Free Descending Darkness (The Prophesized #3) by Kaitlyn Hoyt

sad. It happened a while ago, and I am fine. Logan was able to heal me…eventually. “I’m serious. Everything’s fine. Stop looking at me like that.” Natalie looks away, but Conner starts shaking his head.
    I step away from Colton and walk over to Conner. I stand on my tiptoes in front of him, so I can whisper in his ear. “Your sister is still in there somewhere. Don’t give up on her just yet, but be wary, okay?” I look up at him. He searches my eyes before nodding. He must have seen that I believed that Natasha was only doing this stuff because she was upset. I do believe that there is a chance she could realize the error of her ways and turn around.
    However, I know that there is an even greater chance that the Natasha they knew could be gone forever.
     

Chapter Six
     
    Colton
    Natalie is flipping through Ryanne’s old sketchbook while sitting on the couch. She stops at the picture of Liam and glances between the page and Liam. “Wow, she’s really good."
    “Yep, Ryanne’s good at everything,” Emma says.
    “Emma…” I start.
    “No, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I’m just saying that she’s good at like everything .” Right as Emma finishes talking, we hear the sounds of a piano being played from upstairs. “Exhibit A.” The soft melodic notes echo throughout the house. I lean back and close my eyes, picturing Ryanne as she plays. I can see her sitting at the piano bench—her hands rhythmically moving over the piano keys. She feels the music around her. Playing with her eyes closed, she lets the music communicate through her. When she does something, she doesn’t do it halfway. She puts everything into it and loses herself in the art.
    “Wow, you really love her,” Natalie says. I open my eyes and look over at her. She is watching me, but I know that she’s using her magic to feel my emotions. I look toward the stairs as I nod. I do. I know that Ryanne said that she loved me, but I know that she is still worried about hurting everyone. She still won’t let herself get too close to me. I haven’t even kissed her since the night I told her that she’s my soulmate. “What’s it like knowing?”
    Emma and Natalie both lean a little closer to me, anticipating my response. They’re such girls… “It’s amazing. Scary. I don’t even know. I’ve known about it a lot longer than Ryanne has and have been able to come to terms with it, but knowing that she accepted me…” I shake my head. I can feel everyone watching. “It’s hard to put into words. It’s like standing atop of a large cliff. You realize that staying on the ground would be the safest option, but you want the thrill of the fall. When you are on the ground you don’t have to worry about getting hurt, which is what I was going through before. Now, I’m falling, and it’s an amazing feeling, but I don’t know the outcome yet. I could crash land at the bottom or sprout wings and fly. Amazing and scary.”
    The girls both sigh and lean back. “Great, look what you did,” David says to me. “Fill their heads with all that metaphoric romantic stuff.” I laugh and turn away from him, listening for Ryanne’s playing, but it has stopped. Why did she stop playing?
    “I’ll be right back,” I say as I walk up the stairs. Why did she stop playing? I walk down the end of the hallway and into the music room. Empty. She isn’t in here, so where would she go? I walk out and go into our room. Also empty. Before I even enter Emma and Natalie’s room, I know it is also empty.
    I check all the remaining rooms upstairs before going back downstairs again. “Is Ryanne down here?” I ask.
    They all shake their heads at me. I glance around the room. Someone is missing. Tom’s already in his room, so it’s not him. I scan the room again.
    Larkin.
    I curse and look up toward the ceiling. “Where’s Larkin?”
    “He’s right...” Emma starts but stops. Larkin isn’t sitting where he was earlier. I don’t know when he