Ch. 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX:
~Drake:
I stared at the chair in front of me, my palm up and ready for another attempt to reach Avery. Every fiber of my being longed to find her, to free her from the clutches of her own nightmares. Dane paced in my head, adding to my anxiety. The mate bond between us pulsed within me, stronger than ever, but it was a bittersweet sensation. While I could feel her presence more intensely now, I also sensed some immense feeling of turmoil she was enduring.
I shot a thought to Dane, ‘We have to find her. We can't let her suffer like this.’
Dane paused, and nodded in agreement. ‘We’ll find her. Together, we'll find a way to break through and bring our mate back.’
Alec watched my inquisitively for a moment before he gestured to his open palms. Renewed determination filled me as I placed my hand in his again, ready to venture once more into the Waking. In a moment darkness enveloped us, and my senses sharpened, attuned to every subtle sound and movement. Like the first time, I followed Alec's lead, stepping cautiously through the eerie abyss.
We journeyed through this surreal realm, Avery's feelings weighing heavily in my heart. Helplessness gnawed at my core as I followed Alec further in. I hated the feeling of being so reliant on this other male, a vampire of all people, in order to find my mate. But I gritted my teeth. I refused to give into my ego. I forced my primal instincts to adjust. I would do anything for her, and this is just one of those things. I’d follow behind a million vampires for her.
I stayed in close step with Alec until things lightened - grayed - a bit again. This time when he looked at me, I knew immediately where I felt the need to go. I didn’t even bother to point it out to him, instead I turned a few degrees to the right and charged forward. Let him follow me for once. Avery’s emotions were wild until I was hit by something different - sadness. No. More like… despair. I picked up my pace. Straining to try to run in this stuff all around that seemed to be trying to slow me down. It lightened more. I kept on going. Avery needed me. I had to be faster, stronger, I had to get to her. But just as I felt a glimmer of progress, a force ripped me out of the Waking landscape.
“No!” I screamed out, snapping my head to Alec who was just blinking awake.
I charged forward, grabbing his shoulders fiercely, my claws pushing out of my knuckles. “What happened?!”
Alec looked back pissed. “How am I supposed to know?! You pushed ahead of me and by the time I caught up you were out here!”
The bond that had surged with intensity now weakened, like a fragile piece of thread on the verge of snapping. I gasped, feeling the connection between us falter, and panic gripped my heart. I knew she was alive, but the details were hazy, blocked by an invisible barrier.
Alec tried to push his way out of my hands when I heard something I hadn’t heard in what felt like eons. A mindlink.
‘Drake! Can you hear me?!’ the voice hit me hard. Archer!
‘Arch?’ I linked back, my grip empty as Alec pushed way back.
In my shock I didn’t react right away.
‘Goddess it’s good to hear you. I was sure it was you but you weren’t replying,’ Archer explained. ‘I can’t even - I don’t know where to start - but I don’t have much time. I have to get back to the packhouse. Rafael is raging out right now, the Lycaon still haven’t been able to find you guys. They tracked you to some hotel in Idaho but you both were long gone. I don’t know how you got so close again… What are you even doing here?’
They haven’t been able to find us? Beatrix. She said it wasn’t them. Was she right? If so, then who really took her? And why? Was the Lycaon lying to Rafael? I guess they wouldn’t have a reason to…
‘Answer him. He has to go,’ Dane urgently interrupted my thoughts.
‘Arch, thank you for everything. You’ve been a huge help. I’ll explain it all to you later but my mate was taken. If it really wasn’t the Lycaon then I don’t know who did,’ I sent him.
‘Goddess,’ Archer said with worry. ‘Do you want some help?’
Archer. Always ready to give it all up for me, for my family.
‘Not yet. Let’s play this out. Don’t do anything crazy, just keep your ears open. We still need to deal with them all after I get her back,’ I pushed, Drake harrumphed in agreement in my mind.
‘Okay - tell the vamp to find me when you’re ready,’ he said wryly. ‘No time to explain how I know, I just do. Okay, got to go.’
I felt the link sever.
“Mind clueing me in? I’d guess either someone linked you or you’re on some hallucinogens, in which case: sharing is caring,” Alec said from a few feet away, his arms crossed as he leaned on a wall.
I gave him a dry glare.
“Beatrix seems to be right. It’s not who I thought it was,” I finally said.
Alec’s mouth widened to a knowing smile. “Trix will be glad to hear that.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I think the link interrupted us - I think it’s why I got pulled out. We need to get back,” I insisted, making an exaggeration of laying my palms in the correct position.
I didn’t want to mention the sudden weakening of everything. I would go in and find her. I would fix this. I expected another smart remark but he turned serious once again and sat, placing his hands under my own.
“Take us away, pup,” he said, coming into contact with my hands.
‘That enough smarta** for you?’ I heard Drake add before we were ripped away again to Waking.
In the inky blackness I forged ahead, following the same path as the last time. The pull wasn’t the same but my tracking skills kept me going long enough to get to the point we were in last time. Here I stood once more. I paused, feeling around for the pull, the thread. But it felt slackened. I rotated my frame a bit and took a few steps only to stop and alter course.
We moved with many pauses and readjustments. After Goddess knew how long, there was a brightness ahead. Alec slowly put a hand on my shoulder and signaled me to stop. I waited for a beat while he felt around. His hands seemed to be moving along a solid invisible wall, like he was looking for a light switch in the dark. After a minute he seemed to find it. He looked back up to me and nodded slowly. As I approached I noticed movement was a little easier here.
He pulled open what looked like a door made of light gray fog or clouds, and gestured for me to step in. I didn’t even hesitate.
It wasn’t what I had expected. I immediately walked into - the outdoors? It was night with a barely visible moon. Alec came up right next to me.
He wiggled his mouth and face around like he was stretching them out.
“Gods I hate that part,” he said, taking in the space.
“Where? Are? We?” I asked slowly, my mouth still slow to speak.
“We should be in Amy’s dream,” he said looking around.
“Noooo!” we heard a scream from behind us, in a dilapidated little house.
My instincts had me moving already. I pulled open the front door and ran inside looking for Avery frantically. My senses felt strained and heightened.
“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” the voice called.
My eyes saw what looked like a door to the downstairs. I ran toward it, running quickly past the trash and stacks of newspapers everywhere.
I flung open the door and heard the voice again clearly - a little girl. “You should just DIE!”
I stampeded down the stairs to what looked like a basement. I stopped, taking it all in. A big, heavy older man with a balding head was holding a long leather whip with what looked like metal teeth all alongside, above a cowering little boy no older than 7 or 8.
On the side were three young kids. Two boys and a little girl with strawberry blond hair and fierce green eyes. All the kids looked filthy and underfed.
I watched the older man's face go blank as he dropped the whip. The little boy trembled, and the girl moved fast to grab him, covering him in a fierce hug while gingerly patting his upper back, careful to stay away from the open wounds all along his lower back.
I watched the man grab a chair and start sliding it along the floor.
I felt glued to the ground.
I looked at the girl and the boys but - no one looked at me. I narrowed my eyes at it all and noticed that everything was actually just a little blurry - everything except the girl.
The girl. My heart stopped. I recognized those intense green eyes. Avery.
“Gods,” Alec said while nearing the bottom steps. His voice sounded empty like he’d had the wind knocked out of him. “These poor kids.”
“What is this?” I asked Alec, while I stared at the girl.
I got on my knees and reached forward slowly, one hand right near her. I ever so lightly touched her shoulder - or at least I tried to. My hand went right through.
“I - I don’t know…” Alec thought aloud. “I’ve never experienced something like this. I usually can’t even get into a dream. We’re only here because of you.”
I looked up at him in silence.
“I’m guessing this is a nightmare? Maybe a memory? Both? Ugh, I hate to think of this being real,” he said, passing a hand through the old man as he proceeded to hang himself.
I jumped in between the kids and the man but it didn’t do anything.
The girl looked at the boys and said, “We have to go.” She pulled the youngest along, yelling at the others to follow. We stood there at the bottom of the basement as they climbed the stairs.
I followed behind them but as soon as we reached the outdoors the whole setting changed again. This time she was older. There were no boys around. She was stalking a couple as they got out of their car and into the woods.
I tried again to get in front of her, to get her to talk to me. If this really was a dream, we’ve talked here before, we’ve touched before. She had to hear me. She had to tell me where she was.
“Avery!” I said loudly, trying to block her path. “Avery, it’s Drake. I’m here! Please talk to me. See me.”
She walked through me like I was air.
I walked alongside her as we went through four other dreams - nightmares - whatever. In each one she used her voice to command someone’s death. The glow, the gleeful smile - everything I remembered from the lake. But not the worry or regret after like she’d had with me. Were these really memories?
We moved through more. And then one with a woman who plunged over a bridge. That one continued into a moment where she saw a little girl being told her mom was gone. The little girl fell apart, and something in Avery’s face cracked then.
We moved on and on. I saw her kill the guy from the bar the night we met. It skipped meeting me and went through the next deaths quickly. It proved these were likely all memories - which gutted me. And then... There were no more. We walked and met a silent windy storm full of lightning.
Avery fell to her knees here and cried helplessly. I tried to hug her, to console her, but she couldn’t hear me, couldn’t feel me.
My heart sank. Avery sat amidst a haunting landscape, her eyes clouded with anguish and guilt. It was like the weight of these memories had consumed her, distorting her perception of herself.
We went around again after some time, starting with the rickety house and the basement. The visions that tormented her, replaying the horrors of her past, tore at my soul. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't reach her, couldn't offer her solace.
I walked with her up out of that basement.
"I'm here, Avery," I whispered, my voice filled with longing. "You're not alone. I'll find a way to reach you, I promise."
Alec came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder, I nodded silently, and we were brought back out.
With a heavy heart, I withdrew from the dream world, the bond between us weakening further. The pain of separation was excruciating, leaving me in a state of agonizing uncertainty. Avery was out there, trapped and in pain, and I would move mountains to bring her back to safety.
“What do we do now?” I asked Alec, as an open and broken man.