Chapter 17
?
S teele absolutely detested the idea of walking away right now, and yet he could also see that Cyan’s energy was frazzled.
She needed time to rest. Even though they had been in this corner, in this actual metaphysical Beacon field—or whatever you wanted to call it—it did appear that she had experienced more of an event than he was happy with.
He leaned forward, checked her pupils. “We’ve burned through a bunch of energy.
We need to get to the hotel and rest until we’re back in balance and at full strength. ”
“So, we leave now,” she agreed, “but we’re coming back.”
He nodded and shared, “I’m coming back but not tonight.
We need to get you to the hotel.” Then he stopped, frowning, grabbing her by the shoulders.
“Did you send healing energy to me again?” When she didn’t answer, he shook his head.
“Damn it, Cyan. No wonder you haven’t snapped back yet.
So let’s get to the hotel pronto, so you can rest.”
“Yes, so both of us can rest, as we’re both coming back,” she argued, narrowing her gaze at him. “No way I can leave this as it is. If someone did this to us, I want to put him down. I don’t care if he lashed out in fear or because we’re in the way. We have to stop him.”
“And yet,” Steele noted, “as you pointed out before, he could have done so much worse.”
“I know. So why didn’t he?” she asked, turning to look at him as they walked slowly back toward the third gate which stood open.
Navigating that easily enough made her feel a little bit calmer.
As they made their way through the second one, he saw her start to relax, as if realizing that they really would get out of this and not get stuck right in the middle of some loop.
The first gate also opened in front of them.
When they stood on the other side, he asked, “So, why did all the gates open so easily?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted, “but I’m grateful.”
“Did our attacker leave them open?”
“He may not know that he could open and close them,” she suggested. “He may not have any idea how that works. I don’t know. I’m just grateful because now we can leave.” She turned to him. “Plus, I have to admit I need food.”
“So, back to the mundane reality of regular life,” he said, holding out a hand.
She placed hers in it without hesitation.
Whether she understood it or not, it reinforced the energy already surging between them.
His energy gave her strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
He felt her energy reaching for help, so that connection alone sent energy surging through their fingers, helping them both to heal and to rejuvenate, even to recharge. It was a two-way charging system.
He turned to her as they walked, still holding hands, and he shared, “I’ve never really felt a charge like this.”
She didn’t say anything but nodded. “I think it has to do with the healing that I gave you earlier, after your first attack.”
“Did I ever thank you properly for that? Or for this second healing either?”
She snorted. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Chances are you may not appreciate the result of all this anyway.”
He eyed her curiously, but her car was up ahead. She walked around to the driver’s side, but he made it there first. “I’m fine. I can drive this time.”
She studied him, and he noted the fatigue in her gaze. He led her around to the passenger side, helped her get in. When she sat down and closed her eyes, he nodded. “There are times when it’s important to let somebody else help,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” she whispered, “I hear you, but those times in my world have been very few and far between.” And just like that, she rolled her eyes halfway up into the back of her head, and she went dead quiet.
He retrieved his bag from his SUV then returned to her car and started the engine, turned the vehicle around, and headed toward the hotel.
There, he parked as close to their room as he could, then shut off the engine.
He walked around and helped her out, grabbing her to-go bag, and stayed by her side, all the way to their room.
It was late, but it felt like days since they’d been here.
However, it had only been since this morning.
He helped her on to the bed, where she crashed. He pulled a blanket up and over her shoulders. Standing there, studying her, he decided to leave her alone long enough to sort out food. She would need something when she woke from this energy burn, and he could use something now.
A restaurant was just around the corner, so he left her a note, locked up the door, and headed to the corner spot.
As soon as he walked into the restaurant, he eyeballed the menu and quickly picked up enough food for the night and the morning, hoping she would at least eat at one time or the other.
And, with food in hand, he walked back to find her still crashed on the bed, but her phone was ringing like crazy.
He picked it up, hesitated, and then answered.
A woman screamed at him, “What happened to you? Are you okay? What’s going on? I can feel your energy. What’s going on, Cy? Speak to me.”
He hesitated and then replied, “She’s asleep.”
Dead silence came, and then the woman, sounding like she was almost in a controlled rage, asked, “Who are you? What happened to my cousin, and where are you?”
He hesitated because, for a moment, it crossed his mind that he knew nothing about this person, but something urged him to trust her. “I am Steele. We’re at the same place she was before, the same hotel,” he replied. “We were attacked.”
She snapped, “I know you were attacked. I felt it.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. He thought he remembered Cyan saying something about a family member having abilities, maybe a couple cousins?
“How is she?”
“She’s okay. She’s sleeping it off right now, but she appears to be fine. I just went and got us some food,” he explained.
“And what about you? Did you also get attacked again?”
He stared down at the phone for a moment. “She told you?”
“Yes,” she snapped impatiently. “She called me while you were out cold. Is she draining energy right now?”
He turned to her and checked. “No.”
“Thank heavens for that,” she muttered. “I was afraid it was the same thing as happened to you.”
“I’m hopeful that she’s just recovering from an energy burn and will wake up soon,” he shared.
“She better,” she said, her voice quiet, almost threatening.
“Look. I don’t know anything about what’s going on—”
“Neither do I,” she cut him off, her tone razor-sharp, “but you tell her to call me when she wakes up, and I’ll be calling back in a little bit when I can sense her stirring.”
And, with that, she disconnected.