Reaching Retribution (The Prophesized Series) (11 page)

“You only like him because of his voice,” Emma replies.

“And everything else,” she mumbles as she looks toward Colin.

“You can watch it. I don’t care.”

Ryanne smiles widely and then quickly hides the smile and glares at everyone, making sure that no one will argue with her. Larkin opens his mouth to say something, but a large ball of water forms in midair and falls down on him.

“Don’t even try it, mister,” Ryanne says.

Larkin spits out water and instantly starts laughing. No one else says anything, but everyone is trying to hide their laughter. I get off the couch and grab the movie from Ryanne. Putting it in the DVD player, I press play and grab Ryanne’s hand, pulling her back to the couch.

She sits down, but her eyes don’t leave the TV. Chris starts to say something, but Ryanne instantly shushes him. “She’s into Superhero films?”
he whispers.

“Oh yeah,” I tell him.

“Interesting. I would have pegged her as a romantic comedy girl.” Ryanne makes a gagging noise at his comment. “I stand corrected.”

“I can stand them, but they’re not my first option.
Now shhhhhhh,” Ryanne says as Nick Fury appears on the screen. For the next two hours we watch The Avengers. Ryanne quotes many of the lines of the movie and laughs at all the funny parts before they happen.

“This is my favorite part,” she says as she lightly hits my arm. Mark Ruffalo had just shown up for the end battle sequence. “That’s my secret, Captain. I’m always angry,” she whispers along with Bruce Banner.

“You’re too cute,” I whisper to her as I lean back a little. Ryanne curls into my side and smiles up at me.

“You know who is also cute?” she asks.

“Chris Evans!” Emma yells from across the room.

“Emma is delusional, Colton. Don’t listen to her. I was going to say Hemsworth. She just forgot his last name.” She puts a finger out and stops me. “You’re cute too
; don’t worry.”

“It’s a good thing you added that last part. I may have had to tickle you otherwise.”

“I’m learning,” she mumbles and she leans back against me and returns her attention to the end of the movie.

We all train for the next couple days. Now that I’ve released my magic, I don’t feel as overwhelmed. It’s much easier to contain the thoughts and emotions. I still have all my magic, but it’s not stuck in me anymore. It moves freely around me, but only acts when I will it to. It listens to me completely. Natalie has helped me control the emotions. Since those are stronger than thoughts, it took a little more practice to have complete control, but I quickly got the hang of it. I can call them to the surface whenever, but I can’t hear them unless I want to.

To strengthen
my magic, I select a strong emotion such as anger or love and wrap it around the strands of magic. This magnifies the strength of them. With practice, I do believe that I can stop Dravin now. I’ve noticed a difference in my abilities and I know that Dravin won’t know what hit him.

Logan and Chris have been helping Lily train. She’s gotten better, but still needs some work. Considering she’s only been training for four days, she’s a very quick learner
. Tom could also have something to do with that. It’s all very encouraging, but I know this isn’t going to last for long. It can’t. We’re going to have to go back out and find others to help us again.

“How much longer do you think we’ll stay here?” I ask Colton as I walk out of the bathroom, drying my hair with a towel.

“Not too much longer,” he replies honestly. “Though I wish we could. It’d be nice to relax for a little while.”

“Yeah, it’s like
how things were before; only there are more of us now,” I tell him as I step in front of him.

Colton takes th
e towel from my hands and tosses it lightly on the bed. Putting his arms around my waist he starts swaying. “What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, he rests his chin on my head and starts humming.
I wrap my arms around his waist and lean into him. Under my ear, I can feel his steady heartbeat. I step closer to him as his arms tighten around me and start swaying with him. I love these moments with Colton. I don’t know how many more moments we’ll get like this for a while.

His chest vibrates
under my cheek as he continues to hum. Colton always knows what I need. I’ve needed this alone time with him for a while now. I just want him to hold me and let me know that everything will be okay. That
we’re
going to be okay.

Hearing a knock at the door,
we both stop moving. With a sigh, I lean back and look up at my soulmate. I don’t want him to answer it. His eyes meet mine before he gives me a small smile and steps away from me to answer the door. My heart swells with my love for him. I bite my lip to keep my girly sigh in as I watch him walk away. Opening the door, he quietly talks with Tom. I can’t hear anything they are saying. I could read Tom’s mind, but since they’re being quiet, they don’t want me to hear their conversation. Leaning against the doorframe, Colton starts shaking his head, obviously disagreeing with something Tom just said.

I let my eyes travel over Colton’s long
wavy hair down to his broad shoulders. Even wearing a t-shirt, I can see the defined muscles in his back leading down to a tight narrow waist. With his arms crossed, I can see the bulge from his flexed biceps—the same biceps that were just wrapped around me.

When I hear Tom mention that he’ll come back later, I tear my eyes away from Colton. I need something to distract myself.
I grab the wet towel from the bed and hang it on the towel rack in the bathroom. “Ryanne,” Colton calls. I start to walk out of the bathroom, but the room starts to spin around me. Grabbing onto the edge of the doorway, I try to keep myself upright. I gasp as the air is pulled from my lungs. “Ryanne, what’s wrong?” Colton asks as he rushes toward me. I gasp as the air is pulled from my lungs.

My body starts to shake. I fall to my knees. “He’s
…He’s p-p-ulling me b…ack again.” I manage to get out. I try to move, but my whole body begins violently shaking and I fall forward into Colton’s arms. He picks me up and carries me across the room. I feel myself being placed on the bed, but I’m not longer in the bedroom anymore. I’m drifting between two places.

I’m being pulled in so many different directions, and everything spins around me. It fe
els like I’m thrown around the inside of a tornado. The motion is disorienting and makes me feel sick. I don’t know where I’m going to be spit out, but I know that Dravin is definitely involved. Instead of gently waking up in a new environment, I’m thrown down in the middle of a cell again. I hit the hard cement floor and roll into the wall. My body instantly aches when I come to a stop. Grimacing, I move onto my back and try to sit up.

“That could have been much smoother,” I mumble when I sit up and look
around the room. I immediately tense when I spot Dravin in the corner.

“Yes, it could have been,” he says.

“What do you want, Dravin?” I ask him as I push myself up. His tall frame is leaning against the door with his arms crossed against his chest, looking too smug for his own good.
Magic?
I let out a relieved breath when I feel the familiar tingle of my magic in the air around me. Does Dravin know that I can use my magic here?

“You know what I want, Ryanne. I need you
r magic.”

“You want my magic. You don’t need it,” I correct him.

“Still as verbal as ever, I see,” he says as he pushes away from the door and walks toward me. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that it would go much better for you if you would cooperate.”

“I’m not really a stickler for listening.
I’m kind of a rebel when it comes to that. I like to do my own thing. Being predictable is lame,” I tell him. “Maybe you should make a note of that.” I throw a shield around me as I recognize the look of concentration on Dravin’s face. I smile as his concentration turns to confusion. “You’re going to have to do more than that if you want to get my magic.”

“How is that possible?” he asks me.

“You’re not the only one getting stronger,” I say as I take a step toward him. “Now, I would suggest telling me how to get back because I’m starting to get mad.” I call some magic to me. Not enough to do any damage, but enough to let Dravin know that I can use it here.

His eyes widen, but he doesn’t say anything. “Interesting,” he says as he walks in a slow circle around me.
“Do you know why I became a Gadramick?” he asks me, changing the subject.

“Because you’re too cool to b
e nice?” I guess. Dravin stops in front of me.

“My parents were mages,” he starts. I mumble a
Duh
. Dravin glares at me, but continues, “They preached about how mages should work with humans. We should be equal. No one should be more powerful than another. We’re supposed to work together
.
All bullshit, I tell you.”

“What happened to them?”

“You want to know what happened to them?”

“Yes, that’s kind of why I asked the question.”

“They were murdered right in front of me by humans when I was five years old. Humans murdered mages because they were too weak to fight back. They had powers and could have easily overpowered their attackers, but did they fight back? No, because they thought humans and mages were equals.”

“We should be equals, Dravin. Just because a few people...”

“You don’t get it at all. We’re stronger and smarter than they are. We’re all around better people. We have powers for a reason. We’re supposed to be rulers. They need to know we won’t tolerate their actions. We won’t tolerate their insolence and stupidity.”

“Ok
, let me get this straight,” I say as I step toward him. “Because your parents were murdered by humans you think that all mages should rule over humans?”

“That’s what I just said.”

“
You
murdered people. Does that mean that the family members of those you’ve killed should rule over you?”

“You’re missing the point
. We have powers. They don’t. We should rule. They shouldn’t. It comes down to who has the most assets. Right now, those with money are the ones that rule. They control everything. We have magic. Money is nothing compared to our magic. We should be ahead of them in society.”

“We’re not in a caste sys
tem, Dravin! We shouldn’t be ahead of anyone. Maybe you could rule if you would put your magic to good use. Do you really want to rule over people who hate you? I’d rather have a few loyal followers than hundreds of those who hate me. I mean really? Have you ever heard about Julius Caesar’s assassination?”

Dravin moves quickly and grabs me around the neck.
Apparently sometime during our conversation, I dropped my shield. Pushing me backward, he slams me against the back wall and lifts me slightly off the ground. The tips of my toes are the only thing touching the cement. I try to suck in oxygen, but his hands are cutting off my air supply.

“Let me s
et something straight, Ryanne. My patience with you is running very thin. At first, I thought you were cute. Short little mage with attitude. It was new, interesting even, but I’m over it. You’re going to cooperate or you will die. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Dravin releases my neck and drops me to the ground. I fall on my knees and put my arms out to try and lessen the blow. I hear a pop and pain shoots up my left wrist—the same wrist the Phillip recently broke. Oh, now I’m pissed. I breathe in deeply before pushing off with my right hand and standing up.

“Dravin, you really don’t know who you’re messing with,” I say as I brush dirt of
f my clothing with my unbroken hand. My knees and elbows are throbbing, but I ignore the pain and face him.

“Since I was able
to get you here that means your little spell is no longer protecting you. I’m going to call your farther and bring him in. If you don’t fight, I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt that much.”

“You really think I’m not going to fight?” I say as I call my magic to me. Instead of waiting for my magic to build up, it instantly comes to me. I imagine a ball of energy similar to what I threw at Colin earlier today.
When Dravin sees the energy forming between my hands, his eyes widen and he steps backward. I smile at him as he reaches for the doorknob. “I told you, you really don’t know who you’re messing with,” I say as I throw the ball of energy. He ducks but it still hits him in the shoulder. He grunts and falls to the ground.

With his concentration elsewhere, I close my eyes and think about my room with Colton. I call more magic to me.
I want to go back,
I whisper.

My body starts vibrating. My knees give out and I fall to the ground. Instead of hitting the hard cement flooring, I start free-falling. Darkness moves around me, but I feel a slight breeze.
I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the movement to stop.

I can tell the instant I land back in my own body. I struggle to catch my breath. My throat, arms, and knees are all throbbing. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is in the room, watching me. I slowly sit up and turn
toward Logan. Waving him over, I move so that I’m sitting on the edge of the bed. Without saying anything, Logan knows what I’m asking him to do.

The bones in
my wrist snap back together, and I don’t even gasp this time which surprises me. The pulsating pain in my knees and throat fade. Logan steps away from me. I stand up and look at everyone in the room. “I need to redo the protective enchantment.”

“That’s it? No explanation?” Emma asks.

“Dravin was able to call me back which means that he can get to any of you too. I need to strengthen the enchantment.”

“Ryan
ne, what happened?” Colton asks. He stops in front of me, blocking me from everyone else. I place my hand on his cheek. He leans into my touch and wraps his large hand over top of mine.

“Nothing really,” I say. “But I need to strengthen the enchantment now. I think I can put it over all
of us and the house at the same time. It should be easier since I won’t really be pushing any magic out. I’ll just be telling it what to do.”