Page 75 of The Discovered
I was strangely devoid of the anxiety I knew I should’ve had, knowing that at any moment Daelon’s defenses could be breached by some cruel, power-hungry witch king. The thing about inevitability was that it was going to happen whether I was anxious or not. I refused to waste my energy on what I couldn’t control.
Let Lucius come. Let our world come crashing down. Like those who came before me—whose strength flowed through my magick, whose whispers reminded me I was a part of something much bigger than myself—I would fight.
Daelon had been on high alert the rest of the night, wrapping his arms around me possessively once we retired to bed. So when his body twitched next to mine signaling he’d fallen asleep, I was more than surprised. I figured he’d continue his hypervigilance until the early hours of the morning given the circumstances.
I frowned, listening to his slowed breathing. I couldn’t fall asleep without at least making a lap around the perimeter, and lucky for me, I knew just how to do that without leaving Daelon’s arms.
I relaxed each muscle in my body one by one, envisioning the other times I’d floated up out of my body as I breathed deeply. After a while I began to feel the familiar tingling, which turned into more violent vibrations as I leaned into them. The usual popping and ambient sounds filled my eardrums, and I heard someone call my name. I began to detach, floating upward at my own accord this time.
When I opened my eyes, I was midair between the bed and the ceiling, casting a glance back at my body eclipsed by Daelon’s before rising up past the roof. I followed the light that shone from my physical body up into the sky. Once I was high above the house, I searched for Daelon’s protective barrier. It was just as bright as before, encircling the forest around the house.
I swooped down toward the outskirts of the property, flying past the tops of trees and coming to a halt just above the ground. I tentatively touched down to the earth, digging my feet into the snow. The magickal force field resembled more of a wall from this perspective, rising as tall as the evergreens. It shimmered a whitish glow, opaque enough for me not to be able to see through.
I reached a hand to it, yelping when it shocked me. It felt decisively solid and impenetrable. I took a step back, satisfied with its energetic sturdiness. Snow had begun to fall, dusting the ground in a thin layer of powdery white.
The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly bristled, and a chill ran down my body. I got the distinct sense that I was being watched, but I couldn’t see through the barrier. I backed up, concentrating on seeing past the wall of energy into the forest beyond. Just as the beyond came into vision, revealing nothing but moonlit evergreens and brush, I heard whispering from behind me. The voice was low and masculine.
I spun around, peering into the darkness to see a man kneeling in the dirt with his eyes closed. I crept closer, the wind biting as it carried the now heavy fall of snow. My heart beat violently in my chest, and dread pooled in my gut. I became aware of two things instantaneously as the moon illuminated this intruder: It was Lucius, and he was not in his astral form.
I held my breath, staring straight at him as he rose to stand. He’d stopped whispering, and a slow smile lifted the corners of his lips. His eyes darted all around, and I remembered he couldn’t see me.
“I know you’re here,” he said. He was dressed in regal gold and black attire, his hair in perfect, loose, black curls peeking out from beneath his golden crown. “I feel your presence.”
How did you get past the barrier?I asked him, trying to sound strong. Somehow, I knew I could only communicate telepathically cross-dimensionally.
I watched Lucius stand in the snow in utter horror, his energy somehow even more crippling and violent in the flesh. The black smoke of his aura held the screams of thousands, and it whispered tales of utter destruction from mass death, torture, and suffering.
Daelon’s voice sounded in my mind from memory:We’ve run out of time.
Lucius laughed. “What barrier?”
I breathed erratically, a lump forming in my throat. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. This didn’t make any sense. My astral body started to feel heavy, burdened by a sudden, overwhelming desire to sleep.
What are you doing?
“I’mnot doing anything,” he said, pacing around me, his eyes still unable to pinpoint my location. “What I would be concerned about, however, is what’s happening to your physical body.”
I felt my eyes begin to droop, feet cemented in place. I didn’t understand, but I knew I had to get back to warn Daelon. I thought back to my body in his arms, praying that whatever Lucius was doing hadn’t affected him yet.
Chapter22
Isnapped back into my body, still fighting off impending sluggishness that threatened to pull me into its unconscious depths. I fought to open my eyes, and when the dark room came into focus, I found Daelon standing over me, chanting something with his hand on my shoulder.
My face contorting in confusion, I pushed his hand away. He was the one who was using magick against me. His eyes snapped open as if pulled from a trance.
“Daelon, what are you doing?” I sat up, crawling away from him.
He didn’t look like himself, a deep pain shimmering in his glassy eyes. My mind flashed to Lucius’s whispers in the woods.
“Áine, I need you to trust me,” he pleaded.
“He’s controlling you again,” I said. Fury rose within me. I built up my defenses, putting a psychic wall between us.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, my voice shaking. “But I’m going to need you to keep your distance.”
I rolled over to the other side of the bed, quickly moving to my feet as I shook off the last remnants of whatever magick Daelon was using at Lucius’s will.
He held up his hands as if to placate me. “You don’t understand.”
