Chapter 8 Thorne
THORNE
When I’m lost, there’s one thing I do to escape it all and find my place again: I sleep. Sleeping allows me the one luxury I can’t have in real life, no matter how much I desire it.
Home.
My homeland stands untouched, the castle that I once walked the halls of still standing strong, despite the fractures that have torn at my soul until there is nothing left.
I can never step inside the fortress that once held all of my happiness.
Instead, I dare to sit on the balcony ledge, staring at the kingdom that once was.
It’s bleak, sad, and hollow, a complete representation of me. Without my sister’s laughter, my mother’s sweet words, and my father’s wisdom, it doesn’t create the same warmth in my heart like it used to, but if I close my eyes, I can almost feel it.
When I’m here, I feel like I can breathe and accept the truths I refuse to expose in the real world. There haven’t been many truths I haven’t been able to do this with, not until recently, and despite my reluctance, I know exactly why.
Elodie Blackwood.
I should hate her with every piece of me, but every time I look into her eyes, the words from the prophecy kick off, ringing in my ears.
They will rise with fire in their bones and ruin in their wake, step the shadows that you reap and give more than you shall take. Blood shall bind you, love shall break you. Only in the face of death shall the path be clear; the world mourns with the final tear.
Who the hell will rise?
What blood binds me? My family, my dead loved ones?
I refuse to love, to even give it the opportunity to break me.
What path will be clear, and why must death be faced to find it?
And what the hell is big enough to make the world mourn? I lost my entire family, and the world continued to spin without care.
I exhale, frustration getting the better of me. I know why I’m here today, I know what I’m consumed with, what requires me to think harder than I’ve ever thought before, and as much as I don’t like it, I won’t settle until it’s done.
Elodie, in the hands of Jude Forrester, is not for the weak-hearted, and despite the strength she’s shown time and time again, I know she needs me.
Kael was a fool to fall under his brother’s command, but it’s no surprise, he’s renowned for being a scary motherfucker.
I’m more stunned that I met the infamous man himself without realizing it.
She saved me from him.
I have to return the favor. That’s all this is. It doesn’t mean anything else; it doesn’t have to. I’m simply returning the favor. Or I will, once I catch a clue on where she actually might be. The second she’s back in The Vale, I can go back to being isolated.
Being alone isn’t for everyone, and sometimes I’m sure it’s not for me until I sit here and bask in it. The quietness, the contentment that radiates through me when I escape here is enough to remind me of the prophecy and what it means for me. I must keep my mind clear and my soul focused.
With that thought, it’s clear that I’m not going to get the answers here as I had hoped.
Maybe rousing myself and dealing with the others would be more useful.
I’m sure Rion has come up with a ridiculous plan already, one that will only irritate the vampire among us, and I’m more than keen to see that asshole riled up right now; he deserves it.
Sighing, I press my palms onto the stone at my sides, but the sound of someone clearing their throat in the distance makes me pause.
Impossible.
My eyebrows furrow in confusion as I follow the subtle sound, only for my breath to catch in my throat as I spy the source of the noise across the moat.
Strewn purple hair, pale cheeks, and confused eyes collide with mine as my name falls from her lips.
“Thorne.”
I blink at her, sure this is a figment of my imagination, but when she tucks a wayward strand of hair behind her ear as she tilts her head at me, I know she’s not.
Shadows cascade from my hands, sinking to the stone path beneath me as I lower to the ground.
Snapping my fingers, the rickety drawbridge lowers, and I cut across the wooden slats far more calmly than I feel inside.
My chest rattles with every inhale until I’m standing in front of her, toe to toe, engrossed in every inch of her as she peers up at me.
A warm sensation wraps around my chest, but I swallow it down quickly.
“How are you here?” I grunt, nostrils flaring as I fight against the desire to reach out and touch her for myself to confirm she’s real.
“Where is here?” she mumbles, folding her arms over her chest as she glances around.
“I asked first,” I insist, determined not to get caught up in her attempts at distraction. She might have questions, but I have them too. This is my land, my dream, and I get to call the shots.
“I don’t care,” she retorts, cocking a brow at me, and I scoff.
“My sister would have loved your sass,” I muse, the words slipping from my lips before I can think better of it. The way her mouth curls into a soft, knowing smile makes my heart ache.
“She sounds like good people.”
A pang in my chest grows tighter, but I stop myself from latching onto what ifs and has beens at the thought of my sister. Instead, I zero in on her.
“How are you here?” I repeat, and she shakes her head lightly.
“I don’t know,” she admits, and as much as I hate it, it makes sense.
“Where are you?”
“You tell me,” she grumbles, casting her gaze at our surroundings, and I shake my head.
“Not here. Where are you actually?” I clarify, and she huffs, tightening her arms around her middle.
“I don’t know that either.”
I’m surprised by her truth. “Give me what you can,” I order, and her brows furrow as she glances around me once again.
“Is this not real?”
“Elodie,” I warn, and she turns to me with an air of sass only she can muster.
“Thorne,” she mocks, and I shake my head.
“I don’t know how much time we have,” I murmur, wiping a hand down my face, and the furrow of her eyebrows deepens.
“Why?”
I grab her arms, crowding her space. “Elodie, focus. Tell me what you can,” I repeat, and she yanks back, tearing out of my hold as her hands ball into fists instead of slamming into my chest like I half expect.
“Like you don’t know,” she bites, disdain tainting her features as she takes another step back from me.
“Excuse me?” I blink at her, confused, as she tilts her nose up an inch, glaring at me.
“Kael knows. Why don’t you go and ask him?” she hisses, and I shake my head slowly, lifting my hands slightly in surrender.
“He doesn’t,” I mutter, and she snickers, the sound hollow as she inches back further.
“Right.”
Holding back a sigh and the frustration I’m harboring toward Kael, I persist. “He might not know how to disobey his brother, but he definitely doesn’t know where you are.”
Her lips purse as she continues to glare at me, but it’s more than that; I can sense her searching for something in my gaze.
I don’t shy away from the silent interrogation, though.
Instead, I welcome it. I don’t have anything to hide, and I’m more than happy for her to see that if it means she’ll hurry the hell up and focus.
She clears her throat, moving her hands to rub up and down her arms. “All I know is that Jude is bat shit crazy,” she mumbles, and I huff in agreement.
“Are you still in The Vale?” I ask, hoping to take control of the situation a little more, but it seems that in her presence, it’s not as easy as I would like.
“No, we’re somewhere else entirely,” she breathes, rocking back on her heels as I read between the lines of what she’s not saying.
“So he does have his own bubble of reality,” I summarize, hating that it’s gotten worse than we anticipated.
“If you want to call it that,” she replies, uncertainty circling in her eyes as she rakes her teeth over her bottom lip.
“Where are we?” she repeats, signaling around us, and I sigh.
“Elodie.”
My warning goes unheard as she cocks a brow at me. “I answered you, now you can tell me in return.” She’s not bargaining, she’s taking control.
I consider calling her bluff, but there’s something inside of me that wants to share. “We’re in a dream, my dream, and this is my homeland.”
Her jaw falls slack as she fully turns away from me to take in our surroundings. I should push for us to figure out where she is so I can find her, but instead, I take a moment to watch her, desperate to see this world through her eyes.
Once upon a time, there was the real world, filled with humans, hopes, and sins.
Parallel to that, there were the Shadowlands and the Higherlands.
Three worlds that co-existed. The human world never knew of the other lands, but the latter two knew everything.
The fight for control and power enabled the creation of bubble worlds like The Vale, controlled by The Sanctum, and now Jude’s world of pain.
Shaking myself from my thoughts, I tilt my head at the girl beside me, and she slowly turns her attention back to me.
“How did I get here?” she asks, and I shrug.
“Magic.”
“That would be a great answer if I knew whose magic made that happen,” she grumbles in response, and I roll my eyes at her dramatics.
“Honestly, I don’t truly know. No one has ever been here before,” I admit, cutting the distance between us once again. Thankfully, this time, she doesn’t run away. If anything, she stands taller, and that’s when I spot something different.
Cupping her cheek, I tilt her head up an extra inch so I can look deep into her eyes, actually paying attention this time. “What happened to your eye?” I blurt, and she tries to pull out of my hold again, but I don’t let her go this time.
She meets me with a challenging stare as we silently stand off with one another. We both know she can slam her hands against my chest at any time. Dream or not, there’s a risk, but I don’t shy away from the threat, baiting her out until she sighs.
“Don’t worry about it,” she finally mutters, and I scoff.
“I said, what happened to your eye? Don’t make me find out the hard way,” I threaten, letting a little of my magic seep from my limbs to dance around me in thick black clouds of smoke.
I half expect her to knee me in the dick, but to my surprise, she tugs her cheek from my grasp. “Jude was making me use my magic.”
“And?”
“And I used it on him.”
“Nice,” I blurt, making both of our eyebrows raise in surprise.
She hides a smile. “I couldn’t tear myself away from him, my magic just kept going and going and going until I…” Her words trail off as she points at her eye, and understanding settles in my chest.
“You burnt yourself out with your own magic,” I reiterate as she blinks, and the motion seems to make her flicker before my very eyes.
“Did you see that?” she blurts, staring at her hands, and I nod. “What’s happening?” she hollers, panicked, and I grimace.
“You’re waking up,” I explain, and she shakes her head.
“No, I don’t want to wake up yet. Please don’t let me wake up yet,” she begs, fear spiking in her eyes, and my chest clenches.
“I can’t control it. I’m not in your real surroundings,” I mumble, knowing the explanation isn’t enough as she drags her hands down her face.
Her breathing starts to sharpen as she flickers again.
Reaching for her hand, I tighten my fingers around hers.
“I’m going to come for you,” I promise, and she huffs, her shoulders sinking with defeat.
“That’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible,” I insist, knowing it for myself with the fact that she’s standing right in front of me. Before I can think better of it, I open my free hand, watching as a small flurry of smoke swirls in my palm for a second before a small black stone forms in it.
Wordlessly, I glance over her body, settling on the most discreet spot possible.
“Do you trust me?” I breathe, and she scoffs.
“We both know the answer to that.”
With my chin tucked against my chest, I glance through my lashes at her. “Do you trust me enough to touch you without causing harm?” I clarify, and she gulps, bobbing her head a moment later, and I take a deep breath.
Grabbing the hem of her t-shirt, I lift it to her chest, the swell of her bare breast coming into view, and my throat dries. Before I can back out or convince her to change her mind, I press the stone against her flesh, under the curve of her right breast.
She doesn’t wince or panic; instead, she shivers, trusting in me as the stone turns to nothing more than a gentle blemish against her insanely soft skin.
“What is that?” she mutters, flickering once again, and I know we’re reaching the end of her time here, so I shake my head, opting to focus on a promise instead as her t-shirt falls back into place.
“I’m coming for you, Elodie.”
She meets my stare as she shakes her head, breathing one little sentence before she disappears before my very eyes.
“I’m not counting on it.”