Page 64 of In Between Darkness
“What? Are you gonna suck me in there too?” He gestures towards the angry vortex pulsating in my hand again.
I look down in shock, horrified by the involuntary eruption of my powers. My fiery orb roars fiercely in my left hand, and the black vortex overwhelms my right hand. I gasp in horror and retreat away from Ryder.
I am dangerous. First, I hurt River, and I could’ve hurt Ryder too. I quickly extinguish the flames, embarrassed by my outburst.
“J-just shut up,” I plead, wanting the world around me to quieten.
I make a sharp turn to walk away, seeping through the shadow wall. I am not thinking straight, but I know I need to get away from him before I accidentally hurt him. He is probably afraid of me, and I don’t blame him.
I feel his hand grab my arm, making me look back in his direction, and before I can react, he pulls himself into me and leans me against the bark of a nearby tree. He presses his lips into mine, and suddenly I am not angry anymore; suddenly I donot hate the world. Our kiss sparks like hot metal, and tingles take over my whole body. I kiss him back and relax into his touch. His gentle tongue traces my lips and collides with mine. The butterflies in my stomach dance in appreciation. His hand wraps around my curls as he pushes me deeper into his kiss, whilst his other hand strokes the outside of my thigh, making me gasp in pleasure. I open my eyes just for a moment and see his muscles flex under the light of the lanterns, my fingers caress over the hard ridges. I let out another slight moan, and I can’t help but dig my nails into his flesh. Gods, I am so turned on right now I almost forgot what our fight was about.
“Ryder? Oh, I thought that was you. Sorry to interrupt, erm, whatever this is. We are moving on to the next half of the search now.” A voice I recognise from the archives calls out to Ryder from just beyond the tree. I gasp, and Ryder places his hand over my mouth. If he figures out I’m not a Moon, I don’t know what he will do.
“Can’t you see I am a little busy here? I will join you in a bit.” Ryder turns his head to face the guy with his hand resting on the bark beside my head, blocking my features from the man’s view.
“Don’t have to ask me twice. I’ll leave ya’ll love birds to it. Tell Mikayla I said hi.” He laughs at the last line, and I hear his footsteps diminish as he walks off into the distance.
Ryder takes his hand off my mouth and steps back from the tree.
Now, for some reason, all I can think about is who the fuck is Mikayla?
I catch my breath and run my fingers through my hair, sorting out the stray curls Ryder’s manly grip dishevelled. I look down at the lace exposed on my bra and shimmy up my vest top, which became slanted in the ordeal.
Ryder wipes his lips and smirks at me. “Thanks for warning me, Kyro.” He nods his head at his hawk, who is standing watch in the distance.
Is he serious? That kiss was all a ploy to distract the Moon from seeing that I was here? I sigh in annoyance.
“I’ll take that as an apology,” he says, looking at me with hunger still in his eyes.
“What the fuck is wrong with you!” I say, shoving him.
He pushes me back again, and my back hits the bark with a thump.
“Can you not see that I just saved your life?” he says, his grip tightening on my forearms. He saved my life, but at what cost? He didn’t have to kiss me. Now, he’s given my feelings more fuel when I worked so hard to extinguish their flames.
“Who said I wanted saving?” I try to push his hard chest off me, but he is immovable and just holds me tighter.
“Will you just let me help you?” he pleads, staring intensely into my eyes, and I struggle to make eye contact.
He’s right. I need his help. River is stuck in a void and possibly dead.
“I-I’m sorry,” I surrender to his grip and mutter a little under my breath, but I know he hears it. I feel his grip loosen, and I finally look into his chocolate brown eyes. “I’m just freaking out a little.” I drop my head low again, and he tilts my chin up with his index finger.
“Don’t worry.” He pauses for a second as if trying to find the right words to say to me. “Remember what I said. I won’t let anything happen to you.” His eye contact is strong and steadies my nerves. I nod and fiddle with my hands.
“Why are you helping me anyway?” I ask. He is risking everything just by talking to me.
“Because I have witnessed firsthand just how harsh this world can be to those who don’t fit in or conform to what isexpected of them, and I can’t let that happen to you, Asha… I just can’t.”
I see his jaw tense as he says this, and pain brews in his voice. I know exactly what he’s talking about. His parents. My chest tightens at the thought of him hurting. I trace my fingertips up and down the black veins in his arms. I guess we’re both different.
“What’s the plan then?” I ask, as all trepidation in my body bleeds away.
Chapter Twenty-Four
We take a moment to ponder an efficient plan of action. Ryder hasn’t stopped pacing. I guess he does this when he is deep in thought. I’m starting to think the furrows in his brow are a permanent fixture. But damn, he looks sexy all serious like this. I stop myself from pining over him. That kiss wasn’t real. It was just a distraction. I push down the feeling of rejection and slump back on the wooden bench. Ryder’s pacing is making me dizzy. He keeps running his fingers through his blue-black hair, and I have to remind myself to look away every time his muscles flex. I don’t know how he expects us to go safely into the void. The butterfly didn’t survive, and I struggled to hold it open for a hawk, let alone two people.
“This might be a long shot, but when the room started changing, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were shifting realities.” He pauses, and I stare back at him, dumbfounded. “The room shook, and I could see another reality trying to peep through; it may be more like a portal than we thought,” he says, using his hands to help him explain. He stares at me expectantly, as if I should be able to piece together the puzzle pieces in his mind. I stare back at him blankly, and he continues when he realises I still have no clue what he is talking about. “Asha, there’s a chance you might be able to project it onto a surface, making it easier for us to enter.”
