My gaze darted down to my arms finding that they were completely void of any burns or blisters from last night. Now I was traveling through space in a meditative state andnotbeing burned by it? Honestly, I could get used tothatchange.
“It was beautiful, if I do say so myself,” he answered.
Struggling to sit up and looking around my bedroom, I found that it looked exactly the same as it always had. That shouldn’t have been surprising, but with what had happened last night…It felt almost like my world should have changed as much as I had.
I knew I had changed—I could feel the shift within me, even just sitting here in bed.
“You okay?” Niz asked, his brow dipping as I examined the concerned look on his face.
“I am…” I whispered, my brain already moving a million miles an hour at everything I needed to explain to him and the other men. “Could you have everyone gather downstairs for a meeting? I have something I need to talk to everyone about.”
“Absolutely.” He nodded in understanding. “I know Gabe is already up at least—I suspect he has been for a bit. I ran into him when he was getting out of the chair next to your door, looking like he’d barely slept.”
“The chair next to my door?” I questioned as he got off the bed and opened my bedroom door, tugging the chair in question into view. One that I knew came from Gabe’s room.Had he slept outside of my room all night?
In my dazed state and being so eager for sleep, I hadn’t even considered that he would do something like that. I should have at least invited him inside. This entire process of rebirth, which was the only thing I could call it at this point, had empowered me and drained me in a way I hadn’t realized was possible.
I feltcompletelydrained. Not of power—I had a ton of that—but of physical strength. Moving my muscles, even talking, seemed particularly difficult. I had a feeling it would take some time until I felt rejuvenated enough to go train like I had been. It felt like parts of my body had been ripped away and replaced, something that would serve me well in the long run…But right now, it just rendered me exhausted.
On the other hand, I felt more empowered than ever before. I felt like Ifinallyhad the information about Star Keepers that I needed, as well as the power to back it up. Despite it being seemingly impossible, my body had successfully absorbed all that power, which emboldened me to believe that maybe…just maybe, Iwascapable of this. With those two tools, the concept of saving everyone didn’t feel nearly as far fetched as before.
“Kieran?” Niz appeared in front of me, his dark eyes laser focused on my face. “You seem out of it. Are you sure you don’t want to get more sleep?”
“No,” I reassured him, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “Just a bit caught up in my thoughts. I’m going to get ready for the day and I’ll be right down.”
“I’ll make sure there’s coffee for you.” He dropped a quick, unexpected kiss to my cheek before standing up and striding out, the door clicking shut behind him. A small smile tugged at my lips as my hand pressed to my cheek. It was such a soft, sweet action and one that I couldn’t deny I loved.
Somehow, since we’d learned of his shifting abilities, the two of us had fallen into a natural comfortability I couldn’t have expected.
Standing up, I slowly made my way toward the bathroom. Feeling motivated to talk to the others, I quickly washed my face, brushed my hair, and scrubbed my teeth before changing into a comfortable pair of leggings and a hoodie. Slipping on socks and sneakers, I left my room and jogged down the steps toward the second floor, where I nearly ran right into Bastian.
I felt relief when I saw his eyes light up at seeing me. I knew we hadn’t gotten to talk yet, but with what occurred yesterday, I’d lost another day of trying to figure out where he and I went from here.
“Hey, you,” I offered a small smile.
“Sleep well?” he asked curiously, approaching me as I struggled to resist the urge to reach out to him. When he was less than an inch away, I slid my hand onto his chest and felt my body relax when he didn’t move away from me.
“Not really,” I admitted. “But there’s a pretty big reason for that, it’s why I had Niz call a meeting.”
Bastian’s gaze darkened to a deep navy as his hand moved to tilt my chin up, searching my eyes. “Something with your power?”
Tingles of happiness spread through my body at his touch. He hadn’t hesitated this time.
“Yes,” I agreed, unsurprised that he could figure that out so quickly. “Come on, I want to tell everyone the full story.”
Luckily, Bastian didn’t fight me on knowing the details immediately and instead followed me down to the main floor where the other four were. I knew we still needed to talk, but it seemed for now that I at least hadmyBash back.
Niz offered me a nod and pointed to where a cup of coffee sat waiting for me. Thankful for his thoughtful gesture, I scooped it up, momentarily ignoring Gabe and Steele who glared at one another across the island. My gaze flickered over to them finally, realizing they were having some weird unspoken conversation that made me feel more than a bit on edge. It was the same energy that I felt last night as they stood at my door.
“Good morning,” I called out to them, but neither responded or budged an inch.
“Don’t mind them,” Niz sighed, shaking his head. “They’ll be over it soon.”
Would they, though? I hated the idea of there being tension between them, but it was more than obvious, from the glare that he had fixed on Steele, that Gabe was furious over what happened the day before at training. I didn’t blame Gabe for being protective. I would have felt the same if someone put them in danger.
“Where’s Ronan?”
“Outside,” Bastian offered, so I carried my coffee toward the back door and stepped through it, finding the man in question looking out over the backyard. When I joined him, he offered me an affectionate smile, his eyes warming on me as he wrapped an arm around my waist.
