Chapter 30
thirty
. . .
ryker
“What the hell is going on?” Kellan barks, stepping closer as if he might leap forward to snatch Raea from my arms.
I dare him to try.
Whatever he sees on my face has him reconsidering as he takes a half-step back, palms raised despite his accusatory glare.
Trysten, Tate, and Ciara stand a few feet away, their eyes wide with confusion, searching my face for answers I don’t have.
I feel the weight of their stares, the burden of their expectation pressing down on me.
Exhaustion clings to my bones, yet the adrenaline coursing through my veins drives me to move as quickly as possible.
I have to get us all off this gods-forsaken planet.
I glance down, my heart rate gradually stabilizing as I absorb the sight of Raea nestled against me, peacefully asleep despite the shitstorm around us.
Her pale skin is mottled with cuts and bruises, and her shirt is ragged, too short, torn in several spots, and revealing enough that I can’t keep my eyes from drifting to the black ink-like claw marks that trail down her thighs.
Fury at whoever—or whatever—hurt her has me working my jaw.
A vicious protectiveness wells up within me.
One hand is clenched in my shirt, her nails bloodied and caked in mud.
Despite being trapped on this planet and the torment she has just endured, her delicate scent wafts on an invisible breeze, settling something deep within me.
A dewy forest mixed with fresh blooms—her.
I tighten my hold on her gently, mindful of her injuries, and shift my gaze back to Kellan.
“I can explain everything once we’re away from here.
” My voice is steady despite my uneasiness.
“But we need to move now; if we don’t, we could be trapped here for good.
” The shadows and the mist are already here, and based on her injuries, it’s come prepared to attack.
I feel the shadows creeping around us, dark tendrils slithering through the underbrush, watching and waiting, eager to snatch her.
Why they want her, I have no godsdamn clue.
Witnessing her entangled in those shadows and shrouded in that mist, her eyes glowing with an otherworldly golden hue, nearly shattered me. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Her magic was trying to protect her. But mine…
it responded to her. It’s the only explanation for why I could draw the raw energy coursing through her and channel it back into Sgya.
She had been pulling it from the veil. The intensity of the energy was almost unbearable; how she managed to contain it is beyond me.
But when I wrapped my hands around her, it was as if a hole opened up—the energy surged through one arm, a deluge of raw power that flowed from her and through me, finding its way back to where it belonged.
As I glance around, anxiety claws at my chest. We’ve been here much longer than I intended. “Run, now!” I command. “Get back to the transport!”
Kellan grits his teeth, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face before he sprints ahead. He knows the way, having helped me locate our clearing in the first place.
Navigating the gnarled branches with Raea cradled against me is a nightmare.
Trysten and Tate flank us, working in tandem to push aside as many branches as they can to clear a path, their muscles straining as we move as quickly as possible.
One nearly scrapes Raea, but I dodge it just in time, letting it snag on my stomach.
We rush past a towering tree swarmed with coral butterflies, all making a home in the bark.
Something deep inside me stirs, a memory of my mother whispering from the shadows of my mind.
I yell over my shoulder to Ciara, urging her to grab a branch as we rush by.
Thankfully, one of the smaller branches snaps under her weight, leaving us with a decent-sized twig.
“We were in hyperjump,” Trysten gasps, struggling to catch his breath as he bends over, his hands on his knees. He’s more hurt than he lets on. “Something pulled us here mid-jump.”
“We crashed in the lake,” Tate cuts in, gesturing to the sea. They must not have seen it from above. “The transport is at the bottom, but the water is so cold it nearly killed us.”
My thoughts are a whirlwind as I take in all this information, not that I plan on ever returning again. The dense trees finally give way to the beach, and relief washes over me momentarily when I spot Kellan leading the way around a rock formation.
Ciara barrels past me, grabbing four flight suits drying on a rock ledge.
My gaze sweeps the beach around us. Clothes and blankets are strewn across the sand, and a med pack lies abandoned, half-buried.
Trysten darts after it, snagging the med pack I had dropped alongside the other before rushing after Kellan.
We have only a few minutes of light left at best. Shadows swirl at my ankles, taunting me with their insidious whispers. Over my fucking dead body will I hand her over.
“Leave her. Let us have her,” the alluring voices say into my mind. I can feel a slimy temptation attempt to wrap around my resolve. Icy dread slides down my spine as I tighten my grip on Raea.
“We can keep them both,” another voice snickers.
As I stagger forward, the sand makes each step harder, and fatigue weighs me down. Tate gives me a gentle but firm shove, pushing me onward.
“It’s only a matter of time,” the sinister voice warns, and I know in my gut that every second we waste brings us closer to the darkness waiting.
When I finally emerge into the clearing, the ramp to the transport is wide open, but it begins to close with a low hiss as we hurry up the incline. Kellan and Trysten are already seated at the console, fingers flying over the controls.
“Hold on!” Trysten shouts back to me, his voice cutting through the din.
I barely manage to collapse into a bunk, cradling Raea in my arms. She’s still sound asleep, her petite form a comforting weight against my chest. I close my eyes tightly, focusing all my energy on hoping we break free of the planet’s atmosphere.
“Let us go, please.” I direct the prayer to the gods. It’s the first time I’ve asked them for anything in over four years.
I stopped praying, stopped asking for anything after my father never returned, and my mother’s depression took her from us. But right now, they have complete control over our fate. “Let us go.” I don’t know if they can hear me, but I’m willing to try.
The shake of the transport slows momentarily, as if sludging through mud, and then—without warning—it feels as if we’re being catapulted into space. My stomach lurches violently with the sudden shift in momentum.
“Tate, set a course back to school. Ciara, inform them that we’re on our way,” Trysten commands.
He’s not just great at being a friend; he’s a remarkable pilot, and I trust him to get us back to school.
As I close my eyes once more, I let the steady rhythm of Raea’s breathing draw me under, if only for a moment.
I feel mentally drained, as though every thought has been siphoned away, leaving only a dull ache in my head.
All I need is a moment to gather my scattered thoughts and breathe.
My mind drifts on a midnight sea, the sky shrouded in an endless blanket of stars, daring to show off their beauty.
I feel a profound sense of peace wash over me, as if a deep, healing rest has descended upon my soul.
I shift slightly on the warm, undulating surface of the water, and there, shimmering about thirty feet away, I see a brilliant orb of white light glowing softly, inviting me closer.
As I lazily stroke the water, the gentle waves caress my skin with a soothing warmth, drawing me nearer to the mesmerizing sphere of starlight.
Just as I sense that I’m almost within reach, a loud voice shatters the silence, ripping the landscape apart.
The world shifts abruptly, revealing an unnatural, brightly lit space with a metallic scent.
“Ryker,” Trysten’s voice calls, pulling me from sleep.
I blink my heavy eyelids open, struggling momentarily to clear my blurry eyes.
The familiar sight of my best friend hovers above me, concern etched across his face.
I blink again, and my gaze settles on both Kellan and Trysten standing by the bunk.
While Trysten looks worried, Kellan seems torn between being pissed that Raea’s wrapped up in my arms and being confused why she reached for me instead of him.
A soft, settled hum releases from Raea where she’s still tucked into my side, her face mere inches from my neck.
It feels so natural to have her next to me, as if this is where she’s always belonged.
Her snow-white hair is a disheveled cascade, strands escaping from her braided locks, yet she has never looked so beautiful.
The soft warmth of her breath tickles my skin, and I instinctively squeeze her a little tighter, savoring the moment.
I choose to ignore the fact that she’s hardly dressed and practically lying on me under the shared blanket someone draped over us.
It’s then I realize my hand is gripping her bare thigh across my stomach, and damn if I don’t go semi-hard.
I give myself two seconds to get my shit together, forcing myself to face everything I despise.
My mother’s tears, the relentless disappointment etched on Cole’s face every time I fail him.
An image of Clara, sitting alone in the quiet palace as she holds all her joy close, stubborn to fall into a depression of her own, while my mother deteriorates in her room, a ghost of herself.
Then there’s Kellan, his arms embracing Raea as she smiles up at him.
I grind my teeth as the scene sends raging hot jealousy coursing through me.
That worked.