Chapter 42
A cool breeze touched the parts of my skin where Dominic had been. My legs were spread open, waiting, my voice hitching with each breath.
The air wasn’t right. It was so still, so quiet. Even the insects froze in their place. My hair clung to my neck and forehead and a bead of sweat circled around my breast.
I waited for the next moment but only emptiness answered. I could feel the o shape of my mouth as I panted heavily.
The night persisted around me and I blinked at the open space before me. Had I dreamed the entire thing?
Closing my legs and covering my chest, I brought myself into a sitting position. The ghost of his body lingered, but only a void remained.
Looking around, I saw nothing. Heard nothing. Felt... nothing.
Dominic’s presence had been snatched away by the thick of his neck. In my daze, I only saw the dark hand, which was enough to know it wasn’t any unknown force. Someone had took him.
I gathered my clothes, my heartbeat still pulsing in a place that now felt uncomfortable. Pulling the fabric on felt oddly bitter, like clothes no longer belonged on my body.
When I stood from the rock slab, it was like a switch had been flipped. Suddenly, the crickets chirped and the frogs croaked and the wind rustled through the trees again.
Dominic wasn’t dead. I could tell that. But everything else was blank. I was completely alone in the far reaches of the forest I had been forbidden to explore.
Not knowing if I should stay or try to find my way back to camp, I chewed on my lip and paced around the slab. I searched every direction but was only met with darkness.
An owl cooed in the distance. The silver sliver of the crescent moon sat just beyond the treeline. I exhaled a long shaky breath. What the hell had happened?
An hour passed while I waited, hoping a saviour would come to my rescue. My eyes had adjusted to the dark, the brightness of the stars providing some illumination.
My anxiety was peaking as I waited. The voice inside my head screaming at me to do something, convincing me that I was in eminent danger.
I paced for a bit longer before finally venturing down the place Dominic and I had come from. When he did come back for me, he would find me wherever I go. The bond would help me, I just needed to be somewhere safer until it did.
With no path to follow, I wandered aimlessly for hours. Twice I became trapped by walls of thicket and had to turn back, tripping over the shadows as I went.
The sounds of night felt different. Trees shifted like monsters, twigs snapped in the distance, and a boars grunt sent me scrambling.
Branches clawed their hands at my clothes, ripping the skirt from my waste and shredding into my shirt. I reached for the hem, but my fingers brushed something soft that breathed, and I ran.
My lungs filled with ragged gasps and I became frantic as I tried to outrun the eerie chorus that pressed in from each side.
When the splashing sound of the river caught my attention, I stumbled through the thorns until I reached its bank.
The ground fell from beneath my feet as I felt my way entered the nippy water. I slid on each rock, black wetness seeping into my tattered shoes.
The current threatened to sweep me away with each step. A slip sent me to my knees, the shallow edge of the river slapping against my thighs. Blinded by the dark, I let out a yelp before scrambling back to the earth.
Breathe. I told myself. Lifting myself back up, I continued to scale the river, pushing myselr forward until I reached my destination.
The roar of the river grew louder and louder the nearer I became. I could feel the mist of the waterfall’s mist speckling my skin.
When I had been here before, Jax had held onto me as we swam towards the hidden cove. Now I would need to make the stretch on my own, swimming with my novice and tired arms.
I inched my feet into the water, scooting my butt along the mud and rocks until I was fully submerged. Pushing myself further, I gave a final leap from my toes as I bobbed in the pool of water.
I fought against the current while moving my hands like Dominic had taught me. Paddling rapidly, I headed for the thunder of the falls as my only compass in the black water.
The waterfall closed around me, then parted as my strokes pushed me through. My legs kicked hard and when my outstretched hand found the smoothed rock, I held tight onto its surface. I scaled the wall, feeling my way to the lip of the ledge.
Gripping the stone, I was barely able to pull myself up. One leg reached upwards with the rest of me while the other kicked at the water as though it would suddenly turn solid.
Once my stomach reached the flat part, I rolled the rest of my body further in. Lying in the moss covered cave, I closed my eyes and waited for my body to calm.
Exhaustion was tying itself around me and I fought it by sitting up and pulling my legs into my chest.
Every part of me was drenched and I felt exposed without my skirt and in my outstretched and torn tank top. I rested my chin on my knees, and draped around shins.
The night felt as though it were thinning and I couldn’t fight my tiredness much longer. The hours since leaving the base had used muscles for purposes I hadn’t trained them for. They felt as if they were starting to fail me.
I curled up at the dip of the cave wall, leaning into the hard and smooth stone. The spongy moss beneath me felt cool and damp. It was so dark, I almost couldn’t tell when my eyes were open or shut.
I urged my power with the final bit of strength I had left, and was delightfully surprised when it bent to my will. The small space lit up with a faint purple glow.
The light clung to the wet stone, deepening the shadows and turning the water of the falls into something luminous and unreal as it unfurled from my eyes.
I checked the corners, confirming no monsters hid in the moss. I moved my hands along my legs, trying to warm them before wrapping my arms around my shoulders to make myself small and warm before drifting off.
Arms scooped under me before I woke. I had expected Dominic to be the only one to find me here, the pull showing him the way I had gone.
But Jax’s comforting grin was what I woke to, the sunlight glimmering through the water as he picked me up from the stone floor.
"There you are." He cooed at me and I squeezed into the warmth of his chest.
I whimpered as we dipped into the chilly pool from where he lowered us off the ledge.
"I’ve got her!" He called out, Marek rushing to the bank to meet us.
He pulled us from the water and Jax transferred my weakened body into Marek’s strong arms. He was much warmer.
"She’s shaking. Where are her clothes?"
I leaned my head against his chest, cuddling into the plumpness of his peck. He didn’t seem to notice and I breathed him in, happy to no longer be alone.
"No sign of Dom?" Jax asked and I could feel the subtle shake coming from Marek.
"Let’s get her back and we’ll go out again."
I kept my eyes shut but my mind was starting to race. If they were looking for Dominic then they weren’t the ones to take him.
Part of me thought that it may have been Marek who snatched him away. Who else would have such force to do it so quickly?
I didnt really need to ask the question. I already knew. I had been denying the thought since the rough hand flashed across Dominic’s throat.
"What happened last night?" Jax asked as we headed towards the trail system. My eyes blinked open and stared blankly at where he walked beside us.
How could I tell him? How could I explain? So much had happened, I didn’t know where I would even start. He seemed to understand and tightened his question.
"Where did Dom go?"
That one was harder, though. Wherever he was, he was safe. Aside from getting dragged away, there was no fight or injury that I could sense. My only guess as to why I couldn’t find him was maybe he didn’t want to be found.
When I felt Grayson’s injuries, he was calling out to me. His fear for my safety pulling me towards him. With Dominic, there was only absence.
It was as though he pulled his signal inside himself and locked the door. No distress I could feel. No cry for help. Just a deliberate blank, as if he chose to go quiete.
"Where’s Julien?" I questioned.
"Back at base, in case either of you returned."
Of course he was the one to stay behind.
The thought stung in a way I hadn’t expected. It settled different, like something delicate was shifting out of place. Julien had always been the safe one, the one who felt like home.
Now I didn’t know what to call him.
"Good," I told Jax. "I need to know why he lied."