Jewel Adams - Romance with a Touch of Spice

Yellow Ribbon
by
Jewel Adams

Chapter One

Ahh, the pain! Can’t you hear me? Damn it all, this isn’t time for games, Malaci…

Stella tried to pull out of the dream that now felt like a nightmare. Again, she heard the numbers he rattled off as if she knew what to make of them. All the while, she sensed the acute agony her dream invader suffered.

Pressing the palms of her hands over her ears didn’t silence the voice. One that used her empathic abilities to speak to her. She groaned, wishing she could suppress the voice that kept her awake these last three nights. His abilities were stronger than her powers, and he refused to be silenced. Even to the point of yelling at her for trying. She groaned, knowing that he needed help. His anguish became a horrible burden that she wished she could fix.

No! You will listen to me…

Once again, she tried to speak to him, but she silenced this part of her powers so long ago…she couldn’t remember how to communicate back to him.

“Darn you! Why can’t you hear me?” She cried out in the darkened room.

* * * *

Oh lady, you have no idea how well I do hear you…Stella. I’ve tried hard not to, but I seem trapped in your mind. Beautiful though you may be, it isn’t the one I need right now.

Noah couldn’t hold his head up any longer and let it fall back into the dirt and stone. He tried to relax. His attempt to use his powers and reach his cousins took more energy than the last time. He refused to dwell on his present condition, the weight pressing down on him spoke volumes. Being pinned beneath the overturned truck wouldn’t be his choice of how he would leave this life. “No, damn it, stop thinking like this.”

Yelling at himself didn’t help much, but right now, anger was the only thing left to fight the despair. There would not be any rescue. He knew that for a fact. Black Ops didn’t get rescued when things went wrong, and this mission might have been a complete success, except for the mine blowing this truck over on top of him.

Only for a second did he think about calling out to the rebels that took away their injured comrades. Only for a second…

He dug his fingers into the muddy ground to fight off another wave of pain. He couldn’t move his legs, but they sure hurt like hell. Most of the weight rested on his thighs. All his attempts to dig out from under the truck failed miserably. His fingers were bloody from trying. “Damn rocks, I must be right over a ledge.”

What he needed was a miracle or better, his cousins, Damien, Derek or Malaci, to come and get him out of here. If only he could reach them. He lost track of how many times he tried to reach any of them. Failing wasn’t an option.

“Stella…you must be one powerful empath to keep me trapped in that pretty mind of yours.” He thought again of trying to make her understand, but Noah knew far too well how people feared his intrusion into their thoughts. Of course, his empathic skills were exactly why the government used his talents. “And got me into this mess.”

He even tried to call on his Demvir blood, but his injuries kept him from shifting. The animal inside of him instinctively knew to avoid the pain.

“Stella, dare I take the chance?” Up to now, he resisted the urge to truly invade her thoughts. He dream-walked with her, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to find out if she could handle his intrusion into her mind. He cursed the truth that she was his only hope of getting help. If she found either of his cousins or anyone in Spellfire, Texas that knew them, they could get to him almost instantly…as long as he remained conscious enough to lead them to his position.

Noah groaned over the possibility of failing with Stella. She could panic, call the police or worse.

His fist hit the ground in frustration. “I’m running out of time!”

* * * *

“Oh dear, she’s doing it again.” Molly stared into the mirror at the scene behind her. Combs, brushes, bottles of hair dye, scissors, they were all dancing in a circle of air around Stella. That her friend seemed oblivious to the comical scene she created didn’t surprise Molly. Stella just wasn’t herself of late, and this proved that she needed Molly’s help.

“Excuse me a second, I’ll be right back.” Her client giggled and waved Molly away. Everyone watched as she grabbed at the flying debris before she finally stood beside Stella.

Stella looked up just as Molly grabbed the hair brush over her head. She could feel the heat of embarrassment flooding her cheeks. “I’m…”

“Don’t say it, Stella.” Molly moved in so she could whisper. “You need to get some help.”

It hurt to face her best friend. She couldn’t even argue. Molly was right.

The girl grabbed for another comb that started to rise out of the jar. Molly slammed the top down, preventing the combs from dancing in the air. “I’ll take over for you and meet you in the park, say three-thirty.”

Stella shut her mouth over the raised finger that Molly shook at her. She peeled off her plastic apron and dropped it into her friend’s outstretched hand. Stella wanted to groan when things started flying off the shelves as she passed and began to follow her.

She stopped at the door, with every ounce of power she possessed, she concentrated on putting everything back where they belonged. Knowing she couldn’t get them all to stop following her, she scooted out the door and slammed it shut, hearing them hit the door as she walked away. “Don’t think, just walk to the park, Stella.”

High School, yes, that was the last time she could remember her powers being this out of control. That teenage crush on Trevor James nearly exposed her powers; only Molly’s intervention prevented the disaster from happening. Thankfully, Spellfire now kept them safe from prying eyes, even when things went crazy.

Stella slumped down on the park bench and tried to focus on the flowering gardenia bush, but he wouldn’t let her avoid him. “At least, tell me your name so I can yell at you!”

Noah, my name is Noah.

She stood up, “You heard me!”

When he didn’t answer, she took a deep breath to regain her composure. “Noah, now isn’t the time to stop talking to me. Where are you? How can I help?”

Frightful Freda walked by and gave her a strange look. Stella almost stuck her tongue out at the nosey bitch, but refused to let anyone interfere with his voice.

“Noah? I’m sorry, I won’t yell, honest. Please talk to me…”

The silence fell around her like a giant weight, one that made even breathing hurt. She brought her hands up and cupped them over her mouth to help prevent a panic attack. She couldn’t remember having these attacks…not since she vanquished her empathic abilities.

Stella could feel the beads of sweat running down her face as she fought to control her breathing, but nothing she did seemed to work. Through quick intakes of air, she spoke. “It is him, not me. Oh gawd, Noah! Breathe, damn it!”

As if he finally heard her, the pressure against her chest began to ease. “Good, try to take in small breaths at first. I’m right here with you, Noah.” Just as she spoke those words, the force grabbed her and pulled her back, back into the long forgotten empathic realm of dream-walking. She could feel the fog sweep by her face and encircle her body. “Noah?”

He felt close, very close, as she tried to see beyond the mist. “Help me, Noah, it’s been too long since I’ve used my empathy.” Like a distance whisper, she heard him and turned in the direction she sensed. “Keep trying to talk to me, Noah, I’m in your dream this time.”

All the knowledge came rushing in as Stella fell deeper into the walking dream, Noah’s dream. Yes, she knew she was right; somehow, they reversed their role, and she became the intruder of his dream. Yet, his dream didn’t feel right. It was all gray and dangerous.

Stella spoke to him using her empathy. “Where are you, Noah?”

“I’m here, Stella.”

In the distance, she could make out the image of a man and started walking toward him.

“That’s close enough.”

Her steps hesitated only a moment before continuing, “I’m not afraid of you, Noah.”

“I can see that, but maybe you should be.”

He began to fade away. Stella started running, but when she reached the spot where he once stood, only swirling fog remained. “Noah, come back!”

No answer came, and yet, she felt herself being shook…

* * * *

“Stella! Darn it, you aren’t going to do this again. Wake up!” In fear and frustration, Molly slapped her friend across the face.

“Holy shit, Molly, why’d you do that?” Stella moaned as she rubbed her cheek.

“Maybe because my best friend was lost in a dream, and I was afraid she wouldn’t come out of it.”

Stella raised her gaze to see the fear she heard in her friend’s voice. “I’m okay, Molly, honest.”

“Yeah, right, you were in a frigg’n dream, don’t try to lie to me. I know the signs. I should have known something was up when everything started flying today…”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stop it. Noah has been calling to me for three days. He suddenly stopped or traded places with me. I don’t know which, but it’s all back again.” Their gazes locked over Stella’s trembling admission.

“You have to fight it, Stella. You can’t let this happen again.”

“I have been fighting it, but his power is strong, and now mine is working, and… Damn it, what am I going to do, Molly?”

“We need to find a way to keep him out, stop this from continuing.”

Stella could only nod at her friend, the old fears were rising fast and furious. Yes, she remembered only too well what this power was capable of doing to her. An hour in a walking-dream could easily turn into a day and then a week in real time. Stella shivered over the memories. She refused to think about the coma that nearly cost her life. Only Molly recognized that it wasn’t a coma, but a walking-dream holding her prisoner. “Who, Molly? Who can stop it? I must have broken the spell.”

Had she destroyed the protective spell that kept her empathy silent? Could they entrap it again? Stella’s head swirled with questions without answers. “I don’t feel too good…”

“Stella! Oh, no, no, it’s starting again!”