Awakening: A Timeless Series Novel, Book Four (28 page)

Shadows lingered outside the glass partition separating Callon’s bedroom from the rest of the loft. He glanced over his shoulder.

“They’re waiting.”

Callon helped me sit up. A bout of dizziness overcame me as I slid my legs off the bed. His arm came around my hip and he helped me stand.

“You’re weak. It’s going to take a few days before your powers are restored. Marcus nearly killed you.”

I nodded
my understanding, and slowly we moved closer to the edge of the glass partition. Daniel was pacing back and forth, his hand pushing back his hair. His head lifted and he ran to our side, pushing Colt back.

Callon stepped back as Daniel crushed me in his arms, and I held on just as tightly.

“I’m sorry, Daniel,” my voice shook with the raw emotions. “I never meant to harm you.”

“It wasn’t you,” he murmured into my shoulder
. “It was never you.”

“I thought I killed you.” My throat grew tight. “I thought I’d lost my brother.”

“Never.”

We held each other, neither wanting to let go. We were both
alive, we both had survived another round. I drew back, and Daniel’s bright smile quickly faded. He saw it in my eyes, knew all this happiness was only short lived.

I stared at his neck, the pink scar that now remained. I’d caused him great pain
but Skylar hadn’t been so lucky.

“I killed Skylar,” I whispered,
as tears beaded at the back of my eyes. “I—I didn’t mean to, but it was my hand that ended his life.”

Colt stepped closer, pulling me from Daniel and pressed me close.

“Nakari told us,” Colt said quietly. “We know Marcus used you. You wouldn’t have harmed him otherwise.”

Callon moved closer, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

“It’s over now, Cheyenne. He can’t control you anymore. You put your barriers up. It’s not going to happen again.”

I heard Colt and Callon’s words, but it didn’t take away the fact that I’d done it. That Skylar had died by my hands…and yes
, I’d created barriers as Callon said. But what if Marcus could break them down again as he had so easily before? Then what?

“I know Cheyenne needs her rest,” Nakari spoke up. “But we’ve got to get back and start planning our battle strategies.”

Colt helped me to the sectional, and Nakari sat on the glass table in front of me. Darrien and Jahlem moved behind her. A fireplace that I’d missed earlier crackled with flickering flames.

“You’re looking better,” she gave
me a faint grin. “At least now I won’t have to worry about you blowing away in the wind.”

I reached out and touched her hand.

“Thank you.”

She nodded.

Colt’s arm came around my shoulder, pulling me closer, and Daniel sat at my feet. Callon disappeared around the glass partition and returned with a blanket. He sat beside me, drawing the blanket up and around me.

Callon’s fingers laced in mine. Warmth, not that of my element, but real warmth from his touch filled me. I squeezed his hand.

“You said get back. Where are we going?” I asked.

“Montana,” Colt answered. “Back to the cabin
. The family’s waiting there for us.”

I blinked, caught off guard.
More than just those in this room were waiting for my return.

“They want me back?”

Colt’s icy blue eye met mine, and a smile perched on his lips.

“Of course they do. The moment we figured out you ran
, Nakari and Skylar went searching for you. The rest of us left the mine once Daniel could travel. While Nakari and Skylar searched for you, Daniel and I went looking for Callon.”

“But Brogan said I’d killed him. I ran because I couldn’t live with myself knowing you’d blame me…”

“It was a lie, Cheyenne,” Colt said, his fingers tightening on my shoulder. “Brogan never said that. You heard what Marcus wanted you to hear. He fed you lie after lie until you thought they were the truth.”

“I didn’t run to him,” I said. They needed to know I didn’t purposely
return to him.

“We didn’t think you did, Chey,” Daniel said. “No one thought you did.”

“And we’re extremely grateful Darrien and Jahlem kept you safe,” Colt added. “They told us what took place at his compound, sweetheart.” He leaned his head against mine. “I’m so sorry you had to live through it.”

A shiver raked me as the dark memory of Marcus
came to me, his cruelty and mixed personalities flooding my thoughts.

Callon’s hand tightened over mine.

“Let it go, Cheyenne. Don’t dwell on it, or it will only unlock doors for him again.”

I knew Callon was right
. I needed to dwell on the here and now. I needed to focus on the fact that no matter what I’d thought, my family hadn’t given up on me. They searched for me, and some sacrificed everything so I could be here now and continue to fight this battle till the end.

I glanced out the arched windows,
where the dark skies revealed the city lights. I had no idea how long I’d rested, but my strength was returning. By morning, things would be different.

Time seemed to stand still as we quietly sat
, absorbing the moment. Soon, all too soon, we’d return to Montana, and the final steps of our battle would be planned. I’d be reunited with our family, and see their grief and remorse when I told them about Skylar.

I stared at the dwindling flames of the fire
. So much loss, and so much more yet to come. Our grief was only starting; many would likely lose their lives in the battle, many that put their trust in me, in the Kvech, only to have it fail…

A very real chill prickled my skin, and I turned towards the arched windows. My breaths grew heavy
. Something wasn’t right.

“Cheyenne?” Colt asked
, grabbing my arm as I stood, my eyes not leaving the night skies. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Callon stepped in front of me, breaking my concentration. His eyes narrowed. “What is it?”

“He’s here,” I whispered.

Darrien and Jahlem leapt to their feet, heading towards the entry.

“Here or nearby?” Callon demanded.

I closed my eyes
, trying to sense his presence again.

You can’t hide, my angel,
Marcus whispered.
I’m coming for you…

I gasped. He’d spoken to me again.

“Cheyenne?” Callon grasped my shoulders.

“Nearby.”

The entry door closed, and Nakari jumped to my side, a coat and shoes in hand.

“I’ll get her to the SUV
. You three leave now.” Nakari pointed towards the door.

Callon hesitated.

“Go!” she commanded. “I’ve got this!”

I scrambled to get my boots on, not bothering to tie them, and Nakari helped me with the wool coat.

“How much time do we have?” she asked, her jaw growing tight.

“Maybe five, ten minutes
. I don’t know.”

“It’ll have to be enough.”

She jumped us to the window overlooking the park, and then turned to face me.

“He can’t control you now, Cheyenne,” she
assured me. “We’re going to make him run in circles.”

“He spoke to me again, Nakari,” I said.

“It’s only because you focused on him, nothing more.”

I nodded, but
I wasn’t completely sure if that was the answer.

“Stay here,” she said. “I’ve got to let them know our plans.”

Nakari disappeared from sight, and I studied the landscape. This wasn’t any ordinary park; this was something that spanned a great part of the city, not unlike Central Park in New York City. Dark shadows illuminated by the city lights appeared on the horizon. We only had minutes now…

Nakari appeared again and took hold of my hand.

“We’ve got this,” she assured me again. “Just hold on. It’s going to be a wild ride.”

Chapter 22

Nakari and I landed on the sidewalk in the wintery air. I studied the trees where I’d seen shadows moving. Nakari jumped us into the park, heading straight for them. I glanced back
, watching our silver SUV leave the street and drive off into the night. A bell chimed in the distance…four a.m. At least we’d have the advantage of night skies for another hour, but it could work to Marcus’s advantage too. I could only hope Nakari knew what she was doing.

“You do realize I don’t have full use of my powers,” I said,
feeling the wind whipping through my hair.

“Don’t need it,” Nakari replied. “I just want to capture their attention for a little bit.”

“Why?”

We stopped beneath a
lamppost, adjacent to a snow-covered path.

“Diversion to get the boys away.”

I narrowed my brows.

“But what if Raina’s here?”

She shook her head. “You took care of that, Cheyenne. She hasn’t forgotten about your mother. She wants her freedom just as much as you. She won’t help Marcus.”

“But he controls her, Nakari, like he controlled me.”

“You heard Colt. His powers are weakening, which is why he needs you, his power source. Without you, he can’t control everything he used to. Your marriage to him did more damage than you know.”

So my mother was right, marrying him was the only way. She saw that it would reduce his powers enough to lose control over Raina and his other allies, like Darrien and Jahlem. We stood a chance…maybe.

Nakari’s hold on my hand tightened. I heard paw pads running in the snow. Marcus was desperate; he dared to bring the Tresez out into the city where they could be seen. But Nakari also had a bit of desperation in her too; she was willing to jump us around in public.

“Hold on,” she said, her gaze focused on the horizon. “We’re going in.”

The cold wind whipped over us, causing a chill to run down my neck. Like clockwork, I felt the fire spread through me. My powers were restoring themselves.

We landed
beside a grouping of trees, waiting for the right moment. Nakari stepped out from behind them, pulling me with her as a pack of Tresez paused, eyeing her carefully.

“Seriously?” She put her hand on her hip. “You came into the city with only five of you?”

Conall shifted into his human form, a smirk rising.

“
Aww, you came out to play, did you, Nakari? And you brought Cheyenne as well.” He began stalking towards us. “And here I’d thought you’d just run away like a fearful fawn.”

“Run away and miss this?” she laughed.

Conall shifted into a Tresez mid-stride, leaping at us. I blinked, and we’d jumped further behind them. Conall’s enraged snarl echoed in anger. What was Nakari doing? We were heading deeper into the park, as she continued to jump us closer to Marcus.

“He won’t use large amounts of his power, Cheyenne. He doesn’t have his battery charger.” Nakari said
, knowing what I was thinking. “I want him angry. I want him to come after us. He’ll chase us down, all the way to Montana.”

“What?! You said this was just a diversion!”

“I changed my mind.”

My heart began to race. I just wanted to get away
, and this crazy redhead wanted him to chase us back to Montana? Where the heck had this come from?

“
Nak—”

My words were cut short as we came to a sudden halt. Nakari stepped a few feet away from me, her boots on the edge of a ravine overlooking the west half of the park. Her auburn hair rippled in the breeze, the dwindling moonlight showing the determination in her face. She had a mission, and
she wasn’t about to fail.

A long howl came from behind us, and another to our right. Conall and his Tresez were gaining ground.

“We’ve got them just where we want them,” she said.

She
took hold of my hand.

“Blast them when I tell you to and not before.”

I nodded, not knowing if I’d have enough power to do any damage.

We jumped down into the west end of the
park, the patter of paws right behind us. Nakari purposely jumped us back and forth like a pinball, waiting long enough for a Tresez to leap, but not make contact. Their chests were heaving as steam from their snouts circled around them. Some whined in frustration, while others began to pant. She was wearing them out.

We jumped again, this time landing inside a large
circle of bare trees. A familiar Tresez with white paws and a narrow white stripe extending from his eye to his snout emerged from a low lying brush and snarled. Conall was getting agitated with this game.

“Enough!” he bellowed, shifting back.

Nakari and I remained still, while shadows I hadn’t seen earlier moved in the landscape. Trackers were here, but they lacked their best, Darrien and Jahlem.

My skin prickled. Marcus was close.

Nakari glanced over her shoulder, past me, and we jumped further back into a small opening. Her fingers tightened over mine.

“Angel,” Marcus said
, stepping into the moonlight. “Is this how you’d treat your husband? Run away when all he wants to do is shower his love and affection on you?”

“You call draining my powers, locking me away inside my own head, and being a wife beater showering me with love and affection? You have no control over me now,
husband!
” I said, knowing the reaction I’d get. If Nakari wanted to ensure a chase, she’d have one now.

His left eye twitched. Without warning
, he lifted his right hand, releasing a bolt of lightning. I threw both my hands out at the same moment, sending a blast of power as Nakari and I vanished a few feet away. Marcus flew to the ground, landing in the snow. He jumped to his feet again, his palm curling when I blasted him again.

“Now, Cheyenne!” Nakari said and began jumping us in circles as she directed the blasts.

Trackers and Tresezes alike began to scramble for cover. Only Marcus himself stood immobile. We turned and faced him one last time. His chest heaved as condensation flew from his nostrils like an angry bull. He’d never been bested before, and it rubbed him wrong.

I squeezed Nakari’s hand; we need
ed to get out of here.

Marcus raised his hands, ready to fight, but I knew this wasn’t the time or place. I only had to give us enough time to run. As if Nakari knew what I was thinking, she let go of my hand as I slapped my palms together and drew them apart
, creating a single fiery whip.

Marcus flexed his fingers, but before he could draw on his powers
, I snapped my golden whip across his cheek. He turned away, only to have me unleash the fiery sting across his chest again, ripping his leather riding coat open.

He released a deafening roar that sent
goosebumps down my neck, and Nakari reached for me as we disappeared. We flew through the trees and shrubs at a blinding speed, stopping on the sidewalk outside the park near some office buildings.

Nakari and I stared at each other, breath
ing heavy. I had regained more power than I realized. A silver SUV squealed to a stop, and the door opened. Colt’s arm yanked us inside and we sped away.

I leaned against Colt’s
shoulder.

“I think that’ll do it, Cheyenne,” Nakari whispered.

What had we done?

“Are you both alright?” Callon asked
, leaning over from the far rear seat. Daniel leaned in beside him, his hand brushing back his hair nervously.

“We’re fine,” Nakari replied and pressed her eyes closed. “I think we may have overdone it.”

“What do you mean?” Colt asked, adjusting himself and helping me buckle my seatbelt. “You were just supposed to create a diversion.”

“He’s angry,” I replied.

“Really angry,” Nakari added.

“What happened?” Daniel asked.

“This crazy red-head changed her mind,” I replied.

“Well,” Nakari swallowed. “He tried to kill me
, and Cheyenne pulled a ‘Cheyenne’ on him.” She used her fingers as quotes.

I narrowed my eyes.

“I pulled a ‘Cheyenne,’” I used my fingers as quotes too, “on him? What the heck does that mean?”

Nakari looked down, fiddling with her fingers.

“Um, sometimes we’ve said, ‘don’t make me pull a Cheyenne on you,’ if we’re about to go crazy.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” She looked up from under auburn hair.

“Wow.” I shook my head.

“But it’s not a bad thing necessarily,” Nakari said, trying to make amends. “It’s like we’re teasing you, but you just haven’t heard it yet.” She fiddled with her coat sleeve. “I didn’t mean to upset you, sorry.”

Colt leaned in and
hugged me, and I sighed, glancing at Daniel and Callon. I knew at times I’d gotten out of control. They were just afraid to say it in front of me.

“It started in Ireland, didn’t it?” I asked.

Nakari looked up and nodded. I smiled, realizing who likely said it first.

“And let me guess, Koda started it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well
, then it’s safe to say I ‘pulled a Cheyenne’ on Marcus, and he didn’t like it.”

Callon studied us for a moment. “If I’d know
n this is what you were up to, Nakari, I wouldn’t have let you go…but having Marcus battle on our territory is smart.”

“If we can beat him back,” Colt said.

“It’s going to take about seven hours driving,” Darrien replied. His fingers typed on the GPS.

“He’ll be coming hard,” Jahlem said. “But strategically, he’ll pull back just enough to get his army here. We’ll only have a day or two max to get prepared.”

“How many routes are there, Darrien?” Callon asked.

“According to the GPS, two,” Darrien replied.

“Take the most populated and fastest,” Callon said. “It’s a fifty-fifty chance he’ll end up on the same road. We’ll have at least an hour or two head start.”

“How many were with him?” Colt asked
.

“Twenty or thirty, mixed between Trackers and Tresezes,” Nakari replied. She turned towards Callon, as if a wordless conversation were going on.

“He’ll have to leave more than half his men behind,” Darrien replied. “He’ll send them back to prepare.”

“Then let’s keep ahead of him,” Colt replied, patting Jahlem’s shoulder.

Jahlem nodded, but I caught his frown in the rearview mirror. He wasn’t quite sure we could do it.

What if Marcus caught up to us? Would he try and run us off the road? Would he use his powers? I stared out the window
, watching the city lights fade in the distance. Daylight would be coming soon, but how much time did we really have before this showdown began? And our small family, as strong as we were, was no match for Marcus’s entire army.

“Are there more who can fight?” I asked, looking up at Colt.

“Yes, they’re on their way now,” he replied. He turned to stare out the window, but not before I saw his face tightening. He began fiddling with the leather seats, his fingers tracing the stitching. He had doubts filling his head too.

Consequences, my angel
, Marcus whispered.
There will be consequences for your actions.

My breath caught. He’d spoken to me again. How?

“What’s wrong?” Callon’s arm came around my shoulder, pressing me back in the seat as he leaned forward. “What’s going on, Cheyenne?”

My lower lip trembled
, and I pressed my eyes closed.

“He can’t control you,” Callon said calmly. “You have barriers in place.”

“He spoke to me,” I whispered.

“What’d he say?” Daniel pleaded. “What did he say to you?”

“That there’d be consequences for my actions.”

Callon pressed his mouth to my ear, his warm breath heating my neck.

“You fear him,” he said softly.

“No…well…” I sighed, knowing the truth.

“You fear failure,” Callon answered for me.

I bowed my head.

“It’s your fear of failure that allows him to speak to you in your mind. You’ve opened the doors and windows of your memories, but now you need to close the door to his connection forever.”

“How?”

I gripped his arm with my free hand, holding him in place.

“Let go of the fear, the past failures you thought existed. Each and every one of them has brought you to this point, to this moment, to this mountain. We’re not falling back
. I’m by your side, with your family, fighting for you as you fight for us. Failure is not about getting back up. It’s turning away, but you haven’t. You’re standing strong, and you’re going to succeed.”