Page 28 of The Storm Within

“You’re freezing, baby.” Ryker wrapped his arms tightly around him. “Talk to me, honey bear. Why aren’t your eyes open?”

Nate arched his body, emitting another high-pitched whine that made Ryker’s heart clench. He needed to get Nate out of here, to find some help for him.

“Focus on where you want to go,” he murmured to himself, recalling Nate’s earlier instructions. Ryker wasn’t the one who’d had a spell cast on him, which meant Diobno shouldn’t be able to track him. But if he did, he would have a houseful of bears ready to rip him to shreds.

That was if he could find his way out of this place.

With each step, he visualized his bedroom at home, his massive bed covered in thick blankets and the carpet adorned with pounds of Christmas tinsel.

As the only unmated member of his family, Ryker had been feeling less than festive this holiday season. It was his nephew, Ethan, who had burst into his room with endless energy and enthusiasm, tossing tinsel around like confetti and singing "may-ye kiss-me" at the top of his lungs, turning Ryker’s carpet into a winter wonderland.

Only a heartless bastard would stop a three-year-old from wrecking their bedroom.

A bark of laughter, mingled with a sob, escaped Ryker as he thought of how Ethan had forced him to join in the merriment. They’d stomped in wide circles around the room together, throwing tinsel like snowflakes.

It was going to take until spring for Ryker to get every last piece out of his carpet, but seeing the joy on Ethan’s face, hearing his laughter, was worth it.

“I can’t wait for you to meet him, honey bear.” Ryker chuckled, his throat burning. “He’s going to get a kick out of having a demon for an uncle. Just be prepared for a new nickname. He calls me Uncuh Dyke,” he said proudly, though it had taken some getting used to having his name mutilated by a toddler.

Nate had stopped shivering, his whines falling silent. Now, he just lay peacefully in Ryker’s arms, his breathing slow and even.

“Baby, you have to tell me how to get your eyes open.” Ryker’s voice trembled with emotion as he fought back tears. “I don’t even know how I managed to do it myself, so how can I possibly help you?”

Fear gripped him as he thought about Nate still being trapped in the diner, his uncle inflicting cruel punishments on him. Diobno had to be torturing him, or Nate wouldn’t have made all those pitiful sounds.

Ryker desperately wanted to find a way back to Nate and somehow get him to open his eyes. He couldn’t bear the thought of being free while his mate suffered at the hands of his sadistic uncle.

They were a team and would face the danger together. Just like they had in the motel. But unlike before, Ryker had no idea how to save Nate, and that terrified him.

How did you fight when the battlefield was in someone’s mind?

Nate had said the longer the mind was ensnared, the harder it became to break free.

Time was now their enemy.

If Ryker couldn’t get Nate to open his eyes soon, his honey bear may never open them again.

Chapter Nine

When Ryker walked out of the shadow and into the familiar space of his bedroom, his knees nearly buckled, unable to believe he’d actually made it.

It had taken forever to get out of there, wandering aimlessly through the dark, never sure of his direction or what was even the right way.

The shine was completely off the new toy. Never again would he step into another dark closet. Four tires and a steering wheel, and even his motorcycle, were the only ways he ever wanted to travel.

Ryker’s arms felt heavy from carrying Nate for so long, but his heart felt even heavier, making it even harder to breathe. He walked through tinsel town on his way to his bed, the shimmering strips clinging to his boots, now a mockery of the joy he’d felt while playing with Ethan.

At the bed, Ryker lowered his mate with the utmost care, his palm settling over the steady rise and fall of Nate’s chest, a fragile rhythm that tethered him to hope.

Clearing his throat, Ryker went to work removing his mate’s shoes, his movements slow, like making his mate more comfortable might somehow coax him into opening his eyes.

Because Ryker was desperate enough at this point to try anything.

He knelt there, studying his mate, willing him to wake up, to say something, anything. Tell him what he smelled. Glare at him for guessing the correct price of a tacky handbag. Hell, even one of Nate’s witty jokes would be a gift, like dialing a fake phone. It dawned on Ryker why his mate had done that. Nate didn’t own one.

“Tell me how to get back in there, baby.” He brushed aside a few golden strands of hair. The touch grounded him, a quiet reminder that Nate was still here. “I can’t help you fight if I don’t know how to get there.”

Ryker stood, swallowing hard as he tucked the comforter around Nate, terrified at how pale his complexion had become, at how lifeless he seemed.

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