The Binding (27 page)

I look over at Alorn. “I didn’t know we stopped,” I say keeping my voice low so as not to awake Tharin.

“A while back. We only stop ped to change drivers so that Tharin could rest. He hasn’t slept since we left Velesi two days ago.”

“Are you serious?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yes, Lily.
I am serious,” he responds mockingly .

“Wow,
it must run in the family.” After a pause I add, “So does that mean Mellis is adopted?”

For the first time since I’ve met him , Alorn actually smiles and takes his eyes off the road to wink at me. I laugh quietly, and then ask, “Where are we?”

“We’re in Ephraim, about an hour out of Provo .”

“Oh,”
I said, wondering where Provo is.

As if reading my mind he says, “We’re still in Utah , but in a rural area of the state, it’s actually a mountain valley.”

“Mountains,” I whisper remember ing hearing their song earlier.

We drive through the rest of the town and make our way to a campus with buildings that I ’ve only seen in romance movies. A quaint little town in the middle of nowhere, where life is easy and the pe ople laid back. At least that’s how I’ve always pictured small towns.
It’s no longer raining and as we pull closer to what looks like the ca mpus football field, Phoris who i s now driving the car ahead of us , slows down and pulls over.

“Where are we ?
” I ask again as I look about noticing the large well-manicured field.
O
ne side holds a l arge bleacher section and the other side is strange ly vacant . On the field, a huge logo of some kind of animal ’s paw print is painted in yellow and white with a blue outline.

“
Snow College , H
ome of the Badgers.” I nearly jump from my seat when Tharin’s head appears close to my own. I didn’t hear him wake, or even sit up for that matter. I turn sideways to look at him and he’s so close t hat if he turns his head toward me our lips would touch.
Eyes still looking ahead, he lowers his head as if to kiss me. Instead, he closes his eyes and snuggles my neck sending my entire system to overload. Then, just like that, he pulls away and gets out of the car as soon as Alorn puts it into park. I sit for a second wondering what just happened and try to get my thoughts together. I glance over at Alorn and before getting out of the car, he gives me a smug grin and winks at me for the second time since we ’
ve met.

I turn to
also get out, but my door opens from the outside. Standing there is Tharin, but he’s not looking at me.
I look around as I step out, wrapping my arms tight around me. It did stop raining, but there is still a light mist and with the cold air, I feel as if my nose would freeze off my face. Staring at Tharin, I become more frustrated with his ever—
changing moods.
Did he not hear me when I told him I know about Kalis? Is he playing some kind of game where I’m the butt of the joke?

“What?”
Tharin asks.

“What was that all about?” I reply.

“What?” he asks again. He lifts his palms as if truly not knowing what I am talking about.

“The whole neck thing,”
I reply , pointing at my neck.

“You mean this,” and before I realize what he’s doing , he grabs hold o f me and snuggles my neck again.

With every effort I possess , I push him away saying, “Yes, that! What’s that all about?”

“Oh, well, that’s how we greet each other when we wake up in Velesi,” he replies shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly.

“Tolan told me when we first met that you’re unable to tell a lie,” I say accusingly.

“That was just a lie to calm you down and get you to leave with us,” he counters with a big grin .

“Oh really,” I say leaning into him, “then why didn’t you snuggle Alorn ’s neck ?”

“Ha! I did, but you were staring out at the football field. What? I can’t help it if you get so wrapped up and lost in your thoughts that you don’t even know what’s going on around you.”

I look at him stun ned , shaking my head unable to believe a word he has just said. He gives me the same doubtful look, leans in and says accusingly, “I bet you didn’t even he ar me yawn, stretch or sit up. Did you?”

I step back from him frustrated and embarrassed, because he’s rig ht.
I didn’t notice . Not sure what else to say to him, I push past him. I walk toward the others who a re now standing near the walkway to the front gate of the field. I try not to react to his laugh from behind me and head straight for Julia. As I get closer to her , I notice that Tolan is holding her hand and again I feel that pang of jealously hit me.
Julia senses my approach and turns to me smiling.
I shake off the unfamiliar feeling and smile back. How can I be jealous of her when I’ve never seen her so happy?

Without releasing Tolan’s hand, she takes a step toward me, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I ask smiling back at her.

“Well, you look as if you’re ready to kill someone, or should I say a particular someon e?” she laughs as she looks past me.

“What did you do now?” she calls out to Tharin as he comes to stand behind me.

I
nnocent ly he shrugs his shoulders and gives me a smug grin. Part of me wants to reach up and kiss him , and an other part wants to put him to sleep with a swift kick to the head. Why is he acting this way, it’s just weird. He should be distant like before when we first met, especially knowing that I now know of Kalis and that he’s in love with her. He shouldn’t be so disrespectful to her while she’
s not here.

I steal a glance at Tharin as Mellis turns to him. To be honest, I kind of like the way he’
s been acting. He makes me feel ...
I’m not certain how he makes me feel, but if I ha ve to describe it, it would be “girlie.”
Ugh! All I know is that I like it, which makes it even harder for me to be near him. Even if Tharin won’t respect Kalis, I will. I wouldn’t want the guy who tells me that he loves me disrespecting me while I’m not around. I step away from him and make my way to the other side of Julia and Tolan.

“Tolan,” asks Julia, “why are we here? Are we meeting someone?”

“No,
my l ove.” M
y heart skips a beat as Tolan calls her ‘
m y l ove’ as if he’s been calling her that all her life. I try to avoid looking at Tharin as Tolan continues, “It’s like I told you earlier . T
his is where the clearing is, r ight in the middle of that field .
”
Julia and I both turn toward the dark field.
“In that clearing,” he continues , “is the portal that Phoris will open for us.”

Her eyes still on the field, Julia asks , “Where will it takes us? Are you sure there’s a portal there, I don’t see anything.”

He pulls her closer to him and smiles, “Yes, it’s there. It will only open when Phoris makes the summons. It will take us to Crowfoot Mountain .”

“Where’s
Crowfoot Mountain ?
” I ask finally pulling Tolan’s attention from Julia.

“
Alberta , Canada ,” he answers.

“What?” I did n’
t mean to raise my voice, but Alberta , Canada ?

Tharin turns to me, stopping in the middle of his conversation with Mellis. I turn questioning him, “
Alberta , Canada ? You’re taking us to Alberta , Canada ?”

He glances over at Tolan who realizes this is something Tharin meant to tell me himself. He lifts his shoulder at Tharin with an apologetic look.

“That’s where the doorway to the outskirts of Velesi is located, Lily. Does it matter where it’s located as long as we get to Velesi?” h e asks simply. He looks at m e as if waiting for a response and I’m not only confused but also unsure about what to say.

Julia has no trouble speaking up, however, as she steps away from Tolan asking, “Why didn’t you tell me you were taking us to Canada ?”

Tolan abashed quickly answers, “You didn’t ask . You were willing to go where ver Li ly was going. I t never occurred to me that it would matter where we were going as long as you were with her …
and me.”

Julia mulls this over for a moment and then looks at me saying, “We never asked. You just wanted to go where you can find Lucas, and I wanted to go where you were going.” Julia doesn’t notice the disappointed look on Tolan’s face.

Then she says looking at Tolan, “At least that was the main reason at first.” The utter joy on Tolan’s face is completely shameful and I roll my eyes. I look over at Tharin who i s grinning over his brother’s happiness , and I can’t help but share the moment with him. As Tolan cont inues to hold Julia close , Tharin f inally turns back to Mellis who has been waiting patiently .

“Alorn and I,” says Mellis once he has Tharin’s attention again, “will check out the area first before heading out with the vehicles, just to make sure the coast is clear. As soon as we’re done, we’ll get rid of the vehicles and weapons.”

Alorn and Mellis walk over to the fence and instead of heading down to try and find an opening , they scale the fence in a blink of an eye, landing on the other side without making a sound. They casually split in opposite directions to meet in the middle on the far side of the field . Because the campus is close d , the field lights are out .
I try to see them out in the dark , but t hey ’
re nowhere in sight.

I sense Tharin coming up behind me and I move away from the fence, turning to face him. “Why do they have to search the area? Can’t they just sense if there’s danger around?”

Tharin smiles at me as if pleased that I asked, “Yes, I’ve already scan ned the area, Lily. However , there are a few who can shield from our senses and even fewer who have the gift of being able to see and speak while in the drift state. So, on the side of caution , not only do we scan with our senses, but we do a physical scan as well.”

“That’s incredible! Can I do that, too?”

“Yes, you can. Come here.” He pulls me forward, wrapping his arms around me. “Now,” he says, as if talking to a student, “the first thing you should know is that we call it drifting because it’s like drifting through a dream. Second, you need to close your eyes.”

H
e nods at me to go ahead and close my eyes. I do as he says and find it strange how not seeing make s me more aware of everything.
I’m fully aware of his arms around me and how his soft breath feels on my cheek a s he speaks quietly in my ear, t each ing me how to drift with my senses.

“Now, I want you to picture us standing here next to the fence.” I do as he say s , and I actually see us holding one another so intimate ly that I try to squirm out of his hold. He tightens his arms and I stop, relaxing against him. I feel his heartbeat and I lay my head on his chest. Although he’s wearing his c oat, I can still hear his heart beat and feel it thumping against my ear, steady and strong.

In a soft low voice he continues, “Slowly pull away from us and focus on the field. Send your senses out slowly. Imagine that you’re standing at the end of the field looking forward. Now, walk down to the middle, slowly, scan ning from side to side. Look up at the bleachers. Now imagine yourself there. See the field below you. Now, see yourself on the other side of the field, near the trees. Look around you, listen. Now back to the front of the field and scan before you, down the field.”

I follow his instructions tentatively at first. Then the feeling of being in flight once again overtakes me. The drifting sensation in my mind is exciting and thrilling at the same time . Although I’m warm and safe in Tharin’s arms, I can feel the cool mist around me, its crispness biting gently at my fa ce. I feel myself moving in the directions per his instructions . I soon find myself up at the top the bleachers looking down. The air is more biting here and the feeling of flight is enhanced . I stand scanning first the bleachers, then the field and then across from it. At Tharin’s prompting I find myself on the opposite side, standing next to a few trees. I sense myself trying to crane my neck to see around them and realize that if I wanted to, and with little effort , I can imagine being around them .
Leaving that realization , I am back on the field moving forward letting Tharin’s voice continue to guide me.

As I approach the center of the field , I reach out to the far end. There i s a spot that I can’t quite make out.
I’m unable to see past it to the other side. It takes me a minute to realize the darkness I see before me is not part of the night, but a separate entity. I stop myself from moving in closer, my heart missing a beat. I look around me, back to the fence area and see Mellis and Alorn speaking through the fence with Phoris and Tolan. I see Julia, still holding Tolan’s hand a little beh ind him watching Tharin continue to whisper in my ear . She has a smile on her face and I chuckle at how she ha s done a complete one -eighty about Tolan and doesn’t seem to care who knows that she loves him.
It’s written all over her face.

I turn back to the field and I’m now able to see the far end where the score board sits unlit and dark.
T
he wind pick s up a bit , and I start feeling a little pressure at the back of my head. A slow panic starts in my chest and I look around me trying to find where this sense of fear is coming from. From out of nowhere, the terror hits me full on and I’m frozen , unable to think, to scream, to move, to call out to Tharin.