Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Dara
I’m lined up on the mat with my warriors, down on our hands, doing push-ups. What the hell does this have to do with saving Silvia? I need to be practising magic—not this stupid strength shit.
Groaning, I fall onto my belly, but I don’t push myself back up. I just lie there, breathing heavily.
Two black-booted feet appear in my line of vision. Big feet. And you know what they say … Big feet, big?—
“Up, Dara. Ten more,” Harlan demands.
Big bossy boots. That’s what he is. Just because I like hearing his demanding voice, I don’t move. I want to get him riled up to boiling point. He’s so much sexier when he’s angry.
Oliver chuckles beside me, which in turn has me grinning, trying to hold in my laughter.
A shadow falls over me before Harlan rests his hand on my shoulders. He kneels down. I cast my eyes up to look at him. I smirk, fluttering my lashes but he looks furious.
“Fucking do what you’re told for once, Dara, before I spank your arse so hard that it’s red for a week,” he growls, cupping my face in his palm.
My eyes light up at his words; my panties just got drenched. Fucking Harlan and his commanding attitude—they get me all riled up. That’s why I defy him—so he can punish me just the way I like it.
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” he asks, lowering his voice.
I squeal as he jumps to his feet, pulling me with him. He pushes me backward until I slam my body against the training room wall. Not once does he look away from me. He looks feral, hungry, his pupils dilated.
“Why do you defy me, Dara? Is it because you want me to get angry and let it all out on you, hmm?” he says, keeping the pressure on my shoulders, holding me against the wall.
He leans in, running his nose along my neck, breathing deeply. My eyes close and I whimper.
“Fuck me, now,” I command, needing him inside me.
“Aw, somebody a bit desperate? Should I give you what you want?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Nah, that wouldn’t be fair, considering you broke the rules. I want to make you pay, make you whimper right in front of me. Beg me to put you out of your misery.” He bites down on my ear. Fucking hell, that’s hot.
“Plea—”
A piercing scream fills the training room.
Harlan pulls back and we look at each other. Anna.
The guys are already out of the room by the time we hear the second scream. Oh my god. My heart slams against my chest as we run up the stairs, heading straight for her room. I push past Alaric, Elijah, and Kayla and rush to Jolie’s side. She has her mother’s hand in her own and is looking down at it. Her eyes are squeezed shut, brows drawn together and sweat rolls down her forehead. She looks sickly pale.
Leaning over her shoulder, I let out a gasp. Anna’s arm is infected with a nasty red rash that starts at her fingertips and works its way up her arm, stopping just before her elbow. It looks horrid. The rash doesn’t look normal. It has specks of purple in it—it’s like nothing I’ve seen before in my life.
Anna shifts, groaning; she’s in pain. Blair moves onto the bed, taking her other hand, clearly trying to comfort her.
“What the hell is that?” My voice comes out shaky. I don’t want to scare Anna any more than she already must be, but something isn’t right.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. The colour concerns me. We need to help ease the pain,” Jolie suggests, her eyes never leaving her mother’s arm.
Her breathing picks up and she swallows hard. If Jolie hasn’t seen anything like this, it means it’s bad because we have no idea what we are dealing with. But if we can help ease some of her pain at least that would be something.
“Anna,” Albert yells, running into the room with Harlan right behind him.
We move out of the way so he can see her. He leans over, kissing her forehead.
“It’s going to be okay,” he reassures her.
I haven’t seen this sweet, caring side of Albert before and my heart melts. I know the guys got their sweetness from not only Anna but Albert too. He kneels by the bed, stroking her hair back from her face.
Jolie takes my hand and moves just outside the door. I pull her in for a hug, and she sobs on my shoulder. Rubbing her back, I let her cry it all out. She knows this isn’t good, especially since she isn’t sure what it is that’s causing this. If we knew the source or who’d spread this virus, we could fix it.
“I hope I can heal this, I can’t lose her,” she says, whipping her nose with her sleeve.
“You will, we will.”
Jolie has to help everyone—that’s just who she is. When she can’t, it kills her.
She pulls back, and I wipe away her tears.
“It’s going to be okay; we will help ease some of her pain,” I say.
She nods, letting out a deep breath before we go back inside. Albert is in the same position kneeling over the bed and holding onto Anna. Declan and Harlan are talking in hushed tones in the corner of the room. I smile at Blair who’s on Anna’s other side, and he nods.
I take Jolie’s hand as we lean over Anna’s bed, clasping Anna’s hand with my other one.
I close my eyes.Taking a deep breath, I focus all my attention on healing Anna and easing her pain. My magic comes to the surface; the blue smoke is just within reach. Jolie squeezes my hand, telling me she’s ready as well. As I open my eyes, we collide our magic together and then shift it to Anna’s heart. Just as it hits, a zap tingles up my arm, starting at my fingers. Suddenly, green smoke appears rising from Anna’s chest. We both pull back at the same time, looking at it in shock. One second, it was there, but as soon as we pulled back, it was gone. I glance at Jolie. She shrugs, clearly having no idea what that was.
“It’s like a barrier is stopping us from healing her. I’ve never come across this type of thing before, but it reeked of magic,” Jolie explains, not taking her eyes off her mother.
Anna lies perfectly still but her eyes say it all. She’s worried; she doesn’t want to say how much she’s hurting, but it’s clear she’s in a world of pain. A tear rolls down my cheek. We can’t even help her.
“We need to go out and search for the source of this right away,” Harlan orders, heading straight for the door as if he’s ready to go.
“What about Ruby?” Declan asks, and Harlan freezes just outside of the door. His hand gripping the door frame.
“It’s still our priority, but this is too. Our mother is seriously ill. Jesus, don’t you want to help her?” He snaps the last past.
“Of course I do, I just wanted …”
A loud bang echoes through the room followed by footsteps pounding up the stairs. Roger, Albert’s friend, appears at the top step. He leans over resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
“Come quick. Something’s spreading around the village,” he says between breaths.
The colour drains from my face. We all jump into action, following him down the stairs and outside, straight into the chaos. There are more than a dozen adults and children on the ground, one girl is clutching her arm. She’s screaming with her eyes squeezed shut. Leaning down, I reach out, examining it. It’s the exact same rash that Anna has.
Oh my god, it’s spreading around like wildfire. We have to find the source of this right now.