Transcend

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The room is packed with people in leather overcoats.

They’re squashed together not only in the hall and the stairs leading to it, but also on the balconies on either side of me. Their eyes are glued to the far end of the room where I can see two thrones sitting on an elevated platform. Unlike the last time I was here, both the thrones are occupied.

The muscles in my shoulders tense up the moment I spot the bearded guy. He’s lounging in the bronze seat like he owns the place. He has one elbow balanced on the arm of the throne and he’s using that hand to keep his head from slouching. The thick, black cape is in a crumpled mess around his boots. The armour on his chest and the clunky shoulder plates peeking out from under his shabby hair glint every time they catch the light from the chandeliers.

All that metal reminds me of the way I had my face smashed up against that throne as he stuck a sword into my arm. If I let myself, I can still taste the metal. I can still feel the fire streaking through my veins, melting my skin, ripping me apart.

I don’t realize I’m edging towards the stairs till a hand grabs my shoulder. I growl low in my throat. If it doesn’t let go, I’m going to rip it out of its socket. But the grip tightens.

“Caleb,” someone mutters beside me. “Reign your aura in.”

My aura? I shrug to throw off the hand.

“Listen to me.” The hand jerks me back. “Do not allow your mind to be taken over. You will hurt innocent people if you do.”

I scoff. So what? I hurt innocent people all the time. Just ask my mother.

The voice says something again but I ignore it. Enough blabbering. I have a sneering bastard I want to kill. No one fucks around with me and gets away with it. I’m going to make him feel the pain I did. He’s going to scream and beg once I’m –

Someone hauls me back. Before I can catch my balance, there’s a fist slamming into my face.

Light explodes before my eyes and I keel over. I drop to my knees and hold my hand against my throbbing jaw. A harsh groans burst out of my throat. “What the hell?”

“I apologize.” Fazan bends over me to look at my face. “Can you stand?”

Well, of course I can stand. I push myself up and try not to stagger. Damn. This guy has a mean right hook. It felt like I got hit by a boulder.

I squeeze my eyes shut to stop the watering and give my head a good hard shake while I’m at it. The pain is slowly fading away now, but my jaw is going to be sore after a while. I scowl at Fazan.

He takes a step back and his hand skirts against the hilt of his sword. “It was the only way to snap you out of it. Your aura was manipulating your emotions. But it is gone now.”

Sure enough, when I hold up my arms, it’s free of the black flames. I look down at the rest of my body to make sure.

I turn to ask him what happened, but a sweeping glance of the room shuts me up. A thousand pairs of eyes are watching me as if I just whipped out a poufy dress and turned into a Can-Can girl. There’s even some whispering going on in the middle of the throng. I resist the urge to take a step back. It’s getting creepy in here.

That’s when I notice no one’s standing within a ten foot radius of me. I don’t get it. Their breathing space is already non-existent and they want to stick to each other some more?

I knit my eyebrows. None of the people standing closest to me are meeting my gaze. They have their heads ducked and all I’m getting is quick glances when they think I’m not looking. I take a small step forward and the crowd on the stairs inches away.