by Kaitlyn Hoyt
There has to be something more. Something that I’m missing, but what is it? I continue my steady pace through the forest, trying my hardest to keep quiet and avoid any low-lying branches or uprooted roots. I’m not doing very well.
Will I ever be able to go back? Will Valdus keep me here forever? If someone dies in the dream world, does that mean that their body will die in the real world? There’s so much that I don’t know. I wish that Liam was here with me. He’d know what to do and how to get me back.
I stumble over a tree root and tumble to the ground. The end of a branch rakes across my cheek. Throwing my hands in front of me, I try to catch myself as I fall. This maneuver only manages to scratch the palms of my hands more. As I push myself up, two arms wrap around my waist pull me up the rest of the way.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Phillip whispers as he presses my back against his chest, crushing me to him. Thrashing my arms and legs out, I start struggling. This is just like Adam in Dravin’s compound. His arms tighten around my waist, and my advances prove to be unsuccessful.
My magic. I call my magic to me and continue fighting against Phillip. He is a lot stronger than he looks. I wonder if strength is his power. James has strength, so maybe Phillip does too. Is magic power genetic? I throw my head back and hit him in the face. Ouch that is going to give me a headache later.
I hear a crunching noise, and Phillip growls, loosening his grip on me. Warm liquid starts dripping down my neck. I kick him in the shin, and his grip loosens further—enough for me to take a step away from him. Holding his broken nose, he jumps for me again. I turn around and try to run, but he grabs my wrist and twists, pulling me back; the tiny bones in my wrist break with his movement. I cry out as I slam into the front of Phillip’s chest, and the pain starts shooting through my arm.
Moving back slightly, I swing my leg up and kick him in the chest. The added magic causes him to let go of my wrist. Magic, I need you now. I think as I continue to take small steps backward. When Phillip regains his footing, he starts running toward me again. I need more magic. He runs right into me as I push all my magic outward.
My magic ricochets out of my body. As I fly backward from the force, I watch as Phillip does the same. I crash down in the middle of the trail and roll a couple times before coming to a stop. Hearing wood splintering, I look up and find Phillip lying at the base of a tree, unmoving. My arms and legs start to sting as the air hits my cut riddled skin. I take a couple deep breathes and wait for my breathing to return to normal.
“I’d rather deal with James,” I mumble as I try to roll over and stand. When I attempt to push myself up, I cry out as pain shoots up my arm from my injured wrist, and I fall back to the ground. Cradling my arm against my chest, I push myself up with my left arm and start running away from Phillip.
I want to go back.
As I continue running, I start to hear footsteps around me again. I can’t tell which direction they are coming from, so I run faster, hoping that I’ll be able to outrun whoever is chasing me. I am starting to feel drained from using so much magic. I need to rest a little, but I don’t trust my surroundings enough.
A man darts out from between the trees and stops in the middle of the trail in front of me. I don’t have enough time to stop. Colliding into him, we both tumble to the ground. His arms wrap around my waist, and his body cushions my fall, but I don’t give myself time to think about that. I instantly start screaming and fight to get away from him.
His grip around my waist tightens as a hand covers my mouth, silencing my screams. “Ryanne, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you!”
I still as my brain recognizes and processes the deep voice speaking to me. I look up into a pair of grey eyes. “Liam?” I ask in disbelief.
I’m so happy to see him. I can’t control the emotions that take over me. I lean down and cry into his shirt. I really want to go back. I’m tired of fighting everyone, and I’m tired of being chased around this dark forest. I want to get out of here.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he inquires. I raise my head and look at him. He doesn’t know? Can he not sense my injuries here?
“I’m not hurt too bad. I think Phillip broke my wrist though. I’m scared and really confused about all this, and I want to go back,” I tell him. I sniff as I prop my elbows onto his chest and wipe my tears away with my good hand.
He opens his mouth to respond when a deeper voice speaks. “Liam?” I whip my head up and look in front of us. An older man stands a few feet away from us, staring down in shock. Liam jumps up, pulling me with him, and then pushes me behind him. I peek around his arm. This must be Valdus Hamza. I was expecting something different. He is shorter than Liam but broader. He isn’t as fit as all the other mages I’ve encountered. His long graying hair is braided down his back, and he’s staring at us through darkened eyes. A few feathers are tied into the end of his braid that is moving with the slight breeze. He definitely looks like a leader, so I can understand why Liam is really confused that he’s following the orders of someone else.
“Liam, give me the girl.” I grip onto Liam’s arm and throw up a shield around us.
“Why are you helping Dravin, Valdus?” Liam asks.
“He promised our tribe protection if I helped him. He’s promised he won’t kill her, so please give me the girl.”
“Oh, he promised, did he? You can’t trust anything that man says!” Liam yells. He trusted this man, and now he is working for the enemy. I step closer to Liam, for protection and to comfort him.
Valdus takes a step toward us. Liam pushes me back further as he takes a step back. “Just give me the girl. I don’t want you to be involved in any of this.”
“I can’t do that,” Liam says.
“And why not?” sneers Valdus. Liam reaches behind him and gently pulls me forward, so Valdus can see me. He reaches down and grabs the pendant that hangs against my stomach and shows it to him. When Valdus eyes the necklace, he gasps and stares at Liam in disbelief. I watch as the pendant gleams from the moonlight that reflects off of its shiny surface. “You’re her protector?”
“Yeah, and I’ve seen what Dravin will do to her if he gets her. I’ve been through it. You know what it’ll do to me if it continues to happen,” Liam tells him.
I know that it physically hurts Liam every time I’m captured. He feels every bit of pain that I go through. I watch as Valdus seems to argue with himself. He cares for Liam; I can tell that much, but he wants to protect his tribe. I look up at Liam, who glances down at me and nods. I step closer to him and let him wrap his arms around my waist.
Dropping the shield, I pull more magic to the surface and push a little out, just enough to make it look like he tried to stop us. When he flies backward, I press myself closer to Liam and let him bring us back.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Colton
I look over at the clock ticking against the wall: 9:27 p.m. It’s been over two hours since Ryanne was pulled into the dream. Dravin could have gotten to her by now. Sitting on the coffee table, I squeeze Ryanne’s hand, willing her to come back to me. A small scratch is starting to appear on her cheek. I reach forward and lightly trace the line. Her arms and legs look a little red too. Logan can’t heal her, since she’s technically not here. What other injuries will she have when she wakes up?
Natalie has decided to keep her hand constantly on my arm, keeping me calm. She is sitting on the floor beside me, waiting for Ryanne and Liam to wake up. Emma is sitting in the chair with David. None of us like this. We don’t like feeling like there is nothing we can do.
Seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, I turn and see Liam starting to move. Jolting awake, he looks over to Ryanne on the couch. “She’ll wake up soon. It takes a little longer for her body to realize that it’s being forced awake.” He leans back and runs a hand through his hair. “Dang, she’s hard to find.”
“Is she okay?” I ask him. “Is she hurt at all?”
&nb
sp; “Umm, she said that her wrist was broken, but besides a couple of scratches and bruises, I didn’t see anything. I couldn’t feel her there. I always got to the scene after she left. I finally heard her fighting someone and was able to run in front of her, but she barreled right into me, knocking both of us to the ground. Then Valdus showed up.” His eyes land on Ryanne again.
“You saw Valdus? So, he’s actually working for Dravin?” Bragden asks.
“Yeah, Dravin promised him that he’d protect the tribe if he helped bring Ryanne to him. He was trying to get me to give Ryanne to him, but Ryanne hit him with a little of her magic. Not enough to harm him, just enough for us to get out of there. Valdus used a lot of magic to bring a lot of the Gadramicks there, so he was in no place to fight. He wouldn’t have won even if he tried. ”
Ryanne starts moving. She turns her head to the right, so she’s facing us. Slowly blinking, she opens her eyes and looks straight at me.
“Hey, Ry,” I say, smiling down at her.
She slowly sits up, cradling her wrist against her chest. She blinks a couple more times and looks around the room. There are a couple scratches on her arms and legs and bruises on her shins and forearms. Based on her wincing, I assume that there are some under her clothes as well. Logan walks up behind her and starts healing her injuries. Looking back at me, she asks, “Do werewolves exist?”
David instantly starts laughing. “You were just attacked, and the first thing you say is about werewolves?”
“Yeah, so do they?” She is completely serious.
“No, they don’t exist,” I tell her. “They’re just a myth. Why?”
“Interesting…” she mumbles and thanks Logan. “ I just kept imagining the men who attacked me as werewolves because they kept growling at me. It was funny. My mind kept wandering.” Turning toward Liam, she says, “Thank you and…sorry I tried to fight you.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve come to save you, and you attacked me,” he says with a smile. My eyes move to Natalie, who is staring up at Liam.
“Well, you can’t blame me the first time! It was really surprising to see you…when I actually awake.”
“You still attacked me.”
“Hey, you didn’t act much better when I first met you! You were all I wear black. I’m mysterious. Go away.” Ryanne says, trying to lower her voice to sound like Liam. It doesn’t work.
“That was a horrible impression of me,” he tells her.
“That’s beside the point. You were still a jerk,” she throws back at him while sticking her tongue out. It is so adorable when she resorts to child-like banter. Liam laughs and shakes his head but doesn’t respond. I glance towards Natalie and find her still watching Liam with a small smile on her face.
“Oh,” Ryanne gasps and looks at everyone. “Phillip is working for Dravin too. He’s the one that broke my wrist and bruised my stomach. Stupid guy doesn’t know how to take a hint.” She looks straight at me and says, “You’d think knocking someone unconscious would tell them to leave me alone, but he didn’t get that memo the first time.”
“Phillip, as in James’s brother?” I ask. I thought Phillip was on our side. He was always the quiet one whenever we met. James was the one that did all the talking.
“The one and only,” she mumbles and leans back against the edge of the couch.
“Ryanne…” Liam starts.
“Look, I didn’t mean to cry. I don’t know what came over me. I’ve turned into such a baby since meeting all of you guys,” she explains.
I reach forward and grab her hand. “Why did you cry?”
She bites her lip and looks down at our hands. “I was scared,” she whispers. “I was running through that forest alone, randomly fighting off these guys, and I was growing really tired and knew that I couldn’t keep it up for much longer. So, I was really happy when I ran into Liam that I just started crying.”
“Shoot, I probably would have crawled into a tree and just bawled my eyes out if that happened to me. I wouldn’t have run,” Emma says. I can’t really picture Emma bawling her eyes out though.
“We need to find a way to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Liam says.
“Yeah, once was enough. I don’t know if I can repeat that a second time,” Ryanne mumbles through her yawn. I stand up and pull her up with me. She complies and leans against me, obviously exhausted.
“Ok, we’re going to go to bed. We’ll see you all in the morning,” I tell everyone as I start walking toward the stairs. Ryanne stumbles behind me as I pull her along.
“I’m not that tired. You can stay and talk to everyone if you want.” Nope, she’s not getting her way there. I continue pulling her upstairs, hoping that she doesn’t try to argue with me more. Of course, I’m not that lucky. “Colton, you don’t…”
I stop at the top of the stairs and whirl around, pressing her back against the railing at the top. “Ryanne, I just waited for two hours for you to wake up, worrying the whole time that something was happening to you while I couldn’t be there to help you. Please stop arguing with me all the time and just let me do what I can for you.” I reach forward and push the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ears. “You’re exhausted, and I want to help you.”
She still doesn’t know the extent I will go to help her. At the moment, the best thing I can do is lie down with her and let her get a good night’s sleep. She needs the rest. I can see it in her eyes.
She leans forward and rests her head on my chest. With a sigh, she responds, “You’re too good to me, Colton.”
I rest my chin on the top of her head and wrap my arms around her small waist. I look over her head and down into the living room. Emma and Natalie keep glancing upstairs, trying not to make it obvious that they are watching us. I wink at Emma and start walking backward, bringing Ryanne with me. She sighs and follows my footsteps toward our room. I reach out behind me and twist the doorknob, opening the door.
Dragging her inside, I push her back, so I can see her. She looks up at me through sleepy eyes. “Are you sure that you’re alright? You’re not hurting anywhere?”
Shaking her head, she reaches up and pulls her hair out of her ponytail. Her hair cascades down her back in messy curls. She runs a hand through it and steps away from me, moving toward the armoire that contains her clothes.
“Ryanne, you should just lay down.”
“I’m all sweaty and gross. I need to take a really quick shower; just to rinse all the dirt off of me. I’ll make it fast, don’t worry.” She looks over her shoulder and smirks at me. Wow, I don’t think she can get more beautiful. Not even trying, she still looks good. I know that I am being a little overprotective and clingy, but could anyone blame me?
“Fine, but if you’re not out in…seven minutes I’m coming in there. No matter what.”
“Seven minutes?”
“I couldn’t decide between five and ten minutes, so I picked seven,” I explain while walking over to my dresser. Knowing that she is still watching, I slowly pull my shirt over my head and throw it into the laundry basket.
“That’s just cruel,” she says breathily.
“You’re welcome to return the favor if you want,” I suggest to her, knowing that it will make her blush.
On cue, her cheeks redden. Rolling her eyes, she goes into the bathroom and quickly shuts the door. I laugh as I finish dressing. I grab a shirt. This could be interesting. I throw the shirt back into the drawer and sit down on the bed.
Five minutes later, the bathroom door opens, and Ryanne slowly comes out. She yawns as she blindly walks toward the bed. She’s wearing one of my shirts and a pair of shorts…that aren’t visible beneath the shirt. The shirt stops on her thighs, exposing a lot of skin. For being so short, her legs look so long. Crawling onto the bed with her eyes closed, she falls against her pillow and rolls toward me.
“Why am I,” she opens her eyes and looks at me, “the only one wearing a shirt?”
I laugh and pull he
r closer to me. I can feel all of her curves against me as I roll over onto my back. Resting her head on my chest, she sighs and closes her eyes.
“Goodnight, Ry.”
*****
Rolling onto my back, I brush a hand through my hair, pushing all the stray strands out of my face. Slowly, I sit up and look around. The bed is empty. I can hear the shower running, so I know where Colton is. I reach toward the nightstand and grab onto the clock. It is 9:13 a.m. I’ve gotten a lot of sleep, but I am still really tired.
I push myself out of bed and walk over toward Emma’s room. I can hear the girls moving around, so I knock on their door. Running a hand through my thick hair, I close my eyes and lean against the doorframe, waiting for someone to open the door.
“No, Liam is totally into you. Just tell him already.”
“Will you stop speaking so loud and just answer the door?” Natalie says. The door swings open, and Emma grimaces when she sees me.
“Girl, you definitely need some help. Come in.” Instead of letting me walk in on my own, she drags me inside. If it was up to me, I’d remain in my pajamas all day. Today, I’d rather deal with Emma making me presentable than do anything myself. Emma walks into the bathroom and turns on the shower. Turning toward me, she tells me to get in. When she walks out of the bathroom, I undress and get in the shower.
Washing my hair and shaving are arduous tasks this morning. Logan healed me last night, so I’m not sure why I feel like this today. I wrap a towel around my body and walk out of the bathroom. Emma and Natalie are sitting on the bed, waiting for me.
“So, what’s going on? You’d never come to me for help unless you felt like complete crap,” Emma says. She is right. I don’t come to her for help because she wants me look more girly.
“I’m too tired to put any effort into my outfit, and I know what you’d say if I just throw on a pair of athletic shorts and a sweatshirt...so I decided to just let you help me this morning. I just want to go back to sleep, but I don’t want anyone worrying about me,” I tell her quickly. My wet hair is dripping down my back and is starting to bother me. I grab a small hand towel and wrap it around the ends.
