Page 43 of Into the Dawn
Closing her eyes, she reached out to her mates through their bond and instantly felt their relief when she made contact.
“Where are you?”Ronan demanded.“Are you hurt?”
“Did something happened to you?”Dominic growled.“Why are you not here with us?”
“I’m fine,”she assured them both.“I have no idea why we got separated, but Layla and I are currently standing in the field outside of the magical barrier at the edge of the forest. Where are you?”
“We arrived back in the Sun Circle that is located in the middle of the forest. It is exactly where we were when the God of the Sun sent us to you,”Ronan explained.“We arrived with all of the baggage, including your guitar, so we knew it was not just our imagination. But not seeing you here with us was terrifying. We could not even connect with you through our bond until you reached out to us.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why this happened.”
She could understand why Ronan and Dominic had arrived right back where they had started, but it didn’t explain why she and Layla had arrived outside of the magical barrier. Unless the barrier was keeping them out of the forest. Was it because they were human?
“You are no longer human,”Ronan reminded.
“Stay where you are,”Dominic commanded.“We are coming to get you.”
“No, no need,”she said on a rush.“We will come to you. It will be faster this way, and you won’t have to backtrack.”
“That…makes sense,”Dominic admitted begrudgingly.
“I do not like it,”Ronan grumbled.
When she opened her eyes again, she found Layla frowning at her.
“Are you okay? You totally zoned out there for a minute.”
“I was speaking to Ronan and Dom.”
“Oh, I forgot about the whole telepathic communication thing.”
“They arrived exactly where they were when they left. Luckily, our bags arrived with them. Let me see if it’s safe to cross the barrier, then we can join them,” Kylie said.
Layla’s brows furrowed. “What barrier?”
“You can’t see it? It’s sort of a shimmering transparent curtain. It kind of looks like when we used to make bubbles in the backyard of your house with those big sticks.”
Layla shook her head. “Nope. I can’t see it.”
Before Kylie could move, Layla wrapped her arms around her.
“Wait! What if you make it through the curtain and I’m stuck out here? We should just go through it together.”
“Good point. Let’s try it.”
Kylie took Layla’s hand in hers and they stepped toward the barrier together. Remembering she had magic, Kylie imagined a protective bubble around the two of them as they stepped through the barrier. Thankfully, they made it through just fine.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Kylie muttered.
She wasn’t sure if the protective bubble she created had worked, or if they had made it through the barrier naturally. Either way, they had made it safely inside.
“That’s a good thing,” Layla said cheerfully. “Now we can enter the creepy forest and find your mates.”
“It’s not…okay, it’s a little creepy. But the interior of the forest is really beautiful. I promise. I just need to figure out how to get us there.” Reaching back out to her mates through their bond, she said,“We made it through the barrier, and now we are on our way to you.”
“Good,”Dominic said, sounding relieved.“We will—”
When he abruptly cut contact, she started to panic.“What is it? What’s wrong?”
