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“Into water?” he added, making me tense because I knew what he was trying to get at.
“Well, yeah.”
“So, you didn’t see a body?” he questioned, pressing me further and I knew it was because he wanted to be sure.
“Well no, but… come on, you don’t really believe…” I let this trail off as the possibility he was leading me to started to take hold.
“Oh god, what if you’re right?!” I started to freak out at this, wondering if all those glances of him, him stalking toward me in the hospital, what if it hadn’t been in my head at all!
“Easy, easy now, I wouldn’t let him get near you again… wait, was is it… Evie?” he asked the moment he saw my panicked eyes lock to his.
“At the auction… he was there. I was so scared, I was running, and it was creepy and I just thought I was going crazy! I got hit in the head and woke up believing it hadn’t been real. But then after that I thought I saw him, sitting in the audience… Shit, what if he had actually been there, Ryker… what if he’s still alive!?” I was about to scramble to my feet, and off the bed in my panic when his big arms stopped me. He picked me up and put me in his lap again, holding me to him as he tried to silently soothe my fears. But then with deadly calm, he told me,
“Then he gets to die all over again and this time…”
“…By a Demon’s hands.”
31
STOLEN MOMENTS
Soon after Ryker said this, he left to make a phone call, Because, well, I doubted cell phone service was any good inside a mountain. Which left me to explore after first getting changed. I found a pair of stone wash jeans and a burgundy ribbed knit sweater, with a boat neck style that had batwing sleeves. I wore a white tank top under this for some added warmth.
As for Ryker, he looked gorgeous as always, in a pair of dark jeans, a white shirt left open at the neck, and a winter wool overcoat in a trench style. One that was dark gray, had a lapel unbending at his neck and was single breasted, with black buttons running down one side.
Now as for my wandering, what I found took me straight back to the night I had first met my thief.
The golden bird.
I don’t know why, but like that night I first unboxed it, I found myself taking it in my hands, as if something was compelling me to do so. It was about the size of both hands combined, and felt weighty enough to be made from solid gold. It also didn’t look like any bird I had ever seen, with its large talons seemingly missing whatever it should have been gripping onto.
However, like the last time, it didn’t take long before a bizarre feeling started to wash over me and, this time, instead of dropping it back in its box, I held on tight. I held on, despite now seeing the shadows on the floor trying to reach for me. I don’t know why, but it was as if some other force was trying to speak to me. Trying to compel me to hold on through my fear long enough to listen. So, I closed my eyes, ignored the shadowy Demonic hands trying to reach me, and took a deep breath.
One that was quickly stolen from me, as vision after vision assaulted my mind and played out one after the other. It was like a flicker book of the future, and I was just trying to slow it down enough to make sense of it. But the part I didn’t miss was what terrified me the most.
It was the end.
My life was being held in the hands of another, a man I had never seen before. An axe’s blade held at my neck, ready to rid me of my head. Ryker’s furious face turned to one pained at the sight of my life about to end. A long golden scepter held in his hands, as if a deal was being made. My soundless words, telling him goodbye, as if I knew the risks. Behind us all, a great chasm, glowing like some giant portal was at the ready to split right open and allow for Hell on Earth.
It was all there, like a disaster movie showing the volcano about to erupt or the cracking of the Earth just before the earthquake. But that wasn’t all, because Vander was there. He looked as if he was trying to reason with Ryker. But his friend’s sole focus was on me, his mind made up. I knew that when he tossed the scepter at my feet, making the exchange. After that, I was forced to pick it up and the moment I did, I was pushed toward the portal, the threat still real at my back. Then an order was given, and I looked down at the bird at the top, focused on those claws, and turned it left so its talons lined up with the world the hand below it held.
And then everything changed.
The talons snapped into place, clutching the world, crushing it like it was symbolic of what would really happen, before the huge portal exploded outward, the veil of protection obliterated. After that I could see the Demonic army there, waiting to invade the mortal realm.
“Ah!” I screamed the moment I felt hands touch me, making me drop the bird and sever the connection.
“Did I scare you, Little Bird?” Ryker’s voice helped break it even more as he had stepped up behind me. I looked down at the golden scepter piece now lying back in its box, my heart pounding and still trying to make sense of what I had just seen.
“Evelyn?” Ryker said my name with concern, and I forced myself to shake off the last of the visions. I didn’t want him knowing what I had just seen, going so far as to question myself as to why. I couldn’t explain it, but just something deep down was telling me not to. As if I had a choice and it was one that held the weight of the future in my hands. So, I cleared my voice and forced myself to comment as light-heartedly as possible.
“Well, clearly, I am not the only little bird in your collection.”
“No, but you are the only one who owns my heart.” At this I melted back into him, before turning my head side on and looking up at him.
“Thank you.”
He smiled down at me and cupped my cheek, as was his way, before running his thumb over my freckles, telling me,
