Page 53 of Chaos Unleashed

I sigh, “I’m not nearly dying anymore, but I did have to fight, so I have a few new wounds that are healing,” I pause, knowing that he’s real is making me question whether I really should be as honest with him as I was when I thought that he was a figment of my imagination. There’s not really much point in switching it up now, so I add, “The wounds that don’t leave any physical marks are going to take a while to heal.”

His hands clench around me as he pulls me closer, and I feel his magic spike with anger, “I’m well aware that those kinds of wounds tend to take even longer to heal.”

I nod and then remember that he can’t see me, so I reply, “I hate that you know that.”

He lets me slide down his body until my feet are once again reluctantly on the floor, and changes the subject, “Are you safe?”

I shrug, taking a step back but stopping when his hand clenches around mine, “As safe as I can be in an unfamiliar realm.”

“Tell me where you are, and I’ll come and find you.” He doesn’t ask; he tells me, and if I’m being honest, I don’t mind. It would be nice to have a familiar face with me while I try to get out of here. “I don’t plan to let you out of my sight, when I have you in my arms for real.”

“I know that you’re from the Underworld, but I have to get back to the Fae realm. You can’t follow me there. I know enough about native Underworlders to know that would be bad.”

His smile widens as his grip on my hand tightens, “I can travel between realms, and it has no negative effects. Trust me, I have spent the last few decades in the Fae realm.”

My heart lightens at his words, although it drops slightly when the guys flash through my mind. I have feelings for all of them too. How is this going to work?

I’m going to do the really unhealthy thing and ignore it completely. I mean, there’s a big chance that when H actually meets me, that he doesn’t like me; I’m pretty weird and very bloodthirsty.

I’ll cross that bridge if I come to it. There’s still a small part of me that doesn’t think that he’s actually real.

“Shade?” H asks, sounding unsure.

“Sorry, I got distracted. I’m . . .” I start to tell him.

Before I can finish my sentence he’s gone, and I’m guessing he’s been dragged back to the awake realm. I try to tell myself that maybe it's for the best, and it would get super complicated, especially since I have so much that I need to tell Hades about, and I have the guys and the games. I am entirely unsure about whether we’re still in the games or not; we have surpassed the longest-known level by months at this point, and I’m pretty sure that means we’ve failed.

All of this is extremely complicated and not something that I want to think about when I need to rest, so I will myself to leave the shared dreamscape and fall into a deeper sleep. Awake me can deal with the complicated mess.

Mayhem

When Monty said that we only had one more stop to make before we could get to the castle and get to Farren, I really thought that it would be closer than it is. We’ve been riding for almost two days with only brief stops to eat but no stops to rest, not that any of us wanted to stop for that long anyway. The problem is that we all know that we’re running out of time; we know that not only because Monty told us but because we can feel it.

That, coupled with the lack of sleep, is causing us to snap at each other; all of us managed to hold it together for so long, but it’s been too long now, and I know that, like me, they’ve all got images of her being tortured playing through their heads regularly.

I’m not going to lie; at our last rest stop, I got barely any sleep anyway; every time I closed my eyes, I saw horrific images of her being tortured in multiple inventive ways. I couldn’t handle it, so I stopped trying to sleep. Poca and Meri clearly had enough of our shit too because I haven’t seen them for a while. I’m sure they’re in the woods surrounding us keeping pace with our horses but keeping out of the way of our moods. I can't say that I blame them. It doesn’t help that the rain that has been threatening for a while has now decided to fall more heavily, and we’re going to be soaking through within seconds.

“For fuck sake,” Storm growls.

“What now?” Khaos replies, Storm’s outburst waking him up. I'll never understand how he can sleep so well on the back of a horse.

He’s just as on edge as the rest of us although for a different reason his dream woman is a whole other issue that I don’t even have the brain space to deal with right now.

Storm glares at Khaos from the back of his horse, “What I can’t curse now?”

“Oh, come on, don’t start again,” Rival hisses, sounding just as pissed as they both are.

“Wasn’t it you who started the last argument?” Zev taunts.

Suddenly, they’re talking over the top of each other angrily, insulting each other, and saying things that I know they don’t mean. Hades is riding next to me and I share a look with him. The only reason I’m not joining in is because I prefer to keep my pain internalised or fight it out, there is no way I want to risk fighting one of them while I’m on the edge of losing control like I am.

Hades somehow senses this, and he whistles sharply as he faces them all. The whistle startles their horses, and they have to stop arguing in order not to fall off them.

“Now is not the time to fall apart. We are so close to getting to Farren, and we need to stay united. Do you think Farren would want this?” Grey asks, and at the mention of her name, they all start to look guilty, “No, she wouldn’t. She’d be kicking all of your arses and telling you to sort it the fuck out.”

It’s silent for a moment before all of the tension leaves them.

“Sorry,” Storm starts.

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