Scorching Secrets (35 page)

“Back so soon?” she asks.

“Not soon enough. I’m running out of patience, Ryanne. Do I need to bring your friends in here to persuade you to give me some information?”

“What friends?” She stands up when he mentions us.

“Pretty boy and goth guy over there,” Dravin says and motions to the window separating our cells. Ryanne looks over at it. A scared look crosses her face. She bites her lip and turns back to Dravin.

“I’m not quite sure who you’re talking about.” He sighs and nods to the guy standing near the door. Dravin bends down and punches Ryanne in the stomach. She doubles over, and one of his men walks behind her and grabs her around the waist, trapping her.

I hear the door behind us open, and four men come in. Two walk toward me and two toward Liam. I look at Liam. It’s time. We get into our attack stance and wait for them to come to us.

*****

Dravin walks up to me while I’m being held and slaps me across the face again. “Tell me!”

I lean back against the man and swing both of my legs out and connect them with Dravin’s stomach. Pushing outward, I smile as he stumbles backwards. I watch as his face transforms from one of blatant boredom to one of complete anger. The grip on my stomach tightens. I can’t breathe. I whip my head back and connect with his. I hear a crunch and then the arms around my waist are removed. I spin around and kick the man in the head, knocking him back into the wall behind me. His head bounces off the wall, and he falls to the ground at my feet unconscious. I turn around and face Dravin, who is watching me with a stunned expression.

Another one of his men comes toward me. I do a quick front walkover and meet him halfway. Dropping down, I swing my right leg out, hitting him in the shins. When he loses his balance, I launch myself at him. Not expecting me, he doesn’t have time to defend himself. I jump up, thrust my right leg out, and hit him in the chest. He falls back into the wall too but doesn’t hit his head. As he is falling to the ground, I swing around and elbow him in the jaw, thus knocking him unconscious. I whip around at the sound of my cell door opening again. Two large men enter pulling a very angry Colton, followed by two more with Liam. Why is Liam here? Adam starts walking toward me, and I am about to run toward him when Dravin shakes his head.

I fall and scream as Dravin uses his power at full-force on me. Instead of the pain gradually increasing, I feel all of it at once. I don’t have time to build-up to it before my head instantly starts pounding. I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around my stomach and pull me up, but I can’t concentrate on that. The pain is excruciating—worse than any of the other times. I scream out again as the pain increases further. It is agonizing. I know that if it doesn’t stop soon, I will pass out from the pain.

As quickly as it came, the onslaught suddenly stops. I fall back against whoever is holding me. I am panting, completely out of breath. I glare up at Dravin. “That was pretty impressive. You knocked out two of my largest men.” I look past Dravin. Liam and Colton are both struggling against the men. I shake my head at them, trying to tell them that I am fine.

With arrogance in his every step, Dravin moves toward me again. “I’m amazed that you’re still alive. That amount of power would have killed a lesser individual.”

“I’m too stubborn for death,” I manage to get out. I am still trying to catch my breath. My gaze flickers over to Colton and Liam again. Both of them look like they put up a fight. Colton has a black eye and blood dripping down his nose. Liam has a giant red welt across his cheek and a split lip. I know that I don’t look much better.

“Adam, let her go,” Dravin says.

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

“I’m sure she’ll listen from now on.” Dravin says. Ha, like that’ll happen. I feel Adam’s grip on me loosen. I elbow him in the gut, and when he bends over, I spin around in his arms and kick my leg up. Thankfully I am flexible. My kick connects with the side of his head, causing him to fall to the side.

The pain starts again. I fall to the ground and cry out as another headache comes on. I am glad that neither of these were accompanied by any images. I clench my hands into fists and rest my head on the ground, waiting for the pain to stop. I can hear Colton and Liam yelling in the background. As the pain subsides, I gasp for breath, enjoying the feel of oxygen rushing into my lungs. It is so hard to breathe when you’re concentrating on ending the pain. Adam is standing up when I am finally able to get off the ground. He charges for me and slaps me so hard in the face that I fall back to the ground. Dravin yells at him but doesn’t do anything to reprimand him. I catch myself with my arms, so I don’t face plant on the hard concrete flooring. Taking a couple deep breaths, I blink the tears away.

With my hand gripping the stinging side of my face, I push myself off the ground and face a very angry Dravin. “You just have to push your luck all the time, don’t you?”

“I don’t believe in luck,” I hiss at him. I can’t see out of my left eye because of the swelling. I take a step toward him, “You know what I do believe in? I believe in good. I believe in kindness. I believe that you are a freaking, crazy, psychotic lunatic, who is obsessed with power. I believe that you need to be stopped and I believe in fighting,” I pause for dramatic effect, “for what I believe in.”

I take my hand off my face. The guys gasp at my appearance. I don’t care anymore. I know I probably won’t get out of this situation alive anyway. I take another step toward Dravin. I see Adam move out of the corner of my eye. “I will not hesitate to kick you again if you touch me!” I yell at him. He backs up in surprise.

“I’ve been bullied basically all my life,” I look toward Adam. “It wasn’t just my senior year. You were not the first person to see a weak girl. I’ve always had someone trying to tear me down. For some reason, everyone saw me as an easy target. I believed every single word those kids chanted at me.

“However, for the first time, I’m finally standing up to a bully. I have enough courage to defend myself. I’ve tolerated enough of your crap, Dravin. I’ve gone through more than anyone should ever go through, and I’m still standing. I’m still not cowering in fear. I’m not afraid of you. Beat me up. Use your stupid mind headachy power on me. Kill me. I don’t even care anymore. At least I can say that I tried. Maybe you can’t be stopped, but I’m not going to give you any information that will help you further your crazy plan.” I swing my arms out to my side. “You’re just afraid to fight fairly. That’s why you’re keeping us here as prisoners without our magic. You’re afraid that someone might actually be stronger than you. And you’re even more afraid that it could be a girl half your size!” I take a step closer to him.

He grins down at me. “That was a nice little speech. You know, I think you’re more attractive when you’re mad. Even with the swollen face.” He reaches out and grabs my waist and pulls me against him. When I collide into his chest, I start struggling. I’m getting tired of always being put in this position. I see Colton start to fight the men that are holding him. I shake my head at him, and he stops struggling as aggressively but doesn’t stop completely.

“Two can play that game.” I bring my knee up and kick him in the crotch, the same move that I’ve done to both Colton and Adam. Dravin lets go of me and doubles over in pain. Even without magic, you can still hurt a guy. “Control her,” Dravin groans.

I feel Adam wrap his arms around my waist again. This time, he makes sure to keep my arms at my side, completely containing me. I struggle at first but realize how futile it is. Dravin stands up, but instead of facing me, he turns around and looks at Liam and Colton.

“Fine, if that’s how it’s going to be.”

No, I recognize this. I start struggling against Adam again.

I scream at Dravin, “I’ll tell you!” He shakes his head. Colton hisses and slumps forward. The men holding him let him fall to the ground. Colton grabs his head and starts yelling. Adam’s grip on my waist tightens, but I fight harder. Colton is writhing in pain on the ground. I know what Dravin is making him see.

“I’ll tell you! Please stop! Stop hurting him,” I can’t yell anymore. Adam’s grip is too constricting. I start crying. I can’t see Dravin through my tears. Adam squeezes tighter. I gasp against the pressure and start sobbing. Dravin stands up and walks toward Colton with a dagger. Liam is fighting against the men, but the ones that were holding Colton are now restraining him.

Dravin bends down and plunges the dagger deep into Colton’s side. Dark red blood starts oozing out of the wound. I can’t breathe as I watch the blood begins to pool on the floor. “Nooo…” I start shaking my head. It can’t be true. This can’t be real.

“Do you know what I made him see?” Dravin turns around and starts walking toward me. Wiping the blood off the dagger on his jeans, he continues, “I made him see his worst fear. Do you know what that was?” I can’t look at Dravin. I keep my eyes on Colton. He is still watching the scene play out in his mind oblivious to his fatal wound. “His worst fear was watching you be killed in front of him when he couldn’t do anything to help you.” Dravin starts laughing. “Which is kind of funny considering that you now have to watch him die in front of you, while you can’t do anything to help him.”

The door to my cell flies open, and Tom, Bradgen, Logan, and Larkin all run into the room. Tom goes straight for Dravin, who is too surprised at their sudden appearance to do anything. While he stands there stunned, eyes wide and mouth open, Tom runs straight into him and tackles him to the ground. With one punch, Dravin is out. Bragden and Logan go after the men holding Liam, while Larkin runs toward me. Adam lets go of me, knocking me to the ground. I scurry away from him and crawl toward Colton, trying to avoid being stepped on by the fighters around me. I have to get to him.

I watch as Colton stops writhing. He never opens his eyes. A large pool of blood is forming on the ground beneath him. Tom runs over to me and checks Colton for a pulse. Liam gets free with the help of his brother and Logan. I roll Colton onto his back and lean my ear against his chest, listening for a heartbeat.

Nothing.

There’s nothing but silence.

I scream as I fall forward and cry against his still chest. Logan tries to heal him, but like the rest of us, his powers don’t work in here. He looks up at me and slowly shakes his head; slow tears falling down his face.

My Colton is gone.

Dead.

THE END…FOR NOW.

About the Author

Kaitlyn Hoyt is the name. Currently a student at Ball State University, she’s aspiring to be a self-published author while continuing her dream of becoming a wildlife biologist. She loves the weird and random moments in life. They keep things interesting. Vegetarian. Proud tree-hugger. Lover of comic book movies. Avid reader. She has an unhealthy love for the soothing music of Josh Groban. Give her anything with pretzels, peanut butter and/or chocolate and she’ll be your best friend.

She currently has four books planned in The Prophesized Series and a possible companion novel. In addition to The Prophesized Series, she’s working on the untitled first book in the Guardians of the Chosen series and two standalone contemporary novels.

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