Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Chapter 16

Kas's POV

According to the clock, it's one in the afternoon. My stomach growling rouses me out of bed. Before he left, Bronx said Mrs. Miller was going to bring food up to the apartment. Seems as good a time as any to go see what goodies she brought up.

I go into the walk-in closet and find a pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt. As I'm getting dressed, my mind churns with the events from yesterday, trying to put some sense to all of it. How did I end up in the pool in the first place? Where have I been for the last four days? I think they are questions best thought about over a turkey sandwich and hopefully a banana. I put my hair up in a floppy bun before I head out to the kitchen.

As I get to the bedroom door, I smell someone's scent. It definitely isn't Bronx's dark chocolate and coffee scent that I love so much, besides, he told me he was going to the office. This scent is out of place in my home and I'll be damned if I'm disappearing for another four days. My brain immediately switches from questions of my disappearance to defense mode. I let my fangs and claws extend, ready to attack as slowly, quietly crack the door open.

A large man is standing half-way between the bedroom door and the sofa with his back facing me. He is in jeans and a white t-shirt with his arms crossed in front of him as if he's waiting for something. All the training James and Marco have given me over the past year floods into my brain. If I can get a foot planted on the small of his back, I can get leverage over him and try to bring him down.

"Kas, what are you doing?" Lex hisses at me.

"Attacking a man who broke into my apartment. I'm not getting kidnapped again, Lex. What do you think I'm doing?" I snap.

"Kas, that's just-"

"Not now, Lex," I interrupt.

Before she can respond again, I let a purple aura build around me. I suppress a growl as I launch myself at the man from behind. One foot securely lands on the small of his back while my knee is between his shoulder blades, giving me leverage to lean back without falling off of him. My hands wrap tightly around his thick neck at the same time. He lets out a strangled cry as my claws bury deep into his windpipe. He grabs my wrists and starts to pull, but not enough to throw me off of his back. The growl I was suppressing lets loose from my chest, making the room rumble as he grabs me. I start to push my claws deeper into his neck, pulling them back toward my body at the same time. I can feel his pulse quicken against my fingertips as I get closer to his jugular. The metallic scent of blood is thick in the air as he drops to his knees.

Something's wrong. Why isn't he defending himself? Why isn't he fighting against me?

Just as his knees hit the ground, Marco throws the apartment door open and comes rushing in.

"Kas! No! Stop! It's James! Luna, please! It's just James! You're gonna to kill him!" he begs. Marco is holding his pistol, but he has both hands in the air in front of him, showing he doesn't intend to shoot. His eyes are wide, darting from James to me as he takes slow, deliberate steps towards us.

James? The split second of distraction is enough for the intruder to reach up, grab me by the shoulders, and throw me over top of him, flat on my back. The wind gets knocked out of me as I hit the ground, forcing me to dislodge my claws from his throat. I look up to see James grabbing his neck. Blood is gushing out between his fingers as he falls to the ground. My fangs and claws retract at the shock of seeing James bleeding out from his neck.

Marco races over to James' side and drops to his knees, "James, stay with me, man." His voice isn't nearly as panicked as it should be. His eyes glaze over as he mind links someone, then I watch in horror as Marco consoles his friend.

Oh, my Goddess! What have I done? What have I done?

"Kas, don't just sit there. Heal him before it's too late!" Lex yells in my head.

I can feel the tears stinging my eyes as I pull myself up. I can't catch my breath as I crawl next to James. What have I done? There's so much blood. James's face is pale, his usually cheerful blue eyes look glassy and far away.

"James! No no no no no! Oh my Goddess, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Can I heal you, please, James? Please! Just blink if it's okay for me to heal you!" I cry, not able to stop the tears now. I force down a sob as he looks to me and slowly blinks.

I position myself next to his shoulder, surrounded by a growing pool of blood that soaking into the carpet. Marco looks at James with disbelief in his watery eyes. Then he looks at me and shakes his head slowly. His mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out.

"Okay, Lex. Let's concentrate. We can do this," I state to her as calmly as I can, which isn't very calm at all. I wipe my tears away with my sleeve and clear my throat. "Sending you all my energy, Kas. Let's go," she whines, seeing James fading on the ground.

I gently pull James's hands away from his throat. Blood continues to pour out in spurts from the gaping wound. I feel like someone is squeezing my heart as I see the extent of the damage my claws made. I place my hands over his neck and close my eyes in concentration.

In the distance, I can hear and feel people around me, but they all fade away as I focus on saving James's life. I send my energy out into his body, pulling muscle and tendons back together. Fusing flesh, repairing tissue that I tore in half. I feel someone gently shaking me awake. There is an energy to their touch, intense but familiar and comforting. Why do I feel like a truck hit me?

As I come out of the darkness of sleep, I can hear a woman calling me, "lokaste...Kas... Time to wake up."

I know that voice, but I can't place it. No one calls me lokaste, except for Delilah's mom, Lady Camille. It definitely isn't her voice. Why does this woman sound so familiar? I slowly open my eyes. A bright light is shining through the doorway into the dark room, making it impossible to see anything except her silhouette.

"Lex, where are we?" I ask groggily.

"Not now, Kas. You have important visitors," her tone is full of warning.

A woman is crouching next to the cot I'm laying on. I jolt up and push myself as far away from her as I can. My eyes adjust to the bright light from the doorway.

I try to send energy to my hands. Maybe if I can burn her a little, she will back away. I concentrate on my energy, but nothing happens. Okay, weird. I try to focus to slow time down a little. If I can freeze these two women in time, I can escape out the door and no one gets hurt. I try to focus, but again, nothing happens.

Oh, my Goddess. I'm trapped. I look around to see if there is a way to escape around them, but the only exit is the door the woman is standing in.

Wait a minute? Is that who I think it is?

"L-Lenora?" I ask as her outline becomes more clear with Lenora's strong features and signature black ponytail.

The woman looks annoyed, "No, I'm not Lenora. Are you thirsty?"

She points to the other woman, who is sitting on the floor in front of the cot. I look more carefully at the woman in front of me. She is holding a metal wine glass toward me. Her long chocolate brown hair is in dreadlocks pulled back into a ponytail. She has scarlet irises, red as blood. Her sun-weathered skin makes her look older than she must really be.

"Where am I?" I snarl at the woman, who looks like she could be Lenora's twin. She doesn't respond, she just rolls her eyes at me. The woman in front of me looks at me sympathetically but doesn't say anything. Something about her makes me want to throw my arms around her and hug her fiercely. As I look at her, I feel my purple aura building. Internally, it feels strong, but as I look at my hands, it is barely a tint.

What am I thinking? I can't hug my kidnapper. The woman's eyes turn brighter red in response to my aura. I see her tremble. Is she scared of me? Is she going to attack me?

She dips her fingertips into the metal cup and puts them in her mouth. As she does, words from a foreign language float into my mind, "Eisai dynatós. Empistéfsou ta énstiktá sou." 2

I don't know what it means, but it feels like the words are imprinted into my mind now. Did she just mind link me? It felt different from a mind link. It was was a different type of connection. I don't understand what's going on.

A woman's voice comes over an intercom, telling me the only way they will let me leave is if I drink from

the cup.

I look at the cup being extended to me again. I close my eyes to concentrate on the words for a moment. What do they mean? I feel like I should know. I just can't put my finger on it. When I open my eyes, I look deeply into the scarlet eyes of the woman in front of me.

One of three things is going to happen here, I resolve in my mind. Either I drink out of that cup and it's poison that will kill me, I drink out of the cup and absolutely nothing happens - I'm a prisoner here forever, or I drink out of the cup and somehow get to go home and see Bronx and the rest of my pack.

I have to take the chance. I have to have hope that I will see Bronx again, even if it's only a thirty-three percent chance.

I take the cup from the woman. As I do, her fingers brush against mine.

A vision flashes in my mind. She and I are standing next to each other on a battlefield. We are both dressed in heavy leather armor. The sounds of fighting are coming from all around us. As our enemies get closer, she takes my hand.

"Eisai dynatós allá tha eimai pánta edó ótan me chreibzesai. S'agapó. [You are strong, but I will always be here when you need me. I love you.]"

Before I can stop her, she throws herself at the charging wolves and sacrifices herself to save me. An endless scream escapes me as I feel her connection disappear. A surge of energy builds in me until it explodes from my body like a bomb. I look around where there were just fighting wolves, witches, and vampires around me. There is nothing now but the scorched earth. The smell of char, rot, and death fills my nose before I pass out.