Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The strange tugging in my mind forced me to turn and walk across the clearing to the trees. The dark, very shadowed trees.

Not in there! I yelled at myself. For one fleeting moment, I swore my pace slowed but the time was brief and I continued my march into the darkness.

My legs took me fifty yards into the trees before I came to a stop in the middle of a small circle of trees. I could feel my heart pounding hard against my rib cage and my fingers twitched, the only proof that I so desperately wanted to clutch my chest.

All was as silent as the grave, an apt metaphor when something otherworldly loomed out of the shadows in front of me. The figure was slim and wore a cloak that completely covered their form. The stranger stepped out of the tree line and stopped five feet away from me. Beads of sweat slid down my forehead as my internal monologue screamed at me.

Run! God damn it, run!

The shadowy figure cocked their head to one side. A raspy male voice came from under the thick hood. "You are becoming rather troublesome." I swallowed hard and managed to part my lips but no sound would come out. The figure shook their head. "It's no use, Miss Harrow." He raised a hand to the canopy and revealed the black gloves that covered his fingers. "You cannot break my hold as that fool Miles did. Not in this darkness where my powers are strongest."

My eyes lit up. Darkness. That was it. Now all I had to do was just get some control over my body.

The stranger dropped their hand to their side and chuckled. "I can sense your struggling, Miss Harrow. You are stubborn and very persistent." My captor stalked around me in a circle and I could feel his eyes ever on my person. I stiffened when he stopped behind me and his hand settled on my shoulder. His whispered breath wafted across my ear. "Now how shall I deal with you? Shall I merely take you away to lead your dragon lover from your task? Or shall I-" He finished his sentence by tightening his grip on my shoulder to the point of pain. The man lessened his pressure on my shoulder and clucked his tongue. "No, that will not do. I need both of you out of the way, particularly that dragon. His magic is far more than it should be, as is yours. No, you must both be dealt with."

My heartbeat quickened as I thought about Tegan being in danger because of this monster. I gritted my teeth as my whole body began to shake. The figure scuttled back and stepped in front of me. I could feel the malevolence flow off their form.

"Stop that!" the figure snapped as they took a step away from me. "You will not conquer me!"

I narrowed my eyes as pressure began to build in my mind. It was a battlefield of wills inside there and the pain spread down to the rest of my body. I opened my mouth and choked out a few words. "I-I. . .I won't. . .let you. . .hurt him."

"Stop!" my captor commanded and a stab of pain inside my head followed his order.

I let out a wild cry and flung up my arms to clutch my head in my hands. A brilliant light burst out of me and slammed into the trees and the cloaked figure. They were thrown off their feet and flew into the brush. At the same time, the pressure inside my head vanished.

The exhaustion came after that. My legs buckled and I crumpled to the ground. The last view I had was of the clear sky through the canopy. Then everything went black.

I knew nothing until something soft and cold touched my forehead. I squirmed atop something that definitely wasn't forest leaves and I forced my eyes open. Bright sunlight shone down on me and I blinked a few times before the room came into view. Tegan sat over me with a pale of water on the nightstand. His face was pale and his hand that adjusted the cloth shook a little.

He froze when I opened my eyes and a look of deep relief passed over his face. "Thank the gods you're awake."

I swallowed the dryness in my throat. "What happened?"

"I found you unconscious in the woods," he told me as he studied my face. "Do you remember what happened?"

I cleared my throat and told him my tale. By the time I was done, the worry had returned to his face. He set a hand atop mine which lay over the soft covers. "I'm sorry."

I blinked at him. "For what?"

"For leaving you behind. I should have known something was wrong."

I smiled and flopped my head from side to side. "It's not your fault. I didn't fight him hard enough."

Tegan pursed his lips. "And you say you didn't recognize him?"

I stared up at the canopy and sighed. "Not a bit, but I think he changed his voice."

Tegan furrowed his brow. "Then that would make him someone we knew."

I attempted to sit up but Tegan grabbed my shoulders. "What are you doing?"

I gestured down at myself. "I'm attempting a sitting position and I could use a little help. And- " Tegan had opened his mouth to protest, "-I'm going to keep trying all day if I have to." Tegan wasn't too happy with me but he helped me prop myself against the pillows. I blinked against the bright sun and noticed it was descending toward the horizon. "Speaking of the day, what time is it?"

"Six in the afternoon. You've been out this entire time," he told me.

My eyes widened and I whipped my head around hard enough to regret it. I winced and rubbed my temple where a throbbing pain erupted.

Tegan grasped my shoulders. "Don't move too fast. It's no small feat to have your mind invaded like that. Miles is still recovering."

"I'm a little younger than Miles and I have a little more magic to deal with somebody else," I reminded him as I adjusted my position. "Anyway, who won the last trial?"

"Cordelia," he told me. "She swept the field with her scents and engulfed the crowds in a sweet perfume that made them forget all the other contestants."

"And do we know who won the first one?" I asked him.

"Quinn was announced as the winner of that one," he told me.

"And was any of them missing before the last trial?" I wondered.

He leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. "All of them were scattered around the area and only came together a few minutes before the trial."

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temple. "So anybody could have done it?"

"Anybody," he confirmed.

I sighed and opened my eyes. "So what are the plans now?"

"I ask around the vampire catacombs and find out who might know about Blackstone."

My eyebrows crashed down. "You mean ‘we,' don't you?"

He shook his head. "You've been through enough today. You need rest more than I need help."

"I fought off that guy's magic once already and I can help you do it again," I pointed out.

"And it left you in a coma for over six hours," he countered.

"And I'm fine again," I insisted as I tried to throw the covers off me. There was just one problem and I glared at him. "Get up so I can get up."

"I'd rather have you sit here," he insisted.

"And I'd rather be anywhere else but here, but we're both stuck with what we don't want," I countered as I tugged on the sheets. "So get up so we can cause some trouble together."

The corners of his lips twitched upward. "You might not want to get up when you hear where I'm going."

I paused in my escape attempts and lifted an eyebrow. "Why? Where are you going?"

"The catacombs."

My mouth dropped open. "Right now? Why not tomorrow during the day? Whoever I was talking to in the woods didn't like the sun."

He nodded. "Lusio announced the final trial will begin at midnight tonight and all contestants will go at the same time so we don't have much time to figure out who's trying to kill our benevolent host."

I cocked my head to one side and twisted my face into confusion. "Do you know what they're supposed to do?"

Tegan shook his head. "Lusio wouldn't tell me and Clara has vanished."

My eyebrows shot up. "Vanished? Kidnapped?"

"I don't think so, but she's chosen to lay low until Lusio calls her to the last trial."

I sighed. "That means we're on our own and that's why we need to stick together." I tugged on the covers again and Tegan reluctantly acquiesced to my demands. "Now let's go see who's home in the catacombs."