Chapter 14
Alchera
Slowly, the landscape changes from the forests and lush green fields to sand, dunes, and rocks as far as the eye can see.
Raighne wasn’t joking when he said we’re going to the desert. My ass hurts from sitting on a horse for hours.
“How long will we be here?” I ask as we reach the area where the others have stopped for a break.
“A month.”
“What?” I gasp. “Why so long?”
“It all depends on how quickly we strengthen our telepathic bond. We might be able to head back sooner.”
Raighne slides from the horse and placing both his hands on my hips, he lifts me off. I grab hold of his shoulders to make sure I don’t fall and try to ignore the fluttering sensation in my stomach.
When my feet touch the ground again, my legs feel weird.
“Finally,” Storm calls out. “What took you so long?”
Raighne lets go of me, his features drawn tight as if he’s angry.
When he starts to walk away, the words burst from me. “Why do you do that? What do I do wrong that upsets you so much?”
He just shakes his head. “Nothing, Alchera.” He points toward Storm. “Don’t keep your friend waiting. ”
I stand like a confused idiot and watch him stalk away.
“Everyone gather closer,” Roark calls out.
Letting out a sigh, I join the group, counting ten people in total.
Seeing Brenna and Finian, my heart sinks.
There’s a man and woman who look around the same age as me. But with everyone being immortal, I can’t tell for sure how old they are.
Where the woman has silver hair, the man’s is golden. They look like brother and sister.
When Finian walks closer to me, I’m a little surprised.
“Peace be, Alchera. I am Finian, Brenna’s guardian. We didn’t get to officially meet the last time.”
No shit.
“Don’t be rude to my brother,” Raighne’s voice suddenly sounds in my mind.
“What the hell?” I gasp, a wave of shock rippling over my body.
Now many things have startled the hell out of me, and there have been times I’ve wanted to pee my pants since arriving on Vaalbara, but hearing Raighne in my mind takes the cake.
Finian looks at me with confusion in his eyes.
“Sorry, I just heard Raighne in my mind for the first time.”
Finian nods, clearly understanding my crazy talk. “You’ll get used to it.”
Yeah, I don’t think so.
He pats me on the shoulder before walking back to where Brenna’s standing.
Telepathy? Sharing of feelings and hearing my thoughts?
It’s all too much.
Even with all the open space of sand and rocks around me, I start to feel claustrophobic.
“Peace be, Princess,” a soft voice says behind me.
When I turn around, I get a closer look at the woman with silver hair. Her eyes are dark silver, and never in my life have I seen skin as white as hers.
“Hi,” I say, forcing a smile to my lips .
“I’m Luna,” She points to the guy with the golden hair. “And that’s my twin brother, Lucius.”
“Are you also here to train?” I ask.
She nods.
Feeling curious, I ask, “What kind of talents do you have?”
“Nothing as important as yours,” she chuckles. “My talent is to control moonlight. I’m here to find out what I can do with it.”
I notice her brother walking toward us.
“Lucius, come. Let me introduce you,” she says, her smile growing wider.
I see the love she has for her brother as she talks to him, and it makes me relax even more.
Suddenly, one hell of an intense pain rushes through me, forcing me down. My knees hit the ground hard, and I dig my fingers into the hot sand.
Jesus.
It feels as if my body is being ripped to shreds.
“Alchera!” I hear Raighne call out, but he sounds miles away.
Images start to flash through my mind, and I’m unable to hold back the scream as it tears from me while my vision goes black.
Adeth disappears, and relief washes over me.
I can still feel her nails digging into my cheek and the blood trickling down to my jaw.
My wrists are raw, where they're tied to a rope hanging from the ceiling.
I can’t take much more of this.
Ares begins to advance on me, and as he pulls his arm back, I shut my eyes tightly.
All the pain is getting the better of me. I’m sure I’m dying.
His fist slams so hard into my gut all I can do is gag for air. My body swings from the impact, but it doesn’t stop him.
He grabs me by the hair, and I have no time to recover before the next blow slams into my ribs.
Excruciating pain becomes the sum of my being, and it feels as if every agonizing breath might be my last .
But, the relief of death doesn’t come, only a new level of pain when a whip cracks over my already raw and bloody flesh.
Coming too, a sob escapes me, then I whimper, “It hurts.”
Arms are holding me tightly, and I feel warmth flood my body, chasing away the chill and pain left behind by the vision.
Feeling sick, I push against Raighne and manage to turn to the side before I vomit whatever I had to eat earlier in the day.
My body convulses horribly, and when I slump back against him, a flask of water appears in front of my face.
“Drink some,” he orders.
With trembling hands, I grip hold of the flask. I take a sip and rinse out my mouth before I drink greedy gulps of the cool water.
I hand the flask back to Raighne, and pressing a hand to my stomach, I try to breathe through the horror left behind by the vision.
I’m going to die an agonizing death.
A sob bursts over my lips, and I quickly cover my mouth with my hand.
“No, you’re not,” I hear Raighne’s voice clearly in my mind.
He helps me to my feet, then says, “Come. Let’s go to Roark.” His arm wraps around my shoulders, and he holds me tightly to his side. “You can’t talk about your visions in front of everyone. Only Roark, Finian, and Brenna can hear the details.”
Raighne helps me walk, and when we reach Roark and the others, he asks, “What did you see?”
I frown as I look up at him. “Didn’t you see?”
He shakes his head. “I can’t follow you when you have a vision. I can only see when you think about it after you’ve had the vision.”
I suck in a deep breath of air while pressing a hand to my stomach again.
Raighne steps closer. “Can you think of it again? Let me see.”
“No!” I shake my head wildly.
My chin starts to tremble, and I feel the tears coming. I don’t want to be weak, but it was horrible.
There’s no way I want to relive any of it ever again .
Brenna steps forward, her face an unreadable mask. I’m surprised when her voice doesn’t hold the usual bite. “What did you see?”
“I can’t,” I gasp, a tear spiraling down my cheek.
I try my best to block the memory, but the image of the man flashes through my mind, his lifeless eyes burned into my memory.
I suck in a trembling breath. “I see a man, but I don’t know him.”
Raighne’s head snaps toward the others, and his features are tense with anger. “She saw Ares.”
Taking hold of my shoulder, he pulls me to his chest, and when his arms wrap around me, his warmth gives me instant relief from the hell I just experienced.
“How many visions has she had?” Brenna asks.
“A few. One that I know of has come to pass. She saw me coming to get her,” Raighne says, his voice sounding downright predatory.
“What else has she seen?” Roark asks.
Pulling away from Raighne, I clear my throat and answer, “I’ve seen a volcano erupting, the aftermath, and then someone shooting me.” I wrap my arms around myself before I add, “I’ve also had a vision of Adeth and Ares before. They…they…” I shake my head.
They’re going to kill me.
“No, they won’t,” Raighne growls in my mind. “Not while I’m alive.”
“You haven’t had any visions of the chosen ones?” Brenna seems surprised as she asks the question.
“Not that I’m aware of.” My head begins to pound, and my stomach feels like it’s stuck on spin cycle.
I can’t talk about any of this anymore. I need to be alone.
“We should let her take a break,” Raighne says, his tone unyielding. “We can look into the visions later when she feels more rested.”
“Let her rest and let the memories fade,” Brenna snaps. “This isn’t about your precious Alchera, Raighne. It’s about the chosen ones.”
Before any of us can reply to her outburst, she storms off, with Finian following after her.
I turn in the opposite direction and start walking, trying to focus on processing the vision so I can file it away under shit I never want to see again.
“Come.” Raighne suddenly takes my hand and leads me down an incline. It gets really steep, and he wraps an arm around my waist to keep me from falling as we climb to the bottom.
He takes hold of my hand again, and we walk for quite a distance. Not that I mind. It gives me time to think about what happened.
God. It was awful.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he reassures me.
I have to admit, this time, it feels soothing hearing him in my frazzled mind.
He lets go of my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders, tugging me to his side.
Right now, I don’t care about whatever issue there is between us, I just need to be close to him.
The terrain begins to change and patches of grass appear here and there, but nothing to get too excited about.
We walk around a massive boulder, and I let out a surprised gasp when I see the most beautiful sight.
“It’s a waterfall,” I breathe.
Raighne lets out a huff. “It’s the best I can do under the circumstances.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “Thank you so much.”
I quickly take off my boots, and not caring about my clothes, I walk into the pool of refreshingly cool water.
Jesus, now this is food for my soul.
I move my hands through the water as I head in deeper until the pool reaches my chest.
I hear water splashing behind me, and when I glance over my shoulder, I see Raighne making his way to me. When he reaches me, he takes hold of my waist and lifts me against his body.
My lips part on a gasp as I grab hold of his shoulders.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he orders, his tone low and gravely.
I do as I’m told while he carries me deeper into the pool.
His left hand grips my thigh, his fingers skimming my butt, and my eyebrows almost pop right off my head as they fly into my hairline.
Don’t think.
Don’t think.
Don’t think.
“What are you doing?” he mutters, actually sounding amused.
“Keeping you out of my mind,” I mutter.
Glancing over my shoulder, I see he’s taking us toward the curtain of the waterfall, and when he steps beneath it, all I can hear is the rushing of water.
It feels so good.
Cool water pelts my hot skin and shivers race over my body.
The weirdest thing happens, and I begin to feel the energy of nature flow through me, soaking into my soul. It feels as if I’m being recharged.
Raighne moves out from beneath the spray into a cave-like area behind the waterfall’s curtain.
When I look at his face there’s a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Feeling nature is one of your talents.”
Right. I forgot about that.
“Why haven’t I felt it before?”
“You did. The peace and calm while watching the sunrise. Recharging after school at Fish Creek Falls.”
“Oh yeah.”
It feels as if we’re in our own little cocoon, and I never want to leave.
Raighne looks deep into my eyes, and his features soften.
“I’ll always take care of you. Your needs and safety come first.”
I nod, and just needing to be close to him, I wrap my arms around him and press my face into the crook of his neck.
“Thank you,” I send the words to him.
He presses a kiss to the side of my head. “Feeling better?”
“Yes.”
I pull back a little, and when I realize how close Raighne’s face is to mine, I freeze like a deer in oncoming traffic.
His breath skims over my skin, and as our eyes lock, there’s one hell of an intense fluttering in my stomach .
The droplets running down his tanned skin make him look next-level hot, and I swallow hard on the attraction I feel for him.
Lord, have mercy on my ovaries.
The second the thought crosses my mind, I shove away from Raighne and free myself from his hold.
Ducking beneath the water, I swim in the direction of the embankment while I consider drowning myself right here, right now.
I come up for air and make my way out of the pool. Not caring that my feet are wet, I struggle to put on my boots, but before I can make a run for it, Raighne steps out of the water.
I make a huge mistake when I glance at him, and seeing the leather clinging to his muscled body like a second skin, my abdomen clenches hard.
Shit. Don’t look.
“What happened?” Raighne asks, his tone tense again.
Feigning ignorance, I shake my head. “What do you mean?”
“You’re blocking me from your mind.”
“I am?” My head snaps up. “You can’t read my mind right now?”
“No.” He shakes his head, and I let out a breath of relief.
Thank you, sweet baby Jesus.
Raighne narrows his eyes on me. “Is something wrong?”
I quickly shake my head. “Not at all. I just needed privacy.” His eyes search mine, and I add, “Really, besides the vision from hell, I’m fine. Thank you for bringing me to the waterfall.”
He seems to be satisfied with my explanation, and once we have our boots on, he says, “Let’s return to the group.”
I nod, and falling into step beside him, I’m grateful when he doesn’t try to make conversation, because I’m too focused on hiding my attraction from him.