Thayla #2
“I think if it were, we’d know by now,” Yemi says. “This feels like something that would instantly get attention.”
Her wide stare drifts down to me, and she tightens her lips. The nod she gives me is full of so much more confidence than what I feel.
I finally take Amick’s hand and use his body as leverage as I force myself to stand. My knees wobble as I stumble my way to the next door.
It was just a fluke.
This one is going to just open like a normal fucking door does.
That wishful thought goes flying through the air right along with the ball of vapor that the second door turns into.
I swallow as the back of the hall lights a touch brighter than it did the first time.
Riven races down there, chuckling as he gets a sense of whatever he’s getting a sense of.
“That’s definitely what’s supposed to happen. The power’s getting stronger.”
Well, shit.
“Okay then,” I mumble, glancing at everyone. “Two down.”
The third and fourth doors welcome the key in with ease just as the two others did but require my power to push against their restraint a little more.
The fifth…a small touch of panic races across my chest as it doesn’t let me pull back. It latches onto my power and the key. Only once the door has disappeared past the handle does it release me.
I huff out a nervous laugh as everyone stares in confusion.
“It’s getting a little tougher now,” I warn them.
My men straighten their shoulders like they’re preparing to hold on to me as if I may get snatched through a door.
The sixth door poses the same issue, but it grips me even longer and draws out more power from me.
I wipe the sweat that’s dotting my forehead on my shirt and take a deep breath. The energy around us is thicker. With power and everyone’s tension.
“Fuck,” I mutter when the seventh door does, in fact, snatch me forward.
I crash against the solid wall, and my power literally bleeds through the spots where my skin touches. Its vapor crashes into the last door with so much force that the ground shakes beneath our feet and I jerk free from the wall.
Four sets of hands catch me as I gasp for air.
“Each door is taking a little more out of you,” Amick says as he observes my face.
“I know. I’m not drained or anything like that, though.”
They continue to study me as if they’ll sense a lie. I’m telling the truth. I mean, yes, I’m losing a bit of energy and stamina every door, but I’m not close to being drained.
That last door…we’ll see.
“Don’t let go of her,” Creed grunts.
I peer over my shoulder as the four of them grab a handful of my shirt when I stand in front of the eighth door.
The gesture brings a small smile to my lips.
It instantly melts away when this door rejects me so completely, I slide a step back.
“Shit,” I groan. “Looks like you all are pushing. Not pulling.”
I grip the key with both hands and shove against this invisible resistance with every ounce of strength I have. My men push against me, and grunts of effort rip from each of our lips. I swear it’s like we’re trying to move a solid marble wall.
The key finally slams into the hole, and I throw my entire body weight into forcing it to turn. There is no gradual disappearance of this door. My men and I are flung back as it crashes into the ground, then whisks through the air at the speed of light.
“Damn, that little fucker did not want to come down,” Riven says, huffing as he puts his hand on his hips and takes a couple of deep, ragged breaths.
The four of us aren’t faring any better.
I hang my head and place my hands on my knees as I fill my lungs.
“The glow isn’t fading now,” Yemi says, and I peek behind me.
Sure enough, the door is still giving off a faint light.
I huff as I stand straight.
“One more.”
I bounce my shoulders up and down and shake my hands out as I mentally prepare myself for whatever may be next. I raise my palm, attempting to get a sense of anything that may come from it.
There’s a low, deep hum, but other than that, it doesn’t feel any different than the others.
“Ready?” I ask as my men prepare themselves behind me.
This time, they have their fingers tangled in my shirt and light grips on my arms. They’re ready to push or pull depending on what’s needed.
“Ready,” they echo and I breathe.
Unease hits me in my chest as the key slides right in. I hold still, waiting for the ground beneath my feet to cave in or something.
A tense, silent moment passes and nothing happens.
“I suppose it’s given up its figh—”
A hiss takes over my words as the key burns in my grip, searing my skin. My fingers curl tighter around it and my arm trembles as heat crawls up my vein.
“Fuck!” I shout. “It’s burning me.”
“Let the fucking key go, Thayla,” Creed growls, gripping and pulling my arm.
“It won’t let me!”
I curl in on myself as blistering pain rushes through my whole side. It feels like I’m burning from the inside out.
Sevryn, without warning, puts my damn wrist in a death grip.
“I got you, just hold on.”
Gods.
The pain travels throughout my palm but dies once it reaches his power, and I grit my teeth, enduring the consistent pattern.
I’ll never complain about the strange, sluggish feeling of his power again.
I cry out, snatching my hand to my chest as soon as the door frees me. The key clatters to the ground and the racket echoes down the hall. My men all reach for my arm, but I jerk away, not wanting anyone to touch my skin right now.
Fuck, it hurts so bad.
“Let us see, please,” Amick mumbles, and I squeeze my eyes shut as I breathe through the lingering sting.
They each make a displeasing sound, and I whip my attention to my palm.
My body trembles as I stare at the perfect impression of an O. My glare drifts down to the key on the ground. Not a damn thing about it looks different, but the burn that no doubt is going to scar my hand is in the perfect impression of the circle at the end of it.
A snap echoes in front of me, and my attention jumps to Riven.
“Here,” he says, passing over a vial.
I tilt my head. “I thought you were giving that to Vullie?”
“I did give him one. I may have kept one for my collection.”
Honestly, perfect.
Little psycho and his obsession with vialed shit are saving my day.
I also send a silent thanks to Willow as I chug the vial down.
Like the unexplainable magic it is, the liquid rushes through my body, going straight for my palm. My jaw locks as an angry red mark glares back at me.
Yep. I’ve seen that transition enough.
Add it to the collection.
“Last damn one,” I grit out.
Before I can bend down and swipe the key up, my men lunge for it. Kyzen beats the others and he tosses it in the air multiple times before curling his hand around it.
He holds it pinched between his fingers as he scowls at it.
“It isn’t hot at all.”
Of course it isn’t.
He’s unsure and tentative as he passes it to me. When I don’t hiss or anything as the metal touches my skin, he lets it go.
I give him a grateful smile, then turn toward the final door.
My steps stutter as the glow takes me by surprise. It isn’t subtle in the slightest bit now.
Everyone’s slow footsteps follow me forward and they all crowd closer to me now than they have been. Despite everything these stupid-ass doors just put me through, their actions have my heart falling into a steady rhythm.
I don’t even make it fully to the door before a familiar pull tugs me forward. My eyes widen in surprise as the sensation sweeps through me.
“Guys,” I mutter. “Do you all feel that?”
“No,” they each repeat.
“What is it?” Amick asks.
“It feels just like it did when I stepped up to the Gods Veil. Like it’s beckoning me.”