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Shaking off the dream, or more like memory, I tried to focus on what had woken me up. Usually I was a deep sleeper, used to the loud noises of a city beeping throughout my sleep. However, everything was silent. Besides the wind whistling through the trees, I wasn’t sure what had woken me. Maybe my brain had urged me awake, tired of reliving Mom’s death over and over again in my dreams. Content there was nothing awry, I settled back against my pillows, exhausted with everything going on, when a shadow flashed in my peripheral. Startled, I turned my head, but again, there was nothing there.
What the fuck?I wondered. Maybe I was still dreaming, imagining up killers that would come find me to finish off the job they started ten years ago. It wouldn’t be the first time a dream like that appeared. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to block out the room, focusing on only positive and happy things. When I didn’t hear anything else, I opened my eyes, but instead of my empty room, my heart stuttered to find two masked figures standing in opposite corners of my room.
Dressed in all black, the two figures had to be men, their stature too large to be female. Fear wracked through my body, lighting me up from the inside out and I began to tremble. As much as I wanted to think I was strong, the only thing I was good at was running, not standing to fight. And against two attackers who were much larger than me? I stood no chance.
The two men began stalking towards my bed, silent besides the faint noise of their steps against the wooden floorboards. Still cowering against my headboard, I filtered through my brain, trying to think of what to do. I couldn’t run away, I was trapped in this room, one man blocking the window and the other the door. And I didn’t have any weapons on me, not that they would help considering I had never wielded one before. I was helpless against them and whatever intentions they had.
As the men continued to corner me, my fear spiked and I felt the bubble of my powers build in pressure against my chest. And with that physical embodiment of what coursed through my veins, I reminded myself this wasn’t the same situation as several months ago when I would fear through the night at the thought of who would find me on the side of a street. I didn’t need any weapons, because I was a weapon. And if what Knox said earlier tonight was correct, the overwhelming fear was enough to power my abilities.
The intruders were closed in on me by now and I eyed them warily, waiting for the right moment. The man on the left, bulkier in muscle, readied for his attack and I pulled on my power, erecting a shield moments before the man collided, bouncing against it. Before I could rejoice in my accomplishment, the other man jumped quicker than humanly possible, but thankfully I got my shield up with seconds to spare.
Both men were back on their feet and prowling closer again and as I scanned their movements, lithe and agile, I knew they weren’t humans out to get me. They were Divines. I didn’t know why they were in my room or what they wanted, but anger replaced my initial fear. How dare they come into my room? And what were they planning on doing? Shaking my head, it didn’t matter, because whatever their reasons were, they were going to regret them.
Standing up, I towered over the two men from my vantage point on my bed, and pulled on all the power I could, letting the anger fuel it like a match to flame. After my failed attempt at an offensive enchantment with Eli, I had put more practice in by myself, intent that I would figure it out. Especially after learning about the Hunters ambition to attack as many Divines as possible, I knew I would need some offensive tactics.
Closing my eyes, I focused on all the objects in my room that weren’t nailed down or too heavy to lift. I felt the strain in my chest as my power was overloaded with the effort, but when I opened my eyes to dozens of objects floating in the air, I couldn’t contain my smirk. Pushing my hands outward, I flung each and every object at the two men, hoping like hell that it hurt like a bitch.
Both men cowered as the objects hit them one after the other. Both men began cursing loudly with each hit and as the voices reached me, my smile quickly turned to a frown.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I yelled, storming over to the bulky man near the window.
Ripping off his stupid mask, I glared at Madden, who at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed. Stomping towards the other man, he ripped off his own mask and bared his fangs at me, daring me to touch him.
Looking back and forth between Madden and Wilder, none of this made sense. They weren’t evenfriends.I spoke as much to them, my tone not leaving any questions as to how I felt about this little ambush.
“Oh, relax princess,” Wilder snarked. “We may not be friends, but we have the same goal. Getting you ready to go against hundreds of Hunters. At least you finally did something useful with your powers tonight.” He finished while rolling his eyes.
My anger from earlier continued to burn and I reached out my finger, focused on giving him a piece of my mind when large arms wrapped around my waist and held me back.
“Come on sweetheart, we weren’t going to hurt you. We were just trying to scare you a little. Get that power working in overdrive. And it worked.” Madden spoke lowly in my ear, but I didn’t let him get away with this that easily.
Scaring me during our sessions was an entirely different story. And yeah, I may have been a bit more on edge due to the dreams and Knox’s invasion into my past and the Hunters readying to attack, but that didn’t mean it was okay to sneak into my room.
Stepping out of his arms and continuing to glare at the two infuriating men, I spoke loud and clear.
“I don’t care what your goal was, if you try something like this again, I’ll quickly learn one of the moredeadlyenchantments. I’m positive this isn’t what the Council or Zachariah had in mind when they said to train me. Now, both of you, get the fuck out.”
I pointed towards the door, unblinking. Wilder scoffed at me, shaking his head and then flashed out of the room without a word or backwards glance. Like I cared. He could never show his face around me again as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately, Madden wasn’t deterred as easily and sauntered towards me.
“Madden, I’m serious. This wasn’t okay.”
“You’re right sweetheart, it was a stupid plan. Completely Wilder’s by the way.” If the smirk on his lips was any indication, I’m positive it was indeednotWilder’s plan. “How can I make it up to you?”
Madden was standing in front of me now and his hands landed on my hips, the warmth from his palms seeping through my thin t-shirt. And with his words and proximity, I finally realized my pajamas did little to cover my own body, the thin shirt and my underwear the only barriers to Madden’s strong hands.
I wanted to stay mad at him, but with his fingers rubbing circles against my hipbones and the lust in his gaze, I felt my resolve crumple. And after our afternoon in the woods, I couldn’t deny that I had wanted another taste. Sue me.
“You think you can make it up to me?” I murmured, my finger tracing a path from his chest to the waistband of his pants. “I was scared. And then I was angry.”
Madden bent down so his gaze met my own, “You know what they say about anger?” I quirked an eyebrow, waiting for his answer. “Fucking is a great release for it.”
Before I could respond, Madden’s mouth landed on mine, taking control. Opening my mouth, he tangled his tongue with mine, eliciting a breathy moan. And I couldn’t deny that the fire the anger had burned inside of me easily transferred to the fire burning low in my core.
Madden’s hands moved to my ass, lifting me carelessly and then threw me towards the bed. I bounced once before settling down, staring at the man who made me come undone in ways I had never experienced before.
“Do you want this?” He asked huskily, his eyes raking over every inch of my exposed flesh.
Tearing off my shirt, I bared myself to him, nodding as I responded, “I don’t think I could want this more.” And I wasn’t lying. Something about Madden made me finally feelalive.
