Chapter 170

Chapter 170
Ivan

“How did you know what I was thinking?” I asked her. 
“Because, we are connected. You can do the same thing with me. Please come back to me.” She said, sadly. 
“Anyone would be a fool to leave you.” I told her.
I pulled her to me. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing. I didn’t really know her. But she said I did. I just wanted to comfort her. I didn’t want her to be sad. I hugged her tightly and breathed in her scent. It was so familiar and it pulled me to her. I wanted to stay like this forever. 
She pulled away and looked up at me, the worry evident in her eyes. She pulled my face down to hers, our lips meeting each other. A spark moved through me and all my memories came flooding back. Losing my parents. Meeting Ariya for the first time. The fire. Then losing Ariya. Everything came flooding back in. I gasped as I pulled away from her. My head was pounding but the pain was fading away. 
“Ivan.” She said my name softly. 
“I’m here, princess. I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.” I told her. 
Ari grabbed hold of me tightly and began sobbing. I wrapped my arms around her and nuzzled into her. I knew we were in our mind and I had just punched Drake. I wasn’t sure about what happened right before that. 
“It was weird. Drake went to see if anyone had tampered with your mind and then you both were stuck together screaming in pain. We didn’t know what to do. So Keo put up a barrier for a moment to try to avoid anyone hearing. Then when Drake finally released you, you attacked him. I could feel the anger coming off of you. I swapped with Keo and shouted but you only froze. So we swapped back and I pulled you to our mind. I’m not sure what’s going on out there, but Keo knows I pulled you.” Ariya explained. 
I grinned at her, “Ari, did all of that happen instantly?” 
“Yes.” She grinned back at me, “That’s not the point though, Ivan. What happened?” 
I tried thinking back to what happened when Drake made contact with me and tried to search my mind. The memories flashed through my head but this time I didn’t forget everything that had happened prior. I didn’t have the same anger that came through. 
“Whoa. I didn’t know all of that happened. I wonder why your memories disappeared for a bit?” 
“I’m not sure. I think it was an effect of trying to uncover that memory. Now we know what Ryker looks like.” I told her. 
“True. Too bad we didn’t get a bit more. We would have figured out his ability. From the look of it though, it would make sense if Ryker was an Enforcer. Should we still have you mention it to Boss?” Ari asked. 
“I don’t know. If it seems appropriate I guess, but otherwise I think we leave it alone for now. We don’t need to worry about making Boss suspicious.” I told her. 
I could feel Ariya’s concern for me. I could tell she was still a little worried that I wasn’t completely ok yet. 
“It’s ok, princess. I’ll be fine. I’m here. You brought me back. I refuse to lose you again though.” I growled. 
“That’s not going to happen. I won’t let it. I can’t lose you like that.” Ariya said, the tears starting to form in her eyes. 
I pulled her to me and hugged her tightly. Breathing in her scent. I loved her more than anything in this world. I would burn the entire world down if I had to. Especially if it meant saving her. She was the most important person to me. She was all that mattered. I still cared for Keo, Caleb, and Drake. But Ariya was my top priority. She always would be. My anger for Drake had dissipated. I knew why he did what he did. I didn’t like it but I understood it. It was the only reason I didn’t hate him. I had Ariya back. That was what mattered. 
“We need to head back, Ari.” I told her. 
“I know. I just didn’t want to let you go.” She told me. 
“You’re not letting me go. I’m still here. We’ll stay connected for the rest of the night. Maybe we can sleep this way. It’s not perfect, but maybe we can be in each other’s mind and I can hold you through the night.” I suggested. 
I felt her brighten up a bit at the thought. I wasn’t sure if it would work but it was worth a shot. Anything to get even a bit closer to her. I wanted to get her out of the facility so bad. I knew there was a lot of work to do though. It made me impatient. I wished that everything wouldn’t take so long but I knew there was nothing we could do about speeding things up. All we could do was take a step forward and continue moving. 
I felt myself take back over in my body and blinked as the world came back into focus. Keo still had the dome up and was looking at me concerned. 
“Ivan?” Caleb asked. 
“It’s me.” I looked over at Drake, “I’m sorry.” 
“Don’t be. I didn’t realize what I’d done to you. I’m the one that’s sorry. I promise you, Ivan. I’ll never take Ariya away from you again. I’ll never let anyone take her from you.” Drake swore to me. 
I nodded at him, “You saw the entire memory?” 
“Yes. We have a really big problem. Ryker. He is a person that can break other people’s minds.” Drake told us.