“In that case,” Len continued, “she must stay here with you. The rest of us will enter the Deep and hopefully restore the line before the darkness takes either of them.”
“We should wake Sam now,” Mera said shortly. “We have no time to waste up here. If the worlds are in trouble, then best we move our asses.”
After a slightly pause, “The worlds are in trouble?” Glendriel asked. “Is it the imbalance we’ve been feeling?”
“Yes,” Len replied. “These worlds are connected in ways we don’t even understand, and by taking away a line of origin the balance is thrown off. I felt nothing when it first happened, but already in this short time it’s more than noticeable. I have no doubt that if we don’t repair the line, all the worlds will fall.”
Hushed whispers and gasps erupted from the fae in the room.
“Best we get moving then,” Reece growled. “I won’t tolerate any risk to my family or our young.”
“Same,” Lucien agreed. “I’ve just found my soul, and I will not allow anything to stand between us and our future happiness.”
The true mates were all intertwined, their energies the perfect match for the other.
Each of them would die or kill for their mate, and I already felt that way about Len.
We had to survive this next part of our journey.
There was no other option.
34
SAMANTHA
Waking me from the stasis took only seconds. Len withdrew the stones’ energy, and whatever had been holding me was released. His strong arms wrapped around me as I collapsed into them, and on this side, in the land of consciousness, pain hit me hard.
A whimper escaped, and I had to briefly close my eyes to reinforce my barrier from the darkness trying to drag me into the next world. The world of the dead.
Not yet, I whispered in my head.It’s not my time yet.
I still had too much shit to do.
“Storm,” Len murmured, the minty scent of his breath washing over me. I forced my eyes open, needing to see him. “Winter,” I whispered back.
The heat of his power traced across my body, and I glanced down to see that I was no longer naked from our sex session. It was somewhat ironic that at the time I’d wondered if he was going to orgasm me to death, only to almost die at the end of one. The timing was less than desirable, that was for sure.
I could definitely use a little less of that ironythank you very much.
“You dressed me?” I rasped. He’d covered me in jeans and white shirt, simple, but with material lighter and silkier than I’d ever felt on Earth. “Thank you.”
He pressed his lips to my cheek, tendrils of his power sliding inside to buff up more of my barrier. “I take care of what’s mine,” he said, with a hint of a smile. My body reacted in a way that suggested it had forgotten we were actively dying. Apparently, there was no moment in time I wouldn’t be into this sexy fae prince.
Mera pushed forward and hugged me hard, uncaring that Len was wrapped around me as well. “You are not allowed to almost die,” she said, with a low growl at the end. “I don’t even care if it was in the middle of sex. That’s no excuse.”
I opened my mouth, before slamming it shut again as I shook my head in shock. “How the hell did you know?”
Her responding grin was huge. “I’m an expert injust fucked hairand you’re sporting it in spades.”
Shadow snorted. “Maybe it’sI almost died hair.Did you even consider that, Sunshine?”
Mera paused, looking closer at me. “Nope. I’ve been fucked andalmost diedquite close together, and there’s a distinct difference in the final hairdo.”
There was some laughter around us, and even the fae abandoned their stoic expressions to smile. Mera had that way about her, breaking the tension in times of stress. It was a nice facet to her personality. “To be fair,” I said, my voice a little stronger. “In this situation the hair is from both. So…”
She shrugged before nodding. “True.”
Len lifted me up to my feet, continuing to keep a hold on me as my legs found their strength. “Were you aware of anything in stasis?”
