Revealed (Unbound, Book 5)

Chapter Forty-Seven

Apparently, my ability to dream with Zach was as lost to me as the access to my magic, but at least I was able to dream without feeling ill. As competence, my subconscious brought me home. My happy place. It was disappointing I didn't hear or see my mother, though that didn't mean she wasn't here.

I sat up and looked around.

Living room.

Standing, I went into the kitchen and then checked the garage, but she wasn't there. Embracing the definition of insanity, I checked the living room again, hoping for a different result—no luck. I grabbed the railing for support and took the stairs two at a time to the second floor.

The rooms were empty.

I sighed and headed back to the stairs so I could check outside. A creak sounded, and I paused, holding my breath as I stared at my bedroom door. It was the only place I didn't look. I wouldn't find my mother hanging out in my room, could I?

It was too easy and... Well, weird.

Another floorboard groaned and a shadow crossed the space under the door. This would be the point to run, but I was dreaming. My fear didn't rise. Instead, I stepped forward, exhaling as the door swung forward with a quick turn of the handle and barely a push.

"Calin?" I blinked, completely surprised, then annoyed when he ignored me to talk on his phone. "Hey!"

As he talked, Calin bent forward to flip the cover of my grandfather's journal I'd set on my bed. He turned a few pages and then closed it so he could pick it up and tuck it under his arm.

"Hmm. Yeah." Calin nodded. "Yeah, no. I don't think it'll be long. Nora told my mom she was going for a run."

"No!" I screamed and waved my hands in front of me. "Calin! I'm not running! Please. Hear me!"

Calin laughed. "Yeah, she does. I swear it fixes everything for her."

"No." I moaned, feeling an invisible pressure begin to compress my muscles. "Calin, please."

It ended more quickly than it began, and I woke back in the nightmare of my padded torture chamber. Fire zapped my thigh, making my muscles spasm and my wrist chafe against whatever was used to tie me up.

"Wakey, wakey, Nora," Trevor sang, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of opening my eyes. I just wanted to go back to my dream fueled by wishful thinking, even though it wasn't real.

Maybe, if he thought I was out of it, he wouldn't poke me again and I could escape.

"I know you can talk, Nora. You called out for that guy. Calin?" He paused, seeming to wait for an answer. A click echoed, followed by what sounded like the snap of a bug zapper when it caught its prey, and then my leg was being branded again.

"Ahh!" I screamed, ashamed I couldn't keep it in. The smell of burned flesh made me want to gag. "S-s-s-stop!"

Trevor pulled his hand back but my skin continued to throb with a pain I didn't know was possible. I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes, feeling hot tears trail down my cheeks. One side rolled over the bridge of my nose to follow its twin to pool in my ear. The coolness opposed my warmth and a shiver danced down to my toes.

"Stop?" Trevor laughed. "You're ready to sign the land over to Astrid?"

"No." My teeth chattered.

"Seriously."

"I... c-can't." I wasn't in control until I was eighteen.

"Well, no, I doubt you'll be able to write your name until some of your movement returns, but if you agree, I'll let you rest until then."