“The fuck you are, Yemi. You’re staying right in your house with me until they return,” Havar barks, and my sigh draws all their attention.
I don’t give a shit to listen to their familial spat.
I have my own family member to go find and argue with.
“We need Sevryn’s assistance as he lived in the Abandon years after we left. We need his insights. Yemi’s abilities will come in handy as well,” Amick says.
“Yeah, okay. Thayla will agree with me. She’s not going.”
Havar attempts to storm past us, but Kyzen’s quick to step in his way.
“Don’t involve her right now.”
Havar huffs, ready to open his mouth again, but Amick beats him to it.
“Your protective instincts over your cousin are, I’m sure, endearing to her, but you have no argument for why she can’t go outside of your fear. Which is fine, but she’s in a Valtrue with someone who can manipulate pain at a deadly level. She’ll be fine. This conversation is tiresome and a waste of our time. You all can continue this while we’re at the Court.”
“There’s nothing else to discuss. I said Sevryn and I are coming. End of conversation. We’ll see you when you get back.”
Yemi grips Sevryn’s and Havar’s elbows, dragging them toward her house. Lambrit and Rose follow behind them with pinched smiles and tension-filled shoulders.
“Meet at the Court entrance,” I say as I command my power to wrap around me.
“I’m not starshooting. I’m walking.”
My nostrils curl at Amick. “Why?”
“I need a moment to clear my mind and focus on everything other than the strain in my soul. I’m struggling to think straight.”
“Is her power influencing you?” I ask.
“No. It isn’t her power. If the two of you haven’t noticed, her power levels are on par with ours now. It’s just her. She continues to stroke my soul, I believe mindlessly, and it’s distracting. It’s as though she’s fearful we’re about to be snatched away from her as well.”
“Is she doing the same to you, Kyzen?”
“Yes, it’s…” He exhales and tightens his lips into a thin line. “It’s the only thing keeping me here. You?”
“Yeah,” I grunt.
I don’t elaborate more than that. Although I know they feel her on a deeper level now, I honestly wish they could sense her soul and emotions the way I do.
The true depth of her feelings for us is far greater than she’s ever expressed.
We’ve never in our lives had someone care so fearlessly about us. Derivius, the Akovas. They’re exceptions, but that’s a different kind of care.
Hers is…fierce, explosive, consuming.
We’re as much hers as she is ours.
She may not be the best with words, Valories know I’m not, but who the fuck needs words when you can feel someone’s entire being going crazy because a part of them is missing.
She’s ready to rip the realm to shreds to get him back, and damn if that doesn’t do something to my tarnished soul.
Every time her possessive gaze ran across one of us, I felt it.
Her attention has a weight to it.
I want to be fucking smothered by it.
