“Let me carry that,” Amory offered,referring to my bag.

“It’s alright, I can carry it fornow,” I waved him off and then shook both of my feet consecutively. My shoeswere full of water, and my toes ached from the cold.

Suddenly a jolt of electricitysurged through my blood. I jumped, startled by the sudden burst of energy. Myblood heated into a boil and my exhausted trembles turned into tremors ofnervous energy. I did my best to dispel the unwanted magic, but it stayedpersistent.

“They’re here,” Amory whispered. Irealized the mysterious burst of magic was a warning sign that another Immortalwas close. I followed Amory’s example and hunched over, crawling silently upthe vertical incline.

He gestured with his hand to keepmoving. I stayed as low to the ground as I could without actually crawling andstepped carefully. I was embarrassed by how clumsy I was as only human. Irepressed my magic, although the temptation to use just a little bit wasstrong.

Just like at Kingsley when theother students’ magic would trigger my own, so this unfamiliar stranger hadshot off a warning sign through my veins. I couldn’t help but be thankfulhowever, as the hot blood had not only warmed my body, but given me an extraburst of energy making it possible to escape quickly now.

“As long as we stay human, I doubtthey will be able to follow us. Stay close and stay quiet,” Amory instructed ina soft whisper. I struggled to hear through the whipping wind and rustlingtrees.

We continued our trek through theRomanian wilderness. The wind was strong and with every current of air theautumn leaves were carried off in all directions. Despite the chilliness of thenight, the sky was clear and the moon shone bright.

Amory led the way up one steepslope and down another, over and over again. We may not have been hiking entiremountains, but these foothills might as well have been. My arms were exhaustedfrom rowing, but finally able to rest. It was now my legs turn to bear theweight of our escape.

The nervous buzzing of unfamiliarmagic began to dissipate and I noticed Amory relax a little. He slowed our pacesomewhat, taking his time and treading carefully through the more dangerousinclines. Never once did he look up to consult our direction, he seemed to takeevery step confidently, as if the path we walked had been traveled many timesbefore.

Through our seemingly endlessexpedition my thoughts drifted to Kiran. My lips burned with the memory of hisfarewell; the frantic, determination in which he pressed his mouth against minemade me push through the pain and exhaustion. I remembered his aqua eyes deepand searching, begging me to run.

A shudder slithered down my spine,totally unrelated to the cold night. Whatever the reason I was running, Kiranwas convinced it was absolutely necessary. I watched Amory take determined step after determined step and wonderedat his reason for flight. What was it that had these two men so scared, soready to risk everything to remove me from some mysterious danger?

–-

“Here,” Amory panted, bending overto rest his hands on his knees. “We can rest here,” he struggled to catch hisbreath, while stabilizing himself.

I let out an exhausted sigh andsunk to the ground. The dirt and mud and damp ground had never offered such acomfortable resting place. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my headwearily on them.

I licked my dry lips, realizing howthirsty I was. I thought back to the rushing river almost with regret. I shookmy head quickly to rid my mind of the thought. I would survive.

“You can use your magic again,”Amory said with a stronger voice and I saw him stand upright confidently.“Careful though.”

The small buzzing of freneticenergy made its way over my body and I realized that Amory was bringing hisback. He turned away from me and stretched out his arm. The buzzing grewstronger and Amory turned to shield his face.

A great white light followed by thesound of a tree exploding pierced the darkness and I let out a startled scream.I couldn’t help but be relieved however, that I was not the only one with thosekinds of issues. Apparently blowing things up was just what happened to thosepretending to be human.

I followed Amory’s example,allowing the buzzing to grow into a steady current of excited energy. I didn’tbother to stand up, but rather positioned my hands as far away from my face asI could. The energy continued to build and build until I could no longer holdit in anymore.

The small sapling that took thebrunt of my built up electricity exploded into a thousand tiny pieces. Icovered my head with my arms as small splinters rained down on top of me. Whenthey stopped, I took a big breath relishing in the renewed energy.

Although my exhaustion did notcompletely disappear I was able to begin the healing process. As the magicmoved through my blood, my muscles could finally relax. My scrapes and bruisesbegan to disappear along with the soreness in my muscles. I rolled my head in acircle, cracking my neck and then stretched my arms high above my head. I feltcompletely renewed.

“Better?” Amory smiled at me.

“Much,” I smiled back.

“I don’t know many other Immortalswho could have pulled that off. In fact, I’ve only heard of two others besidesmyself that have pulled that off,”Amory sat down beside me, resting his long arms on top of his bent knees.

“Oh really? Most Immortals can’t dothat?” I felt oddly proud of my accomplishment.

“Oh, no. Most Immortals are uselesswithout their magic. You are very special, child,” I blushed at his compliment.

“Who are the other Immortals then,I mean the ones who’ve done this before?” I asked, curious.

“You’re parents,” he said simply.

“Amory, I need answers,” I demandedat the reference to my parents. Although I was thankful to be that much morelike them, I was tired of feeling in the dark.

“And you will get them, but firstwe need to call your brother. Your journey is far from over,” He looked outinto the dark expanse with a distant expression on his face. I was not entirelysure if he meant my current journey or if he was speaking metaphorically. “Nowthat you have your magic back, I need you to connect with Avalon; he needs tocome pick you up,” he gave me a look that told me I needed to follow his ordersimmediately.

Avalon.I concentrated on my twin brother, filling my body with strong energy. Avalon.

What?I knew immediately that he was irritated by my interruption. I felt defensiveuntil I realized he didn’t even know we were in the same country.

Weneed your help. Now that our minds were connected, I felt every emotion,every thought he had, and I knew he felt the same with me. It was a veryinvasive experience.

Who’swe? His thoughts were tight and constrained, much like the position hisbody was in.

Amoryand I. We need you.

What?Amory? Where are you? The surprise in his thoughts was evident. He stoppedmoving completely to focus on our conversation.

Somewherein the Romanian mountains. I’m not sure exactly, but we need you to come pickus up. I kept my mental tone light and I laughed a little when I realizedthat I was driving Avalon crazy. He was completely focused on his extractionmission, which he happened to be currently in the middle of. A pang of guilthit me though and I was suddenly worried about Lilly and the team.

Can’tit wait? I’m kind of in the middle of something. Although I could feel hisirritation, I could also sense his concern for us. He would have easily givenup the mission to come to our aid.

“He’s in the middle of the mission.Can we wait until he’s finished?” I explained to Amory out loud.

“No, we need to get you out of thecountry immediately. Tell him to bring Jericho and two cars. Ryder’s team canfinish the mission,” Amory was stern and commanding.