“Are you okay?” he asks, concern suddenly surfacing.
“Yeah—I don’t know. Something’s not right. I—think I’m going to need to you to leave.”
“Excuse me? I don’t fuckin’ think so,” Blake says, snorting indignantly.
My eyes widen at his cuss. It’s the first time I’ve heard him swear like that.
“Please. We both know there isn’t much time and if I can’t get a read on the girls—” my voice drops off, “well, you know. I need to eliminate the feeling it’s you muddying up the water.”
Blake’s left hand raises as he presses his thumb and middle finger to his forehead.
“Okay, look—I’ll give you ten minutes. That’s it. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone. Especially not here—not with these men on the loose.”
“Ten minutes should be more than enough to know if it’s you or not.”
I take a seat on one of the nearby rock outcroppings.
Sighing heavily, he drops his hand and rubs his mouth. “Alright. I’ll be just outside the cavern entrance. Will that be far enough?”
I shrug, “I would think so, but I honestly don’t know how this shit works anymore. It’s all new territory. Sometimes I read stuff just fine with you nearby—but other times, it’s like the messages get scattered when I’m near you. Let’s just give it a try.”
He nods. “Ten minutes—but stay put. Okay? Right here so I can find you.”
“Oh, believe me—I’m going nowhere. Getting lost in this cavern is the last thing I wanna do.”
I shudder away my very first memories of stumbling out of this cave—lost, starving, and totally dehydrated.
Blake nods again, stepping forward to hand me his flashlight.
“Keep it,” I say, waving it away. “I have one, too.”
Tugging the tiny flashlight from my pocket, I tap the button and the LED springs to life.
Giving me a final glance, Blake’s lips form a thin line, but he puffs up his chest and walks out.
The moment he leaves my immediate vicinity, it’s like a breath of fresh air wafts through the cavern. My mind clears as the strange fog subsides.
Licking my lips and shaking away my daze, I pull my legs in to sit cross-legged against the rocky wall. I flip off the flashlight, allowing the darkness to settle around me. People’s voices bounce around the cavern walls, mixing with the slow drips of water as it continues to form more stalactites and stalagmites, as they have for eons.
Blowing out a breath, I center myself and search the cavern space for the girls.
At first, nothing happens.
My perception is filled with the scent of cold, wet dirt and rocks. Then, something shifts—
Flames erupt in my inner eye and I begin to catch snippets of a conversation elsewhere in the cavern…
“Finally got the word. We make the exchange at 2:00am,” a man says.
I can’t see his face, but he has long reddish hair in the light of the small fire. On the floor, the girls huddle together, trying to make themselves as small as possible. Their clothes are torn and dirty—and an air of abuse already lingers around them.
“Why so fucking late?” another man says, kicking at the dirt. “I ain’t no damn babysitter.”
Anger spikes in the first man, “I’m not paid to ask questions—and neither are you. We’re just damn lucky we were reassigned here instead of being caught by the police.”
“Guess none of these people ever heard of sleep. So, where’s the damn drop happening? We gonna have to meet him, I suppose?”
“Yeah, as if he’s gonna make his way through this labyrinth,” the first man snorts. “Moron. Of course we’re gonna meet him. We’ll start making our way to the entrance at midnight. The tourists should all be gone by then and we can do what we need to do without prying eyes. Plus, we can dump ‘em when we have our money and get on our way.”
“Yeah, that’ll be good,” the other man says. “Looking forward to being done with this one. They’ve been more trouble than they’re worth if you ask me.”
“No shit. It went sideways from the minute we got mixed up with with that little girl back in the States. It’ll be nice to finally be rid of this lot. Gonna lay low for a while until it all blows over.”
One of the girls on the floor whimpers, fighting back tears.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” the first man snarls, walking over to them.
Instinctively, the girls cower together.
“I said, what’s wrong with you?” he repeats, kicking the girl closest to him.
The girls cry out, jarred from the contact. They bow their heads, refusing to look up at their captors.
“Babies,” the guy mutters, walking away. “Next one of you who cries is gonna get something worth crying about. Ya hear?”
Again, the girls huddle in to the point of practically being on top of one another—almost as if they could vanish if they just merged into one person.
Suddenly, the vision of the girls and men shifts—dragging me from their location as I desperately try to stay with them.
I float through the cavern tunnels, hovering over an open space with standing water—then through another tunnel with etchings in the stone face. As I try to lean into it and get a better view, images of the symbol from Blake’s dreams and drawings juxtapose themselves over and over in my mind—blocking me somehow from seeing anything else.
“Diana—Diana, oh God, are you okay?”
My eyes roll, as I try to ground myself to the here and now, and my own body. Without warning, everything goes limp and I slump forward. Blake’s arms wrap around me before I can hit the ground.
“What in the hell was all that? You—you were glowing. Like, on your own, bright purple—glowing. And your eyes—they were—I just—I can’t—” Blake’s words drift off, but I can’t find a way to my voice just yet.
The visions—two separate, but clearly equally important visions—have depleted my body.
I should have brought chocolate, or something to eat in case something liked this happened.
Stupid.
Blake pulls me in close, his broad chest becoming my platform for stability and relief. Everything around me is spinning and I know if I’m not careful, I’ll lose consciousness. Who knows how long it would be before I awoke—and neither of us can afford that kind of detour.
I close my eyes, focusing on the sound of his heartbeat as it thumps away. It’s my metronome to stay here and now.
His left hand slides up beneath my hair, resting on my neck. The warmth of his palm radiates through me, making me shiver.
“I’m sorry, Diana,” he says, his voice low and husky. “I still can’t believe what I saw. I mean, I know I saw it—and I know something was clearly going on with you. But I still—how do you explain something like this?”
Even if I wanted to—I couldn’t explain what happens to me. I’ve never experienced it from the other side when the stronger energies take over. I just know what it does to me afterwards.
Blake must sense how much this has taken out of me, because he stops talking and instead shifts to a more comfortable position and simply holds me. Nothing in this world—and I mean that literally—nothing has felt so good as being in his arms.
After a few minutes, the world stops spinning, and my head begins to feel more centered. Unfortunately, my ass is falling asleep. I shift slightly—just to release the cramp.
“How are you doing now?” Blake asks.
I don’t open my eyes but remain firmly in place—a permanent fixture on Blake’s chest for the time being.
“A little better, thanks,” I whisper, taking a deep breath through my nose.
“I didn’t know this took such a toll on you. It didn’t seem like such a big deal before—”
“It’s okay, Blake. It’s not always like this. Just—sometimes it’s more…powerful than others.”
“You’re not kidding.”
“Besides, you wouldn’t be the first to think I was
spewing BS,” I say, taking slow, deliberate breaths.
“After seeing you glowing—I feel like a complete ass. I mean, holy shit, that was intense. Why did you feel like you needed to prove anything to me when you clearly have something crazy unique going on? You should be studied at MIT.”
I swallow hard, trying to fight the feelings snaking their way around my insides.
“Lots of reasons,” I finally say. “It was partly for the sake of the girls. Blake—they’re alive, by the way. They’re all still together and alive. They’re planning on moving them tonight, and from what I got—they’re going to be coming back through here in the middle of the night.”
For a split second, Blake’s hand stops moving.
“You’re certain?” he finally says.
“Definitely. They’ll be doing the exchange at 2:00am.”
I close my eyes, trying to fade out the memory slightly of the man kicking the girls.
“Alright, so we can set up our trap,” he resolves. “I’ll get Interpol involved in a little bit.”
“Okay,” I sigh, leaning into him.
We continue to sit for a moment, listening to the sound of water droplets in the cave make music against the rocks.
“What about the other part?” he says after a few moments of silence.
“What are you talking about?”
“You said part of the reason you wanted to come along was for the girls. But that wasn’t to prove anything—it was to get them out alive. So, what did you have to prove?” he urges.
I bite my lip, trying to decide what to say and what to keep to myself. I’m only just starting to parse it all out for myself—and I’m not sure what any of it means yet. I don’t understand after all this time why I’d want to open myself up again. Why him? Why now?
“I don’t know—I guess not being able to read you—it’s made me curious. There isn’t much I don’t know—and what I don’t already have as knowledge, I pick up pretty quickly.”
“Okay?”
I sigh. “I guess I wanted to spend time with you to understand what makes you so different.”
His body relaxes a little and his fingertips start to caress the side of my neck. I close my eyes again, focusing on it.
“And what have you found out so far?”
“Not sure. I guess I’ll need to keep digging.”
“Oh, you’re digging, huh?” he chuckles.
He’s trying to give me something to think about—something other than the dizzying effects of my vision.
“Sure, why not?” I laugh. It feels good to laugh—ushering in some lighter energy.
“Warn me when you find something out, would ya?”
“You’ll be the first to know.”
“Wonderful,” he says, twisting his fingertips through the tendrils of hair at the back of my neck.
“What about you, Blake?”
His fingertips halt their playfulness and his back stiffens.
“What about me?”
“What made you want to prove me wrong—or to be near me? Did it really have anything to do with wanting to prove I wasn’t who I said I was? Honestly, after getting to know you more, I don’t think you’re really that kinda guy.”
I pull my head from his chest to look him in the eye. My head lulls listlessly to the side, but I take a deep breath, holding it upright.
Warmth rushes through his cheeks, even in this dim light I can see it, and his gaze narrows.
“Honestly?” he finally says.
“No, lie to me,” I say, sticking out my tongue.
Blake rolls his eyes and shoots me a sexy smirk.
Butterflies escape from my solar plexus and I bite my lip.
“I think a part of me always knew you had something special. But—it wasn’t about your psychic stuff. There was something about you—the woman you are. Being around you—it’s like…I can’t even describe it. It’s like finding something you didn’t know you were looking for. Like there was something you misplaced, but it had been so long since you last had it—you forgot it even existed. I know that sounds stupid—”
“What? You weren’t looking for all this?” I say, brushing my hands along my body, and shooting him a dorky grin.
He laughs again, returning his fingertips to their dance along my neck.
“Not even a little bit. I was perfectly happy just living in my own little bubble with Aiden. But now…” his voice trails off.
“Now?”
“Well, I’d like to see where this could lead,” he says.
I sit up so I can get a better look at him. He bites his lip, shrugging sheepishly.
“Glutton for punishment, I see.” I poke him in the rib and raise an eyebrow.
“Guess you could say that.”
“Poor fool,” I say, shaking my head and grinning.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he says, holding my gaze for moment. His eyebrows flicker up and down as he processes whatever’s flashing through his mind.
“Will you do me a favor, Blake?”
“Sure, anything,” he says without hesitation.
“When we’re through with all this—when it’s all said and done and we’re back in Helena, can we grab that cup of coffee you asked for? I mean, for real this time.”
Blake’s dimples emerge in a slow, deliberate smile. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
I nod. “It’s done, then.”
“So it is,” his chin dips in acknowledgment.
My strength feels like it’s returning and I adjust again.
“You do know, this means having an actual conversation, though. Right? Telling me more about you—and not freaking out about it. We’ve been through a lot, but I’d like to learn more about the real Blake Wilson.”
“Deal. I’d like to learn more about the real Diana Hawthorne, too,” he smiles. “Magical psychic stuff notwithstanding, I’m sure there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye.”
I raise my eyebrows, “Oh, you have nooo idea.”
Even in the low light of Blake’s flashlight, the weight of his gaze pulls me into it, making my breath hitch in my throat. Something has magnetized me to his eyes and even if I wanted to, I can’t look away. The hints of green and gold hidden in the depths of his eyes are so—familiar.
The familiarity gnaws at my insides—like a memory you’re trying desperately to cling to but no matter what you do, you just can’t recollect it.
“I—I don’t know what this is between us, but I’m happy I deliberately bumped into you,” Blake says, the magnitude of his words drawing me in.
My heart thumps awkwardly, skipping beats as I try to stay grounded—but I’m losing grip fast. This time, it has nothing to do with my abilities.
“I am, too. But—I just—I mean, we’re in a weird situation right now, you know, trying to find the girls. We should be focused on—”
His face moves, almost in slow motion, toward me. Those big brown eyes of his close and the intensity of his pull is like the oceans rising to meet the moon. We’ve somehow managed to create a gravity all our own and even if I wanted to stop this collision course—I wouldn’t be able to.
I suck in a breath and close my eyes, waiting for impact.
His lips graze mine, gentle—but self-assured. There’s no doubt what he wants from me and he knows I’ll give it to him. In this moment, I’d give him my whole life. I’d lay it all down on the floor at his feet, if I could.
My inhalation catches in the back of my throat and I lean into him, placing my right hand on his chest. His scent permeates my reality and all I want to be consumed by…is him. There’s something so familiar in his touch—in the energy and essence of him, yet it continues to slip through my awareness the way sand slips from open fingers.
Blake leans forward, placing both hands alongside my face as he draws me closer; building an urgency to his kiss. It’s as though his essence and mine are bound somehow and we’re only now beginning to realize it.
Hungrily, his tongue
parts my lips, creating the gateway the ancients used to say could merge souls—
Suddenly, my memory cracks open and flashes of times long past—recollections I’ve never had access to begin to flood my awareness.
Chapter 16
SPLIT APART FROM THE PRESENT MOMENT, I’m suddenly viewing myself from the outside as I walk these same long cavern tunnels. Tears stream down my face, and my heart is shattering into a billion pieces. Clutched in my hand is a small dagger, sharp enough to claim a life—but I sense that’s not my intent. Even then, even in the ancient past, I know I can’t die—even if I’d want to. Instead, I’m painfully aware of my eternal life, but there’s no way I can live with this type of heartache. The pain of this loss is too unbearable.
I try to focus, to see who or what has caused the heartache, but the memory is still clouded—aspects of it shielded from me.
Staying with the vision, I continue to follow myself as I meander the cavern tunnels to the location I’m seeking—the area with the most potent power so it can assist me in what I have planned. Not only is the pathway an energetic vortex, but it’s not easily accessible. This is good—I can’t risk having everything destroyed.
As I reach the tunnel at last, I don’t hesitate. Instead, I immediately begin the chant and start my plea to Mnemosyne. To what purpose, I’m not entirely sure. I only know I have to complete the sacrifice and carve out the sacred symbol before any of Apollo’s servants can stop me.
The fissure in my memory seals back up—closing whatever gateway granted me a glimpse of what was.
I pull back from Blake’s kiss—my eyes wide and heart thrumming loudly in my chest.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Blake says, mirroring my surprise.
What the hell do I tell him? Oh, hey, by the way, I just had a vision from a past I’ve been trying to get access to for as long as I’ve been alive. Oh, yeah, and just so you know, I’m over two millennia old.
Screw that.
“I uh—I just had another vision,” I say, thinking up something fast.
“What was it? What did you see?”
“Blake, you’ll need to make your call to Interpol right away. Get them here and ready, they’re considering making their move sooner. In the meantime, I need to go back in—try to get more info,” I say, hoping it will mean him having to get outside to find cell signal.
The Chronicles of the 8th Dimension - Limited Edition Box Set (4 Books): A Supernatural Thriller Box Set Page 21