Gemini

Chapter 22* Doing what I do

Chapter 22* Doing what I do

I wake up on the floor of the cave.

It is dark and I cannot see anything, but the unmistakable roughness of the cave floor is instantly identifiable. Using my palms to push myself off the ground, I blink several times in the darkness and try to get bearings. I stretch out my arms. My left hand hits something solid, and I heave an internal sigh of relief.

Following the wall, I stumble forward. It isn’t long as I retrace my steps and return to the camp. If it could be called that. They are both eating a can of cold beans and warming themselves by blowing in cupped hands and rubbing their palms together. No surprise or relief registers in their expressions when they see me- I must not have been gone long.

“Hey,” I say awkwardly, sitting down and grabbing a nearby can.  They mutter a hey and avoid my eyes, concentrating on cleaning out their cans.

“So, when are we doing it?” I say cheerily. Zoey’s head snaps up so fast it was a wonder I didn’t hear the crack. Her eyes glare balefully at me, pale in the flickering light of the Riston Key.

“Where were you? You weren’t here as we readied the potion.”

“What?” I take another spoonful of beans. “It’s not like it’s a ceremony or something.”

“Are you daft or what? Presence is power. If you had been here, the potion would’ve been more potent.”

“You could’ve waited for me.” I flick my auburn hair over my shoulder and shrug at her. Incensed, Zoey sets down her can a little too roughly.

“When I say two hours, I mean two hours. Any longer and our efforts would’ve gone to waste.”

“We could always have come up with something new.”

“I’m good at potion making. It’s our best shot, unless you can come up with a way to defeat a six foot tall maybe more god who could squish you in the palm of his hand. My skills will allow us to win, with everybody’s help.” The last few words are stabbing, but I can’t bring myself to care.

Recklessly, I say, “Well, it’s not like you had much in the first place. Skills, I mean.”

“Kayla!” Sam slams down his can. “That’s enough!”

I call them both something unprintable. As Sam stands up and opens his mouth to tell me off, a sudden power overtakes me. My vision blurs, then slides back into focus sharper and more brilliant. Colors take on new shades. My senses heighten and enhance, and suddenly I feel… Not human.

Silencing Sam with a cutting look, I turn to Zoey.

“Adrian would never have wanted you to be this way.”

Her face goes white as a sheet. “Who told you that?”

A lazy smile curves my lips. “I know all your secrets, Zoey Gaunt. But it isn’t Gaunt, is it, Miss Kowalski?”

A murderous look crosses her face. “Who told you that?”

“They didn’t need to tell me.” I love it, love the edge my power gives me over her. The expression on her face, half fearful and half angry, makes me feel as though I have her in a corner, ready to be crushed.

“Kayla! Don’t play games with me.” She gets up and hits me, but I barely feel it.

“Stop it!” That was Sam. We both ignore him. She raises her arm to whack me in the side of the head, but even as it descends, my hand is whizzing up to grab in mid-air in a vice lock. It isn’t necessary, but I hold a little tighter until I can feel her bone straining under the pressure. My fingers are gritty with dirt and covered with a layer of grime, but I can see a few black lines beneath. What are they?