Lives of Kings Read Free

fallen over loudly. Facing the ocean, I let the fresh salty breeze blow back my hair and flood my senses before closing my eyes.
    Glimpses. Scenes flashed before my eyes of a vast landscape coloured every shade of blue and green. I felt the cool breeze replaced by a bitter wind for just a second, and then it was gone. The smell of salt water remained.
    I worried magic was like a drug. I had never needed it before, but now that it was gone, I wanted it more than ever. I breathed steadily. Every time I looked inward, I would see the same thing — behind my eyelids, Kian looked back at me.
    A hundred different memories met in one moment and then he would turn into the little boy I had known two thousand years ago. My feelings wanted to go in several different directions at once. I peeled away the Kian layer to look at what was beneath that and felt the same thing I had for the past weeks: a lock. My magic was bunched up behind some invisible force that I knew was my own creation. I retreated back to the Kian layer and found Seth there instead. His black hair and pale skin reminded me of Kian but almond-shaped hazel eyes stared back at me instead of round, blue ones.
    â€œCan I interrupt?”
    I jumped. He spoke the words in my mind at the same time as I heard them in my ears. I realized my eyes were still closed. When I looked up, he stood in front of me, dark but silhouetted in the moonlight.
    â€œI’m not doing anything,” I replied.
    â€œI know exactly what you’re doing,” Seth said, sitting near my feet on the deck chair. “It’s what we’re all doing. There’s no shame in trying to get it back.”
    Seth was the only person who seemed to be patiently waiting for whatever was next. He kept telling us any time we complained — and that happened often — that there was a reason for us being here.
    We sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the waves. At first the noise had kept me up at night. Now I felt it make its way into my body, syncing with my breathing. I considered how much Seth had matured in the past few weeks. The role of older brother, now that we knew it to be the case, suited him.
    â€œLet’s go for a walk,” he suggested, motioning toward the loungers. “These death traps have already gotten me once today.”
    I spotted his outstretched hand in the moonlight and took it, his cold, smooth palm gripping my fingers and pulling me up.
    The sand on the beach was fine as powder and warm under my feet, even though the sun had set hours ago. We made our way along the water.
    â€œDid Garrison tell you I was here?” I asked.
    Seth shrugged in the moonlight. “He said you left in a huff.”
    â€œA huff?”
    â€œI’m paraphrasing. He used words I’m not going to repeat.”
    In the past month we hadn’t had much time alone together, and while I had been recovering in the cottage, everyone only approached me with kid gloves, as if I could snap at any moment.
    â€œI’m …” I gritted my teeth, knowing what my words would truly admit. “Sorry.” I couldn’t seem to raise my eyes from my feet.
    â€œFor what?” Seth asked innocently. I wasn’t getting off the hook. He was going to make me say it.
    â€œFor …” I waved my arms in exasperation. “Holding us back. For moping and pining and not really being myself.”
    I could feel him shrug again, his shoulders brushing up against mine. I hadn’t realized he’d been walking so close.
    â€œWe need to help each other right now,” Seth said. “My magic …” it was his turn to gesture, looking for the right words. “I can feel your energy inside of you like knot. You’re all … tangled up. And I can’t do much either. It’s frustrating, I know.”
    His metaphor made me smile. It perfectly described how I felt. The hate flowing through me during the last time I had used magic