13. Gray

The last thing I expected was to see Soren jumping through the window and almost tackling Sunshine to the floor. She threw her head back hitting Soren square in the face before she took off running. He glanced back to look at me to make sure I was ok, but then he was after the girl.

Relief coursed through me as I waited for Ryder to show up, but it seemed Soren was the only one who came for me. What the hell did they have to do to get through that barrier?

"Soren!" I yelled, hoping he would take it easy on her.

I attempted to try and get out of the chair, but whatever magic she put on this rope wasn't budging at all. My lack of strength didn't help and as I heard more commotion, it made me worry.

"God blessed," Soren cursed, before a loud growl and a hiss came from that devil cat. "What the fuck?"

A screeching sound and my brother"s curses came from outside the door. He walked in with the women over his shoulder, passed out. The devil cat followed him, batting at his legs.

"What the fuck, dude!"

Soren tried kicking the cat away, but the little shit was persistent. I couldn't help but laugh as the cat gave him a hard time. He lowered the girl onto the bed before he pushed the cat out of the room, closing the door before he came back in.

"That fucker was determined," he growled, coming up to me. "Are you ok? Do we need to worry about anyone else?

"No, we don't but what did you do to her?" I said, trying not to sound upset about it.

"She threw me off kilter making us fall," he said, like it was no big deal. "She hit her head on the stools out there."

I pursed my lips as Soren came into view.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but how the hell did you manage to get in?" I asked, as he studied me, like he wouldn't just take my word. "I am hungry though."

Soren had been the older twin and since we were young, he always treated me like I was his baby brother. I knew if I didn't give him something he would continue to stare at me.

"I have food for you," he said, reaching for his knife. "Ryder and I left to get another necklace made. While we waited, I stocked up on supplies."

Soren did look a lot cleaner than when I had left him, he also looked to be well fed, but he was moving slowly and I knew it was because of Sunshine. I couldn't help the smile that surfaced, knowing Soren would wonder why I was so happy. He cut the rope off of me as I glanced back at Sunshine.

She laid on the bed, looking at peace, instead of having the anxiety that had been on her face since she captured me. Something was off about her, making me question what else we would find here and why she would be so worried. I knew Oria was here, but that didn't seem enough to be scared.

Once I was free, I stood up too quickly, losing my balance from my lack of movement these past days.

"Whoa," Soren caught me. "You ok?"

"Shit, yeah," I said, leaning on Soren until I had better balance. "I've been in that damn chair since she captured me."

"How the hell did she manage that?" he asked, looking back at her on the bed.

She looked even more delicate on the bed. Seeing her now, I had no idea how she managed to take me down. Whoever was a potions master in this tower, had perfected a potion I had never been hit with until recently. Was she the mastermind behind the Oria and the potion that stripped us of our supernatural abilities?

"That same potion she hit you with," I said. "She's great with artifacts and potions, but it seems her physical abilities rely on a cast iron skillet."

"I would say she's pretty good with it," he mumbled, scratching his head like she had gotten a few hits in. "Who knew that shit would be so painful."

"Yeah, I guess when in doubt, just pull out your trusty iron skillet and swing away," I chuckled.

"Come on, let"s lock her in here while we look around," Soren said, glaring at the woman. "I feel like there might be more people around and I want to clear the area before we go snooping."

"Should one of us go out to get Ryder?" I walked out of the room with Soren, taking one last look at Sunshine before closing the door.

"I left to give him the vials of Oria I found," Soren said, walking to the kitchen, setting his bag down. "I told him to go save Katarina and check on Serena while I helped you escape. We had been in contact with no one for who knows how long and while I know Katarina still has time, we thought it would be best if he left."

"Do you have any idea how long we"ve been out here?" I sat on a stool.

"No, that's why I sent him away." He looked thoughtful. "Serena is probably going crazy, and I can't imagine what Katarina is going through."

"I hope they are ok," I said, feeling uneasy about how much time had passed. "This turned out to be way more than we could handle."

"Here, drink up." Soren handed me a bag of blood, my mouth watering.

Modern day drinking for vampires was bags that looked like Capri-Suns, but they had blood instead of juice in them. It made drinking in public a hundred times better and let us eat whenever we liked. They were also great to drink on the go and were significantly easier than finding someone to donate to you.

It was also less hassle than using someone. I hated using a person because it always felt so personal, too intimate. It was something you did with a lover and there had never been a woman I had wanted to do it with until Sunshine. My hunger wasn't overwhelming enough that I was crazed, but I had thought of what it would feel like if she let me have a taste.

My dick perked up at the thought and it wasn't lost on me that this was the first time in a while since someone had captured my interest like her.

"Another one?" Soren asked, holding up another pouch of blood.

I shook my head as I finished what he gave me, feeling my hunger recede, helping my body recover from the potion.

"Let's check the bedrooms and make our way down the tower," Soren said, walking to the stairs. "This was too easy, and I'd hate to get too comfortable and then we both get caught."

"I don't think anyone is here but that cat and the woman," I said, walking into the first bedroom we came upon.

The moment I opened it, I knew it was her bedroom. Her unique scent assaulted me, and I immediately wanted to stuff my face in her pillow. It seemed this woman was turning me into a creepy, thirsty man who was willing to smell anything that had her scent.

Her room was very ordinary, with a brown bed and a brown bookshelf, but what really caught my attention was the doodles she had everywhere. Some were of her grumpy cat, some of a woman with black hair, weirdly Henry Cavill was in here and there was also some of a man that looked very familiar.

Grabbing what looked to be a sketchbook, I flipped through it. The man's drawings pissed me off because who the fuck was this? She had several different angles of him, but also some of his hand and one of him shirtless. My nostrils fared as anger funneled through me. Possessiveness steamrolled through me.

I wanted to throw the notebook away until the last page caught my attention. It was me tied against a chair with my head to the side and I was asleep. She even drew that damn cat next to me. It was done in pencil, but it was still absolutely gorgeous. Sunshine was talented.

A knock broke my train of thought.

"Hey, find anything?" Soren grunted looking around as I slowly shut the book, worried he would see my drawing.

"No, but it"s the woman"s room," I said, slipping the notebook away before he could look at it.

"The other room looks like another woman lives here," my brother said, passing by her desk as I slipped her notebook under her pillow.

I nodded, looking around, following my brother out of the room before I closed her door. I had a need to bring the notebook with me. Letting Soren walk down the stairs, I slipped back into her room grabbing another notebook. There was also a tin that popped open to reveal some chalk-looking colors and a few pencils.

Grabbing all of it quickly, I took it downstairs, seeing Soren looking around in the kitchen. I set the notebook down on a table by the sofas before I continued searching for anything out of the ordinary.

We finally made our way down to the workshop, seeing some water in a basin, vials were set up next to it and an array of items were on shelves by a wall with a window. We found a lot of moon objects, along with rare metals, gems and more water in jars and basins.

"Is this the Oria?" Soren said, looking over the basin.

"Smells like it, but it might not be done," I said, looking over his shoulder.

"You think the woman makes it? Or possibly the other woman?" He studied the water like it held secrets.

"The people outside of this felt powerful, it might be her and she left this woman here to protect it?" As I said it, it felt wrong because why wouldn't she stay, and the girl go.

"I don't know, everything just feels really weird," Soren said, looking through boxes. "If this is where it"s made, why have a frying pan-wielding girl protecting it by herself?"

"That gorge is unforgiving, maybe they assumed no one would find this place," I said, looking at an old iPod.

"And that no one would have a necklace to get through it," Soren said, looking out the window.

"We can dig a little deeper later when we check the other two floors," I said, leaving the room, knowing I would feel less anxious when we made sure the place was secure.

The storage room was empty and when we ran outside, it was the same thing. Other than a garden, a few places they had for gems and other magical items, there was no one else here.

"I can't believe they left a girl and a cat to guard the Oria," Soren said, as we made our way inside.

"Maybe they were banking on no one surviving that hellish gorge," I said, thinking about it. "And if they did survive, no one would be able to get in if they didn't have a necklace. They would be stuck down here."

I shivered realizing that we were lucky.

"Either we are incredibly lucky or—" he chuckled. "Who am I kidding? We are incredibly lucky. If we hadn't seen those people leave and if we didn't have that damn necklace, we would have been fucked."

"It is all luck," I said, wondering if it might have been fate too.

Sunshine felt familiar, she felt like mine and just being away from her for a short amount of time, I felt itchy and anxious. Once we arrived into the main living area, my uneasiness was a little more manageable.

"So, what now?" I asked, sitting on the sofa to keep myself from going to Sunshine.

This might be the start of an obsession.

"I figured we would wait here for Ryder, he said he would be back in a day, but I think it might be more like a few days," he said, sitting on the other sofa.

"What if that woman and men come back?" I said, thinking we needed to be prepared for the worst.

"We grab as much shit as we can and we run," he said, shrugging. "I hadn't planned on getting to you so quickly, so my main goal was just you."

Soren, my protector. He had always felt so responsible for me and I loved it and hated it sometimes at the same time.

"Thank you," I said. "Thanks for coming back for me."

"Always. Life wouldn't be the same without you." He nodded.

I felt guilty that while he was worried about me, my mind was glued to the woman upstairs, who felt like mine.