Right into an-honest-to-god dungeon.
Chapter Sixteen
Connor
“She's gone!” I ran a shaky hand through my hair and searched the house one more time. The stench of bleach burned my nose. My stomach churned as I tried to imagine why someone would need so much bleach in the kitchen. What were they cleaning?
Blood?
I pushed away the thought. She couldn't be hurt. I wasn't gone that long for someone to murder her and then clean my damn kitchen to cover up their crime.
I reached out through our bond and her essence tugged back. The trickle of acknowledgement eased my nerves. My hand trembled as I pressed it over my heart, thankful our bond still pulsated.
Yet, like a child's persistent tugging to gain attention, her presence called to me. I closed my eyes and saw a shadowy figure in my kitchen, cleaning, hastily moving about. The human-like mist flowed about the island and into the living room. She hovered in the center of the room where she sat down. I followed suit beside the mist and slowed my breathing. Our connection formed, her essence twining with mine.
My body became lighter, as though the gravity in the room was sucked away. Tensing, I held on to the mist and followed her.
“Man, she's not here,” Drew said from the doorway, but I ignored him.
A part of me needed to sit here and stay awhile, to soak in the remnants of her. Focusing on the mist, I squeezed my eyes tighter, but it flowed toward a bag. I grabbed it and dumped the contents on the floor. Stones clattered on the wood floor. Most were white, but the mist hovered over the single blue sapphire.
I held it with both hands until the cold stone sent magical sparks throughout my body and soul. I tightened my fingers around the blue sapphire until my knuckles turned white. An unfamiliar power slammed into me like the current of a lightning bolt traveling through water. It was fast, sharp, and painful.
“Connor, what's going on?”
Drew's voice faded as I slammed through what felt like a tornado's funnel. A mirage of events that weren't my own flashed before my eyes like an old-fashion movie reel. Each frame showed Aylin growing, maturing, training.
Her struggles. Her happiness. Her fears. All tangled together, seeping into my soul. My life. Our life. What I had always considered her aloofness, I now understood was something different. A cover for her feelings of failure, of connecting with someone, of needing to rely on someone other than herself.
And I was that someone.
Her someone.
Our connection mingled like the light from our bond. We danced, circled, intertwined. I shared Aylin's life on every level. She was mine and I was hers.
With each memory, a weight lifted until all her doubts, all her fears vanished and she was at peace. I was at peace—a simple word that had several levels of complexity. I floated from the world I lived in to somewhere else. Maybe it was heaven, maybe hell. Who knew? But this must be what heaven felt like when you finally crossed through the pearly gates.
Before I could cross into the unknown, I crashed back to earth. Hard.
I fell atop of Aylin's house. Or what remained of it. The cool remnants of the fire crunched under my less-than-graceful landing, and the puff of soot had me coughing. My eyes stung as particles flew around me. When my vision cleared, the white human-like mist guided me to the center of the house.
I dusted the ashes off my pants as I followed her. She picked up the blue stone that I must have dropped during my fall and offered it to me. When I reached for it, the stone's coldness seeped into my fingers, but upon my touch, it heated and glowed eerily.
The swirling mist vanished.
“Aylin!” I reached out to hold the mist here. “Please, don't leave. I need you.” I called to Aylin, believing with every fiber of my body that she was the mist. But it was too late. I was left alone in the middle of the ashes with the blue sapphire.
It burned hotter than before, acting as if it had a mind of its own and was angry. My mind drifted with Aylin's memories. What did this all mean? I was never one to meditate, but I felt a need to. I clenched my fingers tighter. The warmth of the stone forced me to focus as I had before.
The sapphire guided me to Aylin. She was trapped in a cell, fighting to break free. A growl escaped me and outrage burned through my mind, hotter than the stone. Not some damn dungeon! I yanked her toward me and this place.
Frowning, she mouthed something. I hesitated. Maybe she didn't know I was trying to save her or that it was me on the other side helping her to escape.
***
Aylin
I paced the small cell, eyeing the shackles on the wall, thankful that Gabriel didn't see me as a big enough threat to chain me. A chill ran through my body. Why should he? I was powerless. I was vulnerable, weak. I spat with a bitterness that surprised me. I hadn't been weak since the night my parents had been killed.
I won't be weak. I am better than that. I trained to overcome.
With renewed purpose, I sat in the center of the cell and tried to concentrate on a way out. I can do this. Cassiel had escaped Gabriel's entrapment, and so could I. What I didn't understand was why he had sent me here after taking my power? What threat was I now?
Connor called to me. I felt him searching, guiding, pulling me toward him. The magic of our bond remained, despite the fact that the black char had stolen my power. Maybe my magic wasn't gone, only dormant, waiting to be reactivated. I hoped so.
Footsteps echoed beyond the wooden door, then stopped. Did the person hesitate for effect or to build up his courage? Maybe
