The moment the door closes behind him, my gaze drifts to the keys lying on the floor which must have fallen from Eryk’s pocket. Leaning down, I grab them, tucking them into my own pocket.
"What are you doing?" Lei hisses.
"Quiet," I respond, my voice barely above a whisper. Lei’s gaze tracks me all the way to the window, which I slide open, a light spray of rain blowing in with the wind. "He's insane if he thinks I'm staying here. That man has something seriously wrong with him."
Lei and
The moment the group is gone, I fall to the floor in front of my mother, tugging at her binds."You're okay," I breathe, pulling the rope away from her wrists, wincing at the red marks that tarnish her skin. She’s shaking, although there is a steadiness in her gaze. "You're safe now."I’m not sure who those people were, and why they thought to tie my mother up like that, but if they thought I would come willingly with them, they are insane. At first I could have convinced myself that they are people breaking in for mother’s money, but their strange ramblings matched up with Eryk’s too perfectly, and now he is here, saving me once again.
An overwhelming feeling encompasses me.A feeling of falling has my eyes squeezing shut tighter, my heart nearly stopping as a sense of tension wraps around me, pushing my limbs closer to my body as I fall through a tunnel of darkness. Not once do I feel Eryk’s grasp leave my body, his finger’s only tightening on me as terrifying silence builds in my ears.And then, the tension releases, and my feet are touching the hard ground. I stumble forward a step, but Eryk pulls me back up against him, stopping me from hurtling face first into the ground.Rubbing my eyes, I push off him, looking around.
¬AvenThe air in the room goes ice cold."He's here already?" mother whispers. For someone she is telling me to trust, her face loses all it’s colour awfully quickly at the mention of this man’s name. My heart flutters in my chest as I grip Lei’s hand, glancing at her. She doesn’t look as petrified as me, but I suppose this man isn’t here to see her, but me.Eryk’s hand slips off the door knob as he faces my mother, looking grim. "Yes, and he is going to want to see Aven right away."
~AvenMy feet touch solid ground almost immediately after everything around me transformed into a vortex of darkness.I gasp, bright shining light assaulting my vision for a moment. When I am finally able to open my eyes, I realise I’m staring at the large expanse of an ocean, the dark blues in the distance framed by a sky of orange, sapphire and violet melting together as the sun sinks below.Yelping, I stumble back, my lowered gaze discovering I’m inches away from falling down a sprawling cliff and onto the pale sands below. A hand still grips me - Eryk - who stops me from tripping over my own feet.
¬AvenAn unbearable amount of thoughts flood my mind.There is no doubting a mate bond, the spark that we just shared. Stace is my mate...This complete stranger, a man who I have just met is my mate, and there is nothing that I can do to change that. Many in my position would rejoice, would be overwhelmingly pleased that a man as powerful, as undeniably attractive is their mate. But right now, I can’t feel joy, I can feel sadness or feel.I just feel numb.Stace watches me, careful not to speak while I process this. I can’t keep up w
Stace delivered us, including Eryk and my family, to an estate he argues is my own.I don't believe it for a second, or at the very least, I don't accept it. The place is beautiful, even in the shadows that have settled with night. It's not nearly as big as Stace's, but it is larger than Eryk's, stretching out widely at the edge of a cliff. It's close to Stace's, which is by design, I imagine, but it doesn't matter. Even though he is my mate, I can't accept something as incredible as this.Stace lingers for only a few moments before he disappears, leaving us all to allocate our own rooms, everything already furnished, a dresser filled with clothes that I imagine I’ll fit, thanks to the magic dwelling in this place. I try to ignore it, but I can sense it in the air, controlled by Stace no d
¬AvenImmediately, Eryk pulls me behind him,"You need to leave,” he growls to the approaching strangers. I examine them, trying to see if they have weapons. It’s quite possible they do, considering they are all wearing oversized coats despite the warm weather, each of them staring between me and Eryk, painfully out of place. Eryk has every reason to be concerned about their intentions."This is public land," one of them claims, taller than the rest of them with dark hair that reaches his shoulders. "We are allowed to be here."
¬AvenNightmares haunt me from the moment I close my eyes.It starts off as a blanket of darkness that shrouds me vision, my legs burning with pain as I battle through what feels like thick mud that I can’t see. And then a light explodes around me, and suddenly I’m standing on the beach with Eryk...and Stace. I stare at them, opening my mouth to speak, but no words come out. They are staring blankly ahead of themselves, and when I follow their gazes, I see a crowd of people staring back at us.And suddenly, they all alight in a burst of fire. I scr
~AvenI nearly laugh.Instead, I compose myself, focusing on each of their faces in turn. The look so serious, considering what they are asking me. I'm not going to pretend like I'm not confused about Stace and what he is done, but Senna, and this girl who claims to be my sister are the last people I want to associate with.I summon a deep breath, deciding what I need to do. "Let me go back.""I don't think so," Castiel laughs. So what, they plan on keeping me here forever? Stace and Eryk will already be looking for me by now, and they will know exactly
~AvenPain and confusion echo through my head as I slowly wake.My body is upright, allowing my bearings to come back to me quickly. On instinct, I pull at my arms, but my wrists are tied together behind the chair I'm seated on, although my ankles are free.Castiel leans against the wall in front of me, arms folded over his chest. Beside him, Senna, the smirk on her face rousing enough energy through me for me to snap fully back into consciousness. I've been kidnapped, and by the looks of the non-descript room I'm in, I'm not near Stace and Eyrk anymore.
~AvenIt's night by the time Stace brings us to Territory Five.Light strains my vision from a street lamp above me, my mind taking a moment to conceptualise everything around me. It's hard, shifting into a completely new environment so quickly with Stace's magic, however, I'm just relieved to be out of Territory four, and away from Lucille.By the ambience, beyond the small street we stand in, we are in some kind of village. Stace grabs my wrist and pulls me out toward the street, Eryk trailing closely behind me. When we emerge, I'm confused at the sight of a simple, small village with not too many people lingering about.
~AvenI stare at the rushing water, trying not to let the memories overwhelm me.I grip his hand, letting him pull me down the trail.Nerves flutter in my stomach, fingers quivering as I walk steadily along the path, trying not to stumble over and into the river below. The sound of the waterfall we walk toward roars in my ears, allowing my hurried breaths to go unnoticed to my recent boyfriend.This is going to be my first kiss.
~AvenStace lifts a branch up for me to step under, smiling.I'm not sure how I managed to let him convince me to follow him out into the forest in the dead of night. Maybe it's because the thought I laying in darkness alone is terrifying, so this is a welcome distraction from dark, inescapable thoughts."How are you feeling?" he asks softly.We have avoided the conversation the entire walk."Confused. Scared this isn't going to work," I admit. If I catch a
~AvenIt's dark when our feet touch the ground again.The icy burn of the winter wind vanishes, replaced with a different kind of chill. The air is so fresh my head spins for a moment, scented with fresh pine. We are in a forest. It's dark, and not just because it's night time. Silky rays of pale moonlight struggle through the canopy, the few that get through casting dappled light across the forest floor.This must be Territory Four."I don't want to talk about it," I exclaim, pushing away from Stace immediately. Even if we have managed to escape,
~AvenI'm not sure why, but I can't sleep.Thoughts of Stace, my family back at home and my father who is apparently still alive haunts me as I toss and turn beneath my heavy blankets. Eventually the rattle of the train wheels against the track and the groan of the wooden carriages drives me to the point of near insanity, so I throw the covers off, dress more appropriately and leave my room.In the back of my mind, what the stranger mentioned to me today lingers, drawing me down the train to the common areas.Everything is vacant, the hour so late everyo
~AvenI barely make it into the next carriage before I catch sight of Eryk.He’s pushing through a small crowd, either oblivious to their irritated protests or he simply doesn’t care. I stop in my spot, frozen under his gaze. I’m tempted to back up and make for the back of the train, but he catches up to me far too quickly.“You can’t just run away like this,” he snaps, grabbing my forearm. I tug away, rubbing the tender spot where his grip was too tight.“I thought I saw someone I knew,” I mutter under my breath, falling into step beside him as we walk back the way he came from.He fro
I'm wary as I step out of my room this morning.My hair is done, brushed out and laid carefully over my neck to cover the reddish purple mark that stains my neck. I'm not excited to face Stace this morning and talk about what happened last night. I'm not even sure if I know what happened...All I know is that I lost my senses and allowed him to quite literally sweep me off my feet.Keeping my head low, I wander out from the private rooms and into the common areas, eager for a drink of something...Anything to distract myself long enough to avoid needing to go visit Stace's room."Can I just get a coffee?" I ask, sitting down at a small bar area, nestling between