I yelled in anguish, wanting them to be gone.
Too much, it was all too much.
“Sabella, just stop.”
They were close, so close now. I had to keep going. They were going to catch me and trap me here forever. The voices, in unison, told me to run, and I did as they said, hoping it would shut them up. I ran, and I ran, sprinting down stairs and around corners, but that man was right on my heels.
Except when I glanced over my shoulder, he wasn’t a man. There was a giant wolf instead, hunkered down low as he hunted me down. I sprinted as fast as I could, but it wasn’t fast enough. A blur of fur to my right had me tripping to a stop and falling to the floor as his furry body blocked the doorway ahead.
My way out. I was trapped.
Then his body shimmered, and the man was back, crouching down as he reached out his hand for mine. “Sabella, please, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down. You have to remember. I am not going to hurt you.”
“How can I know that?” I snapped, withdrawing from him.
Hurt flood his eyes, but then he blinked, and it was gone, replaced with an intense resolve. “You have to trust yourself, trust me. Take my hand, please.”
How could I trust him? He was a wolf ten seconds ago, and now he wanted me to trust him?
But my hand rose, and I found myself starting to reach for his… until the voices in my head screamed, and I doubled over at the noise.
“Get back. Clear the palace,” the man yelled.
I had no idea what got him so worried all of a sudden. Not like I could do anything with the state I was in, but when I looked up, I found my body glowing, light pulsing along my fingertips as if it was alive.
“What… what’s happening?” I asked, terrified.
“You need to calm down, alright? You’ll be fine, but you have to calm down,” the man said.
I took a deep breath, trying to do as he said, but the light only pulsed faster in time with my beating heart and the voices raging inside my skull.
“Get everyone out,” someone yelled from behind me. “Tristan!”
“Get back,” he told the woman. “Just get back. Sabella, look at me.”
I shook my head. “That’s not my name.”
“Yes, it is. It’s your name, it’s who you are.”
I wanted to believe him, but the voices told me he lied. All of this was a lie. The light grew brighter, and I felt it welling within me, building, and any second it was going to burst free. I wanted to tell this man to run, not wanting to hurt him even though I didn’t know him, but then it was too late.
My arms shot out from the force of the power exploding out of me as my head fell back with my scream. Stones crumbled, glass cracked.
I heard panicked screams. As the blinding light faded, the wall that had been to my left was gone. Glass shattered around us, and I stared in disbelief at my bleeding arms and what I’d done. The man grunted in pain, covered in blood.
I was torn on what to do, but then the power was building within me again, fighting against the voices. I had to get out of here, escape before I killed someone—
Sharp pain exploded in my skull, and then I was down, darkness closing in around me.
15
Tristan
What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I snarled, crunching over the glass as I reached Sabella, now unconscious, thanks to Kate.
“Saving you and everyone else in this damned palace.” She lowered her left arm and the Vindicar shield folded back in on itself. “She could’ve taken the entire palace out. You would’ve done the same, and you know it.”
My lip lifted in a snarl, but I didn’t curse her out. She was right. Sabella was out cold, and there was blood on the back of her head from where Kate knocked her out. At least she was part god and would heal quick enough. The slashes on her arms and face would have to wait to be cleaned up until I got her secured.
“Did anyone get hurt?” I asked Kate, once Sabella was in my arms and we were headed back upstairs.
“She decked Craig pretty good, probably leave a mark, but no, everyone’s fine.”
Sabella was warm, feverish, but no light pulsed through her body. One minute, she was sleeping soundly in our room and the next, her ear-splitting scream had reached me all the way in the tower, where I was with Craig and Forrest. By the time we reached her room, Kate and Hank were in there trying to subdue her, but she fought against them like they were trying to kill her.
Nothing we said brought her out of it, and when she did finally open her eyes, the Sabella I knew was gone. Her outburst could’ve been so much worse. Until we got her back to herself, she’d have to be locked in a room, tied up if need be. I hated the notion of her waking up again and seeing herself bound, but if she killed anyone, she’d never forgive herself.
If she ever came back to herself.
When we reached our room, I laid Sabella back on the bed, and as gently as possible, helped Ashan tie her down. I worried she would hurt herself when she woke again and tried to get free, but we had to keep her here. Once she was secure, I checked the back of her head, taking the bandage Ashan handed me to press against the wound while she tended to the cuts on her arms from the glass.
“You need to get yourself taken care of, too,” she insisted, but I refused to move.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Tristan, there’s glass sticking in your face.”
Gingerly, I reached up to my cheek and felt a piece there, jutting out of the skin. Nothing had hurt until Ashan said something and now my arms and face stung from the wounds. Kate moved in to take my place, promising—after I snarled at her—that she wouldn’t knock Sabella out again. I sat in a chair by the hearth and let Greyson remove the glass. I winced each time he pulled another sliver free.
“You’re lucky you didn’t lose an eye,” he said quietly, removing another large fragment from my arm before he pressed a bandage to it. “Hold that there.”
I did as he said, too busy watching Sabella for any sign that she was coming to. This was not like every other time. Her eyes, there’d been so much fear in them, uncertainty and the way she’d clutched at her head, the voices had to be back. They pushed her closer and closer to that edge of insanity. Just when I thought I finally had her, Baladon threatened to steal her away from me.
“Finished,” Greyson informed me, and I hurried back to Sabella’s side.
She winced as she slept, her arms and legs shifting beneath the ties holding her down, but her eyes remained closed. Softly, I cupped her cheek in my hand, willing her to know she wasn’t alone, that I was here, but then suddenly, she screamed, startling everyone in the room. Her back arched off the bed as if she was suffering and I fought to hold her down before she could injure herself.
“Sabella,” I growled, but her eyes refused to open. “What’s he doing to her?”
Ashan reached out and rested a hand on her forehead, cringing before she fell away from the bed. Hank helped her back up, and she thanked him. “She’s being tormented by visions of the gods… they’re killing her.”
“No,” I grunted and held her face. “Sabella, you have to get out of this, alright? It’s not real. Whatever you’re seeing, it’s all a lie. Please, I need you to open your eyes and fight this. I need you to see.”
She shook her head hard, and I struggled to keep her still, as yet another scream ripped through her. My heart lurched to see her in pain, and there was nothing I could do.
“Keep talking to her,” Ashan urged, pressing her hand back to Sabella’s forehead.
I wasn’t sure what I could say, but opened my mouth and let the words come. “You are stronger than Baladon. I know it and so do you. You are part god, you’re a seer, and you… you have every strength of the races flowing within you,” I told her firmly. “You and I, we swore to fight this together, and that is what we’re going to do. Do you hear me? You and I are strong.” I took her hand in mine and held it tight. “I am never going to leave you, s
o don’t you dare leave me, Red. Not now.”
Her body relaxed, but her face scrunched in confusion.
Ashan nodded, appearing to weaken with every passing second. “It’s working,” she whispered.
“Sabella, come on, I still want you, more than ever,” I pleaded. “I need you, do you hear me? I need you to survive this war. Please, just come back to me.”
Ashan gasped and pulled her hand back, sinking against Hank.
Drake was there a few moments later to hold his wife as she whispered to him and he smoothed her hair back from her face, scowling at her, helping her away from the bed to a chair.
“Red?” I leaned in and softly kissed Sabella’s forehead.
She stirred.
I pulled back quickly, not sure who I was going to see when those eyes finally opened.
Her eyelids fluttered, and I braced for more fighting as I saw a stranger looking up at me. “You,” she said, her voice ragged from screaming so much. “I know you.”
“And I know you.”
“You… you’re important to me, but I can’t… I can’t remember why.”
“Take your time,” I said calmly, though the rest of me shook.
She blinked again and then sighed, tilting her head to study me. She went to lift her hand, but found herself trapped by the ropes. She sat up more, and I quickly undid them. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked sounding devastated. “I did, didn’t I? I hurt someone.”
“No, Red, we were worried about you hurting yourself.”
“But your face and your arms.” She sat up suddenly
Everyone in the room sucked in a collective breath, waiting for her to attack.
All she did was run her fingers over the wounds on my cheeks and arms. “I did this.”
“It was an accident. You were hurt, too.”
She lifted her arms, studying them carefully. “I’m sorry for everything I did to you.”
“It’s alright. Can you remember anything else?” Silently, I begged for her memories to come back. Her fingers moved to my right arm then trailed down to the tattoo on my wrist and hand. Her brow furrowed as she held out her right hand next.
“We have matching tattoos,” she mused with a grin. “I do know you.”
I nodded, unable to find the words as she reached for my right hand with hers. As soon as our palms connected, she gasped, and her head fell back.
I held onto her and waited, counting out the seconds as they dragged on. When she sagged back in on herself, I moved closer, trying to see her eyes.
“Tristan?” she whispered.
I hugged her to me.
Her arms wrapped quickly around me, and she buried her face in my neck. “It was awful. They were there, but they were dead, all dead.” Tears slipped from her eyes as she shook.
“I know, but you’re free of it, you’re back,” I assured her, studying her face. “You’re safe with me, and he is not going to get to you again. You are stronger than him. You broke free of his hold.”
“No, I didn’t… we did,” she murmured.
I pulled her close.
Ashan cleared her throat loudly, and I turned to find everyone staring at us with looks of happiness and hope, a few wiping tears from their eyes.
“I believe we’ll leave you two alone to rest. We have a bit of a mess to clean up.” Ashan nodded to me.
I smiled in thanks as one by one, our audience filed out of the room.
“Mess?” Sabella asked as the door closed. “What did I do this time?” Then her gaze landed on my cheeks and my arms. “What the hell?”
“Your power got away from you, but aside from a few cuts, we’re both fine, and no one else was hurt,” I assured her. “Do not start blaming yourself. The elven palace is just going to have a nice facelift in the foyer.”
“A facelift? How bad is it really?”
I shrugged as I said, “You blew out a wall. Just a small one.”
Her head fell onto my chest as she groaned. “It could’ve been so much worse.”
“But it wasn’t. Sounds like you saw enough to punish yourself for it anyway.” She nodded, but didn’t lift her head. “Want to talk about it?”
“No, because no matter what I saw, it wasn’t real.”
“Sabella,” I started, but then she kissed me, and I did the only thing I could think of.
I kissed her back and held her close as we chased away the darkness hanging overhead the best we could.
“We’re out of time,” Sabella announced once she had recovered enough for us to join the others in the hall. “If we’re going to attack Baladon we have to do it now.”
“Won’t he expect us?” Kate asked.
“Yes, and that’s the idea. The longer we wait, the more time he has to prepare a trap, but if we go now, there’s a slim chance we can catch him off guard. Besides, we’re not going in to stop him, not yet,” Sabella said. “Until we have this key figured out, our best hope is to slow down his plans as much as possible by rescuing the gods he has trapped, including the Keeper.”
Forrest clenched his jaw at the mention of Mori again. There was more to his dream than he’d told us, but if he wanted to keep it to himself, for now, that was fine. Once we found her, though, he would have to share what he knew.
“We’ll prepare the army, send a message back to Torolf,” Hank started to say.
I shook my head.
He frowned. “No army?”
“No. The fewer who go in, the better.”
“But if Baladon attacks, you’ll be defenseless,” Danielle argued.
I took Sabella’s hand and kissed the back of it, feeling the warmth of the light flowing through her like never before. “No, we won’t be. I need you both here to guard the doorway we’ll open, make sure only we come back through with the gods and stop any of Baladon’s minions. Understood?”
Neither one nodded, and I sat up straighter.
“Hank, Danielle, please,” Sabella said softly. “Tristan and I will come back, I swear to you.”
They exchanged a look then bowed their heads.
My chest swelled with pride, and the last few doubts I might have had about us were gone in a heartbeat.
“Drake, you’re going to stay behind, too,” I said.
“You cannot command me, King Tristan,” he reminded me.
“No, but with the three of us going in, you are the remaining monarch. If we die, we’ve all decided you are to take temporary command of the races in the efforts to stop Baladon.”
Forrest and Craig nodded at his surprised look. “No, I can’t do that,” he uttered.
“It’s already been decided,” Craig informed him. “Luca will be there to help you with the demons and the Darrah lands.”
“And my second as well,” Forrest added. “They will need someone of strength to turn to, and that will be you and Ashan. If we die, do us a favor and avenge us all.”
“No pressure,” Drake sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You’re leaving me with no choice.”
“That’s the idea,” I said with a nod. “I’ve already sent word for Boris to join us. I will not go into this without him at least.”
“I’m coming, too,” Greyson said. “You could use the extra firepower.”
I bowed my head in deference to him. “We will be walking into this realm blind, which is why so few of us are going through. With any luck, we’ll be able to free all the trapped gods and return without any loss of life.”
Sabella squeezed my hand and smiled. “We will.”
“And you have seen nothing else?” Ashan asked curiously.
“No, nothing,” Sabella replied. “But I have faith this will not be in vain.”
We’d spent a few hours before this meeting talking about her vision again, the one where she was dead. There had been no indication to show how she died or if she was in fact truly dead. But, until we had the sixth person unveiled in her vision, she told me not to worry. Her death wasn’t going to happen anytime in the near
future. Her assurance flowed into me, and instead of worrying about her getting hurt, I focused only on our mission.
“Once Boris arrives, we’ll make ready and use the orb,” Sabella said. “Until then, I suggest everyone prepare.”
She kissed my cheek then left the hall with Kate; both wanted to change into more appropriate attire for whatever fight lay ahead. Ashan went with them, leaving myself, Craig, Forrest, and Drake at the table.
I indicated with a nod for Hank and Danielle to follow behind Sabella.
Greyson said he wished to speak to Hansi one more time about the orb.
Drake poured out four mugs of ale and slid one across the table to each of us. He lifted his in toast, and we did the same.
“To a successful rescue mission,” he announced. “May you all come back in one piece and not leave me to rule these bloody realms alone.”
I smiled into my mug as I drank. “You should feel honored we trust you this much.”
“Even your pack agreed to this?” he asked.
“They understand how hard it is to find a new pack leader in a time of war. They will follow the instructions I left for them. Cheer up, Drake, I have a good feeling, for once.”
Craig leaned back in his chair with a smug smile on his face. “Is that because Sabella finally seems at peace with herself or whatever else you two have been doing behind closed doors.” He waggled his eyebrows, and I aimed a kick at him under the table. “Ouch! What, just saying.”
“Kate’s rubbing off on you too damned much.”
“Probably.”
I held up my right hand, turning it slowly so I could examine the tattoo. Each small line was another reminder that fate and destiny tied us together along with our love. Whatever waited for us in Baladon’s realm, we would defeat it. We would return, and we would find a way to stop him before it was too late.
I glanced beyond my hand to Forrest, who was turning his mug aimlessly, around and around on the table.
“We’ll get her out,” I told him.
“Hmm? Who?”
“Mori, the woman you’ve been dreaming about.”
Craig and Drake perked up at that, but Forrest shook his head with a sad smile on his face. “If she is truly the Keeper for the gods, what would she ever want with a lowly dragon king like me?”
Visions (Dragon Reign Book 7) Page 14
