The Dream Charmer

Chapter Eleven (part 2)--Should I stay or Should I go

I knelt and rested my head next to his. Jax looked so peaceful. I wished I could say the same about my thoughts racing through my head. I was going to punch Kellan, hard. This? This was beyond even him.

"Kellan!" I hollered, opening up the channels between us.

The thread between us snapped, and I knew he'd heard me.

You called? he said, sounding amused.

I brushed Jax's blond hair from his eyes. "What did you do to him?"

"Relax, blondie is fine." He paused as if he might be looking around. "They all are."

"All?" I clenched my hand into a fist, and the stones on my necklace began to flash on and off. "What do you mean by all?"

I got a picture of him relaxing against the wall with his boots up on the bench. "Guess you're gonna have to see for yourself."

He closed the connection.

If he hurt any of my friends, he was going to get more than punched. I'd skewer him with my staff. My necklaced lit up in an array of rapidly flashing lights, and my grip on this hideaway began to fade. I grasped Jaxon's hand and locked one thought in my head—Kellan.

The intimate scene around us melted into the floor, and for a brief moment, everything went black. Then the aroma of baked bread and roasted meat filled my senses once more, and the darkness dissolved into the candlelit pub where I'd left my friends. My feet slammed the hard stone floor.

Kellan didn't budge from his spot with my sudden arrival.

Brackstone, Jessica, and Travis were slumped over the table with their hands still wrapping their glasses. All three of them were out cold. The bottle in Travis' grasp had tipped over, and whatever he'd been drinking dripped from the edge of the table onto the floor.

To my relief, Sage was wide awake with her butt planted on the table behind Kellan, with her feet on the bench. Jaxon, still out cold, rolled over onto my feet, and his hand jerked free from mine. I couldn't just leave him there, so I crouched down to attempt to move him, and two pairs of shoes stepped into view.

"Nice trip, Birdie?" Rygar lowered and grasped Jaxon under an arm and hoisted him up. Rygar, using a shoulder to support Jax's weight, walked over to the leather chairs next to the fire, dragging the tips of Jaxon's shoes against the floor. He deposited Jaxon into the chair, and the seat springs groaned in response.

Vega patted my arm. "He'll be fine once he sleeps off the effects."

While her words echoed in my head, I realized the pub had emptied, and the only people left in the room were my friends. That was if I included Jessica in that group. How long had I been gone?

"About an hour," Vega said softly.

I scrunched my brows, thinking she had somehow figured out how to read my thoughts. "You know what I was—"

"Thinking?" She shook her head, and her dark curls bounced next to her paper white skin. "Don't worry. I still can't get into that head of yours." She tapped her finger on my forehead. "Thank the circle. I can barely handle knowing Kellan's and Jaxon's plans. It was that look on your face that gave you away. It's the same one from when we were kids. You'd returned from one of your little vacations during a class lecture. You'd always ask me, 'How long have I been gone?'"

I nodded and returned my focus to Kellan, who lounged against the wall just like I'd pictured him. He lowered his gaze for a brief moment to my flashing necklace and raised a brow.

"Care to explain?" I crossed my arms and pursed my lips.

He took a swig of his drink. "I don't think that last pint agreed with them."

"Seriously?" Sage shoved the back of his head. "The only reason I'm still standing is because Vega spilled my pint all over me."

"She swapped my drink for some pink girlie thing," Rygar messed up Vega's hair. "Pink? Like I've ever drunk anything pink. I was about to snatch my drink back when those three collapsed on the table." He leaned back on the bar. "You're just lucky they passed out when they did."

"Big talk for a guy I can read every thought of." Vega laughed. "You and I both know you owe me."

Kellan held up his pint to Vega, and some of the foam rolled over the edge of the transparent glass. "I always wondered if you had the traveler's gift of sight. Guess now I know."

"Well, I wasn't about to let you jet off on some rescue mission and put Wren at risk," she answered. "If you're breaking her dad out, you're not going without me, and I was pretty sure lug head over here felt the same way." Vega flattened her hair with her hand, then playfully punched Rygar's shoulder.

"Put her life at risk? I value her life like my own." Kellan held his hand to his heart.

His ring swirled and warmed against my skin. "Uh-huh. That's because you have to, dumb ass," I answered.

He grinned, cocked his head and looked at his backside. "Funny, most girls think my ass is sexy."

I jumped at the sound of glasses thudding against the bar behind us. Robin wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "I'm not drinking any of that sludge on that table, and this stuff isn't contaminated." He took a long drink from the mug closest to him, then tapped his wrist. "They won't be out forever." He nudged his chin toward Jessica and the others. "If we're going to break your dad out, we probably should fly."

I held my hands up, fingers spread wide. "I'm not going anywhere without Jax."

Sage cringed and pointed to the leather chair next to the fire. "I hate to point out the obvious, but I don't think he's going anywhere, at least not walking."

I grabbed a bar stool, turned it around and plunked down on its dirty cushion. "Then I guess we just have to wait till he's awake."

"Well, I for one am not waiting around for that to happen." Kellan downed the rest of his drink, placed the empty pint on the table and stood up.

"Don't be an idiot. Kellan might be the only person, besides Otis' high guards, that knows where your dad is," Robin whispered behind me. "I've been searching for the past week to uncover his whereabouts, and came up with nada." He pushed aside the jars of something that looked like olives. "Well, almost nothing. My contact did manage to find out that Otis plans on moving your dad to a new location before your partnering with Jaxon."

"Jax sent you?"

Robin nodded. "Let's just say, he doesn't agree with Otis' tactics."

Kellan walked past me and pushed between Rygar and Vega, heading toward the door.

"You're about to lose your chance." He pointed at Kellan already halfway over the threshold. "Because the likelihood of Jaxon and Kellan working together to free him is about zero."

The door slammed shut.

Silence.

"You're kidding me, this is your chance to free your dad, and you're just going to leave him?" Sage tossed her hands in the air. "How are you going to live with that? Go after Kellan."

"You know she's right," Vega added.

I pressed my palms to my face and wiped them down my cheeks. No matter what I decided, I'd have to live with the guilt. Who knows if Jax could forgive me, but if I left my father, I'd never look at my Gran or mom again without feeling like a traitor to our family. I hopped down off the stool and ran for the door.

"Kellan, wait!"

THANK-YOU for reading! I have a new book launching on October 12th! Can't wait to hold it in my hands. PLEASE VOTE and keep the dream alive. :)