Beckoning Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #1)(24)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“Charlotte, you are our new Essence.” Blake looked at me intently.

“What?” I must have heard him wrong, or he had the wrong girl. This was crazy. I heard James laugh lightly, but ignored him, too confused to care.

“You are our Essence, Charlotte,” Blake repeated. Looking at him, I realized where James had gotten his intense eye-contact habit. “You are an Essence born of an Essence, incredibly rare,” Blake added.

“You’re crazy. I’m just an average teenage girl. A girl that should be going home. James, can we go now?” I looked over at him expectantly. Things were getting too weird. I felt a shiver go up my spine.

“Charlotte, you are home,” James said more gently than he had ever talked to me before. “Don’t you see that?”

“I really think there’s been some kind of mistake. I’m sorry for wasting your time, but really, I need to get home.” I started to get up from my chair.

“Charlotte, please. I am sure you are exhausted and need to clean up after your journey. I will have someone take you to your room. I had it prepared in anticipation of James’s return. Tonight you will meet your Guard.” Blake gestured for me to take my seat again.

“My Guard?” I asked, even more alarmed. What else could possibly happen? I started to have a strange feeling that maybe this wasn’t a case of mistaken identity. Blake had recognized that I looked like my mom, hadn’t he?

“For as long as there has been an Essence, there have been Guardians of the Essence. The Guardians, the natural protectors of the Essence, are tied to her. These men age with the Essence and lose power only as she loses power,” Blake said in his rhythmic voice.

“Is James one of these Guardians?” I asked, though I had already guessed the answer. Somehow it seemed like a small consolation if he would be sticking nearby. At least it was someone I knew.

“Yes,” Blake said immediately, smiling. “We have identified eight men, and there should be ten. I understand you have a brother, he is likely one of the missing Guardians,” Blake continued.

“Kevin?” I asked, surprised.

“Charlotte, we just told you that you are the Essence, and you are surprised that Kevin might actually be part of this world, too?” James looked at me with humor in his eyes.

“You’re right. I guess it just still seems too weird that my family isn’t from Charleston. I mean, I thought we had been there since before the revolution,” I admitted.

“Maybe your father’s family has been.”

I realized that no one had even mentioned my father yet. “Wait, so my dad isn’t from here?”

“No, your mother left. But that is a story for another day.” Blake made it clear the conversation was over by rising from his seat.

“James, please notify both the new and old Guards that there will be a meeting this evening.” James smiled at me lightly then left the room.

“New and old Guards?” I asked, feeling more nervous now that James had left.

“Your mother had a Guard as well. They still remain.” Blake didn’t show any impatience with my questions.

“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say; it was all too much. Of course, my mother had been an Essence. Blake had said I was an Essence born of an Essence, but it still took me a minute to process. I wanted my mom so much at that moment, yet I was also angry at her for not telling me any of this before she died. It started to feel like I had never really known her, and that hurt.

“Don’t be worried, Charlotte. Everything is going to be fine now.” Something about his words made me suddenly comfortable, and I found myself agreeing.

Chapter Twelve

Kevin

I unlocked the front door to the house and left it open for Monty. I was sweaty and tired from the game and ready to hit the shower, but even more than that, I was hungry. Monty carried in the pizza we had picked up on the way home. Pizza for the second time that week. I knew that I could really get used to living with my uncle.

The house seemed unusually quiet. Normally, Charlotte was either practicing her cello or blaring music up in her room. People always said that old houses had better soundproofing, but when in a big, old house, sound really carried.

“Char, we’re home, and the pizza’s gonna get cold,” I screamed from the bottom of the stairs. I was surprised when I didn’t get a reply. Monty came over and stood next to me at the foot of the stairs.

“Maybe she fell asleep,” he suggested, and headed up the stairs to check it out. He came back down a few seconds later. “She’s not up there. Did she say she was going anywhere tonight?”

“Not to me, but I didn’t really talk to her much today,” I admitted.

“It’s strange because she left her cell phone on her desk, and both her purse and backpack are up there. Where would she go where she wouldn’t need those?” he mused.

“Out for a walk?” I suggested.

“At night?” He sounded skeptical.

I didn’t want to admit it, but I was actually getting a little nervous. It wasn’t like my sister to go anywhere without leaving a note, or numerous notes. That was the thing about Charlotte; she never wanted to cause waves.

“We should call Liam. He might know where she is,” Monty said.

“But he’s been at the game with us.”

“Still, she might have told him something helpful.”

“Something she wouldn’t have told us?” I asked skeptically.

“Well it’s a possibility.” He shrugged.

I called Liam and, just as I had expected, he hadn’t talked to her at all that day. He seemed as worried as we were when I told him that she had left her cell phone and purse at home. He told me he’d be right over and hung up. I looked at Monty hoping he had some other ideas. Liam walked in the door a minute later.

“Have you called her friends?” Liam asked, as he closed the door behind him.

“Do you have any of their numbers?” I asked. Liam had Rachel’s number, but when we called her, she said she hadn’t talked to Charlotte that day either. Monty ran upstairs and grabbed Charlotte’s cell phone. He handed it over and told me to call her friend Anna. I called, but she was out of town visiting family for Thanksgiving and hadn’t talked to Charlotte.

“Do you happen to have James’s number?” Monty suddenly asked Liam.

“The kid who took her to the library? Why, have they been hanging out again?” I was surprised that Monty would even bring him up.