Looking around, her eyes tried to focus on what was missing. Something was missing. Her lungs burned as she sucked in air. Deo. Deo was missing.
The flood of nightmares, or rather questionably lucid memories broke free of a mental dam creating a deluge of everything that had happened.
She jumped as electric shock pricked against her skin, up and down her arms, along every nerve. She screamed out in pain.
The edges of her vision clouded as she tried to focus on the hall.
Slowly, though, the pain subsided to a memory.
Holding up her hand, she studied it. Nothing seemed different, but as she studied her own skin, she saw it. Her skin had a faded halo around it.
She wiped at her cheek as she realized a tear had escaped. No. She didn’t cry.
She was fine.
But what was going on? Her magic flared along her fingers.
Swallowing, she thought back, relying on the little knowledge she had about being a witch. She didn’t know anything complex, most of her training had been independent and revolved around healing magics.
Her throat burned as she swallowed again, realizing a desperate need for water. This felt like a damn hangover now. What had happened?
She’d seen the creepy guy, seen a few other shadowy men, but what was the magic that could bring Deo to his knees?
Memory spells. She knew something like that. Mumbling a few words, she watched as the surrounding air shifted and restructured into muted visions of what had happened.
The creepy guy from the lab. His mouth moved but sadly the memory had no sound. Well, shit.
She squinted, trying to read his lips.
Remember. Why couldn’t she remember this? She’d been there. He was talking to her. Maybe? Turning her head, the vision of Deo charging him in near slow motion choked a sob in her throat. He was trying to save her.
Her hand flew to her chest as she watched him, her huge warrior, her dragon brought to his knees.
It was then that she saw the strange distortions in the vision. What was there? She couldn’t make it out. Something didn’t feel right.
Standing there, she watched the memory replay again and again. What was it?
Her phone. She could call the other dragons. They would help her.
Stepping back from the banister, she pushed herself up the stairs to where her phone should be. Her breathing grew heavier as she moved the lead weights of her feet up one step at a time.
Pausing on the top step, she stopped and caught her breath. Her magic was still sparking around her, warning her? No. Maybe? She didn’t know. It wasn’t like her being a half human-half witch hybrid ever got her accepted into any magical schools. Or, well, perhaps it was the fact her dad didn’t exactly know what to do either.
Something had drugged her. She needed to heal, later. Deo first. She needed a plan. Grab her phone and then head to the kitchen. She knew how to flush the system against certain magical toxins and the more she listened to her magic the more it made sense. Demonic magic. That’s why nothing seemed like it should, there were traces of demonic magic here, in her, around her. It made sense that something not from this world would be able to take down Deo.
Nothing else could have done something like that.
Phone. She needed to get to the phone.
A few more steps and she leaned on her doorjamb. So close. She bit back the stomach acid trying to come up.
No. She wasn’t getting sick, again. Not while Deo was missing. That’s what the pain was. It wasn’t the demonic magic; it wasn’t her own magic; it was that he was in trouble.
She didn’t know why she knew that. The mark on her shoulder tingled as her magic danced around it.
Of course she knew- she was connected to him. Right. Mated. She needed him. She wanted him back.
Stumbling to the nightstand, she grabbed at her phone and sat on the bed, or more like flopped. The scent of Deo on her sheets caught her off guard and she gasped for air as her throat grew tight. What if he wasn’t okay? What if she’d really screwed everything up? But she hadn’t. She hadn’t accepted that asshole's offer, but she also hadn’t been honest with Deo, not right away.
Her eyes blurred as she tried to scroll through her phone to look for the number he’d given to her. She prayed someone answered.
It rang. She focused on the sound, trying to control the panic swallowing her.
More ringing, until, finally. “Hello?”
“Oh, thank God. Deo is missing.”
Silence met her. Did he hang up? Whoever answered better not have or she would kill them, later of course. She didn’t even care who answered; it had to be one of the dragons.
“Is this Eadric? Hello?”
Finally, his voice answered. “This is Cy. We will come to you.” And without another word, he hung up.
Cy? Who was Cy? How many of them were there? Whatever. Didn’t matter, she supposed.
Okay. What did she need? Pants. She needed pants. The room suddenly seemed chilled. Was it her? Or was it the absence of her dragon?
Her body shivered.
Taking all of her energy she stumbled to her closet and grabbed whatever was closest. Who cared what she looked like right now.
Stumbling out, she struggled to get one foot in front of the other quickly. The room spun a bit, but she refused to give in.
“Shit,” she said as she just barely made it to the bed where she face-planted.
“Aisha? Wake up.”
She rolled over, her head splitting.
“Oh, thank goodness. You’re alive,” said the same female voice.
“Of course she’s alive, she was breathing,” said another female.
Aisha blinked away the sleep, or haze of whatever had just happened.
“Is that you, Maddie?”
The voice came into focus.
“Yes. Lilly too. The boys are downstairs, waiting.”
She rolled her head to one side. “Waiting for what?”
Maddie’s wild eye
