Second Chance Doom: a paranormal romance adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 5)

by Ella J. Smyth

  He tried his best to make me laugh and pull me out of my funk. But on the way back, my feet dragged and I could barely keep myself upright.

  When we arrived at our shelter, we spent long minutes reassuring each other that we weren’t hurt. The tension dropped off us like a lead-lined blanket.

  And then they let me have it.

  “What were you thinking, Amber? I thought we told you not to leave by yourself.” Lance paced up and down in front of where I sat, waving his arms to make his point.

  “For fuck’s sake, Amber. You gave us such a fucking fright.” Kiernan went off on one of his expletive-laden Irish rants. But I knew the fouler his language, the more concerned he was about me.

  Julian stood a little away from the group, staring at me with soulful eyes. The corners of his mouth were turned down, and his gaze was heavy with fear. His behavior scared me more than the others’ tirades.

  I ignored my two upset boyfriends and dragged myself off the ground. Wrapping my arms around Julian’s rib cage, I pulled him as tightly against me as I could.

  “Julian. Thank you for helping me.”

  He hesitated, but then hugged me with all his strength. I didn’t mind that he squeezed the breath out of me.

  His chest heaved against me. First, he kissed my hair. Then, my temple. And finally, as I lifted my head, he took my lips. I opened my mouth, and he plundered it with all the desperation and fear he must have felt for me.

  I melted against him, feeling his arousal against my lower belly. I couldn’t help the desperate little moans he punched out of me. If he’d wanted to take me right there and then, I would have gladly bent over and asked for more.

  But it was he who disengaged. Stepping back, he said breathlessly, “Amber, my Amber. I thought I’d lost you.”

  There were tears clinging to his long eyelashes, and his eyes shone with the despair he’d endured because of me.

  Kiernan cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse with emotion. “I was so scared we’d be too late.”

  He pulled me from Julian’s arms and hugged me as tightly as his friend. Then he kissed me just as hard, pouring his love and devotion into me.

  How did I ever distrust them? They’d followed me here, put their lives and futures at risk. For me. I wanted them, loved them, without hesitation.

  Then it was Lance’s turn. Kiernan handed me over to him, inclining his head in approval. Then he turned to Julian and wiped the moisture from his cheeks.

  “It’s okay. She’s safe,” he mumbled gruffly. He punched Julian’s shoulder because God forbid he showed any emotion. Julian exhaled harshly. His demeanor had lightened, and he seemed happier than he had for days.

  Lance blocked my vision and pressed me against the stone wall, covering me with his large body. He gripped my chin, angled my mouth, and then I didn’t really care anymore what Julian and Kiernan were doing.

  29

  JULIAN

  I had to tell them. They already knew something was wrong with me.

  Kiernan was leisurely kissing Amber in the late morning light, running his thumb over her nipple. Her eyes were shining with arousal, and his erection tented his sweatpants.

  Last night, I’d watched them while they thought I was asleep. I’d been stroking myself, and when her sparks hit me, I’d come so hard, I’d passed out.

  I was happy for them. I wanted to have a sexual relationship with her and with my friends. And yet I couldn’t.

  I hadn’t told them that every time I looked at them, I didn’t see them as they were. I didn’t see Kiernan with his reddish-blond hair and Irish farm boy looks. I didn’t see Lance with his stubbly scalp and cool eyes.

  No. When I looked at them, I saw corpses. The black beasties were messing with my head. It had to be them sending me these awful hallucinations.

  A familiar fist grabbed my heart and squeezed as the vision of Kiernan and Amber changed again. I knew it wasn’t real, yet the horror of it made my lungs hurt as if they were sodden with seawater.

  Lance sat on the ground, his face gray and a river of blood soaking one side of his jacket. His head was tilted to the side, only hanging on by a scrap of skin where it had been severed. His eyes, pale and unseeing, stared into nothingness.

  The fist moved from my heart to my stomach, and I clapped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from vomiting.

  Every time I thought I’d gotten used to the hallucinations, they got just a little worse. I couldn’t remember when they started. Maybe after that dream I had where I’d met the black beasties in their corporeal form.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, but the image had already burnt itself into my retinas. Kiernan sat next to Amber, his arm slung casually around her shoulder. His torso was slit open from clavicle to groin.

  My brain pulled out a faint memory from a long time ago. My mom had attempted to knit a sweater with thick white wool. She’d made one too many mistakes and unraveled the whole piece in a fit of temper.

  That’s what Kiernan’s insides looked like—as if he’d been unraveled, leaving his guts spilling pale and obscene on his lap.

  But what pushed me over the edge was Amber. I didn’t want to look at her, because she was always the worst. But in the end, I did.

  She lay in Kiernan’s cold arms, her body naked and violated. Somebody had carved “Slut” across her chest.

  I shut my eyes again, bent over sideways, and my stomach jumped out of my throat, emptying itself violently, over and over again.

  A hand gripped my shoulder, and I shrugged it off, still in the grips of the hallucination. At least I hope they are hallucinations and not premonitions.

  I was disgusted with myself and scared. So very scared. Somebody wiped the vomit off the corners of my mouth and held a bottle against my lips. I drank greedily, desperate to wash away the vile taste.

  Amber whispered, “Better?”

  I nodded, but kept my eyes closed. I had to tell her something. As long as it wasn’t the truth. “I’m sorry. I must have eaten something bad. I’ve been feeling sick all morning.”

  I heard the smile in her voice. “That’s okay. Better out than in.”

  Her breath caressed my skin, and I peeked out from under one eyelid. Amber’s face was close to mine. She cupped my cheek, and her expression chased away my despair and lightened the blackness inside of me.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  Lance strolled over, taking his jacket off, and wrapping it around my shoulders. “Hey, buddy. I’m sorry you’re feeling poorly. Why don’t you get some rest? We have a long day ahead of us.”

  I smiled my gratefulness and closed my eyes again. But I didn’t want to sleep. Because that was when the black beasties pounced.

  I listened to them hatching a plan. Amber asked about provisions.

  Bleddyn answered so quietly I had to strain my ears to hear him. “There is no food here. How much did you bring?”

  There was the sound of rummaging, and Amber’s voice confirmed how little we’d brought. “A few candy bars, some water bottles, and fruit. That’s it.”

  “We are not far away from where the humans are kept.” Bleddyn sounded as if freeing prisoners was something he did every day.

  Lance’s smooth baritone took charge. “Okay. Our biggest advantage is the element of surprise—“

  Kiernan interrupted him. “We have to assume the FBMA is working with the Fae.”

  There was a pause. Then Lance asked, “Do you think your mother’s involved?”

  Kiernan’s voice was heavy with anger and sorrow. “I keep hoping she’s not pulling the strings.”

  Next came Amber’s higher voice. “Kiernan. If she’s the one running the show, we might have to stop her.”

  After a long silence, Kiernan spoke again. He sounded broken, yet determined. “I know. But please, if we need to take her out, I want to be the one to do it.”

  My heart broke for him. The image of my dad’s body in my arms flashed through my mind. I pushed it back wit
h a routine ruthlessness that frightened me sometimes.

  Their conversation waxed and waned like wind brushing through tree tops. Eventually, I must have nodded off.

  “Julian. Oh, Julian.”

  I ignored the singsong voice, taunting me. As long as I keep my eyes closed, and I can’t see them, they aren’t really here.

  “Julian. Don’t you want to find out what happened to Macha?”

  I shook my head violently, not caring if my friends thought I’d lost it again.

  The voice cackled. “We don’t need you to open your eyes to show you what we want you to see. Play along, Julian. Don’t be stupid.”

  I placed my hands over my eyes, but it was no use. Inside my closed eyelids, I saw Cat Boy sitting on the floor in a dark room. I recognized the place immediately. He was in a Faerie dungeon.

  Despite the gloom, everything was as clear as if it were the middle of the day. The floor was made of dirty flagstones. There was a tiny window just below the high ceiling. The same slimy walls I remembered from my time being locked up there. I could nearly smell the dankness, the rotten food, and the foul odor of human excrement.

  Macha’s forehead rested on top of his knees. He didn’t move until he lifted his head as if somebody had called him, and looked straight at me. There were tear tracks down his dirty cheeks, and his eyes were wide and terrified. He’d lost weight, his face gaunt and pale.

  “Macha,” I whispered. My heart ached for my friend. He seemed so young and alone. And the worst was, I still didn’t know if this was a hallucination, or if my tormentors showed me reality.

  The image was replaced by a gleaming, modern lab like the one Amber had discovered at the compound. Why would they show me the same room again? There was the viewing gallery and the steel table.

  My breath caught as I realized the area was larger, and around the perimeters, there were upright chairs. Above each of them was a semicircular sphere. There was something unsettling about them, and it took me a moment to understand why they made me so uneasy.

  On each arm and footrest were metal fastenings. These chairs were not for observers or scientists. No, they were meant to restrain people, human or Fae. My stomach plummeted at the implication. The door opened, and four humans entered, carrying clipboards, followed by Fae lords in exquisite clothing.

  “Why are you showing me this? We already know the Fae and humans work together,” I protested weakly.

  “Wait.”

  The door opened again, and a Fae guard dragged a blond teenage girl into the room. She was crying, but didn’t fight as she was led to one of the chairs. Surrounded by so many Fae and humans, there wouldn’t have been much point. When she was strapped down, the humans had a quick discussion before everybody left the room.

  The vision changed, and I was looking at a grass mound rising above the surface to maybe forty feet high. It was circled by a wall of gleaming white stone. Somehow, I knew the futuristic lab was inside the structure.

  Somebody shook my shoulder, and I gasped at the unexpected touch.

  “Here. Eat this. We’ll move out in a few minutes.”

  Lance was kneeling in front of me, holding out a candy bar. I took a deep breath to calm down. Then I accepted the offering and smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? You seem pretty out of it.” He assessed me openly, warily, as if he expected me to do something crazy. Crazier.

  Bleddyn called from across the castle yard. “It is time. We have much ground to cover.”

  Lance helped me to my feet. He gave me one more intense look, then nodded as if satisfied. “Let us know if you need a rest.”

  I hated how they thought I was a liability. After all this was over, I needed to come clean and tell them what I really was. A necromancer with the power over death, yet with no control over my own life.

  30

  AMBER

  When we stepped outside the ruins, there was no movement other than the odd dust devil moving along the blackened ground. The sun sat at the midpoint between horizon and its zenith. There was beauty here, despite the ravaged countryside. The rays lit the edges of the craggy mountains, bathing them in liquid gold.

  “What happened to the vermin we saw yesterday?”

  Bleddyn tightened the bag straps on his back before answering Kiernan. “They know us now. None of the Lower Unseelie will bother us again.”

  Lower Unseelie? Are there Higher Unseelie as well? The thought made me uneasy. But I didn’t want to find out the answer before leaving for a cross-country tour to our destination. The question would keep.

  “How long until we reach the prison?” Kiernan followed up.

  Julian flinched at the mention of the word. He’d been even jumpier this morning than usual, if that were possible. But his gaze was clear, and his body language determined. Whatever was going on with him wouldn’t stop him from fighting at our side.

  I couldn’t hear Bleddyn’s answer, but it didn’t matter. We’d get there when we’d get there. My head spun with bone-deep exhaustion. I closed my eyes until the feeling passed. I wasn’t going to wimp out now, so close to our destination.

  Steps approached. I looked into Kiernan’s smiling face before he enveloped me in a bear hug. Lance was on his heels, and he wrapped his arms around both of us. Kiernan raised one arm and called to Julian, “Come on, slugger. Join us.”

  I wasn’t sure if he would, but he stepped into Kiernan’s one-armed embrace. The four of us clung on to each other, our heads touching, breathing each other’s air. It was a rare moment of peace, of togetherness. The guys were probably as aware as I was that not all of us might make it to the end of our journey.

  So close together, the Soul Weave burned inside my chest, its heat suffusing my limbs and lightening my mood.

  It was Julian who mentioned the elephant in the room. “We’ll never be complete until Macha is back with us.”

  Kiernan cringed, and Lance gripped just a little tighter. Standing in a circle, touching each other, the bond was strong. I could feel each of the threads to my soul.

  And deep inside the Soul Weave, I felt Macha. His thread pulsed with power, so much stronger than last time I’d checked. Then, it had been faint, nearly extinguished. Now, it was strong and bright. Did that mean he’d followed us through the portal? Maybe he was looking for us right now.

  I lifted my face, hope clawing its way out of my throat like a hungry animal that hadn’t been fed in a long time. “I can feel him, guys. I can feel Macha in Faerie.”

  Julian recoiled as if I’d struck him. His eyes were wide open with shock and disbelief.

  Kiernan whispered, “I can feel him as well.”

  Lance disengaged himself and stepped back. “That’s good news. At least, we know he’s not dead.”

  Julian muttered something before turning away. I stared after him. I could have sworn he’d said, “Not yet.”

  Bleddyn called again, more impatiently this time. “We must go.”

  Together, we worked our travel magic, and soon, we were in the foothills. Bleddyn followed a narrow road, but sometimes, for no apparent reason, he veered off it. But he was going too fast to ask him why he was doing it.

  Once, I caught a glimpse of several huge rocks next to the path. Again, Bleddyn swerved off the path, away from the boulders. I glanced back over my shoulder, and one of the rocks moved.

  A dull, red eye followed our progress without blinking. My heart sped up like a galloping horse, and blood rushed in my ears. Whatever I’d seen, I did not want it to pursue us. My hands move faster, writing the symbols into the air again and again. I overtook Lance and Julian, my breaths as loud as pistons.

  Kiernan called out, “What’s gotten into your bonnet? Amber?”

  I didn’t have the lung capacity to answer. Instead, I focused on getting away before the rock monster decided to take a bite out of me. Bleddyn threw me a knowing glance. He knew what I’d seen.

  You better tell me when we stop, Faerie man.
I didn’t say it out loud, but I’m sure he got the gist from the glare I aimed his way.

  On and on we moved through rolling hills and dense forest until the ground sloped steeper. Soon, I was dragging harsh breaths into my struggling lungs as the air grew thinner.

  We were climbing, and I was officially running out of steam. My fingers gestured slower, and my knees ached until I couldn’t take another step. I bent over, fighting for every breath. My chest hurt with the effort. I got so dizzy, I swayed, tripped over a root, and fell heavily on my ass.

  Instead of getting up, I flopped backward and closed my eyes, focusing on drawing enough of the thin air into my laboring lungs.

  “Bleddyn,” Kiernan called. “Slow down. We need a break.”

  From under half-closed eyelids, I watched the Fae retrace his steps until he stood in front of us. Lance dropped down heavily next to me.

  Bleddyn regarded us with his head tilted, an amused smirk playing around his lips. “I forgot you are not used to this mode of traveling. My apologies.”

  He didn’t sound at all sincere, and Kiernan waved his hand at him. “I believe ya. Thousands wouldn’t. Anyway, I’m knackered. And so is Amber, by the looks of it.”

  The sun was right above us, heating the air even at altitude. Bleddyn wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “We made good time. We can rest for a short while.”

  “Where’s the prison?” I asked.

  Bleddyn pointed towards the mountain range ahead of us. “Once we are past the summit, it will not be much further. We will reach our destination by mid-afternoon.”

  Shit. I closed my eyes again, cursing every decision that had brought me to this point. The soles of my feet were burning, and my knees ached as if I were a senior citizen. And oh God, my back. It felt as if a herd of elephants danced the samba on it.

  “Here. Drink this.” Julian had pulled a bottle from his bag and held it out to me. There was only a third of water left.