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"Have you made any decisions?" asks Aiden. "It seems we've been in this situation before. Are you going to save your lovers once again?" he asks, his shiny, sharp teeth painting a demented tableau.
I was so sick of feeling helpless. I was so sick of having my choices made for me, of having other people decide my life, of having everyone know more about me than I knew about myself. I could feel the power growing inside of me. I knew then that Aiden was wrong about my chains. Whatever power was inside of me couldn't be contained now that I knew what to look for.
Looking at Damon, Beckham, and Mason continuing to struggle viciously against Aiden's power even as they turned blue from lack of oxygen, I realized what had been missing from all of my magic lessons with Aiden in the Neverland he had created. The feeling I had channeled when my magic had first worked in the fairy ring had been based on a real memory of someone giving me flowers, a someone that I recognized as Damon now. The feeling I had experienced was love. My magic wasn't like Aiden's, dark and insidious with selfish intentions. My magic was based on love.
Real memories from this life, of times when I had felt love with my three men cycled through my mind, a highlight reel that was connected together by the fact that all three of them loved me, would do anything for me, and the fact that I would do anything for them.
I didn't know what spell would work, so I just channeled the feeling that I wanted to protect Damon, Mason, and Beckham into my magic. My magic continued to build until it burst out of my stomach with that same gold light, engulfing Aiden's black whips inside of it, and disintegrating each one until the guys were freed. It then engulfed a shocked looking Aiden in a gold box that I knew somehow would keep him there for as long as we needed to get away.
Aiden began to send black tendrils out around him. I watched as they tested the boundaries of the box. The box shuddered, but held firm.
"We need to go," I said hoarsely, feeling drained from the energy that had taken. Even Aiden's simple whips were strong, and the power needed to overcome that bit of magic took a lot out of me, I'm assuming due to my inexperience. I envisioned my cuffs disintegrating like the whips had done when faced with my magic, and sure enough they too were engulfed in a gold light briefly before falling to ashes at my feet. I faltered a bit as I took a step away from the wall where I had been held captive. Mason caught me before I fell, holding me for a moment before pulling back and putting his arm around me to help me forward.When I stumbled again, Damon swept me up in his arms and began to carry me.
I could feel my wings finally starting to knit back together as I was carried out of the cell door. Despite my best intentions, I took a look back at Aiden over Damon's shoulder. His black tendrils were still working furiously to undo my spell, but his eyes were squarely focused on me as I suspect they had been for a very long time.
"We'll meet again soon," he mouthed, and I shivered, knowing that he would make good on his promise.
We hurried as fast as we were able out of the fortress, my men easily handling any guards or other creatures we came across with the help of my magic. Lexi was waiting for us as we exited. Babbling her apologies to me about killing me in Aiden's dream world, I silenced her by sweeping her into a hug.
"Thank you," I whisper to her, my voice full of emotion. There's so many things that need to be said between us. I just hope we have time to say them.
Lexi abruptly bursts into tears, and I attempt to comfort her as Beckham and Mason push us to move farther from the fortress as fast as we can. Damon's on the satellite phone they brought with them, ordering a helicopter to come and meet us a few miles away.
We walk for hours, the men taking turns either carrying me or helping me walk while my body continues to heal. When we feel like we've gotten far enough away from Aiden's funhouse to bring other people into the picture, we meet up with the helicopter who has landed in a small clearing that the group had camped out in one night during their journey. I'm sure we present quite the sight as filthy and blood covered as we all are. We're just lucky that my wings healed enough that I was able to pull them in, something I'm able to do well now because of fake Lexington's teachings. I distractedly wonder what Lexington was actually like while watching as we takeoff and begin to fly over the tree canopy.
I can somehow feel when my magic cage dissipates and releases Aiden, and though I'm sure it's my imagination, I can almost hear his roar of rage spill over the landscape as we fly away.
Not much is said on the long flight from Beijing to New York. Most of the group is doing their own thing. Damon spends a great deal of time on the phone, arranging for me to start class in January with no problems despite the fact that I've missed several months of school, and arranging for someone to fix his and Mason's apartment (Mason tells me not to ask), among a million other things. Beckham sits in a recliner pretending to watch a movie a few feet away, grunting if he's asked something. Lexi's gone into the back bedroom to sleep in an attempt to recover from weeks of spellcasting. Mason however hasn't left my side.
I'm lying on his lap, his hand softly stroking my hair as we watch a movie. I'm trying to relax, to feel safe in the moment, but it's hard when so many things are circling around my mind. Although I've learned alot about myself throughout this ordeal, I've also learned how much I really don't know about myself and about this band of incredible beings I've found myself surrounded by.
"I can hear how hard you're thinking," says Mason to me. I turn my head and look at him.
"It's hard not to," I say simply.
"There will be time for that later," he says. "I think we deserve to live in the moment for at least a bit before moving onto all the other dragons we need to slay."
Living in the moment. That sounds so good. Knowing that Mason's request is just wishful thinking I pretend to enjoy the movie.
Drifting to sleep while he continues to stroke my hair, my dreams are filled with images of a burning land, death and destruction, and finally, Aiden's eyes, always watching, always waiting.
Chapter 20
Beckham has been distant since my return from Aiden's Neverland. He claims his movie schedule has been crushing since he delayed everything while I was gone, but I get the feeling that it's more than that. Beckham has always made me feel like I was his top priority and now it feels like he's trying to intentionally stay as busy as possible in order to avoid me. I finally decide that enough is enough and I decide I will just go to him if he won't come to me.
I fidget nervously with the hem of my sweater as I wait for the elevator to ascend to the top floor of his building. I was lucky that the doorman recognized me, and that Beckham had made me memorize the code to the elevator because I have a sneaking suspicion that he would not have answered a buzzer to let me up. The doors of the elevator open and I can hear a soft, mournful, melody pouring out of the speakers as I tentatively take a step into Beckham's apartment. There's a few empty wine bottles on the counter, and takeout boxes are everywhere. It looks like he hasn't picked up any trash in weeks. I don't see him in the front rooms, but a hint of breeze passes over my face and I see that the balcony doors are open. As I get closer to them I see that Beckham is sprawled on a lounge chair on the balcony, a wine bottle dangling from his hand.
"Beckham?" I call out nervously as I finally let him know I've arrived uninvited. The wine bottle drops out of his hand, crashing to the ground and sending shards everywhere.
He sits up, although his movements are sluggish. As evidenced by the numerous empty wine bottles on the kitchen cabinet, I assume that he's been drinking for quite awhile. He doesn't acknowledge me for what seems like eternity. He just sits there with his head in his hands. I take a step forward and the glass crunching under my shoes makes his head shoot up.
"Stay there," he tells me. "I'll get something to clean this up, I don't want you to hurt yourself."
He stands up far less gracefully than usual much to my dismay, and then proceeds to walk barefoot over the glass that he just had told me to stay away from. He doesn't seem to notice the crunching of the glass under his bare feet. I take another step toward him in horror but he holds up a hand to stop me again and walks right past me without another word. He returns with a broom and dustpan and begins to sweep up the shards brusquely. He takes his time, obviously intent on delaying our conversation for as long as possible.
I finally can't take the wait any longer and I grab the broom from his hand. "Beckham, please talk to me," I beg him.
"What do you want Eva?" he asks me, his voice cold and distant like I'm some stranger he's never met than supposedly the love of his life. I move to put my hand on his face so that he will look at me and he brushes it aside and walks away towards the balcony.
