LAILAH
ONE
The world was dark and the air smelt of ash, as the heat battered against my skin.
I was, once again, back in hell, causing the symbols that had been carved into my skin to ache as they reminded me it was here I got them.
There was a lime green glow flickering in the distance that had a scream crawling up my throat, but I couldn't make a sound.
I was frozen, unable to move. Materializing in front of me, his fluorescent green flames flickering, gave me enough light to see him.
I didn't need it though, the sight of him was burned into my mind, along with these scars on my body.
His razor sharp teeth grinned at me, and I felt his gaze on me even though he had no eyes, just black voids.
A clawed hand reached out to me from his black exoskeletal humanoid body, that showed every bone that made up his form.
The Dark Lord's face was a hybrid of a bat and human, sharp cheekbones and pointed ears.
The top of his skull rose up, shaped like a crown of black bone flaring up with sharp points, making you think he was the ruler of hell—but he wasn't.
"You are mine, Synergy… you will host the Mother of All…"
Just when I thought he was going to reach me and torture me once again, the scene shifted and I was straddling a man. My hand was tightly gripped around the handle of my Sai that was plunged into his chest. He coughed up blood as his all too human eyes looked at me with judgement.
"My death is on your hands, Synergy. You might have killed me… but I'm not the only one…"
When I tried to let go of the Sai, I couldn't. Marvin wrapped his bloody hands around mine and laughed as if he heard the funniest joke in the whole world.
No matter what I did, or how hard I tried to get away from him, his grip held me tight, his laughter echoing in my ears tormenting me with his death, until all I could do was sob...
"Angel, wake up. It's just a dream, you're okay we've got you," Brayden soothed as he pulled me into his arms and smoothed a hand over my wild curls. "Come on Angel, come back to me."
Another set of hands stroked softly down my back, placing gentle kisses on the exposed skin of my arms and shoulders. Gasping, I pulled in a deep breath of air, my eyes popping open at the same time to meet a pair of sky blue eyes.
"There you are Sunshine," Hudson murmured with the hint of a smile on his lips. "Take another deep breath for me, counting to five, like we've been practicing."
Hudson took my hand and placed it on his chest so I could breathe along with him. We stayed like that until I could breathe easily and I was no longer shaking. Each of them silently waiting for me to tell them when I was grounded again.
"I'm good now, thank you," I said as I sat up rubbing my face, trying to shake off the last of the nightmare.
That fateful day four months ago, on a day that typically represented starting a fresh new year, wasn't so much the case for me that New Year's Day. The Lailah that went into the catacombs didn’t come out the same.
It started in the form of nightmares, panic attacks, and scars littering my body, all in the name of saving mankind.
The boys had been amazing, doing anything I needed, to help me deal with the repercussions of that day—but I worried I would never be the same.
The biggest, being that I couldn't sleep alone anymore, otherwise I would be trapped in one hellish nightmare after another with no one to pull me out of them.
There was no outward sign that I was trapped spiraling from one terror to another, because nothing about this could be easy.
All of them rotated the job, but since I was Bonded to Brayden and Hudson, our connection would wake them up when I fell into a nightmare.
Jay was always a light sleeper, so he was quick to respond to my change in breathing, but Micah and Parker were struggling.
In an effort to keep them included, we just made sure they were with me along with one of the others.
They had all brought up having me Bond with all of them right away, but I was in no shape to go through that level of emotional connection right now.
It was bad enough that Brayden and Hudson had a front row seat to my emotions and nervous breakdowns over the stupidest things.
Most of the time, it was someone touching me without realizing they were there, or when we had combat training and I was pinned down.
My mind flashed back to the Dark Lord's ritual and him carving symbols into my skin.
The good news though, was that I made it through my first year of college and I was going home for the summer.
Even better, was the boys were coming home with me for the whole summer.
Cami also demanded to come, but Maggs couldn't leave for that long with the work she does for the Elementi.
I didn't blame my best friend for being torn between coming with me and staying here with her girlfriend, who she was madly in love with.
I'm not sure I could survive all summer without my boys with me, but thankfully, I didn't have to find out.
Right now, the plan is for Cami to come with us, stay for a few weeks and fly back to be with Maggs.
If it worked out they could both make a trip out, then we would send the plane for them.
"You managed to sleep longer tonight," Hudson mentioned as he made notes in his journal, ever my sexy scholar.
Seeing him sitting there in the dim light of the setting moon, his normally perfect blond hair tousled with sleep, with his black square framed glasses perched on his nose.
He was my sounding board, the one I always wanted to talk to when I had a problem because he could always look at things logically.
With everything that happened, it was all so overwhelming, and I was angry at how I was reacting to things.
He would stop whatever he was doing, take my hands and walked me through what was overwhelming me, breaking it down to what I had to accomplish in that moment.
Hudson didn't handle the unknown well, so I understood why writing in his notebook had become an obsession.
It was a way for him to have some control in a situation where he couldn't do much to help me otherwise.
I loved him even more for it, plus it did show me that I was making progress in some areas.
Sleep was the hardest. I felt so vulnerable, and with whatever aftereffects the serum and the marks on my skin had on me, I was now connected to Hell whether I liked it or not.
That being said, it was harder for me to leave the school grounds, where the wards kept us safe and the demons away.
Every time I stepped out of their protective net, I could sense them all around me, lurking in the shadows.
This would then trigger a panic attack but I was working on it, because I refused to be trapped here and unable to live my life.
The demons would not win, and they certainly wouldn't be controlling my ability to end this war, thereby protecting everyone that's become important to me.
"What time is it?" I asked, half crawling over Brayden to get a look at the clock.
The bright red letters told me it was four in the morning-- it was later than most days, and I knew I couldn't go back to sleep. Groaning, I moved to get out of bed but Brayden had other ideas, wrapping me up tightly in his arms.
"Nope, you can't leave until you pay the toll," he demanded with an exaggerated frown on his handsome face.
I looked into his hazel eyes which shone with his love for me, causing me to smile.
Sweeping his rich brown hair out of his face, I cupped his cheek and leaned in for a kiss, which lit up our Bond.
The warmth and safety that I felt flowing into me, as our powers swirled around us, made me sigh, relaxing into him.
With all the training we do, all my boys had fit bodies and now with the warmer weather, Brayden was not wearing a shirt.
The feel of his skin against mine grounded me to this world, casting out all other thoughts of Hell or its inhabitants.
This was the gift only my Earth Knight could give me, the peace of knowing I was loved and belonged right here beside him, on this earth.
Breaking the kiss, I leaned back with both my hands on his chest, grinning. "Was that fair payment?"
"I mean, I would have settled for a hug, but that was way better," Brayden teased wagging his brows at me.
Giving him another quick peck on the nose, he let me slide out of bed and I headed off to shower.
The few times we'd tried to be intimate, I'd gotten too overwhelmed or accidentally trapped on my back when things got heated.
Now, all the guys were too worried to do more than kiss and cuddle until they felt I was ready.
Let's just say that I was more than ready to give it another try but convincing them was turning out to be harder than I thought.
Especially because we were going to my home, where my parents and little brother were.
The thought of being caught might excite Jay, but having it happen by my parents was not on my sexy time bucket that Cami had me making.