It hadn’t worked.
“I’m so sorry, Kade.” I stepped back, away from the two of them as Kade approached her.
Lana’s expression was frozen in horror and her body trembled as she wrapped her arms around herself. The moment, once filled with triumph, was no longer the joyous occasion from just a few minutes ago.
A heaviness settled in my chest. This was my best friend’s mate, and the one thing that should have rid the darkness from inside of him didn’t work. So what did that mean for eliminating all darkness to destroy Thames? What did that mean for the two of them?
I walked toward Jax, who stared with a look on his face that told me his thoughts weren’t too far from my own.
Glancing over my shoulder back at them, I watched Kade comfort Lan.
“Don’t worry, Little Rebel,” Kade assured her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “This is not the end. We’ll find another way.”
After the events of the day, we weren’t prepared to begin the journey back to the inn. Exhaustion, both mental and physical, hit the four of us hard. Jax went out to hunt for dinner, and returned quickly with several rabbits, his face ashen.
“The strox decided to ‘help,’ if you will,” he said as he sat by the fire, skinning our soon-to-be meal. He refused to answer any other questions about his encounter, and we reluctantly let it go—for now. I was very curious as to how a strox helped catch rabbits. Especially for Jax, who was the most terrified of the beasts out of all of us.
Perhaps another day Jax would tell the tale.
“I’m heading to bed,” Lana announced after we finished our meals and made plans to return to the inn at first light. Her mood hadn’t improved much despite Jax trying to rile her up and Kade comforting her. But she had smiled a few times, which I counted as a win. “Kade?” She reached out her hand, and he didn’t bother looking at us before picking her up and carrying her in his arms to their makeshift tent.
It brought me so much peace that she’d found someone who made her laugh and accepted our friendship without jealousy. And even with today not ending the way any of us expected, hewas still able to make her smile. It was everything I ever could have wanted for her.
“I’m not carrying you to your tent,” Jax said, stretching as he rose from the fire. “Don’t bother asking, little birdie.” Jax headed toward his own tent for the evening and left me to sit by the fire alone, to take the first watch of the evening. I didn’t mind. About a hundred different thoughts flowed through my head, all of which would keep me awake anyway.
While we’d learned so much today and knew what we needed to do in order to win this war, it didn’t help ease the dread of all that was left to be done.
A battle to be fought, innocent lives to be lost, and a hope and a prayer to the Fates we would all make it out relatively unscathed.
A cool breeze swirled around me, calming my anxious energy. Nature soothed me, reminding me I was not alone in this fight. Ever since we were kids, nature had played a role in our lives. I’d heed its presence as reassurance.
“Ian?”A whisper of that sultry feminine voice I’d come to know as well as my own entered my head.
My lingering anxiety disappeared altogether the minute Raya’s voice entered my mind.
Yes?I couldn’t help my smile as I dragged the word out, said only in my mind.
“Did you find the journal?”
Mmm… Well, hello to you too.
Raya sighed and an image of her appeared before me in my mind. She stood in an inky expanse as endless as the night. This hadn’t happened since she’d appeared to me screaming and bloodied. Before I knew they were safe during their time in Mysthaven. I pushed that thought down, unable to breathe thinking about the moment she materialized in my mind, battered and sobbing.
Instead, I wondered if I could be in a physical form. Squeezing my eyes shut, I imagined myself walking toward her, and suddenly my body manifested. A version of myself within myself.Does this mean we’re both physically here in our minds?
“Apparently so.”She stalked toward me in this empty expanse. “Let me ask again, did you find the journal?”
Of course we did, I replied, as I thought about reaching for her hand. Could we touch?We may have even gotten some reinforcements.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I reached for her, nudging a finger under her chin playfully.Wouldn’t you like to know?
Gasping, I realized I couldfeelher skin in a fuzzy kind of way. She wasn’t completely solid, but it didn’t feel like touching a cloud, instead lingering somewhere in-between.
Raya frowned, but I wasn’t able to focus on that like I should have. The simple act of touching her froze me in place. The smile I wore faded as an overwhelming sensation rushed through my body, rewiring my very essence. Fates, this was something stronger than I’d ever experienced before. A small bright tether inside my chest snapped into place, lining up every emotion I had regarding Raya.
I’d fought against what this thing between us was previously, the annoying attraction, my inability to admit that having her closer always felt better. But now? Now there was no way I’d fight this any longer.
