A Fractured Light (Beautiful Dark)

massive clap of thunder to mask the sound of the car starting. Then I drove.
    I hadn’t driven to the apartment complex on the edge of town since that one time I’d gone home with Devin, but it wasn’t hard to find. The light was on in his window when I pulled up. I hesitated. What if Raven was there? Or the other Guardians? What if they were all staying with Devin now? My heart pounded audibly as I got out of the car and walked to his door as quietly as possible.
    In my hand was a small purple flower I’d picked outside my house. I tied it to the doorknob with a length of string. He would know what it meant.
    I drove away as quickly as I’d come. I knew he would find me. I would just have to wait.

Chapter 22
    I woke up before the sun rose the next morning and got ready for school in a fit of nervous excitement.
    Instead of going right to my car, I veered left and found the entrance to my favorite trail in the woods that ran beyond our house. It was still early. I had time. I began to climb, inhaling the fresh, morning scent of the evergreen trees that lined the path.
    Soon I reached the spot, halfway up the mountain, where the trail curved and the trees gave way to a sweeping view of the valley below. In that spot, in the dead of winter, Devin had saved me from slipping on the ice and falling over the side of the cliff. That day felt like a lifetime ago.
    I knew he would know to meet me here this morning, and I couldn’t believe I was walking into this on purpose. But something in me propelled me forward. Something I felt like I couldn’t refuse.
    The sun was peeking over the gap in the mountains when I reached the clearing, casting the trail in an orange-pink glow. Devin was sitting on the same rock we’d sat on together that winter day, staring out over the vast fields below. He turned when I stepped on a twig, the brittle crack startling both of us.
    “I knew you’d come,” I said. “Thank you.”
    His face was stoic and reserved. He’d probably been telling himself the same thing I had. Behave this time. Don’t you dare lose control.
    “I probably shouldn’t have,” he said.
    I stepped closer to the rock, but stayed standing, kicking lightly at the undergrowth that covered the trail. He was looking at me with that calm that I found so unnerving. What is he thinking?
    “I—I have some questions.” I paused and took one step closer, but he drew back. “I know. Part of me knows I should stay away from you, for all the reasons you said. But another part of me doesn’t want to. And I don’t know what to do about it.”
    “I understand,” he said. “I came here, didn’t I?” It struck me that the more time he spent here, on Earth, in River Springs, with me—the less stiff he sounded.
    “I need your help. There’s so much more I have to learn, and you’re the only one who can teach me.”
    He sighed heavily. “I know,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about your visions. That’s why I came to meet you. Your light powers are an undeniable part of who you are, and the sooner you can accept that, the sooner you can master them.”
    “Even if I’m a Rebel now?” I asked. “I chose. I made a promise. I can’t leave them. And I won’t leave Asher.”
    “You can deny it, but those are just words. You can’t convince yourself that what you’re experiencing aren’t Guardian powers.” His voice was impatient. “You can’t ignore them.”
    “So what do they mean?”
    “Skye,” he said insistently, leaning in close to me. “Did it ever occur to you that your visions might be telling you something important? What if they’re not just dreams? What if what you’re seeing is the future ? Things that haven’t happened yet.”
    I started. “Like prophecies?” I asked, not quite sure where he was going with this.
    “Not prophecies,” he said, standing up and looking at me. “The Sight.”
    “The Sight?” I tried to process what he was saying, but the words felt like another language on my tongue. “You’re telling me I can see the fate of other people?”
    Devin paused for a moment, lost in thought. “Maybe not of other people,” he said. “Maybe—just your own.”
    “You’re saying I can see things that are going to happen in my future?” I balked. “Is that normal?”
    “No,” he said, breaking out into a small grin. “Not for a Guardian. But nothing about you is normal.”
    “I can’t believe it,” I said in bewilderment. “The beautiful dress. The beach,