Wolf Dream (15 page)

She chewed on the inside of her cheek. “After they, they um, forced me to send you…” She trailed off and tears streamed down her face.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “
Shhh. It’s okay. It’s all over.”

Her breathing hitched as she tried to slow it down
. She held her hand out as if to stop herself. “Okay, I’m good.” She wiped her tears and folded the napkin she was using as a tissue. She stared at the tiny squares she was making out of the thin material. “After they made me send you that vision, the creepy lady started to do things. It hurt so bad. I think I passed out.”

I gave her a small squeeze
to comfort her.

She sniffed. “The
n the room was spinning and I wasn’t sure I was seeing clearly. Jarak was there, untying the ropes, and he carried me down stairs.” She looked out the diner window. “When we were both at the door, he chose to stay behind to give me more time. Julie was coming fast but Jarak didn’t act like he could fight her.” She turned to look back at us. “I ran as fast as I could. I’m sorry I left him.”

I hugged her tighter. “Don’t be sorry. He chose to stay, that was his choice not yours. I’m sure he’s fine.”

Ian’s jaw clenched. “Ailaina, no one blames you. He’s the jerk that put himself in that situation. If anything, I’m mad at him for being there.”

My dad rubbed his chin. “Ailaina, how did they force you?”

“Dad!” I couldn’t believe he wanted to stir up more emotionally disturbing memories.

“Esmerelda, if we are going to defeat Nicholas, we need to know what playing field he’s on.”

Ailaina laid her hand on mine. “It’s okay.” She looked at my dad and mom. “I’m not sure how it worked exactly, but after she slit my arm and took my blood, she made a few unnatural noises. I don’t know what she was doing but it wasn’t long after that when she started to cut me again. My mind started swarming with thoughts that weren’t my own. I could see myself on the table in my head, but it wasn’t me. The me in my head was screaming and blood was everywhere. I fought against the vision and tried to block it out, but nothing worked. It was exhausting having someone else in my head. It’s like they zapped everything out of me, and then just took over.” Her face went blank as she thought silently.

I’m sure it was a memory none of us truly wanted to hear about. The waitress brought our food to the table and left again, but not before giving Ian one of her smiles.

My dad took a bite of his Tostada Catalina, the special of the day. I could smell the olive oil and garlic from his and Ian’s meal. The toasted bread with a weird ham and tomatoes on top looked good, but I was glad they had some familiar American comfort food for me. Fries were the perfect thing to eat as my stress level climbed higher with each passing moment.

“Well,” I said as I popped a fry in my mouth. “Ian and I might have an idea why Nicholas is acting different, but it’s pretty deep.”

My mom lifted her napkin to her mouth so we couldn’t see while she talked. “I think at this point, nothing would surprise me.”

“I believe that he’s using black magic.”

My dad coughed and thumped his chest with a fist. “That is a very dark accusation. Not that I’d put it past him, but…I think you’re right. It makes perfect sense.”

I popped another fry in my mouth. 

Ailaina raised a brow. “I don’t understand.”

“Nothing has ever been strong enough to separate a guardian and their wolf before. He’s been hiding, which isn’t totally like him. I haven’t seen him for a few nights in my sleep, so that is different too. I’m not sure what he did, but I know it’s not good.”

Jarak

I could barely keep my head up I was so tired. It took all I had just to stay awake. I hadn’t heard or felt Maztic since Ailaina left.
How long ago was that? Yesterday, it was only yesterday. I let my head fall back against the wall I slumped down next to, glancing around the room I was locked in. It was the same room where I found Ailaina. Only a table with rope dangling from the sides stood in the middle. I couldn’t believe a locked door kept me prisoner. What a wuss I turned out to be. I couldn’t even break down a simple door. It wasn’t that long ago I broke down a heavy metal door at an airport to help Es.

Es
. So many things had gone wrong that I wished I could start over, but I couldn’t—wouldn’t. She was happy with Ian and every chance I had, I blew. Then Julie came back and my heart couldn’t battle the curse of her spell any longer. I was destined to love her in hate, and now I was too weak to fight it. It made me sick.

I searched deep inside me for my connection with Maztic. I needed to feel him. Whatever they’d done to separate us, was killing me. I hoped that Maztic was okay. All I could feel was emptiness and it scared me.

The dimming light filtered through the crack in the curtains. The end of one more day. How many more could I survive like this? Downstairs a door slammed then footsteps pounded up the stairs. I knew it was only seconds before whoever it was, would be in the same room as me.

My door swung open, hitting the wall stopper. I knew I should run, but I didn’t even have the energy to stand.

Nicholas glowered down at me. He wore the same black suit as usual, but his blonde hair was askew and not carefully pulled back like usual, and his brown eyes were bloodshot. Something was definitely wrong.

I glared back at him. “You look worse than I feel.”

He gave a slight chuckle. “I can assure you that I am just fine. Although, I can’t say the same thing about you.” He scratched his chin. “Someone once told me that if a guardian and his or her wolf’s spirits were severed, they would die.” He looked around the room. “I don’t see a wolf anywhere. Do you?”

Anger filled every nerve in my body. I found some
unknown reserved energy from somewhere deep inside and jumped up. I lunged for Nicholas, but he threw his hand out, sending a shock wave to my chest. I flew backward, landing against the wall. The harsh impact took my breath away. Without Maztic’s spirit to guard mine, magic definitely worked on me.

Nicholas dropped his hand and winced. He inhaled as deeply as I wanted to. My legs gave out and I slumped back to the
floor. I hated being so weak. I did the only thing I had enough energy to do; I spit at his polished black dress shoe.

He glanced down at his foot then at me, disregarding my insult. “Why is it you try to fight me? In the end it will be me that wins. Don’t you want to be on the winning team?”

I let my head fall back against the wall. “You won’t win.”

He jumped up on the table to sit, his hands grabbing the edge to brace himself as he leaned forward. He stared out the window
and at the moonlight that was beginning to show itself.  “I guess if I wanted to win, I would’ve won already. I’ve had many chances. I was strong enough to keep Esmerelda here, strong enough to break through to her dreams. I was strong enough to kill Adonia, but I didn’t.”

He
tipped his head my way. “I think the whole thing amused me. I wanted power so badly that I created the first crossbreed. I wanted control. I wanted the ultimate power. So I used innocent victims.” He inhaled deeply. “But they all died.”

I wasn’t sure what to think about Nicholas telling me his side of the story. It unnerved me to hear how easy it was for him to use people. “You’re a coward.”

He shot his hand out and another electrical current flooded through me. He sneered as he lowered his hand, only to grab the edge of the table once again. “I’m not a coward.” His jaw tightened. “No more than Torres was when he asked a wolf to help his precious Adonia. I never would have hurt her. I only wanted their daughter.”

My insides churned as he talked about Es. “I know you needed her blood, but then she awakened the witches and she said everything changed. What really changed?”

He chortled a little and shook his head. “After she awoke the witches and tried the Reaping Spell, my curse weakened. It didn’t break because the spell was never finished, but it was enough to weaken me. My crossbreeds began dying, dropping like flies all over the world, but then something amazing happened. Because they started but didn’t finish the Reaping, the breeds who survived became stronger. Although, there was a side effect. When Esmerelda and Adonia tried that spell it hit me directly. I guess the best way to break a curse is to kill the one who made it, but thankfully I had enough strength to fight back and they couldn’t finish it. I became weak after that. As weak as you are right now.” He gave me a wicked smile. “I could only summon enough energy to see Esmerelda while she slept, so I did.”

He jumped down from the table and walked to the window. “Every night I would meet her. Let her know I was still alive and that I wasn’t giving up. What she didn’t know was that I was slowly getting weaker until I could no longer even do that.” He straightened his posture. “Meadow has a hard time with magic, but she was able to get through to her a couple times. Enough to let Esmerelda know I’m still here.”

“You look fine now,” I barely managed to get out. His last zap of magic left me drained of everything but consciousness.

“I am getting better. I was so bad, that I knew I was dying. So, I made a deal.”

The world stopped as recognition hit me—hard. The lady I fought with when helping Ailaina escape. “You made a deal with the Death Keeper.”

His chuckle made me jump, sounding so loud in the small room. “I did, and now Esmerelda will pay for almost killing me. I no longer have a need for her blood to make my crossbreeds. Hell, I have no reason to make them anymore. I got everything I needed in my deal.”

My heart thumped radically against my chest. “What did you give up for your end of the deal?”

He laughed harder. “That was the g
reat part. It seems the Death Keeper will kill Esmerelda for me. I got everything I wanted in one deal and all I had to do was give him my soul.”  He gave a wicked grin. “I am playing with the idea of having Esmerelda come here. I’d like to have a little fun before she dies. It could be fun torturing her and watching her dwindle to nothing without her wolf. It’s gonna be sweet music when she whimpers with no strength and begs me to stop.”

I couldn’t stop the sick twisted feeling in my stomach from bubbling in my throat. I searched for any reserved energy to fight him, but I couldn’t move.

He dropped down lower on his heels to look me in the face. “Kinda like you right now. It will only get worse. Wait for the intense ripping pain in your chest, that’s when you know that your beloved wolf is dead. They can’t take the separation either. After that, it’s only a matter of time.” He stood to leave.

“You,” I whispered, “still won’t win.”

He opened the door. “I already have. I’ll have Maluse come move you to a more suitable room downstairs. Now, excuse me, I have a dream date that I don’t want to be late for. It’s been too long since I’ve seen the precious witch.” The door slammed behind him and all I could do was pray that Esmerelda was safe—and that my brother would keep her that way.

Chapter
Thirteen

Meeting T
he Death Keeper

Esmerelda

I couldn’t stifle the yawn as we opened the door to the hotel room. It had been an exhausting day, not to mention that I was still trying to recover from being sleep deprived. Ian dropped our bag on the second bed. I was so sick of hotels already. I wanted home. A real home with my own bed. It’d been so long since I’ve had my own bed.

Thoughts of my own little apartment in Nevada
made me smile. Life before the crazy. I watched as Ian stripped off his shirt. I had to admit the view was amazing. I wanted to run my hands over the taut muscles in his back. All thoughts of life before I found out I had magic disappeared, because that was all life before Ian—and that’s something I didn’t want to think of.

“Caught you staring,” he said with a cocky grin.

I picked up a pillow from the bed I stood next to and threw it at him. “Oh, shut up. I wasn’t staring, I was, uh, yeah I was checking you out.”

He sauntered to me, throwing his shirt on the bed. “Really? Well, Princess, I see your shirt and raise you a pair of jeans.” He grabbed the waist of my
pants.

His nearness clouded my mind and everything but him faded away. How long had it been since we were together in my dream? His hot breath heated my cheek as he whispered something against my skin. Too long—it had been too long since that dream.

I laid in Ian’s arms, completely aware of his feather-light touch as he stroked my shoulder. A warmth spread through me like fire and I knew that I couldn’t live without him. It was strange to think that. I mean, we just started really dating; it hadn’t been that long. Right? I laid there and continued to feel emotions sweep over me, like they came from Ian and straight into my soul. Worry, fear, confidence, desire, elation, and love, were the ones I felt the most. The desire and love lifted my heart and I replicated those feelings. If they truly came from him, maybe I could let him feel what I felt too. I raised his free hand to my mouth and kissed it. I hoped that this moment would never end.

My eyes were heavy and wanted to close so badly, but I didn’t want to fall asleep and not be consciously with Ian. I didn’t want to leave him in any way. I wasn’t sure why I had all these thoughts all of a sudden. Maybe I was just scared to sleep. I hadn’t had any visits from Nicholas or Meadow the last couple times I slept, but it still scared me every time I got tired. I finally let my eyes close and succumbed to sleep.  

At first
, everything was dark—too dark. I blinked several times trying to make sense of my dream. Seriously, why couldn’t I have a normal dream for once. A thick fog rolled across the ground and over my feet. A loud screech filled the sky. I looked up trying to see what could cause such a sound. A pulsating vibration echoed in my head like a heartbeat rhythmically coming from the ground itself.  I refused to move, not knowing what waited for me. This was obviously not a dream of my doing. I would never dream something so creepy intentionally.

“It’s been too long
, Esmerelda.”

My blood froze as soon as I heard his voice. I turned slowly on my heel. “Nicholas, I see you’re still alive.”

“You might think you can get rid of me, but…” He walked closer to me, close enough I could smell his rancid breath. “But you can’t. You see, I’ve made a deal, one that not even you can break. It’s not like before, bringing the witches back from their graves. Which, by the way, thank you. Not sure I have properly thanked you before. Julie has always been sort of a pet, but she is really outdoing herself this time. I might even keep her around.”

I chose to ignore him about Julie, but I wouldn’t forget. I’d have to ask him about her later. “What do you mean it’s not the same? If I can bring back the dead, then I can
certainly kill you.”

He ambled around me with his hands folded behind his back. His usual black trench coat made the fog come up in wisps around us. “Oh
, Esmerelda, how I have missed these dreams of yours. Maybe we should shed some light on the subject, shall we?”

He brought his hands forward
and together with only his fingertips touching, then lifted them above his head. The higher he raised his hands, the brighter my dream became.

My breathing hitched and my stomach churned viciously. This wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare—it was death. Coal
-black rocks protruded from the fog-covered ground, making me look down to see what I actually stood on. Even the sky was gray and filled with smoke. The overpowering smell of sulfur filled my nose. I tried desperately to breathe through my mouth, but I could taste the horrible rotten scent that burned my throat. Dark shadows crawled unnaturally over the rocks and hissed at me as they lifted their heads, or at least I thought it was their heads. Instantly, I remembered the feel of them as they covered me when Nicholas held me in the deep pits of his underground cell.

“What is this place?” I asked as I continued to take in my surroundings.

“Well, since I am feeling better, I thought I’d show you a bit of where I can take you while you slept. This is a pit of despair in Hell. There are many pits and levels, different types of pain to suffer.” He looked around with a smile on his face. “And you, my dear, will get to enjoy them all.”

“You’
re sick and twisted,” I said with as much bravado I could muster, but secretly, my heart raced with his words. Surely I wouldn’t have to endure any levels of pain trapped in my own dreams. Would I? Then my whole body tensed when I thought about the fact that he could be talking about real life, not dreams.

He grinned wider. “I told you, I made a deal.”

I swallowed hard, and a shiver traveled through by body despite the heat that surrounded us. “What deal was that? You didn’t have a soul to sell.”

He lost his smile, only to replace it with a scowl. Obviously I touched a sore subject. “You don’t know anything about me. What I’ve been through to get where I am, why I do what I do, or e
ven why I made a deal with the Death Keeper.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Then why don’t you explain it to me?”

He chortled a little. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Make it easier for you to plot against me.” He shook his head. “No. The only thing I’m gonna tell you tonight is, sweet dreams.” He gave me a sinister smile then faded into the air.

I
let my hands drop, slapping against my hips. “Great.” I looked around in disgust. The smell of the sulfur had definitely gotten stronger since I first got there. I twirled in a circle, noting at least twenty of those creepy shadowy things that surrounded me.

“I suppose you’re the ones waiting to inflict the pain
and despair on me, huh?” I exhaled a long, loud breath. I wasn’t gonna go down without a fight. This was my dream; nightmare or not, I would fight back.

I felt the familiar sizzle in my palms as my magic raced to the surface. I smiled.
Thankfully my magic worked in the hellhole. The sky darkened even more as the thunder clouds moved in, pushing the smoke away. The two elements I had the most control over were definitely ones Mother Nature would be proud of—Earth and Air. The ground rumbled as a loud crack sounded across the sky. Where I stood was steady and unmoving, but all around the tall rocks tumbled and fell into pieces as the ground opened up, revealing the depths of the hell Nicholas brought me to.

The black shadows screeched and scattered in every direction, but I didn’t let up. I pushed harder. If Nicholas thought by bringing me here I would suffer and give up, he was seriously mistaken.
Black creatures flew up from the deep pits and circled in the air above me. Even from where I stood, I could see their eyes were flames. My heart raced fiercely. Their long silk-like wings spread out as they flew higher, their breath parting my storm clouds.

I pushed harder, enveloping them into the storm. Lightning split the sky, hitting the ground with a loud crack. I felt heat everywhere
; even my eyes burned as I watched the creatures fight against my powers, flapping their wings and screaming out against the electrical current that swept through the clouds.

The wind picked up and my hair blew all around my face. Fire spit up from the ground around me like geysers.

“Very good. Even I’m impressed,” a sultry voice said behind me. I jumped slightly and twisted to see a tall man with black hair and gray eyes that had streaks of red swimming through his irises, staring at me. He stood with his hands tucked into his front pant pockets. He wore a red shirt under a black jacket and his pants were black to match. I couldn’t deny how attractive he looked, even though my inner voice told me he was trouble. An evil kind of trouble.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I let my hands fall to my hips
, but kept the storm brewing in the distance.

He let his bottom lip come out a bit as he nodded. “Well, I live here.”

I gulped. Yeah, he was definitely trouble. Okay, think, Es, think. What would Ian tell me to do right now? “Voluntarily?”

He smiled, but it made his eyes turn a deeper red, like fire spread
ing through him. “Yes.”

“Who are you?” I repeated.

“I’m Davin. I am the Death Keeper.”

Oh crap
. I wanted to wake up—now! I closed my eyes and begged my body to wake up. I opened them to still see Davin standing there with a smirk on his face. “That won’t work here. You will wake up, but not until we’ve talked.” He spread his arms out, surveying the damage I caused. “I have to say I am throughouly impressed. I didn’t think you had enough power to carry over into my world. I might have to rethink my deal with Nicholas. I think you would prove to be of much more use alive, with me, than you would dead, to him.”

I stopped breathing. I was beginning to understand that no matter what, I was utterly screwed.

He tipped his head slightly. “Esmerelda, do you even know why Nicholas wants you dead?”

My mouth was too dry to answer. I shook my head.

“We should really go somewhere to talk.” He charmingly lifted his hand and our surroundings changed.

I spun around the elegant room. Red carpet covered the floors and the walls reached up forever to the extremely high ceiling. A massive fireplace filled a large portion of one wall with
tall flames that licked the edges. A pool table, ready with balls racked on the green, sat in the middle of the room, and two high-back chairs sat facing each other near the fireplace. “Where are we?”

He grinned. “Home. Well, my home anyway. Maybe one day it will be yours too.”

I spoke through clenched teeth. “Never.”

He gave a half nod before walking to the pool table. “Do you play?”

“What? I thought you wanted to talk.” Seriously, I just wanted to wake up and never sleep again.

He grabbed a pool stick and rolled it on the top of the green felt of the table. “Exactly. Which is why I can’t allow you to wake up until we’ve talked.”

“You can read my thoughts?” Ugh, as if things couldn’t get any worse, I’m trapped with a mind reader.

He chuckled. “Well, yes and no. If you don’t block them, then they are just
kind of there.”

“Oh. How do I block them?”

He grabbed the chalk and began chalking the end of the stick. “Same way you opened up when you first learned how to use your magic. Remember when Victor taught you to help Meadow? Now that was quite the experience, wasn’t it.”