Page 7 of Liberating Water

Scoffing at his words, I shook my head. “Why would I ever believe a word that you tell me? Get the fuck away from me.”

“Very well. I will leave you for now, but know that what is to come rests on your shoulders. You could have stopped this all from happening, Little Synergy.”

* * *

“What doyou mean it’s not working? You said you could handle it if something went wrong?!” Micah’s angry voice bellowed.

“I thought I could, but this demonic hold on her is stronger than anything we have ever seen before, so unless you have something to offer, then back the fuck off,” Parker growled back, his hands holding my head.

Groaning, I tried to roll out of Parker’s hold, feeling like I was going to be sick to my stomach. “I don’t feel so good.”

There was movement around me, and I was scooped up and carried to the bathroom. I might not have gotten sick if I’d been left alone, but now that I didn’t have a choice, I was glad to have the toilet ready. Hands swept my hair back as another rubbed my back in comfort before placing a cool, wet towel around my neck.

Finished heaving my guts out, I slid against the wall of the bathroom, taking the towel off my neck to wipe my face. A water bottle appeared before me, and I took it, gratefully sipping on it as I looked up. Micah and Brayden were standing shoulder to shoulder in the tiny airplane bathroom, worry pinching their faces.

“I didn’t try to crash the plane, did I?” I asked.

They both seemed to relax at my question. “No, Angel, you didn’t try to crash the plane. Truthfully, we wouldn’t have known anything was happening if it wasn’t for Parker telling us when he couldn’t wake you no matter what he did.”

“Why do I feel no nauseous?” I grumbled.

“If these assholes would let me through, I could fix that,” Parker snapped.

Brayden and Micah stepped out of the bathroom but stood right by the door, keeping an eye on what was going on.

“Sorry, Trouble. When I couldn’t wake you, I tried to trick your body into thinking you were going to be sick so it would wake up. Obviously it didn’t work, so now I have to turn it off,” Parker explained, placing his hands on either side of my head.

A warmth flowed through my body, and in an instant my nausea was gone. The headache stuck around, but other than that I was back to normal.

“Thank you,” I whispered before I leaned my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

“Hey, hey, no going back to sleep. You have to tell us what just happened,” Parker said, pulling me away from him.

“Can we talk about this not in the bathroom?” I asked with a grin pulling at my lips.

Parker shook his head, helping me to my feet, and we headed back out to the main seating area. They were serious about this no sleeping thing. Brayden wrapped his arm around me and led me over to the couch where I snuggled in next to him, feeling a bone-chilling cold from my encounter with the Dark Lord.

A hand rested on my knee, drawing my attention forward. Hudson was squatting in front of me, his blue eyes filled with worry. “What happened? This seems different from what you told us about the other attacks.”

“The Dark Lord decided that we needed to have another chat. He knew that Parker was trying to get me out of the dream, but he wasn’t worried because Parker wasn’t strong enough,” I sighed.

Brayden’s arm tightened around my shoulders as his body tensed at my words. “What did he want?”

“He wanted me to give myself to him with the promise he would spare all of you from what he has planned for the world,” I answered. “I told him to fuck off.”

Micah snorted at that, causing me to look at him and the glint of humor in his eyes. “Really, you stood there and told the Dark Lord to fuck off?”

Frowning at him, I turned and snuggled back against Brayden, refusing to look at him.

“Is there anything else that he said? I can’t imagine he would take that response very well,” Hudson pushed, bringing us back to the topic at hand.

“He told me that whatever happens from here on out is on me because I could have stopped it, but nothing specific,” I said, my gaze falling to my hands, unable to look at them.

A hand tucked under my chin, and Hudson brought my gaze up to meet his eyes. “Lailah, you did the right thing. You can never trust what any demon tells you, let alone the Dark Lord himself. He is the king of lies and manipulation. Whatever happens going forward, we will deal with together. That’s why the angels brought the Elementi into existence in the first place. No one person would be able to do this all alone.”

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around Hudson’s neck, hugging him to me as he pulled me close. As much as Brayden grounded me, the logic Hudson provided always soothed my fears.

“If you guys won’t let me sleep, can we watch a movie?” I asked into Hudson’s neck.

His body shook with a soft chuckle. “I think we can do that.”