Rebellion

Chapter 16~ Mind Games

"It was only a dream, Shylah." Atanas soothed, letting me have my space, "Take a deep breath."

Pushing myself up to sit against the headboard, I took the duvet with me to cover my body. Just as I'd managed to calm down a little, Atanas' fast movement had me tensing up again. He gripped my chin, twisting my head to the side and I whimpered, squeezing my eyes shut, waiting for him to attack like Airell had.

When I looked at him again, the anger I saw in his features shook me to my core. My heart missed a beat as my hand lifted to where his eyes were glued to and a sob left my lips as my fingers brushed against the jagged wounds that marred my neck.

"He was here." I wailed, "Airell was here."

"He wasn't here, Libertas Mea. It's only you and I, you're safe with me." He comforted, his thumb stroking over the bite.

I could hear the worry in his tone despite his words and he continued to study my neck. Suddenly he jumped off the bed and began pulling his jeans on and I panicked. My eyes flicked to the window and then the door, to every place that Airell could burst from at any second.

"Where are you going?"

"We're going to see Anna." He replied, picking up his shirt.

"Why? Atanas, he was in my dream. He attacked me and now..." My fingers pressed against the slowly healing wounds, "How?"

Panic flared again and the air became thick, making it harder to breathe. Somehow, Airell had managed to get inside my head, he'd managed to leave scars on my skin again. Was I not safe even so far away from him?

Atanas hushed me softly, crouching in front of me, "We're going to find out but however he managed it, it won't happen again, I promise."

I nodded, letting him tug me off the bed. My legs trembled beneath me and I almost let the tears fall again. Atanas and I had shared something beautiful only hours ago and it was now tainted by Airell. I didn't want to put the dress back on but running naked to my room to grab clothes wasn't something I wanted to do either. Pulling the dress on dejectedly, feeling far too exposed, I gave Atanas a nod to say that I was ready.

He grabbed my hand and squeezed, offering me a little piece of comfort before letting him lead me through the halls towards Padraig's room. My hands flew to cover my eyes as Atanas swung the door open to reveal a very naked Anna on top of a very happy looking Padraig.

"You better have a good reason," Padraig grumbled, eyeing us both until he saw the mess of my neck.

He sat up and Anna slid from the bed to pull on a shirt, her cheeks flushed a bright red.

"What the hell happened?" He yelled, jumping to his feet and over to me, his fingers tilting my chin to the side so he could study the bite.

Padraig looked a little warily at Atanas who growled, "I didn't do this to her."

"Then who did?"

"Airell," I whispered, my voice trembling, "he was in my dream and he attacked me, when I woke up it was there."

"He created a link?" Anna asked, frowning as she walked towards me.