Chapter 29

[X] indicates inner dialogue

It wasn't the terror trickling down her spine, or the fact that her throat was closing that woke Nyline up. No, it was the pounding in her chest that made her shoot straight up out of bed and look around the darkened room, one hand clutching her chest as if trying to keep her heart inside as the organ started to beat even harder. Then slowly, realization dawned on her that these weren't her emotions that were currently flooding into her system, making her feel as though she needed to sprint as fast as her feet could carry her. There was a moment as she tried to figure out what exactly she was feeling when the images of Thaul's throne room flashed in her mind in quick succession. The cracks in the marble columns, the knocked over chairs, and the chandelier that lay in the middle of the room, the crystal smashed into glass. Then, fractured images of darkling's, blood, and running flashed in his mind in quick succession.

Her mate. Her mate had finally landed back in the Aether world, that would be the only explanation.

The thoughts that were going through Nyline's mind weren't hers, the emotions of happiness, joy, fear, and worry. She realized slowly that she was in a memory, confusion flooded her mind as she tried to understand what was going on, who's memory was she in? She wanted to except from the memory however, she stayed. For some reason she wanted to see this memory. So, she sat back, allowing it to simply play in front of her. Watching it, more than living it.

The owner was talking to someone very far away. Telling them to breathe and that the other person was going to hyperventilate. She focused as she looked back at what was going on. She was getting flashes of Thaul's hallway, the person that the owner was talking to stopped outside a door and they warned against going that way. So, the other person took off as quickly as their feet could carry them. Their mind going a mile a minute. She kept getting flashes of hallways, doors, the feeling of panic and horror continued to seep deep into her stomach.

The owner moved then, jumping from their bed in a rush as they threw the covers to the side. They slammed his door open and not a second later each of the doors across from them opened just as quickly. It was then that she knew that she was inside Gabriel's mind because Delta, Adrenell, and Shanell looked at him, shock covering their faces. He turned and rushed towards the door Delta on his heels.

"Gabriel what's wrong?" She asked in a rush.

"Prepare to leave, we're going to Thaul now." He said in an even tone as he continued to rush down the hallway towards his parents' room.

"Alright, why?" He stopped and she stopped just inches from knocking into ohim.

"My mate," He said shortly, and her eyes grew wide. "She's at Thaul."

"What? How?"

"I don't know but we need to get down there," He paused as he watched his mate rush outside. He could see through her eyes at the snow landing on her skin. She had emotions rushing through her that he thought he understood. It was the joy of her soul finding his, though he could tell that she didn't understand what was going on.

"Gabriel?" Delta looked a little concerned. He split his focus and looked at her.

"I have no idea what's going on. Her panic woke me up. From the emotions it's like she literally just got dropped into the Throne room in Thaul." Delta's face lost a little color as she just gaped at him. He swallowed, "We're leaving as soon as I speak with my parent's. Everyone needs to be ready to run. We need to get there as quickly as possible." Delta only nodded as they started down the hallway at a faster pace. On the trip he had asked her to go inside and her remark back at him could only make him laugh, agreeing that she in fact didn't have to listen to him.

They didn't stop at the door as they slammed it open and rushed inside. There were a few scouts sitting around the common room who looked at him when he walked in.

"What's wrong Gabriel?" Beck asked jumping from his seat, his face full of worry at Gabriel's entrance. He didn't respond as he went to his parents' room, opened the door and went inside.

"Mom, dad." He said in a rush as he ran over to their bed and shook their bodies. Their sleepy voices mumbled something before his father sat straight up.

"What's going on?"

"My mate, she's back, I'm going to Thaul." There was a pause. "I'll be back." He turned then and walked to the door rushing out of it. He didn't even hear his parent's scouts as they tried to talk to him. Then when he was about halfway back to his room a hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to see his father.

"Gabriel, hold up a tick. Can you explain this a little more?" he spoke quickly as his mother landed next to him, ending her movement skill and pulling the robe on her shoulders tighter.

"My mate, she landed in Thaul." They both paled, looked at each other. "We're going to find her."

��Gabriel wait," His mom reached out and took ahold of his hand looking upset.

"What do you mean she's in Thaul?" He sighed before quickly telling them about how he had woken up and the small conversation that they'd had since.

"Is anyone with her?" His father spoke in a slightly cryptic tone.

"No actually. She was upset because she lost her communication device to get into touch with her uncle." They exchanged glances.

"Her uncle?" His mother looked skeptical before she rubbed her forehead and sighed. He could tell that his parents were talking mentally but as for the topic he wasn't sure. His attention was split as he focused on his mate to find her inside the nursery, the patchwork bear in her hands. He focused on her more. His heart softened, asking her if it belonged to her. She was so adorable, as she patted off the bear, plumes of dust rising from the fabric. He inquired about the room, already knowing that it was hers but knowing that she didn't know.

That's when the pressure started, it pressed down on his mind with such force that when their connection finally snapped, he stumbled backwards. Delta grabbed his arm, steadying him.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was full of worry as he shook his head, his aether compensating in his mind where she'd been.

"Our connection broke," He looked at his parents who were looking at him, worry covered their faces. "I have to go."

"Gabriel, wait!" His mother grabbed ahold of his hand again making him pause. "Don't forget that she is your mate. Don't let her go, okay?" He raised his eyebrow at his mother's cryptic message. However, in that moment he didn't have time to think about what it meant. His heart was racing now because something had happened to his mate and he had to get to her.

Nodding once to his mother he turned and started off down the hallway towards his room.

Nyline pulled her mind from the memory, not needed to see what came next as they all started looking for her and then, what everyone else thought, her daring escape from them.

Sitting up in bed she looked around. The room was dark and there was no one around, which explained why that memory had been a copy and not something that she was actively stealing at the time. Rubbing her face, she couldn't help but feel her heart drop slightly. What had happened with dinner? Why had no one woken her up? Rolling out of bed she saw that someone had managed to get a long night shirt onto her body. Without waiting she walked over to the door, opening it to see darkness in the common room.

In the middle of the room, a plate sat on one of the side tables. Crossing to it she picked up the towel that had been placed over it and saw that it was several different types of dishes. Her heart sank as she reached over and picked up the note. Surprised to see that the letters looked the same as how the humans used. For whatever reason she had expected that the aether world would have used a different alphabet.

Lady Nyline,

We were unable to wake you for dinner, however Omega made sure to grab a little of each dish for you. If we fell asleep please wake us up, we are trying to stay awake but thought we might fall asleep. Hence the note.

Pallsana

Taking a closer look at the couch she saw Pallsana and Omega both sleeping softly. She looked around wishing that she knew where the blankets were. After a few seconds she went back into her room and took the comforter off of her own bed and tossed it over the two-cuddling back to front. Without much thought she picked up the plate of food and went back into her room where she sat on the floor, her back rested up against her bed and looked down at the food. She was hungry, but at the same time she wasn't sure if she would be able to eat anything.

After sitting there for a few minutes, she placed the plate onto her side table, her eyes lingering on John's dagger for just a second before she looked around the room. Back in the human world when she had woken up in the middle of the night she always went on a run, it helped clear her head. There were no people out and it was the perfect time for her to just let go. Not sure where her clothing had been left, but she wanted to go on a run and not be in a sleep dress. When she didn't find them, she looked into the massive closet and sighed, before fully going into the fairly large room. It had just been stuffed so full that it looked tiny.

After some rummaging, she found a pair of stretchy pants and a tank top. After changing she found her shoes and pulled them on. Then walked back out into the common room. Her eyes lingered on her maids. She didn't want to wake them up, plus some fresh air and alone time would be nice after everything. Glancing at the main door to her room she sighed, unsure as to how she would even be able to get out of the castle. She decided to cross to the glass door that lead into the garden instead. Closing it silently behind here she looked out over the vast garden before she jumped on the railing, using her movement she landed on the small retaining wall softly. She stood again and looked around. The air was brisk even to her skin and she knew that it had to be cold if she could feel it, which would make since seeing as they were at the top of a mountain. Her eyes caught on some of the garden. It was amazing. Each bush had been trimmed so that it was in the shape of a different animal and there were flowers everywhere.

Without much thought she jumped down, using her movement to land, roll, get back on her feet and start her jog. She knew without looking back that she would be able to get back up the wall without much effort. Her body started to warm up as she ran, her mind falling into the calm that she needed. Everything was just going a tad too crazy to really be okay, but what choice did she have? She didn't and that was the part that she truly hated. Nothing that she could do could make this situation better.

It was true that she'd told Gabriel that she would start accepting the mating bond, but she wasn't sure if she really could. Live here, with daemons chasing her? God it sounded like some fantasy book that she would get from the library. The only thing is that in the fantasy books that she read didn't have their only living relative voluntarily abandon them. The parents always went missing or died, which she fit, but then the aunt or uncle, or even siblings. They always stayed, it had always been the main characters decision to leave, go start on their own path. But her? She didn't get a choice, she had been shoved back into the Aether world, then into Vaccoon, then everyone had just expected her to accept all of it? What a joke. All of this was some sick trick that she was waiting to wake up from. The memory of when her parents had given her to Uncle John rushed to the surface making her feet slow. They'd only told him to make her happy. They hadn't given him any other instructions, there hadn't been time. So how could she be any happier with anyone other than her mate? She scoffed.

A large rose bush caught her eye as she looked over at it. The roses were all different colors as they wrapped themselves up and around a wicker entrance. Intrigued, she stopped only to see a large stone gazebo that was located in the middle of a large pond. Astonished, she walked towards it and only stopped when she looked down at the path that wound itself though the pond leading to the gazebo. The entire path was made of grass and it split off and turned making spirals as they went. Then, the best part was that the end spirals there were what look like circular benches that had been set into the pond, so that if one sat in them, only their head would be visible. Each different little seat had decorative pillows and seat covers covering the hard cement that each was made from.

Grinning slightly, Nyline followed the path down and jumped into one of the inset benches. It only bobbed slightly and none of the water slipped inside. It was as if there was magic keeping the water from getting inside. Sitting she marveled at how comfortable she felt sitting deep inside the pond, kicking up her feet she rested her head back and looked up at the sky. It was littered with little dots with a red streak that went across a vast majority of it.

The weight of losing her uncle finally weighed down on her so heavily that tears started to leak from her eyes. He would have loved these little benches, this pond, and being able to look up at the sky without any air pollution to blot out the stars. However, that wasn't all. She realized that they would never laugh or joke together again, no more birthdays or surprise dinners. No more trips to the dinner when one of them had a bad day and they wanted to do something special. No more morning waffles, scout training, or him. There was no more him. He was gone, and even if he was indeed alive somewhere, nothing would ever bring him back to her.

Taking a shuttering breath in she let it out slowly as she wiped the tears from her face, sighing, pulling her knees up to her chest. She'd always heard that when people died that everyone slowly forgot about them. Their smell, their laugh, the sound of their voice, how their face pulled up on one side when they were amused. How long would it take for her to forget how his laugh rang out? Or his scolding tone about jumping out of windows? The smile on his face when she got good grades. Would they eventually degrade, and she would even forget what he looked like? She shook those thoughts from her mind. No, she was a living recorder, if she ever did start to forget, she could always go back and look at those memories again. That's all she had to do. She wouldn't forget about him. She just wouldn't. She would hold him inside her heart for the rest of her life, keeping the memory of the amazing man who raised her like his own. She just had to, because that's all she had at this point.

Her phone was back in the human world, all the photos that they'd taken stuck inside. Photos of when they were on vacation plastered her mirror at home, but that was still in the human world. She wished that she could take a picture from her memory and make it physical, putting it up in her room so that she could see it every day, see him. Try to make him proud even though he would never see what she did.

["Unknown target spotted in the royal garden."] The inner voice pulled her from the depths of her emotions and back to the present. Her head popped up and she looked around, sending her aether out to find that it came back saying there was no one there. She slowly rose as she continued to look around the garden. If it were a darkling, it could be hiding in trees or even on walls. Slowly she crept down the walkway, sending her aether out again.

["Engage and capture. Captain wants target alive for questioning."] A woman's voice said sounding slightly bored. Nyline's breath caught in her throat. Alive? Does that mean that they would hurt her if necessary? Her heart started to hammer in her chest.

"Hello?" She said softly into the night. "I think there's been a mis--"

["Engaging now."] Her sentence was cut off suddenly by a massive darkling landing directly in front of her. It growled as she took in the darkling's massive form, noticing faintly that the darkling had markings all over its body before her scout training kicked in, panicked, she slammed her fist into her chest.

["She vanished… could be a scout?"] The darkling grumbled. Nyline felt her heart start to hammer even harder in her chest. Before she took a breath in and let it out slowly letting her shadow skill fall.

"I'm sorry you scared me, reflexes." She said in a brisk tone looking at the darkling. Whereas it was true that she had become used to Gabriel and his scouts being darkling's, but this one? She felt like it was almost as large as Gabriel. "I am Nyline Swift. I am a guest of Prince Gabriel's." She connected eyes with the deep red ones of the darkling noticing as she looked closer that the markings on the darkling made it look as though blood had been flecked throughout its skin.

["Target says that she is Prince Gabriel's guest. Prince Gabriel hasn't returned yet has he?"] There was a long pause.

"Not that command is aware of." The voice paused yet again, ["Bring her to us. Just make sure she's in once piece for interrogation."] She swallowed hard as she spread her legs shoulder with apart. She hated to do it, but she did have authority here. She was a princess, as much as she disliked the title and that alone demanded respect.

"I am Nyline Swift," She said through gritted teeth her panic turning into anger. "Princess of Thaul, and mate of Prince Gabriel of Vaccoon. You will stand down."

["Target is stating that she is the princess of Thaul as well as the prince's mate."] There was another long pause.

["Command has no knowledge of any of this being true."] The voice was small. ["There was a foreign airship that landed earlier, however command does not have information on who was on it."] There was another long pause and Nyline realized that the voice on the other side was actually speaking to someone. ["It's confirmed that Prince Gabriel left a few nights go to go to Thaul, the belief was that his mate had returned, but we have no further information."]

["Orders?"]

["Command is still saying to bring her in."] The darkling roared and Nyline stood her ground.

"How about you return to your human form and we can chat?" Nyline spoke raising her head slightly. When the darkling didn't move. "I refuse to go with you. I am returning to my rooms where you can either speak to my maids or directly to the prince." She went to move around the darkling but when he moved to block her path she sighed, arms crossing over her chest.

"Nyline?" Gabriel's half-asleep voice appeared in her mind. "What's wrong?"

["No one informed night shift that you returned, with me."] She spoke sounding more than annoyed. ["There trying to detain me and I'm about five seconds from using my shadow skill and saying fuck it."] The darkling roared in her direction and she bared her teeth at it before she slammed her fist into her chest, the shadow skill enveloping her in a second before she turned and took off running.

["Do not do that."]

["To late."] Her voice was short as she started running back the way that she'd come.

["Where are you?"] Gabriel's voice was a growl and she could tell that he was more upset at the situation than at her.

["Garden."] It was as if she could feel him sighing through the bond. Glancing behind her she was surprised to see that the darkling was following her. All the hairs on the back of her neck rose as she saw how close it was to her. Creasing her forehead, she used her movement twice and shot forward further than she meant to. The additional aether causing her to stumble and in her distraction, her shadow skill fell from her body.

["Confirmed that the target is a scout."] Nyline wanted to spin on her heel, plant her feet, and scream that she wasn't a scout. Whereas yes, she could use the skills, she could not fight like one and being mistaken as a scout by a guard, would only mean that they would try harder to stop her. Gritting her teeth, she used her movement skill once more, focusing on how much aether she put into it, making sure that she wasn't going further than she wanted.

The retaining wall to her rooms came into view, without thinking she jumped into the air using her movement to propel herself further. There was a single breath of air behind her, before all of the air was knocked from her lungs, as her body flew to the side. Her mind spun as the world did around her, she wasn't able to tell the ground from the sky and everything slowed down as she felt two arms wrap themselves around her, as they started falling fast.

The ground came up faster than she'd expected, Gabriel's body wrapped around her as he tried to lessen the fall. The air was knocked from her again as they landed, rolling twice. Gabriel let out a breath of air as his back connected with the trunk, finally stopping their fall. Clothing rustled all around them as Gabriel pulled himself up and started raking his eyes over her.

"Are you alright?" He asked slightly out of breath looking at her with worry. His brow was creased, those amazing ice blues coated in concern.

"I'm fine," She mumbled as she forced herself into a sitting position. Shaking her head twice she looked around to see all of Gabriel's scouts surrounding them. Pallsana and Omega on the landing to her room, looking as if they were five seconds from jumping over the wall themselves.

"Return to your human form!" Dashiner roared at the darkling, his pj pants the only clothing on him apart from the dagger that he held in his hand. "You better have grounds to attack the prince's mate!" Nyline looked past Gabriel and saw the darkling a few feet from them. Dashiner and Adrenell were standing directly in front of them, with Sigma and Shanell on either side. They all looked livid as they stood protectively around them. Delta was standing a few feet from Gabriel with her eyes on Nyline. It took her a second to realize that Delta wasn't looking at her, but at her arm that was currently dripping with blood where some type of rock had sliced it open. She paused as she looked at it and pulled the rock out, flicking it to the side, before she returned her attention to the situation.

["Report!"] The darkling's mate spoke from far away. Gabriel stood before bending and pulling her to her feet.

["Prince Gabriel and his scouts are on the scene. Apparently, she wasn't lying."] She heard the voice say from far away; Nyline stood slowly and faced the darkling.

["Stand by."] The darkling ignored Dashiner's warning as he paced several feet in front of them. Gabriel stood and positioned himself slightly in front of Nyline. She could see his skin start to ripple as he crossed his arms. She couldn't help but take the one step to him, placing her forehead onto the middle of his back. Gabriel calmed slightly.

"Return to your human form!" Gabriel spoke in a tight, authoritative voice. "Report your name and rank immediately!"

["Receiving orders from the prince. Returning to my human form to report directly to him."] Its voice sounded small, nothing like the large tone of that he had used previously back at the pond. Nyline glanced around Gabriel as she watched the darkling.

When he changed forms, he appeared down on one knee, his fist in the ground, his long braid falling over his shoulder and pooling next to his hand. His skin was so dark that she could almost not see the man, the only helping grace was the moon, illuminating his frame. Looking at him she saw that with the braid, he also had corn rolls that were done close to his scalp. He wore a uniform of navy blue with grey trim. It looked to be a double-breasted long trench coat, with black slacks and black worn leather boots. She could see markings on his shoulders but couldn't make them out in the dark.

"Jason Stark, Sir. Royal guard; second class." The darkling spoke to the ground not looking up at the gathered people. Gabriel crossed his arms as he focused on the man.

"What grounds do you have to attack my mate?" Gabriel growled at the guard. Glancing at him she saw his skin start to ripple again, his agitation showing on his skin. She placed a hand in the middle of his back, he relaxed slightly.

["Their arrival wasn't passed on to all of the sections of the guard." The voice paused, "It was a mistake on the higher ups. Don't forget to apologize."] The last sentence sounded like she was mocking him.

"My deepest apologies my prince," Jason spoke quickly keeping his eyes on the ground. "Your return and guests were not passed onto all parts of the guard. We suspected her to be an intruder and were in the process of capturing her for questing."

"I identified myself!" Nyline growled, "Then informed you that I would be getting the prince to clear everything up."

"My deepest apologies princess. My orders were to detain you so that we could clear all of this up back at the base." Gabriel turned and looked at her.

"Why did you run?" His voice was calm and concerned, all of the anger leaving his face as he turned to her. She scratched the side of her cheek.

"I panicked," She admitted her eyes falling to the ground, "He roared and I just…" Her voice trailed off.

"Used the skills that Jonathan taught you to escape out of habit." She nodded twice not wanting to look at his face. He turned to her completely, one hand going to the back of her neck as he connected their foreheads. "What were you doing out here?"

"I went running," She muttered as the images started to flood her mind. She pushed them aside.

"Why didn't you take one of your maids?"

"I just didn't want to wake them up. I've never had to take someone with me when I've gone running before. I could handle anyone who jumped me in the human world." He stiffened at that.

"We can discuss you getting jumped in the human world later…" His voice was stiff, and she could tell from his tone that he was rather concerned about this. "Your maids could have helped you in this situation, I'm sure that they wouldn't have minded."

"I just…" She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "I just wanted some time to process things. Running helps me."

"Would you take your maids next time?"

"I don't need a babysitter." She said her voice laced with annoyance.

"They aren't your babysitter," the hand on the back of her neck tightened. "There here to help you and if they'd been with you then the guard would have listened." Taking a long breath in she let it out slowly, opening her mouth to reply but paused. Realizing that the memories that she had been pushing mattered, she felt herself mentally pause as she turned her attention to it. Focusing on it, she watched the conversation that Gabriel had with his parents and their scouts on fast forward. Her body stiffened and she took two steps out of his grasp, her eyes angered.

"What do they mean I can't leave the aether world?" Her voice was a growl and Gabriel's face fell.

"My parents wanted to talk to you about that tomorrow." He said shortly and she knew, she knew why he didn't want to be the one who told her.

"No, you tell me now." She half shouted. "What do you mean I can't leave the Aether world?" Gabriel looked at her for a long moment, she could feel him gathering his thoughts, trying to figure out exactly how to phrase this to have the least amount of impact.

"It's only for a little while." He whispered.

"So even if I asked, you wouldn't take me to the fairy gate?" Her voice was hitched slightly higher than she meant to. That was the only comfort that she had left. That if she finally said fuck it, and wanted to go home, despite the danger, that she could. Now she couldn't?

"Not right now," His face broke, "Not until your aether had leveled itself out and you won't hurt yourself." He went to reach for her hand, but she took another step back. The small fragile part of her that had been holding everything together finally snapped. She could feel her aether start to fill the air around her, knowing full well that she was about to really have a meltdown. Her aether vibrated in the air as her anger and desperation flared. It was as if she were a caged bird, her aether wanted to break what was holding her back, break the cage and everyone who felt that it was necessary to hold her back, hold her in place.

Nyline refocused onto Gabriel whose eyes were wide with concern. He looked as though he were about to reach out, hold her tightly, and when she took yet another step back, his face broke. He looked as if he were going to cry.

"I won't let you hurt yourself." He whispered, Nyline only hearing slightly as the blood started to rush in her ears.

"Your loud." She whispered taking yet another step back as the inner voices around her started to increase in volume and magnitude as if her aether were spreading and her range was increasing. "You're too loud for me right now." Her voice dropped right as she jumped into the air using her movement, then before her body could fall back to the ground, she used her movement again shooting away from everyone.