"Back off." Charlie wraps his arm around my waist and scowls. "She's under enough stress as is."
My power digs its claws into me. How did the amulet go from protecting me to not in the matters of minutes? I want to stand on my own two feet, but the pressure is building so much that the whole world begins to spin.
"Some of it she does to herself." Dax huffs and rubs his temples. "What are you trying to prove?"
"It'd be nice if we could just get back to Ria's." I'm about to fall apart here, and he wants to argue. What in the world is wrong with him? "Then, maybe you could lecture me?"
Charlie transfers some of my weight toward him and sets a slow, steady pace.
"I'll just carry her." Dax grabs my arm and pulls me toward him.
Oh, hell no. I won't be manhandled. I let out some of the vibrant purple strand, which burns his hand. "Do not touch me like that again."
"Shit." He yelps and shakes out his hand. "You didn't have to do that. I was trying to help, for God's sake."
"You had a funny way of showing it." The power clobbers me from every direction. Dammit, letting loose some energy wasn’t a wise idea.
"I've got her." Charlie wraps my arm around his shoulder, and we move again.
The colors inside me are beautiful. It's almost like a fireworks show on a hot summer night, but the difference is the fireworks are exploding within me. Each burst feels like a sucker punch to the gut, and it hurts to just breathe.
A breeze picks up around me, which pulses and aggravates the power already warring inside me.
"Dammit, Chris." Dax grinds out the words as if he's in pain too. "I can see the house from here. We're almost there."
For some reason, that makes everything inside and out more sporadic. Almost like it knows time is running out. The Water Artifact calls to me, pulsing and taunting. I still have no clue where it is, but the Elements inside me respond to it.
Something rumbles underneath us, and Charlie pulls more of my weight onto him. "Sweetheart, please try to calm down. The ground is shaking."
My vision becomes hazy, but I press on. I have to get back to Ria's; that's my only goal. "I'm trying."
"This is ridiculous." Dax lifts me up as if I'm a child and begins sprinting to the door.
I want to argue with him, but that would be stupid. Not only is my life at risk right now, theirs are too.
Charlie runs in front and opens the door. "Hurry, she should be fine once she gets in here."
When the door shuts, relief engulfs me. The water element is no longer attacking me, and my inner powers calm down. The colors stop fighting against my dark reaper magic and recede back into my core. Holy shit, that was so close. I'm still cradled in Dax's arms which are tight around me.
"You okay now?" Charlie's hazel eyes shine with concern, and he touches my arm.
"Yeah, I feel so much better." I wiggle, lifting up my head, and face Dax. "You can let me down now. I feel fine."
He arches his dark eyebrow and nods. "All right." He sets me back down on my feet, and I almost stumble. "Easy there." He reaches out to steady me.
"Whoa." The world is standing still once again, and I hold on to the wall just in case. "Thanks for your help."
"That's what I'm here for." He gives me a small smile as the air around him goes back to its usual color.
"Come on, let's get you to bed." Charlie grabs my hand and helps me up the stairs.
At the top, Ria comes into view. She's sitting on the floor cushions with one of the large leather books out in front of her. She glances up and focuses on me. "You're finally back."
"Yeah, we got caught up in the city." I force myself to walk tall and straight. I don't want her to know that I was struggling before we got back. The less she knows the better.
"Dax was getting worried because you had been gone so long." She flips a few pages and stops.
Is that an underlying threat, or am I being paranoid? "Well, he must have caught me just in time."
"You're telling me." Dax's laugh is deep and a little off key.
"So did you guys have a good time?" Ria shuts the book and scans all three of us up and down.
"Yes, we did." Charlie steps forward and kisses my forehead. "I haven't been able to spend time like that with her in a very long time."
"Oh, really?" Her eyes widen, and she tilts her head.
She's fishing now. I wonder what she's up to. "Yeah, between work and the council back home, we are run pretty ragged." Okay, I need to change the subject before she asks more questions. "But we enjoyed our time here. We actually went on a boat ride around the island."
Her shoulders tense, but she takes a deep breath, forcing them to relax. "Oh, really? That's nice. That is one of the more popular attractions here. Did someone tell you about it?"
"Yeah, one of the merchants." Charlie steps next to me and grins. "And boy, they were right. I think we fell in love with your world."
"That's great news." She stands and places the book back on the shelf. "So, have you considered my offer to stay here?"
"You know I'm already on board with the plan." Dax shakes his head and points at me. "The less I have to worry about her, the better. That amulet makes it a lot easier on me."
If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was telling the truth. Jackass. "Actually, we have."
Charlie rubs the back of his head and bites his bottom lip. "It sure is a hard offer to ignore."
"So, what he’s saying is yes, we're considering it." Now that Damien is here
