Chapter 168
Heather
I met his amber gaze. "You’re not going to lose me."
He pressed his lips together. "Of course I’m not. Because we’re going to be ready. I know you’re frustrated—"
"I’m not frustrated." I tried to stay calm. Mornings weren’t my most rational part of the day.
"Don’t try to deny it, cherie. I can feel your frustration—at your visions, your lack of ability when sparing, and most of all, at what Luciana did. That’s okay. I understand what you’re going through, but you don’t get how scared I am. How hard it was being away from you, not knowing if you were okay. Then you came back, and you weren’t okay. I feel like I failed you. I should’ve stopped you from going. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew nothing good would come of you going to the coven, but I agreed for the sake of the pack. Now, you have to let me protect you. Please."
My lip started to tremble and I bit it, trying to get it to stop the embarrassing fluttering. Those jars... It had been hard, but I’d gotten through it. I was getting through it. "I’m not broken."
"You’re not broken, but you’re fragile right now."
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that statement. If I was honest with myself, I might agree, but that didn’t make hearing it from him any easier. It made it more real. And that kind of sucked.
He moved toward me. "I know it was awful. I can’t imagine... But I feel your fear when you sleep. I hear you yelling out during your nightmares and there’s nothing I can do. Nothing but this." He spread his hands out wide, motioning around the gym.
I couldn’t look at him. Not if I didn’t want to cry.
I’d done that enough. It was stupid. I had my powers back. I was okay magically—sort of. Physically. But being in that evil circle—where Luciana called the demon to take away everything that made me me... It had changed me. Knocked me off balance.
Maybe this whole exhausting-me-until-the-vision-came plan wasn’t going to work. Maybe my visions would always be different from here on out, and I’d just see glimpses in my dreams.
"It’s not your fault. It was my choice to go to the coven. Please, don’t..." I didn’t know what else to say. I’d told him before, but he wasn’t hearing me.
He closed the distance, wrapping his arms around me. "I never should’ve let you go."
"Stop it." I pressed my cheek into his chest. "I had to." I laughed and the sound was muffled against his chest. "We’re quite the pair. Each making ourselves sick over something that we can’t change."
He ran his fingers through my hair. "The best pair ever."
"I’m going to be okay. It’s really only been a few days." He sighed, and then his bond opened wider. All his worry and fear—terror—flooded me. The pain of being apart.
I nearly gasped. I hadn’t realized how closed off he’d been. I squeezed him tighter, fisting the back of his shirt.
God. I’d been messed up because of what Luciana did, but he’d been a wreck. I’d ignored that. Ignored my own mate’s pain.
"I’m—" My voice wobbled and I stopped. "I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen." I couldn’t help it now. A tear ran down my cheek.
He pulled back. "Hey. What’s this?"
"You messed with our bond so I wouldn’t know how bad you’re hurting." His bond started to close again, and I shoved him. "Don’t you dare shut me out again."
His mouth dropped. "I didn’t know I opened it."
Why would he close it off in the first place?
"Because you were dealing with enough. You didn’t need me adding to it."
"Well stop it. I never asked you to protect me."
"It’s my job."
Now he was pissing me off. The caveman needed to put down his club before he hurt himself. "Screw a bunch of that noise."
He gently cupped my face, wiping my tears away with a brush of his thumbs. "Hey now. I take my job very seriously."
Two could play at this game. "Same here." If being my mate was his job, then the reverse was true.
"All right. Let’s give it one more shot."
I crossed my arms. "Seriously? Can’t we just go get breakfast now?"
"One more round and then we eat. I feel like we’re finally getting somewhere. I can feel it. You’re more open. I know you’re getting there. One more time."
"Fine. But after breakfast, I’m grabbing a nap." Between my nightmares and his patrols, we weren’t getting much sleep. "And we’re going to my dorm. It’s closer."
"Deal."
Fine. He wanted me to go on the offensive, then I’d give it my best. I’d be back on the mat in five seconds. And then we could go back to sleep.
Or not.
I lunged at him, and he moved faster than I could follow. I felt him through the bond and twisted before he could snag his arms around me.
I lasted all of ten seconds—double what I’d guessed—before wind brushed against my face.
The world turned as I flipped through the air.
Then it started. The tingling. Brent was right. A vision was coming, and I had a choice. A split second to decide whether I relaxed into it or shut it out.
Whatever the powers that be wanted to show me had to be big.
I took solace in what Brent said.
"Let go!"
I almost didn’t understand his words, but then I did. As my shoulder hit the mat, I let go.
A flash of white filled my eyes and the gym disappeared.
I stood in the cafeteria. The smell of food told me it was lunch—pizza day. Baked ziti. Warm garlic bread.
What the hell?
It was like I’d been sucked into a different place. It wasn’t at all like the last time I saw into the future, mostly because I was aware that this was a vision. Maybe Luciana’s magic really had changed my abilities for good?
I couldn’t worry about it now. The vision was happening, and I surrendered to it.
I walked with Brent, weaving through the tables to our friends. He balanced his tray piled with more food than I could eat—which was a lot—on one hand and held a bottle of Orangina in the other. He seemed to drink more of them when he was stressed. It must be a comfort thing.
This wasn’t so bad. Not bad at all. Definitely not what was giving me nightmares.
Brent looked back at me over his shoulder. "Don’t worry so much, cherie. We will stop this, okay?"
While he was focusing on me, someone bumped him. The bottle slipped from his fingers.
Usually, if someone dropped something, it was caught before ever hitting the ground. Were reflexes were good. And Brent’s were extremely good.
Instead, we both stood there, watching the bottle as it fell to the floor and shattered in a mess of soda and glass. His eyes met mine and his panic washed over me.
The vision shifted. I was sitting between Brent and Mr. Langdon in the conference room of St. Francis’s main building. Twelve chairs surrounded the long oval table. Each one was taken. People stood behind the chairs, filling the room past capacity.
Everyone was arguing. Voices rose until they were impossible to differentiate.
Mr. Langdon’s voice cut above the rest. "Yes, Heather. Do you have something to add?"
The room went quiet as everyone turned to me.
I didn’t have anything to add. What was everyone even arguing about? My heart rate picked up as I searched for something to say, but the vision shifted again.
I held hands with Brent as we gazed over the lake. The sun hit the water in just the right way, making it shimmer in the sunset. I glanced behind us at the surrounding forest. We were on the land that Brent had given to me. Someday we’d build a home here.
"Are you ready for this?"
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but whatever it was, I was willing. He was wearing a white button down, rolled up to the elbows, and a pair of khaki pants. Definitely not what he usually wore. He was more a T-shirt and jeans kind of guy.
Something fluttered against my legs, and I looked down. I was wearing a white dress.
Brent leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine. I closed my eyes.
The feel of his lips disappeared before it even registered.
The sound of shouting—human, wolf, and something I didn’t have a name for—filled my ears. I was almost too scared to open my eyes.
The smell was my second tip off. Sulfur so strong my nostrils burned.
Demons. The other sound was demons. The scuttling of nails. Hissing. And a deep, guttural roar.
My mouth went dry as gunshots rang out, nearly deafening me... But not quite. I could still hear the shouts as people cried out in pain. Something made an awful gurgling sound next to me and I gagged as the scent of blood filled the air.
This. This was what I didn’t want to see. This was what had me waking up in sweats. Crying my eyes out.
I said a little prayer and opened my eyes. Instantly, I wished I were anywhere else.