Forbidden Law (An Alien Love #1)

Chapter Nineteen

Skyler's POV

We were flying.

Not literally, but you know, the closest thing to it. Which was...running really fast. To the point of colors bleeding into one another. Sound garbled into a mass that almost touched my eardrum, but not quite. I was in Jace's arms, the air continually being whisked from my lungs as we fought against the laws of physics. Rayne was a blur that streaked nearby, dodging trees and cars and people. The white spot where her teeth were was the only indication of her elation, pulled into the grinning mask of freedom.

I looked back up at Jace's face. His brows were drawn down in concentration, which in turn made his eyes gleam like an animals caught in the dark. The light that sucked in around us fell on his high cheek bones in an ethereal shadow effect. I saw more of his natural form popping through the shield the necklace left. His marbled skin shone in a translucent blue hue, while his eyes swirled erratically, shooting light to and fro like the soft beams of a lighthouse. But underneath the focus was joy, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. He would periodically jump onto a bridge or moving train, sending me into the world of fret and adrenaline, but after the first few times, I came to the conclusion that it was his form of fun, the game of movement and chance. Until water was under us, stretching in an endless horizon of blue and sun. My terror was fleeting, because I soon saw that the speeds we went prevented time or gravity to take effect properly. Their feet didn't sink below the ripples and waves, instead running as easily as on a track.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, my voice hushed and breathless.

He glanced at my face for only a millisecond. "That I am trying not to kill you. I am forced to hold back the full extent of speed."

And it really did seem like he was trying. As if this wasn't fast enough. "How can you possibly go faster than this?"

"Simple. One of the abilities I've gained is enhanced movement. Hence, faster speed than most Morfilians are capable. I am matching my speed to Rayne's, because she has not Morphed yet and your safety demands it."

I was amazed at his lack of breathlessness from exercise; I shouldn't, having seen him in the past act as if no effort was taken, but this was a new level of exertion. His voice carried normally, almost resounding on an invisible barrier that encased our forms. All I could do was nod as if I understood. My neck ached from the struggle of holding my head up at these breakneck speeds. At the rate we were going, we'd end up on the other side of the world in half an hour.

"Where exactly is this place we're going?" I asked for the hundredth time. He chuckled.

"Be still, young grasshopper. All will come in time," he replied. I rolled my eyes and couldn't help but grin back at the way his formal speech delivered the joke. I sat quietly after that, content to feel the warmth of his body touching mine. Looking around us was nearly impossible, because my eyes couldn't seem to focus on any one thing and it brought on a beating, vengeful headache. I gave up the battle of supporting my head and just laid it on his rocky shoulder while closing my eyes against the blazing sun that hung over us.

I guessed an hour passed, periodically peeking my eyes open to gaze around us. Half of the time, it seemed we ran on water, small ripples and waves radiating out around us. No land. The endless horizon stretched, empty and watery. I caught my breath, and then let it go when I finally saw that we were totally safe. The speed we went prevented the time it took for feet to sink into liquid. I had to close my eyes again.

"We are almost there," he said, a small hint of worry invading his voice. I mumbled an okay and remained nestled comfortably in the cocoon of his embrace. The smell of wood smoke and dead leaves that had been soaking up the winter cold was so powerful that I could focus on nothing else. It brought up memories of the past couple of Thanksgivings at various vacation houses, the rolling hills of Missouri when we would visit my other grandma on her blackberry farm. The ice and freeze would kill everything for four months, creating the effect of a dystopian paradise, with curls of smoke billowing from chimneys on the various hill sides.