Chapter Ten

    Glory stared at him, her heart pounding. The male stepped a little closer. His dark blue eyes glinting dangerously. Glory shrank back a step.
“ You shouldn’t have brought me here.” Her voice wobbled.
“ Oh really? I was under the impression I could do whatever I want to.” He smirked at her, flipping his dull brown hair out of his eyes. Before she could blink, he was beside her, her arm firmly in his grasp.
“ I think you should come with me, Glory.” He started to pull her down a long hall way.
“ Wait! I don’t even know you! I don’t want to go with you!” Glory struggled against him, but his strength was too much for her. Suddenly, something hit her chest. A sharp pain pierced her body and Glory looked down. Warm, crimson blood bubbled out from her chest, running down the white shirt Lupe had given her to sleep in. Glory gasped and tried to breath, but now blood was gurgling up her throat. She choked and sputtered, and felt her knees give out. She landed on the cold cobblestone floor and watched the life drain out of her. Her blood pooled around her like a cloak, and her vision started to blacken.
Another figure approached.
“ Well done, my son. She is no longer an issue.”
Glory forced her eyes to try and focus. A tall man with sharp brown eyes stared down at her. His dark black hair hung to his shoulders in a groomed way, and his clothes were very expensive looking.
“ She’s holding on longer that I thought. She must be a fighter.” The man said, laying his hand on the other male’s shoulder.
“ Finish her. We wouldn’t want her to suffer for long.”
Glory tried to breathe one more time, her lungs screaming for air. She choked again, blood bubbling out of her mouth. The younger male kneeled beside her.
“ Goodbye, Glory.” His blue eyes blinked once, and intense pain raced through her, and then Glory couldn’t feel anything. She sank into nothing.

    Glory sat up in bed, gasping. She clutched her chest, peering down at where the blood should be spurting. Nothing was there. She sighed in relief, looking around the room. A large timber wolf stood beside her bed. Glory gasped in surprise and scooted away. The wolf whined and rested its head on the bed.
“Lupe.” Glory breathed in relief. The wolf licked her hand. Glory was just getting ready to lay back in bed when the door flew open.
Aden stood there, looking half crazed. Lupe growled warningly, her hackles rising. Aden’s golden eyes finally focused on Glory and moving so fast he blurred, moved toward the bed, his arms already reaching for Glory. Lupe snarled, obviously not liking the way Aden looked. Glory couldn’t have agreed more. She tried to scoot away before he reached her, but his hand was already on her arm. Glory tried to jerk away. Lupe launched herself across the bed, devoted to keeping Glory safe. Aden’s flung up one arm, and casually knocked her aside, as if she didn’t weigh anything. Lupe flew across the room, and hit the wall with a thump. She whined once and was still. Glory’s head was spinning with the speed at which things were happening.
    A moment later, Anna and Gabe appeared. Gabe rushed to Lupe and Anna came over to join Aden. Glory watched Gabe run gentle fingers through Lupe’s fur, and held her head in his lap. Gabe gently prodded her, checking for broken bones. A few moments later, Lupe shifted back into her human form, still unconscious. Glory finally focused on Aden, and her heart thumped in shock. He was beside her on the bed, gripping her shoulders with both hands, his gold eyes drilling into hers.
His lips were moving, saying the same thing over and over.
“ Are you ok?”
Glory finally managed to nod, before she was crushed to his chest in an embrace. Her heart was pounding in surprise, and she looked over Aden’s broad shoulder to see Anna staring at them with eyes wide, and eyebrows arched. A moment later, Aden set Glory back from him, and cupped her cheeks with both hands.
“ That will never happen to you. I will make sure of it.” He said, his voice low and husky. Glory nodded. She believed him. One of his hands slipped down from her face and rested on her heart, right were she had been shot in her dream.
“ This will never stop beating.” Aden spoke solemnly, his touch sending shivers through her. Glory closed her eyes and when she opened them, he was gone. A slight breeze ruffled her hair from when he moved. Anna looked like she was in shock.
“ What just happened?” Glory murmured when she could finally speak.
Anna moved closer, perching on the edge of the bed.
“ He cares. He actually cares.” She repeated over and over.
“ I don’t understand.” Glory answered.
“ We went out to talk to him. He was mad, throwing trees around…But then he went to walk away, and suddenly he was on his knees.” Anna paused, her eyes looking as if she was far away.
Her eyes finally focused back on Glory.
“ He saw your dream, Glory. I don’t know how, but he saw it. He starting panicking and ran up here as soon as it was over.”
Glory frowned. “ How did you know I was having a dream?”
Anna smiled a small smile, still looking deep in thought. “ Being telepathic has its advantages. I saw while he saw it, and then just now, I looked into your mind and replayed it from your point of view. It was the same dream.”
Glory shrugged. “ Then it just means he was reading my mind as I was dreaming it. What’s the big deal?” Glory tried to come across nonchalant.
Anna leaned closer.
“ You don’t understand, Glory. It wasn’t that. It was how Aden responded. He hasn’t cared about anything for years, because of the spell. But this,” Anna trailed off and shook her head. “ He actually cared about what was happening to you, Glory. He cares about you. This means the spell is already losing its power!” Anna clapped her hands in excitement.
Gabriel’s grave voice seemed to diminish Anna’s happiness. “ It also means they will be after Glory even more now. They will feel the spell weakening and know she is the one.”
Anna turned back to Glory, eyes completely serious. “ Gabe is right. Your life is in even more danger now.”