Tommy's mouth dropped open. He hadn't thought it was possible for someone's experience at the hands of the Teacher to be worse than Nate's. The man had suffered unimaginable pain and mental torment. Only with Joe's help, and an abundance of love, had Nate become the joyful man he was today.
"Roane was one of the Teacher's special projects. He wasn't even allowed to associate with the rest of us. The Teacher kept him locked up in solitary confinement for-" Nate made a quotation gesture in the air with his fingers- "his own protection."
Tommy wasn't surprised in the least when Joe walked up behind Nate and wrapped his arms around the smaller man. Joe was Nate's rock, everyone knew that. He was also fiercely protective of his mate.
"I doubt I would have even known about him if he hadn't started visiting me in my dreams." Nate suddenly chuckled as he kind of looked off into empty space. "In dreamspace, as he calls it, Roane is actually quite the character. He has a wicked sense of humor."
"Nate, if this is going to be too hard on Roane, we need to find another way. I want Elliot back but not at the expense of another person." Tommy reached down to grip a small handful of Elliot's soft fur. "Elliot would never forgive me."
"I will help."
Tommy glanced up at the softly spoken words to see a small, thin, brown-haired man standing in the kitchen doorway. Levi stood protectively behind the man, Tommy's mother just beyond Levi.
"Roane?" Tommy asked.
The young man nodded and stepped farther into the room. Nate let out a glad cry and raced over to hug Roane. Joe growled and hurried right after Nate. Tommy chuckled when Nate rolled his eyes and stepped back into Joe's embrace.
"Neanderthal," Nate said.
"And?" Joe chuckled.
"It's good to see you happy, Nate," Roane said.
"It's good to be happy."
"How can I help your friend?"
"Oh." Nate pulled away from Joe to walk over and stand next to Tommy. "This is my brother-in-law, Tommy, and his mate, Elliot."
Roane nodded and stepped closer, but not too close.
"Something happened and Elliot shifted into his wolf form. He won't shift back and the doc thinks he needs to shift to heal properly. We thought you might be able to help us reach Elliot."
"I might, but I can't promise anything."
"Roane, I have to be honest with you," Nate said, "I'm not sure Elliot is still in here."
Tommy's fingers tightened in Elliot's fur. "He's still here," he growled. He flushed when Roane paled and looked over at him. "Sorry, Roane, I didn't mean to sound angry. I'm just tired of people saying Elliot is gone. He's not. He's just having a problem coming home."
Roane seemed to watch him intently for several moments before finally nodding his head. "It's good that you believe that. You'll need that belief if you hope to reach your Elliot."
"Do you really think you can help me reach him?" Tommy had doubts. Hell, he had doubts about all of this psychic crap. If it wasn't for Nate, he would have believed it was all nonsense.
"I can only try." Roane frowned, the corners of his lips turning down. "How long has he been like this?"
"Since yesterday."
"Have his responses been usual wolf responses?"
"Uh." Tommy glanced at Nate, then Joe. He had no idea what Roane meant by that.
"Has he been acting like you would if you were in wolf form?"
"Oh, yeah, for the most part," Tommy replied. "He knows we're mates and he's very protective but he's also protective of Nate and my mother."
"Just the three of you? Is that normal?"
"There has been some, uh, issue with the rest of my family accepting our mating. Nate and my mother have readily accepted Elliot. The rest of my family has not. Elliot pretty much doesn't want anything to do with anyone that hasn't accepted him."
"I think I can understand that." Roane glanced around the room, looking slightly anxious when his gaze fell on the doctor. "I'm going to need a quiet place to work. Is it possible for Elliot to be moved to one of the bedrooms, or will that hurt him too much?"
"If we're careful, I think he can be moved."
Tommy wasted no time. He leaned down and scooped Elliot up into his arms and carried him out of the kitchen. He could hear the footsteps of others following behind him. Tommy didn't care who joined him as long as one of them was Roane.
Tommy carried Elliot up the stairs and down the hallway to the guestroom he used when he stayed over, the same one he and Elliot slept on last night. The bed was still unmade, so Tommy waited while Nate quickly pulled the sheets up then gently laid Elliot on top of them.
"So, what now, Roane?" he asked as he looked at the little man. "How do we do this?"
"I need one person to stay in the room to keep an eye on us in case-"
"I'll stay," Levi said, stepping into the room. He crossed his arms over his chest as if daring anyone to disagree with him.
A small smile crossed Roane's lips before he nodded and turned back to Tommy. "You need to lie down on the bed next to Elliot and you need to be touching him somehow. That will help you reach him.
Tommy kicked off his boots then crawled up onto the bed to lie down next to his mate. He reached over and grabbed a handful of Elliot's fur, giving it a gentle squeeze, then rubbed his hand down Elliot's hip.
"Okay, now what?"
"Levi, can you move this chair closer to the bed?" Roane pointed to a tan wingback chair that sat near the window. "I need to be able to touch Tommy."
Levi didn't look happy about it, but he did as Roane asked. Roane immediately sat down then nodded toward the door. "I need everyone to leave except for Levi."
Tommy watched the room empty of people except for him, Roane, Levi, and Elliot. Once the door had shut, Roane turned to look at him, holding out his hand. Tommy took it, nervous about what was going to happen but willing to try anything to get his Elliot back.
"Close your eyes and we'll begin."
Chapter 10
Elliot hummed softly to himself as picked at the edge of his shirt. He tried to keep his eyes on the soft fabric, but every once in awhile he glanced up and the horror of the abyss surrounding him filled him all over again.
The world around him was in shades of black and grey, piles of rubble, big granite rocks, and dark dirt. Even the sky above him was grey. The only color seemed to come from the occasional eruption of fire and lava.
He sat on a ledge overlooking a river of fiery red lava. Its source seemed to come from a distance away, a waterfall of lava falling down the side of a grey stone cliff. Elliot didn't know what was beyond that burning waterfall. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Elliot imagined this was what hell looked like.
He sat curled up against one particularly large boulder, his knees pressed against his chest. He had yet to try and explore the cavern behind him. It was dark and eerie with strange sounds coming from deep inside.
Elliot didn't know how long he had been sitting there. It seemed like forever. He didn't know how he had come to be in such a place either. He didn't remember ever doing anything so wrong that this nightmare would be his punishment.
He had just wanted all of his pain to end. He didn't realize that meant he would spend the rest of his life in a hell like this. Elliot clenched his fists until his nails dug into the palms of his hand. Was this hell any better or any worse than what he had been in before? Elliot just didn't know.
A sudden noise at the back of the dark cavern made Elliot's heart pound rapidly in his chest. He turned to look into the black nothingness. Elliot swallowed with difficulty and found his voice. "Hello? Is there someone there?"
Elliot scrambled back until he reached the edge of the cliff when a figure began to take shape out of the darkness. He pressed one hand against his chest, afraid that his thundering heart might jump right out of his chest.
"Please, who are you?" Elliot could hardly lift his voice above a whisper as fear filled him. "What do you want?"
"Elliot."
The voice was like an echo from an empty tomb, rough and hard. It scared Elliot as nothing else could. He glanced over his shoulder to the river of burning lava below him and wondered how much it would hurt if he just fell over the edge? How long did it take to die in lava? To burn alive?
"Elliot."
Elliot pressed himself back against the cavern wall as he turned to look at the shape walking out of the darkness. Disbelief filled him as the shape took form and slowly became the one person Elliot didn't want to see the most.