Rain drips down and splatters against the dirt as my fear elevates and my control nosedives. I don’t know what to say. What to do. And this overwhelming helplessness is consuming me. I want to be stronger. I want to be as powerful as Foster believes I am—as I want to be. But I’m not there yet and I’m panicking. And I don’t think it’s just my own panic I’m feeling…
No, I’m fairly positive I can feel Easton’s and Foster’s too.
My heart thunders in my chest. So does the sky. But neither of them seem to notice.
“Unless something powerful tore the protection spells down,” Foster says abruptly as he backs up the car as far as it’ll go. “Can you ask Jane if something else is in there with them?”
“No … the connection’s lost.” Easton’s fingers are hovering over his phone screen. “I’ll text Mom and Dad and let them know. Maybe they’ll be able to give us a few ideas.”
Foster shoves the shifter into drive. “You should send a text to our brothers, too, just in case the hunters plan on trying to raid more places. Tell them to meet us at the house for now. We have enough protection spells up that we should be safe there for a bit. At least until we can figure out what’s going on.”
Easton stops typing and glances up at Foster. “You don’t think the hunters are after us, do you?” His gaze travels toward the school then to the line of vehicles, some of which are trying to turn around. “Maybe they’re trying to capture us. It’d be easier to do while we are here and not around our family.”
“You don’t think they’re after me, do you?” I interrupt. When Foster tosses a questioning look at me, I add, “A couple of nights ago, I had a dream with hunters and darkness in it, and darkness said they were coming to get me. And since you said maybe I have some sort of ability connected to my dreams …” I shrug, unsure if I’m overthinking things or not or where I’m even going with this.
“Usually dreams of darkness are just dreams, little taunting whispers that feed off your fears, which might be why the hunters were in it. But I’ve been wondering why your dreams are so vivid …” Fear unexpectedly flickers in Foster’s eyes. “Fuck, what if you have a dream seer ability? It’s rare, but …” Shaking his head, he shifts the car’s gears and presses down on the gas, suddenly seeming more frantic to get out of here.
“What is that?” I ask loudly over the rumble of the engine. “A dream seer ability?”
“The ability for others to visit your dreams and you can visit dreams as well,” Easton explains, gripping onto the back of my seat as the car lurches forward. “No one can touch you while you’re there, but they can send you messages and talk to you if they realize they’re in your dreams or you’re in theirs.”
Well, that sounds weird and creepy. “I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before.”
“Some of the more powerful abilities manifest later in life, and since your powers have been so restrained with that wall around you that’s now cracking, things might just be surfacing. Plus, you’re so damn powerful …” Fear rises across Foster’s face and pours through me. “We need to get the fuck out of here.”
But the truck parked behind us, the SUV in front of us, and the steep drop off on one side of the road makes it complicated for him to get his car turned around. It doesn’t help that I started a rainstorm that’s muddying the land.
As the tires spin in the wet dirt, Foster lets out a string of curses. “Shit.” He throws the car in reverse again and tries to back up, but the tires can’t get traction. Sighing, he meets my gaze. “Sky, baby, I know this is really fucking scary, but you have to try to calm down and let the sun through to dry up the ground, okay?”
“I’m trying. But I can’t get it to stop …” I pause, question marks popping up everywhere. “Did you just call me baby?”
His eyes slightly widen. “Yeah, sorry. It accidentally slipped out. I think Porter is rubbing off on me or something.”
“Does he call people baby a lot?” I flinch as hail plinks against the glass.
He nods, peering up at the cloudy sky with a frown. “That and honey and sweetheart and every other cheesy endearment possible.” His gaze shifts back to me, and then he unbuckles his seatbelt. “We need to calm you down.” He reaches for me. To do what, who knows, but probably something that requires a lot of touching.
But I never do find out because Easton shouts, “No, what we need is a fucking portal!” His eyes are fastened on something on the other side of the windshield. “Now!”
I turn to see what has him panicking, only to regret that I ever looked.
Tendrils of shadowy smoke have curled across the land, so thick I can barely see anything. Just like the other night in my dream.
“Darkness,” I whisper in horror.
Foster pales as he stares at me, terror possessing him, as if he suddenly sees me in a different light, as if he’s afraid of me.
I prepare myself to be kicked out of the car. After all, the guys have stressed more than a few times that they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their brothers. If darkness is after me, then they’ll be safe if they ditch me.
When Foster splays his fingers across my cheek, I flinch.
“We’re going to get you out of here,” he promises. “Nothing is going to happen to you, but I need you to stay as calm as possible, okay?”
I nod, relief washing over me like the rain outside.
“As lovely as this little moment is, we need to go,” Easton warns. “Now, Romeo.”
Foster’s and my attention snaps back to the window, and then we freeze in horror.
The tendrils of smoke are close; wisps of evil reaching for our car.
“Drive forward into the field while I try to work on creating a portal.” Easton’s palms ignite with vibrant silver flames while droplets of water dew on his skin.
Foster slams his foot down on the gas, and the tires spin before the car jerks forward, ramping off the edge of the road and bottoming out in the field. My seatbelt locks from the impact, my teeth clanking together as my jaw pops.
“Everyone, hang on!” Foster shouts out a little too late.
Still, I clutch the sides of the seat and hold on as he gives the car gas. But with the muddy ground, we’re not speeding up very quickly and the darkness is gaining on us, reaching for the car.
“My queen, can you hear me?” Darkness laughs inside my mind. “Join me now. If you don’t, you’ll die.”
“Shut up.” I throw my hands over my ears, trying to block it out, but the laughter only grows louder.
“Block it out, Sky,” Foster begs as he speeds toward the trees. “Don’t let it get to you, okay?”
“I’m trying.” But darkness is seeping into the cracks of my mind, spinning a web of doubt and calling to a power I never thought I had, a darkness in my veins that begs to spread a plague across the land.
“East, how’s the portal coming?” Foster guides a hand away from my ear then tangles his fingers through mine, his touch sparking heat through my veins and making the darkness within me flicker.
“I’m trying to get one up, but I think—”
Easton curses over the crackling of sparks.
“Fuck! I think the darkness is messing with my powers.”
Foster’s gaze zips to the side of me, and fear reflects in his eyes. “Well, block it out.”
“I’m trying!” Easton shouts. “But it’s fucking powerful, like it’s the goddamn god himself or something …” He trails off, gulping. “What if it is the god of darkness himself? Because it feels really, really powerful, man … Like the end of the world.”
“But, why would he be here …?” Fear abruptly pulsates off Foster as he glances over his shoulder at Easton while continuing to floor the car across the field. “You don’t think that maybe when Mom talked to the headmistress, the hunters had already taken over the school, do you? Because, if so, she may have lied about the room of darkness being secure.”
A slamming heartbeat of silence goes by.
“We need to get her the hell out of here,” Easton whispers, his wide eyes landing on me.
My body turns to ice, goosebumps sprouting across my flesh.
The god of darkness is here?
For me?
It knows what I am.
I’m going to die.
“You’re not going to die,” Foster vows to me, leaving me to wonder if I said my thoughts aloud or sent my feelings down the link. “I won’t let that happen.” His gaze sears into me and, down the link, I feel that he means what he says.
That he’ll do whatever he can to stop me from dying.
But I hate how helpless I feel.
Maybe if I unleashed some of my powers, I could hurt darkness—
Foster’s gaze darts to something behind me.
I turn my head to see what he’s looking at, and my heart nearly stops.
The tendrils have found us and are brushing against the car, working to get into the cracks of the windows and vents.
I open my mouth to scream as one squeezes through the vent and billows toward me, reaching for me, wanting to drag me into the darkness where I’ll use my power for only bad, for—
Foster swats it away. Then, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he uses his other hand to cup the back of my head. When his gaze melds with mine, remorse fills his eyes. “I’m so sorry about this.”
Fear whiplashes through me as I prepare to be shoved out of the car, but instead he glances at Easton.
“Take ahold of her hand,” he tells him in a strained tone.
Easton hesitates, giving Foster a strange, shocked look.
“Just do it,” Foster repeats tightly.
Swallowing hard, Easton reaches out and slips his fingers through mine.
Confusion whips through me as Foster’s eyes lock on mine. Sparks are showering in his pupils as he pulls me toward him and crashes his lips against mine. I gasp as he sweeps his tongue into my mouth and deepens the kiss. My hold on Easton’s hand tightens as heat spills through my veins, pulsating through me, and my heart rate quickens. My chest warms, glowing with heat, and sparks zap through my body as his power mixes with mine. The potency of it is so overpowering that I swear I’m going to ignite.
“Let your power out,” Foster breathes against my lips. “Let it all the way out. Don’t be afraid. It’s like creating our own little world again, only it’s going to be a portal. I know you can do it. You’re fucking powerful. We’re powerful. More powerful than him. Do you understand?”
I nod, even though I’m not fully sure I believe him. But I do what he says and just let everything go. Let everything I’ve ever felt all out. Let it connect with the world. With the elements.
When he kisses me again, Easton’s hand constricts on mine and water spills across my skin. I feel Foster’s power and Easton’s all the way through me. I feel the power of the kiss. And, as a bright ball of blue light abruptly pierces the air and swallows up the darkness, and us right along with it, I wonder if my powers and freed emotions swallowed up the entire world.
“You may have escaped me this time, Sky, but I will find you,” darkness whispers to me. “And either you can join me or you’ll join the other gods and goddesses.”
I scream before silence overtakes me.
Chapter 12
The next thing I know, my head is throbbing and my eyes are closed. I need to move, so I force my eyes open and blink a few times, expecting to either be dead or squeezed in the passenger seat of the wrecked Camaro. But nope. The first thing that comes into focus is a glittery blue ceiling.
That has to mean I’m alive, right? Or maybe this is part of the afterlife or wherever elemental protectors go after they die.
Confused, I tilt my head to the side and take in my surroundings. I’m lying on a four-poster bed in a bedroom with black walls and a fireplace. A blanket is pulled over me, and the curtains lining the bed sway in the light breeze whispering in through the cracked open window. The air smells heavenly, like freshly fallen rain, a crackling fire, crisp snow, and a summer breeze. Basically, just like Foster.
Lost beyond imaginable, I glance toward the other side of the room and quickly discover why the air smells so wonderful.
Foster is lying down on a velvet sofa, his head resting on a pillow. His eyes are shut, and his arm is draped over the side. He looks so peaceful and relaxed, so I’m assuming we’re not dead and in the afterlife or wherever.
Seeing him like this, so at ease, ignites a power inside my chest as the memory of what his lips felt like against mine burns in my mind.
Tossing the blankets off, I climb out of bed and pad across the room until I reach the sofa. As I stare down at him, watching his chest rise and fall with his breaths, my fingers itch to touch him. And my lips.
Even though I know I shouldn’t, that some sort of power is controlling me right now, my fingers have other ideas and drift toward his face.
The instant they graze his cheek, his eyelids lift open, his eyes glazed over with remnants of dreamland. Blinking a few times, he focuses on me.
I start to pull my hand back because, hello, I was touching him in his sleep and being a total creeper, but he places his hand over mine and traps my hand against his cheek.
“Hey.” Exhaustion seeps into his tone, yet he smiles. “You’re awake.”
I can’t help smiling back. “So are you.”
He chuckles then sits up and lowers his feet to the floor. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I was keeping an eye on you, and I guess I was more tired than I thought.”
“How long have I been out?” I wonder, sitting down beside him.
“A couple of days,” he says with a frown. “We were starting to get really worried about you.”
“A couple of days?” I shake my head, stunned. “I’ve been out for that long? What happened?” My heart slams against my chest. “Wait, is Easton okay?”
He nods, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. “East’s fine. We’ve been taking turns keeping an eye on you. For a minute, we were worried that you…” He shakes his head. “You’re awake now, though, so everything’s okay.”
Is it, though? Because I’m not even sure what happened. Or where the hell we even are.
“Where are we?” I ask. “Because the last thing I remember is darkness reaching for me and your lips… and Easton’s hand in mine …” Warmth flows to my cheeks as I remember what it felt like to hold Easton’s hand while Foster kissed me. Power. I could feel both of their powers all the way through me. I still can if I really tune in with my body. “But anyway,” I clear my throat, hoping to god he can’t feel what I’m feeling now. “The last I can remember was darkness whispering to me, and I …” I shudder as coldness rolls over me. “Then I saw this blue light, and I think I passed out.”
“You did.” His gaze is relentless, as if he’s trying to see inside me. “I think it was because you exerted your powers so much.”
“Yeah, I know. That storm going on before I blacked out was intense,” I say, folding my arms across my chest.
“I’m not talking about the storm,” he says carefully. “I’m talking about the portal you—we created together. The portal that brought us here.”
My jaw drops. “We created a portal?”
He nods, molding his hand to my cheek. “You, Easton, and I did, and it was fucking amazing. No one has done that in a very long time.”
“Create a portal …? But I saw one in your living room, and you said you and Easton created a portal to the Underworld.”
“That’s not what I mean,” he says, his gaze never wavering from mine. “We created a portal that led to the world of Elemental Enchantment.”
I cock my head to the side. “We have our own world?”
He chuckles, his eyes lighting up. “We do. But like with Elemental, with the deaths of the gods and goddesses, as the elemental enchanters’ population dwindled, so did the size of Elemental Enchantment. From what I understand, portals stopped connecting to it,
and everyone just assumed it shrank into nonexistence, but apparently not.”
I shake my head in bafflement. “But then, how did we build a portal that leads to it, especially when I can’t even control my powers enough to turn off a damn storm?”
“Well, part of it was probably from that … kiss.” His gaze fleetingly drops to my lips. “I’m sorry that I did that. I just knew we needed a portal, and since darkness was messing with Easton’s powers, I thought maybe, if I could combine all of our powers, we could create one. I just never thought it’d be a portal that’d take us here.”
So, that’s why he kissed me? And he’s sorry about it?
“I’m not sorry I kissed you.” Uncertainty fills his eyes. “I just didn’t want it to be under those circumstances … I’ve … I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time.”
He’s wanted to kiss for a very long time? But he hasn’t even known me for that long.
I absentmindedly touch my fingertips to my lips, recalling how his lips felt against mine, how his power felt flowing me, how amazing Easton’s power felt pouring through me at the same time.
I feel so confused right now, and I’m not even sure why, other than I kind of liked kissing Foster while holding Easton’s hand, liked feeling both of their powers in me. It doesn’t seem like a normal way to feel though, to like having my first real kiss while I was holding some other guys hand. Maybe the situation is messing with my head. Or maybe it’s the altered link…
“There’s some other stuff I need to tell you,” he says, distracting me from my puzzling as hell thoughts. “And I don’t want to frighten you, but I don’t think lying to you right now is a good option. It’s better if you’re prepared for what lies ahead, okay?” He waits for me to nod then slides his hands down my face to my shoulders, finally resting them on my waist. “After we got here, my mom sent us a message through a secured magical signal and informed us that headquarters sent out a warning to her that the elemental god of darkness was at the school, specifically looking for you, but that he’s no longer there. No one knows why. And the hunters left, too, and left almost everyone unscathed. Thank the gods.” He lets out a shaky exhale. “He’s the one who broke down the protection spells around the school and created the portal so he and the hunters could get in. And like we suspected, he was the one who forced the headmistress to tell my mom it was safe for you to go back to school. No one’s sure how he got the hunters to join him, but it’s either from possession—which elemental protectors of darkness are really good at—or he promised them something in exchange for helping him. More than likely power.”
Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos Series ) Page 13
