Free Daughter of a Monarch by Sara Daniell Page B

is turning dark.
    “Shit,” Isaac mumbles under his breath. He touches my shoulder. “A, you have to calm down!”
    I hear him, but everything is so out of control; I can’t focus to calm the storm.
    “A!” He yells.
    No use.
    I close my eyes and feel large rain drops splattering against my body. Thunder crashes, and Isaac yells louder.
    Isaac’s lips press shockingly against mine. I almost shove him away from me, but to my surprise, it’s a good distraction from my mayhem. My hands grip tightly to the front of his shirt as I kiss him back. He starts to pull away when things start to calm a little, but I don’t let him. “Please, don’t stop,” I beg in a whisper against his lips. “Please.”
    He kisses me fiercely. I concentrate fully on his mouth against mine, instead of the anger I feel. As cliché as it may be, Isaac is calming the storm inside of me just from a kiss. Maybe I need him after all. Maybe he’s the control, the balance, I’ve been looking for.

 

    I WAKE UP and notice I’m in dry clothes. I touch my lips, remembering how it felt when Isaac kissed me. If it weren’t for him, there’s no telling what I would’ve destroyed. I roll over, and my eyes widen when I see Dad sitting in a chair across from my bed.
    My bed. Oh my god, I’m in my bed in Terre!
    “Dad?” I yell as I sit up. The room starts to spin. I try to get out of bed, but Dad comes over and holds me down.
    “Calm down.”
    I wish people would give up on telling me to calm down. I can’t, dammit. Well, unless I’m in a hot make-out session with a green-eyed boy.
    I can feel my magic build as my emotions go crazy, remembering what Isaac told me about my dad. “You knew!”
    “A—”
    “No!” I wiggle from Dad’s grip and stand. “You knew that getting mom pregnant would risk you having a half-breed! Why would you risk that?”
    “A—”
    “And you can’t just take me from Gaia! I was doing better there, and we were figuring things out!”
    Fear fills me like never before. What will the Regime do if, when, they find out I’ve been taken? What will happen if they tell Terre about my existence?
    Mom comes running in and tries to put a cup to my lips. I refuse it, sending the liquid and Mom flying across the room.
    I look around and see Jett, Mason, Cohen, Isaac, Uncle Harim, and my grandmother. Their magic builds before mine can hone in and kill them. They thrust magic at me, paralyzing me. All I can do is blink and breathe.
    “Isaac, stay away from her! She needs to calm down!” I hear Dad yell.
    “She deserves to know what happened last night!” Isaac snaps back.
    Isaac comes into view. I think I’m lying down again, but I’m not completely sure.
    “We fell asleep at Paradise after you lost control and I,” he looks at Dad and decides not to fill him and everyone else in on the whole story. Smart boy. “Apparently, your storm started in more places than Paradise. You started a storm on Earth, Terre and Gaia at exactly the same time, over the entirety of the worlds.”
    Shit.
    “There have been prophecies about you,” My grandmother adds as she comes into view, and Isaac moves. “It has always been said that if the half-breed were to be born, when he or she came of age, it would be the end of all worlds. That he or she would be too powerful for their own good and would lose control, causing destruction and devastation to all living creatures.”
    Silent tears trickle down my cheeks. I’m not a monster. Or am I?
    “There are a lot of rumors spreading. They know you exist, but they don’t know who you are or which Fae and Versipellis committed the sin. But I can assure you that they have it narrowed down, with your mother and father being at the top of the list.”
    Grandmother moves, and now Cohen is standing over me.
    “We need you to stay as calm as you can. If you don’t, and you lose control, they will find you easier, and they will do everything in their power to kill you,” Cohen says as