Reaching Retribution(13)
“He’s been taken care of,” he answers cryptically. I catch his glance toward Bragden, but I’m not completely sure what the look means.
“Oh.” I don’t think I really want to know what happened to him. Colton stops outside of the door, “Unless you want me to sit in your lap, this is your stop.”
I jump down and wait for him to get into the car. Before I step in, Tom comes up to me and wraps his arms around me, pulling me to him. “It’s good to have you back, Ryanne. Please be a little more careful though.” His chest rumbles as he speaks. I wrap my arms around his waist and promise him that I’ll try. With that he releases me, and I crawl into the car.
Since we have two more people, Emma and I are back to sitting in laps. Colton pulls me onto his as Tom starts the car. Lily is sitting in the back, between Incendia and Logan. “You okay?” I ask her. She seems a little scared, but hasn’t complained or questioned anything.
“So, that was all real?” she inquires.
I instantly know that she is referring to what happened when we were both dead. “Yeah, that happened.”
“I don’t understand. Why are you helping me now?” She turns toward Logan. “Why did you heal me? How did you heal me?”
“I think we should start from the beginning,” Logan says. For the next few hours, we explain everything to Lily. Like me, Lily had no idea that magic existed, so it took a while to explain everything. We all showed her our powers. I read her mind. Colton went invisible. David made her cell phone levitate and Incendia produced a ball of flames. We then told her about everything that has happened recently. Tom added in details when Logan forgot something.
“So, you had a vision of me dying again in the hospital?”
“Yeah. I get these visions because I’m supposed to change something. You’re meant for something bigger, and now you’re not stuck recovering in a hospital for the next couple of months.”
“What about my mom?” she asks. I bite my lip. There’s really nothing we can do for her mom. Logan’s magic only works on mages. His magic combines with theirs to increase their naturally fast healing times. Lily’s mother doesn’t have any magic in her. Logan explains to her about how our magic works, telling her that technically there is nothing he can do. She nods, but the sadness is obvious in her expression.
“What now?” she asks me.
“That’s a very good question, Lily. A very good question.”
Chapter Four
“We’re here,” Tom announces as we pull up to a small two story house along the coast. I turn and smile at Colton. I’ve always loved the coastline. The waves are quietly hitting the shore and even though all the car’s windows are up and the doors are shut, I can hear the sound of the ocean outside. Without saying anything, Colton leans forward and kisses me on the cheek, bringing me back to my immediate surroundings. A simple peck increases my heart rate and causes a slight blush to rise. Seeing this, Colton laughs and reaches past me to open the vehicle door. Tom extends a hand to help me up which I gladly accept. As everyone piles out of the car, I get a good look at the house.
Oh my gosh. Colton walks up behind me and wraps his arm around my waist. “Why did you just gasp?”
“Look at the house,” I whisper. He looks at the house, but doesn’t react like I did. I step out of his arms and walk to the back of the car. Opening the back, I search for my duffle. All of our bags look exactly the same. Finding my bag underneath all of them, I reach inside and pull out my old sketchbook.
Closing the back door, I flip through the sketchbook looking for the house I drew when I thought I was going to die the first time. The Prowler’s house is the dream house I drew. A Victorian home with a wraparound porch, peeling white paint, and a wooden swing sitting on the edge of the porch. My drawing is an exact replica of the house before me. The beach in the background looks the same too. There are sea gulls flying around, small shells line the beach, and foam from the ocean is hitting the shoreline. Everything is exactly the same.
I smile up at Colton. “We’re on the right track. We’re supposed to be here. I knew we would somehow end up here.” Tom walks behind Colton and looks down on the drawing.
“Interesting,” he mumbles.
Hearing the front door open, we all turn and see a man standing in the doorway watching us. Oh my goodness, that’s a big man. From where I’m standing, he appears larger than Bragden and more intimidating than James.
“What’s going on here?” he shouts out to us. His voice seems amplified. He’s not in a defensive stance, but his body seems prepared for an impending attack. I flinch as I sense the suspicion rolling off of him. Wait…I can sense his suspicion? Colton takes the sketchbook from my hands and places it back in the car.