“Me either,” I added drily, even though this was the sort of contest I had the wrong parts for.
Darin nodded as he spun and faced the room. "Everyone get some rest," he yelled. "We leave at first new light."
Without another word, he left the tent, all of his Guardians following.
Len, Lucien, Alistair, and Galleli drifted over to where we stood, none of them even bothering to mention what Reece had done. If these six friends had anything going for them, it was that they'd been through a lot and accepted each other’s flaws without judgement.
It was a friendship everyone should envy.
A family they should crave to belong to.
It had taken me more years than I’d care to admit, but there was no point denying it any longer: I wanted Reece and every part of what that entailed.
The mate. The family.
Even the danger that all powerful beings attracted.
“We should also rest,” Reece told his friends, and no one argued. As we made our way to the tents, I stayed close to my mate, settling in at his side, his arm around me. This desperate need to touch had been ramped up in the acceptance and repair of our bond, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to complain. It felt as perfect as it always looked when Mera and Shadow were joined.
A feeling of warmth, safety, and… home.
When we reached our tents, everyone went to rest. My plan initially had been to head toward an energy pad, an ochre formation of Ostealon sands and pamolsa branches designed to allow a closer link to the power that lay below the sands. Before I could take two steps in that direction, though, Reece tightened his hold and all but lifted me across the main rooms and into the bedroom we’d used earlier.
He didn't say a word as he stripped me of my armor for the second time this dark-moon, and I didn’t question or fight this new path. When we were both naked, he dragged me across the bed and wrapped his big body around me. The connection of our bond settled again, stronger, a tangible binding of our powers that veritably hummed between us in the quiet darkness.
His hand traced along my side, slowly sliding over the bare skin, and despite my body’s reaction to that touch, it was also soothing. He loved me one more time that night, and afterward I found myself drifting off into a deep meditative state, all the while knowing that this was so much stronger than any energy pad.
A mate bond was the true definition of peace and healing.
Thank the Nexus I hadn’t missed this moment, because the culmination of my dreams had finally come to pass. Now we just had to survive tomorrow.
44
As we boarded the ship the next day, the new-moon had just begun to spread across the sky, casting tendrils of red through the darkness. I palmed my blade for the tenth time, feeling somewhat reassured by the familiar weight of the weapon. At the docks beside us, Darin and his guardians were outfitted in full black armor, boots, and more than a few weapons of their own, including curved swords with thick blades.
Reece and the others were dressed more casually, their weapons contained to whatever power they possessed. Even with the Delfora’s ability to influence and restrict their abilities, they would still be a force to be reckoned with. In the end, we were all that stood between the worlds and these ancient gods rising—us and whatever power we carried into the sacred lands, since nothing from the outside world could be pulled toward us once we’d entered those sands. We just had to hope we were enough.
As soon as Reece made his way to the higher deck, accompanied by Shadow, the engines started to hum below us. Lucien and Alistair released the power cords binding us to the docks, and then we were sent out into the surging swells of the sands.
"Hold on," Reece called, his voice almost lost in the raging winds as we moved out of the shallower Guardian stream. "The powers of the spell and the impending power moon are on us."
I fought my way across to the railing of the ship, contemplating releasing my wings for balance. I’d learned over the years how to use them as both weapons and extra limbs, but in this situation, the winds would probably catch onto their lengths. It wouldn’t be worth the fight.
Our ship picked up speed as we left the docks and entered the deep sands; in the Desert Lands, this was the equivalent of being in the middle of the ocean. It was wild out here this moon, to the point that not another ship—outside of Darin’s—or creature could be seen around us.
The fact that there was no sign of Tsuma didn’t sit well with me. The hope that at some point we’d catch sight of what we were up against kept me focused on the scenery, even if there was nothing around except raging black and ochre sands.
Unease unexpectedly rocked through my chest… my bonds. It hadn’t come from me, and a quick check of Mera told me it hadn’t originated from her either. So that left...
My gaze shot up to the higher deck, and sure enough, when I probed our newly cemented bond, I found the unease was from Reece. The dark spike of restless power, as I pushed deeper into it, felt a lot like the Delfora. Reece's connection to this land was the reason we were here, and it was calling him into its depths.
As if he’d felt me poking around in his energy, Reece's gaze left the horizon and found mine. At first, he wore no expression, but then his face softened. I had to press my hand to my chest, feeling this newly reinforced connection as it burned between us.
This bond—even when I’d suppressed and all but forgotten about it—was the reason we’d both refused to take another lover or mate.
The reason we could never let go of our past, even when it felt as if anger and shame and accusations were all that remained between us.
The reason we were fighting for a brighter future, as cliché as that was.
