Descending Darkness (The Prophesized #3) (25 page)

“What time is it?” I ask him.

“It’s 10:00 a.m.”

“How long was I out?”

“Off and on for the last day and a half,” he tells me while pushing a couple strands of hair off of my face.

“I slept for that long?”

“Yeah, you needed to rest. You’ve used a lot of magic recently.” I lean back and rest against his chest again.

“I’m sorry you had to stay with me the whole time,” I whisper to him.

Stretching out my back, I scoot off the bed and slowly walk toward the armoire. Ugh, I’m so stiff. I grab some clothes and look over at Colton, “Do you want to take a shower first?”

“No, you go ahead,” he says.

I walk past him and enter the bathroom. Putting my clothes on the counter, I walk back into the bedroom and hug Colton, pressing him close to me. His arms automatically wrap around me. “Thank you for staying with me,” I say into his shirt.

Kissing the top of my head, Colton says, “You never have to thank me for that, Ryanne. I’ll always stay with you.”

“You should have woken me up or something. I didn’t need that much sleep.”

“No matter what you say, you needed that sleep. Your body needed to recover. You were exhausted, and you slept it off.”

“Are you ever going to say what I expect you to say?”

“Nope, now go take your shower,” Colton says as he playfully pushes me toward the bathroom.

“Roger that, Captain,” I salute him as I close the bathroom door and jump into the warm shower, letting the hot water awaken my sleepy body.

Throwing on my Avengers t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts, I open the bedroom door and tell Colton that he can shower. Walking across the hall, I head to Emma and Natalie’s room. I haven’t been spending much time with Olive recently. Their bedroom door is already open, and when I walk in, the first thing I see is Olive sitting on Emma’s bed, trying to get down.

Help?
Walking over, I grab her and walk back into my room. I can hear the shower running, so I know that Colton is already in. I sit down on the bed and release Olive, letting her walk around the mattress.
Emma mean.

I laugh. “You know she doesn’t mean to do that. She’s just forgetful.”

I know.

“I’ll come and get you every morning from now on, or you can sleep in here with us,” I tell her and lay down on my back on the mattress. Olive purrs and starts jumping across the width of the bed.

“What’s so funny?” Colton asks as he opens the bathroom door and pulls his shirt down. I hadn’t realized I’d been laughing.

Propping myself up, I tell him that Olive is being silly. He smiles and watches Olive for a few seconds. Crossing his arms across his chest, his upturned expression slowly falls and his gaze moves from Olive and focuses on me.

“What?” I whisper to him when he doesn’t say anything.

“You’re scaring me, Ry.” I push myself up and wait for him to continue. I can tell that there is more to that statement. “All this stuff keeps happening to you and it freaks me out every time you go into a vision or get pulled into the dream world. What if I never see you again? I can’t live with that.”

Something going to happen to you?

“No, Olive. I’m fine.” Turning toward Colton, I say, “It’s scaring me too. I want nothing more than to be a normal teenage girl, doing normal teenage stuff, but I’m not. Anything could happen to me, but I’ve accepted that. I’ve told you this before. I need you to promise me that if something does happen to me, you won’t do anything drastic.”

“I can’t promise that.”

“You have to promise me that, Colton!” I demand as I stand up and glare at him. I need him to promise me.

He stands his ground but doesn’t yell back. “Ryanne, I can’t lose you.”

I walk over to him and rest my head against his chest. “If something happened to you, would you want me to react drastically? Because I can’t lose you either.” I pause and let my statement sink in. I already know what the answer to my question is, so I continue, “Please promise me, Colton.”

Colton shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. His gaze moves over my head and toward the corner of the room, not looking at anything in particular. His green eyes brighten as they gloss over. I’ve upset him. I lean forward and kiss the underside of his jaw. Sighing loudly, he looks down at me and says, “The best I can do is say that I’ll try. But you have to promise me the same.”

“I promise to try as well,” I whisper as I lean into him again. This time, he wraps his arms around me and holds me close.

Colton worried?
Olive asks me.

That’s definitely an understatement. “When is he not?”

“When am I not what?” His chest rumbles beneath me as he speaks.

“Worried,” I say as he starts walking us toward the door.

“I’m always worried.”

“That’s what I told her.”

“Does anyone know how long the enchantment will last? I need to know how often I have to reapply it,” I say as I sit down on the couch. I just put the protective enchantment on myself. That is a weird feeling…it’s like permanently having a shield around me. Everyone turns to look at me, but no one says anything. I don’t know if they just don’t know or they’re just shocked that that is the first thing I ask after basically passing out for over a day from my magic use. “You know like you have to reapply sunscreen? No idea? I don’t have one either. I’m hoping that a little bell goes off that tells me when to redo the enchantment. Do you think that’s too much to ask for? It’d make things way easier. But I guess nothing we’ve been through so far has been easy, so why should this?”

“Ryanne, why are you rambling?” Emma asks me.

I pause and look down at the carpet. How do I go about saying this? Everyone will freak out. Colton starts rubbing my back because he knows that something is wrong. I turn toward Liam. “Valdus was right.”

“Ryanne,” he starts, but I interrupt him again like always.

“How am I supposed to help anyone when I’m only focused on getting away from Dravin? I don’t know what is going on in the world because we’re always running. I can’t run anymore. I can’t hide anymore. Dravin’s already proven that he can find me. I have to put myself out in the open and hope that everything works out. I have to prove that I’m not this ruthless killer that Dravin is telling everyone I am. I need to communicate with other mages. Find out what is going on in the world. Try and help out in any way possible. I was given all this magic for a reason, and it’s about time I start using it for good. I’m not supposed to constantly run. I’m supposed to be helping further mage’s integration into society. We are not meant to control others like Dravin wants. We’re supposed to help everyone. I,
we
, need a plan. Valdus was right about that. People will listen to those with a plan, and I don’t have any idea what I’m supposed to do right now.”

“You want to go out and find other mages? Is that what you’re saying?” Natalie asks.

“No, absolutely not,” Colton says. He stops rubbing my back and is now sitting with his fists clenched, trying not to go invisible.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Larkin says. Kyril agrees. At least someone is on my side.

“Of course you do! You were freaking Gadramicks. Dravin’s got everyone wrapped around his finger. If she goes out there, who knows what’ll happen!”

Colton disappears.

“Colton, I need to do something. What I’m doing right now is obviously not working. I’ve been captured so many times, and the last one scared me. They had me right there. If Valdus wasn’t there, they would have killed me. They would have extracted my magic and killed me.” I put it bluntly. I know it’s not helping the invisibility, but he needs to know the truth.

“I asked Liam to help keep you guys together if something were to happen to me.” I look at everyone. “Does that tell you how serious I am? Anything can happen. To any of us. I do not want to die tied to a chair with no way to defend myself. If I’m going to die, I’m going to go down with a fight. I don’t want to watch anyone else die because of me. I can’t do this anymore, and if I can find a way out of this situation, I’m going to take it. We’ve been training everyday for a reason, and it’s about time we put it to good use.”

The room remains silent after my speech. Colton is still invisible beside me. Everyone is staring at me, but I can’t tell what they are thinking based on their expressions. Natalie’s power would be helpful right now. I can read their minds…No. I’m not going to do that yet. I bite my lip and pull my knees up to my chest and wait for their response.

Nothing.

“Look, I know you guys think I bought a one-way ticket to crazy town, but—”

“You’re the leader we need, Ryanne,” Emma states.

“What?”

“
You
are the leader we need,” she repeats but doesn’t explain any further. Maybe she’s the one who bought a one-way ticket.

“I agree,” Tom says. I turn around and look at Tom standing in the doorway of the kitchen. I didn’t know that he was listening to our conversation. “Ryanne, you have a way to bring people together—to do something good. Your speeches unite people, give them hope and something to fight for. They’re quiet because they know what you’re saying is true. I know you don’t think you’re able to lead, but it’s what you were destined to do. You’re more capable than you know.”

I’m not capable of leading, but I know that someone has to do it.

“Look,” I turn toward the spot where Colton is sitting, “you found me and told me that I was the girl mentioned in the prophecy. Would that girl just sit around and let Dravin come to her or would she go out and find him herself? Would she stay hidden in fear and let everyone else do the dirty work? No, she wouldn’t. I don’t know if I can be that girl, but I need to try. I need to do something other than just sit around here and train. I need to help put an end to all this madness.”

“Ryanne,” Colton says as he becomes visible again, “you already are that girl. She’s not a separate person. You’re so much more than you give yourself credit for. I just don’t like that it always has to be you. Why do you have to be the one that’s always getting hurt? Why do I always have to watch you confront the Gadramicks while I can do nothing about it? How many times do I have to watch you run away from me and risk your life?

“Every time you go into a vision or get pulled into the dream world, I worry. I worry that something is going to come and take you away from me permanently. I worry that I’m going to wake up one morning, and you’re going to be gone. I worry all the freaking time. I understand what you’re saying, but it’s extremely hard for me. I know that you are more than capable of defending yourself, and you can probably protect yourself better than I could, but how would you react if you saw your small, 5’3” soulmate running toward men much larger than her?

“I’d hope that my soulmate was a little taller than that. That’s pretty short.” David and Emma laugh at my comment. I see Liam shaking his head out of the corner of my eye, but I don’t look over at him. I keep my attention on Colton.

“Ryanne, I’m serious,” Colton says as he reaches out and grabs my hand. I can see the pen marks still on his wrist. They’re faded, but still visible.

“I know you are, Colton. I’m serious too. I need to do this, and I need you there with me.” I lean forward and whisper in his ear, “You’re my anchor, remember?” I pull back and look away from his penetrating green gaze and turn around to look at Liam. “I need you there too. You’ve tried your hardest to protect me, and I know that I’ve not made it easy for you.”

“That’s an understatement,” he mumbles.

“And I’m sorry about that, but if that’s any indication of what the future is to hold, it’s only going to get worse. I need you with me too.” I look around the room, “I need all of you guys. When Jane was here, she called you all my little Avenger’s team, and I think it’s time for us to assemble.”

Colton

“I don’t like this,” I tell Liam as I watch Ryanne talk with Tom about what to do next. She’s standing behind a chair at the kitchen table while Tom is sitting.

“It’s what she’s meant to do, Colton.”

“I know. I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” I complain as I get up and walk toward my soulmate. She smiles at me but continues talking to Tom.

“Since we’ve been away for a while, it’ll be hard to find anyone specific. I have my connections, but at the moment, I’m not sure who to trust. I think our first option should be James. We need to see if he’s helping his brother.” Wrapping my arms around her petite waist, I instantly shoot down that idea.

“Colton, we have to know if he’s willing to help us when the time comes,” Ryanne whispers up to me.

“He attacked you the last time he was here. He broke your wrist!”

“But I got away. I’m stronger now than I was then. I fought Phillip who is basically the same size as James. I have you and Liam to help if anything happens. It’ll be fine. We need to know. His strength could be very helpful.”

“I don’t trust him, and I never have. What if it’s a trap?”

Ryanne turns around in my arms so she’s facing me. Because I’m standing right behind her, she’s literally pressed up against me. Tilting her head back, she looks up at me. “It’s a risk we have to take. We’ve overcome death, Colton.
Literally
. Are you telling me you’re afraid of a big guy with a wittle strength?” she teases and innocently bats her eyelashes at me.

If that’s how it’s going to be…“Do you realize where my hands are right now?” I ask her, while moving my fingers on her waist. She giggles and leans closer to me, trying to get away from my fingers. I’m in the perfect position to tickle her, but I refrain. I look over my head at Tom, who’s casually walking toward the door with a small smile on his face. If I turn around, I know that everyone in the living room will be watching us, but I don’t care. I turn so that I cover Ryanne from their watchful eyes.

I press my lips under her ear and wait for her reaction. She shivers under my touch and leans into me. She basically melts whenever I do this. “Promise me that you’re not going to go on some crazy superhero mission. Promise me you’re going to behave.”

“Mmhhhmmm,” she mumbles as I move my lips down to her neck.

“Promise me.”

She shivers again. “I-I promise.”

“Are you sure this is a good thing?” I ask Tom as I help throw some luggage into the trunk of the car. We’re getting ready to head out to find James. I’m still not so sure about James’s involvement in all of this, but Ryanne and Tom are pretty persistent on going to him first and working our way from there.

“I don’t know, but she’s right. It has to be done. Quit worrying so much, Colton. We’re all here to protect her. She’ll be fine. You’ve seen her in a fight; she’s much more prepared than when we first started training her. She’s doing what has to be done. The only way that we’re going to ever be able to live normal lives again is if we stop all this. If we take a stand. If we fight. Ryanne understands that.”

Dropping the last piece of luggage in the trunk, Tom places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “The mage part of you needs to override the soulmate side. You’ve trained your whole life for this moment. Since you discovered that she was the one, you’ve known that this is what she was going to have to do. She just accepted it faster than everyone else.”

“That’s easier said than done, Tom,” I tell him.

“I know, but what about any of this has been easy?”