Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Warmth began to fill me, reminding me that I was still alive. It pushed against the fatigue in my body until the frigid waters felt as protective and nurturing as the fluid within a mother's womb. The origin burned at the center of my chest, right under the amulet my mother had always worn, and spread outwards until nothing remained untouched.

When it hit my lungs, I could breathe even though I had yet to breach the surface above. I gasped for oxygen as though starved. A bubble formed around me, pulling the current away until I was floating and watching the swirls pound against the invisible protection of the walls. The air reached my mind and new thoughts emerged. Determination not to take it for granted kept me from closing my eyes, but still, energy felt like it belonged in the past.

Why try if it was no use?

"Zaairaa."

What the...?

"Feel the power, Zaiirra."

Who was speaking? Who—or what—was a Zaira?

"Zaairraa."

The bubble cracked in front of me, webbing as the pressure of the surrounding water trickled in. My heart raced. My feet began to kick. I looked up, struggling to reach the center of light in the middle of dark waters. If the sun shone, there was hope. I could find my way out if I followed the light.

I felt the water against my hand and looked down. The rope was gone, the wounds soothed from existence. Instead of filling my haven and suffocating me, the water arced up, pulled back, and then attacked. Like a rope that hung being yanked taught, and with the pressure of a hose fuelled by a hydrant, it whipped out in a horizontal lashing.

At first, it seemed to have bad aim—or I had proved to be lucky after everything else had tried beating me down. I looked down, opening one eye at a time. A new feeling began to envelop me. Not warmth or pain, but power.

The amulet fractured. The crack split the stone, slow, almost hesitant. Once it touched both top and bottom down the center, it paused. A second later it burst, the shards shattered outwards like someone had hit it from within.

Spiraling clouds emerged, wisping together until an image filled with purple and gold formed. My mother. Joy slammed me with the force of the grief I'd felt since her passing. Bottled up and raw, it brought tears to my eyes. Smiling, she pointed up to the circle of light, and then looked back to me. She tilted her head, her mouth forming words I couldn't hear. I want you to... I don't—you are....

I love you.

The last came through clear, my mind remembering the sound. A sob broke from my gut. I knew what she wanted but couldn't move. To dream her and then see... It was like she wasn't gone. How does someone give this kind of chance up?

She stopped trying to talk and pointed up. I shook my head. She couldn't force me to give her up, not like this. But even as I thought it, her expression changed. Resignation speckled with determination, like when she would ask me to clean my room and knew I would even if I said no, filled her eyes. She sighed and looked down.

The bottom of the bubble flattened into a platform. The water under and around it began to froth, foaming as it churned. I looked up and saw that the stronger the water became, the lighter the appearance of my mother was, and then I began to rise when the platform motored upwards.

Faster and faster, farther and farther.

The surface was right there.

My mom, no more than an outline, smiled as she waved a final farewell, and then blinked from sight.

There'd been a warning, but still. It wasn't enough time. I didn't tell her I loved her, that I was sorry for being such a disappointment. As she faded, the underwater tornado funneling me upwards plowed through the surface. Emotions flat-lined and thoughts disappeared. The air felt suffocating. The sun was too bright, no longer smiling, but glaring as it mocked me and burned my skin. The wind whooshed past my ears as I cannonballed higher and higher, slower.

I began to freefall.

Covering my face with my hands, I tried to twist my body so that it would hurt less when I belly-flopped back into the strangling depths of water. But, like a feather fluttering down to lay gently on the floor, I slowed. It was impossible, but no more so than the fact that I was alive and uninjured. Suddenly, I was finding it hard to want revenge against a girl whose actions had given me time with my mother.

My mother.

She was gone but she'd be proud. She would tell me revenge was for the foolhardy and weak. Justice was wise. So, as she had with Duvessa's mother, I would be fair. Without revenge, I would reveal my abilities and then, Duvessa. She would know the mistakes she made had forced my actions, as well as the fact that it was too late to make amends—you can't atone for almost killing someone.

I closed my eyes and pushed thoughts from my mind, waiting to plunge, but ready to fight back up. I relaxed my body to ease the shock and felt a pause in the air, like I was hovering. A deep breath in, one eye open. Then I was falling.

Gravity yanked me down to land not in the water, but on land. I fell like cement to what felt like the bottom of an empty twelve-foot-deep pool, hitting my head against something hard and then rolling to my side. A cloud of sand billowed up, the granules settling to coat the inside of my mouth, my nose, and my eyes.

I was free.

Alive.

One last groan escaped, and I covered my eyes with my arm. My mind shut down. I fell asleep with a lingering smile, images of my mom, Briarville, and all the ways that Duvessa could learn how what she'd tried to do to me felt like once I reciprocated the gesture.

Then there was Calin.

Some visions were better than others, but each held the promise of something to look forward to.

THE END