.