My whole body was shaking. “Yes... I’m okay.” I exhaled loudly. “What the hell was that?”
He pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m not sure, but you’re safe now.”
Neither of us spoke about what happened for the next hour or so. I think he was waiting for me to bring it up, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk about it. It was hard to even think about. Daniel and Jackie looking like crazed zombies coming after me. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get their black and soulless eyes out of my head.
When I laid down on the makeshift bed Blake set out for us, my mind began to wander. I tried to push what happened earlier tonight out of my mind, but even when I shut out those thoughts, more depressing ones entered my mind. All I could think about was how drastic my life had changed over the last couple months and it caused me to wonder if this is how it would always be. Would I ever have peace in my life again? Would I ever get a happily ever after? Or would my life always consist of learning spells, trying to ward off dark magic, constantly running and having to worry about the people I loved being hurt?
Not only were Jackie and Daniel trying to hurt me, but Abby was out there somewhere and we still had no clues as to where she was. She could be hurt, scared, or confused. It killed me to know that she may be in this position because she was trying to find me. Blake and I had not had time to even talk about Abby, yet. I wondered what he was feeling—if he was worried or how often his own thoughts must be drifting to her.
“Blake?”
I felt his body shift and turn towards me. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“No, just thinking,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“About?” he asked, his voice guarded.
“Abby.” I paused, taking in a deep breath. “Do you think she is, um—?” My voice trailed off as my throat tightened. As much as I wanted to know what he thought, I wasn’t sure how to ask the question.
“Alive?” Blake asked, finishing my question for me.
There was silence for a moment and with each second he didn’t say anything, my fear grew. “Well?” I asked, a spasm hitting my heart. “Do you think she’s okay?”
“She’s alive. That’s about all I can say at this point. I don’t know how to explain it, but I can still feel her presence. I can’t say much more than that, though.”
With that thought, I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep, knowing that we would have a lot of planning to do in the morning.
As I drifted off to sleep, the image of a girl came into focus. It was difficult to see her features because of the distance separating us, but I looked harder, desperate to see her face. I noticed the girl was walking down a cobblestone street. Street lamps flickered above her and there was a quiet stillness surrounding her. The girl stopped and looked to her left. I followed her gaze to a large building down an alleyway. She turned left down the alley and disappeared into the building. The next image that entered my mind was me standing, facing that building. I walked forward and stopped at the large window at the front of it. Slowly, I began to see my reflection come into focus, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t my reflection staring back at me... it was Abby’s.
“Meredith,” the reflection spoke.
“Abby!” I screamed at the reflection. “Abby, where are you?”
The vision of her began to fade until she was gone. “Abby,” I screamed, calling her back.
“Meredith, wake up.” Blake’s voice pulled me out of my dream. He was lying beside me, softly shaking me awake. When my eyes focused, I saw him staring down at me, a panicked look covering his face. “Bad dream?” he asked, moving the hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear.
“Abby.” I breathed heavily. “I saw her. She’s in a... building or store somewhere. I’ve seen it...” My voice trailed off as I tried to remember where I’d seen that building from my dream.
“What else? Tell me as much as you can.” Blake’s voice was urgent.
“She said my name.” My mind was going in so many different directions. I was trying to understand what the dream meant; wondering if Abby was trying to tell me something. Then, it hit me. A memory of the store or building—whatever it was—entered my mind. I had seen it the day I ran from Collin. When I was searching for a hiding place and before entering the train station, I saw a cobblestone street full of old buildings. If I was right, then we were just about ten minutes from there, or just a few seconds if we flew.
“Blake,” I said, my breath catching. “Abby’s here in London... I think I know where she is.”
He smoothed the hair away from my face. “You need to calm down for a minute. It could’ve just been a dream.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t just a dream. It was her and she was trying to show me something. I can’t explain it... I just know.”
“Could be,” he stopped and hesitated for a moment, “but it could also be something else.”
I swallowed hard, meeting his gaze. “What else could it be?”
“Well, it could be that someone is putting that in your mind. It could be a trick. With all that has happened, I feel like Jude does know something about Abby, or he may even have her himself. What if he’s trying to find you and he’s trying to lure you to him—putting things in your mind in order to draw you right to him.”
My stomach squeezed at the thought of him having Abby. The more I thought about it, though, the more I knew there was only one way to find out. We had to go to the building that was in my dream and see if Abby was there. No matter if it was a trap or not.
“We have to go,” I told him as I began to pull myself up to a sitting position. Blake’s hand was on my shoulder, stopping me halfway.
“We need a plan, if we plan to go there.” I couldn’t ignore the way he stressed the word if. In my mind, it wasn’t an if we go... it was a when we go.
My eyebrows turned in, confusion filling me. How could he be like this? “Blake, this is Abby we’re talking about.”
“If Jude is trying to lure you there, Abby wouldn’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way.”
“Well, Abby isn’t here to tell me that now is she?” I countered.
He sighed, shaking his head. “No, but I am.”
“Blake, I get it. I know it may be a trap, but it doesn’t matter what you say, I have to know that I’m doing everything in my power to find her. We can’t just sit around and not look for her.”
“No, I’ll go and see what I can find out; see if it’s safe for you first. Have you forgotten what happened earlier with Jackie and Daniel? They looked like they were possessed and wanted to kill you.”
I closed my eyes and tried to drown out the events from earlier tonight. “I want to go to that building. I can’t explain it, but I have a feeling Abby’s trying to tell me something.”
Blake stood up in one swift move, raking his hands through his hair and began to pace the room. The look on his face was heartbreaking—it was as if he was torn and lost at what to do next—but I knew that I had to remain strong.
“I can’t let you do that,” he said, his voice was firm.
“Are you going to physically restrain me if I try?” I asked.
He stopped and turned to face me. “If that is what it comes to, yes. I’m not going to let you walk into a trap and get yourself killed.”
“Well, I’m not going to sit here and leave Abby out there,” I said, trying to keep my voice at a decent level. “So, what you do suggest we do about it?”
He pinched the space between his eyes, looking more frustrated than I had ever seen him. “Dammit, Meredith, you and your stubbornness are going to be the death of me!”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, worried that he was about to give me a resounding no. As much as I would have liked to tell him I was going to do this with or without him, it was clear that he could restrain me if he wanted to.
“Meredith,” he said my name in a slow and calm voice, then paused for a moment. “I love you
for wanting to save my sister, but I can’t let you do this.”
My chest clenched, knowing that I was on my own with this. I also knew that it would be a miracle to get away from Blake. I would have to come up with something fast because there was no way I could live with myself if this was a clue from Abby and something bad happened to her. So, I would do this with or without his help.
“Okay. I understand and I see your point,” I lied, hoping to buy myself some time and figure out a plan to get away from him.
He kneeled down, bringing his eyes to my level. “We’ll figure something else out, I promise.”
As he sat there and stared into my eyes, I was secretly planning a way I could leave the clock tower and get to the building I saw in my dream. After a few moments, it became clear to me what I would have to do. I would never forgive myself and I knew that he would never forgive me, either.
I pulled away from his gaze and stood up; slowly dusting myself off, wondering if I could actually go through with this. My focus returned to Blake and from the look in his eyes it was clear he knew what I was doing. The betrayal and hurt I saw reflected in his eyes was almost too much, but I told myself to stay strong. My feet moved backward towards the staircase as I kept my eyes focused on him. Abby told me that she had never seen anyone with my abilities when it came to controlling people and objects. I knew that my power was stronger than Collin’s that day in the warehouse and I hoped that it would be strong enough to withstand Blake as well.
“Don’t do this, Meredith. Please,” he pleaded, motionless, as I focused with everything in me to keep him there in that same position.
“I’m so sorry. I have to at least try and see if she’s in there,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
Don’t think about it too much, just keep focusing on keeping him in place, I thought to myself. I reached the first step and turned to run down the stairs. I kept the image of Blake in my mind, hoping he would stay in the stilled position long enough for me to get out of the tower and give me a small head start on flying.
I thought I heard a frustrated moan come out of him, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Meredith, you are not leaving this clock tower so you may as well give up now,” Blake’s voice floated down to me.
I shut his words out of my mind and continued to keep my focus, hoping I could make it just a few more steps and out the door. As I ran around and around the spiral staircase, I tried to concentrate on each step, not wanting to trip. When I made it to the end of the staircase, I saw the door on my left. My lungs were on fire and my legs ached, but all I could think about was getting through that door, flying across the square, and down the road where I knew the store I saw in my dream was located.
I reached for the handle and tugged... but it wouldn’t budge. Was the door stuck?! This couldn’t be happening right now! I pulled harder, but it still wouldn’t budge. I closed my eyes tight, envisioning the door flying open, but it still wouldn’t move. Then, I felt a hand lightly touch mine and my heart dropped, realizing I had broken my focus on keeping Blake in place. When I opened my eyes, Blake was staring at me with a torn expression. He mostly looked hurt, but I could also see a little pity in his eyes as well.
“Are you doing this? Keeping me trapped in here? Let me out of here!” I screamed, suddenly feeling suffocated as the reality hit me.
“My job is not only to protect you from dark magic, but also from yourself.” His voice was firm. “I told you that, remember?”
“So I’m a prisoner?” My voice rose with each word.
He sighed in frustration. “Don’t be ridiculous, Meredith. Of course, you’re not a prisoner. I’m just protecting you from making a stupid decision.”
My heart hammered against my chest. The fact that he would hold me against my will and then call me stupid had just about sent me over the edge.
“Let me out of here!” I screamed at him, then turned around and tugged on the door once more.
“Why must you be so difficult and stubborn?” he asked.
I took a step back from the door, knowing that no matter how hard I tried, it would never budge. “Difficult? This is your sister we’re talking about!” I took a deep breath in and out, trying to calm myself. I would have done anything in my power to save my sister if it were possible and I just couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t do the same. “Why are you so against me trying to save her?”
“You want to know why I’m being like this? Because I know how much Abby cares about you. If this isn’t some sort of trap and we go find out that she’s in there, she will personally strangle me for letting you anywhere near that place.” He turned around and raked his hands through his hair.
“Then, why did she come to me in my dream? Why would she do that if it was just going to put me in harm’s way?”
He let out a long sigh and turned around to face me again. “Have you not been listening to me? A trap... this could all be a trap. What if this is dark magic; putting that dream in your head, putting that building in your head—making you feel like you know where it is. If that’s what’s happening and they’re trying to lure you there, we’re giving them exactly what they want. The protection spell I placed on the tower will protect you physically from dark magic, but mentally, you have to be able to protect yourself. Your mind is overloaded right now with everything that is going on and it will be easy for dark magic to penetrate it. You need to stay focused and think about that.”
Of course I knew that was a possibility, Abby had just trained me on how to keep dark magic from penetrating my thoughts. It was the last lesson I learned with her that day back in Steer Swamp, but it was only one day of training and I was far from mastering it. Even if this was just dark magic inside my head, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least try. If Jude did take Abby in order to find out more about me or if he was using her to lure me there, I wanted to confront him about it. “I’ll never forgive you if this was our one chance to save her and something happens to her,” I blurted out. His forehead creased and his mouth opened just slightly; like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. That was the meanest thing I’d ever said to him and it was clear to see that my words hurt him.
A few seconds passed without a word spoken between us. Before saying anything, he looked towards the ceiling, the ground, and then finally to me. He held my gaze and I could see in his eyes that he was having an internal struggle. How could he not be? His sister had most likely been kidnapped or hurt, possibly both, trying to save the woman he loved; and now the woman he loved was willing to risk herself in order to save his sister. It was hard not to have pity for him. He was fighting a losing battle here. It was either allow me to risk my life in order to save his sister, or have me despise him for the rest of mine if he didn’t.
“I don’t want to lose you, Meredith, but I can’t spend the rest of my life having you resent me, either. You leave me no choice, but just know that I will never forgive you if you let anything happen to yourself.”
He turned away from me and opened the door effortlessly. Every bone in my body was telling me to go to him, to put my arms around him, hug him and never let him go. But if I got that close to him right now, at this sensitive moment, I wasn’t sure if I would go through with what I was about to do.
It wasn’t long before we were standing across the street from the building I had seen in my dream. I could now see that the building was actually an old hardware store. Since it was still in the middle of the night, it looked just like my dream, with street lights flickering in the distance and an alley just a hundred or so feet in front of me.
Blake and I hadn’t spoken a word on the way over. My insides were a mess knowing that we were possibly walking into an ambush that could get us both killed and I would be the person responsible if that happened. Even though he didn’t agree with me and was probably not very happy with me, I knew that he would still die trying to save me. Not only because that was his job as my protector, but b
ecause deep down he cared for me.
I shook my head, trying to drown out those thoughts, knowing it wasn’t healthy to think about things like that right now. At a time like this, my mind needed to be focused on getting in there, seeing if Abby was actually there, and then getting out. Without thinking too much more about it, I put one foot in front of the other and began to walk towards the dark store.
“Meredith, wait,” Blake whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me back towards him. “I just want to say I’m sorry for what happened earlier. In case…” He couldn’t finish what he wanted to say and I could see that he was struggling for the words. “In case something should happen in there and I don’t get to tell you. I won’t resent you if things don’t go as planned. I could never resent someone who is willing to risk their life to save my sister. It’s just that I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.” He paused as he slowly grazed the side of my cheek with his hand. “I just wanted you to know that.”
I bit my lower lip, trying to fight the tears that wanted to escape. This wasn’t the time for emotions or regrets. If either one of those got out, then I would be useless the very next second. Instead, I placed my hand on his cheek and tried to remember every inch of his face, just in case this was the last time I would see it. Deep down I knew this was, without a doubt, a stupid idea just like Blake had said earlier, but it still wasn’t enough for me to change my mind. If the roles were reversed, I knew that Abby would do everything in her power to help me.
After a long stare, Blake grabbed my hand and interlocked his fingers with mine, and then we turned and marched towards the store. We had just taken a few steps when I heard someone call my name. I looked around and then to Blake. From the look on his face, he had heard it, too.
“Meredith,” the voice was louder now. I knew that it came from somewhere on my left, but I couldn’t make out the exact location.
I turned and squinted into the darkness, finally seeing Collin kneeling near a dumpster in the alley. “Get over here.” He waved us over, a look of panic crossing his face.
Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) Page 13