Within the Realm (The Gifted Realm Book 1)

by Jillian Neal

  “You ok, baby?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted hesitantly. “I try to just not think about it, but then it just pops into my head. I can’t seem to stop it.”

  Rainer nodded his understanding as he breathed in the scent of her hair and willed his energy to calm her. She felt him soothe her rhythms, and she closed her eyes and allowed him in. She rapidly consumed everything he passed to her.

  When she’d calmed enough to yawn, her heartbeat had steadied, and Rainer no longer felt her energy coming in sharp jagged arcs, he posed his idea.

  “Would you like to spend the whole weekend in New York, sweetheart?” He was certain a change of scenery might be the perfect thing for her, and Emily loved New York.

  She shrugged, “Maybe; that might be fun.” Her sweet smile sealed the deal for Rainer. He nodded, and began to mentally plan out a romantic weekend that would get her mind off of the horrors of their day.

  “Do you want to come to work with me tomorrow, baby? You could stay with your dad while we’re at Felsink.” He shuddered. He didn’t want to think about visiting the prison with everything that had already happened.

  “No,” Emily whispered. “I want to go stay at the farmhouse with Mom. Rainer reminded himself that the farm was very safe, and that with the ring on, she was virtually invincible, so he didn’t argue. Emily trembled slightly as another memory haunted her.

  “I’ve got you, baby. Try to get some sleep, ok.”

  “Do you promise to hold me?”

  “Em, of course. I won’t let you go. I’m right here; I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  After pulling the quilts and blankets around them, Rainer made certain as much of his flesh was pressed to hers as he could. He was then able to push more of his energy through to her. After a little while, he’d finally gotten her to sleep.

  She woke a little after midnight, screaming and crying.

  “Em,” Rainer held her tightly with his heart racing. “It’s me, baby; wake up.”

  Logan burst into the room, having heard her terrified screams.

  As he clutched his chest and panted for breath, he started to apologize as he realized what was happening.

  “It’s fine,” Rainer assured him. “Emily!” he called louder as he shook her slightly until she was finally free of the nightmare. She clung to him, and sobbed as he held her and rocked her.

  “I’ll make her some tea,” Logan offered. He looked crestfallen as he gazed at Rainer as he tried to soothe Emily.

  “Shh, baby,” Rainer hushed her constantly. “I’m right here. It was just a nightmare.”

  As he felt her tremble in his arms, guilt and terror took up residence in his gut. She calmed slightly as Logan handed her the tea. He hesitated, but Rainer gestured to the end of the bed, and he seated himself near Emily’s feet.

  “Em, baby, I’m just gonna quit; I can’t do this to you. This is all my fault.”

  “Rainer, no.” She shuddered as he helped her sip the tea. “You heard Vindico. They can’t touch me. It was just a stupid dream,” she fumed, but terror swirled in her eyes and fractured Rainer’s heart.

  Logan sighed, “Rainer, I don’t think your quitting Iodex would change anything. I mean, if it weren’t your money they were after then it would be Mom and Dad’s. If you quit, then you’ll have to live off of your inheritance, which you would hate.” He knew Rainer far too well. “And if you get rid of the money, then you’d need a job.”

  “You’re not quitting; I’ll be fine,” Emily insisted, more to herself than of Rainer.

  “Everything ok?” Adeline knocked timidly, though the door was open. Logan grinned and beckoned her in.

  “Yes, I’m just a spaz,” Emily announced dejectedly.

  “Well, that is true, but shockingly enough, he still wants to marry you. So, now you have a… ‘ring of power’,” Logan announced in his best superhero movie voice. Emily giggled, which soothed Rainer’s heart.

  “See, all of those times we made you play superheroes with us growing up, we were really just preparing you for your engagement,” Logan continued to tease her, as it was making her smile and laugh.

  “Oh, you mean like the time you tried to push me out of the barn loft to see if I could fly?” Emily suddenly sounded much more like herself. The combination of the memory and of Emily’s feeling better had Rainer laughing along with her and Logan.

  “You tried to push your little sister out of a barn loft?” Adeline shook her head at Logan, with a slight giggle.

  “First of all, I was five, and Will caught us before she took flight,” Logan rolled his eyes dramatically. “Hey, we should try that now with the ring, see if you can go all Supergirl.”

  Everyone laughed as Rainer rolled his eyes.

  “Well, if you all don’t mind, I think I’ll try to get Supergirl back to sleep.”

  “I didn’t want to be Supergirl; I wanted to be Wonder Woman,” Emily reminded her brother as he began leading Adeline out of their bedroom.

  Logan snickered. “Oh, yeah, well, I bet Rainer wishes you were Triplicate Girl.”

  “Would you get out.” Rainer tried not to laugh, but cracked up anyway.

  He turned back to Emily and kissed her cheek. “All right, my little Amazon warrior princess, why don’t we try to get some more sleep before we have to get up and I have to go to work? Then, this weekend, I’m taking you to New York.”

  She giggled as she settled down on Rainer’s chest, and he folded her up in his arms.

  “If you’re good, then when we’re in New York I might let you take off my magic belt.”

  Rainer was delighted she was joking with him again.

  “Yum! And think of what we could do with that lasso.” He reveled in her sweet laughter.

  After falling silent for a few minutes, Rainer wrapped his energy around her and felt her calm as his shield enveloped her.

  “I love you so much, Em, and I’m so sorry for everything that happened.”

  “Well, it wasn’t your fault,” she reminded him yet again, “and Wonder Woman only had bracelets. I have a ring. I would like a tiara, though.”

  Rainer laughed again. “If you get the tiara, it seems like you should have the whole suit.”

  She giggled delightedly. “Do you think so?”

  “It only seems right; I mean what’s the crown without the skin- tight suit? Where would you keep your lasso?” he growled in her ear.

  “I’m not sure my rack is up to Wonder Woman’s.”

  Rainer slid his hands over her breasts. “Oh, I heartily disagree.”

  “Oh really?”

  “I do, and I would know, because I had a huge crush on Wonder Woman right up until this really smoking hot seven-year-old dared me to kiss her.” He cradled Emily closer and brushed a kiss across her cheek in the approximate location of the kiss he’d given her in her parents’ backyard when he was eight.

  “Aww you broke up with Wonder Woman for me?”

  “Well,” he feigned heartbreak. “What Wonder Woman and I had was great and all, and I’m sure she was devastated, but when perfection comes along, you have to go after it.”

  “Oh.” She gazed up at him with all of the adoration he felt for her. Her added giggle delighted him.

  “Plus, you told me when you were six that I had to be your boyfriend,” he reminded her.

  Emily laughed as they both recalled the afternoon in her room when she’d informed Rainer that he was her boyfriend because she said so.

  Rainer clung to her tightly, and tucked the quilts around them as he soothed her back to sleep.

  He had to keep her safe, no matter what that meant; he had to end Wretchkinsides. He would not allow Emily to go on living in terrorizing fear. He shuddered and tried not to recall the hollow, empty, hellish abyss that he’d lived in during the endless minutes when he hadn’t known where she was. He now understood what Dan Vindico lived with each and every day.

  The fervent drive took hold of Rainer as he held Emil
y on his chest. They would end the Interfeci and protect what his father had fought so hard to establish. He would overcome the impossible odds, live up to the Lawson crest, and he would do it all for her.

  From the Author

  Thank you for reading Within the Realm. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, and you would like to know more about The Gifted Realm or my writings, there are several ways for us to connect.

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  Turn the page for a preview of Lessons Learned, the second book in The Gifted Realm series.

  Lessons Learned

  Book 2 : The Gifted Realm

  ~Rainer Lawson~

  Monday morning, Rainer left for work three hours early, at Emily’s insistence. He called her as soon as he parked the Mustang and walked into the Iodex office.

  “Yeah, he’s here.” He assured her as he felt his own breath begin to come easier. He stared at the back of Logan’s head. It was leaned down on his desk with his face in his hands. “Ok, I’ll call you after practice.”

  “Where the hell have you been? You scared us all to death!” Rainer demanded as fury filled the space where despair had vacated. Logan raised his head; he looked horrible. “What happened to you?” Rainer gasped as he took in Logan’s swollen red eyes and desolate stare.

  Logan swallowed as Rainer grabbed the chair from his own desk and rolled it right in front of Logan.

  “Uh...” Logan seemed too distraught or too exhausted to formulate an answer. “Let’s see here,” he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Adeline wanted to see her mom. So, I took her out to the County Prison, not that it got us anywhere, but I figured she had a right to ask her Mother why she was doing this.” He swallowed down another round of tears.

  Thankful that no one else was in the office yet, Rainer placed a reassuring hand on Logan’s shoulder as he tried to physically hold him upright. Logan was on the verge of collapse. After drawing a harrowed breath, Logan continued.

  “So, uh, after that, we went to Great Falls to talk for awhile.” He choked again as Rainer nodded his understanding. “Then,” Logan shook his head in utter disbelief, “Sunday she kind of freaked and decided she was moving back into her Mother’s old apartment.”

  “What!”

  Logan’s head shook convulsively as he tried to draw breath. He shuddered. “She broke up with me....”

  About the Author

  Jillian Neal is a New Adult author with a passion for passion. She tells strong character driven stories from the male perspective. Her guys aren’t afraid to let us inside their minds or inside their bedrooms. Young love comes to life inside the author’s Realm along with sinister crime fighting, mixed in with a hearty dose of family. The engaging adventures will stretch your mind and keep you coming back for more.

  Jillian lives outside of Atlanta with her husband and children.

  For more information on the author and her stories, check out her website at http://jillianneal.com