Sunburst

There was no love lost for the death of this particular cabin though. As a general rule, cabins like this belonged solely in scary movies.

I needed to do something about the fire. Or at least call someone who could do something about it.

I had powers, but they weren’t all-inclusive. I couldn’t switch from Lava Girl to Aquaman or anything.

I picked my way through the debris and gathered my swords along with Serena’s discarded one. I had Jupiter’s as well. And despite my better than average coordination, it was awkward carrying that many sharp weapons.

I swiped the hair that had escaped my ponytail back- it was filthy and covered in ash. Then I let out a long sigh. That wasn’t the end of this. That was more like…. half-time. And my friends…. Jupiter and Nate were both seriously injured. Hopefully Nate would be better soon, but…. Jupiter. There was no way to tell if he’d survive or not. I needed to find them.

An overwhelming sadness settled over me and I took a few more breaths to find control of my emotions. Because at the root of my heartache and intense pain wasn’t just Nate and Jupiter, wasn’t even mostly Nate and Jupiter. While I was worried and anxious for them, the worst of my pain came from Seth.

I had attacked him. I had cut him. I had left him free-falling in an effort to get away from him!

What was wrong with me?

What was wrong with him!

I floated to the surface and surveyed the forest fire raging around me. It seemed to be dying out as it moved into the forest. It wasn’t dry here- in fact it was the opposite. Everything was wet and mossy; no sun warmed the ground or dried out the ground. The fire was losing steam. That was a good thing.

But still it made a ring around me, almost a perfect circle, and the trees above had been cleared from my destruction so that this was now a proper clearing.

I felt him before I saw him. Instinct and something deeply still co

He stood on the border, a part of the fire, but untouched by it. I turned toward him and stilled.

He had begged me not to give up on him. He had made me promise.

But we were only a few weeks in and everything had already fallen apart. I tried to imagine the next fifteen months and what they would be like, but all I saw was Darkness, death and pain. And what about beyond that? That was if I lived past my eighteenth birthday.

How would Seth heal from this?

Tears slid from my eyes, unwelcomed and confusing. I loved this man. And he had set me and my friends up for death. Maybe not him specifically, but he was a part of it.

And didn’t stop it.

Could he have stopped it, even if he wanted to?

More confusion.

When I locked eyes with him, he stepped out of the fire and walked slowly over to me. His Light, or non-Light, or whatever the Fallen had in place of Light receded and he stood before me just a boy- just Seth.

More tears fell, faster and quicker and completely unbidden. I didn’t want him to see me this broken, wretched, and fragmented without him.

“I had to see.” His voice was stripped and desolate. His already vacant eyes were almost black with whatever emotions were ru

“I did,” I whispered. He was breaking me all over again, twisting me, clawing at all of my important parts and organs until there would be nothing left of me. I couldn’t go through this over and over again. I couldn’t let him destroy me like this every time he was with me and every time he wasn’t.

His hand reached up to run a finger over my cheek. It trembled as he touched me so gently. And when the curve of his finger touched my skin he closed his eyes against the simple sensation.

We were only standing an arm’s reach apart but it felt like miles between us- miles and miles and miles of miserable distance, where he stood on one plane of existence and I stood on another.

He slowly opened his eyes and drank me in like a man deprived of every vital sustenance. His eyes caught fire then, just like the one raging all around us. Branches snapped with the heat of the fire, grass and dirt crackled as it went on and on. And that was exactly what felt like was happening to my body. He was burning me up slowly, methodically and when he was finished I would be nothing but ash and dust.

I saw a trace of something other than emptiness in him and I knew it had to do with me. Like he said, I was his tether to whatever goodness was left inside him. I was his anchor.

I dropped the four swords I was still holding at my feet. They hit the black, charred ground with a clank and bounced away.

I jumped on this moment, hoping to bring out whatever of his former self I could. “Jupiter and Nate were pretty severely injured tonight.”

“I don’t care,” he answered plainly. He took a step into me and towered over me. “I don’t care about them.”

“You should-“

     “The only thing I care about is you.”

“But they’re your friends,” I insisted.

“Stella, let me be clear. There is one thing in my life I live for, one thing I survive for… and that is you. There is no one else. There will be no one else. It’s you. And I’m lost without you.”

The tears fell harder and a sob hiccupped in my chest. “I stabbed you tonight.” I cried. My eyes flickered over his still open and raw wounds, but he didn’t seem to notice them at all. I realized the fire might not have touched him, but he was covered in dried blood and dirt. He looked beat up and it was all my fault. “Seth, I stabbed you!”

He yanked me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me so tightly I had to struggle for breath. It wasn’t a sweet or gentle move, he was brutal and rough and not at all himself.

But at the same time he was. He was the same boy so devoted and loyal to me that he was almost blinded by it. He was still intense and commanding, still vulnerable and broken. He was Seth in the most important ways and that broke me even deeper.

“And you’ll probably stab me again,” he chuckled darkly. “Keep me contained, Stella. You have to keep me contained.”

I lost the battle with my emotions completely then. Whatever hold I had on them disappeared and I sank into his chest a heap of tears and sobs and loud, grieving cries. He tightened his grip and held me, just held me.

My chest was so tight and pained that I thought for sure it would explode. My eyes burned and my throat was raw from an eruption of emotions.

“I need you too!” I shouted at him. “What about me? What am I supposed to do without you?”

His tone gentled and he shushed me and soothed me by rubbing a line up and down my spine with careful, tender fingers.

“Tether me to you, Stella and I will do the same for you,” he whispered harshly in my ear. His lips brushed the shell of my ear, and I melted into him. Even while I wondered what it would do to my own soul if I let it be owned by someone like Seth- someone who wasn’t himself and who had no idea who he actually was? I nodded into his chest. What choice did I have? He already owned me- body, soul, spirit. I was his.

I had always been his.

“Alright,” I whispered. “Alright.”

He pulled back and stared into my eyes intently. He was looking for something or maybe he was just looking. And once he found it, he couldn’t restrain himself anymore. His lips crashed against mine in a desperate plea to co

He tasted like soot, and wind and fire. His lips were soft but unyielding, demanding but caressing. His hands clutched me to his body, possessing me with their need and strength. I loved this man. I loved him more than anything or anyone.