by C.K. Bryant
Chapter Thirty Eight
“Where is he?” Kira woke up before the sun crested the mountain and had been ready for over an hour. Octavion, however, was still in his lair. She’d spent the better part of that hour trying to figure out how she’d get into her room and snag the picture without him noticing. Aside from asking him to wait in the other room, she hadn’t come up with anything. Regardless, she was sure he’d see through her tactics and insist on knowing what she was up to.
Lydia lay in her shelter with Toran snuggled next to her. “I have no idea. Honestly, I can’t believe he didn’t wake you hours ago.”
Kira was making a mental list of the things she could grab quickly when Octavion came into view.
“Oh . . . my,” Kira managed as her heart skipped a beat.
Lydia pulled back the covers and pushed Toran out of the way. “What is it?” Lydia asked, stretching as far as she could to see around the shelter.
Kira couldn’t have been more pleased. In addition to Octavion’s well cut, nicely worn blue jeans, he wore a black t-shirt that fit snug against his muscles, a brown pair of work boots and a leather belt with a silver buckle inlayed with turquoise. And he looked good.
“Not a word,” he said.
Lydia snickered and earned his glare.
Toran growled, baring his teeth.
“You won’t hear me complaining.” Kira shot Lydia a smile and a wink.
The corner of his mouth twitched into a brief smirk before he turned serious. “Lydia, Toran will stay with you. No heroics. If you even smell trouble, you call me.” He crouched down and gave the tiger a rub. “Take care of her boy.”
He stood, reached into his pocket and retrieved a small metal vial. He handed it to Kira. “You’ll need to carry this with you. I have one as well.”
“Okay,” Kira said, slipping it into her pocket. “What’s it for?”
Lydia spoke before he answered. “It’s to help him recover from the leap. Traveling zaps all his strength.”
“But I’ve seen you do it before and you never seemed affected,” Kira told him.
“I don’t have a problem when I am alone or taking you a short distance,” Octavion said. “But when I have to take someone this far, it can be more difficult—and frustrating. I hold no such limitations in my world.”
Kira remembered the last time he was at her house and how he carried both Altaria and her at the same time. He didn’t seem worn out, but she’d been in so much pain, maybe she didn’t remember. “How did you bring both of us here after Bastian attacked me?”
“I drew on Altaria’s strength and her gift of travel—it made it easier. If she would have been the one injured, there is no way I could have carried you both.” He opened his arms and motioned for her to come to him. “You ready?”
Kira’s need for her personal items and clothes suddenly seemed trivial. Doubt crept into her mind. The photo. Was it really that important? “Are you sure we can do this? What if you lose your strength and something happens? What if Shandira and her men are there and you can’t fight?”
“Taking you will only weaken me slightly—it will not render me unconscious. I can drink this as soon as we get there. It works quickly.”
Lydia chuckled. “Don’t let him drop you.”
“Not funny.” Kira went to Octavion and turned her back to his chest. When he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, she closed her eyes.
“This one will be a little different,” he said. “You need to take in a deep breath and make sure you keep your eyes closed tight. Understand?”
Kira swallowed hard. Why am I so nervous? She grabbed his arms and held on. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
Kira, seriously. This might hurt. Don’t let go, okay?
What? Kira opened her eyes and shot Lydia a panicked look.
“Kira, breathe in, NOW!” Octavion’s body went rigid as Kira took in a deep breath and closed her eyes as tight as she could.
At first, the ground shook, but after a bright flash of light, the air became thick. She let out her first breath and tried to take another, but it felt like she’d walked into a room filled with smoke. Every time she tried to breathe in, the air hit her lungs and burned. When it stopped, they stood in her backyard. Kira gasped, sucking in a breath of fresh air.
Octavion released her and fell to his knees. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. When he opened them they were yellow, the pupils wide. Kira fumbled in her pocket to retrieve the vial and twisted off the cap. He drained the liquid and slumped forward, lowering his head. His breathing slowed and returned to its normal rhythm.
“Are you okay?” If she had known the toll it would take on him to bring her here, she never would have allowed it. All she could think about was how they would get back.
“Yes,” he managed. “I have not done that for a while—at least not this far.” He looked up and smiled. “I need more practice.”
“I hope you know—I’m walking back.” She stuck the empty vial in her pocket and offered her hand to help him up.
He took in a cleansing breath, took her hand and stood on his own strength. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.”
“Good. We need to be quick about this and get back.” He took her hand again and headed for the back door. When they started up the wooden steps, Octavion stopped suddenly. Kira looked past him to see why he’d stopped and found the door ajar.
“I thought you fixed it,” she whispered.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her in behind him. “I did. Stay close.”
Kira’s pulse increased, a rapid thump she was sure Octavion could hear. “Maybe we shouldn’t go in.”
He held up his hand, silencing her. Slowly opening the door, Octavion stepped inside with Kira at his heels. The place was a shambles. The contents of her refrigerator littered the kitchen floor. Cupboard doors sagged from their hinges and the few dishes her mother had left behind lay shattered in every direction.
She took the few steps to the living room. Someone had taken a knife to the sofa cushions and stuffing was strewn across the carpet. Even her laptop joined the pile of debris, a busted chair leg driven through the center of the screen.
“Why would they do this?” Kira pushed Octavion aside and bent to pick up her computer, but then she remembered. The picture! “Crap!” She jumped to her feet and scrambled to her room, trying to keep her balance as she stumbled through the rubble. The contents of her keepsake box were scattered across the bedroom floor. Panic set in as she searched through the mess. “It’s not here.”
Octavion crouched beside her. “What are you looking for?” He took her arm and pulled her up. “What isn’t here?”
“Oh, Octavion. I should have told you. It was the real reason I wanted to come back here. A picture. The one Lydia took in the canyon of us on the horse, remember?”
“You kept it? You told me you destroyed all those pictures.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would hurt, but—”
The sudden change in his body language cut her off. His head jerked to one side as the muscles in his back stiffened. He drew a short breath in through his nose. “We must go.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the house toward the kitchen. He went so fast she had a hard time negotiating the debris on the floor. She stumbled twice, almost losing her footing.
“Slow down. I can’t keep up.”
He stopped, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. “They are here—we must hurry.” When he reached the yard, he planted her feet firmly on the ground and turned her to face him.
“How can you tell?” she asked.
“I can smell them.” He grabbed both her hands and took them behind his back. “Hold on as tight as you can, Kira. Do not let go, no matter what.”
“But you can’t do this so soon.”
“I have no choice. You have to hold me, I will not have the strength to hold you. Do you understand?”
Out of the corner of her eye she caught move
ment. She turned to see three men coming around the side of the house. One she recognized as Bastian.
Bastian yelled something she didn’t understand, sending his cohorts running faster toward them.
“Kira. Now!” She clamped her eyes shut as he grabbed her and pulled her against his chest, squeezing the air out of her lungs. “Hold on.”
The air grew thick and once again a bright light flashed, so intense that closing her eyelids barely made a difference. A deafening roar mixed with Octavion’s pained cry and the ground shook. Kira felt as if she were tied to the front of a runaway freight train. She sucked in what little air she could and tried to scream, but nothing came out. The leap lasted much longer than before and when he released her, she fell to the ground in a heap. Her eyelids felt like they’d been fused shut. It took some effort to open them.
Octavion lay on the ground a few feet away. He wasn’t moving.
