Return (Awakened Fate Book 3) (4 page)

Life had never been as complicated as it had become in the past few weeks. Hell, the past few days alone were more complicated than anything else combined. We’d managed to survive that behemoth, and an attack by mercenaries before that.

And my brother.

I closed my eyes, drawing a breath to steady myself. I still didn’t know what to think about that. How to feel. Niall had joined the Sylphaen. He’d killed our dad, or at least agreed to let it happen, and nearly killed our older brother Ren as well. He’d lied to me, to Ina, to all of us for years, and never once gave any sign he’d thrown his loyalty in with those psychopaths.

And a few hours ago, he’d kidnapped Chloe with the intent of killing her to somehow gain abilities he claimed she possessed.

I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I was just so angry I felt like taking on a shark.

Or fifty.

Opening my eyes, I locked my attention on the terrain while I tried to calm down. I’d deal with Niall. Fix this somehow. I’d make it so that Chloe really could be safe in Nyciena, and my sister and Ren too, and get the Sylphaen away from us once and for all. The woman Niall had worked with, Liana, was already gone. I’d killed her – an act I knew I should feel… something… about, even if I couldn’t figure out what. And the rest of them would be stopped. I’d get back home and I’d make Ren understand that had to happen.

But later. It would have to come later. At the moment, the ocean was still full of those bastards. I needed to get Chloe away from here.

Even if I had no clue where ‘here’ was.

I scanned the landscape beyond the road. The rain had slowed over the past few minutes, becoming nothing more than a light drizzle. Moonlight pushed past the thinning cloud cover, silvering the trees and the wide fields that interrupted them. In the shadows, enormous houses nestled on the far sides of the open spaces, darkened for the night with only the occasional security light to draw attention to their presence.

It all felt surreal, and not just because I’d never ridden in a truck, or even a car, before. The sensation of flying over the ground without moving a muscle was incredible, to be sure. But I’d never traveled so far from the ocean that the air didn’t carry its salty smell and gaps in the terrain didn’t show glimpses of the water. It was so strange.

And it was starting to become uncomfortable.

I swallowed as a prickling sensation ran over my skin. We were crossing more than a mile a minute, if the markers by the roadside were any indication. It wouldn’t be long till the discomfort became so strong, I couldn’t go any farther.

Fighting back a grimace, I shifted on the seat. That was the point. When I reached the limit of how far I could go, any Sylphaen would have too. And that’d mean Chloe was safe.

Though there were still the behemoths we’d left in the SUV to consider.

And maybe they couldn’t travel far from the ocean either. Or maybe they wouldn’t be able to track her, now that we’d left them stuck on that little country road. The point was, the more distance she had from this place, the more she’d stand a chance of escaping the people who’d tried to hurt her.

Of course, she’d also be alone.

The prickling on my skin increased. I couldn’t help that. I could only get her as far from here as possible and then head back to deal with Niall. He’d sworn he wouldn’t touch Ina, and I’d warned her about him besides, but he’d also been lying for damn near half a decade.

I couldn’t risk him hurting my sister.

And I didn’t want to leave Chloe by herself, miles from her home.

My brow furrowed as I pushed the last thought away. What I wanted didn’t matter. The ocean and the fact I was dehaian wasn’t going to give me a choice.

Light glowed against the night sky while we descended toward a city and then gradually followed the curving highway around its edge. The miles sped past, and time did too, and soon the night swallowed the city again.

I felt like someone was running razors over my skin.

Shivering, I adjusted my position on the seat. Just a bit farther, and I’d tell her we needed to stop. That she had to go on alone.

A mile flew by. The razors dug deeper, bit into my muscles and bones, and tugged like a thousand fishhooks trying to drag me back toward the sea. A short gasp escaped me at the pain and involuntarily, my hand twitched for the door handle.

“Zeke?” Chloe called worriedly.

I couldn’t move to look at her and my voice felt lodged in my throat. I pulled a ragged breath through gritted teeth, trying to find a way to speak.

“Oh God, Zeke!” she cried. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t even–”

She steered the car to the side of the highway and came to a quick stop. Twisting on the bench seat, she grabbed my hands.

A feeling like the ocean itself spread from my fingers and up through my arms, driving the pain away. Blinking, I looked over at her.

“What?” she asked, confused by my expression.

“What did you do?”

Her head shook. “Nothing.”

I stared at her while the feeling of razors and fishhooks melted away as though it’d never been. “You made it stop. The pull of the water.”

Chloe’s brow furrowed in desperate bafflement. “I-I didn’t… I was just worried.”

Her gaze dropped to our hands. Swallowing hard, she inched her fingers from mine.

The pain didn’t return.

“Are you still okay?” she asked.

I nodded.

She echoed the motion, seeming shaken. Drawing an unsteady breath, she put her hands back on the steering wheel and glanced to the highway.

“Chloe?”

A semi flew past, its lights silhouetting her briefly before it was gone.

“Bit farther then?” she asked without turning back to me.

I hesitated. “Yeah.”

She nodded again. The truck pulled onto the road.

I watched her as a minute crept by. Her hands flexed on the steering wheel every few moments and her face looked like she was keeping herself calm by willpower alone.

“How
are
you going to get back?” she asked quietly.

“Figured I’d walk. Maybe hitchhike.”

She paused. “That’s pretty dangerous.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Another moment passed.

“We probably should stop soon then,” she said, her eyes still on the road and her voice small.

I didn’t respond. I needed to get back to protect Ina. I didn’t want to leave Chloe alone.

“Zeke?”

“Not yet.”

Her gaze twitched to me questioningly. “But, if you’re going to make it back safely–”

“Not yet.”

She hesitated and then gave a tiny nod.

The truck continued down the highway to the glow of lights from passing cars and the growl of the tires over the concrete.

One of her hands left the steering wheel and reached over to me. Her fingers wrapped around mine, gripping them tightly, and I could feel her trembling.

Fields swept by, with distant houses picked out by security lights like land-bound stars.

“Are
you
okay?” I asked carefully.

Her eyes didn’t leave the road. “Fine.”

I put my other hand on top of hers. I felt her tense.

“We probably should still stop at some point. Just to rest for a bit.”

She shook her head. “I’m alright.”

I paused. “Yeah,” I agreed, though I suspected that wasn’t remotely true. “But you still need to sleep eventually.”

Her hand quivered in mine.

“Chloe.”

An exit sign flew past, and its corresponding road too. I saw her gaze flick toward it and then back to the road.

I let out a breath, uncertain what to do. She couldn’t keep going like this. Not all the way back to Kansas, however far away that was.

“There’s nowhere to stop,” she argued, a touch desperately. “Hotels will probably want ID and we don’t–”

“Just pull over somewhere. Away from the highway.”

She stopped herself from glancing to me and kept driving.

A mile passed, and then several more. Another exit sign came into view and in the distance, I could see reflectors marking where its road began. The night swallowed everything else, and the country highway the exit led to showed no signs of civilization along it for miles.

“Please, Chloe.”

She shivered.

My hand tightened on hers.

She guided the truck onto the exit road.

I didn’t say anything while we continued on, leaving the interstate in the darkness behind us. At the tiny intersection of a gravel road, she turned again, and when the highway had vanished from view, she pulled the truck from the path and came to a stop.

She lowered her hand from the steering wheel.

“Why don’t you want to sleep?” I asked her quietly.

A heartbeat passed.

“Brings it back,” she whispered.

My brow furrowed. “Brings what back?”

“What they did. Locking me up. The blindfold. The…”

She shifted her shoulders as though trying to get away from something.

Memory filled in the blanks. Even before Earl had attempted to kill us, there’d been the Sylphaen. That bitch, Liana, and her people who’d beaten Chloe when they dragged her from the pit Ren had put her in.

I took a careful breath, fighting to keep my anger at them from my tone. “I understand.”

Her gaze flicked toward me, not meeting my eyes.

“But,” I continued, “this is hurting you too.”

Her brow twitched down.

“You’re safe, Chloe. They’re not going to find us. The Sylphaen can’t even come inland this far.”

She looked up at me, her green eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.

“You’re safe,” I said again. “You…”

I hesitated and then reached over, unbuckling the seat belt holding her. I knew what I wanted to do. I just didn’t know if she’d let me.

“You can sleep,” I told her. “I’ll stay awake. I’ll… I’ll keep the memories away.”

Beneath my hand, I felt her tremble. For a moment, she hesitated, and then she inched across the seat toward me.

Gently, I pulled her closer, a breath leaving me at finally having her in my arms again. I could feel her shaking when she laid her head on my shoulder, and carefully, I lifted my hand, brushing the auburn waves of her hair from her cheek.

“Just sleep,” I whispered as she closed her eyes. “It’s going to be okay.”

Chapter Three

Chloe

I opened my eyes to sunshine pouring through the windows and the warmth of Zeke beside me. We were leaning against the door, his arms held me close, and my hand was on his chest.

A blush raced up my neck. Pushing away from the seat, I looked over at him. “I, um… ”

“Good morning,” he said into my awkward pause, a smile tugging at his lips.

I hesitated. He didn’t appear upset. And why would he? Zeke seemed like he’d wanted what had happened between us so far. I’d been the one to bring it to a stop.

Even if I’d wanted it as well.

I dropped my gaze from his. I’d been too tired last night to argue. Too tired to do more than welcome the chance to avoid the nightmares I’d known were waiting. And he’d felt wonderful, holding me in his arms.

He always felt wonderful.

My face grew hotter. “Morning,” I replied, my voice hoarse from the bruises I could feel on my neck. I shifted on the seat to pull away.

“Hey,” he said.

I froze.

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head, the motion jerky and totally a lie. “Nothing.”

He paused. “Chloe.” His brow furrowed when I looked up at him. “Listen, I’m sorry about yesterday. Us. That’s not how I wanted…” The furrows deepened. “Well, any of that to be.”

“You didn’t?” I replied, confused.

He blinked. “No, I-I mean, I wanted that. I just didn’t mean to make things so…” he seemed to search for a word, “uncomfortable.”

I hesitated, not sure what to say. There was so much more to it than just those few minutes in the cave – amazing, awkward, mistaken, and incredible as they’d been.

“About that…” I began, shifting around to a more upright position on the bench seat.

His eyebrow rose.

“Back in Nyciena.” I drew a breath. “Everyone kind of had this idea about, um, us. About how we…”

His curiosity changed to discomfort as he understood. “Ah.”

I waited, not quite looking at him.

“Let me guess,” he supplied. “Ina said something.”

“Not really. It was mostly those Deiliora girls and Count Velior.”

“Velior?” he repeated, his voice hardening.

I gave a small shrug.

Zeke looked away, shaking his head to drive the anger from his face. “Sorry. That guy’s just such a…”

He trailed off.

“What is it you’re after, Zeke?” I asked quietly. “Really? Because they made it sound like you–”

“It’s not that,” he cut in, his tone harsh.

I was silent.

Zeke took a breath, still not turning back toward me. “I know the reputation I have. I know what some people say. And mostly…” He shook his head. “I’m not going to say they’re
right
, but I know what it might look like. But you’ve got to understand, where I come from this is all a game. Both sides, they know that. They prefer it that way. No one ever wants anything serious, or hardly ever, because they’re only after fun and what favors they can get.”

He paused. “And then there’s you. And you’re not like that. You don’t care about titles, or what advantage you can gain. With me, you’ve always just been… you. Even after you knew what and who I was, you didn’t change. You were still just you. Beautiful, real,
you
.” He gave a soft, incredulous chuckle. “You didn’t even
care
that I was a prince.”

I tried not to grimace. It wasn’t fair to say I hadn’t cared. I’d been shocked beyond words. I hadn’t known what to–

He seemed to pick up on my discomfort. “Not like the people where I’m from care,” he explained gently. “I’ve never known anyone like that. Not in my entire life. And even though you’re fascinating, and incredible, and I’ve wanted to be with you for, well,” the chuckle came again, “a
lot
longer than I let myself know… I think I was afraid that if I got caught up in that or changed how things were between us, I’d just screw everything up.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to risk losing what I had with you.”