At some point her kindness had chipped away at the hard shell surrounding my heart. And if there was ever a time to use ‘Mom’, it was now.
Needing to concentrate, I closed my eyes and blocked everything out. I lifted the lid on my energy spot. It surged in protest of last night’s containment. Ignoring this, I started to pull, taking my time, weaving a large and strong circle. Two cycles per person, and large enough for everyone to step through. Once I was finished, I held the end of the string and pictured the island in the center. Then I released it.
Lucy gasped as I opened my eyes. “Damn, Abby, it actually worked.”
I laughed. “Thanks for the faith.”
She shrugged. “What can I say? I may have smiled and nodded, but deep down I didn’t think you had a chance.”
I snorted with laughter. Typical Lucy.
“Okay, are we ready to go now?” Samuel took Lucy’s hand, gesturing that we all should follow.
Brace moved in to take mine; he gave it a gentle squeeze. In that split second our eyes linked. I forced myself to ignore him and focus on the doorway. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through, pulling them with me. I rode the waves, moving at super speed without any issue and doing my best to keep everyone from collapsing around me. The journey was longer than expected, and there was a strange turbulence in the quiet expanse of the wormhole.
As we were expelled, the light was so bright I was blinded in those first few moments. Hands were wrenched from my grasp as everyone tumbled to the ground. I jumped to my feet and turned in a circle. Already we were surrounded by creatures, their weapons held aloft. The brochure had lied.
This was no island resort.
Brace was suddenly at my back. He reached out and took my hand.
As the Spurns moved closer, Brace leaned in to me.
“I need to tell you something, Red, in case we don’t make it off this beach.” Despite the situation, his low voice and close proximity sent shivers down my spine. “When I crashed into you in the forest, that wasn’t the first time I saw you.”
I stiffened as the rest of our group gained their feet. Our circle was pushed in tighter by the advancing men, all with flowing locks of dark-blue hair.
“What do you mean?” I finally spat out between clenched teeth.
His grip tightened. “I dreamed of you too.”
***
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Spurn – A Walker Saga Book 1
Chapter 1
Talina
Talina floated on her back facing toward the half-sun. She barely noticed the expanse of sparkling blue and green waters surrounding her. Instead, she focused on the peace and quiet as she lay semi-submerged in the depths. Her one and only aim had been to escape the endless squabbles of her family. And she had finally swum far enough. She’d reached the edge of the territories, but despite the push of the drifting currents, she wasn’t quite brave enough to cross out of Earon’s quadrant. After all, it was a punishable offence to enter any of the other clan areas.
The four moons were just beginning their slow spread across the pale pink skies of Spurn. They were the force dictating the measured ebb and fall of the tides. Talina loved it when the weak light of their half-sun was washed away by the bright moonlights. Sighing, she turned over to lightly tread water. It was probably time to stop hiding and face her mother. Gladriel had been in fine form today. As head of the Earon clan she took herself and her duties far too seriously.
Talina hated confrontations, and she hated being around other Spurns; that is, with the exception of her brother. If only she could escape forever, but there was nowhere to swim. The four clans divided their world, each with a distinct hierarchy and private quadrant.
Earon was the second strongest, and with her mother as the leader she should have loved her life. But instead, she hated it. In Earon, she was nothing but a half-breed.
She duck-dived beneath the water. It took a few moments (far longer than most Spurns) for her gills to kick in and the instinct to breathe through her mouth to cease. Talina hated her differences; they drew attention, marked her as weak. And on Spurn the weak were eaten, luckily not by each other, but there were plenty of other predators in the waters.
Still, she had to admit there was truly nothing comparable to a glide through the ocean. She didn’t even care that her webbings were small and fragile. She ducked and dived with the currents, searching deeper until the strength of the moonlight waned. There was a fine line in the deep water between light and eternal night. Talina had never been able to venture any deeper, not without assistance. Her defects, her weaknesses, prevented it.