Envisioned (The Elemental Prophecy) (33 page)

“I used Akasha. They had Ja—”

“Wait, you used what?” Mr. De Luca interrupted.

“Akasha. I finally figured out how to harness it.”

“And how was that?” he asked skeptically.

“That's not the point, the point is that I killed the Elders, and then we escaped,” she blurted out. Once she realized what she said, a look of regret crossed her face as I heard her thoughts scream,
Fuck!

“You killed the Elders, Brielle?! How could you do that?!” he exclaimed.

“Trust me, you don't even want to know what we went through that led to that. I did what I had to do to protect us.”

“Brielle, there will be repercussions for your actions. Did you not think about that?!”

Brielle was pissed. Her anger coursed through my body, clashing with my worry that stemmed from what Mr. De Luca just said. I hadn't even thought about what would happen to Brielle because of our actions at the community.

“No, Daddy, I didn't. I was a little preoccupied with saving Jace and I from being tortured, and possibly murdered,” she spat.

His face blanched white from hearing that. “Tortured? Tell me what happened,” he demanded.

“It's best that you don't know, Daddy. Please don't make me tell you,” Brielle pleaded, her eyes glazed with tears.

Mr. De Luca silently debated for several seconds, obviously conflicted, before he reluctantly said, “Fine, you don't have to tell me today, but you will tell me eventually. Got it?”

She nodded, visibly shaken by the recent memory of the events that transpired earlier today. I walked over to her and took her in my arms, wrapping her in my embrace. She clutched the back of my shirt, crushing me to her in desperation. I didn't think I could handle what she was going through if the roles had been reversed. Seeing Brielle whipped would have completely broken me. Her strength and resilience was amazing, making me love her so much more. She began to sob against me, shuddering as her tears soaked my shirt and ripped my heart apart. I had to force down the tears that threatened to spill over from her emotions overwhelming mine. “I'm going to take her home—she needs to rest,” I croaked.

He nodded as I lifted her into my arms and carried her out of the office. Before I walked out the front door, he tapped me on the shoulder, causing me to turn to face him. Tears ran down his face as he said, “Please take care of her, Jace. She's my baby girl.”

“I will, Mr. De Luca. I'll let you know if we need anything,” I replied. Brielle had burrowed her head into my chest, and her wracking sobs had dissipated to soft sniffling and quick intakes of breath. As I walked out, I looked down upon her beautiful face. Her eyes were closed, her breathing no longer ragged, and I knew sleep would find her before we reached home.

I was lying next to Brielle, who was sound asleep in our bed. She had fallen asleep right before we turned the corner of our street, just like I had thought. I loved watching her sleep—she was so peaceful. Gone was the stress of the Prophecy, of everything that weighed down on her daily. I wish she didn't have to go through all of this.

My mind raced with thoughts of the repercussions Mr. De Luca had mentioned. Would the High Council in Mt. Olympus summon us? What punishment would they decide for us? I would have to ask Zane if he had heard anything from his contacts there.

Finally, the events of the past two days caught up to me, and I drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened shortly after by Brielle's piercing screams.

My arms are elevated, held in place above my head by invisible bonds that I struggle against. My muscles burn as gravity causes my arms to sag from the strain. My knees are bloody from constantly being rubbed against the dirty, dank cement floor, and my body slumps from fatigue, trying to compensate for the weight that my arms have the burden of bearing. My powers have been drained somehow, but I still feel them weakly flickering within me, trapped somehow in my own body.

My head rests against my chest, my eyes closed in exhaustion. There is nothing for me to see anymore, my prison has already been committed to memory. Black stone walls embedded with skeletons and the images of demons surround me as I am forced to kneel in between two ornate, pewter thrones. A blood red carpet extends from the doorway to the steps leading up to the platform where the thrones and I sit, the carpet's regal quality contrasting against the inferior floor. Sleek chandeliers dot the black ceiling, the lights shining like stars against the night sky.

The doors are thrust open, the sound causing my head to jerk up. My captor strides in and makes his way towards me, an evil smirk plastered on his face. He is dressed impeccably in a black designer suit, his shoulder-length black hair slick back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. His eyes flicker orange, reminding me of Jace. I can feel him coming, even though our bond is waning due to reasons unknown to me.

“Your flame is almost here. How he has survived my realm is astonishing,” my captor snidely remarks. “At least you will get to die together, and then your power will be mine,” he continues.

Jace is almost here, and the thought of seeing him both thrills and sickens me because I know he is walking into a deathtrap. Tears burn my swollen eyes as I think of his death, of our forever cut short. I wonder if the Moirai had this planned for us all along, if Atropos is hovering over our threads of life right now, just waiting to shred our existence.

The doors burst open again, and the sight of my love invigorates me. I can feel our bond strengthening, slowly gaining some vibrancy back just from being in the same room. He is bruised and bloody, but still breathing, still alive.

“Let her go!” he demands as he stalks toward my captor and I. He raises his hand and shoots a ball of fire at my captor, who disappears. He reappears directly in front of me, blocking me from Jace.

“Big mistake,” he coldly says. He raises his arms out to the sides, and the room trembles. The skeletons and demons in the walls burst out, hundreds of them converging on Jace. His fireballs are shooting in all directions, eliminating some targets, but nowhere near enough. He is removed from my sight, forced underneath the mass of creatures overtaking him.
I love you, mi amante, until my last heartbeat,
he says in my mind.

I scream, fighting against my invisible shackles, until I feel our last heartbeat.

I bolt upright, screaming at the top of my lungs. Arms wrap around me and I fight against them, bucking and thrashing wildly, desperate to get to Jace.

“Mi amante, stop. It's just me. You had another nightmare,” I hear a familiar voice say. My racing heart begins to calm some as I open my eyes and take in my surroundings; I'm sitting on our bed, tangled up in the covers. The arms holding me are Jace's, and I almost weep with relief.

The tears start flowing when I remember the nightmare. Never before has my nightmare changed; the images within them have always been constant. Never before have I actually seen Jace die, or felt our shared life slip away. I never wanted to feel that void, to feel as if my heart was literally broken as our love was stolen away.

I clung to Jace, sobbing against him. God, I hated how weak I have become, but the emotions within me are impossible to ignore. They are too intense, reducing me to a crying, frail little girl. What a waste of the powers I was given.

Jace rubbed my back in a circular motion, as he did every night to calm me down from the nightmares. “Really got to you this time, huh?” he questioned.

“It was different, Jace. A new nightmare—it was so much worse. It felt so real,” I choked, tears still streaming down my cheeks.

“Tell me what happened.”

I reluctantly relayed my nightmare to Jace, after refusing several times. He stayed silent afterward, just holding me, giving me the comfort I needed. I listened to his heartbeat, letting it remind me that it was only a dream. We were both still alive, still together.

“I think your captor was Hades. He fits the description you gave,” he said after a few minutes.

“What?! You mean my great-grandfather? Why would he do that to me? I'm his family!”

“Mi amante, Gods have thousands upon thousands of descendants. We usually mean nothing to them. Plus, Hades is evil. I wouldn't be surprised if he was helping Uranus return.”

I started to ask why, but I thought of the reasons he would want that. He could take over the world if his prisoners were unleashed. He could extend his realm unto ours.

Jace nodded, agreeing with my thoughts. I could feel his worry compounding with mine over my nightmare. Having an enemy like Hades was a nightmare in itself.

I didn't want to think about the nightmare anymore. My emotions were all over the place because of it, but the one that stood out above all others was my overwhelming need for Jace. I don't know if it was so intense because of how realistic his loss was to me, but I needed to connect with him now, to feel him become one with me and shatter the remnants of the despair the nightmares created.

I turned to face him before I tugged his shirt up to uncover his beautiful torso. I ran my hands over his smooth chest as I pushed him back to lay down on our bed before straddling him. I removed my shirt and bra, then pressed my chest to his and took his lips with mine. The familiar fire lit within me, coursing through my body and begging for more fuel. His tongue parted my lips and found mine, entwining them in their seductive dance. He ran his hands up and down my back before trailing them around my front to cup my breasts, using his thumbs to stroke each of my nipples until they stiffened with arousal. He removed his hands and grasped my hips, moving me upward so he could take my breast in his mouth. He slowly circled his tongue around my nipple before biting it softly, eliciting a gasp from my mouth. He placed soft kisses along the sensitive skin of my mounds, causing tingles of pleasure wherever his lips pressed. I ground myself against his hard length, which strained against his jeans, waiting to be freed. I fumbled with the button of his jeans, eager to get his pants off and get him inside me. He maneuvered me on his lap to strip my shorts and panties off as he reclaimed my mouth with his. Our tongues tangled as he lifted me up to take off his jeans, kicking them off once they were down at his calves. He released me, setting me back down on his hardness—I rocked against it, my clit rubbing against his cock as I moved back and forth. He growled as he nipped at the base of my jaw, and his desire poured through me. I smiled seductively at the thought of unraveling him, teasing him until he couldn't take anymore, but I wanted him just as bad as he wanted me, and I didn't want to wait any longer. I grabbed his length and placed his tip at my slick entrance before I slowly lowered myself onto him, feeling every inch as I slid down all the way to his base until he filled me, causing us both to groan from the sensation. Pleasure ripped through me as I rode his length, rolling my hips against him. He felt so perfect inside me, and our bond began to blossom as we fully connected. He was everywhere, filling me with his emotions and joining our hearts and souls as one. Our passion and love consumed me as I pressed against him, deeply kissing him as tears lightly trickled down my cheeks. God, I loved him so much, and feeling his mutual love for me touched me in the depths of my soul. I thrust softly against him as he caressed my face, breaking the kiss to look me in the eyes. Orange swirled throughout the brown, showing his emotions deepening as we made love.
I love you,
he softly spoke in my mind.