Free Lexan's Pledge (Starbright Novellas) by Hilary Thompson Page B

upset.”
    I think about this. He’s right, of course. Anger makes me brave.
    “Guess I need to get mad, then. Any ideas?” I ask, still feeling drained of emotion and energy. I close my eyes against the afternoon sun, shining through the treetops.
    “Think about all the things Keirna has done to us,” Lexan begins. He grasps my fingers and steps close again. “My father. Your mother. The shopkeeper.”
    Sadness filters through me, but then a small flare of anger begins to grow as I think about what I’ve lost – what we’ve all lost. “She killed them for nothing, Lex,” I whisper. “She’ll get nothing .”
    My palms begin to feel warm and then hot, and Lexan sucks in a breath as the heat touches him, but he squeezes my hands tighter, trapping the power in our fingers. A bit of wind swirls around us, lifting the heat from our palms, and I grin, turning my cheeks up towards the sun’s orange light, trapping it behind my closed eyelids.
    A sudden crackle behind me breaks my focus and I spin to see a figure step from behind a tree.
    “What are you doing with him?” Stian asks in a dangerous voice.
    “It…nothing! How…what did you see?” I stammer. I rip my hands from Lexan’s and step towards Stian, guilt and apprehension coursing through me.
    He glares at Lexan, then stalks back into the trees without another word. My stomach is churning with nerves. I thought we’d been so careful: finding an isolated spot to practice our silly games, telling Stian we were going to train, taking our bows and knives.
    “Do you think he suspects anything?” I whisper to Lexan, remembering how Stian had already gone through the passage when the power of Justice finally slipped into my hands. He really shouldn’t know any of this.
    Lexan looks down at me, his eyes thoughtful. “I believe he thinks we were kissing.”
    “ What? ” My stomach drops into nothingness as I recreate the scene in my mind, from Stian’s viewpoint: joined hands, smiles, my upturned face and closed eyes. A hot flush creeps into my cheeks.
    “Because I’m pretty sure I was thinking about it,” he adds with a slow smile, catching my elbow as I try to turn after Stian. His fingers slide down to my wrist.
    “Just because you think something at me doesn’t mean I have to let it in,” I answer, jerking my hand from his. I’ve glimpsed a few of Lexan’s ideas throughout our training this morning, and a sudden fury washes over me.
    “I trust you to be a friend , Lexan – not try to sabotage my shot at happiness!” I yell, yanking away again as he tries to grip my fingers.
    “Trea, wait a minute! I’m sorry – I’ll talk to him.”
    “No, Lexan, just stay out of it! Out of everything!” I stumble backwards as a fierce wind pulls my curls across my face. I throw my hands up to block the swirl of dust and leaves when suddenly a burst of flame shoots into the air, buoyed upwards by the cool gust.
    It burns out as quickly as it appeared, leaving me gaping up at the trees. Sunlight streams in a thick shaft through a neat, new hole in the canopy, and wisps of smoke swirl lazily around us.
    “About time,” Lexan smiles halfway, his hands propped on his narrow hips. Suddenly he looks just like his brother Aitan, standing triumphantly in the classroom after tricking me to get what he wanted.
    I turn and run from the small clearing, shouting Stian’s name while I ignore Lexan calling mine.
    He hasn’t quite reached the clearing outside of Madna’s house when I catch him, and I launch myself in front of him, grasping his shirt.
    “Please, Stian, just listen to me!”
    “Why should I?” He snarls at me. “I guess now that I’ve gotten you here safely, you can go back to playing with golden boy back there.”
    “It’s not like that,” I say, forcing myself not to be angry at his words. “We were trying to use our star powers,” I add, instantly second-guessing the words.
    Stian stops walking and looks down at me, his eyes roaming