He releases his hold on me, and the warmth slowly returns. Tremors force their way through my body as my light fights off the darkness. I try to access the light, but I’m too weak. Muffled sounds hum around me. I open my eyes, my vision still blurry, and notice a bright blue streak before the recliner and I take a spill. Will didn’t release me willingly.
I try to stand, but the smoke restraints remain intact. All I’m able to manage is rocking the recliner back and forth. I continue struggling to free myself until the muffled sounds cease. Silence buzzes around me until the floor rattles with footsteps. Each footfall increases the clatter against the hardwood floor. My body flails around as the chair is lifted back to its upright position. Through my still blurry vision, I see Gavyn’s dark brown eyes staring into mine. “She should be fine.” He says, at least I believe that’s what he says, over his shoulder and Aeryn’s blurry form appears around the corner.
“He got away.” He says breathlessly. Gavyn waves his hand in front of me, and four small streaks of blue light hit the smoke binding me, and I’m finally free. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah.” My vision clears enough for me to see my surroundings. The damage is far worse than what I was able to hear. Furniture strung about with burn marks, broken glass litters the floor, and the moon lights up the room through several scorched holes in the ceiling. “Where’s Will?”
“He’s gone now. What the hell were you thinking? He could have killed you, or worse.” My first instinct is to apologize to Aeryn for being so careless, but then I remember everything Will told me, everything Aeryn lied about.
“Or worse? Like telling me the truth? That my mom’s not actually dead?”
He sighs, and relief fills his eyes.
“I can’t believe I didn’t see this before. You told me Nightmares aren’t allowed in Dream Haven, yet my mother was supposed to have been killed by one there.”
“We don’t have time for this.” Gavyn interrupts.
“Oh, I think we do. You owe me an explanation.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“You were? Was this going to be after you tricked me into killing her?”
“No! Once you understood what the Nightmares do. They’re great at deceiving people who don’t fully understand.”
“Are you saying my mom didn’t fully understand?”
“No, she knew exactly what she was choosing.”
I open my mouth to continue the argument but stop when Gavyn sets his hands ablaze. “Wha—?” I’m interrupted by the squeal of rubber and the thud of a car door. All the ruckus must have attracted visitors. Gavyn and Aeryn stand in front of the door, ready to attack. “What if it’s a human? How are you going to explain your hands lighting up like a Christmas tree?”
“Keep quiet. Humans aren’t ignorant enough to come here now.” Gavyn snaps back at me.
“You clearly haven’t spent enough time here.” I try to conjure up my light, but I’m still too weak.
“Nadia, are you ok? I got here as fast as I could.” Hanna swings the door open. “What the hell happened?” She walks into the living room, ignoring the two men in front of her.
“You and Aeryn were right, Will is a Nightmare.” The words roll off my tongue as casual as talking about the weather.
Even though Hanna suspected it, she looks surprised. “I’m so sorry.”
“This history lesson is great, but we have to go back. Now!” Gavyn reaches into his pocket and tosses a small pinch of dust in his mouth. His shell clatters to the floor. He must not be too worried about harming it. I grab some dust and sit on the couch Aeryn turned upright.
“Wait.” Hanna runs to me before I down the dust. “Are you ok?” She kneels down placing her hands on my knees.
“Ask me that again once I’ve had time to process all of this.”
She agrees to stay here protecting our shells while Aeryn, and I follow Gavyn’s lead, landing in front of the Elder’s castle. “You stay by her side at all times.” Gavyn barks to Aeryn.
“What? You think I’m going to make the same decision my mother did? Is that why you’ve had that giant stick up your ass this whole time?”
Gavyn glares at me before turning his attention back to Aeryn. “Get her under control.” He grits his teeth.
“I’m right here, you can talk to me yourself.” He ignores me and walks towards the castle. “I know how they opened the portals,” I scream loud enough for him to hear.
Stopping dead in his tracks, he marches over to me without making eye contact. “What?” He asks quietly.
“Now you want to speak to me?”
Gavyn growls and lifts his eyes to look at me. “If you know, then tell me.”
“If I tell you, will you trust me?”
“Not a chance.”
“Then I’m not telling you.”
“Nadia?” Aeryn pleads.
“No, as soon as I tell him, he’s going to go back to ignoring me and thinking I’m to blame. I can help.”
“I told you, in the beginning, we could trust her. If you can’t trust her, trust me. We need her help.” This time Aeryn pleads to Gavyn.
“Fine.” Gavyn agrees.
“Tell me the truth first, the whole story. And then you’ll get your answer.” Gavyn grunts and waves his hand signaling Aeryn to begin.
Aeryn starts at the beginning, telling me everything. How my mother started out as one of the most promising Nightstalkers but a bad call by Gideon caused her to lose her best friend, and Will was able to lure her to the darkness. “Vengeance can blind even the purest of heart.” He explains how she was his mentor but couldn’t bring herself to sacrifice him, so she chose his parents knowing that would feed the darkness inside him, and how she lied to my father about wanting to keep me safe because her life was in danger. Everything Will said was true.
“So, you do need me to help kill my mother?”
“No, we need you to help contain the Nightmares. She is no longer your mother.” Gavyn sounds almost sympathetic. Almost.
“It’s my fault,” I mumble, shuffling the grass around my feet. “I’m the reason they were able to open the portals.”
Aeryn steps in front of Gavyn who moves to grab me. “Let her explain.”
“Will kissed me before I knew what he was. He was able to take some of my light.” They both look as disgusted as I feel. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, you didn’t know. I should have told you everything from the beginning.” Aeryn says rubbing his temples. “We shouldn’t have waited so long to make contact.”
“You said portals, how many are there?” Gavyn asks ignoring Aeryn.
“He wouldn’t tell me, but he did confirm there’s more than one.”
“We need to tell Gideon and Faerah. We didn’t know there was more than one portal.” Gavyn pauses to look over to me. “Or that they had the ability to take our light like that.”
When we reach the meeting hall, the other sector leaders are already there except one from Gavyn’s team, Blaine. He must be with the Nightmare we have trapped in the warehouse. Gavyn describes what happened to everyone and has me explain what I learned from my encounter with the Nightmare. Gideon nods as I speak and waits patiently for me to finish before speaking himself. “I had begun to wonder if this was possible. I believe this may be how some of our best have been persuaded to the darkness. If some of their light had been taken, they would be more susceptible.”
Maybe that’s what happened to my mother. If Will had taken some of her light, maybe it wasn’t fully her fault. Maybe she isn’t as bad as everyone thinks, and maybe we can get her back. I hadn’t thought to ask if that would be possible. “If this is the case, if they used your light to open it, Nadia, you will have to be the one to close the portal. Only you will be able to take back your light.”
Everyone’s eyes are on me, increasing the weight on my shoulders. “How do I take it back?”
“We will send a small group with you. Your instincts will
know what to do. Our light knows where it truly belongs.” I smile trying to reassure everyone I’m ready for this, but I can’t even convince myself.
Aeryn grabs my hand and whispers into my ear. “You can do this. Just trust your instincts.” I want to believe in my instincts, but I can’t shake the sinking feeling in my stomach. Gavyn takes over speaking again to give out the orders. He sends several teams to capture the rest of the Nightmares that are running around and assigns Aeryn, Quinn, and himself to go with me. He believes they will be able to handle any Nightmares that try to stop me. Just as before, all of the leaders vacate the room, leaving Aeryn, Gavyn, Quinn and myself.
“Before we head out, we need to go over the plan.” Gavyn’s tone commands everyone’s attention. I try not to show my nerves as we huddle around him. “The portal is in a small corner, so if we each take a side, we should be able to keep Nadia guarded long enough for her to close it. Then all that’s left is capturing the Nightmares that are left.”
“What about the other portals?” I ask.
“Once we close this portal, we will find the others and deal with them. Right now, we need your sole focus on this one.” Gavyn rests his gaze on me. “Are you sure you’re up for this?” If I didn’t know any better, I would think he cares, but I know it’s more that he doesn’t want to risk everyone’s safety if I’m just going to chicken out, or maybe he’s still worried I’m going to betray them.
“Let’s do this.” I muster every ounce of courage I have, and Gavyn leads us to the portal.
Tucked away in a small corner of an abandoned business district is the glowing yellow portal. Golden strands of light swirl around each other in a tall line. The strings of light look just like the sparks I released before. I feel drawn to the portal like I’m connected to it, like it’s calling to me. “Nadia, wait.” Aeryn grabs my hand as I start walking towards it. “Let us check the perimeter first. Stay here.” Aeryn and the team spread out, checking for any signs of an ambush. I can’t look away from the sparkling lights, so warm and inviting. After several minutes, He returns telling me it’s time.
My nerves stand on end. What if I can’t do it. Nobody has actually given me any instructions, they never give instructions. “So, this should be pretty easy since there aren’t any of them here?” I ask Aeryn as we walk toward the portal. It’s warmth reaching out to me.
“Unfortunately, they’ll feel when the portal is being closed, and that’s where it gets tricky.” He can see the fear on my face, I can’t hide it from him. “That’s why we’re here. Don’t worry, just focus on closing the portal.”
“Ok.” My voice is weak and breathless. Gavyn and Quinn take their lookout spots, and I creep closer to the portal as Aeryn finds his. How can something so beautiful scare the life out of me? I stare at the golden swirls, enchanted by their beauty. Warmth kisses my skin the closer I get. My hand reaches out to the portal when I feel a tug on my arm. I jump before I realize it’s Aeryn. I need to learn how to steady my nerves. “What if I can’t—” He cuts me off, placing his lips on mine. My hands cup his face, the stubble scratching against my palms. He pulls me closer to him with his arm around my back. His soft lips send a rush of warmth through me, reaching my fingers and toes as I kiss him back. My body instinctively follows his as he pulls away causing a frenzy of butterflies in my stomach.
“Trust your instincts, Nadia. You can do this. Whatever you hear, don’t lose your focus.”
“Ok.” But I’m not sure what I just agreed to. I’m too focused on his lips.
“Promise me, no matter what, you will not lose focus.”
I shake myself out of a daze. “I promise.”
Heat radiates from my arms. They’re illuminated, but not with my normal golden light. They’re glowing blue, like Aeryn. I run a finger down my arm, trailing the electric glow, before retraining my focus to the task at hand, taking back my light. I take a deep breath and wait as Aeryn returns to his spot. Maybe if I focus on pulling rather than pushing. I stick my hands out and try to use my energy to pull the light. Nothing happens. My arms glow blue and my mind races back to that moment. “Focus Nadia, damn it focus,” I say to myself. I inhale once more and try again with closed eyes. Still nothing. I groan and look around me. Aeryn and Gavyn’s eyes are scanning the area, but Quinn’s eyes are on me. He gives me a thumbs up and mouths “You got this.” I flash him a smile and refocus.
Raising my hands, I focus on my light. Feeling it’s warmth, embracing it. The light surges through me, it’s coming back. The golden strands connect with my hands, and their heat consumes me. The light in my arms slowly change from Aeryn’s blue back to my golden yellow. A loud crash rings in my ears and fight the urge to turn around. If I turn around, I will have to start over. They can handle themselves. There can’t be that many Nightmares in one city.
The portal shrinks, and the glowing strands dim, it’s working, I’m doing it. If they can just hold out a little longer, we can finish this, but the fighting gets louder. Screams and moans break my focus, slowing me down. I try to block it out, but I’m also trying to listen for Aeryn. I have to know he’s ok. My arms shake, daring to break my focus, but I fight it.
The portal grows smaller and smaller as my light returns to me. It’s almost gone when a force blasts into me, and my body tumbles to the ground. I lift my head to see a tall, gangly kid who can’t be over 18, at least his shell can’t be over 18. Freckles dash across the bridge of his nose and a darkness resides in his eyes. I glance back at the portal. It’s still there, but just barely. I need to finish it, but he’s standing in my way. He makes no sound, only paces back and forth in front of me as I stand up. I throw my hands out to shoot a bolt of light at him, but nothing comes out. His laughter echoes in the night.
I try again, but still nothing. He mimics my movements, and another force pushes me back to the ground. I groan as I lift myself off of the hard ground again. He wrings his hands, planning his next attack. An animal playing with its food. I shake my hands, trying to clear my head. Once again, I push my hands forward to send a bolt of light at him. This time it works. Light soars out of my hands, slamming into his stomach. He stumbles backward but keeps his balance. He raises his hand and a cloud of darkness lifts from his palm. More and more stream from his palm but a blue spark hits his wrist, and he loses his focus. The darkness stops and dissipates. Aeryn slams into him and calls to me to finish closing the portal.
I stand there frozen, watching them fight. “Nadia, Go!” His words bring me back, and I run to what’s left of the portal. I focus my mind and chip away at the portal again. The strands wrap around my arms as the portal steadily shrinks in size. There are only a few strands left when I feel it. Something is wrong. The warmth I felt from the light is gone. It’s replaced by a cold emptiness. I try to release the portal, but I can’t. Something is holding on to me. “Aeryn!”
“What’s wrong?” He and Quinn run to my side.
“I don’t know, something isn’t right. I can’t release the connection.”
“Nadia?” He tries to pull me away from the portal but is knocked back. Black smoke rises out of the small portal and begins working its way up my arms.
“What’s happening?” I struggle against the smoke trying to pull myself away, but the hold is too strong. Both Quinn and Aeryn send sparks toward the smoke, but nothing happens. It climbs up my legs, and all they can do is watch. I try to jerk away, but I’m stuck.
“No, Nadia!” Aeryn’s voice is the last thing I hear.
CHAPTER 16
PITCH BLACK. IT’S ALL I see when I open my eyes. My legs kick, and my arms cross over my stomach. This time I’m not bound. I slowly move my arms back to my side, feeling around on the hard ground. It’s rough and cool to the touch. I must still be outside. I push myself up, cautiously waving my arms around in the air, feeling for anything to help me gain my bearings. I stumble around, but can’t find anything. I’m in some kind of open area. “Aeryn? Quinn? Gavyn?” No answer. I close my eyes and
focus my energy. Pushing the light into my hands, I concentrate on containing it. With one final push, the light grows from my hands and shoots across the open area. It flies by so fast, I’m unable to see anything.
I shake my hands and refocus. I can do this. I try again, and this time a small glow appears in my right hand. I smile at the small dancing light in my hand. “Well done.” Startled, I turn to see an older woman standing behind me. She’s draped in a long black dress that matches in color to her hair. I recognize her right away even though her eyes are almost black now. Is it the darkness that made that change?
“Who are you?” I ask already knowing the answer.
“I’m so proud of you sweetie.” Hearing the pride in her voice is almost more than I can handle. “You’ve already come so far with your light, and you’ve only known for such a short time. Just imagine what you can accomplish with some real guidance.”
“Real guidance? You mean like the guidance you gave Aeryn?” She studies my face and smiles.
“You like him.” It isn’t a question.
“I don’t need, nor do I want any guidance from you.”
“Oh sweetie, you need me now more than ever. A daughter needs her mother’s guidance, especially at this age and with such a big decision in front of you.”
“A mother’s guidance? You don’t want to guide me, you want to lure me into choosing darkness, but I won’t.”
“Will told me about your stubbornness.” Hearing her talk about Will twists that knife in a bit deeper. “Why didn’t you come to me yourself instead of sending your little lackey?”
“Will is no lackey.”
“No, he was your mentor. He was the one who pushed you to choose darkness.”
“Sweetheart, soon you will understand. Darkness is the only way.”
“You’ll never make me believe that.”
“Is this because of Aeryn? I believe he would be your ultimate sacrifice, but for now, we’ll have to settle for your father.” My mother raises her hands and several torches along the walls light up with blue flames. I can see clearly now, I’m not outside, I’m in a cave.
The Other Side of Dreams (Nighstalker Novels Book 1) Page 16