“They’re alive?” he murmured to himself. She must mean that Andrew and her had survived that evening. Axel had not once doubted that Genevieve would survive. That crazy fool’s thoughts had been all kinds of deranged, but they glowed when he thought of Genevieve.
They remained quiet a few minutes, and he thought of telling Jane the truth. “What are you thinking about?” he asked her, hoping she would say him.
“This whole adventure. If we hadn’t come through or the glass not broken, I never would have seen any of this. I wouldn’t be here right now... with you.” She lifted her head to kiss him, and he tried to kiss her back. But his thoughts detoured to Andrew and the memory fade.
“You’re sorry I’m still here?” she asked. He didn’t know how to tell her, but he knew he must. If he had any chance with her, she had to know the whole truth.
“Jane… the night we came through the mirror… it broke because of a gunshot. Before that, Andrew was shot by the same gun, and I brought us through the portal to keep us from getting shot too.” He saw her eyes widen, her mouth tense up.
“What?” She sat up. “I… I don’t remember that? Why not? Andrew was shot?” Her concern for Andrew and the tone she used— it ripped him to his core.
“I faded your memory of the events to keep you from worrying so much about it. You were crying and distressed from not knowing if Andrew had survived, but I think Genevieve’s message means he made it.” He saw it then, the moment of disconnect when her eyes clouded over. She moved away from him.
“How could you play with my memories like that? You had no right!” she said, her volume increasing.
“I did what I could to help you,” he said as a way of an apology.
“That wasn’t up to you. I… we… Oh my gosh. I can’t believe you!” she said and stormed out of the room. Then she was out the door, and Axel followed her as she walked along the branches.
“Jane, please, I’m so sorry. You have no idea. Please, come back to my room. Where are you going?”
“Away from you.” She continued to the stairs, and Axel grabbed her and turned her around.
“Okay, I get it. I know I fucked up big time. You’re mad at me, and I deserve it, I guess, but it’s nighttime. There’s nowhere to go right now. Stay in my quarters, and I’ll sleep in Genevieve’s room or the ground or somewhere.” She pressed her lips together firmly, and Axel felt his mistake deep in his heart when he thought of not being able to kiss those lips again. Would she forgive him?
She loosened herself from his grip and walked back to his quarters. After he made sure she was safe inside, he made his way to the big house and into Genevieve’s room. Sleeping alone had never been this bad.
17
Jane
She couldn’t understand why he’d done that to her. Jane tossed and turned all night, but sleep evaded her. Her thoughts swirled around in a dizzying way, and in the morning she felt anything but rested. A servant brought her more food for her table, but she ate little. Jane wanted to go home.
If Andrew had survived, she was glad. But Andrew was definitely not going to be her husband. When she returned home, she would break it off with him. She wouldn’t be marrying anyone for a long time, not when she didn’t know her own mind. Yes, she had started to feel like someone special, like extraordinary things could happen to her. Like she wasn’t the plain Jane she’d always feared she was. What a joke!
She couldn’t be in a place where her very thoughts and actions could be so easily influenced. Would she have had sex with Axel if he hadn’t done what he did? Probably not. She would have been too busy worrying about Andrew, just as he said. She wondered then if maybe he’d done anything else to her mind.
Jane walked around the boardwalk, the village, and she even made it back to the beautiful spot she’d been at the day before with Axel. She remembered how carefree she’d felt then, not knowing Andrew had been shot. Not knowing Axel had faded her memories. She thought of how they’d lain together in the grass and remembered their passionate kiss.
She tried not to feel guilty about betraying Andrew, but she thought about it repeatedly. That’s why she had been so eager to get a message to him. She had planned to tell Andrew that she left him to start over so he would not worry about her disappearance. Now her guilt doubled because he was probably lying in a hospital bed recovering from a gunshot wound.
She sat by the brook, playing with the tendrils of the willow tree that brushed against her face. The noise of the water calmed her somewhat.
Jane was so absorbed in the drama that had become her life that she did not hear the many footsteps that approached her. It was not until the sound of movement was directly behind her made that she bolted straight up in fear.
Before she knew what was happening, an arm shoved a cloth into her mouth and a blindfold plunged her into darkness. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, clouding any rational thought. Jane fought against the strong arms that held her. She kicked but hit nothing. Her muffled cries did no good, and her captor did not speak.
She was terrified for her life, and when she felt the earth shifting beneath her and swallow her up, she thought she was done for. Thankfully, the ground that was constricting her movements only covered her up to her neck, and she could still breathe. Escape was not an option, but she was alive.
With no way to speak to her captors and no words coming from them, she was left without any indication as to what would happen to her. Time passed slowly.
Jane’s thoughts ran through the previous days’ events, but would often settle at the possibilities of what could happen to her, leading to a fresh kick of panic. She was grateful to still be alive and woman though she didn’t know for how long. Now more than ever, she wished she could send messages as well so she could call someone for help. She tried anyway, mentally picturing Axel receiving her message and coming to her rescue.
No one came.
18
Axel
Axel woke up earlier that morning confused as to why he was in Genevieve’s room. Then he remembered and immediately cast out his mind to find Jane. She was still in his room, her mind full of anger, and he didn’t need to delve deeper to know it was directed at him.
Taking care of that band of strangers would distract him, surely. Axel met up with Darick down by the village, and they conversed on the specifics.
“We get as close as possible without them seeing us,” Darick repeated the first part of the plan.
“Yes, but what if it is a trap? I’m not convinced that we can get close enough without their knowing. I know I agreed last night, but now I think it might be too risky. They will sense us from miles away. Somehow they’re reading us. Right now they might be looking into my mind at the plan.” Axel looked around as if he would catch the spy in the people going about their regular business.
“That’s impossible. I don’t know how they know, but they’re not entering our minds. They can’t do that, can they?” Darick didn’t look convinced himself. “Well, it’s the plan we made. I’m ready to go, and so are the other men. We need you there too, Axel. Your strength is our main weapon.”
“Yes, of course. I’m just concerned for everyone involved,” he said, thinking of all the men who’d be in danger if they were found out before they could confine the brigands.
The message was sent out for the men to arm themselves, take their places, and sharpen their minds. Axel sent out a quick thanks to them all for putting themselves last so their homeland could be safe. They formed teams of two throughout the village and each team lined the perimeter of the outsiders’ camp.
Messages were sent in rapid-fire succession from one team to another, none with anything new to report. They surrounded the area, and Axel was now close enough to see the camp. There were clothes hanging on a line and several tents strewn around a clearing. Pots hung over a fire pit. The only thing missing were the men.
Axel and Darick looked at each other questioningly. Axel’s men’s messages all had the
same tone. Where the hell were the scoundrels? As soon as Axel rushed into the camp to ascertain that there was in fact no one there, Gord, called out, “They have my wife!” as he ran out of the forest.
The messages came in too quickly to understand, and Axel could tell the rest of the men were also under a barrage of messages. They all put their hands to their head.
“Let’s go back!” Axel shouted, knowing anything he tried to send at that time would be lost. He didn’t know who was sending what to him, but he was receiving several strings of words. Danger… fire in the village… kidnapped… taken prisoner.
It had been a trap, but not what they’d thought. Those bandits must have attacked the village. Axel ran as fast as he could, almost passing Gord who’d had a head start. He knew Darick was right beside him as they raced to the edge of the forest. That’s when they saw the smoke.
Jane was the first panicked thought that came to his mind.
Axel arrived to a burning house in the village, took two seconds to catch his breath, and then manipulated the water from the well to stream out onto the house. The fire was much too large for him to control without water. Darick did the same to another house across the way that was also in flames. Gord ran into the house then, ignoring the men’s warnings.
“Shaila’s in there!” he yelled, breaking down the door. A minute passed, and Axel considered going in there himself. Finally, Gord and Shaila, his wife, stumbled outside the cottage, coughing. Shaila was covered in dirt from head to toe.
“They buried her up to her neck!” Gord yelled. He moved his wife away from the fumes, and they sat down to steady their breathing. Some of the men were now helping Axel, and he let them continue to put out the fire. He went over to the other house that was on fire.
“Was there anyone in there?” he asked the crowd that was watching outside as Darick extinguished the flames.
“We don’t think so,” said a woman carrying her baby. “That’s Eli’s house, and he’s been through the portal for several months now.”
Axel ran over to Darick. “I’m going to check on my family,” he told his friend, thinking of his poor father unable to help the village, suffering through his illness above the chaos. His mother would be worried sick, as would Jane. He was glad she was not around all of this.
Random messages were still coming to him, but he tried to close off his mind. He couldn’t sort them out quickly enough to understand any. Running through the village, he noticed that everyone was outside. No one alerted him to any missing person and there didn’t seem to be any more fires. The scoundrels were gone.
Up the tree he went, into the house where the family gathered by the large window on the top floor.
“I cannot do a thing to help,” lamented the king.
“Don’t you worry, Father. The other men and I have it under control. No one is hurt,” Axel tried to comfort him.
“Where is Jane?” the queen asked.
“In my room, I would think,” Axel said, getting ready to go check on her.
“She is not,” Dori told him. “I went to find her when this started since I knew you went out to catch those men. Your quarters are empty.”
“That’s not possible. She wasn’t in the village,” he said, a cold dread washing over him.
“I tried to send you messages,” Dori said.
“There’s so much going around I can’t receive anything clearly,” Axel said, already backing out of the room. He stopped at his place, seeing for himself that she was not there. He tried to think of where she could have gone. Maybe she’d gone back to that witch?
He found the old woman down at the village in the crowd. The houses were letting out smoke but they were no longer on fire.
“Have you seen Jane?” Axel asked the woman. She looked surprised to see him.
“Not today. Is she in danger?” The woman seemed concerned. He left her question hanging in the air and turned away, searching the crowd one last time. She was not there. Then where? It was unlikely that she would have tried to go back to a non-existent portal. Where else had he taken her? The gathering place? Another person’s house? The willow trees. He made it over there as fast as his legs could carry him, grateful when he saw the lavender color. But then he stopped.
He sensed that she was there. His mind was still getting a lot of static, but he knew he was close to her. He tried to focus, to weed out the noise. He could feel her presence now, and when he went deeper, he saw black. Why would he see black?
Then he felt her fear, her terror at being held captive and not knowing what was going on. Axel wanted to charge in there. He knew she was in danger, and his blood boiled because of it, but he needed help.
If those men were holding her captive, he wouldn’t help by getting trapped there himself. He called Darick to him with his mind, stalking closer and letting his feet reach deep into the earth so as not to make any noise.
19
Jane
Futile was the word she was looking for. Yes, futile. There was nothing she could do but hum her displeasure, and that didn’t get any notice from her guards. She heard them moving around every few minutes, or she would have thought she’d been left to rot in the ground. Each time she heard rustling the adrenaline pumped through her body, and her breathing stopped as she wondered if they would suddenly finish her off.
One of these times, the rustling gave way to speech. She tried to hear what they said, but she couldn’t make it out. She made as much noise as she could with the gag in her mouth, and then she heard the sounds of clanging metal. It was so close she was afraid her head would be sliced off at any second. Her eyes were streaming tears under the blindfold, and she yelled some more.
When she heard more clanging, she knew a sword fight had erupted in earnest, and she only hoped it meant she might be rescued.
“Darick!” she heard Axel’s voice. She tried to be louder, unsure if they had seen her.
“She’s here!” Darick yelled. They knew where she was! She’d be rescued now that Axel was there, and he was fighting to save her. With a sword, it sounded like. Then the clanging stopped, she heard a scuffle, and then silence.
Suddenly the blindfold was removed. She squinted, the sunlight making it hard to focus, and then took in the bewildering scene before her. She was eye-level with Axel. He too was gagged and buried shoulder deep, just like her. He struggled, his deep growls shaking the earth around them but the ground did not open for him.
She looked around desperately now, seeing three strange men. They looked different than the villagers she’d met, and yes, she was afraid. Because if Axel had been taken prisoner, who was to save them now?
If only she could read his mind. She hoped he was reading hers. She tried to think about how she’d arrived there and been held for hours in the ground, unsure if any of this information could be at all helpful to him. Then she remembered Darick. He’d been fighting these men with Axel. She saw two swords on the floor. Where was he? It was a good sign that there were no bodies lying on the ground, but he must be somewhere.
“Now that we have the both of you here together, we’re going to play a little game,” said a tall man. His beard and hair were the same length down to his shoulders. He wore clothes in tatters like the fairies she knew, but these looked rougher and, thankfully, covered a lot more. The other two men actually looked similar to this one, yet were not as tall.
“I see you’re eager to find out what the game is. Well, here it is: you do what I say, and you get to live. Fun, right?” His maniacal voice gave Jane goosebumps. “So, let’s see if you understood the rules. You will forbid any more portals from being made and not make them yourself either. Then you will gather the human women you have and hand them over.”
Axel struggled again, and the ground shook. Jane saw that his eyes almost seemed to glow from the hate and anger. She worried for herself, for Axel’s mother, and for all the human women. How would they escape from these men who had capabilities that outweighed even Axel’s.
She watched as he gave up struggling. No one was speaking, and now she realized that the only reason they’d spoken aloud at all was for her benefit. What messages were they transmitting?
Their conversation lasted a good while, and Jane watched as the three men moved around, deep in their thoughts. At one point the tall man ran up to Axel and looked about ready to punch him, but he stopped and walked away. Then returned to Axel and took off the gag.
“Jane,” Axel said immediately. “Find your way to my father. Have him make a portal and send the human women through. They’ll let me go after the portal has been destroyed.”
“What can I say? I like to bend the rules,” the man said to her with a sardonic smile. “And I think our king will be thrilled with a visit from you, lord prince.” He gave a bow, and the other two men snickered. One of them came over and removed her gag.
“But, Axel, I can’t leave you like this,” Jane said, her throat feeling tight.
“You have to. Please do as I said,” he asked of her. The tall man put his hand on the ground by her, and she rose out of it, covered in dirt, but very much freed. She tried to walk over to Axel, but the man grabbed her arm.
“Let her go!” Axel shouted. She felt the warmth of his rage flood her.
“Leave!” the man told Jane flinging her towards the forest. She stumbled but didn’t fall, and then she was running. She ran through the trees, not caring what she hit or tripped on along the way until she ran straight into Darick. Jane was almost hysterical as she tried to explain what had been decided just a few moments ago. She noticed there were other men watching her.
“Don’t worry, we’ll go get him,” Darick told her. The other men shouted in agreement. She hurried down to the village. Though she’d never been a praying woman, Jane knelt when she saw the cottages and threw out a quick thank you to be alive and a plea that nothing happen to Axel.
A Touch of Spring: Spellbound Series Book 1 (The Spellbound Series) Page 6