Wolf Dream (13 page)

I climbed the rope as quick
ly as I could. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to be out of the dark pit. Julie gave me a one of her fake smiles. “I knew you’d make the right choice. In the end it will always be me that you choose. Let’s go get you cleaned up before you meet with Nicholas.”

My stomach churned. I didn’t want to meet
with him, I wanted to kill him. I could still remember when I found him with Es. I almost lost her to the Belladonna poisoning, but now I lost her to my brother.

I followed Julie out of the underground room we were in, trying to memorize ever
y step so I could find my way back to help Ailaina.

Another exciting thought filled me when I realized that I would be able to hear Maztic now.
“Maztic?” I tried weakly in my head.

“I’m here
.” His voice was weak as well.

“
What’s going on? Why haven’t you shown up?”

“After they took you from the plane, they put you in a secure room that my spirit couldn’t enter, and the underground pit was the same.
Whatever magic is being used, is stronger than me. I’ve tried to reach you.”

I knew just by his tone how tired he was.
“I know you did. We’ll figure this out.”

Julie stopped once we reached the first story of the house, then turned to me. “You’re awfully quiet. You wouldn’t be talking to Maztic, would you?”

I shook my head. “No, just a lot to take in.”

She gave
a coy smirk. “I haven’t seen him, but I guess that would be normal seeing as how Nicholas has a strong hold on the spirit element. He wouldn’t be letting him get through to you. He’s placed a barrier around the house forbidding all spirit wolves access.”

So, that’s why Maztic sounded so far away and tired. He was literally trying to fight against a blocking spell that was made to stop him. It was hard to understand
why we were becoming vulnerable to magic after all these years.

Julie continued through the house, stopping at a door. “You can clean up in here. I’ve already laid clothes out for you.” She reached up and kissed my cheek before running her fingers down my face and jaw. “It’s good to have you on the winning side. I’ve waited years for this.”

Her touch burned my skin like acid. I wanted to pull away but knew better. “You’ve been dead for years,” I reminded her.

“Oh, but this started long before I died.”
She spun around on her heel and left me to stand alone.

“Damn,” I cursed as I ran my hands through my hair. I decided to clean up while I had the chance, and hopefully the water would wash away the ill effects Julie left on my skin. Besides, I needed a chance to think thing
s through. I needed to find a way to save Ailaina before it was too late.

I got dressed and leaned over on the counter. I hadn’t come up with a better plan than to just barge through the house and throw the ladder down to Ailaina and escape. It wasn’t a tight plan since Maztic couldn’t help me, something that made my soul ache. I wasn’t used to being without him and my body was getting weak without his spirit. Maybe that was what Nicholas wanted
– to keep me alive but weak and at his disposal. No guardian that I ever knew of lived without their spirit wolf, and with every minute I became weaker I believed there was no way to live without Maztic. He was a part of me.

After a couple deep breaths and a pep talk in the mirror, I pushed myself off the counter but had to catch myself as my balance was off.
Yeah, escaping should be easy. I opened the door and found Julie waiting for me.

“Hey
, lover, you don’t look so good. Let me help you.”

I pushed her hand away. “I’m fine.”

“I beg to differ. Honestly, Jarak, just let me help. You’re going to get weaker, and you’re going to need me, so you might as well just let me now.”

I glared at her and my jaw clenched. “You knew, didn’t you.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “What? That without Maztic you’d be nothing? That you’d become so weak that you’d kill for the connection to the other half of your spirit? Oh, yeah, maybe I did know.”

“You’re evil
.” I said it, but it didn’t come out as harsh as I wanted with my exertion.

She grinned. “I know. And now so are you.”

“I will never be what you want.”

“Actually, you may not have a choice.”

A scream rang through the house and my head jerked up, instantly alert. Ailaina. “Where is she? What are you doing to her?”

Julie reached out to touch my arm but I yanked it away. “Jarak, there isn’t anything you can do for her now.”

I didn’t listen to her as I took off running, following the bloodcurdling screams. “Ailaina! I’m coming!”

Julie pounced on me from behind, taking both of us to the floor. I pushed her away from me and stood back up. She smirked. “Jarak, you can’t win this. I’m stronger than you right now.”

Ailaina’s screams became low moans that echoed in the house. I shook my head at Julie. “You’re wrong.”

She tipped her head. “
Aww… You think you can hurt me? You’ll never be able to.”

I clenched my fists and struggled to move toward her.
“We’ll see about that.” She was wrong. I could hurt her, curse or no curse. I dug deep and plowed into her, pushing her into the wall. I didn’t have anything with me that could do any real damage to her, but maybe I could buy myself some time.

I held my arm up to her neck and pressed hard. Her eyes widened and she grabbed at me frantically
, but I didn’t let up until her body drooped and her eyes finally fluttered shut.

I bent over. My breathing came in desperate gasps, my body
wanting to shut down, all energy spent. Ailaina screamed again. I jerked my head up. How was I supposed to help her if I could barely move? She cried out again and I knew I had to try. I took a couple quick breaths and jogged down the hall. It was all I could do not to stop and let the world go black around me.

Where was she? I took off down another hall but it dead-ended. I hit the wall as I turned around and ran back the other way. A faint whisper filled my head,
“Upstairs.” I knew it was Maztic, but he sounded weaker than I was.

I found the stairs and took them two to three at a time. The screams died down to
a muffled cried. “Ailaina!”

I opened the door and a woman with short
, choppy brown hair turned quickly to see me. “I told Julie you couldn’t be trusted.” She dropped the small knife she held on the table next to Ailaina. I didn’t have time to check on her with the knife lady approaching me.

I planted my feet into the gr
ay carpet, but I could feel my whole body shake as I forced myself to stand. I stared at the lady; something about her was off. “What are you?” I asked weakly.

Her body
jerked slightly and her skin fluttered over her muscles inhumanly. The whites of her eyes got darker, turning completely black.

My breath hitched and I tried to swallow the lump at the back of my throat.
I wasn’t sure what she was, but without Maztic, I wasn’t certain I could take her on either.

“You look afraid, Jarak. The once
-strong guardian is now weak and speechless.”

“I’m not afraid.
I’m just trying to figure out what you are. You’re not a breed, you’re something else.”

She grinned, showing her yellowed teeth. “I’m something you’ve never imagined. I am why there are nightmares.” She sauntered closer to me and I took a heavy step back.

I wasn’t sure how fast she might be, but I hoped I was faster, even in my fatigued state. I darted toward her, but she was much quicker. Her hand shot out, and a force that I couldn’t see pushed me backward, where I landed harshly on the floor.

I winced as I tried to sit up. Every muscle in my body felt like it was on fire. I thought only Adonia, Es, and Victor could use magic against me. Then again, I was detached from Maztic. Whoever was capable
of separating a guardian’s spirit must have strong magic. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was the reason for my current state. It fueled my anger and I slowly stood back up, never taking my eyes off her.

I lunged at her again, this time expecting her to use a power against me. I felt the surge of energy rip through me, paralyzing me. I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried. I was already weak, but it drained me even more. I stood there
, immobile, not even my lips able to form words. A strange warmth filled me from deep within, and it gave me a new hope. I wasn’t sure where it came from, or who supplied it, but I was grateful just the same.

I could feel my fingers move first, then it was as if she had no power over me at all—but she didn’t know that. She kept her hand out with a light yellow
, illuminating fog spreading from her palm. I used that to my advantage and stayed still, not giving her a reason to believe her power no longer worked.

She walked closer to me and I knew that was my chance. I sprang to the table with Ailaina and grabbed the knife
, turning and throwing it without thinking twice. It landed in her chest. She looked down at the silver handle protruding from her then up at me. “You think this will get rid of me? It will only slow me down.” Her body faded into the air slowly. “I will be back, and as soon as I do, you best watch your back.” Then she was gone.

I didn’t know where she went. I only cared that she was entirely gone—but for how long
, I didn’t know. I fell to my knees. My arms and legs were heavy, even my neck had trouble keeping my head up. I reached up and grasped the edge of the table.

I strained
to pull myself up. My fingers wanted to slide from the table, but I heaved my body up before they could. I leaned over on Ailaina’s legs, breathing heavily. Standing up without support was out of the question, yet I knew I had to in order to help her. With my elbows resting on the table, holding up my entire weight to help keep my balance and so I wouldn’t fall back down, I inched my way to her side.

I ripped off the gag and pulled the ropes that bound her to the table. She sat up and wrapped her arms around my neck, clinging to me. “
Shhh… It’s okay, it’ll be okay.”

I pulled back to look at her. She hiccupped from all her crying. Blood ran down her forearms
. I held them out to get a better look at them. “What did they do? Who did this? Was it Nicholas? What was that woman?”

She sat on the table, pulling her arms away from me to wrap them around her middle
, and rocked back and forth.

“Come on, we need to get you out of here before Julie or
that other psycho comes back.” I already pushed my luck since Julie knew where I ran off to, and I didn’t know how long I had until she woke up.

I picked Ailaina up despite my weakness
. My legs and arms felt like Jello, but I carried her out of the room and downstairs. No one was there to stop us – it was too easy.

“Jarak,” Ailaina whispered. “They’re gonna kill us.”

“No, they won’t. You’re going to run and not look back, understand? Find Es, stay with her and don’t leave.”

Her brow creased. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“
You didn’t trade sides, did you.” It was more of a statement than a question.

I sat her down to stand on her own. “No.”

I heard footsteps running toward us. I opened the front door. “Now run.”

Ailaina took off, looking over her shoulder once before rounding the corner. I turned just in time to be hit with a power orb. I flew back and hit the door, shutting it. “You let her go?” Julie screamed at me.

All I could do despite the pain was smile. She shot another round of energy at me. My insides felt like they were fried.

“I can’t believe you helped her escape. You’re supposed to be helping us.”

I had to say something before she killed me. “I just did,” I whispered. “You wanted Es, now she’ll come.” I hoped I was wrong, but I knew deep down I wasn’t.

She exhaled loudly. “I guess you’re right. Besides, we already did what we needed with her.”

I winced as I fought to stand up. “And what was that?”