Descending Darkness (The Prophesized #3) (30 page)

Colton

Tom leaves the vehicle to check into the hotel while the rest of us wait in the car. This situation couldn’t get much worse. I hear a gasp behind me, and Liam cussing. Natalie scoots closer to him. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? What did you see?” she starts shooting off questions. Liam looks around and then leans back in his seat.

“I was with Ryanne.”

I fly around in my seat and stare at him. “And?”

Tom comes back to the car. “Come on. We need to walk through the lobby, and then get everyone else in through a side door. We don’t want to draw too much attention.”

“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Liam says. A minute? Emma pushes me out of the car, silently telling me not to argue with him right now. I start to turn around to question him again, but she pulls me forward and through the entrance. Emma grabs the hotel keys from Tom and guides me toward the elevator. Now I know how Ryanne feels when everyone else pulls her everywhere. I don’t struggle against Emma, though I know that I could easily move away from her.

Scanning the key card, Emma pulls me into a room and pushes me toward one of the beds. I sit down and wait for everyone else to join us. “Don’t you dare go invisible, Colton!” She points at me as she next to me. Tom comes into the room, supporting Bragden. David is helping Logan hop into the room. Conner, James, Larkin, and Kyril are all able walk on their own, but they are obviously hurting. I can’t imagine how Ryanne looks. She’s so much smaller than these guys. I know that Bragden shielded her from the flying debris, but what physical injuries does she have?

Mr. and Mrs. Howick enter the room after everyone. “Liam, please tell me what you know,” I say as he sits down on the floor. This hotel room is big, but there are too many of us in here. Everyone quiets and waits for his answer.

“Ok, she
is
back at Dravin’s compound, but it’s not that simple. She’s being kept unconscious with dormirako, and because of that, she doesn’t know how bad her injuries are. She mentioned that her head was bleeding. I don’t think she wanted me to worry about her injuries. She’s scared. Apparently a doctor came in and took some of her blood to see if they can extract her magic, so we have a little bit of time while they run tests but not nearly as much as we need. Dravin thought of everything. We can’t go there without Larkin’s help. He can’t travel long distances until he’s healed and Logan’s too injured to heal anyone.”

We’re so screwed. Liam runs a hand through his hair and looks at me. There’s more, and he knows that I’m not going to like it. “Ryanne thinks that this was supposed to happen.”

“What?”

“Claire told her that we were the ones to bring about an end to the war while she was needed elsewhere. Ryanne thinks that her death will drive us to succeed in this.”

“If she dies, I’m done. I’m fighting for what happens afterwards. I’m fighting because I want a life with my soulmate. I’m fighting for her! I’m not going to let her stay in that compound with Dravin.”

“She can use her magic,” Liam says.

“What?”

“If she can wake up long enough, she can call for Larkin,” Liam says, “but that doesn’t mean that Larkin will be able to transport there and back. You know she won’t call if there’s a chance he’ll be harmed.”

“So, she can use her magic but can’t stay awake long enough to do anything?” I ask.

“Correct.”

I groan and go invisible again. “Colton, we’ll figure something out,” Tom says.

“Claire told me to keep Ryanne with me at all times, and I didn’t do that! I let her walk away from me. She said that Ryanne was in more danger than we knew about. What if letting her away from me changed everything? She wasn’t supposed to be in that car.
How
did they even know she was in the car? I let her out of my sight, and she was kidnapped again, and now they have their hands on her magic. She’s unconscious and injured, and there’s nothing we can do. They could kill her while we’re stuck here. She could…die,” I choke, “while we’re stuck here.” I’m glad I’m invisible. I’ve barely cried. The only person capable of getting that sort of emotion out of me is Ryanne. I can feel my eyes start to water at the thought of losing her.

“Larkin, do you have any idea where Dravin’s compound is?” Emma asks.

Larkin shakes his head. “Dravin wouldn’t tell anyone. There’s an enchantment on the compound, so you can’t find it. Since I’ve been there before, I can transport there, but I don’t know where it is specifically. It’d be easier to find if Ryanne called me. Right now, I’m sure that I could manage to go there, but I don’t think I’d be able to make it back with a second person.”

“I might know someone who can help…” Mrs. Howick suggests. The surge of elation that spreads through me is enough to bring me visible again.

“Who?”

“My son, Travis.”

“You have a son?” James asks.

“Yeah, he’s twenty-seven. I had him when I was young. His gift is similar to Larkin’s, but he can only go to places he’s been before unless someone calls for him,” she looks toward Liam.

“I can tell her,” Liam says, “if she’s still out.”

“Travis!” Mrs. Howick calls. A man transports into the room next to Mrs. Howick. She smiles at her son, who’s staring at the room around him, shocked at the amount of people crammed into this small area. He looks younger than twenty-seven. If I had to guess, I would have said he was around Bragden’s age.

Closing his open mouth, he turns and looks at his mom. “What’s going on?” he asks.

Mrs. Howick goes on to explain our situation to her son. He nods and is able to keep up with everything. Like all mages, he knows of the prophecy. He’s also aware that Dravin is looking for Ryanne. “So you,” he points to Liam, “can tell her to call for me if she wakes up?”

“Yes, but only if you’re willing to help.”

“Of course, I’ll help. I want to stop Dravin as much as the next guy, especially after what he did to my sister. You can tell her.” Liam leans his head back against the wall. Natalie grabs his hand as he closes his eyes. His body goes slack as he travels to the dream world and hopefully to Ryanne.

“Does anyone have a picture of her so I know what she looks like?” Travis asks. Emma pulls out her phone and flips through her pictures. “I don’t want to be grabbin’ the wrong gal.”

“You have a picture of her? She doesn’t let me take any pictures of her,” I say.

“I have the pictures of her from the wedding,” she explains as she hands her phone over to Travis. “You can flip to the next one too.

His eyebrows rise as he looks at the photos. He nods as he flips to the other photo. “Wow, she’s a pretty little thing,” Travis says. I turn and glare at him. Emma hits my shoulder.

“She’s too young for me, man. Calm down,” he says as he hands the phone back. “So if she does call me, what should I expect?”

“We don’t know,” I say as Liam starts moving again. That didn’t take long.

“I told her. They’re trying to wake her up, so I couldn’t tell her much more than that. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. If they’re waking her up, that could mean they found a way to extract the magic.”

“Or they could be torturing more information out of her,” I remind him.

“Or that.”

*****

“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey.” Dravin’s trying to shake me awake. I can still feel the dormirako running through my bloodstream, trying to pull me back to sleep.

“I’m a vegetarian,” I mutter.

“That’s okay. It’s a stupid saying anyway,” he says.

“Is there a reason why you’re waking me up? Because this is the most sleep I’ve gotten in a long time,” I tell him as I roll my head in his general direction. “It’s a shame that I wake up, and I’m living in a nightmare.”

Ahh, there’s the Ryanne I know.
“I’d be a little nicer to me, if I were you. I literally hold your life in my hands.” If only Dravin would leave then I could call for…Travis? Travis Howick? I think that’s what Liam told me.

“You have an enchantment on you, don’t you?” Dravin asks. I just stare at him.
We can’t detect any magic in her because of an enchantment.
“Don’t you?” he yells. He throws his arm back and slaps me across the face. Because of the dormirako, most of my body is still numb, so that definitely didn’t hurt as much as it should have.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him innocently as he starts pacing the room.
I can’t take the dormirako away because she’ll be able to use her full powers, but she’d feel more pain if she wasn’t on it. What to do?
Does Dravin not know that I can read his mind? I thought Natasha would tell him that much.

Dravin turns and glares at me. The throbbing in my head intensifies. I cry out as the pain gets worse. Images don’t flash across my mind like they used to, thankfully. “The sooner you tell me, the sooner this will all be over with.”
I’ve never heard of an enchantment being put on a person, but it would explain why no one has been able to find any of them.

“I didn’t know it was possible to put an enchantment on a person,” I say through the pain. Dravin tenses as I say exactly what he was thinking.
Is she lying? I can’t tell.
He huffs and slaps me across the face one more time. I can definitely feel that one which means the dormirako is starting to wear off.

Dravin clasps his hands on either side of my neck, cutting off my oxygen supply. Waiting until he knows that I’m about to pass out, he says, “I’ll be back. You better be more willing to cooperate then.” Releasing me, he storms out of the cell and slams the door. I instantly start wheezing as my lungs try to get more oxygen.

Water, I need you.
I call my magic into my limbs. If I can get these bindings wet enough, I should be able to slip my hands out.
More.
I rip my right arm out of the bindings and untie the one on my left arm. With my arms free I reach down for my left arm and rip the needle supplying the dormirako out. Holy mother of all things holy, that hurt. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. I cringe as blood starts dripping out of the puncture wound.

Ignoring the pain, I bend down and untie my legs. When free, I run over to the door: locked. Shoot, so much for getting out of here on my own. I’m still pretty tired. I back up and open my mouth to call for Travis, when the cell door opens again. Dravin walks into the room and glares at me when he sees that I’m out of the chair. I instantly throw up a shield around me. The doctor that took my blood walks into the room after Dravin. When he sees me standing, he gives me a small smile. What is going on?

“That’s a clever little trick you learned there,” Dravin says as he walks toward me. “Once that dormirako wears off, you’ll fully feel the pain from the accident. You won’t be able to stand there, dear. That head injury of yours is more serious than you think.” My head is already throbbing, so I don’t doubt that. The ringing is starting to return to my ears.

Magic, I need you again.
I feel the familiar vibrations of my magic coming to me. I push it toward my hands and envision lightning streaming out. Not just bolts, but a stream of electrical energy. Dravin’s eyes narrow as he tries to use his power on me. I can feel his magic trying to penetrate my shield, but it remains intact. When his face returns to his usual mixture of anger and boredom, I drop the shield and shoot the magic toward him and the doctor. They both yell as the magic hits them. I keep my hands up as I move toward the door. When I push more magic out, they scream and both fall to the ground. I stop the flow of magic in my left hand and keep the right flowing strong. When I make it to the door, I stop the onslaught of magic and open it.

“Don’t let her get away! Grab your daughter!” Dravin yells, but I’m already out of the room. I stop running. Daughter?

I gasp and fall to the ground as the pain in my body worsens. The dormirako is definitely wearing off. I can hear shuffling in my cell. Someone is trying to get up.

“Travis Howick,” I wheeze as the room starts spinning. I can’t focus on anything. “Travis Howick,” I try again, but it comes out quieter than the first time. The ringing is back. Everything aches. I prop myself up on my elbows and try to move down the hall, but have no luck. I can’t move at all.

A pair of arms lifts me off the ground and cradles me against a chest. I try to fight, but my body won’t have it. The pain makes it impossible to move. I start whimpering as my body begins to shake.

“You’re going to be okay,” someone whispers to me. I close my eyes and shut out my surroundings. I’d let Dravin have my magic if he could make the pain stop.

Colton

Logan gasps as the bone in his leg sets back into place. What would usually take a few minutes to heal has taken Logan almost an hour to accomplish. “I’ll never get used to that feeling,” he mumbles. He’s starting to look a little better. Bragden is resting against the wall. The whole left side of him is bruised and bloodied. Emma and Natalie just picked out all of the glass shards that were embedded in his skin. They turned off all their squeamish tendencies when someone needed their help. I’m pretty impressed.

Larkin is sitting in the chair, resting his head in his hand. With his elbow propped against the table, he’s trying not to wince as he moves. Kyril and Conner look okay. I think they are more shaken up than anything.

Ryanne hasn’t been gone for that long, but it feels like forever. Liam is starting to grimace, which means that Ryanne is awake. “Where?” I ask him.

“Everywhere. I have a killer headache and my left arm and leg…I’m not really sure. My stomach.” He shakes his head. “She’s in a lot of pain; I’ll tell you that.”

“Do you know if it’s from the accident or because she’s being attacked?”

“I don’t know,” he says.

Travis jumps up. “I think she’s calling me,” he says as he disappears. I jump up and stare at the spot where he was just standing.

“If she’s calling that means that she got away from Dravin,” Natalie says hopeful.

We all look toward Logan. “I can try, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to do anything.” He stands up and tests his leg. He can put pressure on it now. Logan limps over to me and waits. None of us know what condition Ryanne will be in when she gets here.

We don’t have to wait long to find out.

Travis transports back into the room holding Ryanne. Emma and Natalie both gasp when they see her. I clench my jaw to keep from saying anything. She is completely limp in his arms. Her head is lying at an odd angle across his arm; her long hair is caked with dried blood from a cut on her head. Her head rolls to the side, showing even more dried blood that had fallen from her ear onto her neck. The right side of her face is swollen, and there’s a handprint there, so I know it happened while she was at the compound. Her left arm is dripping blood which is probably where the IV was attached. There’s a deep gash on her left leg that’s still bleeding. It looks like that will need stitches. Almost every visible inch of skin has either a cut or bruise.

Travis places her down on the bed and steps back. Everyone moves out of the way as I walk to her. “She passed out. When I got there, she was lying in the hallway, shaking. I’m assuming that the effects of the dormirako wore off, and she’s actually feeling the pain.”

I slowly move her head, so I can see the wound. She doesn’t react to my touch like she usually does. I sit down on the bed next to her and move her hair out of the way. The wound is still bleeding a little. Shouldn’t it have stopped by now?

Ryanne groans and slowly turns to the side. Grabbing her head, she screams the most blood curdling scream I’ve ever heard. Everyone flinches and takes a step backward. The pain on top of everyone’s thoughts has to be unbearable. “Ryanne, Ryanne, babe. Calm down,” I say.

Logan rushes forward and places his hands on her head, trying to lessen some of the pain. I know that he won’t be able to heal everything. She stops screaming but begins whimpering. The wound on her head closes, and her ear stops bleeding. The skin on the gash on her leg starts to come together, but before he can finish, Logan falls back gasping. He can’t do any more at the moment. She goes limp under his hand again. I pick her up and lie her down correctly on the bed.

“Did you see what happened to her?” I ask.

“Not really, her memory is really fuzzy. Dravin slapped her across the face, which was why her cheek was swollen, but that’s all I got. She doesn’t really know what happened. She remembers the car crashing into them but doesn’t remember anything between that and waking up strapped to the chair.”

“Is it because she hit her head or because of the dormirako?” I ask.

“I couldn’t tell,” Logan says honestly while glancing up at me with dark shadows under his eyes. With a shrug, he sits down and exhales loudly before shaking his head.

Tom takes a step forward. “We should let everyone rest. Colton, David, and Emma, you guys can have this room. Everyone else, out. We’ll figure out the arrangements in the hall. Logan, you and Liam should take the room next to them, just in case Ryanne wakes up.”

“I’ll come back when I can finish healing her,” Logan promises as he leaves the room.

Walking back into the room, Tom looks between us and says, “I’ll bring up your suitcases in a little bit.” His eyes land on Ryanne lying on the bed. With a frown and a slight shake of the head, he moves out of the room and shuts the door again.

When everyone is gone, I realize how tired I actually am. This has been a long day. Ignoring David and Emma’s prying eyes, I crawl across the bed and pull Ryanne toward me. In her sleep, she sighs and snuggles into my side. There’s my Ryanne.

I pull the blanket over us and turn off the light on the table. David and Emma still have a light near their bed. Closing my eyes, I let myself finally sleep, knowing that my soulmate is safe in my arms.

*****

Silence.

That’s all I hear. Where’s the beeping? I stretch my legs out, sliding them down the smooth fabric. I can move? I roll onto my back. Ugh, my whole body is stiff and sore. The surface I’m lying on moves. Something brushes against my forehead, moving my hair out of my eyes. I flinch away from the touch. Opening my eyes, I look at my surroundings. Where am I? I’m not in Dravin’s compound anymore; this room isn’t as bright. I slowly turn my head to the right, looking into a pair of green eyes. Colton? I draw my lips together to keep from crying out, but I feel the tears well up in my eyes. Seeing them, Colton reaches forward and pulls me to him. I fist my hands into his shirt and let my tears soak the thin cotton fabric.

Rubbing my back, Colton kisses the top of my head. “It’s going to be okay, Ry.

“I never thought I’d see you again. I feel like a herd of elephants trampled over me,” I mumble as I lean backward.

Colton grimaces and traces something on my forehead. I wince as he hits a tender spot. “I’m sorry,” he says after he sees my reaction. I reach up and kiss the underside of his jaw. “We’re not alone, babe.”

“I don’t care. Kiss me,” I tell him.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he says as he leans down and kisses me. His kiss is very gentle. He’s very careful not to hurt me. I’m thankful for that, but I need more. I move my hands from his shirt up to his neck and pull him closer to me. He chuckles against my lips but kisses me harder.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Ugh, Logan has bad timing,” Colton complains as he pulls away and gets out of the bed. I sit up but have to close my eyes as the lights and colors in the room start to blur together. I try to block out my surroundings to stop the dizzy spell that overcomes me.

“Are you okay?” Emma asks me.

“Just a little dizzy,” I say as the ringing starts again. I reach up and touch my ear. It’s moist. Pulling my hand away, I open my eyes and look at it. I gasp at the red liquid covering my hand. Logan walks over to my side of the bed and grabs onto my hands. I look up toward him, but I’m not sure which one is actually him. I see multiples of everything in the room. The numbing sensation of his magic flows through me offsetting the pain.

I close my eyes and let his magic heal me. All the pain starts to leave my body. It’s like a storm. When it’s here, it causes a lot of damage, but once all the damage is done, it slowly leaves until there is no longer any proof it was there in the first place. I sigh as I start to feel better. My head is no longer throbbing, and the ringing has stopped. The aches and pains in my stomach and legs recede until I can no longer feel them. Without opening my eyes, I pull Logan forward and hug him. “Thank you,” I whisper into his neck.

“Anytime, sleeping beauty. Anytime,” he says into my hair. I pull away and look around the room again. We’re in a hotel. That much is obvious. Instead of asking questions, I crawl out of bed, hesitating when my feet hit the ground. I don’t want to fall when I start walking. When my balance seems decent enough, I walk toward the bathroom without saying anything to anyone. They seem to know what I need.

I start undressing before I even have the door closed, but I don’t care. I need this shower. I turn and glance at my reflection in the mirror. I have blood dripping down both sides of my face, one from the wound on my hairline and the other from my ear. There is also dried blood on my arm from the IV and streaks of dried blood caked to my leg. I’m surprised Colton didn’t destroy the hotel room when he saw me.

I try to make the shower quick, but when you’re covered in blood, there’s almost no way to make it fast. And quite frankly, the warm water feels amazing as it cascades down my body. I let it wash away all the physical evidence of my capture.

Wrapping a towel securely around my body, I use the bathroom door to cover me up the rest of the way. I know that there are probably others in the room by now. “Colton?”

Getting up from the bed, Colton walks over to the bathroom. “Yeah?”

“Are there any clothes for me to change into?”

“Umm,” he looks around the room briefly before Emma hands him my duffle bag. Instead of just handing me the bag, he brushes past me and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. “Ry, how are you feeling? Be completely honest.”

“I’ve been better,” I say. I’ve learned that there’s no point in lying to Colton. “I’m still a little shaky, but my head’s not throbbing, my ear’s not bleeding, and the room isn’t spinning anymore. That’s a good thing, I guess.”

He reaches forward and pulls me against his chest. I don’t even care that I’m only wrapped in a towel. I wrap my arms around his waist and let him hold me. He rests his chin on the top of my head. “When I heard that car crash into you,” he starts.

I lean back and put my hand up to his lips, silencing him. “Colton, there’s no reason to go back there. Don’t think about it.”

“I yelled at Tom,” he whispers. “I can count on my right hand how many times I’ve yelled at him.”

“Why did you yell at him?”

“Because he wanted to continue with the plan instead of searching for you right away.”

“He was right. You know that there’s a chance that I might not come out of this situation alive. I’ve cheated death too many times. This isn’t an episode of Supernatural. I mean if I could bring Sam and Dean here—”

“Ry.”

“Sorry. That vision is just one possibility for the future. It can still change. I’m going to do everything I can so it doesn’t, but there’s always a chance. If something does happen to me, you have to continue with this fight. You have to push forward; otherwise all of this would have been for nothing. Don’t let it be for nothing, Colton.”

“If I lose you,” he starts.

“Don’t think like that,” I say. “There’s no point. Unless Dravin captures me again, don’t think like that.”

“Dravin’s not going to capture you again,” he says—his deep voice low with conviction. I wouldn’t be so sure of that, but there’s no point being the negative-nelly.

“Exactly.

Someone starts knocking on the door. “Unless you’re having crazy sex against the bathroom sink, which I know you’re not, because I can hear you talking, can you hurry up? I gotta pee,” Emma yells through the door. I laugh and step away from Colton.

“Emma!” I hear David say from the room.

He opens the bathroom door and walks straight into Emma. “She has to get dressed,” he tells her.

“I don’t care. I’ve seen her naked before. Move!” she pushes past him. A confused look crosses Colton’s face as I shut the door. “Poor guy. He feels like he’s missing out.”

I search through my duffle bag for a fitted black t-shirt and some athletic shorts. I have a feeling that today is the day. I’m well enough to heal Logan the rest of the way which will allow him to heal everyone that’s still injured. As Emma washes her hands, I try to fix my hair, but it’s already drying curly, so I leave it.

I walk out of the bathroom and barrel into a rather large man. I don’t recognize him. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I say as I crane my neck up to see him. He looks slightly older than Bragden. Sandy blonde hair and eyes so blue the summer sky would be jealous look down at me.

“No need to apologize, miss,” the man says with a deep southern drawl. Finally someone who I can imitate! He sticks out his hand. “Travis Howick,” he introduces himself.

Travis? That names sounds so familiar, but I’ve never seen this man before. Travis…Travis…Tra…“You saved me.” He smiles at me, the left side of his mouth rising slightly higher than the right. Dimples and all, the smile gives me all the confirmation I need. Instead of shaking his hand, I give him a hug. I never used to be a huggy person, but so many of these mages have saved my life. A hug is more appropriate than a handshake. “Thank you,” I mumble into his shirt. His chest rumbles from his laughter.

“Ryanne gives the best hugs, doesn’t she?” asks Bragden.

“Sure does. Never had a better one.”