Ancient Guardians: The Uninvited (34 page)

“I am unsure if I can endure this again. I cannot describe the distress it brings me knowing that I cannot help her.” He shook his head. “Harrison, if she was not feeling this on Earth, then the only answer is to bring her back. I would find a way for us to live there safely. However, because of the current situation in Armedias, I cannot do that for her.”

“Don’t let your emotions overrule your common sense. The answers are before you already. You understand that Reece loves you, and that is all that should matter. Until we find a way to fix this, you’re going to have to endure it.”

“You’re right.”

Harrison grinned. “I know. You must realize that Reece is unique, Levi. What happened with you inheriting the imprint of the map from her was quite phenomenal, so we shouldn’t be that shocked that it had some sort of effect on her. We’ll find a way to help her, you must have patience.”

Levi nodded in agreement.

Harrison stood, and Levi did as well. “Until then, let us return to our meetings. Unless, of course, you want to be here when she wakes and despises you once again?”

“I will stay with her. If Samuel needs me, send for me.”

“Very well. I wish you luck, my friend.” Harrison clapped Levi on the shoulder. “In time, it will all be okay,” he said, before turning to leave.

When Levi walked back into Reece’s room, he was startled when he saw the expression on her face. She was sitting up in bed, staring at nothing. When she noticed him in the doorway, her expression darkened with hatred.

Her eyes were black with anger; however, she managed to smile at him. She fidgeted with her hands wildly, and appeared to be in distress.

“How are you feeling?” he inquired softly, unsure of how he should approach her.

She stared at him for a moment. “I’m better than before, I think. My mood is shifting constantly, though. One minute I feel normal, and then out of nowhere, I am anxious and angry.”

“And now?” he asked apprehensively.

She tried to calm her fidgeting hands. “Scared to death.”

Levi approached her hesitantly; but when she opened her arms to receive him, he joined her on the bed.

“Please sit with me. I don’t want to get out of bed. I don’t want to see anyone. I really don’t want you to see me like this, but I need you. I don’t want to be alone with this darkness in my mind.”

“Darkness in your mind?” Levi questioned in confusion.

“Don’t ask me to explain it. Please, just stay with me.” She said anxiously.

“Is there anything I can get you to make you more comfortable?” he offered, unsure of what could help her at this point.

“No.” Her face was fraught with desperation. “I only want you with me.”

Levi brought his arm around her and she leaned into him closely. Levi could feel the tension in her as she held him tightly. Her arms were rigid as her fingers clenched his sides; he massaged his hand along her arm, hoping it would help her relax.

“Levi—you would never hurt me, would you?”

“What?” he said as he glanced down at her in shock. “Reece, no! Why would—”

“You wouldn’t?” She asked as her voice trembled.

“I would never consider such behavior toward you. Why is it that you would think that I would ever harm you?”

Her grip tightened and entire body shuddered. “I had another dream about you.”

“You have to understand, I would never hurt you, my love.” He said, holding her closer. “Are these the dreams that you spoke of?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “They don’t seem as scary this time though. What’s strange is that I have an irrational sense of lingering fear. I’m terrified, but I don’t know why.” She rubbed her forehead. “I need you to help me.”

Reece began to cry, and Levi ran his hand over her hair. “Tell me what you need me to do. I’ll do anything.”

She sniffed. “I don’t know how much longer I can handle being this close to you,” she said in a shaky voice. Her fingers dug into his side and she moaned. “You can’t leave me. I need you to help me. I’m so scared.”

Reece suddenly jerked away from him and pressed her fingertips into her forehead so tightly that they turned white. “Oh—my head; it’s killing me.”

“Let me get you different remedy for that.”

He moved to get off the bed, and she grabbed him in a panic. “NO! You can’t leave me. It’ll go away. Promise you won’t leave me.”

“I am not leaving you, my love,” Levi answered, and then called for Jasmeen to get Reece a remedy for her pain.

After Jasmeen returned, Reece stared at the bottle she held as if it would harm her. “Reece, it’s a salve that will help with the pain.” Levi said as he took the offered bottle from Jasmeen.

She shied away from it and pushed Levi’s arm away. “Please, don’t. I don’t want anything,” she said, as she looked at him fearfully. “Levi, I’m so scared.”

What is happening to her?
Levi thought in absolute confusion, wondering if somehow she was truly losing her mind. As distressed as he was seeing her in torment like this, he forced himself to ignore his emotions. The only way to help her was to try and get answers from her, and see if he could figure out what was going on.

“Tell me what it is you are afraid of.” he asked.

She leaned back into Levi’s embrace. “It’s so strange. It’s like all of this is hitting me in waves. Before, I didn’t recognize what was going on, but now I can tell when it’s going to happen.”

“When
what
is going to happen?”

“I will be terrified of you, I will hate you, and I will hate myself for hating you. I will want nothing more than to be away from you and this place. When those emotions hit me, I have to fight them. That’s what I’m doing right now, and I don’t know if I can keep fighting this.” She rubbed her head. “My head feels like it’s going to explode when I fight these dark emotions.”

Levi was at a loss, and before he could speak, she jerked away from him abruptly. He watched as she crawled on her hands and knees to the middle of the bed. She cradled her knees to her stomach and started to rock back and forth. She began to moan as tears streamed down her face.

Levi couldn’t bare the image of her torment. “Reece—” he said, as he reached out to her.

“Don’t!” she snapped. “Don’t touch me.” Her eyes were black with fury.

Levi lost track of time as he watched her rock back and forth, moaning in torment. He sat in silence and listened as she quietly mumbled to herself. He tried to discern what she was saying but was unable to.

Suddenly, Reece collapsed back onto her pillows, and her expression was now peaceful.

She reached her arm out toward him weakly, “I love you,” she said breathlessly.

Levi’s brow creased. “And I love you.”

She crawled back into his arms. “I am feeling so much better now. I think I may have fought it away.”

Levi ran his fingers gently through her hair, something still wasn’t right about her demeanor. “That
is
good to hear. Is there anything I can get you?”

“No, stay with me. Talk to me, in case it happens again.”

Levi looked down into her eyes and noticed the blankness in them.

“Levi, talk about something, please,” she said desperately.

“I wish we were still in Greece,” he answered. “Oh!” he said as he reached into his pocket. “Here’s your souvenir.” He laughed as he handed her the shell he retrieved from the ocean floor.

Reece looked at the shell and smiled faintly. “Thank you, will you place it on the table for me?”

Levi set the shell on the table, fairly surprised that she showed no interest in it.

Reece looked up at him, “So have they decided what is going on with that other world?”

“No. We still cannot decipher why they would wish to gather an army, as if we were planning to invade them.”

“If the Guardians chose to battle them, how would you fight them? How much better are the Pemdai warriors than theirs? Would you win?”

“Currently, we would not. Until Samuel calls in all the Guardians, we are outnumbered against their army. It is why we would never invade their lands at the present moment.”

“If you weren’t outnumbered, how would you fight them?”

“Armedias is similar in their lifestyle to the Pemdai. We would battle with swords and bows.”

“So you will fight with swords and bows?”

Levi became concerned by all the unnecessary questions Reece was asking of him, but still proceeded to answer her.

“We would mainly fight by the sword, if we had to. We are trained on the bow; however, it is not our preference.”

Reece laughed. “So you are not well trained in that skill?”

Levi pulled away and looked down at her. It almost seemed as though he were talking to someone else, and not Reece. “Why are you so overly concerned with the way we would battle Armedias? The Pemdai have no desire to battle, and we will not. I do not wish to frighten you with all of these unnecessary details. Is there something else we can talk about?”

Reece’s eyes were like flint when she jerked away violently and glared at him. “I think you should leave!”

“Reece you are no condition to be left alone.” he said sternly.

“I’m fine, I want to rest.” she answered.

Before Levi could respond, Jasmeen entered the bed chamber. “Simone is here to call on Reece.”

Levi stood from the bed, “Reece desires to rest—”

“Send her in!” Reece blurted out.

Levi looked at Reece in confusion as she smiled smugly at him. “You can leave now.”

Levi turned and exited the room without another word to Reece. When he encountered Simone in the sitting room, he looked at her darkly. “Reece desires your company.” he said flatly. “However, she is unwell, so I ask you to make your visit as brief as possible.” he commanded.

Simone nodded, “Of course.”

Levi studied Simone for a moment, “I’ll be in my father’s office if she needs me.” He said as he turned to leave.

R
elief washed over Reece after Levi left, and Simone walked into her room.

“Simone!” she said with eagerness as she got out of her bed. She gripped both of Simone’s shoulders in desperation. “I need your help. I need to leave Pemdas.”

Simone smiled. “I have a horse waiting for you.” she reached for Reece’s hand, and led her away from the doorway. “In an hour, set out for an evening walk. I will meet you out in the forest where the creeks divide, the location where you always take your walks.”

“An evening walk?” Reece asked. “This isn’t a game Simone, I have to leave, now!”

“Reece, the palace staff will notice you leaving. You must not arouse suspicion.” She wound her arm through Reece’s and walked slowly back to the door. “Now, simply set out for an evening stroll, as you’ve been known to do, and I will handle the rest from there.” Before Simone left, she instructed Reece wait ten minutes before following after her.

Reece spent her time waiting, writing in her journal. Ten minutes had passed before she left her room discreetly. No one was around, and she strolled out to the forest without being questioned.

As promised, Simone was waiting with a young man about Reece’s age, and a Guardian horse. Simone abruptly approached her. “If you still plan to leave, then you must not waste another second.” She looked at the man. “Make haste, Mr. Prather.” Simone said with a smile.

Reece gazed up into the man’s eyes, realizing it was Mark Prather from the Hamilton’s ball. “Mr. Prather, thank you so much for helping me!” she said desperately.

“Reece!” Simone snapped. “We waste time! Both of you must leave now!”

Mark Prather quickly mounted the horse, and offered his hand to help Reece. Once Reece was settled on the horse, Mark heeled the stallion, and they galloped rapidly through the forest.

It wasn’t long after they left that Reece felt the negative hold that had taken over her vanish. As the oppressive feeling left, her rational thoughts returned.
What am I doing?
she thought as they rode further away from the palace. She feared for her life, and had to get back to the palace somehow. She considered jumping from the horse, but they were moving too fast. Her body trembled with fear, knowing that she was in imminent danger. Her only chance was to jump from the horse. She released her grip on Mark, but gasped in pain when his clenched down hard on her wrists, pulling her tightly against him.

“Hold on, we are crossing over the barriers.”

“Where are you taking me?” she yelled.

Mark ignored her and then a bright light flashed, nearly blinding her. When her eyes readjusted, she realized that her surroundings had completely changed. “Where are we?” she demanded.

Without the glowing nature of Pemdas, she could hardly see anything. She started fighting Mark’s hold on her, but was unsuccessful.
Think, Reece. Don’t panic!

“Well—well—well!” she heard a raspy voice call out loudly, as the horse slowed to a walk.

“The plans were executed flawlessly, My Lord Visor, sir.” Mark proclaimed as the horse stopped. “You will be extremely proud of Lady Simone as well.”

Lord Visor? Michael Visor?
She looked around and noticed they were surrounded by an army of men.
I’m in Armedias!
she thought, as her heart started pounding. She screamed when she was jerked from the horse’s back, and her arm was twisted in a tightened grip.