Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 116263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
He had no idea what had happened to her. What had caused this or what was wrong with her. But if anyone had hurt her? They would pay.
“Aria, are you okay?” His voice scraped through the horror clotting his throat. Carefully, he turned her over where she lay in the deep grasses, and he slipped an arm under her upper back to support her, frantic as he brushed away the long locks of her black hair so he could see her face.
Her skin was always pale, but normally, it glowed with life. Tonight, it was pasty and dull.
“Aria, talk to me. I need to know you’re okay.”
She moaned something incoherent, and her lips barely moved as she mumbled, “Pax.”
The smallest amount of relief heaved from him at that.
At least she could hear him.
“It’s okay. I have you. I have you. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise you.” Every word was gritted out, an oath forever carved on his spirit, one he would do anything to keep. “I have you.”
Slipping his other arm under her frail body, he lifted her as he pushed to standing.
He carried her over the lush, green grasses of the meadow, his boots thudding as he treaded through the ankle-high vingas toward their Laven family, who sat along the brook that ran through the clearing.
Dani jumped to her feet when she saw them coming. “Oh my God, what happened? Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. She passed out the moment she stepped into Tearsith.” Fear ground out with his words.
Dani took Aria’s hand, and she searched her face. “Are you okay, Aria? Can you hear me?”
A low sound rolled from Aria’s throat.
Concerned awareness rippled through the mass of Laven, and in curiosity, they began to gather, their worry thick and clouding the normally tranquil peace of their sanctuary.
“Everyone back.” It whipped from Pax’s mouth on a command, his voice hurtling through the air with a viciousness he could not contain.
When they made room, he knelt and gingerly set Aria on the thick bed of grass.
Ellis and Josephine pushed through the crowd. Worry twisted across Ellis’s face when he saw them, and he was quick to kneel at Aria’s side.
“What has happened?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” Frustration carved Pax’s response into blades.
Josephine stooped down. He could almost hear her bones creak, her long, gray hair wiry and thin. She lifted a hand and danced her fingertips over Aria’s brow and across her neck.
“She is drained,” she said, her voice hoarse. “Completely drained.”
She moved to the stream and dipped her fingers into the cool water and returned to dribble the droplets onto Aria’s lips. Aria’s tongue stroked out to receive the moisture.
“There, sweet child. You must rest.”
“What does it mean?” Pax could hardly force the question from his mouth.
Uncertainty furrowed Ellis’s brow. “I am unsure, but it seems her energy has been zapped.”
Dread pulled through Pax’s being, terror at the thought of what might have caused it. Here, in Tearsith, he wouldn’t be able to see if she had any physical injuries, their sanctuary shielding their bodies from any wounds they’d sustained both while awake and while in Faydor.
But he’d never seen any of their Laven family ever arrive in Tearsith in a state like this before. And his gut told him whatever had happened was bad.
Ellis suddenly stood and waved an arm at their family, the crowd roiling in the disquiet that hummed in the air. “Everyone, give us space. It is nearing time to descend on Faydor. Prepare yourselves.”
Then he returned, the old man’s voice held low in distress. “Could she have been in Faydor? By herself?”
Rage filled Pax at the thought.
“No. She couldn’t have been. She would never descend on her own.”
She wouldn’t. Not without him.
“Then she must have been injured while awake.” Ellis’s voice was grim, covered in care and concern.
Pax’s insides turned molten. He would destroy anyone who had dared touch her.
Josephine set a hand on his forearm, no doubt sensing his anger. “She needs to remain in Tearsith for the night so she can recover. Stay with her.”
He held back the menacing laughter that threatened his throat. Nothing could force him to leave her side.
Still, he nodded. “I will watch over her.”
“Take care of her, my son,” Ellis said before he took Josephine’s hand as they prepared to descend into Faydor.
A swell of protectiveness roiled in his gut as he watched them.
Pax hated the idea of Ellis and Josephine walking in darkness. Their bodies were frail, carrying the weight of a lifetime of wounds and burdens. Yet they still raced through the evils each night, and they took on the injuries that would follow them into the day.
The excruciating pain.
Pax had no love for his human family. But this? It was like watching his grandparents being beaten each night.
When he had suggested it was time they rest, Ellis had refused. He’d reminded Pax it was what they’d been created to do, and he would fight the wickedness until the day he went on to rest in eternity.