Page 32 of Wake the Dream

Chapter 9

Illaria

Illaria ripped theheadphones off her ears and bolted out of the car. She heard the fire spirit’s voice echoing through her mind.

She wanted to wake up.She wanted to wake up.

Oh, Yelena.

Illaria would have been there with her sister, to listen to her concerns and try to find a way to act, if only she’d known.

She gulped down air and yet her lungs closed up.

Leaving the car door open behind her, she bolted down the street with her chest seizing. She needed to get away. To feel something when her insides were frozen. Her feet pounded the pavement. A burning sensation shot down her back to her hips and she realized only after a few moments of agony that her wings wouldn’t open.

They wouldn’t open!

She laughed, a wild and horrible sound, and ran until she came to the center square. People milled around her, stopping to stare when she burst around a park bench. Her feet ached and her legs cramped, words trapped and clogging her throat. The rage, the sorrow seeped out of her pores and she couldn’t get hold of her emotions.

Something. She needed something to bring her back to life. Her sister was gone. Disappeared underground.

She wanted to wake up.

Yelena wanted to wake up.

Illaria wanted the same thing, to feel something more than nothing and numbness and the loneliness creeping closer to her heart. What lengths had Yelena gone to in order to accomplish her goal?

Whatever determination, whatever rage, whatever anything Illaria had felt upon hearing about her sister ebbed away, devoured by the oblivion that plagued her from the inside out.

Illaria didn’t see, didn’t hear the world around her, only the voice in her head. A group of college students were clustered near the coffee shop and she strode forward. Not seeing. Grabbing the closest one with a push of her magic before drawing his head down to hers. Their lips met in a clash of heat but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to thaw her.

The young man’s arms came around her waist and drew her closer amidst catcalls from his companions. They became white noise in the distance. Untethered, she slipped her tongue into his mouth, her lips massaging his although she didn’t need to coax a response. It came readily.

She was decidedly confused when a large hand fell on her shoulder and roughly pulled the two of them apart. Eyes veiled, she gazed at the fellow she’d been kissing, not seeing him.

“Illaria, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Her vision blurred until the world became a swirl of colors and sensations. None of it enough to get her warm. Kieran did his best to separate them and space became tangible at last.

She swept out an arm, willed a wave of vicious and wounding wind to spin out of her in an attack intended to get him away from her.

Nothing came.

“Move along, gentlemen,” Kieran continued in his professional voice. “Sorry for any disturbance. She’s a little mentally unhinged. Sorry. Hell no you can’t have her number! What is the matter with you? Get lost!”

Illaria opened her mouth to protest but she was swept up into strong arms, her head pressed to a muscled chest. She inhaled the scent, the familiar combination of citrus and musk. Kieran had come for her. He’d found her.

Her eyes burned but she was no closer to feeling normal. Shivering, she burrowed closer, curling the soft edges of his corduroy jacket in her hands. She let the moisture seep from her eyes and slide down her cheeks.

Yelena had run off on a fool’s hope instead of talking to her about any concerns or anxieties. They could have worked through this together. Instead...

“Easy there, woman. You gave me quite the scare. You ran off and left my car keys in the ignition. Plus, I didn’t know where you were.”

Her teeth chattered. “How did you find me?”

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