Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 88

I woke up to this heavy feeling in my chest, and my heart started to pound faster and faster with each passing second as if it wanted to escape and never come back.

Something was wrong...

Something landed on my chest, and I grunted and was about to push the thing off but it dug into the blanket so that I couldn't.

I opened my eyes and saw that it was Tig, and she was looking at the door with her tail going back and forth with a ferocity that I had never seen from her before.

Her ears were pricked towards the door, and she looked like a puffed up furball of her normal self.

"Tig?" I asked groggily when she growled. I rubbed my eyes and blinked back the sleep that wanted to take me again, even though I knew that I couldn't fall asleep again. "What's wrong? What is it?"

Tigra didn't say a word and again growled. She dug her claws further into the blanket, and I was grateful that I normally decided to be covered with more than two of them because I knew that if I didn't, then she would've gotten me by accident.

"Tigra," I said in such a tone that she flicked her ear towards me and stopped growling. "What is it?"

Tigra flicked her tail and bristled. She lowered her head and let out another small growl before she looked at me.

Her eyes were a deep amber color, and she looked furious that something, or someone, was on her land that wasn't supposed to be.

I still had that heavy feeling in my chest, and I hated it but didn't know how to get rid of it. "Get off, Tig," I said, my voice breathless because it started to feel a bit harder to breathe.

Tig huffed but did what I said and moved off of me and walked over to the edge of my bed. She flicked her tail and growled again.

I took a deep breath and let it out before I took off my blankets and got up, sad that I had to get up when I didn't want to. "Come on," I said and glanced at my cat. "Let's go see what is going on," I said.

My cat huffed and looked at me. She scowled before she hopped onto my shoulder, deciding that it'd be best if we were close together and not apart.

I walked to the window and looked out, and my heart stopped when I saw the car that pulled up the drive.

He found me. Oh, Gods, he found me.

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach while I watched the car pull up the driveway, only rooted in my spot and not able to move, not able to blink. My throat was dry while I watched the car, and it took all of my self-control not to scream.

He found me.

He found me.

He found me.

The words echoed through my mind with no stop in sight, and I had to hold back a shudder, even though it was hard to do. "Oh, Gods," I said finally, my voice quivering and breathless.

Tigra growled again and dug her claws into my skin, not meaning to. She stared at the car as it stopped in front of the front door, and my twin sister was in the passenger seat from what I could tell.

Shit.

I wanted to back away from the window, but I couldn't because something was keeping me there. Something made me stand in the spot, even though all I wanted to do was go after Izzy and ask her why she was hanging out with him, wanting to know why she even thought about doing that with an ex that wasn't kind.

I stood pale faced and afraid at the window and watched the driver's side door open and a man stepped out, the same man that was in many nightmares that I had up to that point.

Ethan was here.

He looked around the area before he looked towards the house. His eyes had this evil look in them while he looked around before he looked up and slowly looked towards the window where I stood behind, and it looked like he had seen me.

My heart pounded hard in my chest, and my throat closed while I tried to scream and tried to break free from the spell but couldn't. My whole body shook while we stared at each other; his eyes bore a hole into my memory to haunt my dreams and fill my nightmares.

A sneer appeared on his face, and he dipped his head in mock greeting, breaking eye contact first.

A sound or something caused him to turn around and break eye contact further, but that didn't stop the heavy feeling in my chest.

He was still too close for comfort.

Ethan jogged to the other side of the car and opened the door, and Izzy got out, with a small scowl on her face. He said something to her and dipped his head in apology, and my sister accepted it with a smile.

He and Izzy talked for a bit before she kissed him on the cheek and walked back to the house with a little bounce in her step.

My cat growled and narrowed her eyes while she dug her claws into my shirt, almost piercing my skin with her sharp claws. She flicked her tail back and forth in annoyance, and I knew that it took all of her self-control not to jump off of my shoulders and attack the boy still standing in our driveway.

Ethan watched her go before he looked at me and smiled. His whole face turned darker and eviler with that smile, and my heart leaped into my throat and stayed there, pounding with each passing second.

He tried to do something to me, but whatever he wanted didn't work, and I could tell that it irked him.

Again, my sister got his attention again, and he looked away from me. He smiled and dipped his head goodbye before he got into his car, and finally, whatever spell was broken, and I could move again.

While he drove away, I twisted on my feet and ran to the door and opened it, my heart pounding hard and fast but not in my throat like it had been.

How could this have happened? How could she have done this to me?

She doesn't know...

My mind raced a mile a minute while I ran down the stairs, afraid for not only my safety but hers as well.

I knew how dangerous he was, I knew what he was capable of, and I knew that I couldn't let her get hurt because she wanted to be with him and "get back" at me for stealing "her man" twice.

I could not let her face what I had to face with him and lose a part of herself that she could never get back.

I stopped at the first level just as Izzy opened the door.

When she looked at me, her face grew pale, and she looked nervous and guilty as if she knew what she had done was wrong.

"Izzy," I said, my voice barely above a whisper while I trembled underneath her wide gaze. "What have you done?"