A Beautiful Dark

was unscripted. She didn’t know what would happen. Only that she would be walking into the unknown if she left the Order.
    “It turned out the Rebel Elders were as angered by this love as the Gifted. And so, a council of the highest order was held: seven of the Gifted and seven Rebel Elders. The couple was tried.”
    Everyone around the campfire was silent. Cassie had her head resting against Dan’s shoulder as she stared at Asher, their faces glowing amber in the firelight. Dark shadows flickered across Asher’s face. His story was clawing at my memory. I had heard it before, somewhere, hadn’t I? Parts of it? But where? And how could that be? I struggled to remember.
    Asher captured my gaze and held it as he said, “The Rebel and the Guardian stood together waiting for the tribunal’s final verdict. The price for their love was banishment—they would belong to neither faction. They would be nomads, forced to walk among the people of Earth, stripped of their otherworldly powers. And, going forward, their days would be numbered, like the very people among whom they were forced to live. Their punishment was mortality.
    “When the couple settled in a small town and gave birth to a daughter, both sides took note. What would a baby born of the Order and the Rebellion be like?
    “The Gifted and the Rebels worried that such a child could be dangerous. But they reminded themselves that this child would be human. She might not have any powers at all. . . .
    “And so the vigil began. Agents from both sides were sent to guide and protect her. And to determine what, exactly, was in store for her future.”
    The sounds of the fire snapping and popping echoed through the trees. Asher looked up at us, as if finished with the story.
    “What ended up happening?” Cassie asked breathlessly.
    Asher hesitated, glancing at Devin before continuing.
    “That’s all we know. The legend is supposed to be open to interpretation.” He swept his gaze around the circle, giving us all a devilish grin. “It’s just a legend, after all.”
    I clapped along with everyone else, but I was flooded with disappointment. Why had the story ended so abruptly? Some pull deep inside me didn’t want to leave the girl’s life open to interpretation. I wanted to know who she was, what she became.
    “It’s so romantic!” Cassie sighed. “Oh, Skye, can you even imagine? It’s like a celestial Romeo and Juliet !”
    “If you like that kind of thing,” Dan grumbled, faking a yawn. “I’d rather hear about a ski patrol with no face.”
    “What about you, Skye?” Asher asked quietly, squeezing himself onto the log next to me. He stretched his legs out toward the fire, and the flames exploded in a leap of spark and ash. I thought about the fire in the cave. “What did you think?”
    Honestly I didn’t know what to think. The story sounded so familiar, but my mind was struggling to place where I’d heard it before.
    And suddenly, without warning, it came to me. All these memories came pouring back, moments long forgotten. My father holding me up to the bathroom mirror before bedtime, telling me something I couldn’t quite remember. Both of us studying my reflection and laughing. He and my mother tucking me into bed. My mother’s soft, clear voice singing to me as I drifted off to sleep. What was the melody of her favorite song? What were the words to her lullaby? Something about the Ancient Gifted Ones, and the Rebellion, and the love of a thousand lifetimes.
    I scanned the others sitting around the fire, my eyes resting momentarily on Devin. His jaw was clenched, and I could tell he was upset. By the story? Why?
    The fire popped loudly. He looked at me. And I could see in his ice-blue eyes the warning he’d given me about Asher.
    Dangerous .
    I looked away from Devin. My heart was pounding.
    One phrase kept replaying in my mind.
    Love. The great destroyer of worlds.
    How could Devin and Asher know about the songs, the stories my parents made up for me? Who were they? Was I just looking for connections?
    “Skye?” Asher whispered into my ear. “Are you okay?”
    Suddenly I was furious with him for telling the story—and at myself for letting it get to me.
    Destroyer of worlds.
    “Leave her alone, Asher,” Devin said quietly, sternly, from his place by the fire. “You’ve done enough.”
    It was all connected in some way. It had to be. The fire. The story. The two of them, staring.
    The boiler explosion.
    The