Forever Entranced ~Book Two Of The Soul Bound Series

Chapter Two ~ I'll Survive

My heart pounded and my body reverberated with a suppressed anxiety mixed with a smidge of excitement. I stare up at the dark ceiling, my eyes darting back and forth across the details the moonlight pouring in from my window casts. What time was it? I leaned over and swiped my phone from the nightstand, the bright screen nearly blinding me as I turned it on.

11:50

Two minutes later than the last time I had checked and the time before that and the time before that. Nearly there. Why did time crawl by so slowly when you wanted it to go faster yet so fast when you wanted to savor the moment? It was like it enjoyed playing cruel tricks on us.

Amber had returned home just over an hour ago. I knew that she would be exhausted from her long day and probably collapse on her bed, falling asleep in a matter of minutes, but I had to be sure. I sat up on the bed, unable to stand waiting any longer. She had to be asleep by now, right?

I tucked the phone into my pocket and carefully stepped across my room, peaking through the door and into the dark hallway. Amber's bedroom door was closed and I could hear her soft snores. Passing through the living room I warily unlocked the apartment door and pushed it open just far enough for me to slip through before closing it with a quiet click.

From there I was off. I flew down the metal stairs and out the front door. My boots hitting the cold snow of winter as I swiftly strode towards a black motorcycle that shone against the street lights. Illius leaned against it, his expression stern as he observed me, his hands tucked into the pockets of his trench coat, one of his long legs crossed over the other.

"Did you get what we need?" I inquired in a low voice, suddenly feeling like one of those sketchy people who are trying to rob a bank in the movies.

He glowered at me, pulling a shining, white crystal of a rock that glowed in the darkness of the street with a brilliance of luminosity out of his pocket, holding it up in front of my face, "Do you know what I had to go through in order to get this and on such short notice? No, you don't want to know, because it was very ugly."

I gave him a precarious look before snatching the teleport from his hand, "Let's go before the better part of myself changes her mind." I said as I stepped forward - envisioning the place I wanted to go to in my mind -  tossing the crystal through the air like I was skipping a rock. There was a bright flash and then the floating portal shimmered before us. A view of the mansion I had left behind just over a month ago rippled like something straight out of a dream through the looking glass. It's spired rooftops and dark bricked walls, ominously foreboding. Snow drifted from the sky and planted itself on the still green grass. The windows of the mansion looked almost like they were sad.; as though the secrets that lay inside of them were trying to burst through the glass. I glanced back at Illius who continued to lean against his bike, "Are you coming?" I asked. A gust of wind blew, tossing my hair back.

He shook his head, a devious smirk curling over his lips, "This time we do it my way." He gripped the handlebars of his bike, swinging a leg over the seat before plopping down on it, "Hop on Love." He coolly grinned.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "First, don't call me that." I folded my arms across my chest, "Second, I am not riding a motorcycle through a portal. Are you insane?"

He shrugged, "Most likely. Now, Love, if you'd kindly get on."

I pointed a finger angrily at him as I unwillingly walked towards the bike, "Don't call me that." I warned him before I slipped on behind him. My body tensed as my legs brushed against his and my mind fled back to the kiss we had shared underneath that stone gazebo back in Ireland. A blush of heat arose on my cheeks and I tried to force the butterflies back down, shove the memory into the back of my mind, but I couldn't stop it. I was already feeling tingles run through my fingertips as they brushed against his back.