Under the Blood Moon~ The Guild Leader Chronicles Book Two (COMPLETE)

Chapter Eleven

He looks over his shoulder, and begins to turn his body. I open my mouth to say his name, but a cracked squeak comes out instead. Cauis halts, and then snaps his head back to me. I open my mouth again, trying to say something, but the same sound comes out. Cauis pulls his lips over his teeth, and turns sharply. He suddenly leaps away from me, exposing me to Septimus.

Septimus stops mid stride when he sees me, and then snaps his head back front. He growls, and then rush over to me. He glances over me briefly, up onto the bed. He reaches with his snout over me, and bites down on the green comforter on the bed. He rips it off, letting it fall on me, covering most of my midsection.

Get Esmerelda out of here. I hear Cauis angrily growl.

The sound of his voice in my head makes my head almost explode. His words echo loudly as they bounce around inside. I groan at the intense pressure building up in my head. Almost immediately, Luke comes over, suddenly standing over me. His eyes are a bright red. I've only seen his eyes red once, and that was the night he completed his transformation. I feel my chin tremble at the sight of him as he slowly bends down towards me. I whimper loudly when he grabs my left side. I try to move away from him, but my body doesn't respond. Luke tries to gently pick me up, but after what just happened to me, no amount of gentleness will help.

I choke on another sob as he pulls me up into his arms, carrying me bridal style. In a blur, Luke runs from the room. I can't see anything clearly as he whooshes through the complex. My hair flies around, and the blanket covering me flaps against the top of my shoes. Luke suddenly stops running, and hurriedly says, "Teleport us home!"

I turn my head, seeing a very gray looking Hope. Her eyes are sunken in, and her jeans almost fall off her. I gape at the sight of her. Achilles really did torture both of them. I had prayed he was lying about raping Hope, but clearly he wasn't. He truly is a monster.

Hope shakes her head, looking defeated. "I've never been there. I can't visualize it." She tells Luke as she looks at me apologetically.

Miles takes a small step towards her, and raises his arm slowly. He lowers his head a little, but keeps his eyes on her. Hope snaps her head to him, her eyes going wide with fear. Miles stops, leaving a good two feet between them still. He tilts his head to one side, and pleads, "Will you let me show you?" He moves his hand up a little, indicating he's wanting to touch her.

Hope moves the shoulder that's closest to his hand back a little. She looks at Miles' hand, and then into his eyes. Her chin quivers as they stare at each other. After a few minutes of silence, she slowly lifts her hand to his. She takes a calming breathing before taking his hand, holding on loosely. Hope closes her eyes while she raises her other hand. What is she doing? Her magic is consuming her! Why is she trying to use magic? Hope chews on her cracked bottom lip, oblivious to that pain that must be causing as small amounts of fresh blood escapes the wound. She makes a small wave with her hand, and I feel the air around us shift.

A strange gasp comes out of my mouth as the four of us are flashed into my apartment. I feel my eyes begin to burn as tears fill them. I look over at Hope, pride and gratitude filling me. She had learned control after all. The vision I had when I touched Miles hadn't been real. And she was able to get all of us out of that hell.

I open my mouth to try and thank her, but then Luke rushes to my bedroom. He kicks open the door, and then moves swiftly over to my bed. Luke lays me down as gently as he can before backing away quickly. Hope comes into my bedroom, followed by Miles who is still giving her space, but never takes his eyes off her.

"Nikiya!" Luke calls going back out of the room.

Hope comes over to my side, and kneels down next to me on the floor. She looks at me knowingly, and raises her hands, hovering them above my left arm. I swallow, causing my throat to protest at the action. Hope gives me a sad smile, and then closes her eyes. I hear commotion in the other room, followed by Valerio crying. I silently beg Nikiya to not bring my son in here. He may not remember seeing me like this, but I don't want him to see it at all.