Descending Darkness (The Prophesized #3) (18 page)

I slide my hand down his chest and under his shirt and across the warmed hard skin underneath. My fingers lightly trace over the grooves in his tight abdominal muscles. Colton groans and kisses me more urgently. I slowly start moving the edge of his shirt up. He knows what I am doing. He pulls back and helps me take his shirt off. Throwing it in the corner, he leans back down and kisses me again.

I move my hands up his bare chest and stop when I feel his heart beat under my hands. I smile against his lips. I love that I can make his heart race like that. He leaves my lips and moves to my neck again. I tilt my neck giving him better access. I can’t contain the little moan that escapes.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Colton stops kissing me and buries his face in the crook of my neck. “Go away,” he says loud enough for whoever is standing on the other side of the door to hear.

“You have twenty minutes to shower and get dressed, or I’m coming in there!” Jane says. I giggle as Colton groans and pushes himself off of me. I bite my lip and sit up. Running a hand through my hair, I peek over my shoulder at Colton. Wow, we got a little carried away. I quickly get out of bed and grab some clothes. Bringing my clothes into the bathroom, I stop in front of the mirror. My hair is twice its usual size, and my curls are going everywhere; my lips are red and swollen.

I turn toward Colton, who is still sitting on the bed. “How can you see me like this and not laugh? I look ridiculous.”

He shakes his head and gets up. When he walks into the bathroom, he places his hands on my hips and turns me around so I am facing him. “You look beautiful, Ryanne. You always do.”

“Seventeen minutes!” Jane yells again.

“Gah,” Colton mumbles and leaves the bathroom. I laugh and close the door behind him, getting in and out of the shower in five minutes. Throwing on the clean outfit that I brought into the bathroom, I grab my towel, my toothbrush and toothpaste, and walk out of the bathroom.

“Ok, you can shower. I’ll go finish getting ready in Emma and Natalie’s room.”

Colton

Entering the kitchen, the first thing I see is Jane glaring at me. I know that Jane knows what we were doing, but unlike Ryanne, I’m not a blusher. I don’t flinch under her gaze. Instead, I smile at her. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?” I look between her and Ross, who is sitting next to her, talking to Bragden. David and Logan are also sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal.

“I know what you were doing,” she tells me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say while grabbing an apple out of the fruit basket. I’m not really a cereal eater like everyone else. I bite into the apple, but don’t look away from Jane; her glare never leaves me.

“Jane, calm down. Leave the boy alone,” Ross tells her. “Ryanne’s an adult now. She can take care of herself.”

Jane sighs and leans back in her chair. “Castration. Just remember that.” David and Logan about choke on their cereal. I smile around the apple. I can hear the girls laughing upstairs. What are they up to?

Liam slowly walks into the room, shaking his head. “Kyril’s a hit.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry. Ryanne’s handling it.”

Ryanne comes into the kitchen a couple minutes later with a huge grin on her face. “What are you smiling about?” I ask. She walks over to me and jumps up on the counter. Jane narrows her eyes at her from the kitchen table. Ryanne just laughs and leans toward me. “She hates it when I sit on the counter.” She looks back toward Jane. “It makes me taller. Do you see these guys? I need all the help I can get.”

Larkin walks back into the room, shaking his head at Ryanne. Her grin widens. “One of these days…”

“Don’t even bother, dude. It’s never going to happen. Take it from someone who knows,” Bragden tells him.

“What happened?” David asks.

“That dummy walks around with no shirt on, and everyone turns into a bunch of bumbling baboons…so I remedied it. He should have a shirt now.”

“I’m assuming you soaked them?” David asks her.

“Yep. They were acting like he was so hot, so I cooled them off. Then Larkin kept laughing, so I shocked him because he was annoying me,” she says. “Then I put a shield up around myself, so no one could retaliate.” She laughs and leans toward me. “I play fair, I know. But I mean none of you guys walk around without a shirt on, why should he?”

At least one girl in this house is thinking straight. Ryanne laughs. “I know, right?”

“Who is she talking to?” Jane asks.

“Olive.”

“The cat?” Ross seems really confused.

“Yeah, I can read minds. Olive said it was a shame that none of you walked around without shirts on.”

“Are you reading our minds?” Jane looks scared. What is she thinking about that she doesn’t want Ryanne to know about?

“No, I don’t do that. I don’t even use that power unless it’s absolutely necessary. I can’t even read Colton’s mind, so it’s basically pointless,” she explains. Thank goodness, she can’t read my mind. Her cheeks would permanently be stained red.

“You can’t read his thoughts?”

“Nope. He’s my Bella,” Ryanne starts giggling. Oh, the Twilight reference again. I look at her, and she starts laughing harder. I love hearing her laugh, so I can’t even glare at her. She reaches past me and grabs my water bottle. She puts the water bottle up to her mouth and takes a sip. Instantly, she coughs and ends up spitting all the water on Larkin.

Slapping a hand over her mouth, she stares at Larkin with wide eyes. “I’m so sorry!” she mumbles against her hand.

“Is there a reason why you spit all over me?” Larkin reaches over her and grabs some paper towels and starts wiping off the water. Ryanne grabs a paper towel and helps him.

“Why did Olive ask me what castration meant?” she asks. Though helping Larkin, her eyes flicker around the room. Bragden and David put their heads on the table and laugh. I stifle my laughter with a fake cough. Jane’s eyes widen.

“Darn cat,” Jane mumbles.

“You threatened to castrate my soulmate?” Ryanne says while jumping down from the counter, staring at Jane with a surprised look. Her eyes are wide, but it looks like she is trying not to laugh as well. I smile as she says soulmate. I reach out and pull her to me; she comes willingly.

Jane starts shaking her head, “I wouldn’t do something like that.” Jane is trying really hard not to smile or give anything away.

“Yes, you totally would say something like that! And if you’re going to threaten him, at least get a little more creative with it, Jane. I expected more from you,” she tells her and starts laughing. Jane can’t hold it in anymore. I gasp and start tickling her stomach. She doubles over in my arms, laughing, trying to get away from me.

I keep an even hold on her, tickling her. When I stop, she looks over at Jane and breathily says, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t threaten Colton anymore.” She turns around and glares at me. “I can take care of that myself.”

I am expecting her to do something, but she doesn’t. I know that everyone else is expecting it as well because they are intently watching us. “Gosh, you guys think I’m really that predictable?” she says as she walks out of the room. “Just you wait.”

“Good luck.” This time it is Ross who tells me that.

Emma, Natalie, and Kyril all walk into the kitchen a couple minutes later. Emma and Natalie have damp hair but dry clothes. Kyril is wearing a fitted black t-shirt. “I see you’re now wearing a shirt,” Jane says sadly.

“Yeah, apparently the little one feels awkward around me when I don’t have a shirt on.” Kyril turns and faces Emma and Natalie. “No one else was complaining.” He winks at the girls. Emma tries to look away, but she smiles. Natalie bites her lip and stares down at the ground. Goodness gracious.

I don’t understand what is going on. Kyril doesn’t look much different than any other mage. He is similar in height to the rest of us. Tan, sure. Fit, yeah, but so are the rest of us. What is it about him that causes the girls to go into such a tizzy?

Jane stands up and asks me, “Do you know where Ryanne went? I want to talk to her before we leave.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, it’s probably better if we’re not standing in your way, and you guys have a lot of people here already.”

“You can’t go back to your house. It’s not safe,” I tell Jane. “It’s safer here.”

“I know. We won’t go back to our house yet. I was thinking of a second honeymoon.” Jane looks up and smiles at Ross. He looks down at her with more emotion than I’ve seen him express before. When he smiles, she seems to become breathless. Ross laughs, and Jane clears her throat and looks back toward me. “So, do you know where she is?”

“Where who is?” Ryanne asks as she skips back into the room.

“You. Can I talk to you?” Jane asks her.

“Umm, yeah sure,” Ryanne says as she follows Jane out of the room. I wonder what Jane wants to talk to her about. I look toward Ross, who just shrugs and sits back down.

******

Jane walks out of kitchen and through the living room, leading me to the back door. Opening it, I am hit with the cool breeze. The smell of the ocean envelopes me while the sound of the gulls flying around echoes down the beach. I walk past Jane and lean against the railing watching the foam from the waves wash up on the shore. I close my eyes and let the sun beat down on my skin for a few moments before I ask, “What did you want to talk about?”

“Ross and I are going to go. I think it would be better for everyone if you don’t have to worry about us.”

“I could protect you; you don’t have to go. It’s not really safe for you to go back to your house,” I tell her.

“We’re not going to go back to our house for a while. We’ll go on vacation. We have enough vacation days between the two of us that we can go away for a little over a month. We’ll be fine. And if you ever want to get in contact with me, you have my number,” she says.

I turn and look at her. “I’ve missed you, Jane. I know I never did a good job at showing it, but I really appreciate all you did for me this past year.”

Walking over to me, Jane hugs me. “I’ve missed you too. I don’t like what you’re doing, but I understand why you feel the need to do it. Just promise me you’ll not get yourself killed.”

“I’ll do my best.” I know I can’t promise her anything. What I am doing is dangerous. There is always a chance that something could happen, and I’ve come to accept that.

“And about that boy…” Jane starts. I groan and step back.

“Yes?” I know that nothing Jane can say about Colton will change how I feel about him, but I don’t want her to not like him. I lean back against the railing and wait for her response.

“I like him,” she says. That isn’t what I was expecting. I stare at her, waiting for my mind to correct my ears and tell me what she actually said. “I can tell that he obviously loves you. It’s written all over his face when he looks at you.”

“I love him too, Jane.”

“I know. I can tell. You light up whenever you’re around him. I’ve never seen you look so happy before. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing. That you’re not taking everything too fast because you know he’s your soulmate.”

“Jane, I understand what you’re saying, but Colton’s a complete gentleman. He doesn’t pressure me to do anything. I know what I’m ready for and what I need to wait on. I know that I’m not ready for sex. You won’t have to castrate anyone.” I laugh and look back toward the water. “I had a vision about him the other day.”

“What happened in it?” She walks up beside me and leans against the railing.

“I saw us in the future. I looked to be in my mid-to-upper twenties. Colton and I were married, and I was pregnant with our first child.” I turn toward Jane. “I was really happy, Jane. I want that vision to come true. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that.”

She wraps her arm around my shoulders and squeezes them. “I’m really happy for you, Ryanne. You deserve that happiness.” I lean into her and hug her back. “Don’t cry,” she whispers to me.

She starts to wipe away my tears. I hadn’t realized that I was crying. “I’m sorry. There’s just a lot going on. It scares me, but I know that this is where I’m meant to be. With these people. Doing what I’m doing.”

“Ryanne, just trust in your abilities, and everything will fall into place. I can tell that all the people in that room care for you. Even Mr. tall, dark, and handsome.” I laugh at her. Even married Jane isn’t immune to Kyril’s looks. “You’ll be unstoppable together. You have your own little Avengers team here.”

“My own Avengers team. I like that. Thank you, Jane.” She turns around and opens the back door, motioning for me to go in first. Entering the house, I turn around and ask her, “When are you planning on leaving?”

“When we get back to the kitchen. Larkin’s going to bring Ross and me to the airport, and we’ll figure everything out from there. I’ll keep in touch, okay?” I nod and blink back more tears. I really do miss, Jane. I didn’t realize how much I did until now. “Your mom would be proud of you,” she whispers to me.

“I don’t think she’d be very happy about what I’m attempting to do.”

“No mother would, Ryanne. No mother wants to watch her daughter run toward danger, but you’re doing what you believe is right. You’re doing what you have faith in. That’s all a mother wants for their child.”

“I miss her,” I tell her honestly. Feeling more tears well up, I bite my lip and look out the window on the back door.

“I do too, honey,” Jane says. She and my mother used to be friends. Despite the almost ten year age difference, the two got along really well. “But she’s still here.” Jane points to my heart. I nod. I know that mom is watching me. During times of danger, I feel her presence near me…encouraging me to keep fighting.