Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Reaching out a shaky hand, I curled it around his wrist, the words tacky as I forced them from my tongue. “The way it feels to wake up and the first thing I see is your face.”
So fierce and awe-striking.
Its harsh angles carved in my memories and forever written in my mind.
His lips plush and his nose sharp.
And his heart . . . I could feel it thundering through me.
“I was so afraid, Aria,” he gritted out. “So fuckin’ afraid.”
The movement was slight as I nodded against his palm. “I was afraid, too.”
Understanding passed between us before he shifted around and grabbed a cup from the nightstand. He maneuvered so he could bring the straw to my lips. “Here.”
I sucked down the cool water. Probably a little too fast. But my mouth and throat were parched.
When I’d nearly drunk the entire thing, he set it back on the nightstand, then turned right back to me.
“How do you feel?” His voice scraped out the question.
I searched inside myself for the answer, my mind right back to when I’d been struck out of the blue. A dagger from the sky. The obliterating pain, so severe it’d blinded me before I was just . . . out.
Right then, I could feel the large bandage that covered my abdomen. I knew it covered the spot where I’d been burned . . . or . . . stabbed, really. This wound was different from anything I’d sustained before. At least that much I knew for certain.
But somehow, I felt . . .
With a frown, I shook my head slightly. “I’m not in any pain.”
Three severe lines slashed into Pax’s brow. “You don’t need to play it off as nothing, Aria. What happened last night . . .”
He trailed off, unable to say it.
“I’m not. Truly. I feel a little groggy and out of it.” I blinked to process it. “And I’m aware of the area. Like . . . it’s kind of tingling. But other than that, I think I’m okay.”
Reticence filled Pax’s expression. Wanting to distract him from it, I quickly asked, “How long was I out?”
“It’s just after four in the afternoon. You were out for about fourteen hours.”
“You held me the whole time?” Softness filled my tone.
His nod was slow, his touch tender as he kept running the pad of his thumb over the angles of my face. “As much as I could. I left you to take a shower and then use the restroom this morning. Dani sat with you in the moments that I couldn’t.”
“Was I there? In Tearsith?”
For the first time in my life, I’d roused in this realm with no memory of where I’d gone during my sleep. The entire time I was out had been completely dark.
“Yeah. I emerged in Tearsith with you in my arms, and I held you there, too. For hours. Then when I woke up, I was right here, with you still in my arms.”
“I don’t even remember.”
“You were never coherent during any of it.”
Emotion curled through my senses.
“But I think I could feel you. I think I felt you the whole time. An anchor in my soul. A beacon that kept me guided,” I whispered.
“I refused to let you go.” It ground out of him like a claim. A proclamation.
“How could I go anywhere without you? Not when you’re the other half of this heart. The other half of my soul.” I could barely speak.
Pax shifted so he had each side of my face framed in his hands. Intensity blazed from his being. “I would have followed you wherever you’d gone and fought for you there.”
His love was a wave that washed through me, wisping through all the broken places.
Healing as it passed.
Because I could feel myself coming alive beneath it.
Hope searing through my insides where he’d refused to leave me in the depths.
He kept us there for the longest time, the two of us locked, before I forced myself to turn my focus to the questions that marred the peace in my mind. “There were Kruen here, Pax. Here. And they . . . they were in those men. Not just in their minds. They were . . . possessed. I could physically see them writhing beneath their skin.”
His eyes squeezed closed for a beat. “I know,” he ground out.
“They’re coming for us.” My response was haggard.
Pax warred in the middle of it before he rushed out, “Yes. But Valeen is here, too. At least, some part of her is.” He hesitated before he tightened his hold on my face. “Because Jill is here, Aria.”
In confusion, I rocked back an inch. “What do you mean?”
“The nurse who helped you escape. She was here. In Portland. She kept having dreams that she had to come here. That her purpose with you wasn’t over. And she saved you. She’s the one who patched you up. Gave you blood after you’d lost so much.”