Chapter 23 Thayla #3
The silence and darkness closing in have me spinning around. Fear clogs my throat, but a scream bursts free when I accidentally slam the torch lamp against the wall. The glass casing shatters, and a rush of liquid hits the ground.
“No, no, no, no. Riven!”
My bellow echoes through caverns and chambers I can’t see as I shuffle my feet back until I hit a wall. The stench of oil invades my nose, making my eyes instantly water.
The disorienting sight heightens my panic, and I cover my ears as the haunting sound of menacing laughter fills my mind.
No. Fuck no. Don’t do this to me, brain.
Not in a cave alone. In the dark.
I crane my neck back, staring at the crystal shards above me, just like I used to look for the stars in the arena.
“Riven!”
A scream tears free and my fist flies forward as I’m jerked from the wall. My punch connects with a chest as soon as warmth surrounds my very being.
“Whoa, angel, it’s me,” Riven grunts as he wraps his fingers around my wrist. “What happened?”
I gasp for air, thanking the Valories that he found me but also can’t see me.
Fuck, Thayla. You should’ve turned the torch lamp on the second you started searching.
“I couldn’t hear you anymore. When I turned around, I accidentally slammed your lamp into the wall, and it shattered. I couldn’t see you.”
“Yeah, I smell it.”
“I’m sorry.”
My words are softer than I intended them to be, and I cringe at how shaken I sound.
“Don’t let go of me.”
He laces our fingers together and I embarrassingly cuddle as close to him as I can possibly get without jumping on his back.
His glowing, mostly blue eyes, must act as a light source for him. He guides us through the cave without a single stumble or trip, while if I didn’t have him in a death grip, I’d surely have already face-planted.
I’m both pissed off at myself for getting so far away from him to begin with, and at him because damn if he ventured all the way over here already, he most certainly was leaving me behind.
“Holy shit,” I mumble as we step into a large chamber.
Sparkles intensify around us, providing me with all kinds of light, but all I can focus on is the massive, five-spire Angel Aura Amethyst in the center. It’s surrounded by varying sizes of clusters that spread out everywhere.
Its power literally pulses through the space—beckoning us forward.
My mind, body, and soul hum as the energy vibrates my skin.
This is the rawest form of power I’ve ever felt.
“This is what we came for. Stay beside me as I harvest it. I’ll need both my hands.”
“Don’t leave me, Riven,” I warn.
“Never.”
I reluctantly let him go as he bends down, pulls something out of his backpack, and focuses on some of the smaller spires sticking out of the ground. My feet pull me toward the largest piece as he starts up a rhythmic chiseling and I hover my palm in front of it.
My mind grows hazy and my heart pounds against my ribcage relentlessly. Yet, the pounding isn’t in a fretful, panicked, or fearful sense, but a…safe one that’s full of comfort.
Angel Auras have always been rumored to harbor the most intense divine connection and protection, but I never understood that.
Crystals can’t cast out their powers on their own or swing a sword, yet standing in its presence, my hand nearly touching it, I feel invincible.
Like nothing could ever hurt me here.
The natural luminescent light in here doesn’t do the coloring justice.
There are parts of the crystal that almost look black, but when we get outside in the sun, I’ll be able to see the deep rich purple it really is.
My eyes narrow on the strange formation on the side of the crystal. There’s an empty space on the ground where a single, small spire is starting to sprout.
“Riven, are you sure no one has harvested anything from this cave?”
“Not entirely sure, but given the abundance of crystals and this massive beauty, I highly doubt any other gods have been in here. Why?”
“Nothing. The formation over here is strange. Like there’s barely any growth here.”
“Well, these things have a mind of their own. There’s no rhyme or reason to the way they form. They become whatever they want to be.”
That’s true, and nothing actually seems disturbed. There’s no crack or chips on the larger piece. The smaller ones surrounding it are perfectly intact as well.
I flinch out of my staring as Riven’s hand slides into mine.
“Got what we need.”
“Enough for all of us or just two?”
“All of us. There’re hundreds and as long as no one discovers this cave, hundreds more will keep forming and growing.”
“We should probably do something to make sure it’s not discovered.”
“Good idea. I’ll set a trap.”
The chaos in his voice makes me snort, but it’s not the realm’s worst idea, so I don’t comment. I’ll let him work out whatever trap he wants.
Neither of us speaks as he guides us through the cave. I haven’t got the first clue where we are or where we’re going. Fear that he doesn’t either continues to swell in my chest as his fingers grow tighter around mine.
“Riv—”
The rest of his name flows from my mouth as nothing more than a breath when he pins me to the wall. The cool surface sends a shiver through me that’s swiftly replaced with heat as his arms barricade me in.
“Tell me why you don’t like the dark.”
His low, commanding tone has my mouth drying out and lips parting. The tension that was surrounding him was obviously not coming from us being lost.
“Why?”
“I need to know.”
“So you can tease me? Make me feel even more embarrassed than I already am?”
“I won’t do that to you.”
“You’ve done it before.”
“Not about this. Never about anything you truly fear.”
Our chests rise and fall opposite one another as though we’re reliant on each other’s inhale and exhale. I don’t know why he’s asking this, why he so desperately wants to know, but I want to tell him.
I want to lay out the truth and not have him make a funny comment or brush me off.
“I’ve always been afraid of the dark. What triggered that fear in me, I’m not sure, I don’t remember but…”
I release a long exhale as he inhales sharply.
“It got worse last year. It was a fear Mellcom and Jeremiah were well aware of, and they began using it against me. If I did something wrong, said something I shouldn’t have, at night, they’d drag me to the arena.
They’d tie me up in the center and stand in the dark corners where I couldn’t see them, then laugh as I begged them to let me go.
“Sometimes they’d do more, sometimes not.
They wouldn’t release me afterward, though.
They’d leave me there alone. The only source of light I’d have was the stars.
I’d talk to them as though they’d respond.
They never did. All I could hear was the sounds of wild animals and the leaves rustling in the wind, then eventually, just their laughter in my mind. ”
The anger pouring off him is tangible. It seeps into my skin and fills me.
Strangely enough, though, it doesn’t pour into my pot of anger that’s always simmering, waiting to boil over.
My soul sings in appreciation that his anger is directed at someone doing me wrong.
Ever so slowly, his hand comes off the wall and he holds it over my heart as though he’s telling it to thrash harder for him.
My breath hitches when he finally lays it against me. The light pressure he applies as he guides it through the center of my breast has my body trembling.
“Riven,” I breathe as his fingers travel beneath the hem of my shirt.
A gasp slips free the second he lays his warm palm against my stomach. The touch of his skin against mine has my pulse erupting everywhere.
He crowds me closer, splaying his fingers out and slowly dragging them to my back. I tilt my neck to look at him as he leans in so close, our lips nearly brush.
“I’m going to fix you now, Thayla. And you aren’t going to tell a soul about this. Not Kyzen, not Amick, Creed, or any of your friends. You’ll keep my secret for me. I don’t want anyone to know. I don’t want to give someone the opportunity to take advantage of me again.”
My eyes widen. “What do you—”
I suck in a sharp breath as his gift invades my body. My bones liquefy and he pulls me closer, pressing us chest to chest, forehead to forehead.
His eyes blaze blue as they bore into me and I fall into the hypnotizing swirl.
There’s nothing but him, his power.
It’s inside of me.
And my power responds.
“There you go. Good little burden, let it come to me.”
I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to.
Our powers don’t collide. They don’t fight.
They dance.
I’ve heard him say countless times how his power swirls in his stomach or flaps like wings. It tickles him. That’s the exact sensation I’m experiencing. It’s like the forces are spinning around one another in my belly to the beat of their own music.
It’s not uncomfortable, dizzying, or strange.
It’s freeing.
My back bows, and a cry leaves my lips as my power shoots across my body in multiple directions. Everything trembles until Riven’s lips fall to mine. Then it all goes calm.
My power, soul, skin, heart, everything about my very being settles into a state so comfortable, it’s only natural for me to relax fully in his arms.
He holds me through the kiss, through whatever his power’s fixing.
His power is fixing mine. I’ve never felt it so intensely before.
His fingers twitch as though he’s having to force them to let me go. They slowly trail back around to my bare stomach, out from under my shirt, and he cups my cheek as he pulls his lips from mine.
“There. That should feel better.”
It takes me at least five heartbeats to think straight. “What was that?”
“Focus on me.”
“Wait. Tell me—”
“Focus, Thayla. Close your eyes. Embrace the darkness while I’m here to protect you from it. Right now your power is completely settled, so focus.”
He doesn’t give me another opportunity to push anymore. His index finger presses against my forehead.
“Focus everywhere I touch.”