Scorching Secrets (22 page)

“Now I have to worry about Dravin, Adam, and Natasha. Dravin wants my magic. Adam wants….” I shiver. “Natasha wants me dead because she thinks I took Colton from her. So I have to deal with a mad man who craves power, a sexually frustrated teen, and Colton’s crazy ex-girlfriend. All who would like nothing more than to watch me crash and burn. Everyone wants to watch me fail.”

“Ryanne, if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything.
Anything
. I know how cliché that sounds, but it’s true. Those people are just flickers in the flames. Someday the flame will burn bright again.” Liam has to shout over the rain for me to hear him. I look over at him and see that he means every word he said.

Instead of replying, I yell for Larkin.

Larkin transports beside me. He gives me an annoyed look when he realizes how hard it is raining. “Can you take Liam and me back to the house? It would take a while to run all the way back, and I don’t think I’ll make it.”

Larkin nods and extends a hand to help me stand up. I let him pull me up and wrap an arm around my waist to bring me back to the house. It’s easier for both of us that way because it helps me keep my balance when we land back in the house.

Colton

“Natasha’s working for Dravin? Conner just helped us fight him…something’s not right.” David is pacing the living room, thinking out loud. It’s been a while since Liam and Ryanne left. My eyes are drawn to the window, and this time I see the sun’s light being swarmed by clouds. Ryanne’s obviously upset.

“I never liked that girl. I knew that she would do something when you kicked her out of the house after she used her power on Ryanne. I didn’t think she would join Dravin’s side, especially after Ryanne told her what happened when she was captured,” Emma says. She is trying to get David to stop pacing. Neither one of us are taking this well. We grew up with Natasha.

“Was she with her sister? Where was Natalie?” I ask Larkin.

“Natalie wasn’t a recruit. I think that we should find a way to talk with Natasha—see why she decided to help him. I can understand why Dravin would want to use her. Her magic is a powerful weapon.”

I knew it would not turn out well when I saw Natasha standing in the kitchen with her twin sister. I was glad to see Conner, but I ended things with Natasha. I knew that nothing was ever going to come from it. I didn’t share her feelings and thought it would be better to end things than drag them out further. It’s an understatement to say that she didn’t take it very well. She yelled, fought me, threw things, etc. When I walked into the kitchen and saw how Natasha was glaring at Ryanne, I knew that I wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping my feelings to myself. Ryanne is oblivious, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is.

Larkin looks up toward the ceiling. I glance up but don’t see anything worth looking at. “Ryanne’s calling. I’ll be back.” He transports out of the room. They’ve been out for almost an hour. Ryanne probably ran six or seven miles. I don’t know how that girl does it. Despite the positive change in her attitude, she’s still pushing herself too hard. A minute later, Larkin transports back into the room holding a very wet Ryanne. He lets go of her waist and disappears again.

Why is she soaking wet? Her hair is stuck to her face in loose ringlets. Small drops of water cling to her eyelashes; the lights overhead reflects off of them each time she blinks. Water droplets drip off her skin and pool onto the floor below her. Her already tight work-out clothes cling to her slim curvy body. I try really hard to not make it obvious that I am checking her out, but I can’t. She is so…

“What happened to you?” Logan’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

“It rained,” she mumbles and starts shivering. I walk into the laundry room, grab a clean towel, and hand it to her. She thanks me and wraps it around her shoulders. Larkin blinks back into the room with Liam. Both, wet. “Sorry guys.” She looks down at the floor, slightly embarrassed, which lets us know that she’s responsible for the rain. She is more upset than she is letting on. She looks up and looks straight at me. I can’t decipher the expression on her face. Clearing her throat, she announces that she is going to go take a shower and change. Liam and Larkin both leave to do the same.

Ryanne’s been trying to control her magic lately. She is past the point where she causes unexplainable storms. Usually only one or two elements are manifested. The fact that it is pouring outside, proves how upset she really is. I want to know what is bothering her. I know this is more than just Natasha.

Larkin and Liam both come back downstairs in clean dry clothes. I look toward Liam to see if he will explain what is going on. He shakes his head choosing not to share what Ryanne is upset about. Dang it. How am I supposed to help her if she won’t tell me? Olive runs over and jumps into my lap. I reach down and start petting her. She starts purring, so I’m assuming that she likes it. I’ve never had a cat before. It would be easier if I could read her mind like Ry.

Larkin shrugs and sits down on the ground. “I don’t know. I transported to her and got drenched. She was like seven miles out.”

“She can run. I couldn’t keep up with her. It also helped that she’s angry, frustrated, upset, scared…” Liam tells us. “Just pretend that nothing’s changed.” He whispers to us as Ryanne descends the stairs. She sits down on the opposite end of the couch and reaches for her notebook. Frowning, she places it back on the coffee table. She is out of pages. I’ll have to go buy her a new one tomorrow.

Lying down on her back, she closes her eyes. “I pushed myself too hard,” she says. “I’m so tired.” She yawns once and almost instantly falls asleep.

“Hello, darling.”

My eyes snap open and I instantly tense when I hear his voice. Slowly turning around, I find Dravin leaning against the doorway…of this room. I’ve never been in this room before. This isn’t a containment room like the cell I was in last time I was at Dravin’s compound. This room is smaller than that. There’s a small window located to my right. All I see outside of it is greenery. A small brown couch takes up the entire length of the opposite wall. Besides that, there is no other furniture in here. “How did I get here?”

“Well, you were thinking about me before you fell asleep, so I pulled you here. Granted your body is still at your house, so your little friends won’t know what’s going on.” He pushes off of the doorframe and takes a couple steps toward me. I step back until I am pressed against the hard wall.

“What are you going to do to me?” He stops walking and stares down at me. Dang, all mages are incredibly tall. He towers over me just like everyone else.

“Is Larkin with you?” That’s the last question I was expecting. “Is he blocking your trace? It’s very strong right now.” He takes another step toward me. Is he blocking my trace? What’s my trace exactly? Larkin said that he couldn’t block my magic.

“Why do you want to know where Larkin is?”

“Larkin was my best man before he betrayed me,” he growls the last part of the sentence. He’s very angry that Larkin is now helping us. There’s no way I’m going to tell him any information about him. I keep my mouth closed. Looking at him defiantly, I put my chin out, attempting to show him that he doesn’t scare me. However, inside I’m trembling.

“Why are you doing this, Dravin?”

“Because I need more power. I need your power. Once I find a way to take it, you can believe me I will. Those with power have control. I’m tired of working alongside those measly humans. They know nothing about us, and we are immensely more powerful than them. Even the mages who have no magic yet are more powerful. It’s time they realize that.”

“Why do you have to hurt people for control?” I ask. “Can’t you just take the resources you already have and use it for good?”

“Where’s the fun in that, love? Being bad is so much more fun.” He smirks at me and before I know what is happening, he grabs my chin and pulls me toward him; his mouth suddenly hard on mine. I scream against him and bring my left knee up. I am aiming for his crotch, but my knee connects with his stomach instead. He breaks away from me. I then bring that leg up and kick him against the chest. He staggers backwards, shocked. “So, you’ve been training, I see.” He grins evilly and slowly walks toward me again. I feel the dull pain of the impending headache as his eyes narrow in concentration.

I grab my head and fall to the ground as the pain intensifies. I cry out as the pain gets even worse. I don’t see any images this time, just feel the blinding pain. My knees curl under me as I start gasping for air. A sharp pain hits me in the stomach. My body is thrown to the side from the kick.

The pain in my head lessens to the point that I become conscious of my surroundings again. I see Dravin standing over me. “You’ve gotten stronger, but you’re still nothing compared to me.” I gasp as I try to sit up. When I’m standing again, Dravin walks toward me, “I’ll never stop looking for you, so you better hope that nothing happens to Larkin.” He punches me in the jaw, sending me flying backwards. My head cracks into the hard wall. I’m out before I hit the ground.

Colton

I am watching Ryanne as she sleeps on the couch. I keep glancing over at Liam to make sure he isn’t acting strange or in pain. Whenever she falls asleep, I’m always worried that something is going to happen to her.

“What did you do to Natasha? You must have done something really bad to make her want to join Dravin.” Emma just had to bring it up again. We’d gone a full ten minutes without anyone saying anything.

“I didn’t do anything to her.”

“Did you have sex with her and then dump her? I’d be angry if that happened to me,” Emma says.

“I didn’t have sex with her, Emma—not that it’s any of your business. I did break up with her though.”

“Hmm, I’m just trying to figure out why so many people are trying to hurt Ryanne. I mean look at her. Does that look like the face of some ruthless killer?” Right as Emma says that, Ryanne gasps and rolls off the couch. She lands on the floor with a thud. Pushing herself up, she grabs her side, along her ribs, and hisses. I jump up when I see the giant red mark on her jaw.

“What happened?”

“Where’s Logan?” she whimpers. She must be in a lot of pain if she is asking for Logan. I yell for Logan and walk toward her. She tries to stand but cries out and falls back to the ground. She removes her hand from her side and grabs her head. Where’s Logan?

He runs straight to her side and places his hands on her back. She is still making pained noises. His face furrows in concentration as he heals her. She gasps and arches her back. The slight pop of bones moving back into place sounds from her body. She quiets beneath his touch and stills. He takes a step back, and I can tell that whatever he saw made him extremely mad.

Ryanne pushes herself off the ground and slowly stands up. She turns around and walks straight toward Logan. “Please don’t say anything.” She reaches out and grabs his arm, trying to make him look at her.

“Logan, what happened?” I demand. I need to know what Ryanne doesn’t want us to know. Logan looks like he needs to punch something. Heck, I want to punch something, and I don’t even know what happened to her specifically.

“
Please.
” She’s pleading with him now. Logan looks down at her and shakes his head. She sighs and leans her head against his chest. He wraps an arm around her and looks over her to me.

“Dravin,” whispers Logan. Ryanne tenses against Logan and for good reason. She knows how angry I am at him for what he did to her last time.

“It’s not that bad,” Ryanne says—her voice muffled against Logan’s chest.

“Not that bad? You woke up and fell off the couch crying out in pain!” She turns around and looks at me. She looks fine now, but that’s only because Logan healed her. If Logan wasn’t a healer, she’d be in a lot of pain.

“I’ve had worse. I just wasn’t expecting that to happen.”

“What happened exactly?” Liam asks. He’s angry too but calmer than I am. “I didn’t feel anything.”

“I don’t know. I fell asleep and then all the sudden Dravin was talking to me. I kicked him, so he got mad and retaliated. Nothing really,” she shrugs and walks back to the couch. Olive runs over and sits down in her lap. Ryanne starts absentmindedly petting her.

“Ryanne,” says Logan, “more than that happened.”

“Yeah, but we don’t have to tell everyone what actually happened.” I can’t help it. I growl at her. What happened that she doesn’t want everyone to know? “He was just giving me a warning.”

“Logan, what happened?” I try to sound calmer than I feel. I know that I’m really not fooling anyone. Ryanne drops her head into her hands as Logan starts explaining.

“He cornered her and started asking about Larkin.” Logan looks toward Larkin who is standing in the corner, looking worried. “He wanted to know where you were; if you were helping her. He said something about needing more power. He wants Ryanne’s power because with power comes control. She asked if he would ever consider using his resources for good. Dravin said that being bad was more fun and then he—”

Logan stops talking and looks at Ryanne. She’s staring at him with wide eyes and shaking her head. “He kissed her.”

“He what?” Ryanne winces as I yell. I glare down at her. She stands up and starts walking toward me.

“I took care of myself, Colton. I’m not the same girl that Adam attacked a year ago in the park. I’m able to defend myself now.” I look down at her. I know that she can defend herself, but I hate that these guys are always able to find a way to hurt her. I hate knowing that someone else had their lips on hers. Her soft supple kissable lips that are parted and right in front of me… I know that she didn’t kiss him back, but I am still angry anyway.

“She did fight back, Colton.” I don’t take my eyes from Ryanne, who is staring back at me. This waiting thing is going to be very difficult.

“What happened next?” I say without looking away. I am asking Logan because I know that Ryanne will leave out details. She blinks and steps away from me but remains close. Logan explains everything, not leaving out any details about her injuries. She places a hand on my crossed arms to try and calm me. I actually do feel calmer when she touches me. I’m still angry but glad that she’s here safe and not stuck with that man.