Chapter 43

Chapter 43

[X] indicates inner dialogue

Nyline

Nyline landed her movement skill at the end of the hallway right as she heard the king start yelling in Gabriel's room. Wincing slightly, her eye gave a painful throb. She'd expected some recoil from what she'd done so she wasn't surprised at the pain. What she didn't expect was for the recoil to steadily get worse as time went on. She was trying to ignore it, but it was getting harder to push the pain to the back of her mind.

Starting down the hallway Nyline pulled her shadow skill tighter to her skin. Hoping that she could hide until the king had calmed enough for her to… what? defend her case? Tell him he didn't understand? Try and talk sense into him? She wasn't sure, it wasn't like she could just spill her guts about who she'd been connecting with if they'd even believe her to begin with. Which they probably wouldn't.

Wondering where she could go while she waited for the dust to settle, the library popped into her mind, quickly followed by her current muse. She'd recently found a book that was holding her attention and making her take her time looking through its old pages. It had been hidden inside another book and she just happened to find it in what seemed like the most neglected part of the library. The entire shelf had been covered in spider webs and more dust than she even knew could acclimate in a single area. It was a fascinating report on the Keepers. It seems two scholars, Mariam and Luke Dunley, spend their entire life researching them and, at one point, had even been allowed a visit to the soul stream. The entire book was written in such detail and had amazing vivid images that one of the two had drawn. She was in love with it.

Nyline's eye gave another painful throb forcing her mind away from the book and back onto the present. Pausing she took the time to put pressure on the organ and leaned against the nearest wall as her vision went in and out. Her mind returning to the main topic of where she could go. No, she couldn't go to the library, that would be the first place that everyone would look for her. She could go beyond the first wall, but she couldn't just jump the royal retaining wall, they'd expect that, and probably be waiting for her. She'd have to go through the main entrance and out either the east or west gate. It wouldn't even cross the senior scout's minds that she would go that close to town, so it was her perfect out. It would be a strain on her mind, but she thought that she could make it as long as she was quick.

Pallsana and Omega should come with her. As the thought crossed her mind, she pulled off the wall with the intention of finding them but couldn't help but pause. Then, she felt her heart fall. Neither of them knew the shadow skill so they'd give up her location in an instant.

Reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck she sent a silent apology for leaving them behind. Her eyes caught on an open window that she went to and looked out. No one was in the garden. So, with that, she used her movement as she jumped. Her head gave yet another painful throb making her roll much less graceful than normal and forced her to stay in a crouched position as the ringing in her ears slowly subsided.

Her mind wandered as she fell back onto her butt, holding her head. Her mind went to all of the horrible things that she'd said to Janti. A small bit of hate towards herself crept up from her soul and into her thoughts. There had been so many things that she'd wanted to talk to him about regarding memory therapy and she'd just ruined all of it. She'd even practiced the conversation in her mind, and yet when it really came down to it, all she'd done was just screamed all the hurtful things that she'd wanted to avoid. Then, whereas it was true that she had a basic understanding of what happened, she didn't know all of the exact details. So, she'd also lied to him, which only added to her heart being heavier than it already was. In truth, it was probably better that he thought that she knew everything. That way he didn't feel like he could hide anything, but it still seemed wrong on a deeper level. Tricking people into letting her help them wasn't something that she'd ever done before, and it made her feel even more horrible than before.

Seemed like today was a day for mistakes. From the training fields to her conversation with Gabriel, yelling at Janti… to the conversation she would have later with Nic and Alice. Today was spiraling out of control quickly and she was wishing that she had a redo button.

Rubbing her face, a couple of times she forced herself to her feet and staggered slightly as she tried to regain her balance. It took her a few times to realize that her vision was going in and out of focus again. Was this all because of the recoil? Could recoil be this bad? She'd never thought that recoil could be this damaging.

Her breath left her lungs in a rush as she tried to focus on the path in front of her. She could feel her mind trying to catch onto the conversations that surrounded her. However, it was like holding water in her hands, and the conversations just kept slipping between her fingers.

After what felt like forever, she stopped just short of the staff entrance, her eyes landing on the two that were currently checking in. Jason and Gabriella both had their backs to her as they wrote their names down on the check-in list. Nyline leaned up against a nearby tree as a constant throbbing in her eye started up. Her aether was flexing and she could feel the grip on her shadow skill loosening as it tried to disperse. She watched as Gabriella turned and started to look around, her brows drawn in tight as if she were confused about something.

["Do you smell that?"] Gabriella asked softly, her eyes only flicking to Jason's back for a moment before she turned her attention back to the trees.

["It's the princess,"] Jason grunted, his eyes still on the book as he finished checking in. There was another flux of Nyline's aether and her vision blurred once more. It was then that she felt her equilibrium flip. Her hand went to the tree as she forced herself to stay upright.

["Why wou---he princess----- normally, she'd -----"] Nyline only caught so many of Gabriella's words before she just shook her head. If this was recoil, then the amount of aether she used passively to listen to people was straining her mind further than she'd originally realized. In theory, getting away from the city should help her mind relax, she just had to get there first. With that, she made a split-second decision as she pushed off the tree and started sprinting towards the staff entrance. Her body tilted slightly as she fell sideways into Jason's back, without even pausing she pushed off him and continued to run as best she could with the world trying to spin all around her.

In desperation to get out of the area even faster, she used her movement twice more, landing hard as she landed in the middle of a busy square. Her foot slipped out from under her, and she felt the skin on her forearm get shaved off as it connected with the gravel. Pushing herself more she pulled herself to her feet and started sprinting towards the east gate. Right as she started to pass the gate, her aether seemed to shoot up into her mind and stab her directly in the eye. She paused, knowing full well that she was flickering in and out of view as she struggled to keep her shadow skill up.

["Princess Nyline is pass-- --ugh the East ga--,"] The guard sitting at the gate desk reported. ["Her aether--- weird, body---- out."]

["Ro--r."] His mate responded but it was as if he were shouting down a long hallway, it echoed and bounced off the walls of her mind. Her hands went to either side of her head as she pressed them together. As if she physically held her skull together, then her mind wouldn't break either. Throwing all caution to the wind she used her movement skill and shot out and away from the gate. Landing hard as her ankle twisted painfully, she went down and with all the momentum of her movement skill. Her body skidded across the grass and only stopped when her body got tangled up in some of the roots that were above ground.

Taking in large gulps of air, she just rolled so that she was laying on her back. Her eyes were facing the canopy but all she could really see was a mass of different shades of green and brown. The strain that she had been feeling while inside the castle and city walls started to ebb slightly and she couldn't help but let out a large woosh of air as the leaves and branches slowly started to come back into focus. With effort she pushed herself into a sitting position before she forced herself to her feet.

"Oh, for all the stars in the damned sky," She growled as she grabbed ahold of the same tree that had helped her stop. With effort, she stayed upright and pressed her head against the bark. If she'd known that recoil on this scale had even been a possibility, she would have watched the memory of Gabriel breaking the mate link in her mind more than once. Just to ensure that this wouldn't have happened. Or maybe she'd done it correctly, but it had just been that she did more than one mind at a time? Hell, did recoil even get this bad? Had something else happened that was forcing her aether, mind, and body to react this way.

She cursed softly, there were so many small, fine, detailed rules to using aether that she just didn't understand. It wasn't as if she could watch all the memories in the world and come to understand how recoil happened. If she'd lived in the aether world growing up, she was positive that she would at least understand more than she did now. Now, she was in a race against time to catch up for the sixteen years that she spent in the human world. The realization slowly dawned on her that if she didn't get caught up, and fast, she might seriously damage herself, or even worse. Die.

Groaning she pushed herself off the tree and shoved those thoughts to the farthest reaches of her mind and looked around. She'd managed to get a decent distance from the castle with her movement skill, which was good and bad depending on how she looked at it. Her shadow skill had fallen at some point, she assumed it had been when she'd failed to land her movement. She could only hope that this would be a good place to lie low for a little. It might take the senior scouts longer to find her if they'd already looked out here, but without her shadow skill, she was basically a sitting duck. The last thing she wanted to do right now was explain what she'd done to an angry king or queen while her mind was trying to break itself.

Looking up into the tree she saw that there were a few branches that were low, but not low enough for her to simply jump and pull herself up. With a quick look around, she realized that they were all that high. She weighed the options of how using her aether would make the strain worse, and if that was better than sitting on the ground… Her eyes went to the branch and with a sigh she jumped, putting just a touch of aether into her movement, which got her high enough for her to hit the tree branch hard enough in her chest for all of the breath to leave her lungs in a woosh. Coughing she clung to the branch for dear life as she tried to refill her lungs. Once she had ahold of her breathing again, she managed to hook her leg up on the branch and hoist herself up. With effort, she pulled herself towards the trunk of the tree and leaned her weight against it with her legs hanging over one side.

Every piece of her hurt and she only took a second to glance at the bond to make sure that she was masking all of her pain from Gabriel. She'd been doing it since she'd landed in his room and the recoil had really started to set in. If he knew how much pain she was in right now, he'd try and get in between her and Alice or Nic when they finally found her. That was just so much drama she didn't want to deal with.

Emotions rushed through her as she lifted her arm and looked down at her skinned forearm from when she'd landed in the market square. She suddenly felt cold at the prospect that she was this out of sorts and had no one around. Dropping her bloody arm to her lap she just rested her head against the bark. She couldn't help but feel like everything she'd done today was just stupid. She hadn't calculated anything, then everything was just compounding on itself. That cold feeling brushed through her soul once more as she let her eyes close.

["She's over here."] Gabriella's inner voice spoke much louder than she'd ever heard before as it slammed into her mind, making her jump and almost lose her balance on the branch. Why was Gabriella here? When had she gotten this close?

["She dropped her shadow skill,"] Jason muttered and Nyline watched as they shot into the clearing. Jason was in his shadow form and Gabriella was several feet behind him in her human one. She pressed her hand against her face as the pain started to radiate from her eye and back into her skull.

["I smell fresh blood,"] Gabriella spoke sounding concerned.

["It's the princesses,"] Jason confirmed.

["What do you think is going on? Like, why would she rush out of the castle towards the market and hurt herself in the process?"]

["Who cares…"]

["Well obviously you, since you're the one who sprinted after her."]

["She basically fell into me when she passed me. Now there's blood? Something's wrong."] Jason defended sounding as if Gabriella's questions were more than annoying. ["She should be around here somewhere."]

Nyline felt her face pull up on one side as she watched the massive darkling, nose to ground, come closer to her tree. She only watched then as Jason stopped by the roots and his red eyes looked upwards and connected with hers. There was a moment before Gabriella stopped and followed his gaze.

"Princess?" Gabriella spoke in a slightly shocked voice, "Are you alright?" Before Nyline could open her mouth, Jason had changed back to human and was climbing up to where she was like a monkey. When he was close enough to her, he gripped her chin in his thumb and forefinger and started to rotate her head this way and that. She slapped his hand away and resisted the urge to growl at him for touching her as the memories entered her mind like needles.

"I'm fine." She managed to breathe through the pain.

"You're a crap liar, what happened to you? Why are you bleeding?" He growled and Nyline forced her eyes to focus on him. His eyes were inspecting her for injuries. When they zeroed in on her arm that was bleeding freely on her shirt, he went to grab her, but she pulled her arm away. His red eyes connected with hers, the frown pulling down his face as she set her face in a glare.

"Why are you out here following me?" Nyline asked instead of answering him. She forced a smirk onto her face that only made her eye hurt more, but she pushed through it. "Oh, are you stalking me again? What is following me around in the middle of the night just not enough for you anymore?" Jason's scowl deepened.

"I don't follow you around." He growled and Nyline caught the look that Gabriella shot him.

["She's obviously caught you red-handed."] Gabriella scoffed and Nyline felt her mind start to strain again, and she focused all of her energy on keeping the smirk on her face and not letting on that she felt like her mind was ripping itself in half.

["Just because she happens to be where I am, doesn't mean I follow her around."]

["Oh yeah? Then why are you always at the training grounds watching her train all night."] Jason gave nothing away as he crossed his arms.

"Oh really?" Nyline felt like a cat's smile had just spread across her face. "Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure I've seen you around quite often."

"I work at the castle, it's my job to patrol the grounds."

"Oh! do you just patrol where I am? Or how about when the both of you followed me after the evaluation." Nyline's smile grew wider as she cocked her head to the side, forcing the emotions onto her face with difficulty.

"Oh, you mean the day that you tried to take on a reaper and a full-blooded daemon after you somehow trapped them in your barrier skill?" Jason growled in a menacing tone which only seemed to make the smile on Nyline's face more genuine.

"Watched all of that did you? That was the end of the game, I said so. That pair that had been inside my barrier won. So, why follow me once the queen released you?"

"How do you know that?" Gabriella spoke as she jumped and pulled herself up into the tree standing a few branches down from the two of them.

"I have my ways," Nyline mumbled as she avoided eye contact with either of them.

"How?" Jason growled. She felt suddenly lighter as she looked up into his grumpy face.

"I think that's my secret and not yours." She said blandly as she watched his face set into lines, she cleared her face of her amusement. "You know, if you keep scowling like that, your face is going to get stuck." His brows drew together even more. Which only made her feel lighter. It was as if the grumpier he got the better she was feeling.

"Fine don't tell me, why are you out here and why did you go through town. You never go that close to the market." Nyline raised a brow as her eyes looked to Gabriella, who was just looking at her mate with wide shocked purple eyes.

"Now, how do you know that I don't go close to the market if you're not following me around?" Jason's arms tightened across his chest and she couldn't help but want to mess with him more. She wasn't sure why, but this bantering, this messing with him, was more fun than she thought she'd ever had with any other person before in her life. She enjoyed it on a completely different level, which confused her, but she pushed that confusion aside as she just wanted to enjoy the moment.

"Just answer the question," Jason's voice was still even but she could taste his annoyance in the air as it wafted into her mind.

"I don't think you're in a position to be giving orders Jason Stark of the royal guard first class. You remember that I have that awesome little princess title, right? Means you can't interrogate me." Jason rolled his eyes at her.

"You think your title has anything to do with who you are?" He scoffed, "I'm also aware of how much you don't like your 'little title.'" He used air quotes to get his point across and Nyline chuckled, but quickly tried to cover the noise with a cough.

"How do you know any of that about me?" She tried to sound shocked, but she'd already known about Jason and Gabriella's obsession with her. It was like they constantly worried about where she was, what she was doing, and why. They checked on her when they arrived for work, which is why they got there so early, and then stopped by wherever they were on their way out so Gabriella could get eyes on her before they both went home for the day.

"Princess, are you alright? Why are you bleeding?" Gabriella spoke quickly looking her up and down. Nyline took the moment to connect their eyes before speaking.

"Nyline." Gabriella just looked at her with confusion coating her face.

["Janti is the only person who calls her princess, she's bullied everyone out of using it."] Nyline couldn't help but look at Jason as he spoke in their bond.

["What am I supposed to call her then?"] Gabriella squeaked as if she thought she really messed up. However, Nyline was still caught on what Jason had said. Bullied seemed a very strong word for her asking people not to use her title. She filed it away to examine later as she turned her attention back to Gabriella, ignoring whatever remark Jason was making inside their bond.

"I'm fine," Nyline spoke as she sighed before she glanced around the trees. She knew that a senior scout would be finding her soon. Not only was she out in the open, but now she had Gabriella and Jason with her as well, plus they were talking. It would be a cakewalk for any of the kings or queen's scouts to find them at this point.

"You're bleeding." Gabriella's remark which made Nyline glance at her arm once again. It didn't need stitches or anything like that. It was just some road rash from when she'd fallen.

"It's just a superficial wound. I'm sure Pallsana will hold me down later so Omega can bandage it up or something." Nyline muttered offhandedly.

"But how did you get it?" Gabriella pressed as she climbed further up the tree. Nyline turned her focus back onto her and lifted her brow slightly.

"I slipped," Nyline said in a flat tone.

"Slipped? Like you just fell while you were running or something?" Jason asked sounding astonished. Nyline glanced sideways at him but refrained from commenting on the tone he was using. Gabriella not so subtly jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, while throwing him a glare.

"What Jason is trying to ask," Gabriella's teeth were gritted as she spoke before she turned her attention back to Nyline and put on a soft comforting smile that somehow made Nyline uneasy. "Is that we have never seen you fall before, you are very sure-footed. Plus, that scrape looks like you were going pretty fast when you hit the ground."

Nyline examined her face for several seconds. She couldn't tell if what the girl was showing was compassion or just plain interest. She knew Jason's and Gabriella's inner thoughts. She also understood that as much as Jason put on a show for everyone, including himself, he wasn't being honest with his own emotions when it came to her. She also knew that the two of them would know something was wrong if she mentioned that she had fallen landing her movement skill. Not to mention her, most likely, spraining her ankle when she'd fallen the second time and the scrapes that she got on her back from that one as well. However, they hadn't noticed the additional damage to her body, only the wound on her forearm.

"Why does it matter? If I fell while running or if I landed my movement wrong and went down. What does it matter if I scraped my arm? What's in it for the two of you?" Nyline eventually asked as she looked between the two of them, their eyes grew slightly wide with the comment.

Nyline couldn't help but feel like she needed to be cautious. All her life, it had only been her uncle who'd cared for her when she'd fallen and scraped her knees. Even then, he'd usually just dusted her off, bandaged her up, and sent her on her way. So, for these two to be in front of her, seeming to care for her, seemed suspicious.

There was silence inside their minds as if the question had just halted all of their inner thoughts as they just stared blankly at her. Jason seemed more confused as Gabriella just seemed dumbfounded at the comment.

"Are we not allowed to worry about our future queen?" Jason spoke finally as if that was the best comment he could come up with on such short notice. Nyline stared at him, she could taste the lie on his lips and so she turned her attention to the one who was more honest with her emotions.

"We…" Gabriella started but then stopped as she tried to gather her thoughts. "There isn't anything in it for us. We are simply here because we thought there was something wrong and we wanted to help." She said finally. Nyline raised a brow at her.

"Why?" Jason and Gabriella didn't answer as they looked at each other.

["Maybe she doesn't understand the pull we have to her either?"] Gabriella asked sounding understanding.

["I think she does, she's just playing dumb,"] Jason grunted but Gabriella was already shaking her head.

["You can't fake the suspicion."]

"Maybe she's just a good actress."

"Why?" Nyline spoke again as her mind started to strain once more from their inner conversation.

"Is it really so weird that we'd be worried about you?" Gabriella asked instead. Nyline condescendingly raised her brow.

"Yes." She said without hesitation. Gabriella just looked at her for a long moment before something sparked in her eyes.

"Pallsana and Omega would be worried for you right?" Nyline nodded, "Then why can't we be worried as well?"

"Pallsana and Omega were assigned to me as my maids when I arrived in Vaccoon. It's their jobs." Nyline's voice went slightly flat as she spoke. She knew that the two women cared for her a lot, but she still hadn't figured out if it was because they actually liked her as a person or because they were assigned to her.

Gabriella opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she just looked at Jason with the biggest 'help me' look that she'd ever seen on a person's face. Jason looked at her for a moment before turning his gaze onto Nyline.

"Is it so abnormal for a person to simply care for another?" Jason spoke in a deep gruff voice and Nyline just stared at him. She was almost positive that those were the truest words that she'd ever heard come out of his mouth. It was as if the persona that he constantly wore had just slipped a little.

"I guess for a normal person that would be the case," Nyline muttered as she looked up at the canopy.

"And you're not a normal person?" Jason scoffed making her look back down at him. There was something inside his eyes that she just couldn't quite grasp. Nyline could only cock her head to the side as her expression turned neutral.

"As I told you at the evaluation that I don't mesh well with others, so why would it be normal for me to have people simply worry about me?" Jason looked as if she'd just slapped him.

"Talking like you're a wild animal again, are you?" He growled in response, to which Nyline could only laugh. This seemed to anger Jason more as he glared at her. "What is your problem with other people?" He said finally and Nyline felt the mirth leave her face in an instant as she just looked at Jason.

"Those are my secrets, not yours." Her voice was hard as she spoke and when she looked at Gabriella, she was surprised to see that the girl looked taken aback by her response. She felt all the warmth that the conversation had started to kindle inside of her bleed out. So, without thinking, she leaned backward so she flipped off the branch and hurtled down towards the forest floor. She landed hard and her already injured ankle gave out as she went down. She cursed loudly as she forced her body back into a standing position right as a large body landed directly in front of her. She looked up into the set of pissed-off red eyes that were glowing at her.

"What the hell is your problem?" Jason growled as he got right up into her face, poking her in the chest as he ranted. "Who the hell just falls backward out of a tree. You couldn't just climb down like a normal person?" Nyline felt slightly rooted to the spot as she looked into his blood-colored eyes. She just stared into them for what felt like a long moment before she just shook her head. Half because she thought he was funny, but the other half was to try and clear the fog that was trying to envelop her mind. She'd flipped backward so that she didn't stumble when she was climbing down. The two of them already thought something was wrong and she didn't want them to know that she'd royally screwed her aether up on accident.

"Life's more fun with a little flair," Nyline shrugged, trying to downplay the situation.

"Your back is more banged up than your arm and your ankle is injured," Gabriella spoke as she landed softly next to Jason and Nyline glanced at her. This girl was way too observant. Nyline just looked at her as the expression that she recognized from Omega's face, started to show up on Gabriella's. She knew that Gabriella was about to start lecturing her about how she needed to see a healer.

"Yes, I'm currently in a little situation that means I need to stay away from the castle for a little." She said flatly as she looked away from the two and back towards the castle. She was surprised that no one had found her yet. She confessed knowing that she was going to have to give them something or she was going to be forced to see a healer against her will. The recoil was better now that she was away from all the inner voices, but she still had the dull pain in her mind and behind her eye. However, it had lessened enough that she felt like she could actually function now.

"What in the world happened?" Gabriella stressed as she pushed Jason out of the way and took Nyline's gloved hands in hers. Her light purple eyes were filled with concern as she searched Nyline's face for the answers.

"You know I fell." Gabriella's lips formed a thin line.

"That is not what I'm talking about," She said in a stern tone. "Why are you staying away from the castle? And how did you get these injuries? I'm not going to try and downplay it like Jason does, but we've watched you train, we know how well you can move, there is no way that you simply tripped or even slipped. We know there is something seriously wrong with you right now, we can feel it in your aether. Now, tell us how we can help."

Nyline watched her as she spoke before flicking her eyes to Jason. Could she trust these two? Did she want to? She felt herself pause; she didn't have to tell the entire truth. She could just give them the cliff notes. They didn't need to know everything. Nyline blew out a long breath as she came to the realization that she wanted to trust these two just as much as she trusted Pallsana and Omega.

Looking up into Gabriella's face she searched her eyes for a long moment before she resigned herself to giving them just the smallest of details.

"I got my injuries from landing my movement skill wrong a couple of times," As she spoke, she averted her eyes so that she didn't have to see their expressions. "I'm not currently at the castle because I did something that upset the king and queen." When she glanced at them, they both looked shocked, but she wasn't sure what detail was more shocking to them.

"You landed your movement skill wrong?" Jason asked first sounding as if he didn't believe her. She nodded.

["What would make her land her movement skill wrong?"] Gabriella basically breathed down the bond. ["She uses her movement skill more than walking. She could have slid on some gravel?"] Her brows were scrunched.

["No, I've seen her counterbalance herself more than once to offset something like a small slip."]

["Tripped?"]

["I've never seen her even lose her footing or balance."] Nyline sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, her mental strain coming back full force with them using their mental link.

"Recoil," Nyline spoke in a very short, clipped tone, and their heads both whipped to her.

"What did you do?" Jason spoke in his very deep, very annoyed tone. Which made Nyline roll her eyes.

"Something bad enough that the king, queen, and all their scouts are looking for me." She muttered as she crossed her arms.

"Where's Prince Gabriel?" Gabriella spoke sounding nervous. She paused as she glanced at the link. She had it so heavily locked down that she had no idea where Gabriel was at this moment. There wasn't a chance that she was going to lower that barrier to see. He'd feel her pain and rush over to her, which is exactly what she didn't want. She couldn't deal with him and his father shouting at each other anymore for the week, maybe a month?

"Somewhere else." She answered finally.

["She shut down their bond, so he doesn't know she's in pain. He's completely blind to what's going on."] Jason said quickly as he examined her face. She was surprised to hear Gabriella curse softly.

["And their bond is new, so he probably doesn't even realize that she closed him off."] Gabriella sighed inwardly. "Any chance that you'd want him to come help you with the recoil?" Gabriella spoke trying to sound more confident than Nyline knew she felt.

"Not at the moment," Nyline muttered and she watched as Gabriella's face fell.

"You might not want him to know how much pain you're in right now, but your mate is the best bet for helping with recoil," Jason spoke in a strict tone as if his words of wisdom would suddenly make her change her mind. Well, he was going to be hella disappointed.

"He can come help me once Nic or Alice find me..." Nyline muttered as she rubbed her hands over her face. She was getting so tired. She glanced at them to see Jason's condescending eyebrow was raised and Gabriella was just looking at her deadpanned. Nyline's eyes unfocused as the words entered her mind and she was pulled from the present conversation and into another.

["Ohhhhhhh Nylineeeeee,"] Her heartfelt as she heard Zenith's voice. Out of everyone that could have found her, the one who whispered random crap at her from the shadows had to find her first. ["Yoooooour in trouuuuuubleeeee."] She felt herself stagger to the side as the words entered her mind and started to bounce around like a pinball. Her eye gave a painful throb, and she pressed her hand against it.

"Are you okay?" Jason spoke as two hands grasped her shoulders and forced her to stay upright. Gabriella's worried face appeared next to Jason's shoulder as she just shook her head a couple of times to clear the fog.

["Nyyyyylinnnneeeeeee! Alice is gonna finnnnd yoooooou"] Zenith's voice shouted into her mind once more and she buckled again. The pain going into her mind and stabbing her brain. Before it had been needles, now? It felt like daggers were digging themselves into her mind and it was making her nauseous. Jason's strong arms were the only thing holding her up as Zenith continued to taunt her in his sing-song voice. She really just needed him to shut up. Right. Now.

Stumbling away from Jason she looked around on the ground and grabbed the first rock that she saw. Turned and chucked it as hard as she could in the direction that she was almost positive Zenith was. There was silence for a few seconds as Gabriella and Jason just watched her before she heard a curse than a loud crashing noise. Had she managed to hit him? Her stomach protested the movement as she clutched her stomach. Jason took the two steps towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What did you just toss that rock at?" Gabriella spoke sounding shocked as she placed her hand on Nyline's other shoulder. She swayed on the spot.

"They found me." She muttered right as Zenith's report came from the bushes where he fell.

["Located Nyline, she's in the forest twenty meters southwest of the east entrance,"] Zenith reported, and with the voice entering her mind she landed against the two hands holding her up.

"That's bad right?' Gabriella spoke looking around the clearing as if she could sense the senior scouts closing in on them. Nyline could only shrug as she lowered herself to the ground and sat with her head on her knees.

"What. Is. Going. On?" Jason's voice was clipped as she just shook her head.

"Don't worry about the details, just know I'm in trouble."

"But we could help," Gabriella was quick to speak and Nyline glanced up just in time to see Jason shoot a look at his mate. She just watched him, one second he cared and the next he didn't. He was emotional whiplash if ever she'd seen it. "Don't look at me like that we could!"

["We don't even know the situation; we could be risking our jobs by helping her if she'd angered the king and queen,"] Jason spoke in a tight voice.

["If you didn't want to help her then why did you come out here?"] Gabriella's voiced as Nyline only pushed her head deeper into her knees, the strain coming back doubled.

["Obviously because there is something seriously wrong."]

["You already basically admitted that you cared for her not even five minutes ago, why are you going back on that now?"] Gabriella's voice was angry and Nyline could tell that she wanted to punch him.

["I don't care about her; I just want to figure her out. She's human in case you don't remember. I don't care about humans."] There was a long pause as Gabriella shook her head and looked back at Nyline, crossing her arms.

["Eye's on Nyline,"] Beck's voice entered her mind, and she heard his clothing as he landed in one of the trees close by. It made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"Target is with two of the guards from the castle," Elewin reported as he landed to her right. At least three others of the senior scouts landed close to her, she felt herself wince at the pain as they reported back as well. Her mind was getting bombarded by the noise that they were all making.

["Something is wrong with the princess."] Adelaide's voice sounded slightly shocked.

["Report."] Alice's voice was hard as she responded.

["She's sitting on the forest floor in a ball,"] Sargis responded as she heard his soft footing land nearby.

["Those two… that's my nephew and his mate,"] Dijana commented before she paused. ["They seem worried about something."] Nyline couldn't help but press her hands against her ears as if she could block out the noise with her hands alone. She needed her music, she cursed at herself, whereas her mp3 player? Did it even have any battery left?

"Princess," Nyline looked up with glossy eyes at Gabriella shook her slightly, worry-coated her voice as if that hadn't been the first time, she'd called her.

"Do you two only care about me because you want to figure me out?" Nyline spoke in a very soft voice, for some reason it mattered to her a lot as to why these two were here. She felt like a haze was descending on her mind and the words flowed from her mouth without her permission. "Do you only care why I'm different? Why I'm mated to Prince Gabriel? Do you really only care about the how of me taking on a reaper and a full-blooded daemon? Are your questions really the only reason why you're here with me now? Is all you care about the why behind why the two of you are obsessed with me and can't seem to not worry about me when I'm not around?" Nyline shifted her eyes from Gabriella's to Jason's.

"How do you know any of that?" Jason's voice was hard. Nyline just shook her head.

"My secrets," She mumbled as she felt her head fall back onto her knees. "Do you really only care why you're so drawn to me but hate me because I'm human?"

"How do you know that?" Jason's voice was louder and harder than before as he reached over and shook her slightly.

"I'm not wrong, I can hear it in the panic in your voice, how your heart rate has picked up since I mentioned it," Nyline spoke ever so softly.

"You're not wrong," Gabriella spoke in what sounded like a slightly ashamed tone.

["Gabriella!"]

["Enough lying and sneaking around in the bushes."]

"Happy to hear that you're accepting your stalker nature," She mumbled and forced her head upright. The hairs on the back of her neck pricked and it was then that Nyline realized that Alice had arrived. She was standing a few feet away from her, her shadow skill up, same as all the scouts that surrounded her. She was lucky that Alice had found her, she was less angry than Nic and might listen to reason. However, for whatever reason, she wasn't interrupting the conversation and all the scouts had fallen silent.

"I'll make the two of you a deal. I'll explain everything I can, under one condition." Nyline spoke finally as she pulled herself completely upright and let her legs fall into Indian style as she looked between the two of them. She felt emotions in her chest that didn't make sense to her drunken brain. The conversation she was having didn't even entirely make sense to her but for some reason this deal. It mattered, even if she didn't understand why she was making it.

"What are your terms?" Jason's voice was hard as he just looked at her, wondering why she was making deals when she was in a half-dead state.

"I'll make this clear. Agreeing to my terms is the only way you will ever understand all your questions about me. Not a single person who is around me will answer any of your questions unless you accept. Do you understand?" Jason and Gabriella exchanged a glance and a quick discussion before they both turned and looked back at her.

"We understand." They both said with conviction and Nyline nodded.

"Become my scouts." She said looking between the two of them.

"No," Jason responded right as Gabriella said "Yes." They looked at each other with their brows drawn together. "What?" They both barked at each other.

It was then that all hell broke loose inside all of the minds of the people who were surrounding her and Nyline felt herself bend forward as the pressure of all of the voices forced themselves into her mind. She couldn't even focus on any single conversation to know what they were saying, but it was as if everyone had suddenly turned up their volume and they were all screaming inside of her mind.

"Princess?" Gabriella's voice seemed shocked.

"Nyline?" That was Alice's voice, and she recognized the hand that landed on her back.

"Shut up," She breathed the voices amplifying in her mind and bouncing around like pinballs. She threw her body to the side as she hurled up her lunch in the nearby bushes. She was faintly aware of someone grabbing her hair before she dropped to the side and started to curl into a ball.

"My queen she's suff---" Gabriella was cut off as Nyline started to scream.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Aether laced her words so thick that it hung in the air. Silence surrounded her like a blanket, but it didn't stop the pain that was lancing through her mind.

"Nyline?" Nic's voice cut through the silence sounding shocked. "What's going--?"

"No!" She screamed so loudly that she was sure that her vocal cords were ripping. "Be quiet!" More aether laced her words before she just shook her head viciously. She had to get out of here, she had to run.

["Nyline?"] Gabriel's soft voice wafted into her mind but instead of being the balm to the fire, it added fuel to it, making the pain double in an instant. It made her wince away from the connection as if she were a frightened animal.

"You're all too loud!" Nyline screamed as she struggled to get to her feet. She had to get away. She had to run. She had to- a hand landed on her arm and she felt memories flood into her mind. Just as another scream ripped through her throat the hand was removed with a jerky motion as she stumbled away from whoever had grabbed her only to find that her eyes were so badly out of focus that she couldn't see anything. Everything was just blotches of color at this point. She couldn't help the panic that was rising in her throat and invading her mind next to the unbearable pain. She started stumbling in any direction she could. She just had to get away from there, she had to go. Another arm wrapped itself around her waist, but the person behind her didn't speak out loud or have any inner thoughts, it scared her, and she struggled, landing an elbow in whoever was behind her, no noise came from them as they fell away from her.

Without thinking she turned and went to activate her movement, however, the only thing that happened was her dropping back to the forest floor like a sack of potatoes. A single, long-drawn-out scream came from her again as there was a soft squishing noise, and pain flared in her eye socket. Her hands reflexively went to her head as she felt the hot liquid as it seeped out from under the lid. Pain lanced through her mind again just as she felt her body go weightless as two strong hands pulled her from the forest floor. She wasn't sure what happened after that, only that she was faintly aware that her body was going into shock and that there was nothing but silence everywhere around her. Only this time the silence didn't help as she was finally ripped from consciousness and shoved into a void of darkness.