My mind raced with thoughts of the repercussions Mr. De Luca had mentioned. Would the High Council in Mt. Olympus summon us? What punishment would they decide for us? I would have to ask Zane if he had heard anything from his contacts there.
Finally, the events of the past two days caught up to me, and I drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened shortly after by Brielle's piercing screams.
My arms are elevated, held in place above my head by invisible bonds that I struggle against. My muscles burn as gravity causes my arms to sag from the strain. My knees are bloody from constantly being rubbed against the dirty, dank cement floor, and my body slumps from fatigue, trying to compensate for the weight that my arms have the burden of bearing. My powers have been drained somehow, but I still feel them weakly flickering within me, trapped somehow in my own body.
My head rests against my chest, my eyes closed in exhaustion. There is nothing for me to see anymore, my prison has already been committed to memory. Black stone walls embedded with skeletons and the images of demons surround me as I am forced to kneel in between two ornate, pewter thrones. A blood red carpet extends from the doorway to the steps leading up to the platform where the thrones and I sit, the carpet's regal quality contrasting against the inferior floor. Sleek chandeliers dot the black ceiling, the lights shining like stars against the night sky.
The doors are thrust open, the sound causing my head to jerk up. My captor strides in and makes his way towards me, an evil smirk plastered on his face. He is dressed impeccably in a black designer suit, his shoulder-length black hair slick back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. His eyes flicker orange, reminding me of Jace. I can feel him coming, even though our bond is waning due to reasons unknown to me.
“Your flame is almost here. How he has survived my realm is astonishing,” my captor snidely remarks. “At least you will get to die together, and then your power will be mine,” he continues.
Jace is almost here, and the thought of seeing him both thrills and sickens me because I know he is walking into a deathtrap. Tears burn my swollen eyes as I think of his death, of our forever cut short. I wonder if the Moirai had this planned for us all along, if Atropos is hovering over our threads of life right now, just waiting to shred our existence.
The doors burst open again, and the sight of my love invigorates me. I can feel our bond strengthening, slowly gaining some vibrancy back just from being in the same room. He is bruised and bloody, but still breathing, still alive.
“Let her go!” he demands as he stalks toward my captor and I. He raises his hand and shoots a ball of fire at my captor, who disappears. He reappears directly in front of me, blocking me from Jace.
“Big mistake,” he coldly says. He raises his arms out to the sides, and the room trembles. The skeletons and demons in the walls burst out, hundreds of them converging on Jace. His fireballs are shooting in all directions, eliminating some targets, but nowhere near enough. He is removed from my sight, forced underneath the mass of creatures overtaking him. I love you, mi amante, until my last heartbeat, he says in my mind.
I scream, fighting against my invisible shackles, until I feel our last heartbeat.
I bolt upright, screaming at the top of my lungs. Arms wrap around me and I fight against them, bucking and thrashing wildly, desperate to get to Jace.
“Mi amante, stop. It's just me. You had another nightmare,” I hear a familiar voice say. My racing heart begins to calm some as I open my eyes and take in my surroundings; I'm sitting on our bed, tangled up in the covers. The arms holding me are Jace's, and I almost weep with relief.
The tears start flowing when I remember the nightmare. Never before has my nightmare changed; the images within them have always been constant. Never before have I actually seen Jace die, or felt our shared life slip away. I never wanted to feel that void, to feel as if my heart was literally broken as our love was stolen away.
I clung to Jace, sobbing against him. God, I hated how weak I have become, but the emotions within me are impossible to ignore. They are too intense, reducing me to a crying, frail little girl. What a waste of the powers I was given.
Jace rubbed my back in a circular motion, as he did every night to calm me down from the nightmares. “Really got to you this time, huh?” he questioned.
“It was different, Jace. A new nightmare—it was so much worse. It felt so real,” I choked, tears still streaming down my cheeks.
“Tell me what happened.”
I reluctantly relayed my nightmare to Jace, after refusing several times. He stayed silent afterward, just holding me, giving me the comfort I needed. I listened to his heartbeat, letting it remind me that it was only a dream. We were both still alive, still together.
“I think your captor was Hades. He fits the description you gave,” he said after a few minutes.
“What?! You mean my great-grandfather? Why would he do that to me? I'm his family!”
“Mi amante, Gods have thousands upon thousands of descendants. We usually mean nothing to them. Plus, Hades is evil. I wouldn't be surprised if he was helping Uranus return.”
I started to ask why, but I thought of the reasons he would want that. He could take over the world if his prisoners were unleashed. He could extend his realm unto ours.
Jace nodded, agreeing with my thoughts. I could feel his worry compounding with mine over my nightmare. Having an enemy like Hades was a nightmare in itself.
I didn't want to think about the nightmare anymore. My emotions were all over the place because of it, but the one that stood out above all others was my overwhelming need for Jace. I don't know if it was so intense because of how realistic his loss was to me, but I needed to connect with him now, to feel him become one with me and shatter the remnants of the despair the nightmares created.
I turned to face him before I tugged his shirt up to uncover his beautiful torso. I ran my hands over his smooth chest as I pushed him back to lay down on our bed before straddling him. I removed my shirt and bra, then pressed my chest to his and took his lips with mine. The familiar fire lit within me, coursing through my body and begging for more fuel. His tongue parted my lips and found mine, entwining them in their seductive dance. He ran his hands up and down my back before trailing them around my front to cup my breasts, using his thumbs to stroke each of my nipples until they stiffened with arousal. He removed his hands and grasped my hips, moving me upward so he could take my breast in his mouth. He slowly circled his tongue around my nipple before biting it softly, eliciting a gasp from my mouth. He placed soft kisses along the sensitive skin of my mounds, causing tingles of pleasure wherever his lips pressed. I ground myself against his hard length, which strained against his jeans, waiting to be freed. I fumbled with the button of his jeans, eager to get his pants off and get him inside me. He maneuvered me on his lap to strip my shorts and panties off as he reclaimed my mouth with his. Our tongues tangled as he lifted me up to take off his jeans, kicking them off once they were down at his calves. He released me, setting me back down on his hardness—I rocked against it, my clit rubbing against his cock as I moved back and forth. He growled as he nipped at the base of my jaw, and his desire poured through me. I smiled seductively at the thought of unraveling him, teasing him until he couldn't take anymore, but I wanted him just as bad as he wanted me, and I didn't want to wait any longer. I grabbed his length and placed his tip at my slick entrance before I slowly lowered myself onto him, feeling every inch as I slid down all the way to his base until he filled me, causing us both to groan from the sensation. Pleasure ripped through me as I rode his length, rolling my hips against him. He felt so perfect inside me, and our bond began to blossom as we fully connected. He was everywhere, filling me with his emotions and joining our hearts and souls as one. Our passion and love consumed me as I pressed against him, deeply kissing him as tears lightly trickled down my cheeks. God, I loved him so much, and feeling his mutual love for me touched me in the depths of my soul. I thrust softly against him as he caress
ed my face, breaking the kiss to look me in the eyes. Orange swirled throughout the brown, showing his emotions deepening as we made love. I love you, he softly spoke in my mind.
I love you, I responded. Those three little words didn't even come close to describing what we were feeling, but no words could express the layers and depth of what we had, of what we felt for one another. No one could even understand unless they experienced it themselves. I held his half-lidded gaze as I continued to slowly stroke against him, pouring all of myself into our bond. I increased my pace as my climax neared, our combined passion and pleasure pushing me closer and closer to sexual bliss. Jace placed his thumb against my clit and firmly caressed it in circles. I leaned my head back and moaned from his contact, causing him to rub faster. I clutched his chest, digging my nails in as my orgasm swept over me, sending shudders through my body, inside and out. Jace swiftly flipped me, pinning me underneath him as he began to plunge in and out of me. My legs trembled involuntarily as he lengthened my orgasm, prolonging my pleasure by thrusting slowly into me. He crushed his lips to mine as a moan escaped me, and I hungrily devoured his mouth, never able to get enough of him. He ran his hands all over my body, leaving a fiery tingle wherever he touched, stoking the inferno inside both of us. He hooked his arm underneath my right knee and brought it up near my shoulders as he pinned both my arms with his other hand. I arched my breasts into his face, which he greedily claimed with his mouth, moving from one to the other as he nibbled and sucked, eliciting moans from us both. He trailed his tongue up my neck before tracing his tongue over my lips, teasing me before he delved inside. Our tongues eagerly laced together as we enjoyed the sweet, hot taste of each other. He groaned in my mouth and bit my bottom lip as he came inside me, coating me with his creamy release. He gathered me in his arms before rolling to the side and holding me to him, his half-hard length still inside me. He lightly traced his fingers in swirls along my back as he smiled lazily at me.
“What time is it?” I asked through my sex-induced haze. Jace grabbed his phone from the nightstand and turned it on. When it powered up, several chimes sounded, indicating he had a few missed messages. “It's 8:20,” he replied.
I stretched, and even after my few hours of slumber, I was still tired. Our escapade didn't help with my fatigue either. I didn't want to go back to sleep, given the fact the images of my nightmare still shuffled in my brain, taunting me. It can't be real, it just can't. “Hey, we won't let it happen, mi amante,” Jace said, hearing my thoughts and sensing my unease.
“Jace, it can't…we can't…” I trailed off, biting back a sob. He pulled me to him, and stroked my hair softly as he repeated, “We won't let it happen. I promise.”
I sighed against him, the feel of his body so comforting against mine. “We should call Kimber and Zane,” I suggested, reaching for my phone and powering it on.
“They're going to be pissed,” he chuckled. He eased himself out of me, and we both got up to go clean up in the bathroom. After we were both dressed, Jace in his black workout shorts and matching muscle shirt, and me in my pink zebra pajama shorts and black tank top, we both scrolled through our missed messages and calls. I had several irate voicemails and texts from Kimber, and Jace had the same from Zane. I decided to text Kimber instead of calling, not wanting to be screamed at over the phone:
8:29PM Me: Hey, we're back want to come over?
I didn't receive a reply, but a few minutes later, I heard a loud banging on our door. The monitor showed Kimber and Zane standing outside, and neither looked happy. Bracing myself for Kimber's onslaught, I went downstairs to answer the door with Jace following behind me. I opened the door, and caught the heated gaze of a furious Kimber. “What the fuck, Brielle?!”
Damn, she must be mad to be using my full name. I defensively replied, “Don't start, Kimber. You know I had to go.”
“You shouldn't have run off by yourselves. What if something happened to you?” she choked, eyes glossy with tears. Kimber rarely cried, and her show of emotion caused my own eyes to water. “I don't know whether to hug you or slap the crap out of you,” she continued.
I outstretched my arms, and she walked into me, squeezing around my waist tightly. “Don't ever fucking do that to me again,” she demanded.
I didn't reply, knowing that I would do almost anything to keep her out of danger, including a repeat of what I did yesterday. I saw Zane and Jace clasp hands and hug. Zane said, “Bro, don't be doing stupid shit like that. We have your back through anything. Call us next time.”
“Alright, fine. Can you do me a favor?”
“Oh, so now you want a favor,” Zane joked. Jace rolled his eyes, waiting for Zane to answer. “Of course, bro, what's up?” Zane continued.
“I need you to keep an ear out for anything with the High Council,” Jace replied.
“What am I listening for?” Zane asked, wanting clarification. Jace explained what had happened at the community, and relayed his fears of the High Council seeking retribution against us.
“I'll definitely keep my ears open. This shit is serious,” Zane said after Jace finished.
“Don't remind me. It's almost inevitable that they will summon us, but knowing when and what to expect will help,” Jace replied.
“Best believe we will be going with you,” Zane commented.
“No way. You don't need to be punished for our actions. They'd probably imprison you just for associating with us,” I said, thinking about the narrow-minded views of the council on the island.
“Then so be it. We are going with you. End of discussion,” Kimber said.
“Kimb—" I started, but she held up her hand to shush me. I glared at her, but I knew once she made up her mind, there was no changing it. She was so like me, I thought, smiling.
“We will get to that when the time comes,” Jace said. “I could use a drink,” he continued, trying to change the subject.
“We could go to The Landing. It'd be nice to hang out and chill for a change,” Kimber suggested.
“True that,” Zane added.
I looked at Jace, silently asking him through our telepathy if we could go. He smiled and nodded, and I excitedly jumped up to go change. “Yay! I haven't been out since “the night,” I said, making air quotation marks with my fingers. “I'm going to invite Kiera,” I continued. I walked to her room and stuck my head inside the open door. “Hey, you want to come have some drinks with us? We are going to a bar down the street.”
“I'd love to,” Kiera replied, rising up off her bed. “I'll get ready.”
“Great! I'll see you in a bit,” I replied as I walked out the door. As I walked by Jace, Kimber, and Zane, I called over my shoulder, “I'm going to get ready.”
“Us too,” Kimber said. “We'll meet you there in thirty,” she continued. I heard the front door open and close as I reached our loft, followed by the sounds of footsteps up the stairs. I was in the closet when the footsteps ceased, and I peeked out to make sure it was just Jace, and not some intruder. He smirked at me, hearing my thoughts about an intruder. “You know I have the best security system here. You don't need to worry about intruders.”
“What can I say, I'm slightly paranoid.”
“Slightly?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow at me.
“I think I'm justified given the circumstances,” I playfully retorted.
“Truth,” he chuckled. “But, tonight, I don't want you to think about any of that. I want us to have a normal, fun night out like a regular couple.”
Fat chance, I thought. Everything weighed on me constantly, almost like I had an OCD obsession that wouldn't let me relax my mind. I perused over my clothes, trying to find a suitable outfit for tonight. I was going to try my best to have fun like a normal eighteen-year-old girl would. I had a feeling that this was going to be one of the last times that we had a night out for awhile.
Brielle was more than a little tipsy, thanks to Kiera sneaking Brie drinks of her Hurricane. The girls were dancing in the middle of t
he courtyard as Zane and I watched, drinking our Coronas. The spacious area had a DJ set up, and quite a crowd had formed to enjoy the music. Avalon didn't have a club, so this was probably the closest locals got to the club experience if they didn't want to leave the island.
I loved seeing Brielle relax and have fun. Kimber was twirling her around and around, and Brielle was giggling hysterically. Kimber finally let go, and Brielle stumbled from a combination of the alcohol and dizziness. Some guy caught her, and I waited for him to release her once she regained her balance before I intervened. He held her by her wrist, trying to pull her back to him as she tried to pull away. Irrational anger filled me as I stood and made my way over to them, tunnel vision narrowing my sights on him. I heard Zane calling after me, but I didn't stop. I knew I was overreacting because of the bond, but the hormones inside me screamed for me to make it known that Brielle was mine.
The guy's back was to me so he didn't see my approach, but Brielle did, which made her try harder to get away from him. Her thoughts told me that she didn't want me to get into a fight with this guy, but if he didn't let go, I was going to break his fucking arm. When I reached him, I grabbed his forearm and seethed, “Let her go!”
“Who are you, her father?” he said in a drunken slur.
“No, I'm her boyfriend, and if you don't want to get your ass beat, I suggest you let go now.”
“I'm not done talking to her yet,” he replied. Wrong fucking answer.
“Jace, please, he's drunk. He doesn't mean anything by it,” Brielle said, trying to diffuse the situation.
“How about I take you home and show you how a real ma-,” he said before I cut him off, punching him in the nose with my free hand. He instinctively let go of Brielle to reach for his gushing nose, and I pulled her to me. Her touch stifled my anger some, and I began to calm down. The guy's friends helped him up, holding him back when he tried to charge me. One of them said, “Dude, that's Jace Vasquez. You just got punched in the nose by Jace Vasquez!”
Envisioned (The Elemental Prophecy) Page 23
