Reaching Retribution(82)

I catch Zahtri’s angered look right as my feet are lifted off the ground and I’m flying backward. Time seems to move in slow motion. Zahtri watches me as I’m thrust backward and land on the hard rocks, rolling three times before coming to a stop on my back. I can’t breathe and can’t hear through all the ringing in my ears. It sounds like I was suddenly transported to a busy, bustling city. There’s a lot of indiscernible noise around me. The world around me begins to spin as the clouds open up and rain down on me.

Everything goes black.





Colton


“We knew this would happen, Colton,” Liam yells as he starts fighting another Gadramick. There are less of them here now. A couple chose to leave after Ryanne attacked Dravin, but we’re still pretty close in numbers.

I elbow the man I’m fighting in the solar plexus and kick his temple when he doubles over. “I know, but I thought she’d still be here. I thought I’d be able to know if something happened to her. Right now, she’s fighting against Zahtri and none of us know what’s going on. What if she’s hurt? What if she needs help?”

“Trust her, Colton,” Natalie yells as she ducks a Gadramick’s punch. I hear someone scream to me left. I turn right as I see Emma unleash a whip on some unsuspecting Gadramicks. She sure is having fun with her new power.

Magic is flying around me in all directions. I see fire moving to my left, so Bragden and Incendia must be over there. Larkin transports in behind me and starts fighting a Gadramick.

“She has three people she can call if she needs help, Colton,” Natalie says and then screams as she flies across the field. Liam whips around and zeros in on the Gadramick who attacked his soulmate. Larkin and I step out of the way as Liam runs toward him. The man’s eyes widen as he tries to run, but Liam is quicker. Liam may not have Bragden’s size, but he’s much more intimidating and you don’t want to make him mad.

I rush over to Natalie, who’s still on the ground. I roll her over and she cries out in pain. At first, I don’t see any obvious injuries until I see the dark blood seeping through her black clothing.

“How-how bad is it?” she asks. I slowly lift the edge of her shirt up and try to keep my face calm. There’s a lot of blood coming from the wound. I look around the field. Both Logan and Liam are in the thick of the fight. There’s no way for them to get to her. Honestly, I don’t think she’ll be able to be healed by them anyway. The majority of them are using dark magic.

“It’s not that bad,” I tell her hoping to keep her calm. I need to move her out of the fighting and off to the side. Dr. Arden runs over to me and crouches down next to Natalie.

“I can help her,” he whispers as he looks around. He’s still working for Dravin; why would he try and help me? “You’re Ryanne’s soulmate. I can help.”

He’s doing this for Ryanne. I don’t know if I can fully trust him, but I do need his help on this. There’s nothing I can do and I know that Natalie won’t make it much longer. Dr. Arden bends down and picks her up. She bites her lip to keep from crying out. She’s in a lot of pain. Dr. Arden cradles her against his chest, before turning back to me. “Cover me,” he shouts as he starts walking toward the compound.

I follow closely behind, fighting off any Gadramicks that try to move toward us. I don’t know how Dr. Arden knew I was there since I’m still invisible, but I’m grateful nonetheless. He turns toward me as we make it to the back door of the compound. I reach around him and open it up, letting him enter first. He rushes past me and starts running down the hallway.

Kicking open the doors to his lab, Jedrek places Natalie down on the table and rushes to the opposite side of the room. I think about Ryanne and slowly feel the invisibility melting away. Grabbing onto Natalie’s hand, I turn her head so she can look at me.

“You’re going to be okay, Natalie. I promise. You’re going to be fine.”

“I can’t feel my legs,” she whimpers. “Why can’t I feel my legs?”

I lean down and kiss her knuckles, choosing to not answer her question. “You’re going to be okay,” I repeat as she starts shaking. She’s so pale. I recognize this amount of paleness because I’ve seen it so many times on Ryanne. I look toward Dr. Arden, who’s frantically searching through his cabinet.

“Will you tell Liam that I love him?” she asks me.

“Natalie, you can tell him yourself. Nothing is going to happen to you.” I look toward Jedrek again knowing that I shouldn’t promise her that. I said the same thing to Ryanne before she died. She’s not going to make it much longer.