Rule (Roam Series, Book Five) (19 page)

“Eva,” Will was behind me, turning me into his arms. “I’m sorry. Breathe.”

I listened to his voice, nodding, flattening my hands on my knees as I bent over. Finally, the headlights on the Mustang stopped flashing, and I could tell the dashboard was finally dark.

“What
just happened?”

“My theory about your magic not being as potent here… was obviously wrong.” He opened the car door for me, holding out the keys. “I am sure that I can drive, if you need me to.”

“No, no, I can,” I assured him, climbing into the driver’s seat. “No touching, okay?”

“Agreed.” He gave me a guilty smile, crossing his arms and sitting as far away from me as possible.

We sat in silence the rest of the way to the airport, and I gripped the steering wheel, white knuckled.
How does he do this to me? Why can’t I control myself?

Morgan insisted on sitting in the backseat with me while Jason drove back from the airport. “I am just so afraid for you, every minute you’re over there. Will, please tell me she’s safe there, that the horrific place that I remember isn’t the same world she’s living in.”

“The sun shines every day, and my kingdom welcomes her as their queen,” he assured her.

“Stop worrying about me. Tell me about the girls. Please.” I listened to her talk about my cousins the entire way back to the house, huddling in her arms in the warm back seat.

I realized I’d fallen asleep as Will was carrying me from the car. I blinked, loving the way the moon silhouetted his face as I gazed up at him. “I keep finding myself in this position,” I murmured.

He smiled down at me. “Sleep, love. We will have an early breakfast with your family tomorrow.”

“No, I’m not going to bed yet! I don’t want to miss out on any time-…,”

“Eva,” he set me to my feet in the front entryway, gesturing to the living room. “Your mother and father are awake. We will speak with them now.”

I hugged Morgan and Jason before they greeted my parents. They took the last room downstairs, and I turned to the living room. My mom sat on the couch, waiting for me. Curling next to her, I watched my dad come in from the hall, taking the seat on my other side. He brushed his hand over my hair lovingly.

Will sat on the loveseat. After a moment, he spoke softly. “I have decided to go back to Icepond tomorrow… alone.”

“What?” I sat up, almost making it to my feet before my father held me back.

“Eva.” His handsome face darkened with unexpected sadness; I longed to go to him, but my father’s grip on my arm held me steady. “It is evident that, though you are extraordinarily brave, and worthy of the kingdom… you still need your family very much. A need so great, if left unfulfilled, will cause you resentment that I could not bear.”

“Will, I want to go back! The suns are burning, and I have to-….,”

“Then I shall rule the kingdom until the end.” His ice blue eyes met mine, and I jerked free of my dad’s grip, standing.

“You’ll kill
everyone there.
”

“The rebellion has grown in only the few days you have been queen. For as long as the prophecy exists, your life, and your brother’s life, are in danger. I must bring an end to the suffering, and the… indeterminate state of my world.”

“And when the world burns… and you’re left immortal, you come here?” I asked, shaking my head. “How heroic.”

“Eva!” My mother stood up, her hands wringing forcefully at her waist. “You have no
idea what is heroic-
don’t talk to him like that.
”

I ignored her.

Will stood, taking a step toward me. “Whether or not you rule there, Eva, one of these worlds is destined to burn. And as my father’s son, I feel that I have a debt to pay. To you, to your parents… and to your world.”

“No.” I rolled my shoulders back, glaring at him. “I am the queen of Icepond. I refuse to let you do this. You can’t go alone. I
have
to travel through with you.”

“I’ll go with you. I’ll take you
back home with me.” My father’s voice broke my heart into two separate pieces inside my chest.

I turned to him, betrayal clear in my eyes.

“You can’t do that!”

His
expression darkened. “I can- and I will.”

“I hate you.” I balled my fists until my fingernails cut into my palms. “Look what you’ve done.
You are to blame for all of this!
”

“
Your father has sacrificed
,
” my mother wiped at her tears, her eyes flashing with anger.

“Roam.” He turned to her, shaking his head once before turning his eyes back to me. “I have done everything I can to stop this world from burning, and to save your life.”

“You created me just to save this world! To end a prophecy! Look at what mom has gone through…
look at her.
The room that she was in, the room she shared with Troy?
It is cursed with her screams.
I heard her scream from a world away, and it was
horrifying
.” I blinked rapidly, fighting away the burning tears. “It can’t be all for nothing! I am here- you’ve all gotten what you tried for centuries for.
I
am here.
You
made me into a fighter.
I can fight.
I will end this.
I am the only one who can.
” 

The silence in the room was deafening.

“No you’re not.” Christopher walked from the hallway, and my father turned his glare on him, his own fists clenched at his sides. “I can stop the other sun. I want to go there, too.”

One look at my father’s eyes told me that he was fighting for control. “No fucking
way
.”

“Dad,” he grinned, as he always did at the worst possible moments. The room lost its edge, and Will listened to Chris. “Eva is right. You can’t let those innocent people burn, and you can’t expect Eva to fix everything. You and mom had another kid. You brought that second sun.”

“Christopher, no,” my mother’s beautiful face paled, and he moved next to her, wrapping his arms around her.

“I’ll come back as much as I can, for short periods of time. Like Eva and Will did today.”

Will stepped forward, facing my dad. “You have raised two very courageous children, West. I refuse to take them both from you. Christopher is young; you’re right to keep him here. Eva,” he turned to me. “You will make your own decision.”

“She is my daughter.
I’ll
make her decision.” West growled, pointing at me as though I were an inanimate object in the room.

“She is my
wife
,” Will challenged, taking a step forward. “In this world and every world. Respect her. She will choose.”

I turned sharply to Will. I had never heard anyone speak to my father in such a way.

Dad is going to punch him.
Before I could throw myself between them, I focused on the anxiety churning in my stomach, closing my eyes tightly.

I heard the electric shock before I opened my eyes again. My dad’s fist met with an invisible wall, searing all of the knuckles on his right hand. “
Goddamnit!
”

“What just happened?”  Chris demanded, glaring at me, and my mom burst to her feet, reaching for my dad.

“I feel like I just got electrocuted,” he turned to me, and I took a breath, sending him a vicious look.

“Well, never throw the first punch, Dad. Only the last.
You
taught me that.” I turned to Will. “Let’s go.”

I waited for my father to say something, anything, but when I made it all the way to the top of the stairs without a word from below, I turned to look at him.

Christopher was gone. My father held my mother in his arms.

“Are you awake?”

“Of course I’m awake. I told my dad that I hated him and electrocuted him. I feel like a piece of shit.”

“Come here,” Will moved from the overstuffed arm chair near the window, stretching out on my bed next to me. I turned to him, pressing my cheek against this chest as he pulled me into his arms. “When you love someone as much as I know that you love your father, broken words are easily mended. In time.”

“He’s been through terrible things, too. I blamed him for everything.” Digging my forehead into his chest, I pinched my eyes closed. “I should go wake him up and talk to him.”

“You used your magic purposefully tonight, Eva. You controlled it. If you choose to come home with me, I’ll see that you grow your abilities with the help of both Asher and Eric.”

“Eric?”

“He knows a great deal about magic.”

“I can’t believe you wanted me to stay here.” I lifted my face to his. “I thought you cared about me.”

He shifted his eyes to the ceiling, his expression darkening. “I’ve come to care very much for you. That is why I gave you a chance to stay.”

I reflected over his words, drifting in and out of sleep as I stressed over the fight with my dad, Christopher’s offer, and my family. Over and over, Will’s fingers smoothed my hair, away from my face and down my cheek. The gentle caress of his fingers lulled me, consoling my tumultuous thoughts.

Sometime later, as sleep beckoned, I heard his voice through his chest.

“
I am falling in love with you, Eva.
”

Blinking, I lifted my face to his. His eyes were closed, and he lay with my head on his chest, his fingers stilled at my temple.

He’s sleeping… did he just say that? Did I dream that he said that?
Turning to face the window, I concentrated on the perfect full moon outside the glass.

“Eva.”

I am in the water. I taste salt, and know that I’m treading in the ocean. Darkness everywhere; the unknown voice beckons.

No… not this nightmare.

“Who’s there?” I kick my feet below the still water, my heart hammering as my bare foot brushes something sharp beneath the water.

“Eva…,”

The first bite, just at the tender part of my ankle, sends me into terrified, breathless screams. I try to swim, but the teeth sink into my calf next, tearing at my flesh. I go under, taking in a mouthful of water. The next bite, at my side and just above my hip, begins to drown me as I suffocate beneath the water
that is burning my lungs.

A tunnel below; light, energy. I force myself downward, reaching for the tunnel.

“Wake up… Eva wake up,” Will’s frantic voice silenced my screams, and I bolted upright in the bed.
Except, I’m not in the bed…

“Your majesty,” Eric’s voice bewildered me as he covered us both with a heavy blanket. The heat, oppressive, drugged my already confused senses.

“You brought us back here, somehow,” Will hurried, carrying me in his arms. “I have to get you inside the castle-…,”

“There was a tunnel, under the ocean… in my dream…
oh
,” I winced at the pain in my side, and Will loosened his grasp, staring down at his fingers.

“Blood? Are you injured?”

“It bit me… my ankle, my leg, and my side…,”

“Hurry,” Eric interrupted. Minutes later, the cool air within the castle allowed me to breathe deeply, and Will shoved the blanket away.

“I took us back here… with my dream?”

“I
do not know,” Will continued on toward the infirmary, and I winced, shaking my head.

“No- our room. The feather,” I gasped at the pain.

He nodded suddenly, as if remembering. I must have lost consciousness; moments later, Will was placing the quill in my hand. I waved it across my eyes, waiting for the enchantment to begin.

The dreamless sleep held me well into evening. By nightfall, I turned in the bed, watching Yvette moving around the bedroom efficiently. “Where is Will?”

She covered her heart and screeched, as if my voice had terrified her. “Oh, your majesty. I am sorry; you slept so soundly, I did not expect your words.” She rushed to my side. “His majesty is in his office, and has ordered me to fetch him the moment you awaken.”

“Thank you,” I managed. My dry throat pained beneath the weight of my words. “Please get him.”

She curtsied, bustling from the room.

What happened?!
I remembered the fight with my father, and then falling asleep in my bedroom at home with my head on Will’s chest.
And then the dream of the ocean, and something biting me from below.

The tunnel. I remembered the tunnel from my recurring childhood dreams, but had never tried for it.
I took us back here.
Another portal, under the ocean.

I just disappeared; my family must be worried sick. My dad…

Thinking of the terrible words that I spoke to my father, I covered my face, cringing. I waited for long minutes before finally getting up, using the bathroom and absently brushing my teeth. I still wore my sundress stained on the side with my blood, but someone had removed my flats and left them next to the bed. Shoving my feet into my shoes, I hurried from the room and down the hall.