Descending Darkness(39)

Kyril slowly reaches out and rolls up the sleeves of the sweatshirt. When her arms are exposed, he grabs onto them and closes his eyes. Similar to Logan, a look of concentration mars his features. I don’t notice any immediate changes in her demeanor. Nothing is happening. Can he not heal her? He lets go of her arms, but Ryanne doesn’t move. Kyril takes a small step back but remains close, watching Ryanne.

Ryanne inhales deeply. Her eyes flutter open and land on Kyril. “Do you ever wear a shirt?” Her voice isn’t as hoarse as it was earlier. I reach up and feel her forehead; she doesn’t have a fever anymore.

“Don’t ask him that. He’ll go put one on,” Emma says. Ryanne laughs and slowly moves off of my lap, but doesn’t go far. Instead, she leans into my side, and I wrap an arm around her shoulders.

“Thank you,” she tells him.

“You’re very welcome,” he whispers to her. Patting her knee, he stands up and walks back near Larkin again.

“How was he able to bring her there when she was awake? I know they have a dream-walker, but how?”

“Dravin was able to get a very powerful dream-walker to help him. He doesn’t need physical contact with someone to bring them into the dream world. He can go into your mind and see the person. He saw Ryanne through Dravin’s eyes and was able to bring her through like that.”

“Valdus Hamza?” Bragden asks. Liam’s eyes widen as he stares at his brother.

“He wouldn’t,” Liam says, but Kyril is already nodding.

“It was him, but when he saw what Dravin did to Ryanne, he left. He said that he wouldn’t stand by and let him do that to someone.”

“Who’s Valdus Hamza?” Ryanne asks Liam.

“Our tribe leader. He’s the one that trained me. He’s very powerful. One of the most powerful dream-walkers.”

“But he won’t be helping Dravin anymore,” Kyril says and starts shaking his head. “The amount of truth serum he gave to Ryanne could have killed her. She’s small and that amount was enough to make any man fall in agony, screaming the truth. It would be too much for you.” Kyril points to Bragden.

“He gave her more because the first time she was there, Ryanne was able to fight it,” Larkin says.

“Well, I don’t see how he expected me to tell him anything. It felt like my insides were trying to claw their way out of me—like everything inside me was slowly ripping apart.” She shivers and moves closer to me. “Shoot.” She jumps up and runs back into the bathroom. She isn’t as shaky or weak as before, but she shouldn’t still be getting sick.

“I thought you healed her?” Emma asks as I follow her into the bathroom

“I healed her fever which was making her sick, but she still has the truth serum in her, which she needs to get out because it’s too much for her body to absorb. I can’t do anything with that,” I hear Kyril say. I grab her hair again.

“Go, you don’t need to see this.”

“Ryanne, I’m not leaving you, so stop asking me.” I’m serious, but I keep my voice light. Now is not the time to get angry. She needs me here, and I am going to be here for her. She leans forward and heaves into the toilet again. Emma walks into the bathroom and hands me a hair tie. Ryanne leans back and rests against the wall. She looks stronger, but I can tell that she is still sick. I hand her the hair tie, and she quickly throws her hair into a messy bun.

“Go talk to Kyril. I’ll stay in here with her,” Emma says. I look back at Ryanne, and she nods at me.

“Ryanne, I’m not leaving you. I just told you that.”

“Would you rather stay in here and watch me puke my guts out, or would you rather get information from Kyril? He’s going to have to leave soon because Dravin’s going to get suspicious of his disappearance. We need him, Colton.” What she’s telling me makes sense, but I still don’t want to leave her. With a dramatic sigh, Emma grabs my upper arm and shoves me out of the bathroom. I slowly walk back into the living room. All eyes turn to me as I sit down on the couch.

“How’s she doing?” Logan asks me. I am about to answer when the sound of Ryanne getting sick again fills the room. I grimace and turn to Logan. There’s your answer. Emma must have closed the door because the sound is muffled now.

“What’s going to happen next?” I ask Kyril. “Is Dravin going to come after her again?”

“He’s not going to stop until he finds her. Is there a protective charm on this house? I know Larkin’s been trying to mask her magic, but it’s difficult with the amount she has.” I glance at Larkin. He always tells her that he can’t hide her magic to try to avoid any reckless actions on her part. For just this instance, I’m glad that he’s lying to her.