Descending Darkness(72)

“Do you think that he’s found her?” Natalie asks.

“I don’t think so. If he did, he’d be able to bring her back. Considering that it’s been over an hour, and they’re both still there, means that he’s still searching for her.” I don’t want to think about other alternatives to that situation.

“Does time pass differently in the dream world?” Natalie asks. The only one of us that can answer that question is Bragden.

“I think it’s a little slower there. Liam tried to explain it to me once, but I didn’t really listen…sorry,” he says. “Depending on what’s going on, they could be gone for a while.”

“This sucks. I don’t like just waiting. I don’t like just standing here, not knowing what’s happening to them. I mean what if she gets captured again…what if they do something. There are too many what ifs…” Emma is starting to lose it. I’ve never seen her react this way before. Natalie reaches over and grabs onto Emma’s arm, calming her. “Thank you.”

Natalie won’t give me time to freak-out either. Every time my mind starts to wander, she comes over and calms me down. I walk back into the living room and sit down on the coffee table across from Ryanne.

I reach out and grab her hand. Her skin is very cold to the touch. Natalie reaches forward, touches Ryanne’s arm, and closes her eyes.

“She’s fine. She seems a little scared but also really proud of herself. She’s a little…confused, I think,” Natalie whispers and opens her eyes.

“How do you know that? Your power can work on her when she’s not…here…?” I ask her.

“Her emotions and feelings aren’t as strong, but I can still get a sense of them. Something’s going on, but she doesn’t understand it. She seems very confused.”

“Is she in any danger?” If she is in danger….Natalie reaches forward and grabs onto my arm again. A calming feeling instantly flows through me, removing all of my negative emotions. “Can’t you just let me worry a little?” I snap.

“No, because I know how you’ll react, and she wouldn’t want you destroying anything or hurting yourself,” she explains. Sometimes I forget that Natalie was usually there growing up. She knows me and how I’ll react in certain situations. She’s right, but it just feels wrong to feel this calm.

“She’s right, Colton,” Logan says. “Do you remember how you acted when she was kidnapped?”

Of course I remember how I acted.

“Calm down, Colton. We’ll find her,” David told me.

“How are we going to do that if we stay in here? She’s out there most likely being tortured by Dravin as we speak!”

“Claire said that she’ll be fine! I trust Claire and so should you.” I continued pacing the room. Why didn’t anyone else understand?

“Of course I trust Claire, but this was Dravin’s plan all along, and who knows what he’s doing to her. She hasn’t had enough training yet!” She hadn’t been trained like we had.

“We’ve searched those woods for days now and found nothing. If Claire says that she’s going to be okay, you need to trust that. Calm down before you hurt yourself.”

I reached out and punched a hole in the wall, tearing through the plaster and hitting the wooden frame beneath. The small bones in my hand broke from the sudden force. I cursed and turned around, looking for something else to take out my anger on. I didn’t know why I couldn’t calm down. Something inside of me wouldn’t stop until I knew that she was safe.

Logan rushed forward and attempted to heal my broken hand. I pushed him aside and stormed out of the room—angry at myself for not being able to do more and frustrated more than anything at the situation we were in again.

Snapping back into the present, I look toward Logan, “I had a reason to react that way. You saw how she looked when Liam brought her back…she’s already been through too much.”

“And it hasn’t affected her. She’s strong, Colton, and she can use her magic there. That makes her way stronger than everyone else. She’ll be fine.”

That is true. She can use her magic. She found that out in the vision, but will it be enough? We saw her in action at Jane’s house. I know that she’s fully capable of taking care of herself but for how long? She still grows tired from using too much magic. We’ve all seen her pass out from putting a shield up and trying to fight on top of that. None of us know what is going on in the dream world.

“What if she can’t get out of there? What if Liam can’t find her? Then what?” I ask.