He was the one I would run to with open arms beyond the veil.
Sebastian Hawthorne was it for me. He always had been.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Aweek later, I was in the middle of a forest that I had no knowledge of. I stood with my eyes closed and arms spread, focusing solely on my bodily senses.
He was lingering nearby. I couldn’t hear him, but my skin prickled as if something inside of me subconsciously knew he was close.
I drew my dagger, aiming it to my right then stepping forward, focusing on the feel of rock and dirt under my boots.
A cool breeze flew by me, and my body jumped sideways, recentering my focus to somewhere on my left.
It darted by me again and I spun in a circle, suddenly completely unaware of where exactly I stood. Was I facing the boulder again? Or the batch of shrubs that had been on my right when we started this? If I called upon the stars and aimed wrong, I could take this whole forest down.
I didn’t want to break the silence, but what Sebastian was asking me to do was insane.
“Seb?” I called out, opening my eyes though still only seeing black from the blindfold he had tied around my head. “I don’t like this.”
“You’re not supposed to like it.” His disembodied voice flowed through one of my ears before wrapping around the back of my head and lingering off into the other.
I pivoted in the dirt, following the trail his voice left.
“It’s scaring me.”
“Why?” he called from much further away.
“I have bad enough aim when Ihavevision. Take that away, and I’ll probably turn you into stardust.”
I reached my arms up to the blindfold, only for my body to flinch at the feel of calloused hands gripping my own.
“Leave it. You can do this.”
I stomped my boot into the dirt. “I would rather not kill the man I’m in love with.”
When that man didn't respond, I drew a deep breath and began moving again, using my blade-less hand to feel about my surroundings.
The anxiety inside of me buzzed and collided with the cosmos that I had absorbed unintentionally. Soon I would need to release the tension before it built too high for me to control, but I had no idea where Sebastian was, and therefore no idea where to aim.
“Seb…” I drawled, angst making my voice waver.
“You can do this.”
A grumble of irritation poured out of me. “Fine. But get ready to run,” I warned.
Steadying my footing and ensuring my body was perfectly balanced, I called upon the sun—the biggest star in our galaxy. My veins warmed as I sucked in its power to a level that bordered uncomfortable, but not so much so where I risked it exploding out of me.
I focused on the sound of my breathing, using the white noise to drown out everything else surrounding me.
Okay, Maeve. Please don’t start a forest fire and please don’t kill the love of your life.
Following only my intuition, I roared to the right, ripping my body sideways and releasing the built up starlight in one swift motion.
An agonizing cracking sound filled the forest, and with the release of my power, I tore the blindfold off and frantically scanned the open air around me.
Where was he?
