Cursed Demon Kissed 2 Page 0,11

glass, what was it? Did the mist leave it behind?

I sat at the foot of the enormous dark glass and watched Collin for a while. All the things I wanted to tell him swam into my mind. But he couldn't hear me. My teeth bit my bottom lip as I sat there helpless to free him. Collin didn't seem hurt the way he was in the vision with the dragon. That was yet to happen. The scars on his body were few, and his skin didn't have the sickly pallor of the dead. Collin hung his head and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked up one last time when I decided I should go back and ask Al what the black glass was, and how to use it. There had to be a way to use it. When I first touched it, the glass didn't resist me - my hand almost melted into it like it was nothing more than a slice of warm butter. But it wasn't. Something I did made it hard. The pane didn't shatter under the blows of my fists. It wasn't glass no matter what it looked like. But what was it?

As I stood to leave, Collin's eyes connected with mine. For a moment, I thought he saw me. I wished he saw me. I wished he could hear me. I wished I could save him.

Touching the glass, I said softly, "You were right. I was so blind. Why couldn't I see it when you were standing in front of me?"

I shook my head. Why is it that I don't notice things until it's too late?

It's not too late. Not this time. I wouldn't grieve for him. He wasn't dead. He was trapped, and trapped people can be freed.

CHAPTER SIX

When I awoke from my vision, or whatever it was, I described the black glass to Al, telling her everything I had seen. But, in all her visions, Al had never encountered the black mirror. That made me uneasy. She should have seen everything by now. She was ancient.

That was when Al spoke the words that plagued me. "It could be your powers are not as static as we thought."

"Static?" My voice was flat. "That's a nice way for saying my powers are morphing, because I've been tainted with demon blood, right?" I pushed my hair out of my face and slouched back into the couch.

She nodded. "You aren't the same. It's foolish to behave like you are. Whether you like it or not, you have some of the Valefar's abilities. Until now, I'd hoped the Martis and Valefar powers would remain separate - clearly one or the other. It would allow you to know whether or not you should use those powers. Opening the door to evil, even slightly, could have lasting repercussions; repercussions that you don't want."

I leaned forward. "You mean the slippery slope theory? If I let a little bit of evil in, I'll slide right into a mess of it?"

"Not entirely. It's just that you should know what's behind a door before you open it." She leaned towards me, her face utterly concerned. "That's what my job is - to tell new Martis what their powers are and what those powers do. But, I'm afraid I can't help you with this Ivy. Your powers are changing and combining things that don't go together."

"What am I supposed to do when I come across something that's whacked? Ya know, when I find a power that's neither Valefar or Martis." I ran my fingers through my hair. "What should I do? Ignore it?"

Al shook her head. "I doubt that would be wise. You'll have to trust your gut and make sure the purpose of the power moves in line with your plans. What did you feel from the mirror?"

My eyebrows pulled together at the weird question. "Feel? What do you mean? I stared at the glass for a while. I tried to move through it, but I couldn't. It felt like Jell-O, kind of cold and firm."

A smile spread across Al's face. She laughed, "Not physically. I mean what did you feel coming from the mirror? Did it fill you with dread, fear, cold, warmth, or what?"

I cocked my head, not really understanding what she meant. "I didn't feel anything coming from it. It's an inanimate object - a hunk of Jell-O glass. It's not like it was alive or something."

"How do you know?" Al asked completely serious. The smile slid off