Scorching Secrets (33 page)

That’s positive.

“Colton, we’re all angry about what happened.” Liam says. “That pain was excruciating, and I didn’t even feel it to the same degree as she did. I just want to know what she saw…” He loudly exhales and looks at me, shaking his head. I can see the anger clearly in his eyes.

“You know it had something to do with us,” David says. “She’d only try to go to Dravin if we were threatened.”

“It’s getting worse. Dravin’s getting more persistent. I mean she can’t even go to sleep without being attacked,” Logan says. “Her body’s not going to be able to handle much more of this.” On cue, we all look toward the stairs as we see Ryanne stumble down them. On the last stair, she has to grab onto the banister to keep from falling.

“Liam…I’m,” her body shudders, “losing control.” We all stop. I can feel her magic floating in the air around me. It feels like tiny little shocks are hitting my skin—the feeling you get when a part of your body falls asleep and then you move, waking it up. She collapses to the ground. Liam runs over to her and tries calming her.

“Ryanne, look at me.” She shakes her head and starts whimpering. “Ryanne, you need to calm yourself down. Take a deep breath. Concentrate.”

“I can’t.” Her body starts visibly shaking. She cries out. Liam looks back at us. The magic shocks are becoming stronger, so he doesn’t have any other choice. He places both of his hands on her back and closes his eyes; his face furrowing in concentration. A couple seconds later, Ryanne stops. Liam lets out the breath he was holding and removes his hands from her back. The magic in the air fades away, leaving in its absence a tension-filled room.

He bends down and picks up Ryanne’s limp body and carries her over to the couch. “We need to keep an eye on her.”

“Can Adam get to her while she’s unconscious?” Emma asks.

“I don’t know.” Liam says quietly. We don’t know anything. This is so frustrating. How are we supposed to help her if we are just as clueless? Tom comes downstairs and looks at Ryanne on the couch. He curses and turns to me, “Adam again?”

I shake my head, “No, Adam attacked her last night. Dravin’s the one that attacked her this morning.”

“She lost control of her magic again. Liam had to knock her out,” Emma says. “It was worse than last time. I could literally feel the magic around me. It felt like I was being shocked…”

“Dravin doesn’t know where we are, does he?” Tom asks. “I was pretty sure the enchantment worked.”

“Not yet, but he obviously knows that we’re close.”

“He’s not going to stop,” Tom says.

“Not until he gets what he wants,” I whisper, “or is stopped.” I look over toward Ryanne on the couch. I’ve seen her unconscious or hurt too many times recently. He has to be stopped, and I want to be the one that ends him.

It’s been over an hour, and Ryanne still hasn’t woken up. However, we know that she’s not unconscious anymore. She’s been moving and making little noises letting us know that she’s asleep—which I’m thankful for. I just hope that Adam doesn’t try to pull her into another dream.

I sit down on the couch and wait for her to wake up. Right now, this whole situation is a waiting game: waiting for Ryanne to wake up, waiting for Dravin to find us, waiting. Waiting. Waiting. It frustrates me to no end to think that Dravin’s out there looking for her, and there’s nothing that I can do.

Liam and Larkin are pacing in the back. Emma keeps glancing out the windows at the woods behind the house. Tom is sitting at the kitchen table, tapping his fingers along the hard surface. David is sitting in the armchair staring off into space. Bragden is flipping through Ryanne’s sketchbook, and Logan is sitting in the other chair, keeping an eye on her. We’re a very worried bunch.

“Do you think it’s possible that there’s a limited number to the amount of headaches you can magically get before you acquire permanent brain damage?” Ryanne mumbles. She rolls over onto her back but has yet to open her eyes. “Because I think I’m pushing that number.” When she sits up and looks around, everyone stops what they are doing.

“Oh, stop looking at me like that. It’s not the first time I’ve lost control before, and it probably won’t be the last,” she says while rubbing her eyes.

“Ry, did anyone attack you while you were sleeping?” I ask.

“No.” I watch as she walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge. Coming back into the living room with a bottle of water, she continues, “Though I kind of wish someone did. I really want to hit something right now.” She looks over at me and smiles.

“Last time I checked, I wasn’t a punching bag,” I tell her.

“We could always change that,” she says but sits back against the couch. That’s it? She’s not going to explain anything? She’s just going to pretend like nothing happened? She reaches forward and grabs the sketchbook I bought her from the coffee table. She asks for the pencil that is tucked inside the spiral of the notebook from Bragden. He hands it to her without looking away from the drawing. Pulling her knees up, she leans against the back of the couch and rests the sketchbook on her legs. Opening to the first page, she begins drawing.

“Just so I’m clear…contacting Dravin is a big fat NO right now, correct?” Everyone yells a yes at her. “Esh, inside voices, por favor.” She mumbles and continues to draw.

“What are you drawing?” I ask her and lean over a little, trying to see her drawing.

“The bench in the forest,” she looks over at me and blushes slightly. Thirty minutes later, she sighs and holds the book out in front of her, looking at the drawing from further away. She captured its likeness perfectly. She drew the path in front of it, the small flowers that grew against its legs, and the trees surrounding it.

I open my mouth to compliment her on it when she drops the sketchbook to the ground. Groaning, she grabs her stomach and doubles over. I recognize what is going on. I jump up to grab her, but she has already disappeared.

“Larkin!” I shout. He runs over to me, already understanding what he needs to do.

Liam joins me. “I’m going with you.”

Larkin glances down at the sketchbook for a second and grabs both of our shoulders. He closes his eyes in concentration. It’s harder to transport more than one person, but I know that he’ll be able to do it. A second later, we are standing in the forest surrounded.

Dravin and Adam are sitting on the bench. “Well this is better than expected,” Dravin says, smiling at us. Ryanne is lying on the ground at their feet, a dart sticking out of her arm. Dormirako.

“Move!” I yell. Liam and I jump to the side, while Larkin flies to the other one. Two men come toward Liam and me. We jump up and prepare for their attack. One comes toward Larkin. A dart comes out of nowhere and hits Liam in the shoulder. He falls to the ground.

I turn toward Larkin, “Go back. Warn the others.” I feel something prick me in the arm. “GO!” I say as I fall, succumbing to the darkness.

I am sore all over. From head to toe, I feel like a giant bruise—like someone deliberately used my body as a shield against a physical attack. I open my eyes and look around the room. Shoot. Before even assessing my surroundings, I know what’s happened. I’ve been captured again. I wanted to do something but this definitely is not it. Right now, I’m sprawled on a hard cold floor; my body lying at a hard angle. Looking around, I find that I am in a cell similar to the first one. I push myself into a seated position and continue to survey the room. It’s completely empty. There’s a door in the corner, but there aren’t any windows on this one. There looks to be a mirror on one side of the room. That’s useless. It’s not like I have any reason to make myself look good in here.

I close my eyes and open my mind, trying to hear any thoughts. Like last time, there is nothing. I get static when I try to read anyone’s mind. Of course, I don’t know if there is anyone near me to even read. I can feel my magic inside me, but it won’t come to the surface. Is this what everyone else feels like? I can sense the magic in me, but it’s stuck.

With a frustrated groan, I start pacing the room. I wonder if everyone else is ok. I hope no one went into the forest to look for me. I don’t know how Dravin knew that I was going to be there…I didn’t even know that that was going to happen if I drew that, and
I’m
the psychic one.

I run a hand through my long hair. I never have a hair tie on me when I need one. Hey, they let me keep my shoes this time. I am still wearing my dirty black converse tennis shoes. I wonder how long I’ve been here. I continue pacing the perimeter of the room, waiting for something to happen. Sooner or later, Dravin or Adam will come in. It is inevitable.

I continue pacing the room for what feels like hours though I know it hasn’t really been that long. Hearing the sound of a door opening, I glance across the cell at the doorway. I try to keep a neutral expression as I watch Dravin saunter into the room. Another man comes in behind him and guards the door. Dravin walks into the center of the room.

“Nice to see you awake,” he says.

“Well, it’s not nice to see you.” I lean back against the far wall. Crossing my arms, I wait for his reaction. I’m not going to be afraid of him. I’m trying a different approach here.

“Ha, just as feisty as ever. Is there any situation you’re in where you’re polite?”

“Not when you’re involved.”

“You should probably try and get on my good side. It’s not very pleasant on the other.”

“Do you even have a good side? I find that very hard to believe.”

“Believe it or not, I can be very good.” He takes a step closer and grins down at me. He reaches out and grabs the end of my hair and runs his hand through it. I reach over and slap his hand away. He laughs and leans forward and whispers into my ear. “You know,
we
could be very good together.” With a disgusted grunt, I push him away from me and walk so I am leaning with my back against the mirror. I want to get away from him, but of course, he starts to walk over here.

“Sooner or later, you’ll realize I only want what’s best for you.”

“And keeping me locked up in this cell is what is best for me?” Is this guy serious? I really want to reach out and punch him in the gut, but I need to keep up this charade for a little longer.

“Of course not. This cell is a precaution.”

“A precaution? Against a small helpless little girl?” I purse my lips and bat my eyelashes at him. I try to make myself look as innocent and damsel-in-distress like as I can muster.

Dravin starts laughing, “Small, yes. Helpless, no. I can see through this façade you’re putting on. You may not be able to use your magic here, but a helpless little girl wouldn’t have been able to beat Adam in his own dream.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.” Dravin takes another step forward until he is standing right in front of me again. “If this magic thing doesn’t work out for you, you should go into acting. If I didn’t know any better, I might actually believe you. You’re good.” He smiles at me.

“You know what you are?” I ask him. He smirks at me. “You’re a pain in the a—”

“Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn’t finish that sentence. See right now, I’m enjoying this little banter between us. You don’t want to make me mad.”

“I don’t? Well then I hope this doesn’t offend you.” I spit in his face and then smile sweetly at him. I know that he will probably retaliate and hit me, but I don’t really care at the moment. He is annoying me with this ‘friendly’ chat. Like I predicted, he swings his large hand out and slaps me across the face. It’s sad, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as they usually do. My head swings to the side, but my eyes don’t start watering. I guess I’m getting used to getting hit.

“I like you, Ryanne. You have guts for such a small thing. It’s a shame I’m going to have to kill you,” he says before turning around and leaving the room.

Colton

“What the heck is she trying to do?” I turn around and ask Liam. Looking through the window in our cell, I can see Ryanne pacing again. Dravin had just left after he slapped her across the face. She barely flinched. From where I’m standing, I can see the giant red welt on her face.

“She’s trying to show him that she’s not afraid of him anymore. It seems to be working. Dravin doesn’t know what to do when someone doesn’t cower at his presence.”

“Does she have to provoke him like that though?”

“Would you rather she sit in the corner trembling in fear?”

“Well no…” I glance back at the window. She is still pacing around her cell. Based on the fact that she hasn’t looked our way, I’m assuming that this window is actually a two-way mirror. I turn around and look at Liam again, “Why did they put us together but put her by herself?”

“I don’t know, but I do know that something changed. In the vision she had you were by yourself. I wasn’t with you.” I forgot about her vision. The vision of my death. I look back at Ryanne and see her mumbling something to herself. I don’t think she knows that she does this. She talks to herself. A lot. I lean closer to the window to see if I can hear what she is saying.

“Why Ryanne? Why couldn’t you just draw a picture of a bunny? Hmm, no you have to draw the freaking forest! Stupid. Stupid.” She hits herself on the head and kicks the wall. Then jumping up and down, she mumbles, “Another stupid decision. Ouch.” She stops pacing and leans against the wall to the left of the window.

It is obvious that she can’t hear us, but we can hear her. Dravin has a plan, but what is it? Ryanne slides down the wall and sits on the ground. She leans her head back and looks up at the ceiling.

“Do you think Larkin got back to everyone?”

“I sure hope so,” Liam says. He looks toward the window at Ryanne. “He’s our only hope right now.”

A couple hours later, Ryanne’s cell door opens again. She looks toward it as three people walk in. Adam quickly walks toward her. “Adam, don’t touch her,” Dravin demands. He stops right in front of her. Ryanne stands up slowly and smiles sweetly at him.

“Hey, Adam. How are you on this lovely afternoon?” she leans around Adam and asks Dravin, “Is it afternoon? It’s hard to tell in here.”