Envisioned (The Elemental Prophecy) (27 page)

Oh…my…God, what the fuck was happening to her?! I lay next to Brielle on the bed, clenching my teeth and writhing in pain. A sheen of sweat covered my entire body, making my clothes uncomfortably stick to me. I gripped the sheets in my hands, trying to stifle the pain I was experiencing. I felt like I was being sliced with razors, and I didn't know what to do to make any of it stop. I knew the pain was coming from Brielle. I prayed that she couldn't feel anything in her unconscious state, but the tiny whimpers she made occasionally told me otherwise. I wished that I could take away her pain, to take the full brunt of whatever she was feeling away from her, but I just lay there helpless, not knowing what to do.

Time passed slowly as I waited for her to awaken. The only thing that grounded me was that she had a steady pulse, and her breathing was regular. It had been at least ten hours that she had been like this, and I prayed over and over again that she would come back to me, only to be answered with silence and the occasional whimper of pain.

I knew this was a bad idea, but she never listened. That amount of power was too much for any person to handle, even though she was the One. I tried to be angry with her, but my concern and love for her quickly trumped any feelings of anger. All I wanted was for her to wake up, to open those gorgeous eyes and smile at me. She whimpered again, her face scrunched in pain, and I pounded my fist against the bed as the wave of her pain hit me. I had never felt anything like it, and I had endured many injuries throughout my fighting career, as well as fights with Elementals. It was as if someone was trying to filet my skin from my bones with a scorching hot knife. Moisture pooled in my eyes as I gritted my teeth from the pain.

“Jace,” Brielle whimpered, eyes still closed. “I'm sorry…I love you,” she continued, several tears dripping down the sides of her face.

“Baby, wake up, I'm right here. Please wake up!” I said as I softly pulled her into my lap, cradling her as more tears streamed down my face, stemming from a different form of pain. The physical pain I was enduring paled in comparison to the emotional one I was feeling right now at the thought of losing her.

“I was so blessed to have you in my life. You were the best thing that ever happened to me,” she murmured, her eyes still closed and furrowed in pain. No, no, no…why was she talking like that?!

“Brielle, I'm right here! Wake up!” I repeated more forcefully, shaking her. “Wake up, mi amante, please! You can't leave me!”

Her body went limper, if that was even possible, and I felt the breath leave her. “NO!!! NO!!! BRIELLE!!! BRIELLE!!!” I screamed, bringing my head down to hers and pressing her cheek to mine—it was burning up, impossibly hot, even for me. I rocked her against me, silently begging for her to wake up, as our tears mixed on our joined faces. I took her face in my hands and kissed her lips, willing her to wake up. I caressed her face and stroked her hair, still silently praying she would come back. I realized that the pain was gone, but it didn't make any sense. If she was dead and the pain was gone, how was I still alive? This was the only thought that kept me from completely losing it, even though I was only hanging on by a fraying thread.

Then, her whole body jerked, and I felt the pain slowly returning, building steadily back to full force. It took all I had not to drop her, but if these were our last moments, I wanted to be holding her, to feel her against me. My place was with her, my soul intertwined with hers until the end, which seemed to be sooner than we had wanted. She started convulsing, and I held her tighter to me as I choked through my sobs, “I love you, Brielle, mi amante, until my last heartbeat. You are the light in my darkness, the sunrise in my life, the missing piece that completes my soul. I was broken until I found you, your existence making mine worthwhile. There is so much more that I don't even know how to express in words, but I know you can feel the never-ending depth of my love for you. I'm sorry I didn't protect you better.”

Dots spotted my vision, dizziness settling like a fog around me. The pain was unbearable, and I wished for, as well as cursed the relief of death. I was not going to give up. I would endure any pain imaginable if it meant that I kept Brielle. I fought against the dizziness and blackness creeping up on me, straining to keep my arms wrapped around Brielle. I tried to focus on her perfect face, but I was slowly losing the battle of consciousness. I felt my body swaying as a bright light coming from her blinded me right before the darkness defeated me.

My eyes blinked open, trying to adjust to the darkness in the room. Night must have fallen since I blacked out. As my mind cleared, I instinctively reached for Brielle, finding her on my left side, her head resting on my stomach. I eased out from under her, eager to turn the lights on and check on her since we somehow miraculously survived whatever caused the pain we suffered. My eyes once again struggled to adjust, this time to the light flooding the room. My eyes flitted to Brielle's prone form, and I quickly rushed to the bed to flip her over carefully. To my relief, her chest rose and fell, and I slowly caressed her face, attempting to wake her. She stirred, her eyes fluttering behind her closed lids before she slowly opened them, blinking several times. She finally registered my face, a relieved but sad smile gracing her lips as she sat up to wrap her arms around my neck.

“Oh, Jace,” she sobbed into my shoulder.

“Shhh, mi amante, it's okay, I'm right here.”

She pulled back to look at me, her bottom lip quivering, as she perused over my face to assure herself I was really there.

“What happened?” I asked, still unsure as to what had occurred following Brielle's blackout.

“After I blacked out, I woke up in what I assume is Mt. Olympus because I met Zeus. I climbed this moun…”

“Wait, what?” I interrupted.

“Zeus. He was waiting for me when I reached the top of this mountain.”

“Really? Zeus, the ruler of the Gods?”

“Yes, now will you let me finish?” she asked exasperated. I nodded for her to continue.

“Well, as I was saying,” she said, glaring at me, “Zeus was at the top of this mountain that I climbed. He told me how The Three Fates had created the Prophecy, and how Atropos saved my dad from dying so that I could fulfill the Prophecy. Then he said that he would give me the power of Akasha, if I still wanted it. I said yes, he touched my temples, and BAM!”

“Is that what all that pain was from?”

“You felt all that?” she asked, guilt etched on her face.

“Yeah, I did. I thought you were dying,” I said morosely, taking her hand and pressing her palm to my lips.

“I thought I was dying, too. The worst part was the thought that I would never get to see you again. I…I talked to you, and…” she trailed off, her tears cutting off the rest of her words.

“I know. I heard you,” I said, pausing. “That's what scared me the most was when I heard you talking like that.”

“I'm so sorry,” she said, wrapping her arms around my neck once again. “I heard you, too,” she said, pulling away to look into my eyes.

“I meant every word,” I softly replied, gazing back at her.

In an instant, she crushed her lips to mine, pushing me back on the bed. Our mutual need was evident after what just occurred. I tangled my fingers in her hair, relishing in her, all of her; the way her skin felt against mine, the way she smelled, the way she tasted. Precious gifts that I almost lost that I never wanted to take for granted. I parted her lips with my tongue, her sweetness flooding my mouth. She moaned in appreciation as our tongues continued to lace together, desperate to taste every bit of each other.

I rolled her over, my mouth never leaving hers as I positioned myself between her legs. I could hear her thoughts as she told me that she loved me, and I relayed the same back to her. It was unnecessary, however since our love was pulsing intensely through our bond. There was no way she couldn't feel how much I loved her, how much she meant to me, especially since it was deeper than before. I didn't think that was possible—almost losing her made her that much more precious to me.

My hand slid under her shirt and up to grab her breasts. Her nipples instantly hardened under my touch and her desire rippled through our bond, causing my dick to throb. I pushed her shirt up, exposing her bra, as I continued to caress her silky skin. My mouth left hers reluctantly, exchanging her lips for her breast. I began to unfasten her bra when I heard the front door hitting the wall.

“BRIELLE!!!!” shouted Kiera. I heard her running up the stairs, and Brielle pulled her shirt down and squirmed out from under me. We both stood up as Kiera reached the top of the stairs.

“Your dad is gone,” she said breathlessly.

“What?!” Brielle asked in disbelief. “What do you mean he's gone?!”

Kiera held up a paper that resembled parchment—old, yellowed, and worn. She handed it to Brielle, whose eyes scanned the page speedily. Her amber eyes glistened with tears as she handed the paper to me, and braced herself on the dresser as she took deep breaths. The page read:

If you want to see your father again, you will willingly surrender yourself to the Council. You have three days before we kill him. Do not try to use your powers against us when you arrive, or else he will die.

When I looked up from the page, Brielle had slumped to the floor with her back against the dresser. Tears streaked her face as she stared off at a spot on the wall, dazed by the news of her father's kidnapping. “We'll get him back, mi amante, I promise,” I said, trying to ease her concern.

“What are we going to do?” Kiera asked.

“Brielle and I are going to go get him, of course,” I replied.

“You can't do that! It's a total trap!”

“I know, but we have no other choice. We have to rescue him.”

Silence settled over us. We knew we were walking into a trap, but we had no other options. Brielle abruptly stood, startling both Kiera and I. “Let's think of a plan. I'm going to kill those fucking bastards,” she vowed.

I was fucking furious. I wouldn't be surprised if smoke was billowing from my body. I clenched my hands to keep from summoning my powers and destroying something. How dare they take my dad?! They must have a serious death wish to do something so foolish as to fuck with me. I would make them regret ever laying a finger on my dad.

After discussing several plans, Jace and I decided that we would head to the Elemental community first thing in the morning. Kiera wanted to join us, but we quickly squashed that idea, convincing her that someone needed to watch the house and inform us of any suspicious activity while we were gone. I debated on whether or not to tell Kimber and Zane, but I didn't want anyone else placed in danger because of me.

We woke up early, preparing two backpacks with bottles of water, plenty of snacks, and changes of clothes. Jace said that the hike there would take half a day, but if we took my boat, we would get there in less than two hours. The boat would also give us a quick escape route, but that was if no one found it while we were rescuing my dad. If that happened, we would have to resort to walking.

As we set off on the boat, I sent a text to Kimber to let her know about our plan, just in case we didn't make it back:

8:12 AM Me: My dad was kidnapped Jace and I are going to rescue him now

8:13 AM Kimber: WTF?! We are coming over

8:14 AM Me: We already left