Descending Darkness(75)

“Oh, he promised, did he? You can’t trust anything that man says!” Liam yells. He trusted this man, and now he is working for the enemy. I step closer to Liam, for protection and to comfort him.

Valdus takes a step toward us. Liam pushes me back further as he takes a step back. “Just give me the girl. I don’t want you to be involved in any of this.”

“I can’t do that,” Liam says.

“And why not?” sneers Valdus. Liam reaches behind him and gently pulls me forward, so Valdus can see me. He reaches down and grabs the pendant that hangs against my stomach and shows it to him. When Valdus eyes the necklace, he gasps and stares at Liam in disbelief. I watch as the pendant gleams from the moonlight that reflects off of its shiny surface. “You’re her protector?”

“Yeah, and I’ve seen what Dravin will do to her if he gets her. I’ve been through it. You know what it’ll do to me if it continues to happen,” Liam tells him.

I know that it physically hurts Liam every time I’m captured. He feels every bit of pain that I go through. I watch as Valdus seems to argue with himself. He cares for Liam; I can tell that much, but he wants to protect his tribe. I look up at Liam, who glances down at me and nods. I step closer to him and let him wrap his arms around my waist.

Dropping the shield, I pull more magic to the surface and push a little out, just enough to make it look like he tried to stop us. When he flies backward, I press myself closer to Liam and let him bring us back.





Chapter Twenty-Two




Colton

I look over at the clock ticking against the wall: 9:27 p.m. It’s been over two hours since Ryanne was pulled into the dream. Dravin could have gotten to her by now. Sitting on the coffee table, I squeeze Ryanne’s hand, willing her to come back to me. A small scratch is starting to appear on her cheek. I reach forward and lightly trace the line. Her arms and legs look a little red too. Logan can’t heal her, since she’s technically not here. What other injuries will she have when she wakes up?

Natalie has decided to keep her hand constantly on my arm, keeping me calm. She is sitting on the floor beside me, waiting for Ryanne and Liam to wake up. Emma is sitting in the chair with David. None of us like this. We don’t like feeling like there is nothing we can do.

Seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, I turn and see Liam starting to move. Jolting awake, he looks over to Ryanne on the couch. “She’ll wake up soon. It takes a little longer for her body to realize that it’s being forced awake.” He leans back and runs a hand through his hair. “Dang, she’s hard to find.”

“Is she okay?” I ask him. “Is she hurt at all?”

“Umm, she said that her wrist was broken, but besides a couple of scratches and bruises, I didn’t see anything. I couldn’t feel her there. I always got to the scene after she left. I finally heard her fighting someone and was able to run in front of her, but she barreled right into me, knocking both of us to the ground. Then Valdus showed up.” His eyes land on Ryanne again.

“You saw Valdus? So, he’s actually working for Dravin?” Bragden asks.

“Yeah, Dravin promised him that he’d protect the tribe if he helped bring Ryanne to him. He was trying to get me to give Ryanne to him, but Ryanne hit him with a little of her magic. Not enough to harm him, just enough for us to get out of there. Valdus used a lot of magic to bring a lot of the Gadramicks there, so he was in no place to fight. He wouldn’t have won even if he tried. ”

Ryanne starts moving. She turns her head to the right, so she’s facing us. Slowly blinking, she opens her eyes and looks straight at me.

“Hey, Ry,” I say, smiling down at her.

She slowly sits up, cradling her wrist against her chest. She blinks a couple more times and looks around the room. There are a couple scratches on her arms and legs and bruises on her shins and forearms. Based on her wincing, I assume that there are some under her clothes as well. Logan walks up behind her and starts healing her injuries. Looking back at me, she asks, “Do werewolves exist?”

David instantly starts laughing. “You were just attacked, and the first thing you say is about werewolves?”

“Yeah, so do they?” She is completely serious.

“No, they don’t exist,” I tell her. “They’re just a myth. Why?”

“Interesting…” she mumbles and thanks Logan. “ I just kept imagining the men who attacked me as werewolves because they kept growling at me. It was funny. My mind kept wandering.” Turning toward Liam, she says, “Thank you and…sorry I tried to fight you.”