Fate's Demand (Twisted Fate, Book 3)

Chapter Fifty-Eight

A dam broke, forcing a stampede to march through my nerves.

My body jerked into action.

The door swung open as the covers reached my chin. I hurried to close my eyes, hoping that I hadn't been seen. There was no doubt who was intruding. I could sense Marcus without needing to have use of my sight. Tension was all around me and Deryk didn't speak—I knew he wouldn't until spoken to first.

"Deryk," Marcus said quietly, which surprised me considering his otherwise lack of consideration. Why would he try to be quiet when he was so fond of waking me to do his bidding? "What is Tyler doing here?"

"Waiting to be able to thank Alyssa for her help."

"Why is he sleeping?"

"Hmm. Must still be tired from when Aly helped him," Deryk said. It sounded so simple, I wanted to laugh. "You know we only sleep when necessary, Marcus. Where humans can sometimes last days, we can last months—years if we are strong enough."

Silence again.

Marcus must have decided Deryk's evaluation held value.

No more questions about Tyler were asked and no one said anything else until the shuffling footsteps stopped beside my bed. The scent of apple cider was so strong, it was tasty, though thinking about the person it belonged to started to make my stomach churn. Not that Marcus was bad; he just wasn't good for me.

"Has she woken yet?" he asked Deryk.

"Not for long, no," Deryk said.

If I had helped him, would it be so easy for him to bend the truth?

"Her coloring is better."

"A little."

"She'll be awake soon, I think," Marcus said. "I should go prepare the Dark Souls in line for her help. Can you believe there are twenty-five now? Three new arrivals and two who changed their minds after watching those she has already helped."

"She needs to go back to her body, or she'll never be able to get better. No way can she handle helping twenty-five Dark Souls in this state, Marcus. She's too weak."

"Her coloring is better, Deryk. That means she is getting better."

"Marcus—"

I groaned, hoping to add validation to Deryk's argument and avoid receiving unwelcome visitors. Once I left, Marcus could bring whoever he wanted to find me gone. Seeing his expression in that moment would almost be worth staying. Almost. But where I wanted to go held something of much higher value.

Not just my body, but Mike.

David.

Whoever the heck I was going to call him.

"See?" Deryk asked.

I opened my eyes just a crack in time to see Deryk point at me. A don't-over-do-it frown creased his forehead and crinkled his eyes, and I refrained from a second moan. Thankfully, Marcus sighed his resignation and continued to face Deryk, which meant I was free to observe.

"Fine," Marcus said and shrugged, lifting his hands to fall to his sides as he nodded. "Fine. But I'll be back soon. If she looks better, I will wake her, Deryk. Nothing you say can change that."

Deryk nodded as though agreeing, but he crossed his arms and said, "We'll see. Are we done? I doubt you're the first she'll want to see upon waking up. You are the reason she's like this, right?"

"And how would you know that?"

"It's obvious, don't you think?" Deryk shrugged. Another misdirection. "You said she passed out before she helped anyone. Knowing Aly, that can only mean one thing: she laid into you but good."

"Yeah, she has a temper." Marcus laughed softly. "You couldn't have warned me first about that?"

Deryk raised his eyebrow. "There'd be no fun in that."

"Right. Well, I guess I will go and wait for her to wake up then," Marcus said and started towards the door. "Are you coming?"

Deryk shook his head and glanced at Tyler. "No. I'll stay until he wakes up."

"So then wake him up."

"I'd like to be here for Aly, actually." He shifted his weight. "Maybe I can cheer her up enough so that she'll be willing to help. Plus, if she wakes up to find Tyler, someone has to be here to buffer the explosion."

Marcus paused mid-step, his foot falling to the floor ahead of his current position in slow motion. He raised his head and studied Deryk, appearing distrustful. Had Deryk blown it? After advocating for nothing but sending me back to my body—arguing for me to be let go—suddenly changing his mind was a bad idea.

Marcus bought it, though, surprising me and Deryk both with a blinding grin full of whitened teeth. "Fine. Come and get me if she wakes, even if she says she doesn't feel better."

"Of course." Deryk pinched his lips together and nodded as he looked to the floor.

With one last nod, Marcus walked into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Deryk waited a few seconds, watching beneath lowered lashes, and then rushed to the side of my bed with his hand digging into the front pocket of his jeans. I threw down the covers, sucking in a deep breath, and exhaled.

Time to leave.

"Take this," he said. He pulled his hands out of his pocket and pushed a clear vial with sparkling violet liquid within into my hand. "Take it and get back to your body, Aly. Only this time, place the drop on your finger and pocket the vial so it isn't lost. Use it anytime, to go anywhere, and you won't mist. Just... wait until your soul and body are recovered first."

"Even the Mortal Realm? Marcus said I couldn't—"

"Marcus lied," he said.

Of course, he'd lied.

Why had I listened to him?

There would have been more comfort in seeing my parents—my mother's soup even—than recovering here with meals served in bed. Not even Tyler could have been that effective in my healing process. Just my body or just my soul. No matter how much energy I expelled or how much deterioration time allowed, my mother could always fix me. Always.

That was the last thing I should be thinking of, though.

My soul needed my body and my body needed my soul.

Once my parts were reunited, I would go to see them.

I would help the Dark Souls who wanted it as soon as I was healthy enough to come back to Hell's Fire, though I would find a way to do so without needing to separate my soul from my body. No way would I leave myself unprotected against Marcus's manipulation again.

Above all that, the thought of seeing Mike now that I'd connected him to David pushed me to hurry. I almost dropped the liquid with which would enable my escape. Mike. Just his name made me smile, and the image that formed in response left me clumsy.

Yes, it was forbidden.

It was unobtainable and it was destined to be a disaster.

I didn't care.

I pocketed the vial after placing a drop, thick like a swelling bead of blood, on my fingertip, and looked to Deryk.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes." How could I not be? "I have one question, though. About my body? W-what am I going back to? You said I was... deteriorating?"

"Don't worry. All your body needs to get better is your soul."

"Okay."

It was the only reassurance I needed, but like everything else in my life, nothing came easy. When my hand reached halfway to my mouth, the door to my dorm room flew open, so hard it crashed against the wall behind it. At the point of impact, a crack formed, spreading up and to the sides.

"I knew it!" Marcus screamed and lifted his hand to point between Deryk and me. "You are feeling better!"