All I felt was a tingling. He snapped this hand back and turned on his heels.
If there was one thing I knew it was I couldn’t allow this man to bond with me. There was always the possibility that he wouldn’t be able to overcome Zach’s bond, but with his history, I couldn’t take the chance.
I held my breath, hoping that he would leave, but he kept staring at us. “His eyes narrowed before he looked back at Nicco. “I know you are fond of the girl. If you have any caring for her, you will not let her out of the realms.”
Nicco’s deep voice came out soft. “I know not of what you speak. She is an Elemental, nothing more.”
Valen smiled that wicked grin he liked to use when he thought he had something over on someone. “I’ve seen you with her.”
Nicco shrugged. “We are wasting our time here. The girl and her bondmate are gone and unless you want to meet up with the Hellhounds waiting in the bushes we need to go.” Just then a sharp howl split the air. Cerberus? I stiffened, willing him to stay put. I didn’t want him to get hurt.
Valen grunted, knocking into Nicco’s arm as he walked past. “You’d better be telling the truth.”
Nicco smiled at Valen’s back. I’d never seen such a real expression on his face. “You may request another Guard if you desire, your majesty.”
Valen looked at the man from over his shoulder. “Just do your job. If she leaves the realms we will all regret it.”
The undeniable threat in his words hung around me long after they vanished. I didn’t dare say a word for a really long time. I waited for Cerberus to come out of the bushes, but all I got was another howl before the group bounded away from us. Disappointment flooded into me. Even though we really didn’t have time, I wanted to see my hellhound, make sure he was okay.
Zach stayed at my back, basically holding me up. After a while he gave my shoulders a squeeze and stepped in front of me.
His expression held no worry at all.
“What was that all about,” I whispered.
He answered in full tone. “Valen has a flare for the dramatic.”
“But what was he implying?” Gibbit had told me I could leave the realms, but would there be repercussions?
Zach pressed his lips together then closed his eyes and sighed. “When you were bound to the realms, you were cursed.”
“Cursed?” I asked, incredulous.
“It’s not what you think.”
“How would you know what I’m thinking?” I spat. “I am so sick of fae tricks, and I’m done with you keeping things from me. You need to tell me what’s going on so we can figure out how to get out of here before they come back!”
He reached out and grabbed my hand. “I will explain, but we need to get across the barrier first.”
“You’re not worried about crossing into the mortal realm?”
He smirked. “The only way to know what will happen is to try.”
I crossed my arms at my chest and smirked back at him. “Is that so? I thought there was no try only do.”
Zach’s grin stretched across his face, giving him a boyish charm. “I love those shows,” he said.
“I know,” I answered, smiling back. “So what do we do first?”
It took us fifteen attempts to open the portal. Zach said something about frequencies of space and having to catch the exact one. I didn’t care. I just wanted out of the realms. I’d rather lick Styx’s hooves clean than stay here a moment longer.
Zach pushed against my back, inching me closer to the line of glowing air that feathered the air like an aurora borealis. I’d never seen the real thing, but it was on my bucket list. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves then I walked into the light.
Chapter Eleven
My mind spun from vertigo while sweat drenched the rest of me. If Zach hadn’t been right behind me, guiding me forward, I would have fallen. My balance was completely off. I could have sworn we were upside down. Nausea blasted my stomach, and I heaved once.
His warm fingers slid over mine and my symptoms eased. “Thank you,” I said. “How much further?”
“I’m not sure.” He squeezed my hand. “We’ll come out soon. You’re doing great.” His expression belied his words. Something was wrong and he wasn’t telling me what it was.
“What’s happening, Zach? Is it the curse?”
That was the last thing I remembered thinking until I woke up in his arms. Shimmering stars winked at me from a midnight blue sky. A soft breeze whispered over my face, full of hints of salt air and Zach’s spicy scent.
He brushed a strand of fluttering hair off my face, trailing the tip of his finger down my cheekbone toward my lips causing a shiver to slip over me. “Welcome back, beautiful.”
I groaned, trying to focus. When I sat up, my stiff muscles protested, but I pushed through the pain. He shifted so my back was pressed against his firm chest. The support was much appreciated, but the close proximity was definitely not.
“Where are we?” I asked. My voice crackled from lack of use. I swallowed, trying to clear my throat, but my tongue stuck to the top of my mouth. I would have given my left pinky for a glass of water. I glanced around, but the only light came from the sliver of moon right above us and the stars.
Zach’s voice came out gravelly. “I haven’t determined that yet. I’ve been too busy trying to wake you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “I’m still really tired.”
He shrugged. “It’s to be expected. Once I pinpoint our location I can find a place to rest.”
The idea of sleep, although tempting, sent fear into my bones. “We can’t, Zach. There’s too much to do.”
“Shh,” he said. “You’re still disoriented. You need sleep. I’ll not take any resistance.”
I shook my head, staring right into his beautiful eyes. “But we have to find Travis.”
Zach laughed. “First, we have to wait for Luke and the others.”
My body tensed as my mind did cartwheels. “Did they say they’d help?”
“Rayla, I hate to tell you this, but you aren’t going to remember a bit of this conversation. There’s no point in me explaining anything right now. Please, just trust me.”
I hardly had the strength to grumble at him anymore so I leaned back against him again and pressed the back of my head to his neck. “Whatever you say.” The night sky seemed to whiz by at an unearthly speed. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly was bothering me.
*****
I woke up on a bed. The lumpy mattress had done a number on my back, but other than that, I felt great. I had more energy than I’d had in a long time.
The only thing upsetting the moment was the musty air. I sat up and took in the tattered drapes and small table in the corner. Light from under the bathroom door spilled onto the teal carpet that probably should have been replaced ten years ago. The low hum of the shower was the only noise in the small room.
A chuckle came out of me before I smiled. The lord of void had gotten us a room in a seedy motel, probably in some hick town in rural Texas if the heat was any indication.
The water shut off, and a few moments later, the door opened. Zach walked out dripping wet clad in nothing but skin.
My eyes widened at the site of him then I clamped my eyes shut. “What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Getting dressed,” he said in an uncharacteristically irritated tone. “Bloody place charges for towels.”
“Of course they do,” I said, laughing. “This is worse than old man Barber’s place back home.”
His footsteps thudded nearer until his face was inches from mine. “Am I that hideous?” he asked, lifting his dark brows.
I smirked at him, refusing to let my eyes take another gander. “I wouldn’t know.”
He chuckled. “Right.”
A blush rose up my neck. “I’m not talking about this.” Clearing my throat, I studied the oddly ornate light fixture on the wall. “Where are we?”
He shook his head at me and moved away. “India.”
Maybe I didn’t hear him right. He must have brought us back to St. Mary’s. “You mean Indiana?”
He grunted and walked to the corner before his head left my line of sight. I was not going to look any lower. “Rayla, I know this world better than any historian you’d ever meet. When I say we are in India, I mean we are in India.”
Cool. Ever since Cassie told me she’d gone, I’d wanted to visit. She’d really been locked up in a mental institution for the better part of the school year, but even her skimpy descriptions had spurred my imagination. The minute I saw Nigel Lambert I was going to light him up like a Christmas tree for all the years he abused his own daughter.
I still couldn’t reconcile what he was with the man I thought I knew. How he figured he could remake this world into something he could rule was beyond me. I’d never understand the pull of power. Having plenty of my own made me realize that the only thing that came with it was a huge responsibility that I’d never asked for and only a fool would want.
The unfortunate part of the whole thing was he probably wouldn’t have been so desperate if it hadn’t been for Ainessa. He’d thrown away his wife and his daughter for a chance of being with the most unstable woman I could imagine.
Stupid if you asked me, but he’d never really cared what I thought. I still couldn’t figure out why in all the years he lived near me he’d never taken me out of the sanctuary himself. He’d offered to take me on several trips with his family, but Aunt Grace had never let me out of her sight for very long. That was until I got older and once I was, she’d saddled me with looking after my cousins from the moment I got home until it was too late to do much of anything but go to bed.
There was a time I resented her for doing that to me, but now, I understood her motivations. For once in my life I was grateful for her protection and how much she cared about me. She’d been more of a mother to me than anyone. Even now that I had my mom back, Aunt Grace was the woman I wanted to talk to. I wanted her advice. My throat tensed under strained emotion. She could have given me to Mr. Lambert when he offered to adopt me, but even though she couldn’t afford me she kept me. She never mentioned it, and I don’t think she’d ever tell me about it, but he did when he overheard Cassie and I talk about college. He’d immediately suggested I do what I wanted when I was old enough to decide, telling me he’d back me up financially. All he had to do was wait for me to leave the sanctuary to get what he wanted. The truth was I wouldn’t have been useful to him until after I reached the age of power.
I still didn’t know if he realized what I was back then or if he just figured I was an Elemental because I lived with Aunt Grace. As I considered this, I tried to figure out where a man like Nigel Lambert would hide a sanctuary. If I knew him at all it would be in plain sight where no one would expect.
I nodded at Zach and asked, “So, what now?”
He gave an obvious sniff then wrinkled his nose. “Now, you need a shower.” He smiled ruefully. “After that, we’ll talk.”
I smirked at him then stood up. “Where’s my stuff?”
He nodded toward the corner. I grabbed the bag and went into the bathroom. I tried not to notice the mold on the tiles or the gigantic bug on the shower door that decided to tag along. In and out was what I was after, which was a good thing because the frigid water might as well have been streamed right in from a glacier.
Even though the room was stifling hot, my body trembled from a chill when I got dressed. I tried to blink the clothes on, but it didn’t work. Seemed to me the human realm wasn’t exactly hospitable to magic. Either that or my power was gone.
Zach ushered me out of the motel and onto a small scooter. Something told me this was no ordinary human machine. We raced down a small pathway between jewel toned buildings piled into a Lego-land of stucco blocks. I caught glimpses of big brown eyes and bright white smiles that belonged to children who peeked around corners before darting back out of view.
Their laughter followed us out of town. I never realized just how much I could miss the sound of children laughing.
Once we were out of the small village, we zoomed toward a mountain range in the distance. Everywhere I looked something caught my attention, from the contrast of the sandy ground to the bright green leaves on the low, mangled trees.
When Zach finally stopped, my mouth was so full of dust I could have made a mud pie if I could have conjured some spit. I worked at it until I finally found a bit of moisture to expel from my mouth, not bothering to be dainty about it. When I turned back around he stared at me wide-eyed as if I’d turned into a wart encrusted toad.
I gave him a wilting smile then wiped my mouth on my sleeve. A chuckle came out of him that shook my resolve to be mad at him.
We were out in the middle of nowhere just waiting. He stared and I stared back, not knowing what to say. He pursed his lips together and walked up to me then took my shoulders between his hands.
Our eyes locked together and he sighed. “Rayla, I can’t tell you how important Luke is to us right now. I know how uncomfortable you are around him, but we need to trust him. We will fail if we do not.”
Any idiot could see that when he had said we he meant me. I gave a short nod then glanced away from him. Not only did I not trust Luke, I didn’t really trust Zach. The only reason I was still with him was because I had no way of getting around without him. Once I’d failed at blinking my clothes on, I tried to drift. There was something different about the human realm, and I needed his help to figure it out. A niggling thought that Valen may have been onto something wouldn’t stay buried.
Since we seemed to have time to kill, I leapt in with both feet. “So why doesn’t my power work here?”
He smiled. “You are familiar with gravity?”
I rolled my eyes. “I think I get the general idea.”
His tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Good.” He smiled again and this time his eyes lit up with suppressed laughter. “Let’s pretend you—”
“Pretend?” I asked.
He nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “From what I hear, you’re great at it.”
“The best,” I said. “So, what’s your point?”
“I was going to tell you before you interrupted me.” I motioned for him to continue. “Let’s pretend that you wanted to take a walk on the moon, assuming your lungs could breathe space air.”
“Space doesn’t have any air,” I said.
“Yes, it does. You just couldn’t breathe it unless I aided you.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Oh, you’re such a liar.”
He rolled his eyes. “I have a bit more experience with this than you do.”
“What you’re saying isn’t possible.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Care to test your theory?”
When he stepped closer, my eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”
He smiled, all predator.
Could he? “Zach, don’t you take another step—”
He had me in his arms in a nanosecond. Then we were drifting. Climbing momentum crashed into me, making me woozy. We rocketed toward some unseen destination at a speed I had never encountered. Every cell in my body vibrated as if they would come apart at any second.
When we came to an abrupt stop, Zach twisted me in his arms. My feet slid along a soft, yet strangely firm surface. When my eyes finally focused, I blinked then blinked again, hoping to see through his illusion.
The Earth lay below us glowing almost iridescent. My head swiveled to the side, space was on both sides of me. I panicked, refusing to take another breath.
Although the view was something right out of my dreams, I didn’t want to die this way. How could Zach bring me here? I had no way of surviving. Even now I shivered from a cold so fierce it shot straight to my marrow.
A tear slipped from my eyes, but instead of sliding down my face, it drifted away from me into the blackness of eternity.
I watched it
in fascination until something inside me didn’t want to let that tear go. I reached toward it, which seemed to disturb the nonexistent air around me, sending it further away.
“Take a breath,” Zach whispered into my ear.
I shook my head and closed my eyes.
“Rayla, you must trust me if we are to overcome the evil that chases us. We have to work together or your world and mine are lost to us forever.”
I glanced over my shoulder at his concerned face. This was a test. I needed to have faith in him. I needed to do what he asked me, which was harder than it should have been.
With my heart thudding against my chest, I took a tentative breath. My lungs expanded the same way they always had, although it was much harder to take in the air. I tried again, using every muscle in my back and chest to draw a strangled breath. I imagined this was what an asthmatic felt like during an attack. If I didn’t maintain my concentration, I could easily hyperventilate.
Zach smiled at me. “Weird, isn’t it?”
“Are you kidding me?” I shook my head, fighting for another breath. “This is the strangest experience of my life. How is this possible?”
He shrugged. “Normally, the oxygen particles in space are pulled by the interstellar bodies around us. I am using some of my power right now to create a breathable atmosphere for you.”
“Me? Don’t you need air?”
He cocked his head. “Not in the normal sense. I do not require oxygen because my cells do not degenerate. My body works differently than humans, as does yours at the moment.”
I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. “You’d think with the sun being right there it would be warm out here.”
He laughed. “Was that a hint?”
“More or less. I’m a bit creeped out by this, if I’m being honest.”
He gave a short nod and pulled me close to his body once again. Before I knew it we were drifting on the matter stream again. I doubted I’d ever get used to the disorientation.
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