Invisible Chains [Sequel to I Do(n't)]

Chapter 7

Ida's POV-

My eyes flew open and I sat up. My head was drenched in sweat and my whole body was trembling. Around me, the room was still dark, the only light filtering through the tiny night light plugged into the wall by the door.

Looking beside me, I saw that Loki was fast asleep, rolled over onto his stomach with his mouth hanging open and snoring obnoxiously.

I took a deep breath and scrubbed my hands over my eyes and up through my tangled, blonde hair.

Just nightmares again.

I let my head fall back down to the pillow, but I could not even get my eyes to close. There was no way I was going back to sleep tonight, as that ephialtes had fully awakened me.

Sighing to myself, I rolled out of bed and went to the dresser. I pulled open the drawer and fished around through the clothes that my father had brought up for me. There was a bathing suit mixed in with everything. I guess he had assumed that since we were in Malibu, that we would want to swim at some point. Perhaps that was a good idea...a walk on the beach. Even though it was dark, it would clear my mind.

I grabbed the bathing suit and quickly stripped out of my clothes from the previous day and replaced it with the bikini. Then I threw on a jacket. It was definitely too cold to go for a swim, but I still did not want actual clothes getting drenched. Nothing feels worse than wearing pants after your ankles get wet.

After zipping up the jacket, I quietly slipped out of my room. I did not want to wake up anyone, so carefully, I tiptoed down the spiraling staircase and found my way to the back door. Once I was outside, I saw just how close to the cliff that Tony's mansion was. Thankfully, there was a rickety staircase that lead down to the sand.

As I took the first step, I realized it probably would have been in my best interest to wear some kind of footwear. The wood was not smoothed and tiny splinters were tearing into my foot. Although, it was too late, now.

Gripping onto the handrail, I cautiously took one step at a time. There had to be at least a hundred steps before I reached the bottom. Going down was the easy part. However, I certainly was not looking forward to the trip back up.

A chilly wind sent a shiver racing up my spine. I pulled my jacket tighter against myself, trying to fortify my body heat. In front of my face, the sudden gust blinded my view with a mixture of my hair and sand. While still holding my jacket to my body with one hand, I pushed my hair out of my face with the other.

That is when I noticed. That is when I noticed him.

He was standing perfectly poised, one hand on the grip of his recurve bow, and the other locked on the nock of the arrow. Ahead of him, he stared, his forehead wrinkled in concentration as he set his sights. Though he was wearing a black jacket, I could see his biceps flexed under the fabric. The wind was tinkering with his brown hair, blowing it back in a gentle flutter.

He straightened his back a little, tweaked his aim, then released the arrow. My eyes followed as it pierced the air so fast I could barely keep up. Nearly immediately, I heard it pierce the palm tree by the rocks.

Clint lowered the bow.

"Nice shot!" I called to him.

Startled, his eyes shot to me, but when he saw that it was not a random stranger, his shoulders relaxed. "Thank you..."

I walked through the cool sand up to him, still hugging my arms tightly over my chest. "What are you doing out here?"

"What are you doing out here?" he tossed the bow down.