Avenger(60)

My breathing accelerated and I clutched at my chest.

I couldn’t breathe and I felt like I was going to throw up. I tried to force oxygen into my lungs but it wasn’t working. Was this what it felt like to have a panic attack? If so, I didn’t like this one bit. I felt out of control of my body and I still couldn’t breathe. My lungs made a strange wheezing noise as they tried to obtain oxygen, but it wasn’t working.

Caeden burst into the bedroom and came running to my side. “Oh, Sophie, I meant to be here when you woke up. I’m so sorry.” He took my face between his hands. “Breathe, baby. Just breathe like I am. Slowly…deep breath in…deep breath out.”

I listened to his words, following what he said, and slowly I began to return to normal. My blood pressure lowered and I could breathe again.

“Better?” He asked, gazing at me with worried blue eyes. I’d been out of it when he found me and I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sleeping, so this was the first time I was really seeing him since I’d been kidnapped. His hair was too long, falling into his eyes, and in the back it curled against the nape of his neck. His cheekbones were sharp and angular, telling me he’d lost weight. His eyes were sunken in and his lips had thinned. He looked like he’d aged tremendously in the past few months. Regardless, he was still the sexiest man I’d ever laid eyes on. “Better, Soph?” He repeated when I didn’t answer him.

“Yeah,” I nodded, placing my hand over one of his where it still rested against my cheek. I closed my eyes, memorizing the feel of him touching me, and soaking in his warmth. Gosh, I had really missed him. “I need…” I paused, unsure if I should continue.

“What do you need, baby? Whatever you need I’ll give it to you.” He spoke softly but fiercely.

I took a deep breath and let the words tumble from my mouth. “I need you to hold me. I need to feel you wrapped around me. I need you to make me realize that I’m not alone anymore, that you’re real.”

He swallowed thickly and his eyes shimmered. “I am here, Sophie,” his fingers tangled in my hair, “and I’m not going anywhere.”

A sob escaped my throat at those words. He enveloped me in his arms and laid us back on the bed. He held me close, front to front, and my hand rested against his chest where his heart beat proudly. We were both alive and we were here together, in each other’s arms. We weren’t whole though.

I sniffled, burrowing closer to him. His chin rested atop my head and his hands rubbed soothing circles on my back.

“I thought I might not ever get to hold you like this again,” he admitted, his voice cracking. “I was scared out of my mind imagining what he was doing to you.”

“I’m here now.” I placed a light kiss against his collarbone. “We’re together again—and that means we’re unstoppable.”

“And we’re going to get our son back,” he promised. “And we’re going to end Travis and his mutants once and for all. This ends now. We’re not going to keep living like this—always waiting for Travis to pop up again. He’s going to die,” he growled, “and so is anybody that stands with him.”

“I agree,” I whispered. “Caeden, I have to tell you what he told me.” I drew random designs on his t-shirt, not wanting to look at him.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” He sighed.

“Yeah,” I frowned.

He sat up then, pulling me up with him, and took my chin between his fingers forcing me to look at him. “Just say it, Soph.”

I swallowed thickly, trying to block out my memories of my time with Travis. I made myself tell him what I knew. “Travis said, that…that it was time shifters were on top. He and the elders…they’re planning…” I paused, taking a steadying breath. “They want to take over the world. They want humans to know about shifters and bow down to them. He said that any human that disobeys them will be turned into a mutant—if they manage to survive the transformation.” I pushed my hair out of my eyes, biting my lip nervously. “He never told me why he wanted Beau. He made it seem like he wanted me too. That he and I were going to rule the world. He kept calling Beau his child.” Tears skated down my cheeks and I brushed them away. “Why would he want Beau? I don’t understand! He’s just a baby!” I cried.

Caeden pulled me back into his arms and stroked my hair, trying his best to comfort me.

“I don’t know why he wants Beau either. My guess is that the elders want Beau, not Travis.” His voice was surprisingly steady as he thought through what I had told him. “This is bad though. Based on the way they’ve disappeared, I’d say they’re going to make their presence known to humans soon, and we have to stop them.” His jaw was tight with tension and I hated that what I’d told him made him feel this way. But he had to know. We had a war on our hands.