Gift from the Stone (Source of Elementra Book 2), page 31
Damn showoff men, knowing good and well that shit hurts.
I’d be a crying mess if I had to slice my own hand.
“It only stings, but you won’t ever have to do that,” Tillman grunts from behind me.
“Eavesdropping, are we?” I ask playfully.
“Absolutely. And we’re going to talk about those thoughts you’ve been having when we get home,” he whispers.
I’m hoping he’s talking about the sexually charged, dirty thoughts of them all pleasuring me and not the thoughts of Lyker or my horrid thoughts of what just happened to me a while ago that I keep trying to ignore.
His eyes are masked with seriousness, and I can’t tell which of my thoughts he’s referring to, but I got a feeling it’s not the first option unfortunately.
A shuddering in the air draws my attention back to Lyker as the wards come down without a hitch, and he turns to us with a confident smirk on his lips.
“Good shit, it worked.” I say excitedly.
The smile fades from his face as he looks at me in shock. “Wait, you didn’t even know if that was going to work?”
Draken and Caspian let out loud laughs at the guilty look on my face. They both live for mischievous shit like this. Draken’s just more open about it while, when Caspian participates, it’s like looking at a small glimpse into the life of teenage him.
“I was pretty positive,” I say, faking complete confidence as I stroll ahead of the group like I own this cave.
“I can walk ahead a little and give us some light,” Zane says as he tries to come and stand beside me, with a flame hovering in his palm, but one look from Caspian has him dropping back a step.
“Thanks, but it’s okay,” I tell him as I send a flame out, instructing it to light all the torches we’ll pass from here to her room.
“How is it that you have both an air element and fire?” Lyker asks from behind me. Oakly’s beside me on my left, with her guys boxing us in with my Nexus to my right.
“That’s a very good question,” I answer without answering.
“That was a very personal question that no one’s privy to the answer unless Willow says so,” Corentin cuts in just as Lyker is about to ask another question.
His commanding tone, like always, makes everyone pay attention to him, and his words hold a hint of warning, letting Lyker know he’s about to walk into dangerous territory.
Turning around, I look at Kian, Zane, and Lennox. They each were in my visions as well, just not center focused like Lyker was, but I still get that same strange, comfortable feeling toward them as well. I’m starting to think it has more to do with who we’re going to save than them, since I’m technically closer to her than any of them.
“They can know,” I declare, taking the advice of my stranger on my gift. If I can tell how I’m supposed to feel about a person quickly, then I’ll listen to my instincts, and I already know they’re good people.
I don’t bother going into detail about myself or my gifts and elements. The guys will tell them what they’re comfortable with them knowing and if I feel like something should be added, I’ll tell them. Instead, I take in the sight of the cave. Physically being here is so different than when I’ve been here incorporeal. Colors are usually dull, barely distinguishable; there are no smells or textures to touch. Now, I can see, smell, and feel everything.
The slightly cooler air sends chill bumps down my arms as I lightly drag my fingers across the wet walls, their surfaces reflecting the light from my flames. The smell of stagnant water penetrates the air and I follow the sound of dripping to the endless clusters of stalagmites that rise from the cave floor. Above them, stalactites hang like deadly icicles from the ceiling in a multitude of colors.
I can’t help but marvel at the beauty of it, the way nature has sculpted the heart of this cave and to know that it’s an ongoing, never-ending design is incredible. There are only two chambers in this cave, and this is the only one that hasn’t been altered by an elemental gift.
We continue down the smooth passages that twist and turn as we make our way deeper into the cave silently. The only sound is the rhythmic echo of our footsteps. Finally coming up to another ward, I step to the side and let Lyker and the others through.
“Same as last time?” he asks sarcastically.
“Yeah, this time I know for sure,” I tell him seriously as I keep my eyes locked on the wall in front of us.
After slicing the already healed wound on his palm, Lyker presses his hand to the ward and then takes a step back, lining up with his brothers. The smooth stone wall that stands behind the ward begins to vibrate and shake before slowly lowering. And I hold my breath as it makes its slow descent into the floor.
This is it, the moment I meet the woman I’ve been sharing dreams with over the course of the last few weeks. The main reason I sent Lyker here. I’ve had to keep this a secret for so long. When the first dream occurred, I thought I was having visions in my sleep, then when they continued to occur, I knew something else was going on, but I couldn’t say anything about it.
“Who the fuck are you?” a feminine voice shrieks.
“Lyker. Who the fuck are you?” His posture stiffens, surprised that she doesn’t even flinch at the bite in his tone, then his eyes take her in from head to toe in a calculating gesture.
“None of your damn business.” She snarls.
“Anyone in this pack is now my business,” he growls.
“Not me, asshole,” she growls right back.
There’s a moment of stunned silence from everyone as a smile crosses my face.
It’s her, definitely her.
I turn in place, looking around at the bare stone room I just woke up in. Well, I’m not awake. I can tell I’m still asleep, but I was just having a lovely little dream about my Nexus, then suddenly, I appeared here.
“Who the fuck are you?” a female asks from behind me, causing me to jump.
“Ahhh, you scared me. Who are you?” I ask, trying to place my hand over my racing heart, but I find my body to be ghostly. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
I screech, trying and failing repeatedly to pat myself down and feel my body, only for my hand to effortlessly pass through it.
Unhinged laughter reaches my ears, momentarily distracting me from my full-fledged freak-out.
“Damn, I’m truly losing my mind. Eight years trapped in this fucking cave has finally caused me to crack.”
Taking a good look at her, my eyes widen with recognition. “I’ve seen you before.”
“What? I have no idea who you are,” she says defensively.
“No, no, you wouldn’t. I just got to Elementra not too long ago from the nonmagical realm,” I tell her, a little breathless.
“That’s impossible. There’s no way to travel in and out of Elementra,” she argues.
“You’d be surprised. Pretty sure I’m the definition of impossible, but here I am. I’m Willow,” I tell her, stretching my hand out before mentally face-palming myself and pulling it back.
“I don’t think there’s anything that could surprise me anymore. I’m Aria,” she says, gloomy.
“Really? Have you met someone else who’s one of only two living dragon shifters, with the touch of the sight, and can wield three elements?” I ask with a smirk.
With shocked, disbelieving eyes, she looks me up and down like that truly is impossible. “There’s no way.”
“Well, there’s at least one way,” I say, moving my hands up and down my ghostly physique.
“Fuck, if that’s true, you’re rarer than me. I think this is a figment of my imagination, just another way my mind has decided to play a trick on me, giving me something more to focus on than these four walls,” she rambles, trying to convince herself I’m not real.
“I’m real. And I’m going to get you out of here.” I swear.
Remembering my first dream I had with Aria, the need to finally lay my physical eyes on her has my feet moving toward her as I push my way out of my men’s arms and bulldoze past Lyker and his guys.
“Willow,” she breathes a shuddering gasp, taking a few steps toward me. “Oh, my Elementra, you’re real.”
“I told you I was.” I smile.
“You came just like you said you would. You’re really here. Everything you said is real. I woke up almost every morning thinking I was finally going crazy.” She cries, throwing her arms around me in a hug.
I return her hug just as tightly before pulling back to look at her. “I’ve been dying to get here to you, and let me tell you, shit was rough. But we’re here and we got to go. The attack didn’t go as planned, so now it’s a change of the original plans I told you.”
“Willow, what’s going on?” Lyker asks, taking a step closer to us, causing Aria to take a step back, and my Nexus floods into the room.
“We need to have this conversation somewhere else. We’ve got a lot to figure out in a short amount of time. You need to put the pack on lockdown so none of the Mastery members can make a run for it,”I tell him, stepping in front of Aria and grabbing her hand in reassurance.
“We’ll transport as one back to the arena. Anything you can warn us about, little warrior?” Tillman asks me, jumping right into leader mode.
“No. The visions I had of today have now come to fruition already. Saving Aria was the last thing I saw, besides what came in the middle of the attack today. We’re going in blind from this point on unless something comes up,” I answer him honestly as Oakly and her guys come into the room to transport with us.
“You must be Oakly. I’ve heard so much about you,” Aria says with a smile, taking a step toward her.
“Conversation will have to wait. Let’s get the fuck out of this cave,” Lyker growls, sticking his arm out for Aria to take expectantly, causing her to meet him with a growl of her own.
I chuckle lightly to myself as I step into my guys for the transport. I can see that those two are going to be butting heads and I can’t wait to watch the truth unfold.
“It’s okay, go with him. These are the men I told you about. Well, some of the men. This is my Nexus,” I tell her, jabbing my thumb behind me.
“Let me guess. Draken, Caspian, Tillman, and Corentin.” She laughs as she points to each of them.
“Yep, those are mine. Good guessing. You got them all right.” I return her laugh as I smile at them and their protective stances around me.
“These are the ones?” she asks quietly, looking over the other four.
“The ones? What does that mean?” Kian asks, bouncing his eyes between me and Aria.
“We need to go,” I declare, giving Aria a nod as she slowly lays a shaky hand on Lyker’s arm.
I sigh deeply as Draken, Tillman, Corentin, and Caspian all lay a hand on me. It’s a comfort I desperately need, and I sink deeper into their embrace although I can feel the turbulent emotions coming off them. They’re worked up, they want answers, and their need to run off with me and hide me away is strong.
A shudder runs down my spine as we step out of the transport, back into the arena. Without all the bodies lying around, and the teams having cleared almost all the shifters out, the scene left behind in the sand is gruesome.
There’s no longer a shore of soft golden granules reflecting the sun’s rays with brightness. Instead, scarlet puddles litter the arena floor. Fur, body parts, and blood leave behind the evidence of the attack that went down. Casting my gaze across the remaining group of shifters huddled together on their knees, bile rises in my throat as my eyes lock on the puddle of liquefied black tar sitting on top of the sand beside them rather than soaking into it.
That’s my blood. My blood that was mixed with the deadly poison that nearly killed me not even an hour ago. Not only me, but Draken. If he hadn’t recalled how to open my pocket dimension, the two of us would be lying on this bloodied sand, dead, stripped away from our Nexus. Or if it hadn’t been me, it would’ve been Tillman, ripped to pieces.
Panic sets in as it becomes harder to get air into my lungs, my intrusive thoughts taking over my mind.
Wide-open jaws sinking their teeth into his skin as the poison takes root, keeping him from defending himself. His limbs are ripped from their sockets, leaving his mangled body flashing across my mind. My wails echo through my ears as I try to run to him, try to tear through the shifters blocking my way as he bellows his last moments, alone, in pain.
No, no. Tillman.
Suddenly, my hair blows across my face, covering my eyes as a sandstorm tears through the arena center, burying the blood beneath it like it had never been there.
“I’m here. Look at me.” Tillman’s gentle voice wraps around my mind like a warm, protective blanket. Blinking my eyes, I lock onto his emerald jewels. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, Will.”
“We’re here, little Primary. Always,” Caspian vows, twisting his tendrils around me.
“None of us are going anywhere, little wanderer,” Draken murmurs, nestling his face into my neck.
“We’ve got you, princess,” Corentin whispers as he turns me around to face him.
Laying his hand between the valley of my breast, slowly, ever so slowly, I feel my lungs fill with air. Air I desperately need since I can’t get my breathing under control.
Just like when Caspian used his water to hydrate me, I feel like I’m taking the largest, deepest breath of the purest air in all of Elementra. Corentin’s using his element to breathe life into me. Literally.
“That was your element,” I state quietly and quite obviously. I don’t really know what else to say, though. I’m kinda awestruck.
“Yes, princess. I just wanted you to breathe, so I pushed some of my air into you so you could catch your breath.”
“How?”
He smirks down at my stunned expression and grabs my hand gently. Gliding it to his chest, he mimics the position he has his hand on me.
“Close your eyes, princess. Pushing your element into someone, you have to be gentle, soft. If not, you could cause someone’s lungs to pop. So think of puffing the air lightly, like blowing a kiss. Command your air to fill my lungs just enough to breathe. Very slowly, and only a little,” he instructs softly.
That’s a petrifying thought. I’d hate to pop his lung.
When he gives my hand a squeeze, encouraging me on, I do as he said. Instead of picturing myself blowing him a kiss, I imagine myself laying my lips on his chest, breathing the air directly into him. Commanding my air out, softly, slowly, I fill his lungs with pure, clean air so he can take a deep breath.
I feel his chest expand under my fingertips and he hums, gently wrapping his hand around my wrist.
“Very good, princess,” he praises.
His small lesson helps settle the whirlwind tearing through me and I take a few deep breaths, savoring the air he gave me.
Get it together for now. You can’t break down yet. There’s still too much to do. Shove it down until you get home, then you can fall apart in their arms.
Opening my eyes, I give Corentin a grateful smile before turning to seek out Tillman. He’s here, he’s fine.
“I’m okay,” I whisper, giving him an unconvincing, watery smile.
“You’re not, but we’re here for you, Willow,” he says, already knowing the truth. I nod and prepare to change the subject because if I don’t, I’ll break down.
“Dream-walking. It’s an ability that comes with the sight, and I’ve been doing it with Aria, leading up to this day. There’s so much more I need to explain, but there’s a lot we’ve got to do. They’re going to need our help.”
“Fuck them. I’ll take you home right now. This doesn’t have to be your problem to solve,” my dark, damaged protector declares.
Turning to face Caspian, a real smile crosses my face as I look at his cloak of rage. He really will sweep me through the shadows, leaving everyone else behind to fend for themselves. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t decided to do just that.
“It’s not my problem to solve, but we’re going to help. We need to help,” I tell him as I caress his face with my fingers.
He releases a small grunt of indifference before muttering, “Fine.”
“What’s the plan?” I ask Corentin lightly as he turns me back to face him.
“Do you feel a little better?” he asks low rather than answer me.
“Much better.”
“Good. Then thank you for saving my brother’s life, but you’re in so much fucking trouble when we get you home. You scared us today. Scared the fuck out of me. Do you remember what I told you would happen if you made me lose my mind with worry?”
“That only applied if I ran off on you all,” I whisper.
“You did run off then, and I let it slide because it was our fault. Today, you ran headfirst into danger, almost got yourself killed. Tell the others what I said would happen, Willow.” His tone is drenched in a delicious, I mean dangerous, promise. One that has me pressing my thighs together.
Damn if he can’t switch it up real fast.
“He said he’d paint my ass pink for making him lose his mind in worry. And one of you would be stuck to my side day in and day out. I’d never be allowed to go anywhere alone again, not even the shower,” I whisper, watching Corentin’s blazing gaze smolder with heat.
“Yeah, I do believe our bad little Primary will need some punishment for her carelessness,” Caspian agrees darkly, stepping closer to my side as Tillman presses in behind me.
“I wasn’t careless. I thought it through,” I argue.
“You were careless with our hearts. You’ll never sacrifice yourself for one of us or anyone ever again,” he orders.
Looking at Draken for some help, I find none as his eyes flash to slits.
“Don’t look at me this time, sweetness. I know what that skin looks like flushed. I’ll quite enjoy watching.”
I’m on the verge of whimpering as they all close in on me completely. Their mouthwatering scents and heated looks light my skin on fire, pushing aside my panic and igniting my need. Fuck, I want the punishment they’re promising. I know for a fact it’ll come paired with pleasure beyond my wildest dreams.
