Unable to tell her sister what she’d overheard, about the elyon wanting Aerén to mate Hana, Leya rubbed her temples and sighed.
All she wanted was to find out why the nightmares brought her here, fix it so Aerén would be safe, then leave beforethatmating happened. She wasn’t made of stone.
Yet, no matter how much it tore her apart, she would always choose his well-being first.
So, she had to get out of there as fast as possible. Then Aerén could move on with his life…and forget her.
CHAPTER30
Leya wrappedher cold hands around her steaming cup, her ass nailed to her chair so the restlessness crawling like fire ants beneath her skin wouldn’t have her jumping up and pacing the floor.
Two days had passed—twodays that she’d been stuck in the castle—unable to track for the place in her nightmares. And there’d been no sign of Aerén, either.
She’d heard one of the staff mention he was out with the enforcers, hunting down rebels who’d broken into the town. As more Chosen were found, it seemed the rebels grew in their determination and destruction.
And that troubled her further, aware he could walk into a trap.
Dammit, she had to find the place in her nightmare! But how could she, when she had no one to take her around Cidéra?
“What you’re gonna do today?” Hana asked.
Leya put her cup down. Shrugged. “Probably go jogging again.” She needed to work out her restless energy. “You coming?”
Hana rolled her eyes, taking a bite of thinly sliced grilled meat, a part of the midday meal. “I said no yesterday and the day before. Why do you think I’d change my mind today, huh?” Then she scrunched her face. “Just because I told them in Exilum we did, doesn’t mean I would. It was to save face. But you go ahead. I’m going sightseeing.” She picked up her juice and drank deeply. “The lovely enforcer, Drav’n, has agreed to show me around. By the way…” She pinned Leya with a gimlet glare. “Did you make up with Aerén yet?”
At the sudden change in conversation, Leya’s heart nearly stopped beating.
“Seriously?” Hana set her glass down with a thud, glowering at her. “You go find him and fix this right now! I don’t know what is wrong with you.”
Leya clenched her fingers as the tingles there amped up. “I came here because of my nightmare. I know it has to do with Aerén, but he won’t take it seriously.” She inhaled deeply, then firmed her expression. “I’m going back home, Hana.”
Her sister stilled. Slowly, she set the silverware down. “Fine. I’m leaving with you.”
“What? No! Hana, you’re needed here—”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do! According to the Empyreans, we have free will, so it’s my choice.”
“At the expense of people dying?” Leya demanded. “The storm season approaches. It could wipe out more islands and take lives—”
“Why do you care?” Hana retorted. “You’re going home.”
“Because I’m not a Chosen!” Leya snapped.
“And I’m a stranger in a strange world. Why would I want to stay here alone when my only family’s gone?”
Leya glared, aware she was being played. It nipped at her heels with fangs, and there wasn’t anything she could do. Her sister was an ace at it. Leya didn’t want Hana to leave, not when they needed a Chosen here. If another island sank, it would add to Aerén’s anguish. And she’d already done a bang-up job of hurting him.
With her head throbbing like the devil’s band was marching through it from her sleepless nights, Leya rubbed her temples, wishing for a way out of this unending torment. “Fine, I’ll stay.”
Without a word, Hana flipped back her inky hair, minus its fake streaks, picked up her cutlery, and started to eat again.
“You need to do some kind of training, brush up on those self-defense techniques Appa taught us, Hana. Rebels are a nasty lot. They have no scruples and will hurt you to get whatever they’re after.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Ugh. Hana could be so stubborn, just like Aerén. And her heart slipped to her belly, a deep sadness welling within. “I’m going for a jog.”
Ten minutes later, after robbing Hana of her knee-length, black exercise tights and a pink tank top, she threw a loose, gray Mickey Mouse tee over it, then left her room and ran downstairs on sneakered feet—
