Chapter 16: Chapter 16

I slam the door with a loud CRACK that reverberates through the cabin and sprint behind Maximus. I hunch down waiting for the giant man to make his entrance.

“Come on Maximus. Now would be a wonderful time for you to unfreeze” I scream at him only for it to go unanswered.

The front door flies open, and the hulking man fills the entire doorway. As enormous as he is there is no way he isn’t a dragon I think as he ducks under the door frame.

“Who the fuck are you?” He shouts.

Keeping my eyes averted I stare at the floor as tears fill my eyes and I plead with him. “I don’t want any trouble buddy. You can just go back to wherever you came from” I shout as I cower.

“ANSWER ME!” he demands. The air in the cabin suddenly grows thick and an invisible weight bares down on me as the words leave my lips unbidden.

“Emily, my name is Emily” I cry. I feel as if the oxygen has been ripped from the room as the words are torn from my chest. I’m suddenly suffocating under the invisible strain and black spots are appearing at the edge of my vision.

“How did you get here and where is my guard!!” He demands to know.

“Oh God. Please stop!!” I beg. “I. Can’t. Breathe." I gasp out.

Suddenly the weight of the room slowly decreases, and I collapse as gravity returns to normal. I pant trying to catch my breath as I still avoid the gaze of the giant stranger.

“How did you get here?” He ask once more. The authority is still there in his voice commanding me to answer. I sigh in relief to discover that it is not as harsh as before.

“He brought me here so I could get answers. We were to exchange information before he let me go at the end of the week” I say in a robotic voice. The truth leaves my mouth in a rush not wanting to upset him again. “He is still here but I don’t know what happened to him. Can you help him?” I ask as I look up at Maximus.

“If he were here then I would know. Do you take me for a fool human” I hear him say.

Shaking my head I say no. I try to lift my head in his direction but am unable to. I can’t even find the energy to rise from the floor.

“A fool no. A beast definitely” I say unable to hold my tongue. The invisible weight pushes down on my once more and a low curse leaves my lips. “I can see him. When he is invisible I can see him!” I yell to save myself.

“Explain. Remember that it would do you well to show some respect. I do not take kindly to those who are beneath me showing disrespect” he warns.

The air of authority disappears. Even still I don’t look up as I answer. “When we talked last night, he had a fight with his beast. I believe he tried to travel like he does but got stuck. He has been in this frozen state since then.” I say.

My entire body freezes as I hear his steps come in my direction. My body trembles knowing that he could hurt me if he wanted to. I silently curse myself for answering the door. Perhaps I should have stayed hidden like Maximus said.

“You say you can see him. Is this true” he ask as his feet entire my line of sight. Not wanting to speak I simply nod. “Where?” In response I stretch my arm out across the floor and lay my hand on Maximus’ foot. The giant above me hums.

“Maximus Return” I hear him command as his command makes the air heavy around once more. As the silence stretches I slowly remove my hand away from his foot.

“You will be coming with me! I need to get him taken care of” he states as he starts to make his way toward the door.

What! “The hell I will! I don’t even know who you are! I state as I start to rise from the floor. My body feels a little weak and I place a hand on the arm of the couch to steady myself.

“You are on my land. From the sounds of things you are one of the reporters my lead guard has caught. You have no right to demand anything of me” he sneers.

Clenching my jaw in anger at is higher than all attitude I revert to my own tactics as a reporter.

“I won’t deny what you said. For all you know I could be a prisoner. What reason do I have to trust the likes of you” I ask.

“I do not need your trust. Only your cooperation which I will take by force if needed” he states as I look at his back. I will my eyes not to stray as I glare daggers at him.

“It would be much easier to cooperate if you wore clothes like a normal person instead of galivanting around naked like a barbarian. A man of size should know how intimidating you would seem to a mere human” I scoff at him.

He moves fast with a silent curse. I avert my eyes looking back at Maximus as I hear a shuffle of fabric. When the shuffling stops I slowly raise my head to find him staring at me. His head is cocked to the side almost in wander as his gaze searches mine.

“What?” I ask getting annoyed at the game.

“You’ve got balls for a human. I will give you that. It also appears that you know what I am. Now my question to you is, who are you to my guard” he request to know.

I look away from his gaze and look at Maximus still frozen. I know what he told me I am to him. I don’t know if this information is to shared or not. Considering how angry the giant man was I have the feeling that I have already gotten him in trouble. So I choose the simple answer but the truth.

“Someone who cares for him” I state as I meet his gaze once more.

He almost looks shocked by my answer. I watch as his eyes start to flash and see that he is conversation g with his dragon. I shift on my feet as the conversation seems to last a few minutes before he straightens.

“Very well then, I suggest we get going. I will return shortly with a car to transport him.” He says heading toward the door.

“Where are you taking him” I ask needing to know.

“To our doctor. Perhaps they will have a way to get him out of this state” he says as he leaves out the front door not waiting for a reply. I walk to it and watch him go into the trees. A few moments pass by and then a giant gold dragon is flying over the cabin.

The sight shocks me so much a loud gasp leaves my lips and I take a step back. If I thought the man was huge then his beast would be considered humongous. Knowing that he will be back shortly I run to the bedroom to gather my shoes.

I look down at my clothes and sigh in frustration. They are rumpled beyond repair, and I am sure that I have started to smell. It has been over two days since I have showered. One of those days was spent hiking to get here. I walk out of the room with disgust knowing that there is nothing I can do about it now.

Just as I am exiting the bedroom I hear the sounds of an engine. Walking over to Maximus I can’t help but put my hand in his. At the moment I don’t have a choice but to trust the big scary guy. Shit I don’t even know his name. How am I supposed to go off to god knows where with a man that could easily crush me with a hug, and I don’t even know what to call him. When he walks into the door I quickly release Maximus’ hand already missing the heat that his touch brings.

“What is your name stranger?” I question him as he walks toward me. I can’t help the motion that I make of slowly easing behind Maximus. Even if he is frozen I still have the feeling that he is safer than this giant.

“Xander” he says reaching forward. I freeze for a moment thinking that he is reaching to grab me. Instead I watch in amazement as he tries to touch Maximus but instead his hand just goes through him. He sighs in frustration and looks at me.

“Touch him” he commands.

So I do. I place my hand on his arm. The moment I do the giants eyebrow shoot up to meet his hairline. “You will have to keep a hand on him while I carry him” he says when his hand no longer goes through him.

“Why” I can’t help but ask. What difference could if possible make if I am touching him or not.

“You ask a lot of questions female. For one when you touch him it means that I can. Second, your touch is the only reason I can see him” he says with a huff not hiding his displeasure at the fact.

With that answer he picks Maximus up with almost no effort at all. As he carries him his body still stays stiff as if he were standing. I keep my hand placed on his arm as I walk through the doorway first and he follows. I blink my eyes fast to try to get them to adjust to the harshness of the sun outside. The stinging tells me the cabin must have been darker than I thought. When we approach the pickup truck he brought I can see as he contemplates where to put him.

In this state there is no way that he will fit lying on the back seat. The only option would be to put him in the loading bed of the truck. Seeing that he came to the same conclusion we head there, and Maximus is loaded. I release my grip on him slowly just to make sure that he doesn’t somehow miraculously flow through the truck. I can’t help the sigh of relief when I see that he stays put.

I tune back to Xander and see that he looks at me with a peculiar expression. Raising my eyebrow at him in question he gives a huff and heads to the driver side door. I begin to walk to the passenger side when his voice stops me.

“Here” he says holding out something to me. When I look to his hand and see a strip of cloth I start to wonder what the hell it’s for. I’m not tying Maximus up if that’s what he thinks. Seeing my confusion he quickly clears it. “It’s to cover your eyes” he says.

I take a step away from him in terror. I immediately start to shake my head as I step away from him. I won’t go in the dark like that and he can’t make me. Seeing the strip of cloth causes my heart to go into a frenzy as I recall the last time I was blindfolded.

“Hey” he yells into my face. His mouth starts to move more but I can barely concentrate on what he is saying over the pounding of my heart in my ears. I fight to try to calm my heart, but nothing seems to work. Before I know it the big man starts to disappear from my vision as the bright blue sky comes into view. For some reason it’s the last thing I see.