Chapter 10
I woke up in a bed I had never seen before. I was in a huge, black four-poster bed with a fluffy white down comforter. I looked around the room and saw that it was neat with minimal furniture. In addition to the bed, there was a dresser and a chair, but nothing else in the room. Everything was black and white; the walls and a rug covering the dark hardwood floor were white, while the dresser and chair were black. There was a framed black and white abstract painting above the bed that had a small splash of red. The red was the only color in the entire room. I looked for the bathroom, because I was about to pop. After finding it and relieving myself, I quietly walked out of the bedroom and found a long hallway with several doors on each side. To my right looked to be the balcony from the entryway, so I headed that direction. As I descended the stairs into the massive foyer, I heard the guys talking.
“Then, this wall of white light came out of her and threw the savra at least ten feet. When it stood back up, the entire front of its body was partially melted away. I have never seen anything like it. I jumped on its back and sliced through its neck like it was butter. The skin is usually thick and extremely hard to cut through, but this was soft and easy. Whatever she did with that white light was disintegrating its skin,” Bryce explained to the guys. “If she hadn’t done whatever it is she did, she would have been dead. Mason and I were just recovering from being knocked out and there is no way we could have gotten to her in time.” I could hear the sadness in his voice. I longed to wrap my arms around him to comfort him, but I wanted to hear how everyone would react without me being in the room. I was afraid they were getting sick of having to save me. I brought nothing to the table except for problems and pain.
“We are lucky she could do that, because she told us that she froze. She didn’t even try to fight it. She wasn’t prepared for her first demon to be a savra. We should have taught her about the different types of demons, so she wasn’t so shocked when she saw it. Maybe if she wasn’t so shocked at seeing the lizard-like demon, she would have defended herself with one of her gifts,” Mason said. “I have never been so scared in my life. I care for her and don’t want anything to happen to her. She is one of the best things that has happened to us. Not only is she powerful and fun to train, she is also kindhearted and thoughtful. Not to mention, she keeps us laughing!” Mason’s words touched me. I was becoming connected to these guys and didn’t want to leave them, but I also didn’t want to be a burden all the time.
“She definitely does that!” Bryce agreed. “We need to figure out what is going on. How can she be almost kidnapped twice and attacked by a savra within days of each other? Someone is out to get her. I just don’t understand why they try to kidnap her one minute and try to kill her the next. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe there are two different people behind it,” Harrison stated. “You’re right, it doesn’t make sense that they would try to kidnap her and kill her at the same time. It has to be two different people.”
“Why are so many people after her?” Carter asked.
“That’s what we need to find out!” Chase yelled. “And one of us needs to be with her all the time. She is not safe alone. She needs to move in here and someone needs to go with her to all of her classes. We need to train her harder and teach her about the different types of demons. She cannot be caught unaware again. We messed up by not teaching her enough about the dangers Elementals face.”
My heart was breaking for Chase; he was relating my attack today to his sister’s. I walked into the family room and over to Chase, who was pacing the floor while continually running his hand through his hair. I placed my hand on his arm and looked him directly in the eyes. “It’s not your fault. How could any of you have known we would be attacked in broad daylight in the middle of the woods? There is no way you could have known. It is not your fault,” I said as I turned to the rest of the guys. My hand was still on Chase’s arm and I wasn’t sure if it was for his comfort or mine at this point. “You guys have done nothing but protect and help me. I am alive thanks to Bryce and Mason. They are the ones who defeated the lizard man, not me.”
“Bre, you protected yourself with your light. I don’t know how you did it, but you are the one that saved yourself. I was just lucky enough to come to in time to finish it off. It was dying when I jumped on it. Whatever you did with that light was killing it,” Bryce said.
“What did you feel when the light came out of you?” Carter asked. Carter always either knew what I was feeling or asked. He seemed to be more in touch with my emotions than I was.
I walked over and sat on the couch beside Carter to answer, “I’m not sure. I froze when the lizard man came at me. I was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move at all.” Carter held my hand and looked at me with his soulful eyes while I talked. “He started to swing his claws at me and I covered my face with my arms expecting to get sliced to bits when a powerful burst of power filled my entire body. I felt more powerful than I ever have before. Then, the power exploded from me like when I used wind to knock Chase down. But this time it was a white wall of power. I could see it coming out of me. It felt strong and…ummm…this is going to sound silly.”
“Nothing you can say will sound silly, because it’s how it felt to you. Just tell us. The more we know, the more information we can use to figure this out,” Carter said.
“It felt strong and good,” I whispered.
“What do you mean ‘good’?” Chase asked.
“It felt… The only way I can describe it is… Bryce, remember when you told me you couldn’t sense any dark energy in me and that is how you knew I was not a demon?” I asked.
“Yes,” Bryce answered.
“I would guess that is how it feels to me, but the opposite. It was light and refreshing, like a deep cleansing breath, or like getting a big hug from someone you love that you haven’t seen in a while. It felt comforting and well…perfect.” I smiled a little and looked at Carter. “I know it sounds silly and doesn’t make any sense, but that is how it felt to me.” I looked at the others and each of them had a slight smile and a wistful look on their face. I thought to myself, This is what it felt like, my boys all together with me, safe and happy – perfect.
After we discussed who was going with me to classes and the fact that I would be staying with them for a while, we traipsed to the kitchen for dinner. I was starving and whatever Harrison cooked smelled delicious.
“Harry, I think I have a new favorite comfort food, thanks to you,” I said as we began eating. Harrison had fixed a savory pot roast with little red potatoes and carrots.
“Awe, Bre, you’re making me blush,” Harrison said. “I’m really glad you like it. I figured you needed a hearty meal after the day you had.” He was exactly right.
After everyone finished eating and cleaning up, Harrison asked, “Bre, we put you in my room earlier. Will you be okay in there for tonight? I know there is not much in there, but the bed is really comfortable.”
“I should have guessed that was your room, and yes, it will be fine. The bed felt like it was made of clouds. Thank you for letting me stay in there,” I replied. “Since I slept so well, I’m not tired at all. Anyone up for a movie?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds great!”
“A movie sounds perfect.”
“Yes.”
“We haven’t had a movie night in months.”
“I guess that’s a yes. What movies do you guys have?” I asked as I walked toward the couch in the family room.
“Bre, come this way. We have a theatre room. We should have given you a tour of the house already. We will definitely do that tomorrow,” Bryce said. We all moved down the hall and past the kitchen, past what looked like a library and a couple of other rooms with closed doors to the end of the hall. Bryce opened the door to a huge room with high ceilings and a movie screen. There were ten movie theatre chairs that were nicer than the ones in real theatres. There was also a red popcorn machine on wheels that looked very professional.
“Oh, can we have popcorn? This place is amazing!” I said, gawking.
“Sure, why don’t you go pick out a movie and I’ll start the popcorn,” Bryce said. “Harrison, get some sodas from the fridge.”
Mason walked me over to the huge selection of movies on the side wall in a beautiful mahogany built-in. There must have been over a thousand movies there. “They are organized by genre. This section is action, this one is thriller, here is horror, and this section is sports-related,” Mason said while pointing out where each genre was located.
“Don’t pick out a girly movie!” Chase yelled.
“Awe come on Chase, I had my heart set on The Notebook!” I giggled as I responded. I really wasn’t in the mood for a movie like that, but I just couldn’t pass up the chance to annoy him.
“Ah man! I hate those kinds of movies,” Chase replied.
I looked at Mason, “Do you even have romance movies? This looks like all action and adventure movies.”
“No, we don’t, but now that you are here, we should order some and make him watch!” Mason laughed. He said it nonchalantly, like he hadn’t thought twice about me being here in the future. He wanted me here, and he had no idea how that made me feel. To him, what he said was no big deal, but to me, it meant the world. I couldn’t imagine my life without these guys now; they meant everything to me.
I looked over the movies and saw exactly what I wanted, The Avengers. You really couldn’t go wrong with a Chris Hemsworth movie. I could watch anything he was in – Chris was my celebrity crush. Even though these guys could give him a run for his money in the looks department, Thor was the perfect man/God ever. Mason walked over to the DVD player and put the movie in. I went over to Bryce and grabbed a bag of popcorn. Harrison patted the chair next to him and handed me a soda. Carter sat on my other side. “I hope you enjoy the movie, Chase! I picked it out just for you!” I taunted.
“If you hadn’t been attacked by a demon today, I wouldn’t be letting you get away with this,” Chase grumbled.
As the movie started, I turned to watch Chase’s expression. He looked morose at first and then grinned from ear to ear. That was what I was looking for. He was positively magnificent when he smiled. He looked over at me, smiled even bigger, and mouthed “Thank you.” My whole body tingled and I blushed. I quickly smiled and nodded back to him before turning around. One smile and my entire body was on fire. How does he do that to me? And the crazy part was that it wasn’t just him. Whenever Bryce showed his dimples, I could barely breathe. When Harrison winked at me, I felt like it was just for me, our special thing, and I melted. Carter was so perceptive and made me feel like he was always protecting me. His shy, sexy glances at me made me want to jump him. And then there was Mason; his ice-blue eyes seemed to see right through me into my soul. I felt like he knew how badly I wanted him. How could five completely different guys turn me on so much? Granted they were all hot as hell, but didn’t normal people just appreciate an attractive guy and only become attracted to the one they really wanted to be with? I was equally attracted to each of them and that felt wrong in my head, but right in my heart and everywhere else. It didn’t matter, though. One day, they would each find their bonded and I wouldn’t be in their lives any longer. Even if they and their bonded were okay with it, I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t imagine anyone kissing or touching any of my guys. A feeling of heat and rage consumed me and I felt like I was about to explode. Calm down, Bre. No one is here to take the guys away from you. We are all here together enjoying a movie. Everything is alright. Breathe.
I finally calmed myself down enough to enjoy the movie. I wasn’t sure where that had come from; I had never been a jealous person. Although, I had never had anyone to be jealous about. Oh, well, thoughts for another night.
The movie was as great as I remembered. After the movie was over, Carter said, “Great choice, Bre!”
“Thanks, I love that movie. Thor is the hottest, sexiest superhero ever! I would have his babies,” I said jokingly. All of a sudden, the room became deathly quiet and everyone had an “I want to kill someone” look on their faces.
“My favorite part was when Hulk sucker-punched him in the face!” Chase all but growled. There was a chorus of “me, too” from everyone. Whoa, it got serious in here quickly and I had no idea why.
“I think everyone is tired, so let’s head to bed,” Harrison said. “Bre, come with me and I’ll get you something to wear to sleep in until we can get your clothes from the dorm.” I followed him out of the theatre room and up the stairs to his room. He sifted through his closet and handed me a black Metallica t-shirt.
Shyly, I said, “Thanks.” I went into the bathroom to change, still trying to figure out what changed the mood after the movie. Everyone seemed to be having fun while watching it. After changing into the t-shirt that was long enough to cover my knees, I walked back into the bedroom.
“I figured it would be huge on you. It looks good, though,” Harrison said. “Sorry for the mood change in there. Everyone is really tired from today. Don’t think anything about it, okay?”
“I guess, I just don’t understand what happened,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t you. It’s just something us guys need to work out,” Harrison replied.
That confused me even more, but I was too tired to worry about it right now. “Harrison, would you please stay with me for a little while? I have trouble getting to sleep sometimes and I would feel more comfortable if you were here.”
Harrison rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Uh, yeah, sure. I guess.” I crawled into bed and watched him. He looked very uncomfortable.
“Harry, don’t worry. I don’t bite…at first,” I said teasingly. He looked even more uncomfortable after hearing that and he grabbed the chair from the corner, dragging it toward the bed. “No, come lay with me. I feel tiny in this huge bed.” He stopped dragging the chair and walked around to the other side of the bed. He removed his shoes and slid under the covers with all of his clothes on. I turned on my side to face him and he did the same. I looked into his eyes and relaxed; he made me feel safe. “Thank you for giving up your bed for me twice now. You’re right, it is the most comfortable bed I have ever been in. It feels like I am sleeping on a cloud.”
He looked at me thoughtfully and said, “You are more than welcome. I would do anything for you.” He slowly reached up and moved some of my hair behind my ear while staring into my eyes. I couldn’t breathe, wondering if he was going to kiss me. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, “Bre, get some sleep. We have another big day tomorrow.” I felt disappointed, but a little relieved. If I got involved with one of them and their bonded showed up, I would be devastated. I needed to keep my friendships with them platonic. However, I needed to figure out how in the hell to do that when I was undeniably attracted to all of them. I took one of his hands and held it with my own under my head and closed my eyes. I was so relaxed with him there that I drifted off in no time.