Born of Ice

Chapter Six

   She stared at the agents in disbelief. What in the hell was wrong with everyone? What was happening? She eyed them suspiciously as she waited for him to elaborate. Eric let a soft groan slip as his grip got tighter around her, squeezing the breath from her lungs as he began to break out in a cold sweat. Her face paled at the pain emanating from him in waves. Her eyes darted to the other agents as their eyes had also locked onto him. They felt that right?
"What is happening to him? Why is he in pain?"
"He's locked into a nightmare. There were rumors he didn't sleep because he was afraid of what he would see. We need to wake him up before he crushes you. Everyone be ready because he may wake swinging."
   They tried to wake him, shook him, pinched him and even smacked him to no avail. She was getting desperate as his grip on her was crushing her ribs. In a desperate attempt to wake him from whatever terror had him locked in his dreams, she grabbed his face on both sides with gentle hands and pressed her lips to his. Electrical waves shot through her body at the contact, pooling low in her belly. When she pulled away a pair of full blown jade eyes stared back at her. She heard a collective gasp, unsure if her own shock was echoed in that or not. She felt a curious shifting in the region of her heart that she had not felt before as she stared back. She knew he hadn't registered anyone else yet as his eyes searched hers as he regained control of himself.
"Your eyes...Eric, your eyes are pure jade now."
"Yours are like sparkling sapphires staring back at me now. What happened?"
"You were crushing me, stuck in whatever terror was in your mind. You tell me what happened."
"I was back in my hutch except it wasn't my wife I saw lying on the ground with her mouth gaped open with her final scream. It was you I saw. What is happening to me?"
   He jumped at as the agents cleared their throats awkwardly. She watched the gears kick in as he tried to remember when they had arrived. His eyes narrowed dangerously at them as they shifted back and forth on their feet. He slowly sat up to look at them better before he began to speak.
"Why are you in here?"
"Well, we originally came to tell you guys we think we know how to get you out of here until we found you crushing her in your sleep. We were trying to wake you up so she could get more than a puff of air when she did the whole lip locking thing. We weren't intruding we swear so don't eat us. From the feel of the air in here, we better hurry with the extraction though. It won't be long before the bonding starts to take over. Once it does, you won't be moving for awhile so get packed up and meet us downstairs so we can explain what needs to be done."
"Ok, you get a pass this time."
   She wasn't sure what she should question first, the whole bonding thing or the look of shock that enveloped the agents as they scrambled from the room. She attempted to stand to leave when his grip tightened into a steel band around her waist. She peered at him curiously as his eyes locked onto her in question.
"We will talk of this later, right?"
"Yes, I suppose we will be."
   She noticed the hesitancy as he slowly loosened his grip on her. She patted his hand in assurance as she stood to pack the few things they had provided to her. She peered at the suit that he had given to her the day he rescued her. She quickly stripped her clothes off, putting on the suit and then her clothes. She had a feeling they would need the suits to make it to the extraction point. She felt adrenaline surge as she realized that she would be going home finally. She zipped the duffel bag they had put in the closet, staring around the room before taking a deep breath. Time to go home.