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)
“A coincidence? When I haven’t run into one single person like us in my entire life? Paired with the fact we met a human who recognized us as Laven yesterday?” Questions filled Aria’s voice, and I felt the weight of her peering over at me.
I couldn’t respond.
“Have you ever met one of us?” she pressed. “Someone from another Laven family? Or even seen one?”
My head shook. “No.”
Contemplating, she sat back, her teeth clamping on that full bottom lip. “There’s something about her that makes me believe she’s important.”
“There’s little chance you’ll ever see her again. She’s hundreds of miles away from us by now.”
Aria’s head barely shook, and I felt a rush of her hidden power flare. “I think I could . . . feel her. Like she needed me.”
I couldn’t do anything but reach out and curl my hand over hers, which she had fisted on her lap. That fucking fire that wouldn’t dim burned up my arm at the connection. I gritted my teeth against the force of it while Aria vibrated beneath my touch.
“You can’t think about that right now. Right now, we’re fighting for you. We have to keep you safe so you can be there for those who do need you. God knows, those numbers are greater than either of us could ever comprehend. I need you focused on you right now.”
Her stare seared into the side of my face. “But that’s the thing, Pax. You and I both know this has never been about me.”
I heard her silent words come in behind them. The same as the ones I’d confessed to her last night. She’d already accepted her fate in all this.
“This world needs you.” My voice rasped with emphasis. “It needs you, and you have to remember that. There’s not going to be any surrendering or succumbing. You have to fight, and you have to fight with everything you have. You have to fight for you.”
Unease quivered through her body, and when she didn’t say anything, I tightened my hand on hers, words close to a growl. “Do you understand me?”
She finally squeezed back and whispered, “Yes.”
And I think we both knew it was going to be a fight to the death.
About an hour later, we got into the city. Weird, but I found some kind of twisted relief in it. Found my heart slowing as we eased into the maze of cars and people. It felt as though we might be able to disappear into the fray and get lost in the shuffle.
It was what I’d always done, because it seemed easier to blend in with the throng. I’d put my head down to keep myself hidden in the mix, though I wasn’t sure that was going to remain true with Aria and me together. And certainly not when it felt like every single person we crossed paths with might be a threat.
Still, I followed the directions on my phone, heading toward a Target located in the middle of the city.
I made a couple of turns until I was pulling into the store’s parking lot. Thankfully, the lot wasn’t that full.
I found an open spot, and Aria dragged a sweatshirt over her head, then ran her fingers through the matted pieces of her hair.
Disheveled with dark bags under her eyes, but she was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I didn’t realize I was staring at her until her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip and more of that redness splashed her cheeks.
“What?” she asked on an unsettled breath. “I’m a disaster, right? So much for blending in.”
She went to pull down the mirror. On instinct, I reached out and took her by the wrist. “No, Aria. You’re perfect.”
She froze.
We both did.
Caught in something that kept trying to sweep me under. Energy blazed through our touch. A fire that wrapped my arm in tendrils of flames.
Searing.
Scoring.
Magnified by the magic or whatever fucking power it was that hauled us away each night.
I finally released her because I couldn’t keep touching her without spurning my purpose.
I scanned through the windshield to make sure a threat hadn’t already met us here. When I found it clear, I cracked open my door. “Come on, Princess. Let’s find you something decent to wear.”
She let go of a surprised laugh, and fuck, I liked it, making her feel even a second of lightness in the middle of the turmoil.
When I stepped out, the air was crisp, but it was a whole ton warmer than it’d been on our previous stops. Aria lifted her face toward the warmth of the sun as she climbed out, inhaling deep, taking a minute to let it seep in and infiltrate.
I was at her side when she finally opened her eyes. “I think I love it here,” she breathed.
A smirk threatened as we started across the lot. I kept close to her side as we walked, never complacent in my watch, though I was playing it as easy as possible. “In Oklahoma City?”