#7.
The sound of silence is not always the best thing
and Crimson even though he was lying on the jungle floors knew this particular
silence could only mean bad things—real
bad things. It didn’t help that when Nico got hurt it sent Crimson’s own mind
into overdrive. As hard as he tried he couldn’t smell what was out there—he knew
something was out there—but for the life of him what it was eluded him.
Something, or someone, was now sitting and watching. Maybe they were waiting to
see what they would do next, or possibly they were waiting for those of them
whod been hit to bleed out.
Crimson couldn’t seem to get his eyes to focus, and
everything felt wrong. As he heard the worried voices around him he was still
trying to work out what could have made the enemy who had attacked do so. Also as
the drug seemed to knock Nico out, somehow their mind had linked. Crimson had
not only lost the ability to speak and reassure Dominic he was okay. He was
numb, if this was death than it wasn’t so bad at all. The pain of his nest mate
being harmed had completely left his body, and he now floated above; looking
down at the scene on the ground where the other’s worked on his brother’s body.
He wasn’t even sure the other’s had even realised he was currently linked to
Nico.
Somewhere off in the distance a sound caught his
attention. The strong urge to follow it pulled him away from the here and now. Crimson
looked back at his travelling companions as he drifted toward the sound calling
to him. It seemed as though in a matter of minutes he was above a completely
different setting. He quickly realised this was definitely not a place he
wanted to linger. Below him, Tondran stood out among the many, yelling orders
to move one of the prisoners. Crimson drifted lower knowing he needed to find
out what the hell was going on. Something was screaming at him to take notice
as if what he was seeing was important.
Crimson’s heart lurched as two bound men were
dragged into view. Both were extremely dirty, yet even covered in filth as they
were Crimson could see their underlying beauty. He saw the chains bit deep into
their flesh as they were staked to the ground arms stretched out so they
appeared to be reaching for each other in desperation. Something in Crimson
told him this was done on purpose; whoever did this knew if these two men
touched then all hell would break loose. Crimson sensed this was some sort of
twisted game to Tondran.
As quickly as the realisation came to him Crimson knew
what he had to do.
Drifting down until he hovered centimetres above
the ground between them. Even though he’d come to the conclusion he couldn’t be
seen in this form, both sets of eyes turned toward him with their unspoken
request. Taking one of their hands in each of his own, he closed his eyes he
let the power flow through him. He felt the way the power met inside him and
entwined before heading toward the other person—a whispered ‘thank you’ could be heard as their
essence passed through him.
Crimson’s eyes flew open and stared at the man on
his left. Dark hair matted with dirt and blood looked so out of place and
Crimson knew he if it was clear of tangles it would fall in gentle curls around
his face and shoulders. Beautiful golden eyes the colour of the king’s ale
stared back at him. Confusion was clearly written on the man’s face. Plump lips
swollen more so with being beaten than because they were naturally full,
mouthed the word, ‘Who?’
No words of his own would form on his own lips—in this
visage he was mute. He smiled sadly at the stranger as he felt his own body
calling him back to where he lay in the clearing with his is brother, mate and
travelling companions. He shook his head as his fingers touched his own throat
indicating he couldn’t talk—he wanted to let the stranger know why he couldn’t
answer.
And with the next breath he was gone.
**~*~**
“He’s coming around,” Dominic stated in relief. He
couldn’t believe how good it was to see Crimson’s eyes open, even if they
weren’t fully focused yet. As everyone had worked on the wounded no one even
realised something was wrong with his mate—a tidal wave guilt washed over him.
He didn’t have to see the others to know they all felt exactly the same way.
“Don’t move him, Dom.” Nico said. “It would be best
to wait for his soul to reconnect with his body.”
Dom nodded letting Nico know he understood. “I wasn’t
going to. I just needed to be touching him. I just—”
“Simian.” Crimson whispered before he had even
opened his eyes.
Dom heard both Vayne and Arron gasp as the sound of
their mate’s name fell from Crimson’s lips. What
was Crimson trying to say?
“What?” Arron asked as both men moved closer.
“I saw,” Crimson closed his eyes as if he was
trying to grab hold of a dream, his words coming out in short sentences. “I saw
Simian staked to the ground near another man. They were the same, yet
different. They are family, I think.
I bridged the gap between them. I…I,” confusion and pain filled his eyes.
“What did you see?” Vayne demanded and Dominic
growled at the man’s tone of voice.
Crimson pushed himself up and spoke. “Tondran,” Dominic
tried to hold him still, but his mate moved until he could look at them all. “I
don’t know how I saw what I did, but he’s getting ready to move Simian again. I
was right,”—he frowned at Vayne—“they’re headed towards the altar at Mount
Varnuse’. I just don’t think that’s their final destination. I kind of got the
feeling Tondran doesn’t even know who he has. When I bridged the gap I think I
set in motion things he isn’t prepared for. We need to rescue Simian and his
fellow prisoner as soon as we can.”
Vayne looked very frustrated as he asked in a less
demanding voice than he had earlier. “Do you know where they’ll be, or which
way we’ll need to go?”
“Yes, whatever passed through me is now like my own
personal homing beacon. The closer I get to them, the easier it will be to
follow. Somehow I know whatever it was that fought off the ones who attacked
us, was a manifestation sent by the two men. They were sent here to save you
and Arron. Simian was saving both his
mates.”
Dominic spoke up before Vayne could ask any more
questions. “Who’s the other prisoner? The one who was with Simian.”
“His name is Raevyn Blue. I think he’s our mate.”
Shock flashed through Dominic. One second he was
holding his mate and the next darkness had claimed him.
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