“Repeat it, please! Talk to Oliver if you can’t talk directly to me, but say the words, PLEASE!” I gowl out between clenched teeth. I have started to sweat and feel really nauseous.
Dakota gets the words out and we all start to vibrate. I have chills running through my whole body. Every time Cam opens his mouth he seems to choke on his words.
I cried out this time. “Cameron, please!” Another sob wracks through my body. “Do this, for me, please.” I dig my nails in his arm, holding on for dear life.
He finally whispers the words and the searing pain is worse than when Kaley put silver in my whip wounds. Just like then, I throw up everything in my stomach, which isn’t much, thanks to skipping lunch during the drama with the Alpha, but my stomach doesn’t get the memo and I continue to dry heave. My hands are molded to the twins arms, I couldn’t let go if someone tried to rip my hands off.
Both twins heave forward, dragging me with them. All of us hit the floor on our knees, then a black mist starts to pull from their mouths, like a demon leaving their bodies. It swirls up and away from us. I don’t know how long this goes on for but I can feel my energy being forcefully drained out of me, through my hands and into their arms.
Then all noise stops. It’s like being in a decompression chamber, heavy and disconcerting, while also being comfortable. I have a kind of out of body experience as I feel my sweaty fingers peel off the twins and my body starts to slump forward. I know it’s happening, but have no control over my body to stop the movement that’s happening. Then everything goes black.
I hear that incessant beeping, why am I always waking up to beeping?
“Ugh, what the f*ck?” I mumble and my tongue feels like sandpaper. “I need water.”
I smell honey, which is expected, but then citrus and cinnamon too. I take another deep inhale and instantly feel my body relax and my mind clear. I blink my eyes open, but I’m sluggish, my body doesn’t want to move. I’m sitting on the cot, my back against a pillow and my head is on a shoulder. Cam is on my right, leaning in to me. Oliver on my left, as my pillow and Kota is on the floor, his head tilted back on a pillow in front of my knees. I smile at the deja vu.
I look ahead and see Alpha Lucas is still asleep where we left him yesterday. I scan across the room, my warrior senses telling me I’m being watched, which is probably what woke me up and see Luna Ava looking at us intently. Gamma Brett standing close to her, arms crossed, leaning on the wall. I can’t read his face at all.
A glass of water appears in front of my face, blocking my view for a second and breaking the staring contest we were having.
“Drink, Bitty and then you can tell all of us what the hell that was, because that was the scariest f*cking thing I have ever seen. That was worse than finding you in the locker room, half dead.”
I feel Cam stiffen next to me. Did he not know that? Or does he just not like that Oliver got to me? I don’t remember a thing about who was there that night. Kota takes a deep breath in and sits up stiffly, rolling his head on his shoulders.
Oliver places the cup at my lips and I take a long pull of water and close my eyes to savor the cool sensation on my tongue. It feels like I haven’t had a drink in a week. I take another, partly to stall. When I open my eyes again, there are five sets looking back at me.
“I don’t know what that was. Nothing like that happened with the rest of them.” I wave my heavy hand, gesturing towards Oliver.
“How many times have you done that?” Gamma Brett asks. “Used magic, I mean.”
“A lot.” Yep, super intelligent right now.
“Did you know that was going to happen?” He points up and my jaw drops. There in the center of the ceiling is a huge black burn mark about eight feet in diameter.
“Uh, no!” I scoff. “Again, nothing like this happened with anyone else. I thought it might have been more intense because it was the two of them together. That’s all.” I go to sit up, but I can’t move my body. “What’s wrong with me?” I ask. “I feel like I got hit by a bus and then backed over a couple of times.”
“Whatever you did took a lot of energy. Your lips went blue again. I’m really over that look on you, by the way. Then you collapsed and they couldn’t get up for a while, but didn’t pass out.” He points to the twins “Before you ask, you’ve been out for about twelve hours.”
“What do you think that is?” I ask him like no one else is in the room. He has been helping me with my magic and seems to understand it better than I do.
“My real theory?” I nod. “I think it’s whatever has been possessing these douchebags. I think your spell was stronger than the one placed on them, but there wasn’t room for both and you literally ripped it out of them and it is currently hanging over our heads like a big black cloud stuck to the ceiling.”
I look back up at the mark. I don’t feel any magic radiating off of it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Just another thing to ask Elena about.
I don’t feel any magic in the room at all. I would think that I should be able to feel the presence on Alpha Lucas now that I can focus on him. “You wanna explain this too, Smalls?” Kota holds up his wrist. “Or am I not allowed to call you that anymore?”
“Let’s work back to the nicknames. The indecisiveness you both have about being friends with me has given me emotional whiplash. The tattoos seem to be an addition to the spell, but only for you five. I got a matching one, too.” I hold up my wrist showing the cuff I now have with a crescent moon layer as the outer edges, quarter moon bands just inside that, then half moon bands with a full moon band in the center. As I look at mine, the moons get progressively bigger, like the full moons are closer to me. “None of the warriors got a tattoo to go with their protection bracelet.”
“How many times have you done this spell?” ”
A lot, actually, and what happened last night was insane. I need to see the Alpha, somebody help me up.”
“Hold up, you saved everyone else before us?”
“You don’t want to pick that fight, Dakota.” Oliver says standing next to me, giving me his hand.
“The hell I don’t! Why would you come for us last?” Is he serious right now?
“Let me check your dad first and I will tell you why you two are the low men on my totem pole.” I take Oliver’s hand and stumble a bit. Cameron catches my other arm. I am really messed up. These healing abilities of mine really need to come into play right now.
