Descending Darkness(68)

“Because you’re amazing,” I tell her. Shaking her head, she turns around and grabs some work-out clothes. “Maybe you should be reading some of their minds in moments like that. You’ll see what everyone else sees.” She throws her clothes on the bed and faces me.

“It was just a song.”

“It’s not the song that caused everyone to act like that. It was the girl singing it.”

“We could have totally had a High School Musical moment there, but no one joined in. Apparently everyone forgot to read their scripts,” she says as she walks toward me. She stops when she is standing in front of me.

Reaching out, I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She shivers slightly under my touch and takes another tentative step toward me. Reaching out, she places a hand on my chest, over my heart. My heart is racing from her close proximity. She smiles and leans forward, placing a small kiss on the underside of my jaw.

She laughs against my skin as she feels the small groan I was trying to contain. It drives me crazy when she does that. She wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head on my chest. “Thank you.”

I wrap my arms around her. “For what?”

“For being you. Keeping me grounded. For helping me with everything,” she whispers.

I push her back and look down into her eyes, “Ryanne, you never have to thank me for that. Ever. I’m always here.”

“Well, thank you for always being here,” she says with a sly smile. She steps out of my arms and grabs the clothes. Smiling over her shoulder at me, she walks into the bathroom to change.

I change into my training clothes and look toward the bathroom door. Ryanne is still in the bathroom, changing. She is taking longer than usual. I lightly knock on the door. “Ryanne, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Go downstairs. I’ll be down in a minute.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go,” she shouts back. Something is up. Since I’m not going to get any answers from Ryanne, I guess I’ll have to settle for next option. I need to talk with Liam.

Entering the kitchen, I find him leaning against the counter. He doesn’t look too good. “Ryanne?” I ask him.

“I don’t know. I just feel strange. Something’s going on, but I don’t know if it’s me or her.”

“I think something is wrong, but she won’t tell me.”

Liam winces and says, “Something is definitely wrong.”

“Colton!” Emma yells.

I run out of the kitchen and into the living room. Emma is standing on the bottom of the stairs with her arms outstretched to keep Ryanne from falling. She’s a couple steps up, gripping the handrail, with a pained expression on her face. Her body is shaking. If she wasn’t holding onto the handrail, she’d probably fall down the stairs. When she starts moving down the rest of the stairs, I move through everyone and move toward her.

When she makes it to the bottom stair, she gasps and let go of the handrail. Falling to her knees, she starts panting. “Ryanne, what’s wrong?” Everyone is starting to crowd around us now.

“They’re pulling me back,” she whispers. She grunts and leans forward, falling against me. She is violently shaking now. I pick her up and carry her over to the couch.

She has a vacant look in her eyes; they seem to be glazed over. She is looking in my direction, but she’s not looking at me. “I c-c-can’t fight it. P-pull too…strong.”

“Pulling her back where?” Logan asks.

“It’s her vision. It’s happening,” Liam says. “Valdus is pulling her back.” She whimpers and stops shaking. Her head rolls back as she goes limp in my arms. “Ryanne?” I ask. No response. “Shit.” I lay her down on her back on the couch and stand up.

There has to be something I can do. Anything.

I rack my brain trying to think of something to help in this situation. Nothing. There is nothing I can do, but there is something Liam can do. “Liam, are you able to go to her?”

“I can try, but I won’t be able to find her unless she needs help or tries to contact me.”

“It’s worth a shot. That vision wasn’t the whole scene. It only showed part of it. More happens, and she may need help.”





Chapter Twenty




The dream fields. The dream fields. I am hoping that if I just continue to repeat this, I will end up there. I don’t want to end up in Dravin’s compound again. I’ll be so screwed if that happens.

Umph. I stop falling and land on my back on the hard ground. Oww, that could have been more graceful. Pushing through the pain, I jump up and look around. I am in the middle of the forest with tall, dark trees surrounding me. Spinning around in a circle, I don’t see anything else. Just trees. Thankfully, it’s not Dravin’s compound. I pause and wait for a moment. I’m here...so, now what? How does this benefit Dravin in any way? What am I supposed to do? Throwing up a shield around me, I start walking. I don’t know where I am, so I don’t know where to go. I just walk.