Descending Darkness (The Prophesized #3) (28 page)

Who the hell would be ringing our doorbell at this time?

I grimace and lean toward Colton out of instinct.

“Brace yourselves,” I whisper as the front door swings open.

Colton

I flinch as the front door slams open and hits the side of the house. “Who’s there?” A man yells as he looks at Liam, Ryanne, and me. Recognition softens his hardened expression when he sees James. “James, what are you doing here? Now’s not really the best time.”

“I give my deepest condolences for Rebecca. I’m truly sorry about what happened,” James says. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Ryanne lower her head and stare at the ground. Nothing that Dravin does is her fault. I wish she could see that. She is not responsible for his actions. He’s acting alone for his own selfish reasons. I squeeze the small hand wrapped in mine and continue to look at the obviously upset Mr. Howick.

“Who’s at the door?” A small voice calls from the inside of the house. Mr. Howick ignores the woman and turns from James and stares at Ryanne. Ryanne takes another step toward me.

“Is that her?” Mr. Howick asks James. “Is that the girl from the prophecy?” His head keeps swiveling from James to Ryanne.

“Mr. Howick,” Ryanne starts.

“She was killed because of you,” he says while taking a step toward Ryanne. I push her behind me as James puts a hand on his chest to stop him. Ryanne runs around my other side and stands in front of me. Couldn’t she just do what I ask of her once?

“I did not kill Rebecca,” Ryanne states. Mrs. Howick makes an appearance in the doorway. When she looks at the situation in front of us, she cries out and runs toward us. James lets go of Mr. Howick and grabs Mrs. Howick.

“You! It’s all your fault!” she cries. James is completely holding her back. I push Ryanne behind me again as Mr. Howick starts moving toward her again. Liam moves over to help as Mr. Howick, raises his fist aiming for me. He’s acting on his pain and grief. I’m not going to hit a grieving man. I put my hands up to block his hit, when he abruptly stumbles backward.

Ryanne walks around me again and walks up to Mr. Howick. “You will not hurt my soulmate, Mr. Howick. I will not hesitate to use magic against you again if you threaten him one more time. Do you understand that?” she says as she points up at him, glaring. Everyone freezes as we wait for his response. Mr. Howick doesn’t say anything but nods. Throwing his arms up in surrender, he takes a step backward; his eyes dance between Ryanne and me. She’s so small but can be pretty intimidating at times. I feel the love for her in my heart swell from her need to protect me. I glance over to James, who is smiling down at Ryanne, with admiration in his eyes. Mrs. Howick has stopped struggling in his arms and is now also watching Ryanne.

“I’m truly sorry for what happened to your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Howick, but I am not the reason you lost her. Dravin is the man who killed Rebecca. I’m trying to stop him, but I need help,” she pleads with them. “I know loss. I understand what you are experiencing. You can’t let that grief eat you up. You’ll never get any closure that way. You can help me bring her killer to justice though.”

I glance from my soulmate toward the Howicks. Since Ryanne threw up a shield to stop Mr. Howick from hitting me, they’ve been quiet. Mrs. Howick starts nodding and takes a small step from James.

“She’s right, Kent,” she whispers to her husband. Mr. Howick looks down at Ryanne once more before taking a step back. Ryanne can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be.

“Dravin has kidnapped me and tortured me twice in person and multiple times through dreams. He’s trying to steal my magic and use it against humans. He doesn’t believe that mages should exist amongst humans. He thinks that he should rule over them. We were given special abilities to use for good, not evil. Dravin doesn’t understand that. He thinks he’s better than everyone else and isn’t afraid to prove it. I’ve tried stopping him so many times, but I’m not strong enough. He’s forming an army of Gadramicks, and if we want any chance of stopping him, we need more people. We need your help,” she says while looking between the Howicks.

A look of protectiveness crosses Mr. Howick’s face as he watches her. Ryanne’s strong and fully capable of protecting herself, but she looks so small and fragile. Being close to his daughter’s age, it’s understandable why he’d feel a protective instinct come over him. “Please, I need your help,” she pleads again. He and his wife share a look at her plea.

“It’s what Rebecca would want,” she whispers. Her words catch as she mentions her daughter’s name, but it is enough for Mr. Howick to agree with us.

“What do you need us to do?”

“That’s it?” Mrs. Howick asks.

“We’re not sure when everything is going to play out, but I know that it’ll be soon,” Ryanne explains. “There’s been little stuff going on lately, and Dravin is starting to get very impatient. We need to be ready. I’m just going around and asking people for help. I need to get back out into the world and find out for myself what is happening.”

“We’ll help recruit some people,” Mr. Howick agrees. I reach out and grab Ryanne’s hand again. She looks up at me and smiles. I know that Mr. and Mrs. Howick are watching us, but I don’t care. I’m so proud of her right now. I know that she feels uncomfortable being the center of attention, but she’s pushing her feelings aside and doing what is right. I pull her toward me and kiss her temple. Mrs. Howick smiles at the blush forming on Ryanne’s cheeks.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Mr. Howick asks. Ryanne slowly nods, hesitant because she knows what it’s going to pertain to. “What did they do to you?”

Ryanne bites her lip and looks down at our hands. “Mr. Howick, please don’t reopen those wounds,” I say. “She’s been through enough recently.”

“It’s fine, Colton,” Ryanne whispers. I glance down at her, but she’s not looking at me. She’s looking at Mr. Howick. I tighten my grip on her hand as she asks, “Which time?”

“How many times have there been?”

With a blank expression, she answers, “At least six. Possibly more.”

“Oh my goodness,” Mrs. Howick exclaims.

“Look, I don’t want your pity. You want to know what happened to me?” Ryanne starts. I clench my jaw and look out the far window. I hate hearing about this. “I was kidnapped. I was thrown into this tiny cell, where men would come in and ask me questions. When I didn’t respond, they beat me. I was hit, kicked, dropped, thrown into walls, punched…you name it. I’ve broken many ribs and other bones, had a couple concussions, black eyes, bruised skin, split lip, malnourished, dehydrated, etc. I’ve had Dravin’s mind power used on me multiple times. I’ve relived the day my mother died twice now. I was given enough truth serum to make me throw up for an entire day and then sleep for nearly two. I’ve been stabbed through the stomach once and asphyxiated twice.”

She’s trying not to think about the specifics of what happened. I squeeze her hands again, attempting to comfort her, but she doesn’t acknowledge it. Her mind is on Dravin. “I know of death, and I know of pain, but I’m pushing forward because I don’t want to live in a world where I’m surrounded by that forever, and I know that you probably don’t either.”

“We’ll help you, Ryanne.”

“Thank you,” she says as she looks over toward James. It is nearing afternoon, and there is still another house we want to make it to today before checking into the hotel tonight. James nods and stands up, politely telling the Howicks that we have to leave.

Ryanne walks over to Mrs. Howick and gives her a hug. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispers something into her ear. Mrs. Howick leans forward slightly, listening to what Ryanne has to say before nodding. As Ryanne steps away, I see a few tears appear in Mrs. Howick’s eyes. Ryanne walks backward until she runs into me. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and walk toward the door. James stays back and talks to the Howicks while I take Ryanne out to the car. Liam gets into the car first, and I help Ryanne into the vehicle. Scooting over, she gives me room to sit down in the car.

“How’d it go?” Emma asks. “What happened after Mr. Howick tried to punch Colton?”

“You mean after Ryanne threatened him?” I add. Ryanne blushes beside me but doesn’t say anything. I can see the smile that she’s trying to hide.

“You threatened him?” Natalie asks.

“He was going to hit him, so I
politely
told him that no one hurts my soulmate,” Ryanne explains. Emma laughs and playfully hits Ryanne on the shoulder.

Tom turns around in the driver’s seat. “Are they going to help?”

“Yeah, they are. James is still in there talking to them now.”

Ryanne leans forward and rests her head in her hands. “What’s wrong?”

“I tried to block their thoughts, but I couldn’t at first. They were basically screaming at me. I could see what Rebecca looked like. I could see her…dead,” she gasps. She saw this while she was in there? How did she keep her composure like she did?

I reach out and pull her to me. She turns and buries her face into my shirt. I can feel her tears spreading through the cotton. Rubbing her back, I tighten my arms around her. No one really knows what to do. “I’m so sorry, Ry. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“That’s supposed to be me,” she whispers. A chorus of disagreements echo through the vehicle.

“Do not say that,” I demand. Ryanne lifts her head and looks up at me. Her tear-streaked face conveys so many different emotions. She looks so scared and confused...and lost. “What he did to her has nothing to do with you.”

“It has everything to do with me,” Ryanne says. “Don’t you get that? Emma, you should agree with me! You were almost in the same situation as she was. You know that he’s searching for me. You know that it’s
me
he’s after. Their daughter wouldn’t have died if it weren’t for me. If I would have just given up my magic, she would have survived. She would be alive right now.” Ryanne stops and looks toward Liam. “One sacrifice for the lives of many,” she whispers.

Liam shakes his head. “Ryanne, don’t do this to yourself.”

“Just another thing that Valdus was right about,” she says quietly. Biting her lip, she looks away from him and crawls over my lap, opening the car door.

“Ryanne, where are you going?” I ask her.

“I’m going to ride with James to the next place. I need time to think about everything.” I reach forward and grab her hand. Pulling away from me, she starts backing up. “Alone, Colton.
Please
.”

I watch as my soulmate chooses to walk away from me…chooses to leave me. “Don’t worry, Colton. They’ll keep her safe.”

“They better,” I mumble as Ryanne gets into James’s car and closes the door, leaving my sight. If Larkin takes her anywhere… “Or they’ll have to deal with me.”

*****

Walking away from him was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. If someone would have told me last year that I was going to find my soulmate and try to stop some crazy mage, I would have laughed in their face, yet here I am doing exactly that. I know that Colton is still staring at the door that I just shut, but I can’t go back there. In here, Larkin can read my aura, but I’m not surrounded by my soulmate, protector, and someone who can read my emotions.

“Ryanne, what are you doing in here?” Larkin asks as I crawl over Bragden and sit down. I’m sandwiched between the two of them.

“I’m riding with you guys to the next house.” I don’t provide any further explanation. They don’t need anything more. Larkin knows that something is wrong, but I’m not going to elaborate. I just need a break from everything. I know that they’ll all ignore me and let me be alone. I’m hoping that the protective enchantment I have on myself will be strong enough for me to be away from Colton. I didn’t want to leave him, but I didn’t want everyone to try and cheer me up. My emotions are what allow me to act. I need to be angry and upset for my powers to be stronger.

“Are you alright?” Larkin asks as he bumps his shoulder into mine.

“Yep, just fine,” I say without looking at him.

Reaching out, he grabs my chin and turns me toward him. “No, you’re not.” I know that he means well, but I don’t want to be comforted right now.

“I will be,” I whisper. “Please, Larkin.” He releases my chin and nods. “Thank you.”

No one says anything for the first thirty minutes of the ride. It’s like I don’t exist. Larkin and Kyril talk quietly amongst themselves while Bragden, Conner, and James all talk strategies. My eyes start to feel heavy…I guess I’m going to see how strong my enchantment is. I lean over and rest my head on Bragden’s shoulder. He moves so that I can move into his side like Colton does. I close my eyes and let the car’s movement lull me to sleep.

“Ryanne, don’t push anyone away. You need them.” I open my eyes to find I’m back in the field of dreams again with Claire.

“I know. I just needed some time away from everyone. My powers work best when I rely on my emotions. I have all this pent up anger, sadness, and guilt, but I’ve pushed them back so far that it’s difficult to bring them to the surface sometimes,” I explain. “I’m not trying to push anyone away. I just didn’t want to be comforted.”

“Your powers will work just as well if you let someone comfort you. You have enough pent up frustration toward Dravin that any confrontation will heighten your abilities. Don’t worry about that. What really is the problem, dear?”

I bite my lip and sit down on the ground. I run my hands through the deep green grass, letting the cool waxy blades tickle my fingers while I try to process my thoughts. “I don’t know.”