Beyond (48 page)

When Austin stepped on the grounds of Paradisus, he realized he should have brought backup. Knowing Claudia needed him had clouded his mind . H
e went without thinking twice. All he could think about was getting to her, to make sure no harm came her way.
“
Claudia, ”
he called. There was no answer as he walked the pebbled path. No sound from her and being alone was not a good thing.

He headed toward where the ground
had collapsed, but before he reached the area, he saw Claudia bound by golden angelic cuff s . Carefully, he looked up among the trees and scanned the perimeter. When he didn ’
t see anyone, he advanced to her.
“
What happened? I told you never to go anywhere by yourself.
”

Avalon shook her head and tried to tell him she wasn ’
t Claudia, but all Austin heard was mumbling sounds and a fright ened look in her eyes. Feeling furious and glad to see her at the same time, he stroke d her hair , needing physical confirmation she was fine and no harm was done to her.

Before he could figure out how he was going to
unb ind the cuffs, he was lifted up into the air. It happened so fast, he didn ’
t have a chance to react. A branch from a tree slithered like a snake , coiled around Austin ’
s ankle , and yanked him up.
As he was shot up in the air, Austin willed his bow and slashed across it , releasing himself to fall toward the ground . On his way down, another branch wrapped around him and broke his fall. Several more darted and cur led around his arms and legs.
Faster and faster, m ore branches appeared, wrapping h is body like a mummy.

Michael stood on the vast hills where he
’d dropped off Claudia the last time he was here. He search high and low but could not find Davin. He had specifically told him to wait. Davin never went against his word , so Michael f ou nd it odd that he would just rush off by himself ; but then again, an angel in love did stupid things.

Michael
’
s instinct told him something was wrong, but he decided to trust Delilah ’
s word s .
After searching near the hills, he went further into the woods.
What stun ned him the most was seeing Claudia a few yards away, tied to a tree. Michael wondered if he was hallucinating. He had been with her a short time ago. How could she be here?

He approached her carefully. She definitely looked like Claudia ; her petite frame, her eyes, the color of her hair, but he knew it wasn ’
t his Claudia. Claudia smelled like lavender wrapped up in sunshine, but whoever was masked , did not. Michael didn ’
t feel the attraction when he looked at her, the kind of attraction that draws two souls like a magnet that you can ’
t pull apart no mat ter how hard you try. H
e also didn ’
t see the butterfly necklace on her. He back ed away cautiously , not to awaken or disturb any demons nearby, but it was to o late .

Oddly, he didn
’
t see any demons prance in front of him as he willed his sword. All he heard w as the shuffling sounds from the trees and the ground where he stood. Flashing his eyes swiftly to every sound, he waited , anticipating.

With a
‘
whoosh ’
sound, one branch slashed Mi chael in the bac k like a w hip . He flew across and sl ammed into a tree. Feeling dazed , he stumbled to get up and willed his sword that was knocked out of his hand. Just in time, he slashed through mor e branches that were charging at him, a nd they slithered back. When he thought that was the end of it, he dashed toward Avalon, still not knowing who she was, but more demons came toward them.

Michael turned when Avalon gave him a
fright ened look . He cut the branch es aiming for his arms, but he missed the ones that coiled around his feet. Yanked up into the trees, he slammed against the tree’s trunk . Just before he was knocked out, he called out for the only person he ’d ever loved .

As the
A lpha team gather ed in Claudia ’
s room to discuss their plan, Claudia paced anxiously from the foot of her bed to the double door. Worried for Michael and Austin, she only heard half of their conversation. A part of her felt uncomfortable , remember ing who Vivian, Caleb and Davin w ere .
She tried her best not to make it obvious because now was not the time to discuss this matter , when more important issues were at hand.

“
Would you stop pacing back and forth, princess ?
You ’
re making me nervous.
”
Holly ’
s tone was light, but Claudia didn ’
t take it that way.

“
Why do you call me princess? You think I ’
m this helpless girl who can ’
t do anything right…and…I need others to protect me all the time , because I have this dam n soul and can ’
t do a dam n thing right…like killing Aliah?
”
Claudia ’s heart raged with anger and fear. She took her failure of killing Aliah out on them.
She didn’t mean to, it just came out unexpectedly . S
he couldn ’
t stop thinking about Michael and Austin , wondering if they were trouble.

Shock
ed by the sudden outburst that was so uncharacteristic of Claudia, no one said a word as they watched her storm out of the room.

Davin followed her
out , closing the door behind him.
“Claudia.”

Claudia ignored Davin
’
s call and ke pt on running toward anywhere she thought she could escape. She headed toward the kitchen , sobb ing her worries out into the palm s of her hands.

Davin didn
’
t care if he would be rejected; he cuddled Claudia into his hold.
“
I ’
m sorry. I know you know that I know what you know.
”

Claudia busted up laughing as she took a step back , wiping her tears. Davin beamed a huge smile too , feeling good that he ’d made her laugh. Claudia always felt a great level of comfort around him , even when she didn ’
t know who he was. She cared about him and she knew he did the same. It was the kind of the feeling you never let go of, or forgot.

“
Davin, I remember you, ”
she said , with the most heartfelt smile and such sweetness in her tone, like she had just reunited with her best friend.
“
I remember Caleb and Vivian too. I don ’
t remember what we ’
ve been through, but I remember some and how I felt.
”

Davin stood there at first, looking stunned as ever. To Claudia ’
s s urprise, he reached for her and gave her a tight squeeze, like one would hold a long lost friend.
“
I ’
m so sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I thought you might think that I was crazy. It had to come from you, ”
he muttered .
“
We didn ’
t know what to do, but we had a plan. I mean , we still have a plan. You ’
re not suppose to know cause then it wouldn ’
t be a surprise plan. We ’
ve always had your back, looking after you, making sure you were okay. We just had to wait for the right time.
”

Claudia didn
’
t care what the plan was. She didn ’
t even bother to ask. She let herself melt into his warm hug, the hug of comfort, the hug of friendship, the hug of the feeling of home.

As Davin release
d his hold, Caleb and Vivian burst in , running toward Claudia.