by Mary Martel
"Ty?" She asked in her sweet voice, sounding confused and scared out of her fucking brain.
"I'm here now," I huffed out loudly as I ran at her. "Everything's going to be fine."
I wasn't exactly sure that this was the truth but what I was sure of was that this was what I was expected to say to her and what she'd need to hear from me at the moment. If it turned out to be a lie then I would force myself to apologize to her later on, after we'd made it back to our physical forms and all was right in our worlds. Well, as right as shit could be for us when our lives were always running on chaos and crazy.
She stood there staring at me with parted lips and too wide for her face eyes as she watched me running at her. I had no idea why she hadn't come towards me when she'd first laid eyes on me or why she'd just stood there like a damn statue but didn't think I had the time to ask her about it. Maybe she was going into shock?
I made it to her and immediately wrapped my arms around her and pulled her body into my front. She came willingly and wrapped her arms around my middle just as tightly as I had her shoulders. Her shaking hands went to the back of my shirt and she gripped hand fulls of the material into her fists. She clung to me and I realized it wasn't just her hands that were shaking but her entire body. She shook uncontrollably from head to toe.
She stuffed her face in my neck as she breathed out, "Ty, oh my god, Tyson. You're here. I can't believe you're actually here. There's something... I... I think there's a person out there that chased me through the woods and I don't even know how I got here and I don't know what the heck is going on, Ty. I... I have no idea what I'm doing here or how in the heck I got here. Why are we here, why are we in the field where you guys have your moon rituals or whatever the heck you call them? I-"
Jesus.
The more she talked the harder her too thin frame shook.
To shut her up and shut this shit down before she could become any more hysterical, I cut her off and hurriedly explained the situation, or, what I knew from my end of the situation. Which really wasn't much but was more than she knew.
"We're dreaming, girl," I told her hurriedly, my words coming out in a rush. I needed to explain to get her to calm the fuck down and before the motherfucker in charge of this little game made his or her appearance. "You're a dream walker like Uncle Quint and I are. We always thought that maybe you were one but, obviously, haven't had the time or inclination to explain all that means to you yet."
"I know I'm a dream walker, Ty," she said quietly, cutting me off.
My surprised eyes shot down to her upturned face to see her looking up at me with eyes that were still too wide for her face but I was pleased to note she'd lost the terrified look to her and had calmed down immensely.
"You do?" I asked.
"What is this place?" She asked without answering me.
I sighed and gave her what she wanted. She might have known she was a dream walker but she clearly didn't know shit about what that meant. "This is a dream. I thought it was mine but maybe, just maybe, I'm thinking that it might be yours now. It might have always been yours and, when I fell asleep, I got dragged into it by that fuck, whoever he... or she is. There's obviously someone here with us and I think that person was who was chasing you through the woods. They were following me too. I-"
She cut me off to ask, "How can they be chasing me if they're already following you? That doesn't make any sense."
I applied pressure with my arms, squeezing her tightly, not to hurt, just to get her to pay attention and to help get my point across.
"Girl," I said impatiently, "It's a fucking dream. There are some things that you just cannot explain because there's no explanation for them. Like magic. I can't explain magic to you or why we've got it. It's something I can show you or try and teach you how to use but I can't tell you why you have it inside of you or why you're capable of doing certain things with it and not others. Dream walking is a lot like magic, you have to practice and use it in order to understand it."
"Okay, Ty," she whispered before shoving her face back into my neck. Her fists unclenched and she let go of my t-shirt. Her hands flattened against my back and she smoothed out the material she'd bunched up. I didn't tell her not to bother because it seemed more like a nervous gesture than anything else, almost as if she needed something to do with her hands before she smoothed them up my back and tangled her fingers in my long, shoulder length hair. I was glad for her sake that I hadn't worn my hair up in a pony tail slash bun today. If she wanted to get her hands in there than I was more than happy to allow it.
"How do we get out of here, Ty?" She asked.
I sighed.
Wasn't that the question of the hour?
I had never been trapped in a dream under someone else's control before so I wasn't entirely certain as to how we were supposed to get out of here. Did it work the way it usually did? Did all I need to do was think about being back in my bed, back in my real body, and then will myself there? Was that all it would take, because I could easily do that. I had practiced until I'd nailed that shit down and could take myself from dream to body in no time with very little effort on my part. The problem with this was, I had no freaking idea if Ariel was capable of doing this because I was almost positive she'd never tried before, never even had reason to try before. If I left her here to finish out her dream as whoever was controlling this saw fit, there was no telling how many hours she'd be stuck here and there was absolutely not telling what she'd be forced to endure while she was stuck here. Then, I'd feel like a monumental fuck head for the rest of my life because I'd left her behind, even when I knew it wouldn't harm her physically.
"Since you're all knowing and all now when it comes to being a dream walker," I said sarcastically, forgetting I needed to tread carefully due to her emotional state, and asked, "do you know how to get yourself out of a dream?"
I damn well knew she absolutely did not because if she did then she wouldn't have been running through the woods, scared and alone. She'd have transported herself back to her slumbering body, back to her comfortable bed in the sweet little cottage she called home.
"I... I..." she stammered and I seriously wanted to kick my own ass because I was not always a nice guy and this was one of those times where nice had seemed to escape me. I think it was due to that terrified look she'd had in her eyes and the fact there was some unknown person fucking with us and I really wanted them to step out and show themselves so I could have a target and knew where to aim when it came to getting us both safely the fuck out of here.
"No, Tyson," she muttered. "I have no idea how to get us out of here which is why I asked in the first place. Geez."
I sighed. She sounded upset, pissy even and I immediately felt better about the situation. She wasn't shaking anymore and, in her ire with me, had momentarily forgotten she'd just been terrified moments before.
I let her go and stepped back a step. I had to lift my hands to my hair and neck to pry her hands out of my hair.
"Ty," she hissed at me. "What are you doing?"
I let her go and held up my hands, palms up, in between us.
"Put your hands in mine, girl," I instructed her. "Your palms facing down, right on top of mine."
She did as told, and followed my instructions to the letter.
"Relax," I told her.
Her lip curled and she sneered at me. "You relax. I'm going to freak out and lose my mind because this dream is absolutely horrible and I'm trapped here and it's absolute bullshit. I want to go home, Tyson."
"Girl," I said tiredly. "Shut up. I'm gonna try to get us out of here but you panicking and freaking out and swearing at me isn't going to help the situation out any. So calm down and relax."
I could see it in her eyes, she didn't want to listen to me and she wanted to have a mini freak out just to spite me, which was something I'd noticed she'd been doing a lot lately and it was something I found fucking hilarious, even when it was directed at me.
"Fine," she huffed an
d glared at me.
I had to bite my bottom lip to keep myself from grinning at her because I was sure my grin would turn into laughter that would only serve to further piss her off.
"Are you scared now?" I asked her.
Her torso jerked like I'd hit her and her surprised eyes moved from my mouth to look me in the eye.
"No," she muttered irately. "Not really. Not since you showed up."
I laced her fingers through mine and squeezed lightly. I didn't need her to touch me but I did it anyways because I wanted her to feel grounded and I needed her ass calm.
"Close your eyes," I ordered and she immediately complied.
Thank fuck.
I did not want to have to put up with her being surly and stubborn, not tonight. No, tonight I was in no mood to find it cute and there was a chance I'd snap right back at her if she gave me any more shit.
"Now I want you to draw in a deep, cleansing breath and let it back out. Over and over, until you're nice and relaxed."
Again, she did as she was told, breathing deep and letting it go. Over and over again. Eventually the rigid set to her shoulders relaxed and the tightness faded away from her face. It didn't take long at all, maybe five minutes tops.
When her body was no longer strung tight and she looked completely relaxed, she opened her eyes back up and looked at me. There was no fear or hesitation in her eyes now. They were clear and all for me.
"What now?" She asked quietly.
"Now, I want you to think about leaving. Think about your bed, where you went to sleep tonight. Think-"
"Umm..." She mumbled. "I kind of didn't go to sleep in my own bed tonight."
My lips parted in surprise before I could catch myself. Her eyes darted from my eyes down to my mouth then back up to my eyes again.
"Where did you go to sleep?" I asked curiously and I was glad to note there was no jealousy inside of me at all. I was only curious, wondering which one of my brothers she was curled up against in the real world and happy she wasn't alone.
"Dash's room," she muttered and pink hit her cheeks. She was embarrassed and hadn't wanted to tell me who she was sleeping with.
Damn, but I wanted to laugh in the face of her embarrassment. Not to be a dick but because there were seven of us and eventually she'd never sleep alone, so it was something she'd need to get over and get used to. And I wouldn't be the only one who'd be demanding to know who'd she'd been in bed with the night before.
"Right," I muttered. Then, in my normal voice, said, "Then close your eyes and think about Dash's bed where you went to sleep tonight."
"I can do that," she told me and looked relieved to be able to close her eyes and not look at me anymore.
I shook my head in amusement.
"Right," she said, "I'm good, Ty. What now?"
"Now," I said and was cut off by a horrible crash coming from the woods behind us before I could get any more out.
Some kind of animal snarled and I hissed, "Fuck."
Male laughter, manic and loud, echoed all around us.
"Fuck," I hissed again.
As much as I wanted to know who was behind this, I really did not want to stick around to get a load of what ever animal it was that had made that horrible noise. And I really didn't want it anywhere near Ariel. We might have been able to wake up whole and in one complete piece but that didn't mean things couldn't hurt us while we were here, we could feel pain inside the dream, it just wouldn't follow us outside of it. But that meant an animal could rip into us and we'd feel it until we woke up. I had no desire to be ripped apart by some unknown beast and I really didn't want to watch it happen to Ariel.
Fuck no.
I shook Ariel's hands to get her attention back on me. She was currently looking behind me with huge eyes and she'd started shaking again.
The laughter continued on around us.
Shit.
"We gotta go, girl," I rushed out. "We gotta go right fucking now."
"Ty," she screeched, still not looking at me and with her eyes aimed behind me.
"Fuck it," I snapped and pulled on her hands. She crashed roughly into my chest and I let her hands go and wrapped my arms around her once again.
I buried my face in her neck and breathed in her sweet cinnamon scent. I wasn't sure if I had enough juice left to get us both out of here but I was sure as hell going to try, there was no way I was leaving my girl behind. No fucking way.
I flexed my magic, pushing it out around us in a tight circle.
"What was that?" Ariel breathed in a shaky voice, having felt my magic wrap itself around her.
I ignored her in order to concentrate and thought of her lying next to Dash with that stupid fucking cat curled up at her feet. And I thought about my own bed where I was all by myself and I pushed my will into my magic.
"Tyson," Ariel cried out and the fog was back.
The world around us swirled, disappearing into the fog and her body started to fade in front of me. I pulled back to look her in the eyes.
"You can't sleep in Dash's room anymore," I told her urgently. "You need to be sleeping under your dream catcher so shit like this doesn't happen."
Her eyes widened further as she shook her head. "I wasn't thinking," she whispered. "I forgot all about it."
"It's okay, girl" I told her. "Just have him sleep in your bed with you from now on, where it's safe."
"Okay, Ty," she said sweetly before fading away completely.
I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I was in my room, laying down on my bed.
And I didn't remember anything from my dream.
Chapter Seven
That motherfucker Chuck
I pressed my foot down on the gas pedal as I floored it, speeding away from the Council's motel and the absolute fucking horror show we'd just rained down on some of the people staying there.
Quickly, I tore my eyes off the road and glanced at my partner in crime, even though I didn't want her to be, in the seat beside me. She was turned around in her seat, watching the motel get smaller and smaller as we drove away.
Guilt assaulted me.
I shouldn't have brought her here with me. I should have left her crazy ass behind at Dash's house where she was as safe from the world as she could be, despite what had happened there months ago when she and Dash had bled all over the front steps. There was now spells in place surrounding the property for protection. Not just for my girl but for Dash as well. Uncle Quint wasn't interested in taking chances when it came to our safety anymore. That was one close call too many for any of us. Uncle Quint wasn't interested in taking chances with the two people in our group who were the heart of us and who'd been physically abused the most out of us.
Ariel turned around in her seat and plopped down.
I should have never involved her in my bullshit with Annabell.
Tears poured out of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks. I hadn't realized she was crying until I saw the evidence of it leaking out of her eyes.
The urge to grab her and shake some damn sense into her was strong. She felt too much for people who didn't deserve anything from her, not so much as a backwards glance. Certainly not her wasting energy on tears.
"Why am I crying?" she asked in a voice that shook.
I was just asking myself that same exact question, I thought.
"Because you just watched someone die," I told her instead of saying what I'd been thinking.
At least that's why I assumed she'd been crying, really I didn't understand it and that was the most obvious answer I could come up with.
"We don't know that he's dead," she whispered hoarsely.
She had to be fucking kidding me. Chucky was as dead as dead could be.
"We should call someone," she continued to whisper. "Like, for an ambulance or something. He needs help."
He didn't need help. What he needed was a goddamn body bag and a trip to the morgue.
"Girl," I muttered irately, "he's dead. Fucking dead. And, we're not
calling anyone. We're going home and going to bed."
"We can't just go home and go to bed like it's any old night," she snapped at me and I had to bite back my smile, pleased she was no longer crying and some of her fire was returning. I didn't think I could stand any more tears from her, they hurt my heart.
"Yeah, we can," I told her seriously. "And that's exactly what we're going to do. We're going back to Dash's and we are going to sleep. What we aren't going to do is call the police and ask for an ambulance and send them out to where the Council is currently living. That would be the absolute biggest mistake we could ever make. And, I'm telling you, someone probably heard you screaming and went out to check. If he was still alive and there was anything they could do for him, I'm sure they are doing it. If he is dead, well, then they are probably going to bury his body somewhere and that will be the end to that. They won't care because he doesn't have any magic and he tried to kill two of our coven members and they won't give a shit about him dying."
"So, we just go home?" she asked incredulously. "Just like that?"
I strangled the steering wheel, trying to choke the life out of it. Unfortunately, you couldn't strangle inanimate objects to death.
I sighed, and said, "Yeah. But tomorrow we will have to call Uncle Quint and the other guys over and fill them in on what happened and that is not going to be fun at all."
Honestly, there hadn't been much about my life lately that had been a whole lot of fun and this night had ranked right up top of the very long list of shit.
My night had started out with an almost frantic message then phone call from the ex. She'd hit a whole new level of crazy, demanding to know how serious Damien's relationship with Ariel had progressed. Then she'd gone on bizarrely about how sweet he'd looked sleeping outside underneath the stars and it had been the only time she'd seen him let down his guard. And, if she hadn’t sent me that photo, I’d have no idea what the hell she'd been on about but what I did know was that the crazy leaking out of her voice had absolutely terrified me. She'd sounded obsessed and jealous as she talked about him and it worried me almost as much as that picture of Ariel she'd sent me had. She was incredibly dangerous and I now had to worry she’d hurt Damien when my main focus had been only on Ariel before but there really was no telling what she’d do, what lengths she’d been willing to go to.