Restraint (The Revelation Series Book 2) (12 page)

I take in a deep breath and reach out my hand as Gage
takes it.

“It’s time
, love. You’ve chosen.”

I jolt awake on the couch, swallowing down my scream and almost falling on the floor in my frantic state. Abby catches me just in the nick of time. My eyes lock onto her but I don’t really see her, all I see is blurry water. She carefully takes my shaking hands in hers.

“
I’ve got you, sweetie. It’s okay. You’re just having a bad dream.” She tries to calm me down by brushing the tears off my cheeks. I breathe in deeply, attempting to pull my heart rate back to a normal level.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had one of those,” I barely whisper.

“Shh, we’re here. It’s okay, Eve,” she soothes while brushing a hand over my hair.

We’re?
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a slight movement in the doorway. Asher’s hands are clenched at his sides, his face ashen like he might be sick.

A
bby lifts her head, noticing I’m staring at him before he nods at her and walks out of the room. With every step he takes, my heart shatters a little more. All I want is for him to run over here and hold me.

“He isn’t upset with you
. Ash is struggling with wanting to be the one to console you, Eve. He knows he can’t,” she says sadly. “You were screaming for him in your sleep.”

I close my eyes to gather myself.
“I was?”

“Yes. This heartbreaking
cry,” Abby whispers as if in pain.

“
Crap.”

“
Do you want to talk about it? I know this was kind of your thing with Aria, and I’m not trying to replace her, but if you need someone, I’m here. We all are. You’re not in this alone.” Her voice is sincere.

“
It was just a bad dream. I’m all right now.” My voice cracks with the lie.

Abby studies me
for what feels like forever. When she thinks I’ve finally calmed down to the point of non-hysteria, she agrees to let me retreat to my room.

As I make my way up the stairs
, I faintly hear Asher. “Is she alright?”

“I think so.
I’m pretty sure it was just a nightmare,” Abby offers in a quiet hush.

“What do you think brought it on? I mean
, she was screaming for me like I had been ripped from her arms?” Asher questions. He sounds scared and worried.

I sigh
, wishing he would just ask me himself. Not waiting to hear her response, I climb the stairs to my room, exhausted. Just as I hit the top landing, McKenna steps into view.

“We’re back to screaming in the middle of the night
, are we, blood of Eden?” she snips.

“Go fuck yourself
, McKenna.” I brush past her and head to my room, not in the mood.

Once in the shower, the heaviness of the day
finally takes its toll on me and for the first time in a long time, I begin to cry and not the pretty, delicate, light tears most girls can pull off. I mean full-on-ugly-I-just-won-Miss-America-hiccupping sobs. I slide down and sit on the shower floor and just let the scalding hot water run over me until I don’t have any tears left.

At the point
I’m sufficiently cried out, I shut off the water and get out of the shower to dry off. I almost start bawling all over again when I notice Asher left his
Property of London
shirt on the counter. I get into it with my boy shorts and pretend its Asher wrapped around me. Tired, I just want to crawl into my bed and end the madness of the day.

I open the bathroom door to find Asher
lying on my bed, waiting for me. His long, muscular legs are crossed, eyes are closed and his strong hands are resting behind his head.
The beautiful gargoyle prince looks so peaceful.

Thinking he’s
asleep, I take a moment just to breathe him in as my heart clenches. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the remnants of the nightmare. The need to walk over to him and crawl inside him is all consuming.

As my eyes open, they lock o
nto his. Neither of us moves. Neither of us speaks. His eyes travel the length of me, landing on the shirt and causing them to darken as my entire body flushes from his perusal.

Asher’s
face falls. “You look like shit,” he says in typical Asher fashion.

I
snort. “Thanks. You sure know how to sweet talk a girl, for being a gargoyle prince and all.”

There
is a pause. “Siren?”

“
Your highness?”

“
Gage told you?”

“Yes. Though I can’t figure out why you didn’t. What’s one more secret though, right?”

“With everything else being thrown at you, my title was something the clan felt wasn’t important. My status within my community has nothing to do with my protection of you, Eve.”

I arch a brow. “And Camilla?”

“I know that Gage blames us for her death. Neither I, nor my brothers had knowledge of his father’s plan. If we had, we would have stepped in. I understand he’s hurting and doesn’t believe that, but I assure you, it’s the truth.”

I just study him. His face
is sincere and in my heart, I know he’s telling me the truth.

“Are you okay?
I heard you crying.”

“Fine.
Just tired.”

Disbelief crosses his face.
“And the dream?”

“
I don’t remember it.”

Asher lets out a frustrated exhale.
“I felt it, you were terrified. Your soul was calling to me. You were screaming for me, siren.”

I
swallow hard and feign ignorance. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He stands and groans. “
All right, have it your way, Eve.”

“There is no
‘my way,’ Asher. I’m okay,” I say heatedly.

He just
remains in his spot, taking me in before slowly nodding and pushing out a long, drawn breath. “Right now, I’m fighting every thread of my being not to walk over there and yank you into my arms because, siren, I know you’re fucking lying to me.”

I cross my arms
, resisting the urge to fold myself into his. I nod once my comprehension.

“Be sure
you’re up and dressed early in the morning. We’re realm jumping,” he says.

My eyes widen with surprise.
“Where?”

“
The Eternal Forest. We have an engagement with Priestess Arabella.”

“
I’ll be ready,” I confirm.

He pauses before looking at me then the bed. “
Do…do you want me to stay?”

Want
him to? Yes. Need him to? No.
“No,” I answer in an unsure voice.

“I’m just across the hall
if you change your mind,” he offers.

My eyes lock onto his
, conveying how much I want to change my mind, to run to him and never let go. However, my mouth has different ideas. “I’ll be okay. Thank you.”

Asher’s
quiet, contemplating. For a moment, I think he might say something but he just curtly nods before leaving my room.
Crap. I have it bad for him, like stalker bad.

I make my way to the bed and cr
awl in. My pillow still smells like him. I snuggle into it, embracing his scent and the calm it gives me.

9
The Chamber

My hand clutches the silk drape
as my vision skims over the Cotsworth gardens. They’re completely covered in a new blanket of snow. I lift my eyes to the blue sky, inhaling. The sun is shining this morning and reflecting off the little white, frozen crystals, which gives the illusion of small diamonds embedded in the earth. Everything is so pure and clean, unlike life. The entire world is silent in this moment.

I focus on the lake, shivering at the recollection of
Saraphina. My mind wanders to Gage and I catch myself speculating on what he’s doing at the moment, as my other hand reaches for the place on my wrist his lips burned.
Focus, Eve. No more Gage thoughts.

A
quiet knock on my door pulls me from my reverie as I release the curtain, allowing it to partially fall back over the window, blocking the lake.

“Come in
.”

Abby
slips into the room, closing the door behind her. She fidgets awkwardly with her hands as she stands across the room from me, assessing me. “Hi. Asher asked me to come in and make sure you’re ready for today. See if you need anything.”

I
offer her a bright smile. “Abby, I promise, I’m okay. Yesterday’s events are not your fault. Neither was my nightmare. Please, stop acting like I’m breakable or angry. I’m not either of those things.”

“I know.
” The angelic gargoyle sighs and walks over to the bed. She sits while folding a piece of her red hair behind her ear. “It’s just, I’m in charge of the charms and I didn’t even consider that Saraphina might be trouncing around the lake. I’m truly sorry, Eve. I dropped the ball on your protection. I swear to you, it won’t happen again.”

I frown and sit next to her on the bed, taking her hand in mine.
“You didn’t let me down, Abby. I know all of you would give your life to protect me. Besides, Asher did tell me to go back into the house. Now I know to be a bit more careful around supernatural beings…and lakes.” I let out a slight laugh, causing Abby to smile.

“Are you excited
to meet Priestess Arabella?” she asks, sitting up straighter.

“
I guess. I’ve never met a priestess before, let alone one that is revered amongst the supernatural world for her seer abilities.”

“She’
s the most powerful of all the oracles, or foreseers. Kind of like a psychic on crack,” Abby explains.

“Great.
” I grimace. “Hopefully, she won’t see anything too depressing.”

“Nothing
bad will happen. Ash will be with you. So will Callan and I,” she says with girlish excitement.

My mood just picked up. “You’re coming too?”
I question with a spark of hope.

“Asher asked Callan
and I to join you guys as ‘backup’. Cool, huh?” she states, smiling at me.

“Back
up or a buffer?” I retort.

She puckers
her brow. “Does it matter?”

“
Nope. I’m thrilled you and Callan are coming. Thank you,” I offer, giving her a huge hug.

Abby cla
ps her hands like a little girl. “Great. Let’s get you changed and then we can head downstairs to begin our realm jump.”

I scowl. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
I ask defensively, looking at my clothes.

“
Nothing, if you’re going to class but jeans and a black shirt is not appropriate to meet a high priestess, especially one that sits on the Royal Supernatural Court.” Abby moves toward my closet.

Twenty minutes later, and a lot of ducking out of the way of flying clothes, Abby decides
she is pleased with my outfit, consisting of a black
Free the People
Elle Lace mini dress and black, open toe, knee boots that tie but have a square heel so I can walk on grass easily. Feeling a little overdressed, I look at myself in the mirror.

The mesh
, sleeveless shift with crochet and lace detailing all over it is trimmed with a scalloped lace bottom hem. The entire outfit makes me feel overwhelmed. She adds bangle bracelets because apparently priestesses love jewelry.

“Are you sure I’m not a little overdressed?” I ask
, throwing her a worried look.

“Eve, you look amazing
. Trust me, I know what the appropriate attire is for meeting a priestess,” she says passionately.

It’s then I notice she is also wearing a black, sheer lace button down style dress with a high neckline and black, open toe flat sandals that tie up with a ribbon to her ankle.

“I have faith in you,” I promise in a hushed voice.

She nods once and
grins though it doesn’t reach her eyes. Obviously, she’s still a bit sensitive about yesterday and doesn’t think I fully trust her. I grab her arm, forcing her eyes to meet mine.

“Hey, I
entrust my life to you, Abby. You’re a great friend and an amazing protector,” I say with as much sincerity as one can.

She
gauges me for a moment before giving me a genuinely bright smile. “Thanks, Eves. Let’s find the guys and go meet the high priestess then. Shall we?”

I muster up as much excitement as I can. “Can’t wait
.” My voice trails off as I follow her out of the room.

As soon as my bottom foot hits the last step, I hear a drawn out wh
istle. “You ladies look amazing,” Callan offers, beaming before heading over to Abby and planting a soft kiss on her lips.
Odd. Why does this feel like a double date?