Karizma: Reborn
Chapter 11: Ryleigh

Ryleigh was sitting on Bailey’s bed, her arms wrapped tightly around Bailey. Jackson had been standing beside Bailey when they entered the house. Lukas immediately ordered Jackson with him outside so that Ryleigh could spend a moment with Bailey and get an update on Bailey’s condition once she woke up. Bailey was sitting up and hugging Ryleigh back, but Ryleigh could feel the weakness in her grasp. She may be awake, but she still has recovery ahead of her. Ryleigh buried her face into her sister’s shoulder and surprised herself with a stream of tears soaking into Bailey’s shirt. Ryleigh had always hoped that Bailey would wake up, but a dark part of her had never expected her to. Magical resurrection was life-threatening to an ascended witch, a death-wish for a witch that had never ascended. Bailey should have died.

“Riles, I’m okay,” Bailey whispered as she squeezed Ryleigh. “Please, stop crying.”

“No,” Ryleigh mumbled, and she squeezed harder, which made the wave of tears become a full-fledged tidal wave. “Fuck, Bailes, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” Ryleigh knew that she could never apologize enough to her sister, but she was compelled to repeat it until it deafened her sister. The tidal wave hit Ryleigh harder as she could not feel comfort from her sister’s skin; there was a comfort in the embrace, but not the comfort of her sister’s touch like she had felt before. It was like Ryleigh was completely cut off from feeling any sort of comfort from skin, except from Lukas.

Ryleigh’s eyes flared open as an arm laced around her waist and ripped her from Bailey. She snarled and whirled around to replace Lukas himself. His blue eyes were soft as he kept his grasp on Ryleigh’s waist. “What the fuck are you doing?” Ryleigh snapped.

“Give her a second, my love. You do not know your own strength,” Lukas said softly as he nodded at Bailey. Ryleigh immediately whipped around and found Bailey gasping for air. Ryleigh felt her knees give out, but Lukas’ grip tightened around her waist to prevent her from falling. Ryleigh had been so consumed in her grief for her sister that she did not realize that she was literally hurting her. She had been hugging her sister so hard that her sister had begun to asphyxiate, and Ryleigh had no idea.

“I’m…okay.” Bailey wheezed out. Ryleigh threatened to collapse again as the knowledge of almost killing her sister once again consumed her. Numbness coursed through Ryleigh’s veins with each gasp of breath Bailey engulfed. Lukas lowered his lips to her ear. “You need to calm yourself,” he whispered. “Take my hand, baby. Trust me.” Lukas offered his free hand to her, and Ryleigh growled. All she wanted was to be free of his grasp so she could end her inconvenient existence to everyone around her. Lukas took the brunt of her agony twice because he knew that she would harm those that she loved. She almost harmed Kristopher, and she did harm Bailey. I can’t do this. I either need to kill myself or isolate myself from everyone. Lukas may allow me to harm him, but it hurts me worse to harm him than it does to harm anyone else. Harming Bailey and Kristopher hurts me emotionally; harming Lukas hurts me both physically and emotionally.

Ryleigh mechanically slipped her fingers into Lukas’. A warmth of serenity washed over her so suddenly that she gasped. She felt Lukas’ nose brush against her hair as he nuzzled against her. It calms him as well. “Fight the darkness with me, my love,” he whispered so softly that only she could hear. Ryleigh squeezed Lukas’ hand desperately, terrified that if she let go of his hand that she would fall into the depths of self-loathing and doubt. Lukas’ touch was the only source of hope, happiness, and clarity that she had felt since she was resurrected. She did not understand why it was him, but she was beginning to succumb to it regardless; whatever the reason was, she no longer wanted to fight it. The weight of wanting suicide or isolation was going to win if Lukas was not there with her.

Ryleigh pushed aside her wonder of Lukas and walked over to Bailey. Lukas’ hand remained fused with Ryleigh; he had attempted to remove his hand from hers, but she simply tightened her grasp. I cannot do this without him. I cannot do any of it without him. She had never thought she would need to depend on someone so much in her life, especially after being resurrected as one of the most powerful creatures on the planet, but she did. She needed to feel his touch to calm her, and, right now, she needed as much composure as possible.

“I’m sorry, Bailes,” Ryleigh whispered as she sat beside her sister.

“Riles, I am okay. I promise,” Bailey said as she took her sister’s free hand.

“Your eyes are green,” Ryleigh said slowly.

“What? No—”

“Your contacts are in a saline solution in the bathroom,” Lukas spoke softly. “I could not leave contacts in your eyes without knowing how long until your return to us.”

“Easy,” Ryleigh said as she felt Bailey’s magic tense. “It’s okay, Bailes. I promise.” Ryleigh squeezed Bailey’s hand and smiled. “I trust him.”

“You don’t trust anyone. How long was I out for?” Bailey joked as she rubbed a hand over her face. “Forget that. How are you doing? The last thing I remember, your eyes opened, and I collapsed.” Bailey’s eyes immediately flickered to Lukas’. “Is she okay?”

Ryleigh rolled her eyes. “Don’t trust me to answer you?”

“Fuck no, you’d lie and say that you feel fine,” Bailey snapped.

“Because I do!”

“She is recovering,” Lukas answered Bailey. “She is not fine, but she will be,”

“Traitor,” Ryleigh mumbled as she squeezed Lukas’ hand. She was surprised that Lukas understood her better than she fully understood herself, but she was thankful that he answered honestly.

“Where is Kristopher? How are you holding up, Lukas?” Bailey asked suddenly.

“I am fine, my dear. Thank you. Lycans heal fast, and I heal faster than everyone else. Kristopher returned to the club to be our inside man,” Lukas said.

“Bailes, I found them,” Ryleigh spoke.

“Wait. Found who?” Bailey asked slowly.

“Naomi and Nathan. I used my magic to project myself to where they were hiding—”

“Dammit, Ryleigh!” Bailey snapped. “I did not become catatonic for you to get your ass killed a second time. I was asleep for—how long?” she asked Lukas suddenly.

“One week,” he answered.

“One week? Really?” Bailey asked in surprise, then continued as Lukas nodded. “For one week, and you want to get back out there and fight? They could have found you!”

“I’m not stupid! I cloaked myself—”

“Scared the shit out of me when her magic vanished,” Lukas muttered.

“You know that doesn’t always work, especially against a Karizma as powerful as her,” Bailey interjected.

“My wolf has hidden my magic,” Ryleigh added. “I cloaked myself, but that was just a precaution. I don’t smell like a Karizma anymore.”

Bailey went silent. Her emerald eyes studied Ryleigh’s intently. Ryleigh felt Bailey’s magic graze along Ryleigh’s skin and Ryleigh twitched. Ryleigh felt Lukas’ hand grip hers tighter at the reaction, but Ryleigh squeezed back lightly to let him know that she was okay. Bailey’s magic needed to read Ryleigh’s magic. Of course it would need to. She needed to make sure that my magic was okay. “I thought…I thought that conversation was a dream,” Bailey whispered. “I remember everything we talked about, but…”

“It wasn’t a dream,” Ryleigh said softly. “It was true, and I am so sorry for that, too. I shouldn’t have entered your mind like that.”

“You did what?” Lukas asked suddenly. Ryleigh shifted to face him and was surprised that he was not angry or concerned; he was impressed. “You spoke to her while she was unconscious?”

“I had to,” Ryleigh nodded. “I just…” Ryleigh sighed. “It was another act of my selfishness.” She shifted her eyes back to Bailey, and felt tears prick once again. “I should have let you rest. I am so sorry.”

“Hey,” Bailey whispered. She withdrew her hand from Ryleigh’s and cupped Ryleigh’s face with both hands. “You were not being selfish at all. You may see it as you needing to talk to me, but I see it as you needing to make sure that I was still here. That I was not brain dead and just a body. I was still here. I could not leave you. Now,” Bailey cleared her throat and dropped her hands as she continued. “You found them. What did you learn?”

“Are you sure that you are okay?” Lukas asked. “We can do this later.”

“No,” Bailey said as she shook her head. “We can do this now. I’m fine, I promise. Minus maybe a bruised rib or two.”

Ryleigh sighed but nodded. “I didn’t really learn much. I got pulled back before I could push through further.”

“Pulled back? By what?” Bailey asked.

“She scared the shit out of me, that’s what,” Lukas said. “Her magic vanished, so when I found her, I woke her up and brought her back.”

“I intended to try again. I just…” Ryleigh sighed. “Coming back from death isn’t exactly an easy transition. I didn’t think anything would change—”

“But everything has,” Bailey finished for her. Bailey squeezed Ryleigh’s hand and smiled. “The next time that you go, I will be with you. Two eyes are better than one.”

“We can’t risk something like that,” Lukas said. “One of you attempting stealth is one thing, but both of you? It will be that much harder for you to hide, and that much easier for you to be found. Right now, the world thinks that the Karizma line is dead. We need to keep it that way.”

“We do have Kristopher back in the club,” Ryleigh replied. “I can ask him what he knows, if anything.” She felt Lukas tense beneath her grasp, and she squeezed his hand lightly. She turned to look at him with a gentle smile. “Like you said, the world believes that I am dead. I just need to change my hair color, and no one will know it’s me.”

“A wig,” Lukas said softly. “It’s already a shame that Bailey’s natural hair is hidden from us. Please, make yours a temporary camouflage.”

Ryleigh smiled and nodded. “I think I can manage that.”

“I will go with her,” Bailey added. “She can’t go alone.”

“You’re both delusional if you think I’m letting either or both of you go without me,” Lukas stated. “You’re both too important to risk anything happening, anything more than what you both have been through. I need to make sure that you’re safe and make it back home.”

“Home,” Bailey mused. “I’m not a Lycan, Lukas. This isn’t my home.”

“Wherever Ryleigh is, that is home for you,” Lukas said softly. “And you are more than welcome to make my pack your home. We owe you everything, more than you will ever understand. As far as I am concerned, you are one of mine, Bailey. Now, we will give you some privacy tonight,” Lukas said. “We will go visit Kristopher tomorrow. I need to inform my Beta that I will be gone for a night.”

“I would like to stay tonight,” Ryleigh said softly.

“Riles, I love you, but I’ve been asleep for a week. I’m craving a shower and so much food that I go into another coma,” Bailey grinned. “Go, I’ll be fine. I need some of my own recovery time.”

“I will work on getting your own house set up for you as well. You currently reside in my Beta’s house, but I assume that you would like your own,” Lukas said.

“The man that was here, was that him?” Bailey asked.

“Jackson, yes,” Lukas nodded. “I plan on introducing you to the rest of the pack, if you do not object.”

“Not at all,” Bailey said. “You are taking care of Ryleigh, and my home is with her. Thank you, Lukas.”

“Thank you, my dear,” Lukas said. He bent down and kissed the top of Bailey’s head softly. “You brought Ryleigh back to me. I will forever be grateful to you for that.”

“And I will forever be grateful to you for helping me with it,” Bailey smiled. “If you weren’t willing to turn her, I wouldn’t have been able to bring her back. Now, shoo,” she added with a brief smile. “I am dying for a shower.”

Ryleigh gave her sister one final hug and allowed Lukas to pull her to her feet. After they exited Jackson’s house, Ryleigh hugged Lukas tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered as she pulled back to look up at him. “You didn’t have to offer for her to live here.”

“I can’t take her from you,” Lukas whispered. He placed a hand on her cheek and gently stroked his thumb against it. “You have lost so much, my love. I promise that you will never lose her.”

“I can’t lose you either,” Ryleigh said before she could stop herself. Even if she could have stopped the words from tumbling from her mouth, she would not have; it was the truth, and it was a truth that she was beginning to accept. She needed him, more than she needed anyone else.

“You won’t,” Lukas whispered as his thumb stroked her lower lip. “Because we are destined to fight the darkness together, and I will be damned if you have to fight this alone.”