My body began to shake as the power poured out of me. The creature’s shrieks grew louder as more rocks and boulders lodged themselves into its scaly skin. I could feel the power draining from its life form as it fought to move away.
A tentacle lashed out against my neck, and I lost my momentum as another crashed into my side, tossing me aside like a pebble. I righted myself immediately and moved to a safe distance. It began emerging from the rubble. No time left for my own safety…I had to finish it, now!
I swam closer and dug deeper, pushing harder for the dark beast inside me to give me more strength. I was strong, stronger than this creature before me. I wasn’t giving up till it was gone.
The high-pitched screams shook me, breaking my rage-driven trance, and I covered my ears. Hit after hit tore my clothes to shreds, and I opened my mouth to bellow out my pain.
Then a high and deafening shrill began to grow with each moment. The water began to pulsate, pressing in all around, crushing the creature. Red rage-filled eyes met mine, and then without warning, a blast sent me flying backwards and into the rocks on the lakebed. My head made contact, and intense pain crackled through my skull. My body was drained, and Skylar’s powers were fading quickly.
I stared at the ring, when the darkness closed in and everything faded to black.
Chapter 8
Rage, pure and hot, flowed through my veins. My body pulsed with energy as I focused in on the one who’d killed my Colt—Marcus. He was standing there on the ravine, his eyes darkening with pleasure as he pointed his hand out towards Colt again.
“No!” My voice bellowed over the rocks and grasses.
Power, raw and uncontained flowed from my hands, and I watched Marcus fall to the ground. He wasn’t going to win. I was going to save Colt! I moved forward, keeping the deafening flow of air focused on Marcus. I just had to move closer to Colt.
“Cheyenne!” Callon’s voice broke my trance. “Stop! You’re going to kill us all!”
“He’s not dead!” I screamed back as I dropped the winds and ran towards Colt. “Colt, get up!” I yanked hard on his arms as he began to move. “Get up! We have to move!”
“Cheyenne!” Strong arms came around me, pinning mine to my sides. “Cheyenne, stop!” Warm breath puffed against my cheek, and I began to shake.
“He’s alive…he’s alive…” I choked. “He’s alive.”
“It’s not real, sweetheart. It’s not real.”
I blinked, staring out in front of me. Colt was rising from the ground. He was okay. “He’s alive, Callon. He’s alive!” I cried.
“No, it’s Koda. It’s not Colt.”
I blinked again, trying to clear my vision. Brogan and Dex were helping Koda stand, while Skylar and Clayton were nearby, blood running down their cut cheeks. Daniel appeared, his face showing an impending bruise below his left eye.
“It’s okay, Chey. It’s going to be okay,” he said.
A hand brushed my arm. Lilly was there, her eyes misted with tears.
In the distance, I heard Andre’s frantic cry.
“It’s Maes!” She waved towards the forest. “He’s hurt!”
Dex and Brogan took off, leaving Koda to stagger to a tree stump and sit down. His lip was bleeding.
What had I done?
I lowered my head, suddenly weak. Callon caught me, and lifted me into his chest. Warm blood began to flow down my cheek. What was happening to me?
“Callon, she’s bleeding badly.” Lilly’s voice shook.
“I’ve got her, Lilly. Daniel, take Cheyenne back to the estate. Nakari, take me back and then help Dex with Maes.”
I pressed my eyes closed as everything began to spin.
“I’m gonna help you, Chey,” Daniel said, taking me from Callon. My body began to shake from the cold. “We’re almost there.”
Warmth suddenly surrounded me and gasps echoed at our arrival. We were in the sitting room.
“Layla, clear the dining room table,” Callon ordered. “Bree, go get blankets and towels.”
Footsteps rushed off in different directions, and I was laid onto the cold hard wood. It was difficult to breathe, and when I opened my eyes, I saw two of everything. I pressed them closed again.
“What do you need?” Daniel asked.
“Get my medical bag and then head to my office and get bandages and supplies,” Callon replied. He began ripping the shredded clothes from my body.
“Is she going to be okay?” Bree asked as she dabbed my forehead.
“There’s some sort of poison in her system, a venom. It’s causing her to hallucinate.”
“Is that what happened out there?” Bree asked.
“Yes.”
Her breathing hitched. “Did anyone else get hurt?”
“Yes.”
My heart sank. Once again, I’d caused those around me to get hurt. When was this nightmare ever going to end?
More voices rumbled in the sitting area and moved into the dining room.
“Have them sit there. Dex, I need your help.”
“Koda!” Bree squealed.
“I’m fine,” Koda said. “How is she?”
Hands began pressing against my wounds, but I was numb now. My thoughts scattered, and I felt myself slipping away into that dark abyss, but I wasn’t scared. I had a piece of hope to hold onto. I had what I needed to make it another day, to survive this battle.
“Colt’s alive,” I whispered. “He’s alive.”
A damp cloth was pressed onto my forehead. The scent of fresh morning dew and wildflowers drifted in the air. My eyes fluttered open. In the dim lighting, I caught Layla’s beautiful blue-green eyes. She smiled at me.
“You’ve been sleeping a long time, Cheyenne,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
I tried to speak, but my throat was too dry. Coughing, I tried to sit up, but my head began to throb. Every muscle and joint seemed to contract at once, throwing me into a spasm. I cried out, and Layla pressed me back into the bed.
“Don’t try and move right now,” she said. “You’ve been through a lot, and your body still needs rest.”
I nodded and caught my breath. I glanced around the empty room.
“Where’s Callon?” I’d have thought he’d at least be here.
“I sent him, and the others, to rest. They didn’t want to leave your side, but everyone was weary after what happened.”
My brows creased as I tried to remember events, but only bits and pieces came forward. One image stuck out, giving me hope: Colt.
“Are they okay?”
She dabbed my forehead again. “They’re going to be fine. They’re more concerned about you than their own injuries.”
I’d injured them…
“What did I do?” I looked away, not sure if I truly wanted to know.
“From what I can piece together, after your battle with the creature, it left behind a venom in your system. You weren’t seeing things how they really were. Maes hit his head…”
Maes!
“Is he alright?” I grasped her hand. She squeezed my fingers.
“He’s going to be fine.”
“Going to be?”
She looked away and rewet her cloth. “Nothing to worry about, Cheyenne. He’s had worse wounds in battles, I’m sure.”
But this wasn’t a battle. This was me out of control again. And she said I wasn’t seeing things how they were. What did that mean? Colt wasn’t alive? But it had felt so real. I’d felt Colt’s presence. I still felt it now.
I rolled to my side and stared into the darkness outside my window. I wasn’t as afraid of the night anymore, but the lack of light still brought me chills. A tear rolled down my cheek, and I brushed it away. As I did, something cold and metal caught my skin, and I glanced at my thumb. A thick silver ring with ornate carvings rested there. I ran my fingers over the red stones that ran in a perpendicular line to each other. The center stone was missing, but the rubies seemed oddly familiar.
I fumbled at my
throat, my fingertips touching bare skin. My necklace was gone. I sat up, then winced as the pain shot to life.
“Cheyenne, lay down.” Layla pressed her hands on my shoulders, but I pushed her off and stumbled towards the bathroom. “Cheyenne, please!”
My hands slipped from the bedding, and I tumbled towards the floor. Layla caught me.
“You’re not strong enough yet.”
“Just help me to the bathroom,” I groaned.
Pulling my arm around her shoulder, she helped me stand.
“Callon said you weren’t to get out of bed.”
“I have to find something. Just help me.”
We staggered towards the marble floor. I sat on the edge of the claw-footed tub, catching my breath. I looked down and realized I was a mess. Not only did I ache everywhere, but green and black bruises riddled my body. One open wound on my leg began oozing. Why hadn’t it healed?
“Just tell me what you’re looking for,” Layla offered. “I’ll find it.”
I pointed towards the sink. “A red stoned necklace. I need it.”
She moved away cautiously, keeping an eye on me while she searched.
“I don’t see it.”
I tried to stand, and promptly fell onto the white marble.
“Cheyenne!” Layla raced towards me. Another set of pounding footsteps approached outside. “Brogan, is that you? Help me!”
Moments later, Brogan appeared. He jerked me into his arms and whisked me off towards my bed.
My thigh began throbbing as Layla and Brogan began cleaning the wound. The room went spinning, and I pressed my eyes shut.
“Why’d you let her get up, Layla?” Brogan growled. “Callon said she was to stay in bed. I was only gone five minutes.”
“Go get Callon,” Layla snapped. Brogan frowned, but said nothing as he disappeared out the door. “It’s going to be okay, Cheyenne. Take deep breaths.”
I heard her words, but at the moment they meant nothing. The searing pain was growing, and I couldn’t catch my breath.
“What’s going on, Layla?” Callon stormed forward and pushed her aside.
“She got up…” Lilly trailed off.
“She wasn’t supposed to move!”
“I know. She wouldn’t listen to me…”
Callon sighed.
“Grab my bag on the table,” he ordered.
The scenery around me began to change. The walls and curtains switched to sky and trees. I was back in the forest, but it wasn’t in Idaho or Montana. It was here, near the lake. Rustling in the brush caught my attention, and I turned to see Colt emerging.
“Colt?” I called out. He looked towards me, smiling in relief. Tears welled in my eyes, and I lifted my hands as I ran towards him. “Colt! You’re here, you’re alive!”
“Cheyenne!” Callon bellowed. “Cheyenne!” A stinging sensation radiated over my cheek, and I blinked. “Breathe!”
I sucked in a breath and stared into hazel eyes, Callon’s eyes. But I’d been in the forest with Colt. “Colt’s alive,” I whispered.
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s not real.”
“I can feel him.”
“No, sweetheart, it’s the venom. It’s making you think it’s real. It’s not.” His hands grasped my cheeks, and I closed my eyes.
“Look at me, Cheyenne.” He kissed my cheek. “Look at me. I’m real. I’m here now.”
“But…”
“I know, but it’s not the truth. Look at me,” he whispered.
My heavy lids opened, and I saw the weariness he was holding back. He didn’t believe me. I glanced about the room as it began to fill with the others. Their faces were sober, almost pitying. They didn’t believe me, either.
“He’s alive,” I murmured.
“Shh, now, love. He’s alive in all our hearts.” Callon pressed in closer, his breath soothing against my ear. “Rest now.”
A dark shadow neared. Maes. His presence seemed to clear the haze, and I fought back tiredness. Even in the dim lighting, I spotted the outline of a scar on his temple. Had I done that? He was also holding something in his hand. Wait…that was my necklace, the one he’d given me in Montana at Christmas!
“Maes!” I pulled the ring I’d found in the lake from my thumb. “The stones on the necklace, this ring has the same ones.” My shaking hand lifted the ring. Before Maes took it from me, he stopped. His jade-rimmed eyes were wide. “Do you know what this is?”
Maes didn’t answer. He just kept staring.
“Where did you get that?” he said at last.
“The creature in the lake had it,” I said, blinking. “What is it? Is it related to the necklace you gave me?”
“It’s the Quaysaar clan ring,” Dex said. He slipped through the gathering, his hands clasped.
“Quaysaar?” I repeated.
“The cursed clan.” Dex added.
“My clan,” Maes broke in.
I frowned. “But I thought you were a Tresez?”
“Yes, but they weren’t always trapped in that form, Cheyenne. The Quaysaar clan were amongst the most powerful of the Timeless,” Dex replied. “And that ring is their long lost clan ring.”
Callon grasped my fingers.
“Why don’t you rest. We can talk about this later, Cheyenne.”
“No!” I snapped. “I need to know this.”
“But your head is clouded right now. You’re hallucinating and…”
“I feel fine at the moment.”
Callon sighed and nodded at Dex. I wasn’t going to let this chance for information slip by.
“The Quaysaar were the first clan willing to serve the Sarac,” Dex said. Maes listened, not daring to interrupt. “Your grandfather cursed them for this. Since they were considered cowards who ran away like dogs, he made them the Sarac’s servants. Serving them on all fours.”
“But the curse is weakening,” I said. “Maes wouldn’t be able to turn human otherwise.”
“Yes, but unless the curse is lifted, they can never reclaim their place among the Timeless clans,” Dex said. “Perhaps at one time they didn’t want to. But the fact Maes is here with us, helping us protect you from Marcus, tells me that they don’t want to be mere lapdogs anymore.”
“So how do we break the curse?” I asked. I’d been stupid not to ask Dex about this before. Maybe now Maes would quit pestering me about it. “Does it have something to do with the ring?”
“I don’t know, Cheyenne,” Dex sighed. “I—I don’t think your grandfather wanted it broken.” Maes looked away. I couldn’t read his expression. “I’ve pored over the old manuscripts for years now, studying for ways to defeat Marcus, and in all these years I’ve never come across anything related to the Quaysaar’s curse. Except…”
“Except what?”
“That we are to be forgotten,” Maes answered coldly.
Forgotten…
I stared at the ring again. The missing stone stuck out to me. Though it had given off some kind of light in the lake, now it felt ordinary. Not at all like my Kvech or Servak rings, or Callon or Marcus’s rings, either. The lost piece must have something to do with the curse. Or was it really useless, and had no meaning at all? I had no idea. Then again, couldn’t Maes use a ruby stone from the necklace and repair it? Would that give him the deliverance he was searching for?
Sighing, I stretched out my hand with the ring between my fingers. Whatever the answer, this ring wasn’t mine. I’d find the solution later.
“Maes, take it. It’s yours.”
Maes frowned, though he couldn’t hide the hope in his jade-rimmed eyes.
“It found you, mon espoir,” he replied.
“And I’m giving it back to its rightful owner.”
Maes hesitated. Then he stepped forward and knelt beside the bed. His hands swallowed my fingers as he squeezed. He’d come to a decision.
“This has been too long in coming,” he said. “Unbroken curse or not, mon espoir, I pledge my life for yours. As fallen leader
of the Quaysaar, I pledge my undying loyalty to the Servak and Kvech clans from which you descend, and to your family, all generations yet to come, from now and until I take my last breath.”
He bowed over my hand, and I dropped the ring into his palm. A bright, blinding light flashed and suddenly I was thrown across the room. My back hit the wall and I slumped to the floor. Voices cried out, and I heard someone—Callon?—rushing to my side. He called my name, but everything was muffled by pain. Suddenly a jolt ran through my leg, and I arched my head back. The last thing I saw was Callon’s worried look, before a black veil rolled over my eyes, and I passed out.
I sat on the soft chair in the sitting room, watching the gloomy skies drop their moisture from the clouds. I was growing tired of the Irish weather, and longed for the brilliant sunshine of home again. The wind began to howl, and the raindrops pattered against the terrace doors. I pulled my blanket closer and shivered. Fall was definitely here.
“Here, maybe this will help,” Daniel said. He offered another chair and helped me sit in it, before pushing me closer to the fire. “You’ve had a rough few days.”
I smiled faintly as he tucked the fleece around my legs.
“Thanks,” I replied.
He wasn’t wrong. Not only had the creature done a number on me, but something with Maes’s ring had compounded it. The wound on my leg still hadn’t healed, and I was full of new questions. I didn’t know what had triggered the light, and I didn’t know if anything had come of it. Callon had made it clear that no one was to talk about what happened. Once again, he was trying to protect me from something I needed to know. I needed to know if I’d broken the curse. I’d caught Maes a few times over the last couple of days, yet nothing seemed to have changed.
There was also the issue of seeing Colt. Callon had told me I’d been hallucinating, that the venom from the creature was doing this, but that wasn’t it. If I was just hallucinating, then why did I feel Colt? I’d only ever felt like this when he was alive…
The clanking of a tray caught my attention. Lilly and Andre had appeared with mugs of steaming drinks. Andre moved the small table closer and Lilly placed the tray at my side.
Daylight, a Timeless Series Novel Page 12
