Reaching Retribution(30)

She sits down, but her eyes don’t leave the TV. Chris starts to say something, but Ryanne instantly shushes him. “She’s into Superhero films?” he whispers.

“Oh yeah,” I tell him.

“Interesting. I would have pegged her as a romantic comedy girl.” Ryanne makes a gagging noise at his comment. “I stand corrected.”

“I can stand them, but they’re not my first option. Now shhhhhhh,” Ryanne says as Nick Fury appears on the screen. For the next two hours we watch The Avengers. Ryanne quotes many of the lines of the movie and laughs at all the funny parts before they happen.

“This is my favorite part,” she says as she lightly hits my arm. Mark Ruffalo had just shown up for the end battle sequence. “That’s my secret, Captain. I’m always angry,” she whispers along with Bruce Banner.

“You’re too cute,” I whisper to her as I lean back a little. Ryanne curls into my side and smiles up at me.

“You know who is also cute?” she asks.

“Chris Evans!” Emma yells from across the room.

“Emma is delusional, Colton. Don’t listen to her. I was going to say Hemsworth. She just forgot his last name.” She puts a finger out and stops me. “You’re cute too; don’t worry.”

“It’s a good thing you added that last part. I may have had to tickle you otherwise.”

“I’m learning,” she mumbles and she leans back against me and returns her attention to the end of the movie.





Chapter Nine


We all train for the next couple days. Now that I’ve released my magic, I don’t feel as overwhelmed. It’s much easier to contain the thoughts and emotions. I still have all my magic, but it’s not stuck in me anymore. It moves freely around me, but only acts when I will it to. It listens to me completely. Natalie has helped me control the emotions. Since those are stronger than thoughts, it took a little more practice to have complete control, but I quickly got the hang of it. I can call them to the surface whenever, but I can’t hear them unless I want to.

To strengthen my magic, I select a strong emotion such as anger or love and wrap it around the strands of magic. This magnifies the strength of them. With practice, I do believe that I can stop Dravin now. I’ve noticed a difference in my abilities and I know that Dravin won’t know what hit him.

Logan and Chris have been helping Lily train. She’s gotten better, but still needs some work. Considering she’s only been training for four days, she’s a very quick learner. Tom could also have something to do with that. It’s all very encouraging, but I know this isn’t going to last for long. It can’t. We’re going to have to go back out and find others to help us again.

“How much longer do you think we’ll stay here?” I ask Colton as I walk out of the bathroom, drying my hair with a towel.

“Not too much longer,” he replies honestly. “Though I wish we could. It’d be nice to relax for a little while.”

“Yeah, it’s like how things were before; only there are more of us now,” I tell him as I step in front of him.

Colton takes the towel from my hands and tosses it lightly on the bed. Putting his arms around my waist he starts swaying. “What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, he rests his chin on my head and starts humming. I wrap my arms around his waist and lean into him. Under my ear, I can feel his steady heartbeat. I step closer to him as his arms tighten around me and start swaying with him. I love these moments with Colton. I don’t know how many more moments we’ll get like this for a while.

His chest vibrates under my cheek as he continues to hum. Colton always knows what I need. I’ve needed this alone time with him for a while now. I just want him to hold me and let me know that everything will be okay. That we’re going to be okay.

Hearing a knock at the door, we both stop moving. With a sigh, I lean back and look up at my soulmate. I don’t want him to answer it. His eyes meet mine before he gives me a small smile and steps away from me to answer the door. My heart swells with my love for him. I bite my lip to keep my girly sigh in as I watch him walk away. Opening the door, he quietly talks with Tom. I can’t hear anything they are saying. I could read Tom’s mind, but since they’re being quiet, they don’t want me to hear their conversation. Leaning against the doorframe, Colton starts shaking his head, obviously disagreeing with something Tom just said.

I let my eyes travel over Colton’s long wavy hair down to his broad shoulders. Even wearing a t-shirt, I can see the defined muscles in his back leading down to a tight narrow waist. With his arms crossed, I can see the bulge from his flexed biceps—the same biceps that were just wrapped around me.