Forever Entranced ~Book Two Of The Soul Bound Series

Chapter Two ~ I'll Survive

"You might want to hold on," He chuckled. The bike revved to life, purring beneath us.

My arms wrapped tightly around his waist as the motorcycle lurched forward, my hair whipping through the air as it picked up speed, "We're not going to make it!" I screamed, the portal was beginning to fade, the time that it was left open running out. He gunned the gas and we zoomed towards it. I closed my eyes, burying my face into his coat. A cold substance surrounded us, the bike's engine puttering, ready to give out as it warped through the portal, but then it roared back to life as we flew out to the other side. My eyes shot open, we were speeding right towards a brick wall, "Illius watch out!" I shouted, my entire body tensed up.

Illius yanked the bars to the side, applying on the breaks and we drifted across the gravel. The smell of burnt rubber filled my nose as the tires created friction between the ground and bike. We skidded to a stop, inches away from the brick wall. My heart pounded in my ears and we both were breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" He craned his neck back to look at me, his blue eyes bright with alertness.

I nodded, my hands shaking as I lifted them up in front of my eyes. I tucked them into the pockets of my coat and hopped off his motorcycle, "Remind me to never go through portals on a motorcycle with you again."

He pushed the kick stand down with the toe of his boot and slid off, a smirk drawing over his face, "Admit it, it was pretty fun." He snickered as he strutted towards me, "Way more fun than talking to a sulking West."

I frowned, my mixed feelings beginning to surface once more,  but I tried to shove them down. I had enough on my plate, how could I be so selfish as to focus on the building physical emotions I was forming towards two men, two brothers. Geez I was horrible. My gut filled with a sinking feeling, "I'm the one who accidently brought Elizabeth into a somewhat physical form long enough for him to crush himself about what happened to her all over again. It's my fault, the least I can do is apologize." I turned on my heel and made a b-line for the front door of the mansion.

Several minutes of wandering later, I found West positioned on a bench in the greenhouse. He leaned over, his arms hanging off his knees, his head bowed, eyes cast to the ground beneath his shoes. I gazed at him from behind the glass door, my heart pinching inside of my chest. My hands planted firmly against the door's smooth surface as I pushed it open, silently stepping inside. Or at least, I had thought it was pretty silent until West's head shot up, his eyes landing directly on mine, filled with painful guilt. He wore a green, plain t-shirt and a regular pair of blue jeans. This had to be the most casual I had ever seen him.

I took a few tentative steps towards him, "Ava?" His voice croaked, hoarse and dry. Had he been crying? His eyes were red and puffy, his skin pale. It was clear he wasn't receiving the nutrition he should be. It was strange to me, for some reason, to imagine a demon with tears of sorrow spilling down their face. But why shouldn't they cry? They had emotions too - heightened emotions - that's what I had learned from a book on demons that I had borrowed from their library. Emotions that were ten times stronger than a human's and I had seen many mortal people break down and drown in a tsunami of emotions. I couldn't imagine feeling that times ten. It was unthinkable, yet they did. "Why are you here?" He spoke just above a whisper.

I hesitantly stepped around the short fountain placed in the middle of the cobbled grove. My heart seeming to pound louder and louder as I drew closer to him. Heaving a large sigh, I slowly sat down on the other end of the bench. For some reason I was afraid to get too close, like just my presence would burn him. After a moment, I spoke, "Do you miss her?" My voice was scarcely a whisper. I knew what the answer would be and I knew I didn't want to hear it, but I asked regardless. I had to hear it, I needed to.