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We stand frozen, watching them for a moment, and all I can imagine is Serena facing them. It’s all any of us can think about. The thought of her facing them now is scary, but back then, she was so much younger, smaller… fuck!
The thought pisses me off and terrifies me at the same time, and I can feel the guys dealing with the same emotions.
How?
I ask, unable to stop myself. I’m not sure I want to know if I’m being honest, but somehow, not knowing is almost worse.
I can feel Garrett’s discomfort. The memories of that time are just as hard on him as they are for Serena, to the point where they make him physically uncomfortable. Something I would have thought hard to do with how level-headed he always seems. Regardless, he knows we need to understand, and while he might not like to talk about it, he can show us.
Where is she?
Where is she?!
The sirens of the kingdom blare, but I ignore everyone as they run through the halls, heading for the grand hall, while I make my way through the castle to the library.
Serena was supposed to go down to the lake this morning. I was going to meet her there after my lesson with my father. She would usually join us, but sometimes, it was too much for her, and she would go to one of our spots to wait for me. Her inability to access the elements is a sore spot for her, even with her shadows—maybe even more so because of them. Now, I wish I would have skipped and stayed with her or insisted she stayed. Something’s going on out there, and I have no idea if she’s still here or already at the lake.
The residents of Salona were able to use the elements as much as anyone else, even those with shadows. As far as history shows, nobody has ever been documented using only one element, especially one based on bloodlines like light and shadows. Usually, it gave more power and control over the elements to use it in its other forms, but not with Serena.
“Garrett!” My mother’s voice bounces off the walls, but I don’t look back. I know why she’s calling, and I don’t have time to stop and argue with her. Not when Serena isn’t here, and those things are out there!
The bond is tricky. While I haven’t struggled with it much, Serena has, but we’ve been working on it. Since pretty much the beginning, we’ve been able to communicate with our minds. It started as something I could do while shifted, but it didn’t take long for us to figure out that we could do it in any form. We often took advantage of it, using it to sneak around or when we were just too lazy to actually talk aloud. It’s silly, but it always made me feel closer to her for whatever reason, even if we were side by side staring up at the stars down in the garden.
It’s special—something that’s only ours.
I reach the end of the hall and turn into the library, closing the door behind me and blocking out the noise of everyone running around in the chaos.
I close my eyes, calling her name inside my mind as I reach out to her, desperate to know where she is and if she’s safe.
‘Serena!’ I scream, reaching for her mentally. The bond answers almost immediately, and I feel her fear slam into me as if it were my own, though at this point, it is.
It only takes me a moment to understand what’s happening. Even with the chaos in her mind right now, I see through her eyes as she runs through the forest.
‘Run, Rena, don’t look back!’ I tell her. She does as I say, though I’m unsure if it’s because I told her to or because she was already doing it. It doesn’t matter, though, so long as she keeps moving.
Keeping my link to her, I leave the library, matching her pace, running through the castle, desperate to get outside, to get to her.
I feel the beast as it closes in on her, and my stomach turns, knowing it’s so close while I’m still so far. It’s purely the need to reach her that keeps me from throwing up, as fear grips me for her sake.
‘Use it, Rena!’ I scream as I will my feet to carry me faster.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to call on just my wings. If only I was stronger, faster, better.
‘I’m not supposed to,’ she says, and even in my mind, I can hear how out of breath she is.
The thought of losing her has tears gathering in my eyes.
I can’t be in this world without her. I don’t want to be.
‘I don’t fucking care!’
I hadn’t meant to say it to her, but it’s no less true. Mother would scold me if she heard me talking like that, but oh well. There was no real rule that was set for her with her powers; she was the one who wanted to keep them hidden. Mother and Father agreed because that’s what she wanted, and they knew it would make life easier for her, not because they were afraid of her or cared what people might think.
It was a temporary solution so that she could learn control and make herself comfortable, not something she was meant to take so literally that she would put her life on the line.
‘Serena, please!’ I beg, not caring about anything else. ‘Please,’
Her thoughts spiral as the beast gets even closer, and she panics.
