“It’s not jealousy,” he told me with a smile. “Jealousy is when you want something that you can’t have, something that doesn’t belong to you. Being protective is defending what’s yours.” He leaned in, his hand closing around my jaw as his nose skimmed up to mine. “And you better believe that I’ll be protecting what’s mine. Against frat boys or anybody else. Or Paul…your little coffee buddy.” He smirked.
I giggled and kissed him. “You’re right. That is hot.” I sighed as I leaned away. “Now what?”
“Now let’s go tell your parents that you’re all stuck with me forever.”
I nodded and smiled happily. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Mom was just getting off the phone and got off quickly when she saw us coming. Dad and Rodney were sitting at the table and both of them stopped eating mid-bite and stared. It took me a second to catch on before I remembered.
The ascension.
I smiled. “Yep. That’s how Seth got me out of the fire. Remember? We ascended.” I looked over at Rodney. “Or did you leave that part out?”
“No, I told them, it’s just…”
I wished I had Mom’s mind-reading ability in that moment because this was getting ever so awkward. They all just continued to stare. Dad got that sad, faraway look that made me want to cry. Mom just looked proud. Rodney—who knew what he was thinking. I shuffled my feet and squeezed Seth’s hand, turning into his side a little.
Do I have something on my face?
Yeah. I looked up at him. You’re so freaking gorgeous and you don’t even know it.
I rolled my eyes. “All right. Cut it out,” I told everyone. “Geez. We ascended. I get it. We look a little different.”
“You look beautiful,” Dad said. I looked up to find him smiling. “You always have. Maybe now you’ll believe it.”
The goofy smiles had to stop. “Okay, seriously, enough. We have some news.”
“What news?” Mom asked and pointed to the coffee maker to see if we wanted some. I shook my head.
“Um,” I tried, but really I didn’t know if I wanted to shout it or cry I was so happy.
“What’s the matter?” Mom asked and stepped toward us a little. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing,” I laughed and looked down. “Um.”
Seth lifted my chin and smiled as he looked at me. “Nothing but I’m marrying your daughter.”
Mom’s gasp made us both look over. Dad was standing and Mom was covering her mouth. It only took about one point seven seconds before she start to squeal, however.
My smile was so wide it hurt. I bit into my lip and Seth reached up with his thumb and tugged it loose.
“No more hiding it. You’re going to have so many reasons to be happy, Ava. I’m going to make sure of it.”
_ _ _
“Take these to Dad,” Mom ordered. “He’s at the back patio.”
“Mom, do we really have to have a cookout today?” I whined as she pushed me. She’d sent Seth and Rodney out right before me with handfuls of stuff. “With everything that happened yesterday, I’m not really in the mood. I just want to…” I looked at her and she was cocking her brow, “hang out.”
“You still have to eat. March.”
I barely kept my groan to myself. Visionary or not, she could be a pain in the tush—
“Ava!” Ember yelled and tackled me as I turned the corner of the garage. She took everything from my hands and handed them to the first person she saw, took my hand, and proceeded to drag me near the middle of the family where Seth was already being ambushed by Dawson and Maria.
“What is this?” I asked as I looked around at my entire family.
“A do-over,” she said and pointed to Grandpa Jim, who was grilling sausage dogs. “It was his idea.”
I squinted. So they found out that he saved my life yesterday and decided to throw together a party to thank him? Nice, but… I guess it was better than nothing. They were trying. I smiled just as Grandpa looked over. He waved his huge tongs in the air and gave me a sad smile. I smiled back.
Mom’s hand landed on the tops of my arms from behind. “He’s been telling people if they didn’t come they weren’t getting anything for Christmas.” I chuckled. “He feels bad. He wasn’t just protecting you, he was protecting everyone. When you have a gift, sometimes it can be a burden. Especially with his gift weakening, he let it go too far trying to keep everyone safe.” She moved to the side and sighed. “What else do men do to make things right but feed you?”
I smiled.
I felt Seth’s arm go around me lightly and my entire being sighed a little, inside out.
“We ask them to marry us,” he said low, but Ember heard him. And if Ember hears you, then the world may as well have heard you.
“Oh, my gosh!”
We spent the next four hours with my family as they congratulated us and tried—and they did try hard, I’ll give them that—to make up for their misgivings and wrongs against Seth. Jordan and Drake even let him win at horseshoes and that is saying something. Even though it was so obvious.
Turned out that none of my family even knew about what had happened the day before until Rodney started telling everyone. Grandpa had planned the bar-b-que the day after the summit. But once everyone got wind of the attack, they all wanted to know what happened.
I didn’t want to tell them exactly. If Mom and Dad knew how close it had come, I didn’t know what they would do. But everyone felt so bad about what Seth had to do to his uncle to save us. And when Mom and Dad looked at me, I could tell they knew that I wasn’t telling the whole truth. Mom watched the way Seth clutched me to his side, the way my fingers wrapped in his collar, and I could tell that she knew.
I looked away and stared at Seth’s neck as Rodney told them about how Seth had saved me, but they didn’t know the half of it.
“Your clothes were burned.”
I closed my eyes for a second and then looked over at Dad. “Dad, don’t.”
“I saw the jackets you took off and tried to hide before you put on the blankets. How did you do it? How did you survive the fire when the entire inside of the building was burned out?”
Ember gasped and looked at me for explanation.
Seth tried not to think about it, but couldn’t help himself. He closed his eyes and shook his head, groaning a little. I put my hand on his neck, his eyes snapping open to mine.
“Gah, what happened in there?” Daddy growled.
“You don’t want to know,” I finally said, letting them know that it was something bad, confirming it, but needing him to stop. I felt my eyes water as I remembered. Seth wiped under my eye with his thumb.
When the phone rang, it was, almost as if my body knew it wasn’t good. I tensed and started to shake. I watched as Mom went to answer it. I just…knew…
Today of all days, while we were all together, who else would call us?
“What?” she said loudly after listening for a minute. “How did you even find out about it? I haven’t informed the council of it y—” She listened and then the window began to rattle. Dad was already making his way over. Seth gripped me to his chest tightly. Whether it was protectiveness or because he understood just like I did that whatever was on that phone call wasn’t good, it just didn’t matter. I buried my face in his neck and breathed him in, wanting the world to disappear, wanting everything to go away but this man, my family, and his touch.
“You can’t do this,” she said so softly, Dad moving in to wrap his arms around her from behind. And that’s when I knew exactly what it was about. They had heard about Seth killing his uncle and were going to hold a Tribune for him. I cupped his face, knowing he wouldn’t know about it, once again getting the shaft from our people. He had been listening to my thoughts and got the gist, even if he didn’t understand what it was exactly. He gripped my sides and gave me an everything-will-be-okay smile. “He’s in the same clan as his uncle.” She listened. “Nothing is official yet—” She listened, the glasses
on the tables began to shake. “You can’t pick and choose the rules you want to follow, councilor!” she yelled, and when the window behind her shattered, Dad raised his fist, borrowing Mom’s ability and stopping all the shards mid-air, swinging his fist down and forcing them all to fall to the ground with it. She was breathing heavy as she listened.
Seth just watched in scared, awe-struck wonder. He knew this was all about him and he couldn’t believe that one, people cared so much about him either way that it mattered and two, that my mom would defend him so strongly. He watched her like she was some avenging angel.
Mom shook her head. “Pablo…as long as you know that you just declared war against your Visionary.” A few people gasped around me and started to whisper and chatter. She nodded and said softly, “So be it,” and hung up.
Grandpa Peter stood. “Quiet.” He looked around at them all. “Your whole life is about to change.” He looked back at us. “And it’s not because of Seth and Ava. This has been a long time coming, for generations. Don’t for one second think this is your fault.”
Seth gulped but nodded. Grandpa looked back at Mom and Dad, who were still standing there, but Mom had moved from him and was pulling something up on the laptop.
“Maggie,” Dad started.
“They said there was a video,” Mom said without turning as she pulled up her email. “The Watsons called the council to claim their right to a Tribune for their dead member.” She found what she was looking for and then took the remote for the projector and turned on a video. “He said there was video from the library damning Seth and showing that they showed themselves to humans.” Seth and I looked at each other.
Video? And we hadn’t shown ourselves—
The video began and it showed us running through the burning library into the bathroom, Seth tugging me behind him. My family gasped at seeing us surrounded by flames, the entire library engulfed. A minute later, we emerged and it showed us running for it, just like we planned, all the way to the end—and not making it. I watched with horror in my veins as my family watched me almost die, watched as Seth cupped my face in a goodbye, forcing me to the wall, and surrounding me with his body. There was no sound, but the visual was enough of a nightmare.
“Mom, turn it off,” I begged in a loud whisper that she definitely heard.
I could vaguely hear my family’s groans and gasps around me.
Her eyes stayed glued to the screen as she watched Seth pull me to his chest, leaning over me, taking all the brunt of everything the fire had to offer. I looked away. I couldn’t do it anymore. And now they were trying to hurt him even more and take him away from me.
Seth took my face in his hands.
We were literally forged in fire. We’re made of steel. Nothing is going to happen to us. Nothing can take me away from you. Or vice versa.
He was right. I took a deep breath, knowing that no matter what, I was prepared to fight. Whether it be girls on my porch or councils in gold ballrooms. He smiled a little at my thought.
When Ember’s loud gasp sounded, we both turned to see what it looked like when we ascended, when Seth realized that he was no longer going to burn but could control it, it was magical. He looked like Thor or some comic book character from a movie.
He chuckled as he kissed my forehead and tucked me under his chin. I hugged him so tight as we watched our story unfold.
When he pushed me behind him, and then I sucked all the air and fire out of the room, everyone was so quiet it was eerie. And then Ember said, “Holy…cannoli…did you see that!? She was all like Oh, you think you’re bad, well look what I can do!”
I rolled my eyes. Then the camera switched to an outside view and it showed Seth and his uncle mid-fight. Convenient. When he pulled his knife and went to throw it at Seth and I stopped him, my family gasped again. And then he went for Seth and I knew what was next. I pulled from his embrace and ran to the laptop, pressing buttons until it stopped. When I turned back around, my family was looking at me with new eyes, but my eyes were at the back of the room with my significant…who was currently being engulfed by Dad, and Mom and Rodney were right behind him.
I could hear through Seth all the things Dad was saying to him and I was about to seriously burst wide open. I made my way back to them quickly, just as Dad was pulling back from Seth. Both of them looked so torn up.
“I just don’t know how to…” Dad tried.
“You don’t have to,” Seth said and took my wrist, tugging me closer. “Ever.”
“Thank you, son.” He looked at me. “Thank you so much.” He hugged me long and hard.
Once everyone hugged him and me and told him how thankful they were, I saw it in their eyes then—my family would never be the same after that. Seth was no longer the Watson who got added in to the mix, he was one of us now.
So when Mom started telling everyone about the council setting up the Tribune against Seth to vindicate Gaston’s death for the next reunification, it did not go over well.
Then she told everyone about the vision Ashlyn had and about finding our names on the wall, about her own vision of seeing her and Dad fighting side by side in battle, about how she thought it meant for us to do what was needed. And what was needed might be to…break off from the council and start our own.
To say my family was shocked was an understatement, but it wasn’t the first time my mother had shocked her people and I doubted it would be the last. She sat back and watched as they talked and bickered back and forth, already debating whether or not we should do this. Most were for it. The only reason a few were against it was because they knew what that meant. Exactly what she had said on the phone.
War.
She stood off to the side and shook her head. “It’s already started. Our people, divided, not cooperating.”
Dad looked at her over the table, leaning in. “We’re just talking. Nobody is saying it’s not what needs to be done.”
Uncle Kyle crossed his arms. “You’re saying we should break off and tell the council that we don’t want anything to do with them?”
“It’s step one.” She sighed. “In a long line of things that will have to be done. Hard things.”
He squinted. “And you had a vision that told you this is what we should do? Can we see it?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t see a vision about this exact thing. We just saw our names on the wall, like I told you all before. It’s just—it’s just what I know we have to do.”
He pressed his lips in a hard line. “You’ve never led us astray.” He gulped and looked at Aunt Lynne. “We’ll follow you. No matter what.”
“And I love you for it.” She smiled but it wasn’t a happy smile. “But what about the ones who won’t or are just too scared? What about the ones who I can’t reach because they’re under the thumb of the wrong people? I’m ripping our people apart,” she whispered.
Dad slammed his fist on the table. “You’re not ripping our people apart!” He stood and stalked over to her. “He saved our daughter from those monsters and they want to blame him for it, just like they tried to blame me all those years ago for saving their Visionary. I can’t stand another second of the hypocrisy.”
I hadn’t seen Mom this upset in a really long time. Her arms were wrapped around herself as she looked at the floor. He lifted her face with his fingers under his chin like Seth does to me all the time and I wanted to cry, knowing everything was going to be different, and not in a good way.
“This is why you were brought here,” he told her so softly, it made me ache and look away. “Ashlyn put all our names on that wall and I think this is why. She said war was coming. She hasn’t been wrong so far, baby.”
“I don’t want to be known as the Visionary that brought down the Virtuoso,” Mom said miserably.
“What about the one that built it back up?” he said louder. “Look at us. We’re struggling. We’re a sham. We are not what we used to be, we’re not what we should be. The only reason we got our bonds ba
ck was because of you, and now it’s time for the real work to begin.” He gulped. “I don’t want war any more than you do, but we have to do what you feel is the right thing, the right path. And what do you feel is the right path?”
She sighed long and hard before wrapping her arms around his stomach, accepting his hug and his kiss on her forehead. “We have to make them choose.”
“The sad thing?” Dad said against her skin. “It won’t even be a surprise who goes to what side.”
“No,” she said and sobbed a little before catching herself and steeling her back. She looked up and wiped her eye. “No, it won’t. Pablo,” Mom said and Dad nodded. “In the vision I had from Seth’s phone.” She looked over at us. “That’s how your family knew about the summit.”
“What?” Seth asked, his voice cracking. “How do you—”
“They’ve always held someone from the council in their pocket. I don’t know how they got to him or what they promised him, but they did. He wanted you to be deunified and it didn’t make any sense, unless he was trying to get out of a deal he’d made with the Watsons. And just now, he’s trying to push this Tribune so hard.” She shook her head angrily and looked at Seth. “I don’t know if it’s just Pablo or the whole clan, but he’s definitely in the Watson’s pocket, and he definitely has it in for you. He was the one who worked with Watsons to make the video of you two in the fire possible. I think he thinks this union will make some kind of alliance or make them soft or something, like they won’t go on with whatever plans they’ve made.” She scoffed. “He apparently doesn’t know them as well as he thinks he does. He just wants to destroy our—”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Dad soothed and smoothed his hands down her arms. “No more talk about this today. It’s going to happen. We’ll deal with it.” He looked at the family. “But we do this like we do everything.” He pulled out the cog and set it on the table. “If anyone isn’t ready for this—”