Forever Entranced ~Book Two Of The Soul Bound Series

Chapter Twelve ~ It's Ironic

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I sat around the purple, glowing fire, staring blankly into it's heated center. My mind fled back to the horrible nightmare I had woken up from only an hour ago. That man, the one with the obsidian eyes, cold, ruthless, cruel. I wanted him gone. Out of my head. I tossed a rock into the fire, my heart twinging as my mind turned to Illius. What had I done to him? Maybe I was the problem, not him.

"Ava, you're awake already?" West sat up, blinking sleep from his eyes and ruffling his hair with his hand. He yawned, glancing about, "Where's Illius?"

I shrugged, my eyes casting to the ground, "Beats me."

"Is something wrong?" He scooted closer to me, his brown eyes studying me.

"I keep having these awful nightmares," I frowned, "I'm afraid to go to sleep anymore."

He reached up, unclasping a necklace that had been tucked under his gear and laying it in the palm of his hand where he extended it towards me, "Take it."

I shook my head, "I couldn't possibly..." His fingers brushed my hair to the side and he put the necklace around my neck, fastening it in the back. I looked down at it, studying the stone on the end, as blue as the ocean, "Why are you giving this to me?" I looked at him, confused.

He heaved a sigh and leaned back against the rock we both sat next to, folding his arms over his broad chest, "It was given to me a very long time ago. I used to have these nightmares, they were so vivid and real. They tormented me every night, I would wake up in a cold sweat, unable to breathe and I would see these shadows creeping towards me from the darkest corners of my room. I would freeze, paralyzed by fear." His eyes met mine and he ran his tongue across his lips, "That stone dispels nightmares, it clears one's mind. Right now, I think you need it more then I do." He gave me a warm smile.

"Thank you," I tucked the necklace safely inside of my shirt and stretched my legs out, laying my head against the rock, my eyes casting to the ceiling of the cave, "You're a good guy, West." I felt his fingers brushing over mine and my breath caught, my eyes falling on him.

He entwined his fingers with mine, "I'll always love my brother, but sometimes I wish I could just kick him out of the picture and make what I'm about to do that much easier." He leaned over, closing the space between us, his lips pressing firmly against mine.

"Now all I need is popcorn." I pulled back and West broke away. Killian sat up, staring at us. He chuckled, "Oh please, don't let me stop you."

I quickly stood, a blush rising to my cheeks and reached into my pocket, feeling for the key to ensure it was still there, "The blizzard has passed, we need to be going." I moved past them and could hear Killian snickering behind me as I moved towards the mouth of the cave.

Illius rounded the corner and his eyes instantly landed on mine, his lips twitching, "There you are," He cleared his throat and tossed the blue orb with the silver casing - the one he had told me to put in his pocket back in Heaven - between his hands.

"What is that?" I pointed at it, trying to change the subject.

He examined it, taking in it's glowing surface, "Just something to play catch with." He winked at me, it seemed his playfullness had finally returned and I raised a brow.

"What out there lifted your spirits? Because I need a strong dose of it," I tucked a loose strand of hair back behind my ear, nervously shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

"Don't we all?" Killian said as he came up beside me. West strode past, coming to stand at Illius' side, "We need to go north don't we?" I nodded, watching as Killian pulled the black cloak that Envy had left behind, over his head. Hopefully it would keep him warm in the harshly cold temperatures of the north, "Then we'll need to hike at least twelve miles to the top of this mountain, make sure you're quiet, we don't want to attract any unwanted attention. After that, we will just fly over the Lake of Ice and you'll officially be in the north. Please don't ask me how I know where I'm going. Let's just say I'm an adventurer." The warlock explained as he wiggled around in the cloak, "Fits nicely don't you think?"