Desperation Read online

  Desperation

  A Through Dreams and Doorways Novel - 3

  E. A. Foley

  Also by E. A. Foley

  Through Dreams and Doorways Series

  Book 1: Discovery

  Book 2: Denouncement

  Book 3: Desperation

  Coming Soon:

  Book 4: Discord

  Contents

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Sneak Peek — Discord

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Copyright © 2018 E. A. Foley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover by Mibl Art

  Created with Vellum

  About the Author

  http://www.eafoley.com

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/e_a_foley

  For those struggling to continue day after day because it feels pointless or impossible—hold on.

  Chapter 1

  Iris clamped her mouth shut to keep from screaming. Her heart raced. Breath was shallow. She wasn’t in her bed. Her eyes darted about the room. Sunlight crept around the sides of blinds. In between poorly shut slats. The room seemed familiar. Iris calmed the frantic notions running through her mind.

  Thoughts came back to her. She was at the guys’ apartment. Slow exhales sounded behind her. She was in Thorin’s room. He’d made her spend the night to assure her safety from Brett. Everyone’s safety from Brett. Memories of her mansion dream coming true flooded Iris’s mind. A conversation in the Gallery with Jaden followed them.

  She needed to get away to figure things out. Somewhere none of her friends could follow her. Iris was up, dressed, and at her practice glade before anyone else stirred in the apartment. Jaden’s words played through her mind on repeat. She saw his anger mount over and over before being replaced by disgust. Resentment.

  Iris bit her lower lip as she paced the glade. Jaden was right. She’d taken everything upon herself once more. But it hadn’t just been her life she risked. She’d risked Zarina’s too. She hadn’t made a plan. Had no contingency for getting caught. The stupidity of her actions hit her like the force of Jaden’s wall of air had.

  Iris stopped. She stood in the middle of her glade, void of any thought save one. Why? The question ran through her head in every form imaginable.

  Why did you follow Brett alone?

  Why did you think you could save Zarina by yourself?

  Why do you keep so many secrets from your friends?

  Why didn’t you ask for help?

  Why—

  Iris pounded on her temples with the base of her palms. The whys stopped. Their silence allowed her to analyze her own actions. Find an answer to the whys.

  Shame. She was ashamed of her past actions. Of her inability to contemplate any consequences of her actions. Of any consequences. She’d followed Brett alone because she hadn’t wanted to admit she was wrong in her assertion he was harmless and only after her. Her eyes twinged as the emotion settled into her being.

  Iris sank to her knees. Images of a tied up Zarina flashed through her mind. They morphed into all her friends locked in some cell, bound and gagged. She was a danger to them. Had been for a long time. She had to leave. It was the best option to keep them safe.

  But where could she go? How would she survive? She didn’t have a degree yet and if she left school, she’d lose her meager income source. Not to mention Brett could follow her anywhere. She was trapped. And so were her friends. Iris sat. She slumped in on herself. Hung her head. Searched for another solution.

  If she couldn’t leave, perhaps she could draw Brett out. Force him to fight her. She channeled her anger at him. He’d stepped over the line this time. Drugging and abducting Zarina was the last straw. Iris realized she might even be pissed enough to kill him on the spot the next time she saw him no matter where they were or who saw. She made up her mind. Pushed off the soft grass and filled with power. Let Brett know her location.

  “Come and get me you son of a bitch,” she said in quiet fury to the empty glade as her eyes seared.

  Iris expelled small amounts of power to keep herself from pulling too much into her being. She didn’t want to use more than minuscule amounts in case Brett showed up. She hadn’t spent nearly enough time working on her stamina. Needed to have as much power as possible when he arrived. Minutes ticked by. Her patience vanished. Iris paced the glade. She needed to do something to deal with the tension that built up in her body.

  At the eight-minute mark, Iris couldn’t stand it anymore. She stopped pacing. Closed her eyes. Concentrated on Brett. His power. Image. Aura. Essence. Iris released a trickle of magic into her thoughts as she continued to concentrate on Brett. She searched the forest her glade was in. His training grounds were close. No one was there. Iris expanded her search in a radius. Nothing but silence met her. She ran past the practice island on a whim but found it as empty as she expected it to be.

  Iris switched her focus to Davis. There were a dozen magic users there. She knew each one. They were her friends. Something else tried to capture her attention. She could sense Brett, but not his physical self. The sensation was softer. Like a shadow. He’d left recently.

  Brett knew she was looking for him and fled. Iris tried to focus on the shadow’s location. He had been around her apartment in the last several hours. It seemed the decision not to stay there had been a good one.

  Iris moved on from Davis to continue her search in Pacific. Brett’s shadow lingered there too, but was even paler than it had been in Davis. She felt more magic users. Only one she recognized—Mr. Moreno. As she honed in on the other magic users in Pacific, they disappeared one by one. She was too far away to tell where they disappeared to. Iris continued her search. They weren’t her targets. Not yet. She paused and contemplated any other areas she should check. The Moreno family’s holiday cabin in the Big Bear area came to mind. Nothing else.

  She pulled more power into her being. Moved her search north from Pacific. A tremor ran through her body. Fatigue started to set in. She ignored it. Honed her powers, exhaled, and refocused her thoughts on Brett’s essence. A flash of a whisper shot through her mind before vanishing. A soft buzz caught her hearing. Iris opened her eyes. Darkness tinged the edges of her vision. She released the remaining power she held back into the Earth. Frustration filled her.

  “Where the hell are you, you bastard?” she quietly asked.

  Iris shook her head and looked toward Brett’s practice area as though she cou
ld see him. She knew he wasn’t there. With how much power she’d been holding, she would have noticed him come back while she searched everywhere else for him. She was drained. It’d be a bad thing if Brett showed up now. Iris let out a snort of disgust and formed her double doors with their prominent faerie standing in front of a Moreton Bay Fig tree to her bedroom.

  Morrigan waited in the dark apartment for her.

  “Care to explain what’s going on?”

  “With what?”

  “I went to the island for our sparing session but you didn’t show. So I came here, and the place is deserted. What’s going on?”

  Morrigan’s look offered no wiggle room. Iris sighed and gave her the cliff notes version of the previous evening.

  “Brett abducted Zarina last night. I followed him and stepped right into my mansion dream. I got to Zarina, shoved her through a doorway to here, then ran through the field of tall grass surrounding the mansion so Brett and his minions would follow me, not her. I got away and came home. Then we headed to the guys’ apartment.”

  “How’s Zarina?”

  “She seems okay. Shook up, for sure. I didn’t see her after we got to the guys’ place.”

  “Did you all spend the night?”

  “Yeah. Everyone thought it’d be safer. They were right. Brett was in the area last night. He’s gone now, though. And I have no clue where.”

  “What do you think he wanted?”

  “Who knows? To take me by surprise since abducting Zarina didn’t work? Fucking asshole,” Iris added softly. “I thought I’d made it clear he shouldn’t go after you guys.”

  “Apparently not. Looks like he’s desperate to get to you. His tactics escalated drastically. I wonder what changed.”

  “Me too,” Iris agreed.

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “Keep a look out for him and beat the shit out of him if he ever comes near one of you guys again.”

  Morrigan nodded. She had her phone to her ear. Iris hadn’t realized she’d pulled it out let alone called someone.

  “Zarina? Hey, you okay? Yeah. Iris told me. Uh, huh. I’m coming over. See you in a sec.” Morrigan hung up. “You coming?” she asked Iris.

  “No.” Iris shook her head. Her eyes seared once more. Guilt set in. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea. Jaden’s pissed and I doubt he’d let me talk to Zarina right now.”

  “That’s a shitty reason not to come and you know it.” Morrigan gave Iris a flat look. The one that told Iris she needed to change her decision or face a pissed off Morrigan.

  Iris looked at Morrigan. She was upset. With Iris’s current decision or her past-self’s stupidity? Both? It didn’t matter. Morrigan was right. She needed to go back to the guys’ apartment and at least try to talk to Zarina. To apologize to her. And everyone else. She also needed to make sure Sienna, Gavin, and the twins knew what happened. Iris nodded and let out a long, slow exhale before opening her doorway back into the guys’ living room.

  Chapter 2

  Iris stepped into the over-crowded living room. Someone had contacted Sienna, Gavin, Kyxy, and Kylee. She longed to back through her doorway and disappear but Morrigan placed a hand on her back and forced her forward. Iris glanced at her friend. Nodded to say she was sorry for the hesitation. She needed to make this right. Owed it to everyone to make it right.

  “Where the hell did you go!” Thorin demanded before Iris could open her mouth. “We were freaking out. Stop disappearing without telling someone where you’re going! Especially after what happened last night. Do you even think about what we go through when you up and leave like that? We thought you might be dead!”

  “If I were dead, the Gallery of Doors would no longer exist,” Iris said the first thing that came to her mind. It wasn’t the right thing to say.

  “Goddamnit woman! When will you get it through that thick skull of yours that we care about you?”

  Iris flinched at the volume of Thorin’s voice. Her eyes burned. From their changing shades and the tears building in them. She swallowed a few times. Tried to keep any from cascading down her cheeks. It didn’t work. Her vision blurred as she looked around the room.

  Cirrus engulfed her in a hug. “Shh,” he whispered in her ear. “You really scared us. That’s all. No one’s actually mad at you.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so, so very sorry,” Iris sobbed into his chest.

  “It’s all right. You’re safe. We feared Brett abducted you in the middle of the night. Or you’d gone looking for him by yourself and he captured you. A note would be nice next time,” Cirrus told her.

  “Or you could just wake one of us up and tell us where you’re going. Just a thought,” Rowen added.

  Iris released Cirrus. She wiped her eyes on the corner of her sleeve and nodded. Looked around the room once more. Everyone crammed into the living room except Zarina, Jaden, and Morrigan. She assumed Morrigan went down the hall to check on Zarina.

  “Everyone up to speed about what happened last night?” When everyone nodded in the affirmative, Iris continued. “Good. I’m really sorry you guys. I honestly did not believe Brett would stoop to this level. I think it might be a good idea for everyone to stay together during spring break. Travel in groups. Even sleep at each other’s apartments. That sort of thing.”

  “You said Brett is familiar with our apartment, right?” Rozlynd asked.

  “Yes. He knows where we live.”

  “Then we shouldn’t stay there.”

  “That’s probably a good idea. But I’m not sure there’s enough space for us all to stay here either.”

  “Some of you guys can crash at my place,” Sienna told the group. “Both my roommates are gone for the break.”

  “Thanks, Sienna. That’s really sweet of you,” Iris told her.

  “It’s two-fold. I know I’d appreciate having more people around. Like I’ve said, Brett gives me the creeps.” Her eyes unfocused for a second. A shiver ran up her spine and made her mane of hair twitch. “I’ll feel much better having a few other magic users hanging around my place this week.”

  “You mind if I’m one of them?” Gavin asked.

  “I was hoping you would be,” Sienna said with a smile. She looked Gavin up and down through the corner of her eye.

  Gavin returned the look. He tried to contain the grin spreading across his face. Managed to keep it to a sparkle in his eyes and the left corner of his mouth twitching up.

  “Sign me up as well,” Kylee announced with a raised hand. She pulled everyone’s attention off her brother and Sienna.

  As the group started talking about other safety precautions for the week, Iris headed down the hall. She knocked on Jaden’s door. “Zarina? Zarina, can I come in?” No one answered her. She listened at the door. Could hear soft voices coming from inside Jaden’s room. “Please, Zarina. I sorry. I’m so very sorry. It’s all my fault. What can I do to make it up to you?”

  The door opened. Iris readied to apologize, but it wasn’t Zarina at the door. Jaden’s fuming face loomed over her as he leaned out the door.

  “You can leave her the fuck alone! That’s what you can do,” Jaden said in a harsh whisper before slamming the door in her face.

  Iris leaned her forehead against the door. She let silent tears stream down her cheeks for a few moments as the pain she’d caused her friend surfaced once more. Iris took a few moments to pull herself together before wiping the tears away and heading back into the living room where she sought Sienna.

  “I’d like to take you up on your offer to crash at your place. I’m fine on the couch or the floor.”

  “You don’t have to go to Sienna’s. You can keep crashing here,” Thorin told her.

  “I think it’s better I don’t,” was the only response Iris gave. She didn’t have the ability to explain Jaden’s response to her at the moment. “So,” she turned back to Sienna. “Can I stay at your place?”

  “Of course!”

  “Thanks. I’m going to head h
ome to pack a bag. The less time I’m at my place, the better.”

  “Probably a good idea. I’ll come with you,” Sienna told her.

  “Me too,” Gavin added as he stopped so close to Sienna their shoulders touched. Iris hadn’t heard him approach. “Then you guys can come with me to my place so I can pack some stuff too.”

  “Sounds like a plan. In fact,” Iris turned toward the rest of her friends—action giving her direction and purpose once more. “You all should head to your apartments to get stuff for the week. If you need it, of course,” she added as she looked at Vi and Roz. They probably had enough supplies at the guys’ place already. “Thorin, why don’t you go with Kyxy and Kylee to their place. Can one of you guys go too?” Iris motioned to Rowen and Cirrus. “I think it best if Roz and Vi stay here for Zarina’s sake. That cool?”

  “Sure. I don’t need to get anything, anyway. Do you, Vi?”

  “Nope. I’ve got enough here for a few days. I may have to do laundry, but whatever. I mean, we all have to do laundry at some point and it’s not like laundry is a difficult thing to do or a reason to get me to—” Violet rambled on.

  “Thanks, babe,” Cirrus called over Vi to get her to stop talking.

  Violet blushed.