Page 101 of Gift from the Stone

“You came just like you said you would. You’re really here. Everything you said is real. I woke up almost every morning thinking I was finally going crazy.” She cries, throwing her arms around me in a hug.

I return her hug just as tightly before pulling back to look at her. “I’ve been dying to get here to you, and let me tell you, shit was rough. But we’re here and we got to go. The attack didn’t go as planned, so now it’s a change of the original plans I told you.”

“Willow, what’s going on?” Lyker asks, taking a step closer to us, causing Aria to take a step back, and my Nexus floods into the room.

“We need to have this conversation somewhere else. We’ve got a lot to figure out in a short amount of time. You need to put the pack on lockdown so none of the Mastery members can make a run for it,”I tell him, stepping in front of Aria and grabbing her hand in reassurance.

“We’ll transport as one back to the arena. Anything you can warn us about, little warrior?” Tillman asks me, jumping right into leader mode.

“No. The visions I had of today have now come to fruition already. Saving Aria was the last thing I saw, besides what came in the middle of the attack today. We’re going in blind from this point on unless something comes up,” I answer him honestly as Oakly and her guys come into the room to transport with us.

“You must be Oakly. I’ve heard so much about you,” Aria says with a smile, taking a step toward her.

“Conversation will have to wait. Let’s get the fuck out of this cave,” Lyker growls, sticking his arm out for Aria to take expectantly, causing her to meet him with a growl of her own.

I chuckle lightly to myself as I step into my guys for the transport. I can see that those two are going to be butting heads and I can’t wait to watch the truth unfold.

“It’s okay, go with him. These are the men I told you about. Well, some of the men. This is my Nexus,” I tell her, jabbing my thumb behind me.

“Let me guess. Draken, Caspian, Tillman, and Corentin.” She laughs as she points to each of them.

“Yep, those are mine. Good guessing. You got them all right.” I return her laugh as I smile at them and their protective stances around me.

“These are the ones?” she asks quietly, looking over the other four.

“The ones? What does that mean?” Kian asks, bouncing his eyes between me and Aria.

“We need to go,” I declare, giving Aria a nod as she slowly lays a shaky hand on Lyker’s arm.

I sigh deeply as Draken, Tillman, Corentin, and Caspian all lay a hand on me. It’s a comfort I desperately need, and I sink deeper into their embrace although I can feel the turbulent emotions coming off them. They’re worked up, they want answers, and their need to run off with me and hide me away is strong.

A shudder runs down my spine as we step out of the transport, back into the arena. Without all the bodies lying around, and the teams having cleared almost all the shifters out, the scene left behind in the sand is gruesome.

There’s no longer a shore of soft golden granules reflecting the sun’s rays with brightness. Instead, scarlet puddles litter the arena floor. Fur, body parts, and blood leave behind the evidence of the attack that went down. Casting my gaze across the remaining group of shifters huddled together on their knees, bile rises in my throat as my eyes lock on the puddle of liquefied black tar sitting on top of the sand beside them rather than soaking into it.

That’s my blood. My blood that was mixed with the deadly poison that nearly killed me not even an hour ago. Not only me, but Draken. If he hadn’t recalled how to open my pocket dimension, the two of us would be lying on this bloodied sand, dead, stripped away from our Nexus. Or if it hadn’t been me, it would’ve been Tillman, ripped to pieces.

Panic sets in as it becomes harder to get air into my lungs, my intrusive thoughts taking over my mind.

Wide-open jaws sinking their teeth into his skin as the poison takes root, keeping him from defending himself. His limbs are ripped from their sockets, leaving his mangled body flashing across my mind. My wails echo through my ears as I try to run to him, try to tear through the shifters blocking my way as he bellows his last moments, alone, in pain.

No, no. Tillman.

Suddenly, my hair blows across my face, covering my eyes as a sandstorm tears through the arena center, burying the blood beneath it like it had never been there.

“I’m here. Look at me.” Tillman’s gentle voice wraps around my mind like a warm, protective blanket. Blinking my eyes, I lock onto his emerald jewels. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, Will.”

“We’re here, little Primary. Always,” Caspian vows, twisting his tendrils around me.

“None of us are going anywhere, little wanderer,” Draken murmurs, nestling his face into my neck.

“We’ve got you, princess,” Corentin whispers as he turns me around to face him.

Laying his hand between the valley of my breast, slowly, ever so slowly, I feel my lungs fill with air. Air I desperately need since I can’t get my breathing under control.

Just like when Caspian used his water to hydrate me, I feel like I’m taking the largest, deepest breath of the purest air in all of Elementra. Corentin’s using his element to breathe life into me. Literally.

“That was your element,” I state quietly and quite obviously. I don’t really know what else to say, though. I’m kinda awestruck.

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