Forgotten Specters: The Fated Wings Series Book 2

by C. R. Jane

  As was my luck, I heard a car approaching from behind me. I started jogging, hoping to be able to get to the other side of the ravine before it got close. I was just about across the bridge when the car arrived. It sped past me, not slowing down at all. I breathed out a sigh of relief. I was being too paranoid. The Reverend wasn't going to find me. I heard another faint beep. It sounded like it was coming from inside of me. I patted my clothes but didn't feel anything. The light was very dim now, but I held up the handcuff to see if I could see anything on it. It looked like regular metal to me. I rolled my shoulders back and continued on.

  It was pitch black now. The Reverend had done a good job of buying a house in the middle of nowhere. I had never been anywhere as remote as this. There weren't any lights along the road. I was lucky that there was an almost full moon or I would have probably gotten myself killed walking into another ravine. My back was still feeling strange, and I kept looking over my shoulder, peering into the darkness for the eyes I kept imagining were watching me. Nothing was ever there.

  I finally decided I was going to have to find some shelter a little deeper in the forest, away from the road, so that I could sleep for a few hours. I walked a few feet into the forest and found a wide tree. I shuddered at the thought of the creepy crawlies that I was sure where all over it. I was actually grateful for the dark from hiding them from view.

  Anna had given me a small windbreaker before I left. I contemplated whether I should take it off and use it for a pillow, or keep it on to try and protect myself from the cold. Now that it was September, the nights were getting freezing. It didn't help that my clothes were soaked with water and mud. I decided that I would use a pile of leaves as a pillow and keep the coat on for some warmth.

  After choking down an apple, I laid down in a pile of dead leaves. I was exhausted. It was the kind of exhaustion that you could feel in your bones. Tears leaked out of my eyes despite my best efforts to stop myself from crying. I had never felt so alone. I had no idea how far away I was from civilization, let alone if I was actually heading the right way to actually reach civilization. The dark played tricks with my mind. I envisioned various ghastly beasts and monsters surrounding me. Every rustle of leaves and cracking of branches made me jump. Besides being cold and uncomfortable from laying on the ground, my back continued to twitch and ache as well. It felt like something was waiting to burst out of my skin.

  My mind kept whirling, and I could feel another panic attack coming on. Suddenly the air grew even frostier and silence took over my senses. I knew the score…a specter was nearby. I didn't have the energy to yell at it. I waited patiently for it to come nearer, resigned in knowing that another sorrowful vision would be coming soon.

  As the forest was so dark, I could only see the bare outline of the specter as it leaned closer to me. I braced myself for the icy touch. This one laid its whole hand on my face and a tremor went down my spine.

  I lived for stolen moments like these. Lexi had arranged for me to disappear for the weekend, citing urgent business I had to attend to in the north. I had left the castle with pomp and glory, riding out with several armed guards to make sure it looked like I was heading towards official palace business. A few miles out, once we reached a quiet, sheltered portion of the forest that was safe from inquiring eyes, my guards veered left, nodding as they passed me. I was once again grateful for their loyalty as I headed the opposite direction.

  I had been given directions of where I was going, and I rode hard, the anticipation of seeing Beckham after weeks of being forced to stay away lighting a fire beneath me. It was two hours before I finally reached the spot where we were to meet. My directions had led me to a clearing. A thatched cottage stood tall before me. I was immediately entranced by its beauty. The walls of the cottage were a smooth cream material, and lush, thick, flowering vines wrapped their way up the walls. The roof was made up of what looked like burnt red tiles, and a charming chimney rose from it. It was also covered in the gorgeous vines, and a thin trail of smoke danced out from its depths. I was delighted that Beckham had chosen such a charming spot for our rendezvous.

  I was inexplicably nervous as I approached the door. I took a deep breath, but before I could knock, the door swung open and Beckham was there, sweeping me into his arms. He gave me a kiss that was so ardent I knew that he had felt the pain of the last few weeks without each other just as much as I had. When our kisses began to head us in a more serious direction, Beckham finally pulled away from me.

  "Hi," he said, flashing that smile that always made my heart start beating faster.

  "Hi," I answered, taking a moment to observe his beauty. Growing up my mother had told me stories of beings worshipped in other worlds. My favorite stories were always about the gods of Mt. Olympus. When she was young, before she had married Father, Mother had once had an affair with the leader of the Mt. Olympus gods, Zeus. She often regaled me with the stories about everything that happened during that time, but I especially loved hearing stories about Apollo, the god of the sun. Beckham looked how I had always imagined Apollo when Mother told me those tales. Gold skin, gold hair, gleaming blue eyes that were brighter than the Capian Sea beyond my palace. Every time I looked at him I was grateful he was mine. The fact that he was as golden on the inside as he was on the outside pushed him as close to perfection as I could imagine.

  Bringing me back from my musings, Beckham took my hand and led me into the cottage. I immediately fell even further in love with the place. While I couldn't complain about the palace, its gleaming white marble walls were sometimes cold, especially with the current company. This place on the other hand felt warm and snug.

  As Beckham took me on a tour of the cottage, I decided that this would definitely be considered the perfect spot for a love nest. There were squishy couches and arm chairs set around a large stone fireplace, with plenty of throw pillows to lounge on. The floors were made of gleaming, brown wood. The walls were white, but the kind of white that looked aged and lived in. A table for two was set next to a quaint kitchen with white cupboards and a red accented island. There was an office, or small recreational room that held a wall of books down the hallway.

  I stopped short when he led me to the main bedroom. The bedroom was in the back corner of the cottage, and light streamed in from large windows on two of the walls, bathing the room in the glow from the sunset. There were wispy, gauzy, white curtains around the bed. They were waving slightly from the breeze coming in from an open window. I was enchanted. Suddenly standing in front of the bed with Beckham avidly watching me was too much, so I walked swiftly out of the room with him following closely behind.

  "Everything alright?" he asked, a knowing smile on his face.

  "In this moment, everything is perfect," I answered honestly.

  Lexi had arranged for me to have two days with Beckham. We spent the first day cuddling every second we could, talking about anything and everything. He took me to a stream nearby where we leisurely fished for dinner, our toes dangling in the icy water. Curled up in front of the fire that first night, Beckham read to me. I fell asleep with my head on his lap, his fingers tenderly stroking my hair as he read happy tales to me where love always prevailed.

  We spent the second day much the same as the first, leisurely and lovingly. Beckham took me on a horseback ride to a meadow where wildflowers of every kind grew. Beckham watched me in amazement as I grew even more flowers instantaneously, my power slowly growing as my mother's waned. A part of me had been hesitant to leave her side, but now I realized that a small break from my sobering reality was exactly what I had needed.

  As our last night together drew closer, there was urgency in our actions. Every touch, every word, grew more important. We both knew it was unclear when we would be able to steal a moment away with
Lord Tiberius and Father watching my every movement.

  We had stayed, wrapped in each other's arms for most of the evening after cooking a simple supper together. We finally ventured into the bedroom where I fell quickly into a fitful rest, the reality of the next day looming large in my dreams.

  I woke right as dawn was breaking. Beckham was lying facing me, and I took advantage of the opportunity to admire him. His long eyelashes lay curled against the gold of his cheek. His blonde hair was tousled in his sleep and adorably went every which way. My eyes were drawn down to his naked chest. His sculpted chest making its way down to the yummiest six pack the world had ever seen. I was startled when he suddenly spoke.

  "Admiring the view angel?" he said in a raspy, just woken up voice.

  "Always," I whispered. His eyes opened, sensing the deeper meaning beneath my reply. With the curtains once again dancing around us in the breeze from the window we had left open, and the soft morning light resting softly upon us, I felt like I was in a dream. This was the moment.

  Beckham must have seen the thoughts in my gaze as he soon reached for me. He laid soft kisses on my lips that quickly turned more and more passionate as if we couldn't get enough of one another. Standing up and looking into his eyes, I slowly slid the bands of my satin nightgown off my shoulder, the gown slipping off the rest of my body and pooling at my feet. Beckham drank me in, his face portraying a look of awe and worshipful love.

  "Are you sure?" he asked me, his voice so full of aching and longing that I could almost taste it.

  "I've never been surer of anything," I responded.

  Although we had been in love for years, we had never taken this step. Beckham had always been content to wait, wanting me to mature and be sure before I made the decision that he was the one. I was after all destined to be his queen, and could have my pick of anyone. But since meeting Beckham, no one else had even become a thought. He was my everything.

  I slowly crawled towards where he had sat up in bed, his hands clenching with the need to haul me towards him. I kneeled before him, brushing my lips against his and roving my hands in discovery all over his perfect physique. Beckham finally reached the end of his control, pulling me towards him and beginning an exploration of my body that left me breathless and crying out. He flipped me beneath him, his body hovering over me, held slightly up so as not to crush me beneath him. His eyes peered into my soul as we finally became one. Soft sighs turned into cries of passion.

  "I'll love no one else for eternity," he breathlessly promised me as he moved over me. Before I could answer, a rush of pleasure moved through me, making me cry out in bliss. Beckham soon followed me into its depths.

  We laid there afterwards, staring into each other's eyes, murmuring whispered endearments. I didn't know how anything else could possibly top this moment. In this moment there was room for nothing else but complete joy and happiness.

  The happiness didn't even fade as we were forced to say goodbye. Beckham decided to leave at the same time, unable to stay in the cottage without me, afraid that my absence would spoil the place for him. I rode off first, with him promising to follow at a discreet distance behind. I took one last look at the cottage, I felt like I had been forever changed from my time between its walls. Taking a deep breath, I turned my horse around and rode hard back to real life.

  Chapter 27

  I woke suddenly. The beeping that had been bothering me periodically had all of a sudden gotten louder and more insistent. I sat up with a slight groan. Despite the warmth of the vision, or whatever it was that I had seen, the cold of the ground had still crawled further into my bones. I wasn't sure that I would ever be warm again. Light had started to filter in through the treetops. I was amazed that I had managed to sleep so long. I sent a silent thank you to the specter who had brought me such a happy moment.

  As was becoming my routine, I started patting myself down, trying to find where the beeping was coming from. It couldn't be good that it was growing louder. I was worried that the beeping was connected to some kind of tracker, and I cursed myself for sleeping so late and allowing the Reverend time to most likely get closer.

  At that thought, I heard voices coming from nearby. I stood quickly, grabbing the backpack Anna had given me. I began to jog, as quietly as possible, hoping that I could get some distance away. Sticks and branches scratched me as I rushed by.

  This went on for an hour until finally I couldn't hear the voices anymore. I decided to venture closer to the road again so that I could make sure I was heading in the right direction. The light grew brighter as I neared the tree line. I could occasionally hear cars driving past, but like the night before, there didn't seem to be very many.

  I decided to again stay within the tree line, trying to jog as fast as possible. I was grateful for my ability to run without stopping for long periods. I couldn't have imagined I would need it for a situation like this though. Another hour passed. I had once again run into a bridge with a deep ravine underneath it. I moved out of tree line to examine it closer. It couldn't be…it was the same bridge I had encountered the night before. I had somehow gone in a circle while running from the voices in the woods.

  My insides started quivering. I took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears that were once again threatening to erupt out of me. I heard a car approaching. I didn't even move as it stopped in front of me. I knew who it was. The beeping was now a loud shrill that was going off incessantly. The Reverend stepped out of the car and walked towards me. I felt frozen in despair and disgust.

  He grabbed my arm and frog marched me back to the car. I finally snapped out of the daze of finding out that I hadn't actually gained any ground, and started trying to yank away from his grasp. Staying seemingly calm, he pulled a silver gun out of a holster that I hadn't noticed was around his waist. He put it against my forehead and held my eyes with his.

  "Let me make something clear Eva. The thought of ending your life is so awful to me that I would have to follow you into death's depths if it were to happen. However, the thought of you being away from me, or with anyone else, is something that I can absolutely not tolerate. So make your choice, either choose to come with me now, or choose to end your life…and mine…right now."

  A small part of me just wanted it to be over. Whatever the Reverend had planned for me, I'm sure it was going to make me wish for death a million times over. Suddenly, the vision from the night before floated into my brain. Somewhere out there, Beckham, Mason, and Damon still lived. While I lived, there was always a chance that a miracle could happen, and I could be reunited with them. If I chose to die right now, that chance would be gone.

  I must have taken too long to decide. The Reverend cocked his gun, and his finger moved to the trigger.

  "Wait!" I cried.

  He grew still.

  "I'll go with you," I told him in a resigned voice.

  "Are you sure?" he asked. "I will not be lenient next time if anything like this happens again."

  "I'm sure," I answered. He led me to the car, locking my handcuff to a hook on my seat before closing the door.

  The car ride was silent on the way back. I wondered how far I had made it and how long it would take to get back to the house. My thoughts turned to Anna. How was she faring? Surely he hadn't killed his wife for helping me…right? She could have made up an excuse that I had broken the chair leg. Maybe he would have believed that?

  My thoughts were cut off when the house came into view. It had only taken about an hour to get back. So much effort wasted. We pulled into the driveway and the Reverend finally spoke.

  "I had been wanting to wait for you to come to this conclusion naturally. But your actions have left me no choice but to move forward," he said.

  "What are talking about?" I asked, thoroughly confused. Despite my
confusion, dread rose in my throat in anticipation of whatever he was going to say next.

  "When we go inside you are going back to the basement. There will be no more special treatment."

  I shuddered thinking of the cold, stark basement that I had woken up in only a few nights ago.

  "You will wait there until I have everything prepared," he continued.

  "Prepared for what?" I asked hesitantly. He grunted in answer and got out of the car. After retrieving me he led me down the narrow basement steps. Everything was as it had been left, even the pool of vomit that I had lain in before I had been retrieved. He led me to the mattress, and moved my cuff to connect around my ankle before connecting it to a chain that was connected to the ground. It looked like it would give me about enough room to walk to the bucket in the corner to use the restroom.

  I settled on the mattress and stared at the floor, feeling unsettled that the Reverend was so close to me while I was on a bed. He crouched down in front of me and tilted up my chin so I was looking at him.

  "Just in case your pretty little head gets any more ideas. You have a tracker inserted right here," he said, brushing his finger against my left shoulder. I took a deep breath. That must have been why my shoulder hurt when I had first woken up after being captured. My healing abilities must have erased the mark before I could see it. No wonder the beeping was so easy to hear. It was right by my ear.

  The Reverend stood up and began to walk away. Unable to help myself I cried out, "Reverend, please don't leave me down here." He turned to look at me.

  "Eva, I've said this before…call me Kylan," he answered, before turning and briskly walking back up the stairs. He flipped a switch and the basement was plunged into darkness. My punishment had begun.