Descending Darkness (The Prophesized #3) (17 page)

I fall onto the ground behind some bushes. I still don’t understand this transporting power I have, but based on the sounds around me, I know that I am definitely supposed to be here. All around me, I can hear grunts of pain and the distinct sound of punches being thrown. I peek through the bushes and see Larkin and Kyril both fighting, but both clearly outnumbered. Dravin is standing in the background, against a tree, smiling at the scene in front of him. I’ve had it with him.

Larkin and Kyril have their backs to me, so they won’t see me until I’m literally standing beside them. I jump up from behind the bushes and run up besides Larkin. I call my magic to me and kick the man he’s fighting in the side. He’s not expecting anyone to come up behind him, so I easily surprise him. He grunts and falls to his knees. While down, Larkin reaches out and punches him in the jaw.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he yells at me.

“I had a vision,” I shout back as I hit another guy.

“Get her out of here,” Kyril yells. He has a black eye and a busted lip, and Larkin doesn’t look any better. He reaches to grab me, so I throw a shield up.

“I don’t think so. You’re not leaving him here to fight on his own,” I tell Larkin while pointing at Kyril. I look back at Dravin and see him staring at me intently. I know that I shouldn’t use my magic here, but I don’t know how else to get out of this situation. I start calling more magic to me while fighting. When Larkin hears the thunder roll, he turns toward me.

“You need to get out of here,” he says while kicking another man.

“I will when you two can come with me,” I tell him as I punch another man. It is so much easier to do this when I can use my magic. “Duck!” I yell to Larkin and Kyril.

Larkin drops to the ground without question. He grabs Kyril and pulls him down right as I release my magic out. The men standing closest to me fall to the ground, unconscious. The ones in the back stagger but aren’t knocked unconscious. Dravin is getting very angry. I throw up a shield around Larkin, Kyril, and me at the same time as the men in the back start running for us. Instead of waiting for them to come to us, I run to them. I hear Larkin and Kyril running behind me. I stop in front of the first man. I recognize him as one of the guys I knocked out last time I was here. His eyes widen when I stop in front of him. I swing my leg out and kick him in the solar plexus. He instantly falls to the ground. I look around waiting for the next guy to attack, but no one moves toward me.

Larkin and Kyril are both fighting someone. Dravin is the only one left. I focus on the shields I have around us and turn toward him. Dravin turns around and starts walking toward the compound doors. I can’t let him get away that easily; especially not when he’s this close. I take a step forward, but Larkin grabs my arm. “Don’t.”

“He’s going to get away!”

Kyril walks up beside me. “Let’s go.” Larkin reaches out and puts a hand on Kyril’s shoulder and transports us out of there. When I open my eyes again, I am back in the living room. I drop the shield around us and pull my magic back. I sway a little as the magic reels back into me. Kyril reaches out and steadies me. I thank him and grimace when I look up at him. His injuries look worse under artificial lighting. Colton jumps up and pulls me against his chest, hugging me.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asks me. I laugh and playfully push against his chest.

“Nope, I’m all good. They however,” I point over my shoulder to Kyril and Larkin, “are not.” I look past Colton to Logan. “Do you think you can heal them?”

Logan nods and walks toward Larkin and Kyril. He heals Larkin first and then Kyril. When he finishes healing them, he turns to me and grabs my arm, attempting to heal me. “I didn’t get hurt, Logan. I don’t need healed.”

“Interesting,” Logan says as he steps away from me.

“If it means that much to you, I can make sure I get punched at least once next time,” I tell him.

Kyril walks over to me. I have to arch my neck to see him. “Yes?”

He continues to stare down at me. I hear Colton growl behind me. Possessive much? I secretly love it when he does that though. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Done what? Saved you?” I poke him on the chest. “I told you not to get yourself killed, and what did you do? You almost got yourself killed.”

“We were handling it,” Larkin says.

“Not this again,” I exhale loudly. “Can’t anyone just say thank you around here? Why does it always have to be
I could have handled it; I’m a dude. Big and strong, yada yada. I can’t have a girl come save me, blah blah blah.
One of these times, when you need my help, I’m not going to come and then you’ll have wished that you thanked me way back when.”

Kyril blankly stares at me for a few seconds before he reaches out and hugs me. “Thank you, Ryanne.” I hug him back, but it gets awkward when I realize that he is shirtless again.

“You’re welcome. See, was that so difficult?”

“Sugar honey ice tea, am I the only one that sees how attractive that man is?” I hear Jane whisper loudly.

Emma laughs. “I know right? When I first saw him I said ‘Holy crap on a cracker!’ See,” Emma turns toward David, “I’m not the only one.”

Kyril turns to Jane and smiles—a smile that seriously could melt any woman. Seeing Ross’s glare, I reach forward and hit him on the arm. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?” He turns toward me and laughs.

“You know what you’re doing. Stop it,” I scold him. Colton walks behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, hugging me to him. I lean back against him, taking comfort in his embrace. I know that he is worried that I’m not feeling well, but I feel fine…well I feel okay. I am pretty tired.

“What happened? Why did Ryanne have to go and help you guys?” Colton asks.

“I was with Dravin when he found out that Ryanne had foiled his plan to get to Jane and Ross.” He turns to them. “I’m assuming that’s you?” When they nod, he continues, “Well he was pissed to say the least. And now he’s even more desperate to stop you,” Kyril looks at me, “especially after he witnessed you doing it firsthand.”

The arms wrapped around my stomach tighten. “Wait, you fought Dravin?” Colton asks me.

“No, he ran into the compound when I started to go after him, but Larkin stopped me.” I know that my voice sounds bitter, but I am upset. I had a chance, and Larkin ruined it. I could have thrown up a shield and stopped his entry in the compound.

“Thank you, Larkin,” Colton says. Seeing Larkin’s subtle nod, I scoff and look up at my soulmate. Of course he would take Larkin’s side…this time. He smiles down at me when he sees my glare. I just shake my head and turn back to Kyril.

“How did Dravin find out you were helping us?”

“Adam saw Larkin transport me back to the compound after you did the enchantment. He told Dravin. He used his magic on me and made me call for Larkin. When Larkin came, he attacked.” Kyril and Larkin were both almost killed because they were helping us. They were getting information for us, and Dravin tried to stop that. I bite my lip and look toward the ground. No one is safe around me.

“Ryanne, stop,” Liam says. I look over at him but don’t say anything. Liam always knows what I am thinking about.

“It’s not your fault,” Larkin tells me.

“How do you know that’s what I’m thinking about?”

“Because your aura turned a dull pink,” he says. Am I supposed to know what that means?

“She feels guilty,” Natalie says while turning around and looking toward me. Larkin nods, agreeing with her. Dull pink means guilt. Got it.

“Esh, you can’t hide anything around here,” I mumble. All this magic use is starting to catch up to me. I try really hard to stifle a yawn. Natalie looks over at me and winks.

“Well, I’m starting to get tired. I think I’m going to call it a night.” Standing up, she starts walking upstairs after saying goodnight to everyone.

“That’s actually a good idea. Kyril, Jane, and Ross, you are all welcome to stay here tonight. Jane and Ross, you guys can have my room. I’ll stay down her on the couch.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. We’ll be fine on the couch,” Jane says.

“Nope, I won’t have it. You’ll stay in my room. I insist.”

“Good night all,” Colton says as he starts pushing me toward the stairs, his hands on the small of my back. I follow his moves—too tired to argue with him.

“Remember what I told you,” Jane yells after us.

“Don’t worry, I won’t forget it,” Colton says back with a small laugh.

I turn around half-way up the stairs and ask, “What did she tell you?” Colton just shakes his head, laughs slightly louder, and continues pushing me up the stairs. I open the door to our room and walk in. I sleepily walk over to the corner of the room and open the armoire. I grab a large t-shirt and some yoga shorts. I change in the bathroom and start brushing my teeth. Standing in front of the mirror, I get a good look at my reflection. My hair looked like this all night, and no one said anything?

Rinsing out my mouth, I try to tame my hair. Nothing I try works. Giving up, I open the door and walk toward the bed. Colton walks past me and goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth. I crawl onto the bed and sit down, waiting for him. I don’t want to lie down because I don’t want to risk falling asleep.

Colton walks across the room and sits down on the bed next to me. I watch him as he moves closer to me. “What?” he asks me. 

“Nothing, just watching you,” I tell him, while biting onto my bottom lip. He reaches out and grabs my shoulder, pulling me down so I am lying in his arms. I move so that I am pressed against his side. Resting my left arm on his chest, I start lightly tracing patterns into his shirt.

“Still think I need to get more fat on me?”

“What?” I prop myself onto my elbow and look at him. “What are you talking about?”

“You were a little slap happy when Liam brought you back here.”

“Are you serious?” I must have done something pretty funny because Colton starts laughing. I can’t even remain embarrassed because I love his laugh.

“You told me that my chest was too hard, and I needed to get some fat on me.” I can feel a blush rising. I don’t want to know what else I said. There is no telling with me. Colton starts laughing again. “Don’t worry; we all thought it was cute.”

“We? Everyone saw me acting like a crazy person?” He nods.
Great
. “I’m never going to live that down. You know Bragden and David will make jokes about it.”

“And that’s when you bring out the magic,” Colton suggests.

“Hmm, this could actually be fun.”

I can feel something lightly caressing the skin on the small of my back. I take a deep breath and am hit with a familiar scent. Without opening my eyes, I mumble a good morning. Colton laughs and slightly turns toward me. I still keep my eyes closed; I’m not ready to wake up yet. The arm I am resting against pulls me closer to him.

Colton kisses my forehead. I tilt my head up toward him. Next, he places light kisses on both of my eyelids. I sigh and lean into him. He trails kisses across my cheekbones and down the left side of my neck. He moves the collar of my t-shirt down a little and traces kisses across my collarbone. “Colton,” I whisper.

He chuckles against my skin, and I feel his lips brush against mine. “Yes?”

“Kiss me.” Lightly pressing his lips to mine, he pulls me even closer. I slide my hands up his chest and wrap them around his neck. I gasp against his mouth when I feel his hand move across the small of my back. My shirt has risen during the night. At my gasp, Colton starts to pull back, but I keep a firm grip on him and deepen the kiss. He’s hesitant at first and then follows suit. My heart is beating a mile a minute as Colton rolls, so that he is propped over me.