by Amanda Carol
“Ride my hand,” I tell her as I feel her hips start to move in tandem.
I can feel her walls tighten and I kiss her, catching her release with my mouth. I always love doing that, whether it’s from her lips or with my mouth on my favorite part of her. I remove my fingers from her, and she spins around in my arms. She kisses me passionately and I return it eagerly, using my lips and tongue to tell her how much I love her.
After a few more songs, the band comes on to play. I’m having a good time when I feel a tap on my shoulder.
I turn to see Hunter, and the look on his face tells me something is really wrong. The feeling I got when I looked at Aria’s painting of the mystery woman comes back full force, and I look around, not seeing my sister anywhere. If she’s not with Hunter, she’s always with Bennett. But now, both of them are standing in front of me with worried looks on their faces.
“Where’s Aria?” I ask, my heart starting to race.
“I don’t know,” he snaps as he turns and starts to walk toward the front door.
I grab Ciera’s hand and we follow him and Bennett outside.
“Have you tried the link?” I ask when we finally get outside. It turns out that Ciera was right about Aria being able to use the telepathic link with the shifters.
“Yeah, but she’s not answering. She went to the bathroom and when Abby went to check on her, she wasn’t there,” Hunter explains just as Knox, Grace, Abby, and Zayne all come out of the club.
“Let’s spread out. She couldn’t have gotten far,” I suggest.
We split up and search the perimeter. My heart is racing, and panic starts to set in when I don’t find her anywhere. When I round the corner and see Hunter standing there holding her boots, I’m pretty sure my heart stops beating.
“Hunter, why do you have her boots?” I ask, not really wanting to accept the answer. “Where is my sister? Why do you have her boots?”
I walk up to Hunter and he shakes his head.
“Has she been taken?”
Hunter nods. “I think so.”
“Oh, God,” I whisper, placing my hands on my head.
I feel a hand tug on my arm, and I look down at Ciera.
She places her other hand over my heart. “We will bring her back.”
I cling to those words. Because I can’t even think about the alternative.
“We need to get back to the Compound. We need a plan,” Hunter commands.
He looks over at me, and I see a broken man with a determined look in his eyes. Ciera’s right; we will find her. We have to.
We rush to Hunter’s Impala and pile in, Bennett taking the backseat with Ciera.
“I don’t understand. Why can’t I use the link? It’s almost like she’s blocking me.” Hunter grips the steering wheel, and I’m pretty sure if he grips it any harder, it might actually break.
“Blondie would never block you, especially if something has happened to her,” Bennett reassures his best friend. “There has to be a reason…”
He cuts himself off, too afraid to say what’s on everyone’s minds. But call it twin intuition. I know she’s still alive.
Ciera leans up in between us and looks at me, her eyes going right to my neck. “Take it off! The amulets are meant to help keep you safe, but it also binds your demigod powers!”
Trusting her, I take the amulet off, and the second it’s off, I get this intense feeling in my head. I gasp, shutting my eyes.
“Declan are you okay? What’s happening?” Ciera yells, climbing over the seat and plopping down in the middle.
Hunter swerves a little bit but regains the traction.
“I don’t know, but I’m getting these images of a warehouse,” I explain, rubbing my forehead.
“Kind of like that woman?” Ciera asks.
I nod.
“What does that mean?” Hunter makes a sharp right, then speeds down the road.
“We think he might have another gift,” Ciera tells him, and tries to explain about my dreams while I continue to get flashes of this warehouse.
Then I see my sister. She’s hanging from the ceiling by her arms. Her feet are in a bucket and she’s been stripped of most of her clothing. The woman that we painted together is circling her and stabbing her with a dagger.
“Oh, God. Aria,” I breathe.
“What? What do you see?” Hunter shouts as we turn into the Compound.
“It’s Aria, and dude, it’s bad. We have to find her as soon as possible,” I say, not wanting him to know what’s happening to her.
He doesn’t need to know that. He doesn’t need those images in his head. Hell, I don’t want them in my head.
Once we get inside the barn, I describe to everyone what the warehouse looks like and have Bennett run to my cabin and grab the painting of the woman. I show it to everyone and let them know that she’s the one who has Aria.
“They’re alone, and Aria…sh-she’s in bad shape,” I choke out.
I need to keep calm in order to save my sister, so I reach for Ciera’s hand.
“I know where that is,” Knox says, looking at my sad attempt at drawings.
I’m just glad someone is able to make sense of that mess.
“That’s not far from where we were at, its right off the highway. By that theme park,” he tells us.
“Bennett, Declan, let’s go. Knox, follow us, but keep your distance. We think the woman is alone, but we don’t know for sure,” Hunter instructs, starting to exit the barn.
I turn to Ciera and kiss her. “I’ll be back soon, sunshine. I love you.”
“I love you. Be safe,” she says.
And with that, I take off after the guys.
Hunter is speeding down the road, and I can’t explain it, but I know where to go.
“Turn here!” I shout from the backseat.
I’m just praying to the gods that my sister is still alive and holding on to the hope that these images are of real time and not the past.
Hunter cuts a sharp right.
“There!” I point straight ahead.
When we pull up to the building, I can sense a vampire, but the feeling is gone just as quick as it came. Hunter, Bennett, and I get out of the car and race to the door. Hunter is the first one to reach it.
“It’s locked!” he shouts as he repeatedly kicks at the door. “Fuck!”
“Here, let me try,” I say, getting an idea and stepping forward.
I place a palm on the steel handle, and the metal starts to glow orange as it heats. I fight through the pain. I will stop at nothing to bring my sister home safely…and alive.
I can’t lose her too.
I let out a harsh breath once the door is good and hot. “Now let’s try. On three.”
“One,” Hunter says.
“Two.” I get ready to kick.
“Three,” we both say at the same time.
We kick the steel door in, and the force of it makes the door fly off the hinges.
“You guys go. I’ll watch the front.” Bennett shifts as Hunter and I rush inside the warehouse.
It’s dark inside, and the only light is in the center of the room. It shines down on chains, and some wet liquid on the ground.
Please be okay, Aria. Please be okay!
“I can’t fucking see a thing,” I whisper, trying to force my eyes to focus and adjust to the darkness.
I hear a soft moan coming from right in front of us.
“Holy fuck,” I gasp.
Hunter and I spot her at the same time, and my heart literally skips several beats. In fact, I’m pretty sure it might have actually stopped beating altogether.
We take off running toward her, then my heart decides to play catch-up and then some.
Hunter’s eyes glow around her and it’s enough for me to see all the damage that the fucking bitch did to my little sister. I glance down and see the amulet hanging from her neck.
“Aria, little sister, can you hear me?” My voice breaks as I rip her amulet off and cu
p her cheeks.
I’m vaguely aware of Hunter taking his shirt off and ripping it to shreds. Normally, I’m the calm one in situations like this. But this is my sister, the only family I have left.
“Here, take some of these and tie them around the deeper cuts,” Hunter commands, handing me strips of his shirt.
Hunter pauses for a minute, then looks over at me. “We have to work faster.”
I vaguely wonder if maybe the link was used, but I push the thought to the side as I continue to bandage her wounds as quickly as I can. But, even though we’re working as fast as we can, it still doesn’t seem fast enough.
Once we’re finished, Hunter scoops her up in his arms and we rush out of the building. I quickly climb into the backseat and Hunter gently lays her down in my lap.
Relief washes over me when I see the bleeding starting to slow down as we make our way back down the road. Her breaths are coming out shallow and uneven, and her entire body is ghost-white.
“You’ll be okay, little sister. You’re safe now. We’re going home,” I whisper to her. Not that I think she can hear me, but I hope she does.
I wish I could use my power to heal her, but Luna explained that since she’s a demigod and can heal herself, my powers are useless.
Once we get back to the Compound, my girl and Kora are there waiting for us. Hunter carries her in, and Ciera walks with me to the medical room.
“Set her back in a room, Hunter,” Kora commands.
“Take care of my sister, sunshine. Please,” I choke out, and I can feel my eyes starting to fill up with tears.
“I will.” Ciera kisses me quickly, and then rushes off into the room just as Hunter comes out.
His face is pale and he looks guilt-ridden.
“She’s going to need you when she wakes up,” I say when he approaches me.
I know she’s been talking about our past with him. He told me as much when she was knocked out before.
“Aria doesn’t handle trauma very well. It’s been three years and she still hasn’t dealt with our parents’ death,” I sigh.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to help her through this,” Hunter tells me.
“Good.” I reply.
But I already know he would do anything for her. I can tell by the look on his face that he loves her. Whether or not they’ve admitted that to each other is none of my business, but I hope that when she wakes up, she trusts him enough to re-open old wounds and deal with the news ones too. I’ll help him in any way I can, but somehow I just know that it’s going to take more than just me to get her through this.
A few hours pass by, and Ciera finally goes back home with Kora.
There’s nothing more they can do for Aria. Her wounds are healing nicely, but she lost a lot of blood. I told Hunter to go home and shower, and he reluctantly agreed only because he needed to go update his dad on everything that went down tonight. We still don’t know why Aria was taken, and we’re hoping she will tell us when she wakes up.
I’m sitting alone in the quiet common area, so the sound of doors opening and closing catches my attention. I see Aria peek out and start to walk quickly through the barn. I get up and start to follow her, not wanting her out of my sight.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I ask.
Aria jumps and whirls around at the sound of my voice. The movement is too much, and she cries out in pain. I didn’t mean to hurt her, so I gently touch her, but she flinches away.
“Hey, it’s me!” I hold up my hands. “You’re safe now.”
I lower my hands and glance down at her bare legs, which are covered in bandages. But I saw what that woman did. I know what’s underneath.
“God Aria, I’m so sorry…” I trail off as tears start to fill in my eyes.
She’s the only woman to ever make me emotional, except for Ciera.
I take a step forward, only Aria takes a step back, holding her hand up. She doesn’t say a word, but it’s written all over her face. She doesn’t want to be around me or anyone right now. I nod, understanding her silent plea.
I watch her walk slowly out of the barn, and it breaks my heart to see her like this. I thought it was bad when our parents died, but this… This is so much worse.
I don’t even know how we are going to help her get past this. I can’t even imagine what she must be going through. I shoot a quick text to Hunter, letting him know she’s awake and just ran outside.
“I hope she’s okay.”
I jump at the sound of Kai’s voice, but I don’t turn around. I watch as my sister heads toward the clearing with the fire pit, and I see a red wolf running after her.
“She will be,” I reply.
“You know, I didn’t like you at first,” Kai admits.
I turn my head to him.
“I’ve been in love with Ciera since we were kids. But she never felt the same way, and I know she felt bad for never reciprocating those feelings. Of course, it never stopped me from trying.” He laughs, but there’s no humor in it. Then he turns to face me. “Her heart chose you, and I can’t be mad at that. All I ask is that you protect it, and cherish her like she deserves.”
I nod. “I will.”
He slaps my shoulder. “Okay. Let me walk you to her, then. You look like you need a hug.”
He laughs and holds the door open for me. Yeah, I could use much more than a hug right now. We start walking, and when I get to the familiar cabin, I climb the steps and knock on the door. When the door swings open, I’m greeted by the light of my life. My forever.
“Hey, sunshine,” I whisper.
She glances behind me at Kai. I turn to see him smile and nod. Then he shifts into his wolf and takes off running into the woods.
Ciera takes a fistful of my shirt and drags me inside, shutting the door behind us. I hold onto her tightly, needing her strength and her love. I want to be strong for my sister, but right now, I can’t. It’s part of the reason why I let her go. I couldn’t bring myself to be strong for her when I found her broken, bloody, and bruised.
I know Hunter will be strong for Aria. He’s what she needs right now.
“You’re home,” Ciera whispers.
I know she doesn’t mean literally.
She is what I need right now.
I nod, burying my face in her neck and inhaling my favorite scent of strawberries and mint.
“I’m home,” I sigh.
The End
The Awakened
Rising Moon
May 19, 2020: Rising Sun, the third and final book in The Awakened Trilogy
August 2020: A Romantic Suspense, Enemies-to-Lovers Contemporary Romance
Fall/Winter 2020: Book 1 in the Titan Trials
Hey, readers! I hope you enjoyed Declan and Ciera’s story! I truly loved their version of events in The Awakened. Thank you for taking a chance on their story and continuing to love these characters (and the new ones) just as much as I do.
Ciera-I know I thanked you in the acknowledgements in The Awakened, but since you are the real-life muse to Declan’s love, you get another shout-out. Thank you for being you, and inspiring certain moments in this story, from the tiger slippers to the mystery box, you brought a young carefree spirit in this series. I’m so proud of you for getting good grades and getting all the scholarships into college. I’m so proud of you, babe! Love you!
Stefanie-My #1 alpha reader, and my long-lost bestie. Thank you so much for loving Declan so much and being there through all of my meltdowns this story gave me. You pushed me to make this story the best it could be, and you never let me give up. You are such an inspiring human being and Declan is really glad that his first girlfriend is you.
Katey aka Larry-My #2 Alpha! Thank you for listening to my crazy ramblings of all the plots from this book and, well, Rising Sun and Bennett’s series. This book, and this series, wouldn’t have been as strong if I didn’t have you to muse mythology with. Thank you for always being there for me, especially when my phone decides to call y
ou something else. Larry, I heart you!
Deborah K- You are a gem! Your support means so much to me and more. I’m really glad that I have gotten to know you and can call you a friend. Thank you for reading the extremely rough version of The Gift and still loving it. Please don’t ever stop being your lovely self.
The Chaddettes- Ladies, you are the pop to my tarts. You’ve always been there for me no matter what. No matter where we are in the world, we still have someone awake to be a listening ear or to help cheer us up. My author journey would not have been the same without you. Y’all are the best, and I’m glad I’ve made lifelong friends.
Carmen-YOU ROCK. Seriously, you make my words shine! I think this was the roughest draft you’ve ever gotten from me. I told you that I felt like something was missing and after hours and hours of staring at my computer screen, you helped me pinpoint what was missing. Not only have I found a great editor, I’ve also made a great new friend!
BJ- Thank you for being one of the last sets of eyes on this baby and one of my closest friends. Also, thank you for being there for me as my biggest support system for The Avengers: Endgame. You get me. “I love you 3000.”
Claudia- You can’t have Declan. I love you, but he belongs to Stefanie.
Lena Ashani-Thank you for being the best cover designer. You always understand what my vision is and nail it every time. Thank you for always bringing my characters to life!
Angel-Thank you for also using your owl eyes to make this baby shine! I appreciate all the hard work that you put into proofreading. You always go the extra mile and beyond!
Clara-Thank you for always making the inside shine! The images, the scene breaks, and everything in between help make the story unique. You NAIL it every time, and I couldn’t be happier with everything that you do. You’re the absolute best, and a gem of a human being. Thank you!
And last but not least- Between the Covers: Amanda’s Book Club, aka my Facebook reader group. Without all of you, this story, and the rest of the series wouldn’t be happening. Thank you for always bringing a smile to my face. You guys ROCK.