That night, I felt myself start to shake in my sleep. I didn’t remember having a dream and I wasn’t injured, so that was a good start.
Riley’s hand reached out to reassure me he was there, and he pulled me in closer to his chest. His body was warm behind me, calming me instantly.
He whispered quietly in my ear. “Shhh, Ariya. You’re okay.”
I burrowed further into his chest before turning around to face him. Riley stroked my hair back from my face. Something inside me started to fight the action, thinking it was too intimate, but the thought came in and left so suddenly, I couldn’t focus enough on it to stop what I was doing. He looked at me, and I thought about how beautiful he was.
“I’m worried about you,” he whispered, and kissed my forehead.
Suddenly, I wanted him to kiss me, really kiss me. The thought came out of nowhere. I tilted my head back and looked him in the eyes, hoping that I wouldn’t have to make the first move.
Kiss me Riley. I thought the words a couple times in my head.
He ran his hand through my hair again resting it on the side of my face. His thumb brushed my lips gently. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before feeling his lips crush into mine. It wasn’t like when he had kissed me before in his kitchen last semester when he confessed his love for me. There was more to it this time. I wanted so badly to give him what he wanted.
I parted my lips and let his tongue slip inside. He rolled on top of me, holding himself up, but never breaking contact with my mouth. My body involuntarily arched beneath him. The thought of this not being quite right flashed through my head for a moment again. This time enough for me to open my eyes. I looked at Riley’s body hovering above mine and something in me snapped.
I need him. I need him, and I know he needs me. The thought came through forcefully. He is always there for me. He is my best friend. James is never coming. I need to move on.
Similar ideas started growing and repeating themselves over and over in my head. I was shocked at the thoughts because they were so very unlike me. I loved James, but this, at the moment, this felt right. I grabbed at Riley’s shirt, tugged it over his head, and admired the perfect abs beneath.
Caroline and I always joked around with him about his body looking like it was airbrushed. Right now there was no joke about it. It really was perfect. I leaned up onto my elbows and reached for the hem of my shirt, sliding it over my head with only a little help from Riley.
“Ariya, you’re so beautiful.” He stared at me once my shirt was removed, and I felt myself blush.
He leaned back down and started flicking his tongue along my stomach. I sighed at how surprisingly good it all felt. His hands held my waist in place before they moved and started sliding up my leg towards the shorts I was wearing.
Riley toyed with the elastic band and my breath caught in my throat. He knew I didn’t go very far with guys. I had no idea how far I was willing to let him take this.
“Trust me,” he said, his whispering breath hitting my neck.
I arched again as he moaned. My breaths were coming shorter now, and all I could focus on was the fact that I wanted him so badly.
“Riley,” I said hesitantly as his hands crept behind my back to the clasp of my bra. With a simple flick, he had it unlatched. “I don’t want to know why you’re so good at that,” I teased and could feel his lips turn up in a smile at the comment.
“None of them were what I really wanted.” His head trailed down my neck, and I ran my fingers through his hair.
He brought his head up, and I felt his hands clench around my hips again. This time, as he brought his lips to mine, his fingers looped through my shorts and pushed them down and off my body. I shuddered at the feeling of his capable fingers trailing back up my legs on the inside of my thighs.
“Ariya, there will never be anyone I want as much as I want you. Please let me feel you.”
His words were intoxicating, and I found myself nodding before grabbing the nape of his neck and bringing him down on top of me. He backed up for a moment and looked at me, as if asking one more time if I was sure. I smiled, trailing my fingers down the full length of his body again.
James. The name floated into my mind causing me to frown a bit.
James isn’t here, a stronger part of me said back.
No! The thought pushed through forcefully this time.
I gasped and my eyes snapped open.
I was in bed, fully clothed, and Riley was breathing quietly next to me.
A dream, it was only a dream. The door creaked open and Audrey peeked in. “My, my, Ariya. What would James say knowing the thoughts you have about another man?” She stood with her hands on her hips.
I wanted to hit her. “Your thoughts, Audrey. Not mine.” I felt furious with her all over again. If she’d been paying as much attention to me as she said, she knew how I felt about intimacy with people. Of course she knew, and I was sure she created this new dream specifically because of that.
“You’re not doing this to him too, are you?” I demanded an answer.
“I’m not allowed to mess with him, remember? I wouldn’t need to do much, though. He already thinks about you like that. It wasn’t bad though, hmm? Surprised how much you enjoyed it?” She chuckled evilly and shut the door.
The noise caused Riley to jerk awake. “Ariya.” He reached out grabbing for me to make sure I was okay.
“I’m okay.” As I said the words I knew I wasn’t. I wasn’t sure how much longer my mind could handle this constant battery each night.
He sighed groggily, rubbing his eyes and then turning to look at me. “Was it another dream? You want to talk about it?” he asked.
“No, I don’t need to. Go back to sleep, Riley.”
“Okay,” he said laying back down on his pillow. Thankfully, he was tired and didn’t notice my short tone.
I tried reminding myself that the whole thing was only a dream. It’s not like anything actually happened. I still felt tremendously guilty, though. I wished so badly that the dream had been about James. I didn’t even need to have a sex dream, just any dream. Just to see him again somehow.
I dreaded the tricks my mind would play on me as Audrey continued this form of passive-aggressive attack. It was like a haze was beginning to develop all the time around my mind. I questioned if I was dreaming whenever something was happening that seemed out of the ordinary. The fuzz in my vision wasn’t going away.
Riley was the only thing that kept the haze from hitting hard and taking me away for what I feared would be for good. I didn’t understand how Audrey was capable of making me question my sanity, but I hoped I’d be strong enough to fight her for it.
Otherwise, I wasn’t sure there was anything standing in the way of her having complete control over me.
***
It had only been a handful of days since the last raid when Audrey set an actual attack plan into motion. I woke up to a knock on my bedroom door and a wolf telling me I needed to wake up and get myself together. He told me Audrey needed me alert because she may have bodies to heal this evening. Her threats were now very real, and too close to happening for comfort.
I wondered how many she would want me to heal. I didn’t even know if I was able to heal more than one body at a time since I’d never tried it. Depending on the severity of this attack, we were about to find out what my abilities really were.
Attacks probably lasted quite some time, right? I laughed sarcastically at my thoughts. I had no idea how long an attack lasted. I had never been in this situation.
Riley again stepped up, trying to distract me and keep my thoughts at bay. I reminded myself that the vampires were trained warriors, and they would be fine against any attack the wolves formed. The thought didn’t bring me much comfort. We watched movies, played games, and talked in an effort to pass the time. Before I knew it, it was nightfall. There hadn’t been a word from anyone all day. We didn’t know what was happening.
We were still being guarded, otherwise I would have tried to convince Riley to run and not come back. He probably wouldn’t have listened to me anyway. I got ready for bed and sat taking deep breaths, clenching my hands together in my lap to try and calm them and stop the out of control shaking they were doing.
I tried closing my eyes, but I couldn’t sleep and Riley couldn’t either, so we lay there talking. He was trying to bring up old college memories to think about. I watched the hours tick by on the clock, and Riley would occasionally tell me everything would be fine and rub my back.
Midnight, twelve-thirty, one a.m.—the minutes ticked by endlessly.
At one-thirty there was finally a noise downstairs. I heard some shuffling and a couple of banging sounds and looked at Riley. I flew out of bed and ran out the door to find a slew of wolves on the floor being strewn across the living room where Audrey had first seen my talent.
There were ten of them total lying there unmoving. Ten! I thought in shock. Audrey wasn’t back, but Tristan was grinning at me.
“Wait until you hear the news,” was all he said before pointing to the floor and the bodies, nodding, and then heading out of the room. A clear indication for me to get to work.
Riley stood in the corner nearby, watching as I took a breath. Tristan’s taunting of having news was unnerving, and the calming breath didn’t do much to help me focus. I didn’t know what to think about his comment, but I knew I had to take care of the dead monsters in front of me or suffer something worse from Audrey whenever she got back.
I took another deep breath, this one working better, and started moving throughout the room. The first few weren’t so bad to do, but as more came back to life, my body felt the toll of allowing myself to bleed for such an extended period of time. I was exhausted after seven of them. I didn’t know how I would get to the last three, and I quivered once the seventh had woken up. My body was not moving like it should.
Riley came to my side. “Ariya, you should rest for a minute.” He urged me to stop, but I just wanted to get it over with. I didn’t want to be in the room any longer than I had to be. I wanted to lie down and wait for the news Tristan had so wickedly mocked me with.
Shaking my head was all I could do, and instead of continuing to try to convince me, Riley just wrapped his arms around me. He practically carried me to the remaining wolves.
My body trembled as I approached the last one. I held onto Riley’s arm to steady myself. Squeezing my hand together I let the blood from the gash in my palm flow down it one last time. I reminded myself this was the last one, and after he woke up, I could rest.
The man’s eyes popped open, and he snapped at my hand. Riley was the only reason the thing didn’t bite me. He pulled me back, and the werewolf, still in his human form, started growling. He jumped up and grabbed Riley by the shirt, lifting his feet off the floor as I was shoved away.
“Stop it!” I yelled. None of the others had been this animated when they woke up.
The guy didn’t stop though and was growling in Riley’s face, which caused panic to rip through me. If he bit him, that might be all it took for Riley to turn. I was weak, but started making my way towards the wolf. I watched helplessly as he took Riley’s body and threw him against the wall across the room. I shouted, the sound reminding me of a battle cry as it happened.
Riley looked like he hit his head, and I watched his body slump forward. I shoved the wolf from behind and he jumped on me, pinning me to the ground. I struggled against him, which seemed to make things worse.
“Get off!” I screamed, shoving as hard as I could upwards.
All those times James told me that I wasn’t as strong as they were came flashing through my mind, and I realized for the first time how right he was. Relief coursed through me when Tristan pulled the wolf off before he could clamp his filthy mouth around my neck. I saw him beat the wolf until the growls turned to whimpering sounds, and then the wolf went silent.
My breathing was heavy as I propped myself up on my hands trying to regain control of my body.
“What did you do?” Tristan stood over me demanding.
My body was still trembling, and I didn’t want to show him that I was having trouble getting to my feet.
“That monster woke up and attacked us! He almost bit me.” I turned and stumbled towards Riley as Tristan glowered at me. “Riley is hurt. The deal was he doesn’t get hurt. Tell Audrey I want to see her NOW!” I was proud of the sternness in my voice. “Riley needs to go home. Our deal is off,” I said more to myself than to Tristan.
Tristan snickered at me. I sounded much braver than I actually felt. The way he watched me worried me. I didn’t want to be alone with him, and right now, I was. He was volatile and I knew my anger would either turn him on or upset him. Neither prospect was something I wanted to have to deal with.
“Tell her yourself so she can laugh in your face like I am.” He made a short cackling noise before shoving past me, not bothering to see if I was okay.
I gathered the little energy I had remaining and stood up as tall as I could. After a few steadying breaths, I found I could walk and called on my remaining strength to go to Audrey’s office. I burst through the door and stumbled into my usual chair, needing its support since I was much too tired to remain standing.
“Nice to see you can heal so many wolves at a time. I don’t recall asking you to come in after you were done. You can go back to bed now, Ariya.” She was covered in blood. Whose, I had no idea.
Tristan said they had news, and I hoped it had nothing to do with why the blood was all over her. I said a quick prayer for my friends’ safety before I started my demands for Riley’s freedom.
“Your wolves can’t always control themselves when they wake up. It was harder than I thought to bring them all back, and Riley had to assist me. He was attacked and hurt in the process. Your promise has been broken. He goes free or I’m done helping you, I swear, Audrey.” I could do this. I’d argue until I was blue in the face if I had to.
Audrey just sat there with a plastered smile on her face. After a short pause she simply said, “Whatever you say, dear.”
My face must have registered the utter shock that she wasn’t fighting me or telling me I was ridiculous. “He goes free with no physical or mental damage,” I reminded her.
“You’re right. That’s what I said.” She flicked her hand to the door and looked back at me. “Is that all?”
“You agree?”
Her easy agreement was cause for some concern. Without Riley, she wouldn’t have anything to hold over my head. Well, that was not entirely true—all my friends were still out there.
“Of course. I’m not a monster.”
I scoffed at her remark.
She continued avoiding a comment at my snort. “One day you’ll see, Ariya. One day I hope we’ll be friends, maybe even one day soon. I keep my promises, unlike so many of your vampire friends. He goes free with no physical or mental damage.”
I stood to try to crawl back to my room, not wanting to be around her another minute. Plus, I wanted to tell Riley the good news. I stopped myself placing my hands on either side of the doorframe to hold myself up.
“Tristan said something to me about some news. Is…did...” I started but couldn’t bear to even form the words.
“No one is hurt. Yet. But, it was a very good day.” The way she said it sent shivers through me.
Again, she flicked her hand to dismiss me and I knew that was all I was going to get. I had to get upstairs and tell Riley what happened. I had to figure out how to say goodbye.
Trudging up the stairs took a bit of time. When I reached my room, I found it was empty. Maybe Riley hadn’t come to yet. I grew fearful and headed down to the living room where he had been slumped over. I thought the wolves would have brought him to the bed, those assholes.
“Riley?” I called out, looking around once I was back downstairs.
He wasn’t there. I walked back out into the foyer.
“Riley?” I tried a bit louder.
“No need to shout,” one of my guards who stood outside my door just up the stairs told me.
“Well maybe if you told me where Riley went I wouldn’t need to yell, you idiot.” I wasn’t in the mood for any more wolf attitude tonight. Maintaining my composure proved to be a struggle as it was. It was surprising that I was still able to move around on my own at all.
The guard gleamed back at me. “We had orders he was to be released unharmed. He’s gone.” The grin spread over his face as mine turned to horror.
“Gone? Already? He woke up?” My heart sped up and panic welled in my gut.
Riley had been taken from me on purpose. They didn’t need him anymore now that I had cooperated. Whatever happened today must have been enough for Audrey to think I’d cooperate no matter what. I ran through my mind on what could possibly have occurred today that would give her that sort of confidence, but came up short of thinking of anything useful. The thoughts I had, were adding to my already saddened state, and I didn’t need my mind conjuring up false truths at the moment.
The last thing I wanted was for the guard to get off on how upset I was. I turned, attempting to keep my emotions masked, and made my way slowly back up the stairs. I didn’t look at him as I walked through my door and shut it behind me.
Once in the confines of my own room, I staggered the rest of the way to the bed and collapsed onto it. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Audrey must be confident that we couldn’t be traced to just let Riley go like that. What began as a few tears quickly turned into body-racking sobs. The fear, exhaustion, and sadness of being alone washed over me in what felt like a never-ending cycle between the three.
I could only trust Riley would go home and be safe. I was sure Caroline would look after him, which hopefully meant she would be away from the fighting. If she was still alive, and if they were able to find him after his release, that is.
There was something terribly wrong with the fact that the wolves were in such a good mood today. I doubted they would keep it to themselves if someone I cared about had been injured. They’d love rubbing it in my face just to remind me that it was entirely my fault, so that wasn’t it. Thoughts were swirling around in my head and tears kept pouring down my face. I wasn’t even aware of closing my eyes and passing out from the exhaustion that raked through me.
***
The sounds of cheering outside grew louder and louder until it dragged me from my sleep. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times, wondering if maybe I was imagining it. There was a brief pause before the sound came to my ears again. I slowly sat up and looked around the room for any sign of movement.
There was nothing. I was surrounded by pitch black. I was alone, but then again I should be with Riley gone. Seeing nothing in my room, I stood up from the bed. The hollering was muffled, so I headed to the window to peer outside to see what was causing the commotion.
There was a massive crowd of wolves gathered down below in the backyard. Audrey stood assertively in the center while three other wolves held on to something or someone behind her. Audrey’s body blocked my view of the beasts behind her, so I couldn’t tell.
What in the world?
Frowning, I made my way to the closet and grabbed a sweatshirt, then pulled it on over my pajamas. I tiptoed to the door and cracked it open. My guards weren’t outside where they usually were, which meant maybe they were in the crowd outside with the others. I thought it was strange that I’d be left alone like this. My eyes flicked towards the front door at the bottom of the stairs, and for a moment, running seemed like a good idea.
There was no way I was fast enough to outrun any of the wolves, though. It was just wishful thinking. Instead, I turned making my way through the house to the back door. There was not one wolf left in the entire house. I had a bad feeling about this. Shivering, I turned the knob and headed out the back door.
The mass of people, well, wolves that crowded around Audrey still obstructed my view. I could scarcely believe my eyes. There were only a dozen or so that lived in the house, but there were at least a hundred swarming the backyard.
I pushed my way through the crowd, shoving into them as hard as it took in order to move them out of the way. They were so much bigger than me, and it was frustrating that they wouldn’t move when they felt me inching around them. Instead, they smiled down at me wickedly. My arms would probably be bruised in the morning from some of them pushing back into me just hard enough to cause me to lose my footing.
Bastards.
I was almost to the front when Audrey saw me. “Ariya, dear, I was just going to send someone for you.”
I glared at her as I finally made it to the border of the pack, clearing the last wolf in my way. My stomach plummeted and the bad feeling made sense when I looked past her at the mass of wolves I had seen from the window. They were holding someone, not something as I had originally thought.
They were holding James.
“No!” I shrieked, making my way towards him. “Let him go, Audrey!”
James jerked his head up when I spoke and looked as though it pained him to see me standing there. “Ariya,” he whispered.
He was not in good shape. As a vampire, he healed unnaturally fast, so I could only imagine what the severity of the injuries he had sustained before I showed up for him to still be in this condition. He had a wooden stake in his leg, which made my blood boil and my stomach turn. The side of his face discolored with a putrid greenish-yellow bruise.
“James,” I cried at the sound of his voice. No one stopped me from going to him, but the wolves holding onto him didn’t let go either. After yanking the stake out of his leg, I flung myself into his chest. I wished they would just give us one minute. “Are you all right?” I asked, unable to hide the tremor that raked my body.
“I’m fine. It’s okay. I’m going to get you out of here, Ariya. We’re going to be fine,” he cooed warmly in my ear. “Hey, look at me,” he whispered gently, as if there wasn’t a mass of enemies surrounding us.
I obeyed him and saw the fierceness I’d come to love so much in his eyes. His calm reassurances surprised me. For a brief moment, I believed he was right, before reality came crashing back, barreling through my mind like a runaway eighteen-wheeler.
We were surrounded, and I was pretty sure Audrey wasn’t going to just up and let us go. He seemed stronger now that I was here next to him, though.
So this was why she’d said it was a good day. They’d gotten a hold of someone else important to me. My Protector. My heart. I wondered if the others were all right. If she had James, I hated to think what might have happened to the rest of them.
I buried my head in his chest again. As my eyes fell to the ground, I noticed a small strand of white on the grass next to him. My pearls. Reaching down, I grabbed them, making sure my body never stopped touching James’s.
“They were the closest thing to you I had,” he continued, not raising his voice in any way. His lowered voice made me feel like we actually had a private moment. I clutched the pearls in my hand tightly and grabbed onto his shirt, letting him plant a long desired kiss on my head.
“I think that’s enough reconnecting for now,” Audrey’s voice came from behind me.
I was forced away from James as Tristan scooped me up from behind and held on tight.
“No…no!” I yelled and started kicking for him to put me down, but he just laughed.
I shifted my body around to wiggle out of his grasp, but it was no use. When he did let my feet hit the ground again, he held me close to his body, an act that nauseated me, wiping the comfort from James’s warmth a moment before completely from my mind.
“Let go of her!” James shouted.
Audrey ignored him as I continued my struggle against Tristan. “Ariya, please, you are making a scene,” she said, sharply. “I was just asking James some questions, and I want you to be here for the answers. So stop fighting and pay attention.” She smirked viciously at me before turning back to James and speaking.
Tristan wasn’t letting go, but that wouldn’t stop me from trying to break free of him. I just wanted to get over to James again. I knew if I could be near him, we’d figure something out. I wanted to let him know I trusted him, that I believed him when he said he would make everything okay. We could, no we would get out of this and go home.
Audrey walked up to James holding onto another wooden stake, and suddenly, I knew without a doubt that she was going to make me watch her torture him. She was sick and twisted, and that’s just the sort of thing she would want me to witness. Oh, how I wished I was dreaming. I wished Audrey would start laughing, and that I’d wake up in the ridiculously pristine room I now had to call home.
Wake up, wake up, wake up! I repeated, thinking if I did it enough, I would.
Audrey’s voice made me open my eyes, and I was still here, outside in the yard with James across from me. “James, head up. Come on.” He looked at me with the saddest look I’ve ever seen. “What was it you were starting to tell me about Ariya? About your feelings?”
He clamped his mouth shut and let out a low snarl. I frowned. What was she talking about? Why on earth would Audrey have James here just to talk about his feelings for me?
“No?” she pushed. “I’ll fill her in then on where we are so far.” She turned to face me now, smiling wide, and began pacing back and forth in front of us for added effect. “Ariya, I asked James what it was about you he loved. Why he risked everything he believed in for you. He was just about ready to answer when you showed up. Isn’t that right James?” She walked back over to him and shoved the stake in her hand into his opposite leg. He flinched but didn’t make a sound.
“Stop it, Audrey! Leave him alone!” I screamed, starting a fresh round of struggles against Tristan’s iron grasp.
I swallowed back what tasted like bile but felt like a sob. James wasn’t the one making any noises as she tortured him, it was me. It was almost like whimpering. It was a noise I had never heard myself make. I was being crushed from the inside. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to breathe if this continued. I’d never seen James at a disadvantage, and I was scared for him.
James still didn’t say anything, and so a wolf nearby handed Audrey another stake. I let out another agonizing cry right before Audrey plunged it into his stomach. “Please...” I croaked again.
James watched me, looking torn about something before snapping his head back over to look at Audrey. “That’s what she needed me to be.” His voice was hard to hear through the clenched teeth he bared.
“And what does that mean?” Audrey said, looking pleased with his answer.
“It means I had to be whatever it took for her to do as I asked. For Ariya, that meant being together, in a more intimate way. All right? Are you happy, you piece of filth!” he yelled angrily, almost spitting at Audrey.
Then he looked back at me. “Ariya, I’m so sorry. I do care about you, more than you know.” His voice sounded defeated.
It took a moment for his words to sink in. Audrey had been right then. She wanted me here tonight to witness James’s tortured confession about what being my Protector had meant. I had needed someone close to me to get me through this time of change, someone I trusted and loved, and that’s what he’d became. He’d just been doing his duty.
He hadn’t given up everything he believed, like I had thought. He’d just changed his role based on my reactions and my needs. I frowned, trying to process everything as Audrey’s wicked laughing rang in my ears.
“See, my dear, this is why I knew we’d be friends. I told you it’s what Protectors do. They are selfish beings. They don’t love. They only have their stringent sense of duty.” She twisted the stake that was in his leg before removing it altogether.
I shook my head. I didn’t care about James’s feelings. Mine were real, and I couldn’t watch him get tortured anymore. I gulped in a breath of fresh air, feeling as if I hadn’t taken in any oxygen for hours.
“Okay, Audrey. You win. You were right. But, please stop.” Tears were streaming down my face. “Just leave him alone.”
My chest felt like a large metallic lump had formed in it. The longer I stood there watching this unfold in front of me, the larger it grew. The thought of having to watch him staked one more time was causing me to become physically ill. I started again, for the third time, trying to tear myself away from Tristan’s hold. It wasn’t as forcefully this time due to the emotional weight of what I’d just heard. I tried to refocus on my struggles since I knew the night was far from over.
“Ariya, you’re being absurd. The vampire doesn’t love you, so stop making a fool out of yourself for him.”
I looked at James for any sign that it wasn’t true. He just looked back to the ground.
“Now, I’ll be the one who is there for you. I can put you out of this misery, Ariya,” Audrey cooed. “There won’t be a need for any of this love struck ridiculousness anymore.” She stalked slowly over to me, and I moved furiously, not sure if she would torture me next. Instead, she whispered down in my ear. “We can rule over everything. We’ll defeat them for making fools out of us.” She looked at me smugly, as if she already knew what my answer would be.
She didn’t know me as well as she assumed if she thought I would ever turn my back on my friends. I spat at her feet. Her eyes flashed with a heated anger so intense that I thought I would be consumed on the spot. Instead of lashing out at me, she stepped further away, slinking gracefully in an eerie, threatening way back to her previous position.
“If that’s the way you want it,” she hissed. “All of this, it’s your fault.” Before I could process what was happening, she turned and slammed the stake into James’s heart. The wolves let go and James crumbled to the ground, unmoving.
A terrified wail came out of me, and my whole body felt like it was exploding. Tristan finally let go, but I just fell to my knees. I recovered quickly, knowing that I had to get to James to save him. Tristan wasn’t paying attention anymore. They were celebrating, so I started crawling. The stupid wolves were oblivious, whooping and hollering loudly in victory.
I was almost there. I could reach out and touch him if I wanted. One inch closer. As I reached out my arm to grab James, I was wrapped up and jerked backwards against Tristan once again.
“No, let go!” I flailed my body around as hard as possible this time, knowing that if I was going to save James, I had to escape his grasp long enough to do it.
There was a snapping noise near my arm as the bone was broken, followed by nauseating pain. I cried out in anguish. Tristan let go of me but didn’t back away and my body crumpled to the ground again. My arm throbbed and sharp pains began shooting throughout it. My vision went out for a moment as I was overwhelmed by both emotional and physical pain all at once.
“Easy, Tristan, she’s too fragile for you to be rough with her,” Audrey barked firmly.
“Let me save him. Please, you’ve made your point,” I whimpered. My arm was in pain, but it was nothing compared to my heart. “Please, Audrey, let me save him. I’ll stay, I promise. You can rule. I’ll obey. I’ll stay with you forever, please.” The sniffing and sobbing wasn’t making Audrey happy, but nothing in my body would cooperate in order for me to stop. I wouldn’t survive watching James’s lifeless form much longer.
“Ariya, you are already here. You have nothing to bargain with, and he is only bringing you pain. You can focus better without his existence.”
“I will do anything you ask of me. I swear.” Tristan backed away as I spoke, but I stayed on my knees. “Audrey, please.”
I needed James alive again. Audrey would let me save him, I just knew it. She only wanted to see us both tortured. She enjoyed pain and this was the surest way of keeping me under control. She was putting on a show for the others, so they could see how great her reign was. She had made her point now that she had me begging for mercy in front of her. I looked up into her eyes after a few heartbeats. She would let him live.
“No,” Audrey said, turning to me, catching my by complete surprise. “No, Ariya. You can’t save him. This is over.”
What? No, No, No.
“He’s your son!” I bawled harder, scrambling up to get over to him. She had to feel something, to feel anything.
“Not anymore. He made his choices and now I’m making mine.” She got to him before I did and put her hands on James’s head.
I didn’t stop moving, pushing myself as quickly as possible towards them. Launching myself at her to knock her away did nothing, though. She moved faster than my body could travel to get to her. I heard a tearing noise and shrieked before falling onto the ground beside them.
“Now even your blood can’t save him.”
She destroyed him. I failed.
I couldn’t look over at his body. I turned my head to the side, unable to stop myself from vomiting. Water seeped out of every pore on my face. My body went limp before it continued to heave.
I was shutting down, incapable of withstanding what had just happened. The only thing I could do was cling to the pearls I held in my hand, my only connection left to James. I convulsed again, clutching my hands to my chest as tightly as I could.
This can’t be real. It can’t be.
I felt myself pulled up to my feet and flung over someone’s shoulder. I couldn’t stop the shaking, or the blackness that swallowed me after.