by Holly Martin
Mason. My heart leapt. He had been here in the cell. Wearing the green uniform of Adam’s Royal Guard. I felt sick. Maybe he was here undercover, to try and get me out. But as I was still in my cell, with my powers blocked I had to rule that theory out. No he couldn’t be here. He had left me to protect me, so he couldn’t kill me if ordered to do so. He wouldn’t now be working for Adam. He was my friend. My mind had obviously latched onto some ray of hope, giving me something familiar to cling onto in those last desperate moments. I had banged my head. It was a hallucination, nothing more.
I had been alone for several hours when I realised how hot it was in the cell, how hot I was. Adam. He had clearly done something to the cell to make me even more uncomfortable than I already was. Or was this how he planned to kill me, to burn me to death.
I shifted round on my table, to try to see if there was any smoke, but as far as I could see in the darkness of my cell everything was still the same. But the heat was an almost tangible thing, it covered my body like a thick treacle, smothered me, making it difficult to breathe. I felt exhausted. Funny how doing nothing was so tiring. I closed my eyes against the sticky heat. I would sleep. I needed the strength. If I could find my powers before, then I would find them again. I knew when I was rested, stronger, I’d find them.
My dreams were hot. Flames literally licked the corners of the dreams but were gone when I looked for them, though I could still feel them, burning my skin, my flesh. Nothing made sense. Just images, faces, voices, bright swirling colours, my heart racing in my ears. When I was shaken rudely awake.
I blinked, sweat in my eyes making it hard to see. Mason and a woman stood over me.
‘Mason?’ my eyes rolled back in my head, as I quivered violently on the table.
‘Yeah that’s right, I’m here.’
I closed my eyes but I could feel the room spinning. My stomach lurched and I nearly threw up.
‘Eve open your bloody eyes and look at me,’ Mason said forcibly, I felt his warm strong hand in mine and I forced my eyes open.
‘Mason?’ Was any of this real?
I was so cold, my whole body trembled.
The woman, tiny, petite and beautiful, pressed her hand to my forehead and shook her head. ‘She’s still so hot Mason, I don’t think it’s worked.’
‘Give it time, the medicine has to get into her system, it may take a few hours,’ Mason mumbled to her.
‘She might not have a few hours.’
‘Eve, can you hear me?’ Mason said, returning his angry face to mine.
I looked around the room, everything was the same, the cell walls, the cobwebs on the ceiling, the electric currents, the closed door, the straps restraining me, everything was the same, except Mason.
I returned my gaze on him. It had been so long since I had seen him, was he really here now, or was I just hoping that my Guardians had finally got to me. But just one Guardian and one that wasn’t even pledged to me. It didn’t make sense. I looked down at my hand in his.
‘Eve?’ Mason was urgent.
I looked back at him. ‘Are you really here?’
Mason gave a half smile. ‘You came back, thought I’d lost you there for a while.’
‘Mason, what are you doing here?’ I struggled to sit up, but the straps held me fast.
Mason’s face clouded.
And then it hit me, and I felt the air physically knocked out of me. ‘You were here before, after the fight. You… you work for Adam now.’
‘Yes,’ Mason nodded.
The betrayal hurt so much. One of my own, one of my friends. I bet Adam loved that. I closed my eyes pulling my hand out of his grasp. I felt the bed swim under me again.
I felt strong fingers on my face, grabbing me firmly. ‘Eve open your eyes now,’ Mason muttered angrily. I flinched away from him, but he pulled my face back towards him.
I opened my eyes, glaring at him.
‘Eve, it’s not like that, I came here for you, I came here to get you. Adam totally bought it. He knows that I’m not pledged to you, that I’m one of the Oraculum’s Guardians. He has no reason to doubt me.’
‘You’re here to help me?’ I looked into his face.
‘Yes, of course.’
‘But the pledge,’ I shivered.
‘Means nothing to me now,’ Mason said, feeling my face. His eyes flicked to the woman a little bit and he shook his head the tiniest of fractions.
I smiled. ‘You have no desire to kill me?’
Mason smiled too. ‘None at all.’
I shivered again, trembling all over. ‘Why is it so cold down here, what’s changed?’
‘Eve, you have a fever, your wounds, I think this one…’ he pointed to the red angry wound on my wrist, ‘is infected, you’ve got septicaemia, blood poisoning, you’re burning up. I managed to steal some antibiotics from the lab. You’ve had some, but I’m not sure how it reacts with your genetic make-up. Your temperature hasn’t come down any, but you seem a bit more coherent now.’
‘But if you’re really here to help me, why am I still here?’
‘I can’t get you out, not yet, there’s so many of Adam’s Guardians in the castle, we wouldn’t get as far as the stairs before someone saw us. I have no qualms about dying, and neither does Rhesa, but if we’re your only chance of survival we have to plan this a bit better than just grabbing you and running for the door. We just need a few days Eve, to see which of the Guardians are with us. If we can get enough of us we can create a distraction, we can … we can do something. There are bubblings of discontent amongst the Royal Guard and the other Guardians. They’re not happy with what Adam is doing to you, but I’m not sure how many would be on my side when the time comes. I need to be sure of that before I strike.’
‘Rhesa?’ I glanced at the woman.
Mason held the woman’s hand. ‘Eve, this is my wife, Rhesa.’
‘Eve, this is important, Quinn is here. He follows Adam around everywhere, I thought I could trust him, thought he would die for you, but now I’m not so sure. I don’t know if he is loyal anymore, and whether this is all part of some elaborate plan to get you out too. I don’t even know if he knows about you, but I can’t see how he wouldn’t. Eve, can I trust him?’
‘Yes, absolutely. He would never betray me.’
He exchanged looks with Rhesa that showed he wasn’t so sure.
‘Where are your Guardians?’
‘I don’t know. Last time I was with them we were on an island in the middle of the sea, but Seth they had managed to get off and were on their way back to the fort. I have no idea how far away they are.’
‘I know your powers and your link with them is blocked but you’ve always had a connection with Lucas that you don’t have with anyone else, can you try and communicate with him. OR at least try to think about what has happened and where you are, Lucas might feel you even if he can’t talk to you.’
I nodded. I could try that at least, for what it was worth.
‘We can’t stay long but we’ll be back as soon as we can.’
They left and I closed my eyes. I thought about Lucas.
If I really could enter dreams, maybe I could enter his dreams. It made sense that if Adam and Cain could do it, then I could probably do it too. Lucas was always easier to find than the others, but finding his dreams was going to be hard enough, but it also relied on that he was sleeping at the same time that I was trying to find him. He probably wouldn’t be doing much sleeping if he was trying to find me. Unless… he was waiting for me, like Seth had been.
Ok. I had to picture Lucas, find him and his dreams.
I could see Lucas in my mind, could picture him vividly and like I was trying to communicate with him telepathically, I reached out for him. The sucking feeling engulfed me, literally ripping me from my cell, through a long narrow tunnel and out the other side.
I was standing in Lucas’s bedroom at the fort and to my horror Lucas was sitting on his bed, with Persia on his lap. They were kissing.
His arms were around her, his hands stroking up her arm, her hands were stroking his face.
Flushing with embarrassment I quickly fled for the door. But Lucas heard me and before I even got to the door he had leapt to his feet.
‘Eve?’
I turned around hesitantly, cringing with embarrassment.
Persia faded then vanished, but Lucas remained.
‘Erm sorry,’ I muttered, not knowing where to look. Had I really entered Lucas’s dreams or was this just another one of my weird ones?
Lucas quickly crossed the gap between us and pulled me into a fierce hug, his arms around me so tight I could barely breathe.
His smell flooded me. His wonderful familiar smell, the scent of rain and grass and I hugged him back, holding onto him tightly. Sobs racked through my body, I didn’t know whether I was really with him or not, but the comforting embrace of my friend was just what I needed right now.
I felt his hot mouth on my forehead and I pulled away to look at him. I reached out to touch him, feeling his arms, his clothes, his face. It seemed so real, like I really was with him.
‘Are you really here?’ I asked, stupidly. Regardless whether I had entered his dream or not, the Lucas before me would tell me he was the real one.
‘Are you?’ Lucas asked.
I pulled away from him, stepping back with disappointment. ‘This isn’t real is it, it can’t be, you just happen to be asleep at the exact time that I reached out for you? That’s a bit of a coincidence.’
Lucas stepped towards me. ‘Eli ordered me to sleep, I didn’t like it, I wanted to come for you as well, but once we realised you could enter dreams, Eli figured I would be the one you would try to find, since Seth isn’t sleeping at all. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep for now, hours, days? I keep waking up and forcing myself to go back to sleep again. Very hard to do, knowing that you’re lying somewhere being tortured. It’s hard to control my dreams though,’ Lucas blushed. ‘Persia keeps cropping up in them.’
I scowled at him, swallowing uneasily. ‘What do you mean, Seth isn’t sleeping?’
Lucas reached out for my hand. ‘Eve, Seth’s alive, you saved him, then the Zekis that you guys met, they brought him back to full health. He’s on his way to you now. Eli is about two days behind him, as he’s the fastest, the others are about a day behind Eli. Your personal guard are taking it in turns to sleep, just half hour here and there, otherwise they won’t be fit to do anything by the time they arrive. Seth isn’t sleeping at all though, which is kind of worrying. Whereas all I’m doing is sleeping.’ He scowled with some annoyance.
I pulled my hand from his grasp with annoyance. ‘Seth’s dead, which means I’m not here in your dreams at all.’
‘Yeah Seth said you were being stubborn about the whole thing. You could focus on the positive possibilities, not the negative.’
I shook my head sadly.
‘Ok, ok, so let’s say, you are dreaming, that you’re not really in my dreams, but in your own, let’s say that Seth really is dead. I always think that dreams are trying to give you a message, maybe not always a prophecy but a message none the less. So just go with it, humour the dream, humour me,’ Lucas said.
I nodded, reluctantly. ‘I can do that I guess.’
Lucas took my hand and led me over to the bed, he sat down and pulled me down next to him.
‘Aside from the heart wrenching grief, Eve, how are you doing?’
I sighed. ‘The grief is pretty much all I have at the moment.’
Lucas looked at me sadly, but then pressed on. ‘Tell me what’s going on over there, maybe talking it through will help. Adam’s torturing you?’
I nodded. ‘He’s trying to, I don’t feel the pain of these scars.’
Lucas looked at me, incredulous. ‘You don’t feel the pain, not at all?’
I shook my head. ‘Well I didn’t. The grief is agonizing. I couldn’t feel anything else. When I fought back, it hurt then, I felt it all. But now…’ I trailed off. Could I still feel the pain of the scars? The pain was important, it helped me to focus on getting out. I couldn’t let the fever push me back into that deep hole again.
Lucas stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. ‘What else?’
‘Remember Austin? He was here, as Adam’s personal guard. But he was disgusted with what Adam was doing, he tried to help me escape, but he was killed.’
Lucas frowned. ‘I’m sorry,’ he paused. ‘But actually that’s quite good news.’
I stared at him angrily. ‘That someone else died for me?’
‘No, that he felt that way, that he fought against his orders, his pledge, to help you. If he felt that way, then maybe there will be others that feel that way too.’
I sighed. ‘I think… Mason is here too.’
Lucas’s face lit up. ‘Really, that’s fantastic. Wait, you think?’
‘I have a fever Lucas, one of my wounds got infected. I had a high temperature. I’m a bit more coherent now, due to some of the antibiotics I was given, that I think Mason gave me. But the effects of the medicine are already wearing off, I can feel myself getting hotter again.’
‘Yeah, you don’t look so great,’
‘Yeah my husband dying might have something to do with that.’
‘Eve, he’s alive, you just need to keep fighting.’
I suddenly felt my dream shift, I was waking up.
I shuffled closer to Lucas. ‘Lucas, hold me tight, don’t let me go, let me stay here with you.’ Right then I didn’t care whether he was a dream or real, it was safe here.
Lucas quickly wrapped his arms round me, holding me to him tight. ‘Eve, I’ll be here, next time you look for me, I’ll be here. As soon as you’re gone, I’ll wake up and tell Eli what’s going on, but then I’ll go straight back to sleep. I’ll be waiting for you.’
I clung onto Lucas as tightly as I could, but suddenly I found myself back in my cell again, alone.
Chapter 13
I was hot again. But I had to focus. Keep the fever at bay. There had been something incredibly real about that dream. It had felt like one of my prophecies. The colours, the feel of the material on Lucas’s clothes, on his bed, even his smell, had all felt so real.
If I had entered his dream, had I really entered Seth’s too? Was he alive? My heart leapt with a sudden hope, and for the briefest of moments my powers ripped through me. I felt them tear through my veins but as soon as I reached for them, they were gone, hidden at the back of my mind again.
If Seth was alive, then I had to get out of here for him. If he was on his way here, if he got here, then he wouldn’t stop to assess the risks, to get into the castle in the safest way. Seth would just barge his way in and get himself killed in the process. I had to get out before he came.
What was it Seth said the last time I’d seen him, in his dreams. That he was five days away from me, maybe less if he ran none stop and didn’t rest. How many days ago was that. I had been unconscious after Adam had thrown me into a wall. Then the fever, the infection in my wound had taken over.
Seth could be crashing through the gates at any moment.
I had to get out.
I wriggled round on the table, fighting against my bonds, but they held me fast. I twisted my wrist, the wound that had got infected, that would bleed very easily. I pulled and tore at my wrist, and I cried out at the pain as I felt it bleed. But no matter how hard I yanked at it, I couldn’t free my wrist, the straps were done up too tight.
I tried the other wrist, but that was the same. The Royal Guard and Adam were not going to let the same thing happen twice.
The only way I was going to get out of here was if I could access my powers or if Mason, Quinn or one of the Royal Guard decided to help me.
I closed my eyes and focussed on my powers, but I was sweating now, either from the exertion of trying to escape or from the fever coming back, my body fighting off the effects of the drugs.
I reached out for my powers, stretched and pushed
as hard as I could, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach them. It was like I had the very edge of my finger on them, but couldn’t get enough of a hold on them to bring them closer.
I opened my eyes and the room was starting to melt.
I closed my eyes again. I couldn’t let the fever take hold.
I would find Lucas again, get him to tell Seth to sleep, slow him down and delay his arrival at the fort. That would give me some time to speak to some of the Royal Guard, maybe get them on my side. That would give Mason time to act too.
I just had to sleep again. But I was so hot now that it was hard to breathe. I relaxed my breathing, I had to fall asleep. But my heart was racing now with my increased temperature.
I felt my body relax, felt myself standing on the edge of my dreams, and I reached out for Lucas but then I felt my body go limp.
I opened my eyes and I was standing over my body. I had projected. I stared at my body in shock, pale, drawn, strapped to the table.
The injuries Adam had inflicted were horrific. It was disgusting. My poor body so badly needed healing and I was somewhat grateful that my grief had meant I hadn’t been aware of most of the injuries he had inflicted on me. How had his Guardians let him get away with this? I knew their loyalties to the Oraculum had forced them into service for Adam but the Guardians that had served with me had been good people. To allow this to go on was sickening. But then what could they do? Adam was powerful and their pledge seemed to bind them tightly.
I knew I didn’t have a lot of time. Projection was not ideal but surely I could do something. I reached out for my powers but they were still inaccessible, which was strange. My powers were in my mind, and as my mind was no longer in my body, I should be able to access them. But maybe because of the fever, my temperature, or the electric fields still surrounding the room they were still blocked.