A Fractured Light (Beautiful Dark)

protecting.
    My heart felt like I’d swallowed it. I wanted so badly to stay close to him, so he’d never have to worry about losing me again.
    “Asher?” He’d disappeared. I was alone on the path, mist from the whirlpool fogging my vision and making it hard to see.
    “In here.” His voice rang out over the din of the churning water. I stepped cautiously through the curtain of mist, finding my footing on the slippery stones. The small path opened up into a dark cave. Asher stood several feet away, his back to me. When I walked up beside him, the view took my breath away. We were in a cave behind the waterfall, staring out through the velvety sheet of water.
    I slipped my hand into his.
    He turned to look down at me, happiness radiating from his face.
    “You and me, Skye,” he said. “We’re partners.”
    “For always,” I said.
    He put his arms around me, and I leaned into him.
    “You’re going to be so powerful, once you learn to control all of this,” he said quietly. “You could have powers greater than any other Rebel. That’s why we have to be so careful about what to do now.” He paused, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared out over the raging pool. “They’re in awe of you. And some of them are afraid.”
    “Are you?” I whispered.
    He didn’t say anything, but his arms tightened around me.
    “I don’t know how to feel about all this,” I said, watching the waterfall as if it held all the answers. “I don’t want them to be afraid of me.” Or you, I thought. For some reason, it reminded me of something Devin always used to say about the Order. A place with no fear . I hated how he kept creeping back into my thoughts, whether I wanted him there or not. I was grateful that Asher’s powers didn’t include the ability to read my mind. Though I had a hunch he suspected I thought about Devin. Every now and then, like now, as he gazed out at the water, his eyes grew dark with storm clouds. And when they did, I knew he was thinking of ways to get back at the icy blond angel for coming so close to stealing my life.
    I didn’t want to be there when he finally found a way.
    “I’ll keep you safe,” Asher murmured to himself.
    Safe. He’d said the word so many times, I wondered which of us he was trying to convince.
     
    That night, we flew. Asher gripped me in his arms like he had the night he saved my life. Ardith coasted on black wings, silently, beside us. The wind rushed in my ears.
    Soon, the dark clouds gave way to a scattering metropolis of lights below us. And then, the lights thinned out, and we began to descend.
    My feet hit the ground hard, and as I looked around to get my bearings, I realized we were on Main Street. The moon hung low in the sky, casting the dimmest of light on downtown River Springs.
    The air was cold, and it reminded me so much of the moonless night when I had turned seventeen.
    The air had a brutal edge to it as I stood outside of Love the Bean.
    The sky was dark. The street, deserted.
    Snow from a recent storm had frozen over in the subsequent days’ chill, leaving the roads and the sidewalks in town slick and hazardous.
    Asher and Ardith stood on either side of me.
    “We won’t reveal ourselves yet—unless we need to,” Asher said reassuringly.
    The wind sliced at my neck where it was exposed beneath my hat, and I scanned up and down the street for signs of life.
    In the window of Into the Woods Outdoor Co., a light was on. I felt tears well in my eyes.
    I was home.

Chapter 7
    A white mist swirled around me, dense and damp. It caught in my eyelashes, and when I blinked, it trickled down my cheeks. I opened my mouth and the mist tasted salty on my tongue. Just like tears , I thought.
    Where was I? It wasn’t Main Street anymore, yet I knew this place. I’d opened my eyes to find myself here before.
    I took a step forward, and the ground gave easily under my feet, soft and grainy. The mist began to clear for the first time. A black sand beach stretched out before me, trailing off into the distant mist. The dark sea lapped at the shore, constant, insistent. It was trying to tell me something.
    But what?
    I tripped on something and fell to my knees. Panic tore at me blindly, but it was only the hem of my dress, dirty and soaked, that had gotten tangled beneath my feet. My dress?
    It was long and gauzy white, grazing my ankles. For a moment, I was shocked to be wearing something so beautiful. And then, the shock gave way to sadness as I