Chapter Ten

Nate pushed himself off the worn, musty carpet to climb onto the bed Ryker had claimed him in just this morning. The blanket still held his mate’s dark, woodsy scent, a smell that brought Nate both comfort and pain.

Yet, he couldn’t stop himself from pressing the fabric to his nose, breathing in the scent to remind himself that Ryker had been real, that he hadn’t been an illusion conjured by Diobno in another cruel attempt to punish him.

But he didn’t need a blanket to convince him of his mate’s existence. The connection between them was still there, and maybe it was a bad thing since it only made the anguish of his absence even more painful.

For a brief moment, Nate had found happiness, had found someone who’d truly cared about him. Someone who had made him feel desired and wanted.

But just like everything else in Nate’s life, it had been nothing more than a cruel joke, a carrot of happiness dangled in front of him, allowing him only a nibble before it was pulled out of his reach.

After Ryker had opened his eyes and was pulled away, Diobno had dragged Nate back here, furious at the fact Ryker had been sucked into the motel right before it had vanished.

But that was nothing compared to the rage Diobno felt about Ryker being Nate’s mate.

Honestly, he thought for sure his uncle would physically beat the crap out of him for it. He’d never seen the man so livid in all the time he’d known the jerk.

But Diobno hadn’t, and Nate had figured out why. He’d thought it odd his uncle had given in to Ryker’s demand to stop pretending to be his father. Diobno gained too much pleasure from another’s misery.

It wasn’t until Nate had passed one of the rooms that he’d seen Diobno’s physical form curled on the bed, the injuries he’d sustained from the fight more serious than Nate had thought.

Diobno had only weakened himself further when he’d come after Nate and Ryker in the shadow, most of all when he’d conjured the powerful illusion of the diner. To create so many details, including the five senses, the interacting waiter, and Ryker’s dad required a lot of magical heavy lifting.

But his uncle just couldn’t help himself. His thirst for revenge was too great, even if it cost him. But Nate knew another little secret Diobno would kill to hide.

His uncle had been the one who’d opened Ryker’s eyes, not Nate.

Although Diobno would never admit it, the bear shifter terrified him. In his weakened state, his uncle might not come out the victor.

And it had enraged Diobno to release the bear shifter. At least Nate had gotten some pleasure out of this by watching his psycho uncle finally lose at something.

Unfortunately, Nate was still stuck in the damn illusion. It might be permanent too. When he’d felt Ryker pick up his body in the shadow, Nate had freaked out, trying desperately to tell his mate to leave him there, but all he’d been capable of were wounded animal sounds, thanks to Diobno shutting him up.

What Ryker didn’t know was the farther away Nate’s body was from his mind, the deeper he sank into the abyss.

If Nate didn’t get back to his body soon, his chance to do so would be lost forever.

What a sucky Christmas this had turned out to be. Not only had he found then lost his mate but he’d lost his freaking body too. And his mind might just make it onto that list as well.

“Why do I have to have such a crappy family?”

Nate rolled over onto his side, giving in to his foul mood. “I hate you, Diobno. I hope you never recover, you rotten piece of poop.”

Could Nate use the closet again? Nope. Even in his pathetic state, his uncle had sealed off all the exits as a final fuck-you to his nephew. So even if he died, Nate had no hope of getting out of this dump.

He stiffened when he felt a presence in the room with him. Diobno? His physical form was in bad shape, but his uncle’s mind was as sharp as ever.

But it didn’t feel like his uncle. It wasn’t an ominous presence. Being trapped here was weakening Nate, but he used some of his quickly depleting energy to sit up so he could look around.

No one was in the room with him. It was just him and hopelessness.

Yet, that feeling wouldn’t go away. Nate stilled when he felt something gently gliding through his hair, almost like a soft caress. Huh? When he reached up and touched his head, nothing was there.

“Oh god. I’m finally losing my freaking mind.”

Although all he was right now was a subconscious state. Even so, not once in the hundred years he’d been roaming these halls had he felt invisible hands on him.

And he didn’t want to start feeling them now.

“Stop that!”

He batted at his head when he felt those soft strokes again.

But it wouldn’t stop.

Unable to sit up any longer, Nate lay back down, this time keeping his back to the wall so he could watch the room. The first thing that came to mind was Diobno playing some sort of cruel game, but his uncle was reserving his strength, fearing Ryker would come after him.

God, Nate hoped so, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath. Diobno was too rotten to die, and all the passageways were sealed.

Pay whiff snow.

Nate didn’t move a muscle at the sound of a child’s voice. What the hell? He wasn’t losing his mind. He’d already lost it.

Pay whiff snow.

“Sure, why not?”

If Nate was going to be stuck here for the rest of eternity, at least he wouldn’t be alone. He had a disembodied voice to talk to. “Just don’t expect anything that requires more juice than I have.”

Raising his arm, Nate pointed at the ceiling. Tiny snowflakes began to fall, drifting slowly toward the floor.

“Sorry, rug rat. That’s all I have.”

Nate eased his arm down. “Without my body, and losing my mind, you get a flea circus instead of an amusement park.”

A sweet, angelic giggle caused Nate to smile. If he was going insane, he would prefer the voice to be full of laughter and innocence instead of malice and pain.

“Who are you?”

It was his insanity, so he was allowed to have a conversation with it.

I hung… I hung… I hungwe. More gwapes.

Thankfully, Nate wasn’t in his physical form, so he was no longer suffering hunger pains. “Sorry, rug rat. I don’t have any on me.”

He curled his arms around his midsection, glancing at the chair he’d sat in while he’d watched TV with Ryker. “Do you know how much an expensive handbag costs?”

If his madness guessed correctly, Nate was going to completely give up.

Huh?

Nate chuckled. “Good answer, kiddo.”

Another caress through his hair. It was one thing to hear a disembodied voice, but those fingers felt too damn real.

Groaning, Nate sat up again, scanning his room once more. He teetered sideways a little from his dwindling energy but placed his hand on the bed to stop himself from falling over. “Who are you, buddy?”

I da bear. The child growled, giving a damn good impression of one. Nate’s heart quickened. A bear. No, it had to be the heartache he felt. There was no way the voice was somehow connected to his mate.

“Do you know Ryker?”

In Nate’s opinion, false hope was better than no hope.

When the child didn’t answer him, Nate deflated. It was just another carrot dangling in front of him, and he’d stupidly tried to take a bite.

Uncuh Dyke!

Nate slapped a hand over his mouth to silence the loud cry. The name was mutilated, and the child could simply be attempting to repeat it, but Nate had to know for sure. “Where is your uncle?”

Wait. Was this boy the nephew Ryker had mentioned? He racked his brain but couldn’t recall if his mate had given him a name. But if this was the toddler, how on earth was he talking to Nate through a conscious stream?

I pay whiff Nape. The boy had said it in a pout, like he was arguing with someone Nate couldn’t see.

Hold on. Had he said Nape? As in Nate? Did that mean Ryker had made it home or was this all part of some illusion?

“Rug rat?”

Nate didn’t care how desperate he sounded. If the child was a lifeline to Ryker, he would beg and plead.

Huh?

He started to ask one more time where Ryker was, but the boy’s question didn’t sound as if it was aimed at Nate. If someone was giving Ryker’s nephew instructions, Nate would be as patient as he had to be.

But a part of him refused to believe this was real, refused to once again hold out hope, only to be crushed under the weight of disappointment.

Wes…wes…wes-ku.

What did that mean? Nate didn’t speak toddler! “I don’t understand!”

He curled his lips in and glanced toward the door, praying Diobno hadn’t heard him. If his uncle had, Nate would claim insanity.

Wes-ku.

Was he saying rest? “Okay,”

he replied slowly. “Rest. Gotcha.”

Ku?

“Give me more, rug rat.”

Nate waved his hands inward, like he could actually catch the words. Was it his mate who was telling the boy what to say? Nate wanted to talk to his teddy bear so badly that tears sprang to his eyes. He would give anything to hear Ryker’s deep, rumbling voice again, to feel those strong arms wrapped around him.

Nate no longer cared about sensory overload. He would deal with it if that meant being with his mate again. When he was in the diner, he’d wished to be back in the quiet motel, but dead silence was overrated. Nate would take the cacophony of noises and feeling like a relic over this tomb.

Anything to be back with his bear again.

He swayed, feeling lightheaded. If he didn’t stop using bursts of energy, he might lose consciousness. That scared the hell out of him. One, what if he sank deeper into this place, completely forgetting who Ryker was? That was what would happen the longer Nate stayed here. His memories of his former life, of how much time had passed since he'd been imprisoned, and most importantly, Ryker, would fade away, never to return.

Nate would be nothing more than a conscious stream haunting the halls of the deserted motel.

Two, even if he did blink back in, he feared losing the only connection he had to his mate.

“Rug rat?”

The dead silence caused despairing tears to fall. Nate curled into himself and closed his eyes.

Wes…wes…wes-ku.

Nate’s eyes flew open. “Yes?”

He dare! The boy sounded happy. Pay whiff snow.

Yeah, Nate got nothing. No clue whatsoever what that meant. “Sorry, kiddo. I have no idea what you’re saying. He dare?”

“Translated, it means ‘he’s there.’”

Nate’s heart stalled at the deep, rich voice coming from the foot of the bed. He struggled to get up, desperate to make sure Ryker’s voice was real, but he couldn’t even lift his head.

He burst out crying.

* * * *

As much as Ryker wanted to hold his mate and comfort him, they needed to go. He was still shocked Ethan’s shadow worked. It was like taking the express lane when the rest of the traffic was shrouded in darkness. It had been a straight shot, no getting lost like he’d feared.

“Is it really y-you?”

Nate’s tear-soaked eyes was enough to bring Ryker to his knees.

“It’s me, honey bear.”

He ran his knuckles down the side of Nate’s cheek, his throat thick with emotion. Ryker thought he would never hear his mate’s voice again or see those amazing dark blue eyes. “I’m going to pick you up, okay? I don’t want to spend any more time in this place than we have to.”

Ryker wasn’t sure if it was because his mate wasn’t in his corporeal form or if it was his fueling desperation, but it was like picking up a feather when he lifted Nate from the bed. And damn, it felt so good to have the guy back in his arms where he belonged.

“But my uncle sealed all the passageways.”

Nate clung to him, his fingers curling into Ryker’s shirt. “How are we going to get out of here?”

“We have a little angel on our side.”

He winked.

It was the truth. As Ryker traveled through Ethan’s shadow, he’d caught glimpses in the surrounding darkness. Most of the images Ryker hadn’t understood and hadn’t stopped to figure out. It was like trying to look at them through the bottom of a glass, distorted and too far away.

But one had caught his attention, causing him to nearly slow down. Somehow, Ryker had known he was in Ethan’s subconscious and that his nephew wasn’t even aware those images—memories, whatever they were—were even there.

The image hadn’t been clear enough to see the man’s face, but Ryker had gotten a good look at the white, expansive wings on his back.

A rattling sound and a deep groan pulled Ryker from his thoughts. “Do you know where your uncle is?”

“His body, yes.”

Nate glanced around, his limbs shaking. “His mind… it could be anywhere.”

Since Diobno wasn’t in the room, Ryker moved swiftly toward the closet. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to end the guy. Right now, Nate was his only priority. Ryker had to get him out of this illusion and back to his body, pronto.

“Are you sure we want to go back into the closet?”

Nate stared wide-eyed at him, as if Ryker had completely lost his mind.

“Babe, you’re making this too easy.”

Ryker smiled, trying to give his mate a reassurance he didn’t feel.

“I don’t get it.”

Nate’s arms tightened around Ryker’s neck at the sound of something slithering over the wooden floor, a slow, endless noise that had Ryker reaching for the closet handle. Fuck if he was looking down to see what was making that sound.

It would just have to be one of those unanswered questions in life.

“Shit!”

Ryker yanked his hand back when the doorknob turned bright red, burning his hand and causing him to nearly drop his mate.

“You’re like an unwanted rash that just keeps coming back.”

So much for a clean exit.

Turning, Ryker glared at Diobno. This couldn’t be his physical form, because there wasn’t a scratch on him. “You’re a little too knowledgeable about rashes. I’d see a doctor if I were you.”

Ryker adjusted his hold on Nate, instinctively bracing himself as he eyed Diobno with a mixture of disgust and wariness. The demon stood in the doorway, his presence exuding an arrogance Ryker found nauseating. He couldn’t let his fury take over. Not with Nate still clinging to him, frail and defenseless, relying on Ryker to get them out of this hellhole.

Diobno laughed, a chilling sound that filled the room, reverberating against the walls. “Oh, come now. Surely a bear shifter like you can handle a bit of heat?”

Feeling Nate’s fingers digging into his shirt even tighter, Ryker growled. “This coming from a guy who can’t even take some ribbing?”

he scoffed. “I think the word you’re looking for is hypocrite.”

Diobno raised a brow, his smile oozing a condescension Ryker was dying to erase. “You still think you can win, don’t you? It’s adorable, really. Like a puppy barking at a thunderstorm.”

Why hadn’t the demon already attacked? He’d wiped the floor with Ryker the last time they’d fought, so what was with the playground taunts? Was he stalling? If he was, why? Was it to keep Nate there longer so he could fully ensnare his nephew’s mind?

Despite not knowing how much time they truly had before it was too late, Ryker was pretty sure the sand in the hour glass was about to run out.

“Funny, I thought I proved I was a bear, not a puppy, when I mauled your ass,”

Ryker shot back, his muscles tensing. He could feel Nate growing weaker, his energy draining.

“You have no idea what you’re up against.”

Diobno’s eyes darkened as he took a step forward. “You’ve wandered into a world that belongs to me . You think you can just take what’s mine and leave?”

“He was never yours,”

Ryker snarled. “Not now, not ever.”

Diobno’s gaze shifted to Nate, and a twisted smirk spread across his face. “Ah, poor Nathan. Always so eager to escape, always so naive to think he could step out of line without consequences.”

He turned his attention back to Ryker, his eyes glinting with malice. “You should have never gotten involved in family affairs.” He pursed his lips, which wasn’t a pleasant sight. “I tell you what. I’ll give you one last chance to walk away from this, unharmed.”

“You really are insane.”

Ryker felt Nate trembling in his arms, and it only made his anger flare hotter. “I’ll extend you the same offer, because if you don’t back down and leave my mate alone, I’ll find where your body is hidden and rip it apart.”

“You should have never figured that out. Now I’m about to show you what true power looks like.”

The demon lunged, but his movements were slower than last time. It was clear his rage was driving him forward and not his powers. Ryker didn’t even see any shadows creeping through the room. Still, his gut told him it would be a mistake to underestimate the demon.

And he was right. With a ferocity Ryker hadn’t expected, Diobno blasted him in the chest with dark energy, sending him airborne and causing him to lose his hold on Nate. His mate shot to Ryker’s left, colliding against the nightstand with a baleful scream.

With an unhinged roar, Ryker shifted into his bear and charged after the bastard, intent on ending the demon’s life. No one hurt his mate and lived to tell the tale.

Before Ryker reached Diobno, the room rippled, as though the reality around them was bending. The walls bowed inward, like they were taking a deep breath. The ceiling wobbled then flowed back and forth in little wavelets. The floor beneath Ryker’s paws buckled and groaned, cracking in some places.

He tried to stop, skidding partially toward the hole that had opened up in front of Diobno, like a sinkhole, but instead of earth, the gaping hole led straight into a dark abyss.

Another black void Ryker wanted no part of.

He managed to stop just at the edge, teetering too close for comfort. Backing up a few steps, Ryker snarled across the divide. Even if he shifted back into his human form, the gap was too wide to jump over. Diobno had effectively sealed himself off from getting his throat ripped out.

“I despise you with every breath I take, but I’ll give you points for your stubborn persistence, bear.”

Diobno slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with so much malevolence Ryker should have dropped dead.

Shifting, Ryker bared his canines. “I’ll give you death for simply existing.”

Nate whimpered behind him, and Ryker wanted to get to him in the worst way, but turning his back on Diobno would be a fatal mistake. “You’re still pissed off over a joke that was made a hundred years ago. Do you know how fucking petty that is?”

He waved his hand to encompass the room. “You’re the one who should be imprisoned in this rathole, not Nate. You’re nothing more than a pathetic, weak manbaby.”

“It was his very father who turned me into who I am!”

Power surged around Diobno as the demon glared at Ryker. “Like father, like son. Do you think after enduring five centuries of my brother’s torment, I was going to allow his offspring to do the same? Nate should consider himself lucky I didn’t do to him what I did to my brother!”

“He died in battle against a demon warrior,”

Nate croaked out, his voice so weak it was barely audible.

Diobno shook his head, his smile cold and spiteful. “That’s the story your mother tells, Nathan, because it’s the same story I gave her after I took so much pleasure in killing him. The same pleasure I’m going to take with you, dear nephew.”

Nate cried out, the sound low and pitiful. “I hate you!”

Diobno shrugged. “There was never any love lost between you and me to begin with. The mistake I made was killing your father too quickly, robbing myself of the satisfaction of seeing him suffer. But now that you’ve become a pain in my ass, you’ll meet his same fate.”

Thunder crashed inside the room, heavy winds lashing. Ryker backed away from the hole, afraid the wind would shove him forward. The furniture banged and clattered, while the debris from the smashed dresser and smaller objects flew in every direction.

Ryker shielded his face with his arms, fighting against the winds to turn around. Behind him, Nate stood with his arms spread wide, glaring right at his uncle. “You should have taken that secret to your grave.”

How in the hell was Nate doing that? He’d just been at death’s door, and now he looked like a vengeful god. This motel was a damn nuthouse. “Honey bear, I’m glad to see you’re feeling better, but how are you doing that?”

The side of his mate’s mouth curled upward. “It’s the power of gwapes.”

Nate swirled his arms in a complicated pattern, and then Diobno screamed. Ryker spun and saw dozens of icicle missiles striking Diobno from every angle with unforgiving accuracy. The demon finally collapsed, his stare blank and unmoving. The wind seemed to only swirl around Diobno now, as if it had a mind of its own, pushing the demon toward the very hole he’d created.

Then he slipped over the edge, disappearing into the dark abyss.

Damn. Ryker made a mental note to never piss off his mate.

Or Ethan.

Nate collapsed, as did everything in the room. The wind vanished, and the thunder gave one last boom before falling silent.

“Nate!”

Ryker raced toward him and dropped to his knees, pulling him into his arms.

He glanced up at Ryker, his eyes so dull they almost appeared lifeless. “Kill his body,”

he wheezed out. “Then get me to mine.”

With time almost up, Ryker shot through the motel, searching frantically until he drew in a pungent smell. Following the noxious odor, he pushed open the door to room nine and saw Diobno curled up on the bed. It wasn’t until this moment that Ryker could assess the full extent of damage his bear had caused.

On Diobno’s chest were four gashes in his shirt, the wounds still slowly bleeding. On his left arm were two puncture holes where Ryker had sunk his canines in. Bruises marked his face and neck, and one eye was swollen shut.

If you asked Ryker, it wasn’t nearly enough damage for the pain and suffering the bastard had caused Nate. With pure disdain, Ryker unsheathed his claws then punched through the demon’s chest, ripping out his heart.

“I dare you to slink your way back into your body now.”

He glanced at the heart in his hand. “Blah.” Ryker dropped it, wiped his bloody hand over Diobno’s shirt, then hauled ass back to his mate, desperate to get him home where he belonged.