Rylan's Heart (11 page)

“All we want is the girl,” one of her kidnappers said.

They were all tall, well over six feet, blonde and tattooed. There was something about them that kicked at a memory she refused to acknowledge.

“She’s not available,” Rylan stated coolly.

“You know what we are, Arbrin, give her up.”

“I know what you’re supposed to be and this isn’t it. Going rogue disgraces you and today it will cost your life.”

The first kidnapper threw a ball of fire hitting against a shield Rylan threw up.

“Imagine a glowing shield surrounding your body, Aviana.”

“While you’re doing that we’ll be carving up her.”

They reached into a void that appeared and pulled through the little girl she saw earlier with the pig tails.

The girl screamed as the second kidnapper pulled out a knife and sliced her leg. She knew that scream; it slammed into her with the force of a hurricane—Mckayla. Aviana screamed and tried to rush them. Rylan caught her.

“It’s not Mckayla. She’s not real.”

“Her screams sound real to me.”

The third kidnapper pulled a knife and stabbed her in her chest.

“You’re next and you’ll die just like her, screaming.”

Aviana fell to the ground sobbing. A part of her died when she saw that little girl die.

“She’s not dead, believe me.”

Nodding, she wiped her eyes. They killed her daughter. She would never be the same again, but she couldn’t think about that now. Every one of them would die. Slowly she pressed her arms down giving her leverage to get up.

Her tiny flame sprang to life in her hand, she blew on it and watched it dance across her palm.

“You took my life.”

“Not yet, but soon,” one of her kidnappers gloated.

“Some say ignorance is bliss but not for you.” Aviana’s voice held a trace of mysticism in it.

She blew on that flame dispersing it. Her tiny flame grew into a roaring fire that engulfed the three of them. She backed it with her iron will and the love she felt for her child.

The three screamed trying to fight the flames that slowly ate at them, decreasing their ability to use their gifts.

One of the kidnappers managed to breach the flame going for her neck. Rylan dragged her back, and stepping in front of her, took his flame and wrapped it around the exposed arm bending it back until she heard it break.

The kidnapper fell to the ground screaming. The flame consumed them.

Aviana dropped to the ground too, her body shaking.

“We need to get out of here.” Rylan’s gentle voice touched her while she shook.

He picked her up and began carrying her, reassuring her that Mckayla was ok.

“How could I leave her? What kind of mother am I?” her voice shook.

Memories of her waving goodbye when they left made her heart ache. Vick stood next to her with the other two children surrounding them but all she had wanted to do was run across the yard and scoop her up.

She raised pain filled eyes to his. “How could I have forgotten her, even for a minute?”

Recriminations rolled through her mind. She didn’t deserve to live. How would she go on? Images of Mckayla went through her mind. Her smiling or running to meet her. The feel of her daughter’s arms around her was so real all she wanted to do was sink into herself. Then the picture of a knife being plunged deep into her chest haunted her. She screamed as she was torn apart inside.

No job could replace what she lost. Her dreams were so useless; the ones that mattered had been seeing Mckayla grow up strong to have the life she desired. That small seed she nursed inside—having a family with Rylan as the father of her children—cried as the petals wilted. Her heart would be scarred forever.

“Aviana, open your eyes.”

They were back in the underground rooms. She looked at Rylan before sinking down on the table.

“Let me die,” she murmured.

“You heard the female, let her die.”

Rylan shot a scathing look at Voyager before running a gentle hand over Aviana’s face.

“Listen to me. I told Mckayla I would protect you and I will. I also told you Mckayla would be safe. I am not a liar! You have to get up or you’ll never see her again.”

“Leave her alone!” Voyager’s voice boomed, echoing through the space. “If she loved her child she would not let anything stop her from looking for her. She would turn over every rock to recover her body if she were really dead. But no, she would rather lie on a filthy table and wallow in her guilt. She was never a good mother and she will not make an acceptable soul-bond.”

How dare he! Her daughter was killed in front of her. Not a good mother? She was the best; she worked day and night for her baby’s needs, at times setting her needs aside to make sure Mckayla was taken care of. Mckayla, with the contagious smile and the bright eyes that never failed to make her day. What if she was still alive? Maybe this was a trap? One she had fallen for.

The Dares wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Rena was just as fierce as she was and her mate wasn’t anyone she wanted to meet in an alley.

And that Voyager! She would show him. Anger bubbled through her veins as she got up. He was right about the table though, it was filthy. She brushed herself off, finger combing her hair as much as possible.

“You!” she walked over to him poking her finger into his hard chest. “How dare you call me an unfit mother? I love my daughter. If you saw your child killed before your eyes you would have a momentary break down also.”

“Aviana, if I were to ever have a child who was killed before my eyes, I fear the world may not survive my wrath.” Voyager’s eyes changed just for a minute promising death to whoever dared to mess with what was his.

A shiver went through her. “What do we do? I’m ready to leave.”

“You have chosen not to soul-bond with Rylan?” Voyager asked.

Her eyes flew to Rylan whose shoulders squared when she looked at him. It was the sadness in his eyes that reached her.

“I didn’t say that.”

“This is a trial, if you leave before it is over the chance to soul-bond will be lost forever.”

She opened her mouth then closed it without saying anything.

“So many rules. I think the trial is about tearing you down, not soul bonding.” This came out low as she followed Voyager up the steps followed by Rylan.

Thoughts of the job she held for a few hours came back to her. It was what she always thought she wanted. A place where her brilliance could shine. The people around her who worked for her would be excited and maybe even a little awed by what she could accomplish.

It hadn’t felt like that at all. The work was something she knew she could do, but her life had felt empty. There were no real friends she could call. Even though she’d only been there for a day, a piece of her longed for something different.

The door that was forever open, screaming that she’d been cheated out of her perfect life, began to slowly swing shut. She didn’t have a choice about Mckayla, but she would never give her up to work in an office or to flaunt her intelligence.

The lingering question in the back of her mind was answered. Had she made the right choice? Yes.

They walked through the city that seemed to be deserted. Aviana walked up to Rylan and bumped her shoulder against his. He looked at her.

“Sorry.”

“For what?” he asked.

“For not believing you and for all the drama I just dished out.”

“There’s no need to apologize. You love Mckayla; I would expect nothing else.”

“I expect better of myself. Believing in another person has become harder for me. Every day I take care of her alone, and I thought that is how it would always be. It wasn’t easy for us and the world has its own problems. No one ever took the time to help. Then I find myself at Victor and Selma’s and everything seemed to change almost overnight. Friends and maybe even family came into my life. Mckayla’s laughter was like a balm to my tired soul. And then you were there.”

“Was that a good thing?”

“Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“Yeah,” his voice didn’t convey that he saw what she saw.

“It’s a very good thing. You’re so handsome; I can barely believe you’re real. But this is about so much more than your physical looks. You’re brave and domineering. I find I like both qualities. When you…” her cheeks heated. “When you had me pinned under you the other day, I’ve never been turned on like that. Until that moment, I thought I would never respond to a male. Instead of feeling scared or used, I knew you would keep me safe. I understood you for a few moments. Your pain and your rage.”

“I was sure I scared you away.”

“You didn’t. What would you do if I wanted to be on top and pin your wrist against the floor?”

“I’d give you a piece of twine to bind them together.”

“Why?”

“Because I trust you.”

She smiled as her heart did a little two-step. Trust was such a valuable feeling, one you couldn’t just award to anyone, and he trusted her.

“I trust you, too. I think we could have a strong soul-bond, but I don’t know how to do one.”

“Neither do I. We can learn together.” Rylan reached out to stroke the side of her face.

“We rest here tonight.” Voyager’s voice stopped them.

They were back in a wooded area; the city had faded to woods over an hour ago. The trees stood tall letting in a sliver of moonlight. There was a clear stretch of grass where they could rest. Voyager went to a tree and pulled sleeping bags from behind it.

He gave them a smile. “The trial provides.”

A picnic basket filled with sandwiches and chips as well as bottles of cold water appeared.

“Eat and drink, you will need your strength.”

“What else can happen to us?” Aviana asked.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Voyager looked at her.

She shook her head quickly and grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water. The sat in silence as they ate. She picked up a second sandwich not realizing how hungry she was. Rylan ate two more and several pieces of fruit before they cleaned up.

“Rylan you’ve been in my mind several times. How come I never get a glimpse of yours?”

“My head is a scary place.”

“I still want to see it.”

“You have my permission to come over whenever you want.”

Her eyes closed and her head lulled to the side as she fell asleep. Rylan turned to look at Voyager who was now standing watch.

“Wake me and I will take the next shift.” Voyager nodded leaving Rylan to reluctantly lie down. Sleep came fast drawing him into its cold embrace.

*~*~*~*

Aviana didn’t like this place. She closed her eyes and willed herself to stay awake, or at least have a happy dream. Upon opening them, she realized nothing had changed. It was dark; things she would see in a horror movie (if she ever allowed herself to watch them) moved around her. Listening for the spooky music, her hands went to her arms rubbing them.

Her knees shook; a whisper hit her ears and strummed the nerves in the back of her neck. If she didn’t move she would die. Every bit of her fight or flight reflexes were saying flight. Unable to stay still for another moment, she began to run. Her mind took over her feet, directing her, making her stay silent and in the shadows. I can’t do this, she screamed internally, unable to make an external sound.
You will if you want him to live.
It was the same response to everything she said. Every doubt she expressed was answered with the same refrain. Now all that was left was one vital question. Who was he and why was he dying?

Time passed, minutes, days, and months, perhaps years. She had no way of knowing. All she could do was run. Her lungs burned with the need to take an unhampered breath. Her legs were on fire. There was a stitch in her side and still she ran because his life depended on her reaching him in time.

Time slowed as her body came to a halt. No! She had to save him. Why had she stopped running? Run! Her body fell to the ground unable to go another step. She dashed tears from her eyes because she had failed, let him down.

Taking in big breaths of air she looked around. In the distance was a campfire. Who would want to camp out here? There were huge trees overhead whose branches looked like monsters in the darkness of night. Turning over, she managed to get to her hands and knees and began to crawl towards the fire.

The terrain was rocky, cutting into the palms of her soft hands and causing bruising against her knees. Head up, eyes on her destination she crawled, needing the warmth of the fire and what she hoped was good company to get her through the night.

Her gut told her to be careful. She should turn back but a force drew her closer. She was about to be one of those stupid women in the movies she hated who ran towards destruction instead of away from it. Listening for sounds she couldn’t hear anything, not even the sound of her body slowly crawling. Hopefully that meant whoever was ahead of her couldn’t hear anything either.

Lowering herself flat on the ground behind a huge tree, she looked into the camp. Standing close to the fire was a large structure with a little boy pinned to it. Next to him stood an alien—Sudir. Her brain supplied the name for her.

It stood with its four legs slightly elevated over the ground. Its back was to her so she couldn’t see the multiple eyes on the front of its face but she could hear him.

“Rylan,” it took its tongue and licked the boy.

The boy morphed and changed, became a teenager. The Sudir touched him slowly dragging his hands over his body.

“I so love the look of you chained and helpless at my mercy. What shall I do to you today?”

Rylan’s eyes were hard. His chin was jutted out. He looked like he was both in charge and defiant. The Sudir could do anything to him and still he would not be touched. Aviana’s heart went out to him. He endured so much and he was sharing with her, letting her take a look at his soul.

“I will break you. Bend you to my will. You stood strong all these years but in here you are still my prisoner. Never to see the light of day. Say something!” the Sudir yelled at him.