Page 11 of Rescuing Air

“Now, now, Little Synergy. You’re in my world now and I’ve put a shield up just as you have back home, to keep them out as we had this little chat. No one you are bound to has any idea that something is wrong, and I have you right where I want you,” the Dark Lord sneered, his clawed hand wrapping around my throat. “My brothers know about my plans, which is forcing me to move them to happen faster than I wanted. If I take you out here and now, it might be less fulfilling, but then I’ll have one less pest to deal with as I bring Earth into a new era ruled by me!”

His grip tightened, and I thrashed, trying to pull at his hand, but he was too strong and his fingers were so long they wrapped all the way around my throat, his claws digging into my skin. Without my power to call on the others, I was left helpless and alone in the darkness, with pure evil trying to steal my life from me. In desperation, I called out to whoever might listen with the last ounce of air that I had in my lungs, unwilling to die like this.

“Get your hands off her, you creepy bastard!” Parker’s voice rang out in the darkness.

A flickering purple light was making its way over to us, but with the lack of oxygen, my vision was starting to fade.

“You shouldn’t be able to be here! How did you get through my barrier?” the Dark Lord roared, dropping me to the ground.

My eyes were still blurry, but I caught glimpses of Parker and his long-bladed staff going head-to-head with the Dark Lord. Parker had an evil smile on his face as he attacked, pushing the darkness back with him as his purple light grew, filling the space. “Did you forget I’m not attached to her at all now, or the fact that shattering the Oath left a blight on me much like the mark you left on Lailah? Yeah, asshole, I can enter the void now too, probably even follow you into Hell if I needed to. Sadly, we can’t stay and play. Just know that we’re coming for you and when we do, you’re going to lose.”

Parker released his weapon and scooped me up. “Sorry, Trouble, but this is gonna be a bumpy ride,” he warned as he ran, tucking me in close against his chest.

“How?” I croaked.

“I don’t know, Trouble, but I’m so glad I didn’t ignore the nagging feeling you needed me. Just be ready for them to be pissed and screaming when you wake up,” Parker shared, as I felt myself starting to wake up and the brush of a kiss on my forehead.

eight

Lailah

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” Micah demanded, his furious voice echoing in my ears, giving me the first sign to tell me that I was back.

Groaning, I shifted onto my back, bringing a hand up to my neck. The moment I touched it, I hissed in pain, making it clear that the Dark Lord had left his mark and proof that everything that just happened was real.

“Parker,” I whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the yelling.

“Guys, shut the fuck up. She’s trying to say something,” Brayden cut in as the bed dipped beside me. “Angel, what the hell happened to your neck?” He gasped and reached out as if he was going to touch it but stopped himself.

I licked my lips and swallowed but it was so painful. Rolling my head to the side, I found Parker pinned to the bedroom wall by Jay, with a pissed-off Micah standing in front of him as if he was blocking the sight of him from me. I locked eyes with Parker, begging him to answer the question so I didn’t have to.

“The Dark Lord tried to kill her in her sleep,” Parker stated, fury blazing in his eyes. “The fucker put up a barrier to keep you guys out, making sure you didn’t have a clue what was happening.”

Jay dropped Parker and turned to me; his gray eyes wild with fear. “Is he telling the truth?”

I nodded my head before croaking out an answer. “Yes, he saved my life.”

“Care to explain how the hell you knew what was happening? I’m going to need that house key from you before you leave as well if you’re going to pull shit like this,” Micah growled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought saving the life of the woman we all love was a good enough excuse for my actions. Next time, when I can’t get there in time, you’ll be the reason she’s dead in bed next to you. Hope that’s okay with you,” Parker snarled.

The whole situation was devolving, and I needed to put a stop to it. Sitting up, the sheet fell away from me, exposing my naked body, forgetting that Hudson and I didn’t bother to put anything on before getting in bed. Although it wasn’t what I had planned, it did the trick as all my guys froze, laser focused on my bare breasts. Rolling my eyes, I let out a huff, which got Hudson moving, flashing the guys all his goods as he went into the bathroom and appeared wearing a robe and offering me mine. Then he returned to the bathroom, only to return with a glass of water, which helped ever so slightly with speaking.

“Stop, please,” I managed to say clearly enough. “Fighting is what he wants and we can’t let him win.”

“Cookie Monster, I know you believe we can’t do this without this fucknugget but I know we can,” Micah challenged.

Shaking my head, I continued, “What happened tonight proves that’s not true. If he hadn’t come for me, I would have died. I was already on the verge of passing out as it was. No, we can’t do this without him. I’m certain of it now.” Exhausted from the encounter, I sagged against Hudson who was sitting beside me. “The Dark Lord is who’s been sending me the nightmares. He wanted me tired and off my game and it worked.”

“Sunshine, we’re all under a massive amount of stress. Don’t let the Dark Lord fill you with fear,” Hudson cautioned.

Anger spiked through me at his cavalier take on this, causing me to shoot to my feet. “You don’t get it! I almost died next to you in my sleep, with no one around to help me!” The shock and hurt on Hudson’s face told me I’d gone too far but none of them besides Parker was understanding how screwed we were. “Parker has to stay at the house from now on. I don’t give a shit what any of you think about this. It’s my life that hangs in the balance if something goes wrong. He’s the only one who can get to me if I ever need him again.”

Brayden was the first of them to approach me, taking my hands in his and lifting them to his lips. “All we want is for you to be safe, Lailah. If that means Parker stays in the house then that’s what will happen. You come first, no matter what. Seeing the marks on your neck has left us all a little shaken, knowing you got hurt under our watch. I’m sorry that we forgot to consider your feelings in our panic.”

This was the magic of Brayden. He was my rock, the man who kept me grounded in reality. “I’m sorry too.” I turned back to Hudson who was still sitting on the bed, trying to hide his feelings. “Hudson, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. You didn’t deserve that from me. Just… when I didn’t think this whole thing could get worse, it did, and I lashed out at all of you.” I pulled away from Brayden and kissed Hudson tenderly, putting all my feelings for him into it. The one thing Hudson always struggled with was arguing. Any kind of yelling from me reminded him of his stepmother.

“Thank you for your apology. I shouldn’t have brushed off your feelings either. None of us responded well in the heat of the moment.” Hudson sighed, resting his head against mine. “But as Brayden said, if Parker needs to be back in the house then he can stay in the guestroom on the first floor.”