When I was in physics last year, our teacher loved to show us videos on pilots training to withstand the extreme gravitational force exerted on them while traveling into space. I remember wondering what it must have felt like to have nine Gs crushing down on your body, sometimes forcing you into a state of unconsciousness.
Although I was content with never finding out the answer to that question, I’m pretty sure I just did.
My back slams onto the ground, knocking out the little air I had left inside my lungs. Every bone jars against my skin, and I hear every sound within me ring from one ear to the other. I swear I’ve just broken into a million pieces.
My hands are at my side, and I realize they’re pressed against something soft. I turn my head and see a maroon oriental rug decorating the floor I’m on. There are no lights except the sliver of moonlight peaking in from behind the nearby window curtains. Amidst the ringing in my ears, I hear a ticking clock. And then footsteps. They’re coming fast. And I can do nothing but lie here.
I watch as a door opens, allowing the light from the hallway to seep into the room. The figure standing there is obscured by shadow, but within seconds I’m squinting at the now illuminated ceiling.
“Oh, Genevieve!” Sadie’s words dance across the air in trembling sounds. “Yeah, it’s her, Jensen. She’s…yes, I will. Okay, see you soon.” I hear her cell phone click off. “We thought you were dead!”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure there for a while, either.”
I don’t think she appreciates my humor.
“Are you hurt?” She rushes over and kneels next to me. “Jensen is on his way back. He’s been out looking for you all over town.”
“Sadie,” I whisper, and take a deep breath. “I’ll be okay in a minute. I just had the wind knocked out of me.” I reach out toward her. “Help me up. Thanks.”
“Careful.” Her voice doesn’t seem as frightened as before. “How are you feeling?”
“My head feels like it’s been used in a soccer game. But besides that, I’ve felt…” I remember the cemetery. “Jensen! Wait, he’s okay? He’s not hurt?”
“He’s fine, Genevieve.” Sadie helps me to my feet, then pulls out the leather chair from the nearby desk and guides me into it. “Once he got out of the cemetery, he came right back here to look for you. When he found out you weren’t here…well, we were just praying you had escaped to somewhere.” She looks around the room. “Although, I don’t think we were expecting you to come through a portal.”
I hear the front door slam shut. My heart begins to race as I hear the footsteps bounding up the stairs.
“Genevieve!” Jensen envelops me in a warm embrace.
The grogginess in my head clears, and my heart leaps into my throat, pulsing the blood throughout my body.
He pulls away and rests his head against mine, breathing his warmth into my ear.
“I was so afraid, Genevieve,” he whispers. “I thought I had lost you. I thought I had failed you.” He pulls back and looks at me. The normal light in his brown eyes is obscured by concern. “I am so, so sorry.”
“Genevieve, what happened after you were separated from Jensen?” Sadie re-ties her periwinkle bathrobe before settling onto the brown ottoman next to me.
“It…it all happened so fast.” I close my eyes as I replay the events in my mind. “I started to run back to look for him, but before I made it far, I was…gone. Gone from here, anyway. I had been transported to Banewind.”
The color drains from Sadie’s face.
“You were there?” Jensen places his hand into mine.
I nod. “I was in the Court of Anguish.”
“Heavens to Lura!” Sadie rests her trembling fingers against her lips. “What happened next?”
“Some creature was attacking. I don’t remember the name. Shadow something…”
“Dredger,” Sadie says.
I can’t tell now if hers or Jensen’s face is whiter.
“Yeah, that’s it. Anyway, Kingston defeated it, and then he sent me back here.” I look at Jensen.” He said he knew you.”
His face darkens with anger. “Kingston?” he hisses, glaring at Sadie. “Did you hear what she said?”
“He followed me through the portal, from the cemetery.”
I have a sneaking suspicion he’s not going to like hearing that.
When his face turns five shades of a darker scarlet, he’s confirmed it for me.
“I’m calling Casius,” Jensen growls, letting go of my hand, and stomps out of the room.
Sadie acknowledges my confusion with a deep sigh.
“Casius is Jensen’s older brother,” she says. “They don’t always see eye to eye.”
“And Kingston?”
Sadie shakes her head. “Like I said, they don’t always see things the same way.” She waits a moment. “Genevieve, did Kingston tell you anything else?”
“Well, he told me I was sent through the portal by some woman. Valkryn, I think her name was? And that she’s trying to kill me, too. So…yeah.”
Sadie presses her fingertips against her forehead and rubs hard.
“Oh, we are not ready for this. We just aren’t.” She stares blankly at me and sighs. “Genevieve, I need to go discuss a few things with Jensen. Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll take you into Jensen’s room to lie down.”
As if on cue, a wave of exhaustion rolls over me.
“That sounds great.” I look down at my dirty, ripped clothes. “Um, actually, do you mind if I take a shower first and borrow one of your nightgowns? I’d rather not look like I just crawled out from a cemetery.”
No pun intended.
Trust me. I’m too tired for that.
a
I don’t know how long I’ve been lying in bed when I hear the door creak open.
“Hey,” I whisper into the darkness. “How are you?”
“Shh. Go back to sleep, Genevieve. It’s late.” Jensen shuts the door behind him. “I was trying not to wake you.”
“I haven’t been asleep.” I sit up and place a pillow behind me, against the headboard. “There’s just too much on my mind.”
He sighs. “Yeah, I can imagine.” He points his hand at the fireplace in the corner of the room, and it jumps to life, its flames illuminating the darkness.
I watch as he pulls off his shirt and places it into the wardrobe. His stomach muscles tighten as he bends over to remove his pants, and changes into a pair of workout shorts. He is a vision of perfection.
“What did you and Sadie talk about?” I’m still focused on his physique.
His back muscles ripple across his skin like ocean waves as he pulls closed the wardrobe doors.
“Just the situation,” he replies. “If I’m being honest, we’re concerned that the two of us aren’t going to be enough to protect you from what’s to come. That both the Magician and Valkryn are already here in town is something we didn’t foresee happening. It’s just not good.” He looks over at me. “Is it all right if I get into bed with you?”
“Yeah, of course.”
My heartbeat fills the bedroom as he climbs into bed next to me. I feel the heat radiating from his torso.
“So who are they?” I try not to stare too much at his chiseled stomach. “The Magician and Valkryn?”
“They’re Voidweavers that work with the Dark Lady. Commanders, no less. The Magician is her chief engineer. He’s in charge of creating all sorts of terrible devices that they’ve used to terrorize Banewind. And Valkryn is a shadow mage that helps command the Void Knights.” He sighs. “They’re very bad people.”
“Yeah, I got that.” I shudder as I remember the jarring sensation of being pulled through the portal. “And…what happened to Scythe?”
“I don’t know.” His body tenses. “I left him in the mausoleum.”
“Do you think that he’s the one who told the Magician where to find me?”
The words are hard to speak. I had trusted Scythe, and was sure he was trying to help.
“Genevieve, after tonight, you cannot honestly believe he’s looking out for your best interests? They nearly got you!”
“Okay, yes, it did appear that Scythe was still working with the Magician. But I’m not so sure that was the case. I mean, Scythe seemed just as upset as you were. And what about the note? And the necklace?”
“Genevieve.” Jensen exhales and closes his eyes. “I don’t know. But based on his actions… I’m just so sorry. For all of this. It seems like everything I’ve done up to this point has been wrong. And I don’t know what to do to make it right. I feel lost. The only good coming out of tonight is now that the Magician and Valkryn have actually made a move, it provides us a stronger case to try to rally the Council’s support. Sadie is going to speak with them tomorrow evening.”
I sit quietly on the bed.
“Genevieve? Say something.”
“I really don’t know what to say. We’re doing the best we can. No one’s at fault for what’s going on. Not you, not Sadie.” I reach over and rub his arm, his skin hot beneath my touch. “It’ll all work out, Jensen. I promise.”
I move myself closer to his body and trace my fingertips over his shoulder, then run them down his collarbone. He closes his eyes as I rest my head against his. My breath is quickening, and my heart leaps into my throat.
He nuzzles his face into my neck, and I feel his warm breath cascade across my skin. The familiarity of my senses heightening takes over as every nerve fiber in my body jolts to life. I close my eyes as I feel his lips just barely brush against my neck, toying with my skin between his teeth. The air I exhale is shallow and broken, painted with bursts of pleasure.
“Kiss me,” I whisper, hearing my words convulse as they pass between my lips.
I slide my hands to his chest and grasp, feeling his muscles quaver beneath my touch.
“Kiss me, Jensen.”
He presses his lips against mine, and I kiss him back, panting as I slide my hand up his chest and cradle his chin within my palm. His hand is against my face, and he grasps at my hair, pulling it towards him, and me along with it. The world has shattered and slipped away.
I pull back and smile at him.
“What?” A grin spreads across his face.
“Nothing.” I giggle. “Just thinking how that makes up for everything I’ve gone through tonight.”
I rest my head on his chest as he rubs my hair, and within moments I’m fast asleep.
a
CRASH!
My eyes snap open at the deafening sound. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep, but Jensen is no longer beside me.
CRACK!
“Stop it! Stop!” Sadie screams, from downstairs. “Jensen, no!”
Oh, God. Jensen!
I throw the covers from my body and leap out of bed. As I rush from the room, I hear shouts echoing through the hallway, becoming louder as I near the stairway.
“Jensen, please!” Sadie is standing at the far end of the living room, surrounded by fallen bookshelves and scattered papers.
The couch is flipped upside down, and the glass coffee table is shattered into pieces. The nearby floor is scorched black, with dark wisps of smoke winding into the air.
And in the center of it all are Jensen and Scythe. Jensen is sitting on top of Scythe’s chest, pinning him down. I watch in horror as Jensen pounds his fists into Scythe’s face, spattering blood across the white marble floor.
My stomach ties into knots as I rush down the staircase.
“Jensen! What are you doing? Stop it!” My screams are barely audible over the fighting. “Jensen, stop!”
I grab his fist as he pulls it back, breaking his focus on Scythe. He spins around and glares at me with dark, irate eyes, his nostrils flaring, and veins protruding from his neck.
“Jensen, please stop.” I try to hold back my fear.
Scythe is still under Jensen, barely moving. His face is coated with bright, oozing blood.
“Get back upstairs, Genevieve,” Jensen growls. “This isn’t your fight.”
“And it isn’t yours, either.” I point to Scythe. “Look what you’ve done to him. He can hardly move. You’ve won, Jensen, okay? Please, just stop.”
He hesitates before removing himself from Scythe.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He wipes his bloodied knuckles on his shorts, but says nothing.
“Uhhh,” Scythe moans, gingerly lifting his head.
His left eye is swollen shut, and his black hair is stuck to his forehead with blood. He takes his time getting to his feet.
“If you were trying to hurt me…” He spits blood out onto the floor, “…you’re going to have to do better than that, fire mage.”
I grab Jensen’s shoulder, feeling it tense beneath my hand.
“No, Jensen, please,” I say, into his ear.
Scythe looks at my nightgown and frowns.
“I came by to make sure you were doing okay,” he says. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t know the Magician was going to be there.” He gestures to Sadie. “Please just give me a chance to—”
“Get out.” Jensen points to the front doors.
A cold silence hangs in the air.
Scythe laughs. “Fine. Whatever.” He wipes his bloodied mouth on the back of his hand as he limps toward the doors. “If you don’t want to hear what I have to say, I’ll go.”
He disappears into the starlit dawn.
“I’m sorry.” Jensen slouches onto the nearby chaise longue. “I opened the door and saw him standing there…and I don’t know what happened. I lost my temper. I wasn’t thinking.” He stares at his bloodied knuckles. “I don’t…I…”
“It’s okay.” Sadie rubs his back. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up? I’ll take Genevieve back home now.”
Jensen slowly stands from the longue, and pauses as he walks by me.
“I’m sorry.”
I reach out and squeeze his hand. “It’s okay. I understand. I’ll see you at school.”
He heads back upstairs.
“Your clothes are in the dryer,” Sadie says. “Let me go grab them for you. I’ll be back in a moment.”
I stand there alone in the empty room, my feet cold against the marble floor.
The grandfather clock chimes five times.