Idiot. She wanted to clap herself on the forehead. The fact that his symptoms were fading wasn’t a good sign. It meant he was out of time.
Chapter Sixteen
Allie walked beside Seamas on the way out of the restaurant. “You think he’s okay?” she whispered, watching Darius walk ahead of them. His feet shuffled across the parking lot, like he wasn’t quite in control of his steps.
“It’s getting close,” Seamas said, “but we’re watching him for the signs. Try not to worry so much. Honestly, that’s the best way you’ll be able to help him.” He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Uncle D?” Lennox rushed across the parking lot. “Dads, something’s wrong!” She took several steps away form Darius who was standing in the middle of the drive, blocking cars from entering the restaurant.
George and Allie were at his side in a heartbeat.
“Darius?” Allie snapped her fingers in front of his face, but his eyes were glazed over, unseeing and smoldering with the golden light of his power.
“We’re out of time,” George said, moving into action. “Seamas, can you take Lennox and Allie home?” He guided Darius toward his SUV and away from the honking drivers waiting to park.
“Of course.” Seamas stood with Lennox beside Allie’s car.
“Like hell. I’m coming with you.” Allie tossed Seamas the keys to her car and scrambled to help George with Darius.
“I don’t have time to argue,” George said. “Just stay out of the way.”
“Darius?” His face was ashen and his mouth twisted in agony, like he wanted to scream but there was no sound. Allie cried out in alarm when he collapsed beside the car in a boneless heap. “What’s happening?” She bent over him, helping George get him to his feet. His head lolled back as they laid him across the backseat.
“It’s starting, Allie. We need to get him to the underground. Now!” George raced to the driver’s side, his long dreadlocks a blur behind him.
Allie hopped into the backseat, crouching beside Darius as George flew out of the parking lot.
“It’s going to be okay, Dare.” Allie brushed her hand across his brow, burning hot with fever. Please, God, let him be okay.
“Hurry, George.” Allie clutched Darius’s hand as he thrashed from side to side on the backseat. He’d gotten worse on the longest ferryboat ride of her life.
“Almost there. Hold on.” He took a fast turn down the back road behind Gregg and Naeemah’s property. “Gregg and your grandparents are waiting for us in the garage.” He clicked a remote on his dashboard, quickly entering a code.
Darkness cast Darius’s pale face in shadows as George pulled into the tunnel leading to the underground garage.
Allie was out of the car before George had it in park. “Quick, we need to get him upstairs.” She flung open the side door. “He was fine at the restaurant, and then he just collapsed on the way to the car.”
“Come on, son, we’ve got you,” Gregg said, easing Darius out of the backseat. “He’s coming around. Let’s get him settled in the yard.”
“Come with us, Allie.” Alísun gently held her back, so Gregg and George could get Darius up stairs.
“Careful,” Allie blustered as they carried Darius between them up the stairs to the common room. She broke away from her grandmother and rushed up behind them, but she nearly tumbled back down the steps when Darius screamed.
“Oh, my God.” She hunched over at the waist, her knees giving out. The bond writhed and churned with his agony. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She felt it. Just a fraction of what Darius was experiencing. The fear causing him to scream was like a knife, hacking away at their bond. She was about to lose her shit. Seeing Darius so terrified, she didn’t know what to do. She was utterly useless.
“This isn’t going to be easy for you either, I’m afraid.” Alexander lifted her back onto her feet. “We’re going to need you to trust us, Allie-girl.”
“Let’s get you some tea.” Alísun wrapped her arm around Allie’s waist, and her grandparents led her up the steps.
“This is ridiculous. I’m fine; I don’t need any tea.” Her voice shook and her hands trembled. Allie tried to break away from Alexander’s hold, but the ground swayed under her feet, and she couldn’t take a step forward. Panic held her rooted to the spot. “What is this? Like sympathy pains?”
“Something like that,” Alísun muttered, steering her toward the nearest sofa in the common room.
“No, I’m going with Darius.” She tried to stand.
“I’m sorry, you can’t, Allie.” Alísun pushed her back down onto the sofa.
“Where are they taking him?” Allie darted under her grandfather’s arm and stumbled across the room like a drunken sailor. She followed Darius’s screams down the long corridor to the yard. “Wait!” she called, rushing to catch up, but her wooden legs wouldn’t let her.
Gregg turned back toward her, leaving Darius with George. “Allie, you can’t be here for this. You have to go.” He pointed in the direction of the common room. “Get her out of here, Alísun.”
“Like hell.” She reached out to the stone wall, steadying herself. “You’ll have to shoot me in the face first.”
“Allie.” Emma charged up the hall behind her, Naeemah in tow. “You are not yet Proven. You cannot witness this.”
“You think I care about tradition?” She whirled on her mentor. “I’m staying with him, and you can’t stop me.”
“This isn’t about tradition, Allie.” Emma grabbed her by her shirt collar and slammed her against the wall. “It is not your place to be with him. You will do him no favors interfering in this. I need you to trust me.”
“He’s so scared, Emma.” Allie’s eyes filled with tears as she watched them disappear with Darius into the yard.
“He is going to be fine, but you have to let him do this without you.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking, separating us at a time like this. Please, Emma. Don’t make me leave him.” Allie reached for Emma’s hands, shaking her head. “Please?” Tears streamed down her face. The echo of Darius’s cries bounced off the stone ceiling. Each one like a razor cut to their bond. “Darius!” she screamed, trying to break Emma’s hold on her.
“I know, sweetheart. I know. Hate me if you need to, but you have to come with us now.” Emma nodded to Naeemah as both women wrapped their arms around her, pulling her back down the hall.
“Darius!” Allie screamed again, fighting their hold on her. Her heart lay in a thousand pieces at their feet, and still they wouldn’t allow her to stand beside the most important person in her life during the most difficult thing he would ever have to do. “No. Please,” she sobbed. “Please don’t do this.”
She was frantic; the only lucid thought in her mind was getting to Darius no matter who she had to go through to reach him. Rage bloomed in her chest as the little blood vessels in her eyes burst. Her judgment gift crackled at her fingertips, seeking an outlet.
“Get off me.” Allie stood up straight as a burst of her solar gift blasted through the hallway. Emma and Naeemah tumbled to the ground, and Allie turned to charge down the hallway. But they were faster and had her by the shoulders before she could even reach the entrance to the yard. Allie grasped both of them by the wrist. Throwing her head back, she screamed, letting the rage rush from her body.
“Take your hands off my daughter.” Navid’s voice seethed with venom. Livia and their grandparents stood behind him with grave faces.
Allie fell to the floor, sobbing in frustration. She’d wanted to hurt them for stopping her. She was so caught up in her desperation to get to Darius; she’d used her judgment gift on two people she loved more than they could ever know. But her power didn’t touch them. She couldn’t take their immortality just because she was mad. It didn’t work that way. The person on the receiving end of her judgment had to deserve it, and neither Emma nor Naeemah would ever deserve that kind of punishment.
“I’m so sorr
y,” Allie cried. “I didn’t mean it.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Navid crouched down beside her. “We know you are hurting in a way we can’t understand.” He wrapped his arm around Allie and helped her to her feet.
“We will be taking care of Alexis,” Alísun said.
“Allie-girl.” Alexander took her hand in his. “It is important that you stay calm.” He leaned down to look her in the eyes. “Can you do that?”
Allie shook her head. “No … I can’t do this, Grandpa.” She burrowed her head against his shoulder. “Will you go be with him?” Allie begged. “Tell him I’m trying to get to him, please? He’ll think I’ve abandoned him.”
“Shhh, my girl.” Alexander hugged her close. “He’ll think no such thing. Darius knows you would fight your way through hellfire to be with him. But I’ll go check on him for you.”
Allie nodded. “Thank you.”
“Let’s get you back home, dear,” Alísun said, turning to leave.
“No, I’m staying right here.” Allie backed away.
“Don’t you want to rest in your own bed?”
“She is going to need her mentor,” Emma said. “I know you all are her family, but this is going to be a difficult experience for Allie. She needs to stay with me.”
“We will all stay with her,” Navid said.
Livia looked skeptical. “Surely, you all know this is not how you help Allie through a difficult situation. You cannot force her into anything without an explanation she can understand. She will just rebel.”
“She isn’t Proven,” Naeemah said. “There are no terms she will understand.”
“You cannot be with him, Allie.” Livia turned, carefully placing her hands on Allie’s shoulders. “As much as your bond tells you he needs you, there is little you can do. This isn’t about you and what you are feeling.”
“I know that,” Allie said. “I’m not thinking of myself. This is about Darius and what I know he needs. He is feeling the pain of our separation, Liv. On top of everything else, he doesn’t need that, too. The separation is physically painful. Do any of you know what that’s like?”
“We do not know what the Syntrophos bond feels like, but the Complement bond is similar in that way. It pains me to leave Gregg. Even after all this time,” Naeemah said.
“It’s not the same.” Allie shook her head. “You make it sound like we’re just love-sick teenagers who can’t stand to be more than three feet apart. That’s not it. The bond. It’s like a living, breathing thing connecting us. When you drag us apart, the bond reacts like a wounded animal. Darius is terrified, Naeemah. He doesn’t think he’s ready. And separating us now is like pouring salt on the wound.”
“It is normal for him to feel unprepared,” Emma said. “But he is ready for this, Allie. I promise.”
“Please, let us take her to my garden,” Naeemah said. “You are all welcome. Please, Allie, come with me and we will—”
“I swear if you say let’s go sit vigil for him, I will lose it, Naeemah. Do I look calm enough for that? Have I ever been able to sit vigil for anything?”
“We will go sit in my garden and discuss what’s about to happen. And we will be here to help you get through this. My son has the biggest hurdle of his life staring him down right now. Decades before he should be faced with this. I do not have it in me to sit vigil either. Perhaps you can also help me get through this?” Naeemah held out her hand, her eyes filling with the same fear Allie felt for Darius.
Allie nodded and took her hand.
“Are you okay?” Navid asked, a worried frown wrinkling his brow.
“No, but I will be if someone can please give me an actual reason why I can’t stay with him. And I don’t want to hear ‘because I am not Proven.’”
Allie followed Naeemah, her mentor, and her family into the small underground garden.
“Lay down,” Emma instructed, pointing at the grassy lawn cast in moonlight where silken white pillows and cushions waited for her. Candles lay scattered everywhere, their flames flickering in the breeze. Incense burned in braziers and crickets chirped in a rhythmic chorus. It was such a serene setting. Like they prepared it just for this occasion.
She lowered herself onto the cushions, her body shaking with the anxiety coursing through the bond she shared with Darius.
Emma knelt in the grass beside her, taking her hands. “Darius must face his Proving with the guidance of his mentor. He cannot have any other outside help. That is how it works.”
“That’s still not an answer.”
“George and I have been working together for months, trying to find a precedent for a Syntrophos pair who have yet to experience a Proving. There are none. This is going to be difficult for you both, but you will get through it. And I will guide you every step of the way.”
“You make it sound like I’m the one about to face a Proving.”
“In a manner of speaking, I believe you are about to go through your own version of Darius’s Proving, and that is why you cannot be with him now.”
Chapter Seventeen
Allie lay with her head cushioned in her grandmother’s lap. The serenity of Naeemah’s garden did very little to dispel her tension.
“Take deep, calming breaths,” Alísun murmured. Candlelight sparkled around them as the women Allie called family did everything they could to create a relaxing environment.
The tinkling sound of running water splashed in one of the many stone fountains. A cool breeze swept the hair from her face, and the spicy scent of incense lulled her into a false sense of peace.
Navid stood by, ready to meditate with her when she was ready.
Yet, she felt like climbing out of her own skin just to escape the madness happening inside her body.
“Relax, Allie. You must stay focused. Darius needs you to be his rock right now,” Emma said. “Remember, everything you are feeling is just a shadow of what he is feeling. We cannot let your own anxiety for him trickle down through the bond to exacerbate his emotions right now. He needs to sense nothing from you but strength and moral support. That is how you are going to help him through this.”
“Right, he has enough to deal with on his own.” Allie sighed, willing herself to ignore his fear. His gut-wrenching fear that made her want to chase down all his demons and slay them. In her mind, he was just a scared little boy, caught up in the terror of his worst nightmares, and there was nothing she could do for him but step aside, allowing him to sink or swim.
“Are we sure this is enough?” Naeemah asked as she massaged Allie’s hands with lavender and coconut oil. “Should we try to help her sleep?
“We aren’t sure about anything, Nae.” Emma wiped Allie’s brow with a cool cloth. “And Allie’s dreams are too unpredictable. She needs to stay right here with us.”
“How has this become about me?” Allie took Naeemah’s hand, waving away the scented oils. “You should be focused on your son, not pampering me with spa treatments.”
“Caring for you is me focusing on my son. I promised him I would be with you during his Proving. He made me swear I would stay with you.”
A tremor of a smile touched Allie’s lips. “Of course he did.”
“Are you sure that helping her slip into a peaceful rest wouldn’t be the best course of action? At least at first? I have some potent teas that would do the trick.” Naeemah’s hands twisted nervously in her lap.
“Maybe if Allie wasn’t linked so strongly to the dreamworld,” Alísun said. “But I doubt she’d follow the flow of her natural dreams.”
“What if Navid and Livia were there, waiting for her,” Naeemah suggested.
“No, I don’t want Navid to risk being there longer than he should. If I go to the dreamworld, I’m finding a way to get to Darius. I don’t think I could stop myself.”
“She knows how to navigate her dreamscape as well as any dream walker,” Navid said. “She could evade me. It’s too much of a risk.”
“And we know from experi
ence the dreamworld is no place to experiment,” Livia added. “The things that happen there can influence reality.”
“The things Darius will be facing will likely happen in some remote corner of the dreamworld,” Alísun said. “She cannot go there.”
Naeemah nodded. “Then we will have to keep her awake the whole time.”
“I’m not remotely tired. There is no way I’m sleeping through this.” Allie clenched her fists, grasping at the ground beneath her to keep from running straight to Darius’s side.
“We might be here for quite some time,” Emma said.
“How long does a Proving last?”
“We will likely be here for a few days. Maybe longer,” Navid said. “Darius is so young. It will be harder for him.”
“Shit.” Allie covered her face with her hands, willing herself not to cry. It would just make Darius crazy. He couldn’t stand her tears. “You know it really sucks being an Immortal. Eternal life sounds great, but no one in their right mind would sign up for this. Karma played us all for fools.”
“In these moments, I would tend to agree with you.” Emma smiled. “But there is another side of this abyss for you and Darius. Keep your mind focused on that, and we will all do our part to get you both through this.”
It wasn’t like an Awakening. At least not for Allie. She was lucid and in control—mostly. But experiencing Darius’s Proving was a dark and twisted pit of an emotional hell for her. Allie’s only job was to keep a level head and squash her own emotions. This was not a time for Allie to feel her feelings.
The garden had grown quiet after three days of forced serenity. Allie sat quietly across from Navid, meditating. It took her several hours to find a place where all thought was driven from her mind. Focusing on the bond she shared with Darius, she imagined it as an invisible life force connecting them, body and soul, and she sent him as much positive energy as she could muster.
More than anything, it felt like Darius was fighting for his life. For the past twenty-four hours, there were moments when their bond weakened and faded, sending her into a wild panic she had to suppress for his sake.
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