Chasing Secrets - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,14
He kisses me again. “I like everything in front of me.”
I start to smile, but it fizzles as he threads his fingers through mine and pulls me toward the door.
Pulls me toward a dangerous planet.
A dangerous planet that might hold secrets about me.
Harlynn
“I don’t … What is this?” I ask as I stand outside, the freezing air glazing over me. Weird little fluffy pieces of what looks like cotton are fluttering down on me and are covering the land. I stick out my hand to grab one, and it melts against my skin. “Okay, seriously, what is this?” I glance at Asher, who’s standing beside me, the little pieces of white stuff covering his hair.
The edges of Asher’s lips quirk. “That, little thief, is what we call snow.” A cloud of smoke puffs from his lips. I know that’s from the cold temperature, since that happened in my world whenever an ice-storm blew through.
“Oh.” I stare down at my hands, watching the snowflakes melt against my skin.
This shit is weird. Like, one second, it’s there, and the next, it’s just dewy water.
“Where are your gloves?” Asher reaches out and slips his fingers through mine. “You’re going to freeze with your hands exposed to the air like this.”
“I forgot to put some on,” I admit. “Should I go back in and grab some?”
He shakes his head then raises my hand to his mouth. He whispers something underneath his breath and, suddenly, my fingers are covered with soft black fabric. He lets go of my hand and takes the other, repeating the same thing. I watch in awe as, once again, my hand becomes gloved.
“Watching you guys use magic is awesome,” I divulge. “How do you do it, though? Is it like a spell?”
“East uses spells,” he clarifies. “I use wishes.”
“Is that what you were saying under your breath?” I ask, wiggling my fingers and admiring the magic-created gloves.
“Yep.” He snags ahold of my hand and pulls me closer to his side as he starts hiking through the snow-covered land.
Through the snow flurries coming down on us, I can make out East, Arrow, and Maxton up ahead. But barely. The planet is too dark and cloudy, hardly any light coming from anywhere and making it nearly impossible to see anything else besides snow.
“Is there a sun here?” I wonder as I blink around, trying to make out something—anything else besides snow.
“There is, but it’s very small and grey and is rarely out, hence the reason why it’s so dark. And why it’s called Midnight.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” I shield my eyes with my hand as the wind picks up and blows bits of snow into my face. “Is there anything else here besides snow? Are there cities? You said there were dangerous creatures here, so I’m sure there has to be one. Or at least a town.”
“There are towns,” he informs me as the snow builds up around us and complicates walking. “This world is kind of old-fashion, so no big, flashy cities, and it’s not very high tech. In fact, the one time we played here, it was a completely acoustic set because most of our instruments wouldn’t work here.”
“East said you guys haven’t been here in a long time, and you hardly ever come here.” The snow is up to my knees now, and man, does it make walking a pain in the ass. “So, I’m guessing you hardly know anyone here, which makes me wonder how we’re supposed to find someone who can help us learn more about what I am.”
“Well, we’re not just looking for someone to help us. We’re looking for an energy reader, and a lot reside in this world,” he explains. “The problem is that, when we find one, we’ll have to make sure we can trust them before we start asking them questions about you.”
“How would you do that?” I ask dubiously. “Because earning trust takes a lot of time and not everyone is trustworthy.”
“I know,” he assures me. “And maybe trust is the wrong word.”
I squint against the snowfall, eyeing him over. “What’re you going to do?”
He lifts a shoulder, casting a glance at me, his eyes darkening for a snowdrop of a second. “What I have to do.”
As his meaning sinks in, I frown. “You’re not going to hurt anyone, are you?” When he shrugs again, my frown deepens. “Ash, I don’t want anyone getting hurt. At least anyone innocent.”
“No creature on this planet is innocent. And we’ll do what we