Amanda Bonilla: Blood Before Sunrise

“Raif.” I choked on his name, a half sob.

“Thank the gods,” he said on an exhale. “Darian, are you all right? Where are you?”

“Wiltshire.”

I waited through the pregnant pause on the other end. No doubt Raif’s mind was going a mile a minute. “England?”

“Yes. Well, more to the point, Stonehenge. How fast can you get here?”

There was another space of silence. I almost wished I could see his expression.

“Xander has some connections, and I can call in a few favors as well. I’ll be there as soon as I can. No more than twelve hours.”

“Raif.” God, I couldn’t believe I was about to say this. “Come alone.”

His response was slow. “If that’s what you want…”

“It is. And one more thing-”

“Darian,” he said, cutting me off, “is everything okay? What the hell is going on? I would have expected-”

“I know what you expected.” It was my turn to cut him off. Of course he’d expect me to want Tyler to come instead of him. “But you don’t need to worry about that right now. Can you do something else for me? Stop by my place and grab a change of clothes. I have a spare coat in my closet. Bring that too.”

“Anything else?”

Yeah, my katana. But even I didn’t know where it was. “Just get here.”

“I’m on my way.”

I snapped the phone closed and put it back on the dash. For a second, I thought about curling up in one of the bus seats and going back to sleep. But it would be just my luck that the bus would take off to God knows where and I’d sleep through the whole excursion. I’d had enough adventure to last a lifetime in the past several hours. I didn’t need another one.

Stepping down out of the bus, I found a quiet spot away from the parking lot and sat down in the grass, my shoulders sagging in exhaustion. Drawing my legs up to my chest, I rested my arms on my knees and my forehead on my arms, effectively shutting out the rest of the world. Five words-five little words were all it would take to have Tyler by my side. But that was not the way I wanted it to go down. I didn’t want him to think I had so little respect for him that I’d leave without a trace and then just wish him out of thin air. I wanted him, though. I needed him. I ached to feel his arms around me, his breath on my face, to hear his voice whisper in my ear. Tears scalded my cheeks as they trailed silently to my chin. I missed him so much, it was a physical pain, a fist squeezing my heart. All I could think of was seeing his face again, but instead I’d done the right thing and called Raif to come get me. This journey had been about him, after all. I owed it to him to reunite him with his daughter.

As the day progressed, the tourists filtered in and out of the area. I did the smart thing and remained in my incorporeal form. It had been so long since I’d been able to join with the night, day, or anytime in between that I’d almost forgotten I could do it at all. It felt good to be invisible, uninteresting. If I could have, I would have lived the rest of my life this way, the wraith of Stonehenge scaring curious onlookers away.

It wasn’t long before I slumped over to curl up on the grass. I was still beyond tired, having been awake the entire time I’d been in O Anel , and who knew how long that actually was. The sun rose higher in the sky, its warmth lulling me back to sleep. There was something to be said for constancy. The sun rose, it set, it rose again-all in a glorious twenty-four-hour period. I appreciated that. My thoughts wandered as I drifted, and as I succumbed to sleep yet again, it was with thoughts of seeing Tyler comforting me.

“Darian!”

I stirred against the cold and felt around for a blanket.

“Darian! Where the hell are you?”

Right here. Sleeping. Leave me alone .

“Darian, it’s Raif. Show yourself.”

Damn. I wasn’t in my bed, was I? And my memories couldn’t be attributed to a restless sleep riddled with nightmares. Wonderful .

“Darian!”

Raif’s voice penetrated the sleepy haze pulling me back toward endless oblivion. I rolled, my body becoming corporeal as I came to my knees and then to my feet. The sun had set long ago, and night had descended over the sacred ring of stones. I listed to the right, then stumbled toward the dark outline of Raif’s body, shaking off the dregs of sleep. “I’m here,” I said, my voice weak and hoarse. “Raif, I’m here!”

He spun around, and I couldn’t help the cry of relief that burst from my lips. He raced across the dark landscape of the parking lot, closing the distance between us in six quick strides. I would have barreled right into him if he hadn’t reached out and wrapped his hands around my shoulders. Holding me at arms’ length, he looked me over from head to toe, then spun me around, inspecting me for damage.

“Darian, where have you been?” The fear, mixed with relief, in his voice caused my heart to slam against my rib cage. “Are you hurt?”

“How long have I been gone?” I was afraid to hear it; my ears cringed away from an answer, but I had to know. “How long, Raif?”

“A little over three months,” he said.

No. I shook my head and clenched my fists. Fuck! I’d feared it had been years. I’d hoped like hell it had only been days. But over three months? It was still too goddamned long. “How is he?”

Raif let go of my shoulders, then ran his fingers through his tawny hair, which had been, until lately, neat and pulled back. In fact, he’d trimmed it short since I’d seen him last. It looked good on him. He opened his mouth, paused, and looked away as if trying to decide how much to say.

“Tell me the truth,” I said.

“He’s mad with worry,” Raif said with obvious concern. “I haven’t seen him for a while. He had to be forcibly removed from Xander’s house when he accused me and then my brother of playing a part in your disappearance.”

My heart stopped its erratic beating and took a nosedive straight into my stomach. I’d done a number on Tyler. I’d been so stupid! Like a note on his pillow would have been enough reassurance to convince him I was coming back to him. My stomach turned with nausea, or was that regret making me feel as though I could throw my guts up? “I had no idea,” I said, helpless. “Raif, when I left, I had no idea I’d be gone so long.”

“Darian”-Raif stepped toe-to-toe with me so he could stare right into my eyes-“where have you been?”

“O Anel .”

“The Ring?” Raif translated the words, confused. “What is that? Where’s the Oracle? Fallon? What’s happened to you these many months?”

God, where to begin. He knew part of it, but the way everything intertwined made my head spin. And I knew it all forward and backward. “Fallon,” I said, still weary from lack of sleep. “Or rather, Faolán…” I thought of Brakae, her grief. “Raif, I was afraid he’d killed you.”

“You should know better than that,” he said. “It will take a better man than him to send me to the shadows for eternity. But you disappeared. You were there and then-gone.”

“About that-”

“You’re wanted, Darian.” He blurted it out as if he’d had to force the words out. “Adare has ordered that if you are found, you’re to be turned over to the PNT for questioning. Despite my testimony of what I saw, that you were in fact a prisoner and not an accomplice. He wants answers.”

Shit. I’d forgotten about that. Just one more thing to pile on my plate. “Adare will get his answers,” I said. “Later.”

“And what about me?”