Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Adalyn's Point Of View

After Alexa and Zach went upstairs Dakota and I decided to go for a walk on the beach. It was still pretty hot outside but Dakota's arm still felt good around my waist. We walked silently along the sand near the waves, listening to the sound of the ocean hitting the sand. It reminded me of the High Lands Lake where I'd first kissed Dakota and the memory made me smile.

"What's funny?" Dakota asked with a smile.

"The sound of the water hitting the shore reminded me of our first kiss."
"That lake had quite a few good memories. Most of them aren't very appropriate." Dakota said, grinning at me mischieviously.

"That's true. We got caught making out under that willow tree by Michael more than once."

"Not to mention getting caught skinny dipping by my brother."

"Yeah but you're brother just rolled his eyes at us. Michael grounded me."
"Spike could have told dad but he knew I would have kicked his ass if he would have done that."
"I know you would have too. You never were very nice to him."

"Of course not. Why on earth would I be nice to him? He's not nice to me."

"Sometimes he is."
"Oh? Like when?"
"He helped you convince your dad to let you move back to Ireland with me."

"True, he did that. But he only did that because I threatened to beat him if he didn't."

"Of course you did. That's your favorite thing to threaten him with."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"I suppose it did."

He grinned at me, his dark blue eyes lighting up the way they always did when something amused him. I turned in his arms so that we were standing face to face and pressed my lips to his. The kiss we shared was like every kiss we had ever shared but it was also different in every way. He put his whole heart into that kiss, making it seem like a gift from the Goddess.

"I love you." I whispered when we had parted.

"I love you more."

"I highly doubt that."

"You shouldn't."

I grinned at him and the smile he sent back to me made my heart thump wildly in my chest. Our lips met again and this time the kiss we shared was longer than the first, sweeter somehow. His kiss was sweeter than the sweetest honey, more intoxicating than the finest wine.

"Lynnie!" Alex's voice called from behind me.

"Yeah Alex?" I called back, rolling my eyes at Dakota.

"You've got a visitor waiting for you."

"Who is it?"
"Someone named Clara Manson."

"I'm coming!"
Dakota and I stared at each other, fear racing through our veins. Clara was his ex-girlfriend, the one he'd been seeing when he met me. She'd never gotten over him leaving her for me and had been thinking of ways to hurt me since it happened. But how had she found us here? We hadn't told anyone where we were going, not even Dakota's father. Whatever she wanted it couldn't be good. Dakota pulled me towards the house, his face set in an angry expression.

"Whatever she hopes to gain by coming here she isn't going to achieve it. I'm going to make sure of that." Dakota whispered to me, his arm tightening around my waist possessively.

"I know you will." I whispered back, leaning against him.

As we walked into the living room we saw Clara standing in front of Alex. Judging by the look on my sister's face I could tell that Clara had said something not too nice about me and Alex had gotten pissed off about it. When I got closer I heard the anger in Alex's voice.

"If you don't shut the hell up about my sister you're going to regret it. I don't give a damn who you think belonged to you. Dakota belongs to my sister and you can't change that! He is her soulmate so I'd suggest you back the hell off before I make you!"

"He was mine first! And you can't do anything to me. If you touch me I'll go to Queen Adianna and have you arrested."
I laughed. "You really believe Queen Adianna will arrest her own daughter? You would be the one in jail."

Clara looked up at me and smiled cruelly.

"That doesn't matter. I just came by to give you some friendly advice. If you let Dakota come home with me you'll have a chance at escaping. If not Esmyth's warriors are on their way here right now and I'll make sure they catch you."

Dakota growled, his eyes darkening with rage. I put a hand on his arm to stop him from running at her and he looked at me, his eyes wild with rage. Speaking in a low voice he made sure she knew exactly what she had done by calling Esmyth.

"That's it Clara! If my soulmate dies because you're being a selfish bitch I'll kill you. You had no business sending them here!"

"She's put a spell on you. If I can get you back where you belong everything would be all right again." Clara insisted, her voice trembling.

"SHUT UP! SHE'S MY SOULMATE YOU STUPID WHORE!" Dakota yelled as Tristan, Zach, Alexa, and Elizabeth came running into the room.

"Whoa Dakota, what's going on?" Tristan asked, taking a step back.

"I swear to the Goddess Clara if you don't leave him alone I'll kill you myself. You've done enough damage by calling Esmyth." I yelled.
"She did WHAT?" Tristan shouted, his eyes widening.

"She called Esmyth and told him where we are. We've gotta get out of here. Now." Alex said, pushing past Clara.

"Come on guys let's go upstairs and get everything packed. We'll be ready to go soon." Tristan said, running upstairs after Alex.
"We're coming!"

As we all ran upstairs I heard Elizabeth call for Michael. Fear rose in my heart as I realized what was happening. Esmyth's warriors were heading straight for us at that very second. If we didn't hurry up we'd be dead before morning. I pushed that thought out of my mind, knowing that if I thought that way I wouldn't be able to think of anything else.

When we were in our room Dakota and I rushed around the room, throwing things into a small dufflebag that Dakota had conjured seconds before. In less than a minute we had all of our belongings packed into one dufflebag and were heading out to meet everyone else in the hallway. Alex and Tristan were waiting for us outside of Alexa and Zach's door. Alex was clutching Tristan's hand to her chest and was staring at him with an expression of worry. Tristan was staring back at her, his eyes soft.

"Come on guys let's get outta here." Zach said, coming out of their room with Alexa at his side.

Dakota looked down at me, his eyes still burning with rage. As we descended the stairs we heard Clara sobbing and my heart filled with anger. This was her fault. If she had never come here in the first place we wouldn't be in danger right now. When we were close enough to her that she could hear me I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards me and spoke angrily.

"I swear to the Goddess Clara if Dakota dies because of this I'm going to hunt you down and kill you myself. He is my soulmate, not yours so GET OVER IT! And I swear Clara, you'd better not try my patience. I'm close enough to killing you anyways."

Her eyes were wide when she whispered back.

"He'd kill Dakota?"

I laughed bitterly. "Of course he would you stupid bitch. Dakota's my soulmate and Esmyth is out to kill my sisters and I. What do you think he's gonna do? Just let him walk away?"

Dakota looked down at me and whispered, "Babe, come on. She isn't worth it."

I let Dakota pull me out of the room and into the dining room where Elizabeth and Michael were waiting for us. When we were close enough for us to hear them Elizabeth spoke in a firm voice.

"I told Michael to go with you guys so that he can finish teaching you both Dark Wand Magic and Ancient Magic. And I also know how mad you are at this girl but I want you to take her as well. I've seen firsthand what Esmyth does to people that cross him and I don't want that to happen to her. She's so young. Please take her. I wish you all nothing but the best of luck."
Dakota looked down at me before replying to her request.

"We'll take her with us as long as she doesn't piss Adalyn off again. She pisses my soulmate off again and we're gonna have serious problems."

"Thank you. I'll go get her and be back in a second."

As she disappeared from the room Dakota and I stared at each other. I sighed, leaning against his side. Just when I'd thought it couldn't get any worse she had to come along. Now there would be no peace. Dakota leaned down and kissed my lips as Clara entered the room again.

"I wish you all the best of luck. May the Goddess be with you."

"Thank you Elizabeth. We appreciate everything you've done for us." Alex said as we headed into the night.

As we walked towards Michael's boat we got quiet again. Alex was leaning against Tristan for support while Alexa was being carried by Zach. Clara was walking a little ways behind us all, looking like she'd rather be anywhere but here. I sighed a little before making the decision to talk to her on the way to where we were going. She wasn't really all that bad. I mean, she hadn't known what calling Esmyth would mean for us. She was just hurt that Dakota had left her the way he did and hurt made even the best of people do things they'd never do in normal situations.

As we climbed aboard Michael's boat he directed us towards a small set of stairs. We climbed down them and saw a small living area with several small couches and chairs. I sat down on a couch next to Zach and Alexa with Dakota at my side. Clara sat on a chair in the opposite corner of the room. I looked at her and opened my mouth to say something but she spoke before I could get a word out.

"I really am sorry for calling him. I've been stupid these past few years...haven't I? Don't answer that; I know I have been. I guess I didn't realize until I saw the way Dakota looked at you in that house that...that he is your soulmate Adalyn." she said, her voice trembling a little.

"It's all right. You couldn't have known what Esmyth would do with the information. Not many people do. You were hurt that Dakota left you the way he did and the Goddess knows that hurt makes people do things they wouldn't normally do."

Dakota chimed in, sounding embarrassed.

"Yeah I did break up with you the wrong way. I'm sorry for that. I was just so excited about finding Adalyn that I wasn't thinking about how it would hurt you. I should've thought it out before doing it but...excitement got the best of me I'm afraid."

Clara smiled a little. "It's all right. You guys make a cute couple, though. He's so tall and you're short. It's comical but cute."

I grinned at her. "He is pretty tall...isn't he?"

"Yeah, but that's a good thing I think. Tall guys make things more romantic in a way."

Alex laughed. "It does make it more romantic. Especially when you're standing in front of the ocean kissing him."

I laughed. "Yeah. Of course that only counts when you're not in danger of getting caught and grounded by your older brother."

"Your brother grounded you for kissing Dakota?" Clara asked, laughing a little.

"Yeah but that was mainly because we weren't just kissing. We were getting ready to skinny dip in the lake. Michael caught us and the rest is history." Dakota said, grinning at me.

I blushed. "Spike could have told your dad but he was afraid of you."
"Of course he was. Who isn't afraid of me?"

Zach laughed. "I sure the hell I ain't."

"Well, you were pretty scary when you were yelling at Clara. That was...wierd." Tristan said with a laugh.

"I don't usually lose my temper like that. I just don't like Adalyn being threatened."

I grinned. "That was actually only the second time he's lost his temper. The other time he started yelling at my ex-boyfriend Julius Cassidy for calling me a whore. Take what you saw in the house and times that by like a million and you'll have what he did to Julius."

Tristan widened his eyes. "Wow. I woulda done a whole hell of a lot more to the guy than just yelled at him."

Dakota laughed. "Oh I did. He didn't have balls for a month until High Priestess Janie came home from vacation and did the counter spell to mine. Let's just say he never messed with my girl again."

"That's funny. Now I know why Julius was always bad-mouthing you behind your back." Clara said.

"I know he did. I heard him a few times but he never said anything about Adalyn when I was around so I just ignored him after a while."

"He wasn't stupid enough to try that one again." I told Dakota with a yawn.

"You're tired." he said, smiling at me.

"Sorta. I dunno why, though."
"We didn't really sleep last, remember? We were busy with other things."

I blushed. "Shut up and let me sleep."
"Shutting."

As Alexa and Zach moved to the floor to lay down I made Dakota lay down so that I could lay in his arms. When he was laying with his arms around me I settled down against his chest and closed my eyes. A few seconds later I fell asleep with the steady beat of Dakota's heart as my lullaby.