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)
Pax remained with Aria as he watched their family file toward the invisible gateway that led to Faydor.
Each couple stepped forward, striking in a blinding flash of light before they disappeared.
Dani and her Nol, Timothy, had trailed behind. Worry churned in their gazes as they peered back.
Of any of their Laven family, Pax and Aria were closest to Timothy and Dani.
A friendship had formed. A bond of understanding. It had been forged like metal during the years when Pax had fought by their sides while Aria had remained within the safety of Tearsith.
Timothy held Pax’s stare with a knowing concern written in his expression. He was in his early thirties, a tall, slender Black man, his hair cropped short.
The guy was full of life. Always willing to give and sacrifice. Compared with what Pax knew, he had lived a seminormal life, feeling comfortable enough to blend in and function in society. His eyes were the same pale gray as the rest of their family, and he always joked that he made good use of sunglasses to ward off the gawkers, though Pax knew that wouldn’t be possible to do at all times, especially since he had become a teacher, claiming children were his calling, both in night and day.
There to teach and to protect.
It was clear tonight that Timothy warred with that calling, torn between staying and going.
Pax dipped his chin at him, promising they were fine.
Dani’s wave was reluctant before they turned and stepped toward the gateway that rippled in the woods. They flashed a brilliant light before they were gone.
None would return to Tearsith tonight. They would fight until they were awakened or were burned.
Pax shifted to look down where Aria slept on the bed of grass.
Face porcelain, waves of black strewn out around her head, a halo of perfection.
His gaze tracked over her like he could see where she had been burned over the years.
It didn’t matter the burn marks were hidden.
Pax knew they existed.
He could remember every fucking agonized moment of watching her go through the fate he would have given his life to protect her from.
A sigh slipped between her lips.
He wished for a way to hold her burden.
Erase it.
Carry it all.
For hours, he watched her sleep as her body regained strength and her spirit refortified its purpose.
“Pax.” She finally stirred, moaning his name, though this time, her voice was clearer. He could feel her easing toward coherency.
“I’m right here.”
Gray eyes so pale they were almost white blinked open. Eyes that speared through him. Eyes that were carved to the depth of his soul.
He’d known from when he was a boy that his purpose would be to protect her.
He’d also somehow known it would cost him everything.
That his life would be given.
He didn’t know how, but sitting there then, he’d never felt the truth of it so distinctly.
He scooted forward so she would know she wasn’t alone.
“I needed you,” she whispered.
He swallowed around the lump in his throat, the words rough as he confessed, “I heard you.”
He’d always been fearful to ask Ellis if he was alone in this or if others experienced it, too.
“What happened?” He had to fight to keep the fury out of his voice.
Aria blinked like she was trying to process it.
“What is it?” he demanded. “Who hurt you?”
“No one.”
“Then what happened?”
Uncertainty and something that looked too much like fear passed through her features.
“What is it, Aria? You can tell me anything. You know that.”
Hesitancy rolled through her as she slowly sat up. Her words shook when she forced out, “My mother saw my burn from the other night. They readmitted me to the mental facility.”
Rage blazed through him, every nerve in his body frayed with the singe. “I told you that you needed to get away from them.” The words snapped from his mouth. “They will never understand you, Aria.”
He’d pleaded it before. He knew from his own experiences the dangers of being too close to someone who was not a Laven. He’d left his own family at fifteen—not that they’d been much of one. They’d despised him from the beginning.
Humans could sense they were different. Besides their eyes, they could just tell something was off. Could feel the undercurrent of the ethereal that ran through them.
It usually elicited fear, and people tended to hate what they feared.
But Aria had believed her family was different.
He felt bad when she flinched at his words. But God, she was setting herself up to be hurt.
Her expression twisted in uncertainty. “It’s not that. I mean, I don’t want to be there. I can’t be there. But there is something else . . . something that happened there.”
Dread tightened his chest. “What?”
“I . . .” She trailed off, her brow furrowing.
“Aria, I need you to tell me what’s going on.”
Her delicate throat wobbled when she swallowed, and she looked away for a beat before she turned back to him with the full force of her penetrating gaze. “I bound a Kruen while I was awake.”