He tapped his finger to his temple and worked his mouth. I wasn’t much of a lip reader, but it looked as if he recited the lyrics to Frosty the Snowman. He tapped his temple again. Ah, okay. I got it. He wanted us to recite song lyrics in our mind, probably to keep it active so we wouldn’t turn comatose.
I sure hoped it worked.
Now singing Pocket Full of Sunshine in my head—an annoyingly catchy tune—I nodded for us to keep going. Rob took the lead and directed us to the left.
This wasn’t right. It felt off. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew without a doubt that we were heading in the wrong direction. I stopped us and shook my head before nodding to the right. He frowned, studying me.
My hand began to glow, surprising us all. I broke our contact, holding it up, palm facing me. The ward glowed a stark and vivid white. Rob checked his ward. It too glowed, but not as brightly as mine. Clay’s barely shimmered.
The wards drew from our own connection to Bryan. I had the strongest connection. Therefore, mine glowed the strongest. With a nod, Rob relinquished the lead position to me, but took my left hand from Clay. It didn’t take a lip reader to know the name he called Rob in response before taking up the rear of our chain.
Using my ward as a beacon and having it guide us through the void like the north star, we weaved through men and women, young and old, but still no Bryan. Rob slowed, forcing me to turn to him. He’d lost all expression and stared straight ahead. Oh no. He was slipping. I jerked his hand, hard. It snapped him out of the trance. I tapped my temple as Clay had done. Rob nodded and began to mouth the lyrics to what looked like an old Nickelback song about wanting to be a rock star.
I switched to Bright, Sunshiny Day, realized I didn’t know any of the words other than those three, and jumped back to my original choice. I could certainly use a pocket full of sunshine right about now.
My ward glowed brighter the farther to the right we moved, so we picked up the pace. When one of us slowed, we’d collectively snap them out of it. I had to admit, Clay’s plan to have all of us teleport in together had been the right move. If I’d done this alone, I don’t know if I would have been able to stay focused and not slip into a catatonic state. All three of us had faded at least once. Thank God we had someone to snap us out of it before we slipped too far.
The glowing increased to the point I had to squint. It was so bright in comparison to the blackness of the void that it hurt my eyes and made it impossible to see anything else.
Open your eyes.
Well, hell. My brain chose now of all times to make that connection? Thanks, brain. As if I didn’t have enough going on in my head. I slid my lids closed and listened to my insight, feeling for Bryan instead of looking. Nothing happened. I tried again, concentrating harder. I pictured his beautiful face, those dazzling hazel eyes dancing as he flashed that crooked grin, showing off his cute dimple. I imagined his arms around me, holding me in his strong embrace as he whispered words of encouragement in my ear. I felt his lips on mine, kissing me tenderly as he weaved his fingers into my hair.
Rob squeezing my hand pulled my attention. I blinked my eyes open and followed his gaze, silently sobbing in relief. Bryan, my giant earth elemental, stood directly in front of us. Only, he wasn’t in a catatonic state. He looked right at me and even smiled when our gazes snagged. I ran into his arms, dragging Rob and Clay with me. Bryan rested his mouth against my ear, and I swear on all things holy, I heard him say I love you. He kissed me as he brushed his hand over my hair.
Clay pulled us together into a tight huddle. He looked to Rob, then to me. We all nodded and combined our air call to teleport back out.
We landed in the center of the cabin’s living room. Leo hurried over. “Did you find him?”
What did he mean, did we find him? He teleported back with us. Didn’t he?
Didn’t he?
I rushed to Bryan still sitting on the couch, no expression, staring straight ahead. No. No! He was fine. He had complete control over his mind. I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Bryan? Bryan, wake up. Wake up!”
“I don’t understand.” Rob joined me on the couch. “He was right there. He was right in the middle of our hug when we teleported out. Why the fuck is he not back?” He punched Bryan’s arm. “Wake the fuck up, bro.” He punched him again.
“Stop it!” I pushed him away and threw myself over Bryan to protect him. Tears stung my eyes and streamed down my cheeks. He couldn’t be gone. He couldn’t. I buried my face against his chest. “Come back to me. Please don’t leave me. I love you.”
His chest rose suddenly as he gasped for air. I pushed off him and blinked back more tears when I spotted that gorgeous smile. He looked around before holding his gaze on me. “I said it first.”
I laughed through my tears and hugged him as the guys all erupted in cheers and more laughter.
Rob punched his arm again. “Don’t you dare do something like that again. You scared the shit out of everyone.”
“Ow.” He rubbed his arm. “It’s not like I had a choice. Stace sent me to the void.”
“Why the hell would she do that?” Rob punched his arm a third time. This time, Bryan punched him