Avery pushed herself up a little, leaning away from Savine. She still wore that same sad smile, but this time her chin was quivering slightly. “Knowing what you’ve been through here, I get it. I mean, hell, even knowing what I’ve been through! But that’s why I can’t just leave her.”
Savine hated knowing that Avery was right. He wanted to flee with her, to leave the Towers and never return. But Avery was loyal to her sister, and Morgan must be distraught from the evening’s events. There was no reason to make Avery upset with him by trying to convince her to abandon her sister.
“How is she taking all of this?” Savine asked
“Honestly, she’s doing better than I did. But she told me something that’s going to shock you.”
Savine’s essence squirmed. “Tell me.”
“The bear that attacked us wasn’t a normal bear. It was a Latian shifter. He took her to an abandoned mine shaft and she hit him with an old iron pipe.” Avery frowned and ran her fingers through her hair.
“There is a way for us to cross into your realm? Why haven’t we ever heard of such a thing?” Savine stared into Avery’s dark eyes as she shook her head.
“Maybe they can’t get back? It could be a one way portal on each side. But what I don’t understand is how he could shift into fae form on Earth. We don’t have magic. And how has nobody noticed fae warriors walking around? Are there ever folk who go missing here?”
Savine shook his head as he thought. “Folk go missing, but we live in a dangerous world. It’s not out of the ordinary for someone to disappear.”
“Well, it adds a whole other element to me being here, doesn’t it? Morgan said she kept expecting him to kill her, but he didn’t.”
Savine thought about the prophecy. “I heard the prophecy Rylo mentioned the same night my grandfather gave up his essence and my mother was killed. I always thought I was the only one who heard it, and honestly I didn’t give it much thought, with all that happened that night. But now we know Rylo heard it, that means others may have also. Rylo figured out it was talking about two witches. What if my father knew?” Savine felt his heart tighten. He couldn’t risk losing Avery. Not now.
Avery sighed. “The prophecy and knowing that Morgan killed Jasper complicates things for us. I can’t leave her, Savine. And Rylo made an oath not to hurt me. I’m probably safer here than in Orofine. At least until you gain control there.”
Savine growled. He wasn’t going to fight her, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “You’re safest with me. We shouldn’t be apart.”
She shook her head before leaning back into Savine. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to be there with you when you re-enter Orofine. I really do! But, I think it’s a good thing for you to return to the city without me.”
Savine felt a rise of frustration in him. He wanted to push it down. Everything she was saying made sense, but it didn’t make it any easier for him to accept. Her words felt like a rejection.
“I have spent most of my life convinced I couldn’t have a soulmate, that I was unlovable. And I only just found out all the lies I believed aren’t true. There is someone for me. Letting you go after all that, even if it is for a month, hurts. It’s not what I want and I’m afraid…”
Savine cut himself off. He couldn’t say that he was afraid Avery would reject him and their bond, but that thought was at the forefront of his mind.
Avery slid back from Savine before she climbed into his lap, both legs hugging against his hips. The slit in the Latian green dress revealed her muscular thigh on one leg and Savine let his hand drift there, squeezing her soft body.
She looked into his eyes and all he could see was the reflection of starlight in those dark pools. “Savine, I want you. I’m not rejecting you or the bond. I just want you to have a chance to establish order in Orofine. And I need to be with Morgan.”
Avery lifted her hands to his cheeks, playing with his beard before she pressed her lips to his in a kiss that was so tender it made Savine’s heart pound and ache at the same time. Her soft lips brushed his, pressing deeper as he opened for her, letting her tongue sweep into his mouth in soft, languid strokes.
She pulled back and looked at him with a passion that took his breath away. “I want you to know that I’m not leaving you. Do you want to do the bond thing tonight?”
Savine twisted his fingers in Avery’s wavy, golden strands and thought about their bond. Did he really want to take that step with Avery in this place that had haunted his past for so many years? The answer was a resounding no. He could wait. This was important enough to wait until they were both safely in Orofine. Plus, he needed her to understand how serious the soulmate bond would be. She seemed eager to accept him, but he feared she lacked an understanding of how life altering this choice would be.
“Not here. I—I don’t want that moment attached to this place. And… I worry you don’t understand how serious this choice is,” Savine said, his voice not hiding his emotions. He wanted her. It nearly consumed him, this need to bond with her. But not now. He’d been patient and could continue a bit longer.
Avery pursed her lips. “This place holds a lot of terrible memories for you, and maybe you’re right about waiting. I promise you I will be by your side in a month, and I won’t leave you again. We’ll keep Morgan safe. I have no intention of keeping my promise to return her to Nephel.”
Savine smiled. Of course she was lying about letting her sister return to Nephel. He should have known that was her plan. “My sweet little liar.”
Chapter 5
Kyla
“Are you sure we should try for a child so soon?” Garnel asked, his hand stroking Kyla’s thigh as they sat together on their sleeping mat in the traveling tent.
Kyla bit her lower lip. “This was always what we talked about. Once we were at peace, we would grow our family. I don’t want to wait any longer to release my fertility.”
Garnel shook his head. “Everything has changed so quickly. We’re not even to Orofine yet. Why do this now?”
