Chapter Four

Nova

The fear of Derrick finding out we had eaten kept me up most of the night. The unease worsened when he woke us by throwing stale bread where we slept on the floor. Even the kids observed the food warily before Derrick barked, “I can’t have you dying, can I? But that’s all you’ll get until Odin masters the explosive spell.” He slammed the door behind him as he left, and dirt fell from the ceiling.

Strangely, none of them would touch the bread despite their hunger, yet they had eaten from a stranger without care the day prior. My stomach churned. They knew how monstrous Derrick was. They couldn’t be easily fooled. Knowing they wouldn’t eat until I did, I nervously plucked one of the hard squares up and bit into it.

“It’s safe,” I assured them.

With a loud scuffle, they grabbed the rest quickly. The morning proceeded as I directed it. I guided Odin and the others through some spells, ensuring Odin failed when attempting the explosive one. Derrick gripped my jaw and yelled in my face over the failure, but I took it silently. Better me than them. Telling myself made it easier.

What I couldn’t handle was Derrick’s newfound stare. He let his gaze drop to my dress. “Go wash up.”

I abruptly sidestepped away from him and reached for Sofia’s hand. “Come, let’s go to the river.” The boys would follow.

Derrick grabbed my arm. “No, use the bath in my cottage.”

Bile rose in my throat. “No, thank you.”

With a tug, Derrick let me go and laughed. “I’ll allow that. For now.” My heart roared in my ears. Odin’s nostrils flared as he glanced at Derrick’s retreating form. Sofia and the other three were stiff as boards, forlorn expressions pinching their faces. They knew since it didn’t matter about the age. We all knew what happened around there to the women when the men watched them the way Derrick stared at me.

“Let’s go clean up,” I said, nudging Odin’s shoulder, so he’d relax. Sofia hugged my arm as we walked into the woods. No one was excited to go to the river that day, and the burst of fear threatening my chest finally cracked open. My vision blurred. That was why I protected them. They loved me too. Their gloomy faces clearly expressed their feelings.

“Don’t clean yourself, Nova,” Odin said with furrowed brows and clenched fists.

I understood. Dirty meant Derrick might stay away from me.

“I won’t sacrifice my one luxury out of fear.” I ruffled Odin’s hair. “Don’t you worry about me.”

“I’m worried.” Sofia tugged at my dress.

“Good. Fear keeps you alert. Being aware of you and everything around is a skill you need as a girl.”

Sensing the massive flow of power in front of us, I shoved Sofia behind me and studied the area quickly. I felt my brows slant as I narrowed my sight to the tree. There! Mouthing ‘ Boom’ , I watched as the large dead branch exploded into a hundred tiny pieces above us. Odin, Cloud, and Finn jumped back as chunks of wood blew apart and fell over us. With the grace of a feline demon, August flipped midair and landed on his feet.

“August!” Sofia beamed. Although she knew she should be careful around Derrick and his men, she ignored her reservations and took a risk for that boy after one meal.

“How do you always know where I’m at?” August’s black orbs flickered over me.

“Whatever you are, I sense it when close enough,” was all I said. August’s presence was impossible to ignore. His energy, poised and waiting, heated my skin anytime I got in its radiation. His force frightened me. Like me, I knew his power would only grow each day. However, unlike me, he didn’t have his control trapped by another.

“I should sense more of your magic, but somehow I only feel it when you use it,” August murmured, turning away from me briefly as he materialized an apple and tossed it at Sofia. She caught it and bit into it immediately.

“Thank you,” she told August, while Odin and the others were still sullen and quiet from earlier.

“Is your magic concealed?” he asked, cocking his head my way.

Sofia’s smile faded at his question.

“Not concealed,” I said. There was no point in not revealing my dilemma to August. With a withdrawn sigh, I raised my arms, pulled up each long sleeve one at a time, and revealed the four heavy metal bands on my wrists. Two on each arm. “Trapped. Stolen. If you’re here to take my power, I’m afraid you’re too late. Someone else has already done that.”

With a deadly glint in his dark, beguiling orbs, August approached me. I held up my hand. “One more step and I kill you.”

Some of the deep, scary lines left his face. “I like your threats, Boom, but I’d rather you not kill me and disappear on me before I wake…” His gaze peered around the woods. “These woods are strange. When I travel it, I encounter the same marked trees and rocks like I’m walking around in circles.”

My heart sank. Derrick was unparalleled with cloaking spells. Very few could spot it like August, but those that got inside met death. And those that came for us were all a different version of Derrick. “You won’t get any further unless he wants you to.”

August’s jaw tightened. “This ‘he’, I’m guessing, is the one that doesn’t like you to say ‘boom’ and has you shackled like an animal?”

My face felt like it would burn right off. “I’m not an animal!” I didn’t know why, but that was so embarrassing coming from August.

“No, you’re not. You’re a star.” That was twice August had called me that. “A lovely one.”

Quiet Cloud stepped in front of me and scowled. “I’ve seen this before, Nova. It’s the stupid words the men around camp say to the women to get them to do…” Red faced; he didn’t say anymore.

August smirked and squatted down on one knee before Cloud. “Get them to do what?” Lifting my hand, I let my magic hiss inside my palm. Its darkness crackled in the air around us and August’s grin widened as he arched a brow. “I heed the threat. I’ll shut up, Boom.” August held his hands up in surrender.

I dropped my arm, allowing myself to relax. Good. Getting killed by me twice taught August to listen.

“We should hurry,” Finn piped in. “Let’s not get Nova in trouble.”

“Where are you headed today?” August asked me.

But it was Sofia that answered, “To the river to bathe.”

His mouth slackened, eyes rounding before he masked it. “You wash in a river…?”

That weird embarrassment crept over me, and I jerked my chin up. I’d never known luxuries. As I glanced at August’s clean black shirt and tight fitted pants, I wondered if he ever struggled for anything. “Where else would we?” I questioned, then realized it made it sound like I’d never seen a bathing room before!

August’s head dipped as he stepped closer. “I meant no offense.”

The tension drained out of me, and my shoulders sagged. “Why are you here, August?”

“To see you,” he replied immediately. His eyes drilled into mine with the intensity of flames.

“To steal me like everyone else?” I gritted my teeth together. I dared him to deny it.

“Yes, to steal you,” he admitted, and coincidentally, the truth stung my chest. I sucked in a breath as he added, “But not until you want me to.”

I frowned right as Odin charged August. I felt Odin’s magic pull to his chest, then sizzle in his palms. As he thrusted his hands out, the magic shot out for August, who vanished. My gaze darted around just as his power seeped behind me. He was so close the energy off him heated my back. Before I could turn, he wrapped his arm around my waist, then he jumped. I forgot about ‘boom’ and all the ways I could have gotten free of him. My stomach felt like it fell to the ground as I bounced through the air in his hold. I screamed, squeezing his arm as we stumbled onto a tree branch. My vision blurred when I saw how high I was. I reached out for the bark. The dead wood bit into my palms as I latched on. August laughed, glancing down at a raging Odin and a frantic Sofia.

“That’s how easily I can take her from you,” August called down at Odin.

August scared me, Odin… All of us to prove his point? Rage bubbled up in my throat. How could I let my guard down like Sofia? Enough for someone to touch me. He could have killed me. Grabbing August’s wrist, his head swiveled to face me. His smile disappeared. “Oh, come on. I’m play—”

“ Boom.” I seethed.

August’s scream pierced my ears. He was so close. Blood splattered across my face and dress as August’s arm turned to meaty chunks and bones. I didn’t catch him as he fell backward off the branch. He had to be in extreme pain, but the immortal still landed on his feet, and he grimaced at his bleeding nub before scowling up at me.

“Ow, ow, ow, Nova!” He practically ripped my name from his chest it was so guttural. “Stop exploding my heart and body parts just because you know I’m immortal!”

Grabbing her mouth, Sofia bent over and threw up when she saw the meat hanging out of August’s arm. “Are you okay, Sofia?” Cloud patted her back.

“Don’t touch me,” I warned him. “ Ever again .” He was huffing and puffing below me, but I ignored him and focused on the tree. It was too big for my hands to wrap around, but I had no choice. I needed to get down and get them as far away from August as I could. I didn’t know what the immortal wanted, but I had bigger problems if Derrick noticed the immortal’s presence in the woods. My stomach spasmed again when the bark bit into my fingers as I scooted myself off the branch. My shoes slid against the wood and splinters caught underneath my nails and on my palms. I winced and made the mistake of glancing down.

Oh, Hades. There was no choice but for me to fall, and I was so high up. I wasn’t immortal like August. That could be dangerous for me.

August quietened several seconds before saying, “Don’t come down. My arm’s already mending. I’ll come get you.”

“That’s so disgusting and cool at once,” Odin said. I didn’t dare risk turning my head to find them below me, but he must be talking about August’s arm growing back. I didn’t know how that worked with an immortal.

“Did it hurt?” Finn asked.

“Let me put a bite size Nova bomb on your arm and you tell me,” August muttered.

My arms and legs trembled. I couldn’t even muster the strength to yell at them for talking to him. Just fall, Nova. Which would be harder to recover from? A broken tail bone or broken legs? I was too high up not to suffer from something.

“Relax,” August dared to order me. “Your entire body is trembling.”

“Yes, because I’m so high up and it’s your fault!” I screamed, which was a bad idea because it made me turn my head slightly. That minute movement swayed me backward, and there I went, flaying and screaming.

Eyes closed, I fell and fell. But it was weird. I never seemed to land, and I kept flapping my arms around, but the deep plummet in my stomach was no longer felt. Snickers grew louder than my terror, and I stopped panicking and opened my lids. I wasn’t falling anymore. I floated midair and August watched me with a smirk while the kids laughed.

“Put me down!” I yelled, heat burning my face and pricking my eyes with tears. Something in August’s face changed, and he sighed. Dropping my feet down slowly, I wobbled once before turning away from him.

The kids stopped laughing when they saw me. Sofia approached me first and took my hand. “August was just playing with you,” she told me.

“A joke, Nova.” Even Odin, who had been moody, seemed happier and tried to hide it as he stared at me. “He whispered to us what he planned to do. I thought you would think it was funny, too. I’m sorry.”

“You’ve never pranked another before?” August asked behind me, and I stiffened.

That weird wave of heat plastered my face again. It made my chest heavy. Then I understood what I felt must be humiliation. Embarrassment filled me. I didn’t know what they were talking about and hated that I couldn’t understand it. That I couldn’t enjoy anything. The kids were with their families before coming there. Me… I’d been with Derrick. What I lacked… I understood how different I was, and the pain in my throat intensified.

“Hey…” I felt August’s presence near my back. “I’m sorry. You were terrified. I took it too far.”

“Don’t touch me,” I said when I feared he might.

“I… know. I won’t.”

My gaze lowered and widened at the spots of blood all over me. I had to get rid of the stains out or… I didn’t want to think about it. “Let’s go, kids.”

“Nova—”

I cut August off. “Don’t follow us.” Swallowing nervously, I added, “Please.”

“Here,” August said, and I turned around to face him when the kids gasped. August held several white bags I’d never seen before. I didn’t recognize the language either and wondered if it was a human one. I’d been told that the one I spoke was a human language.

August thrusted the bags out to me. “You guys are hungry, right?”

“What’s in it?” Sofia asked him.

“Cheeseburgers?”

I frowned. “Cheeseburgers?”

August flashed his teeth. “Earth food. Take it with you and eat it.”

I didn’t refuse the food that time. We survived the first meal from him. Once the bags were in my hands, I gave them each one.

“As payment…” August began.

I scowled. “We have nothing.”

When he lifted his hand, my hair cascaded down my shoulders. I grabbed my thick curls as my dirty brown band appeared on his wrist. “I’ll take this as payment.”

“That?” I crinkled my nose.

“It was worth seeing your frizzy curls,” was all he said, but it made me feel weird. I couldn’t handle the intensity of his focus momentarily for the staticky tingle beneath my skin. “Tomorrow then.”

Before I could protest, August was gone, and Odin moaned behind me. “It’s so good!” He had the food in his mouth.

“Let’s hurry,” I told them.

As we walked, I peeked around the forest. When I couldn’t feel August’s wild power, I relaxed. Sucking on my bottom lip, I finally glanced at the kids and asked, “What’s a prank?”

Odin’s face reddened as he exclaimed. “Come on, Nova. You know, because it’s something we do to you all the time!”

Sofia also added, “Like how we switch spots on our pallets and hide. You talk to one of us, not knowing we switched until we pull down the cover, then we all laugh.”

“Or what I did when I pretended to be choking,” Odin added.

My mouth parted. So, I knew after all. I smiled.

“August is different though, and maybe he took it too far,” Cloud piped in.

August was different. But could we trust someone so unusual?