Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
"I've got you," Melina murmurs, moving to my side and grabbing my arm. "You're exhausted. You need to rest."
The Rift—
"It can wait a few hours," Melina insists. She looks around and waves one of the soldiers forward. "Help me get him to his quarters."
Fatigue overtakes me and I collapse before I can ask if they are her quarters, too, or if we are still two separated halves of a whole.
I wake up to the gentle sensation of Melina's thoughts swirling through my mind. It's an intense feeling, to realize that she's connected to me so deeply, and it fills the hungry void inside me, that possessiveness that can't get enough of her. She's straightening up in our quarters, touching things and admiring the stack of books I have waiting to be read.
I haven't remembered a single word of it since you left me, I admit. I open my eyes and look over at my mate. Melina really is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She's wearing a pale blue dress with long, tight sleeves and an equally tight bodice. Her skirts swirl down to the floor and make a gentle rustling sound, and she's piled her glorious hair up into a knot atop her head, showing off a pair of glittering earrings.
"You're awake," she says, affection in her voice as she moves to the side of the bed. She sits down next to me and brushes a finger over my brow, smoothing a hair into place. "How do you feel?"
"Foolish," I admit. "I didn't realize flying would take so much out of me."
Her responding smile makes my chest ache. That she has forgiven me for all my past transgressions still amazes me. I am not worthy of her love, but I plan on spending the rest of my days trying to be the male she needs me to be. "How long was I asleep?"
"Long enough," she teases, but I can hear the answer in her thoughts. Twelve hours.
Twelve hours. Long enough for me to recover my strength, then. I take her hand in mine and press a kiss to the back of it. "I love you."
"I love you, too," she says, her expression slightly puzzled. Then, it clarifies. A hint of worry edges into her eyes. "You're…you're going to do it now, aren't you?"
"There's no point in waiting," I say. "If we're strong enough now, I want to attempt to close the Rift before that creature grows any stronger. If he gets even a toehold in this world, nothing will be safe any longer. We have to at least try and see where we stand."
Melina bites her lip and nods, glancing at the window. "I'm told the bugs are increasing," she says, her voice light. "They're getting into the water supply and the gardeners say that they're having to post guards to constantly watch over the plants and keep them off. I suppose we should be glad that it's winter, right? That there's not a lot growing? But if it continues like this, we won't have anything to eat or drink in a few months."
"It must be now," I agree. I press another kiss to the back of her hand. "If I don't come back—"
"You're not going anywhere," she protests, brows furrowing.
"If I don't come back," I continue, my voice gentle. "Know that I have loved you with every bit of my shriveled Salorian heart." Because what comes next might destroy my mind. My body will remain where it is, on this bed, but I have no idea what this effort will do. Perhaps nothing. Perhaps it will burn me from the inside out.
But I am the only one that can lead the children, so I must try.
Melina gives me a fierce look. She squeezes my hand tightly. "You'd better come back. You're not leaving me here alone to run things."
I just press another kiss to her knuckles and drink in the sight of her, so lovely and graceful, so strong-willed and determined. I want more time with her. I want the rest of our lives together, working to build this fort into a civilization to be proud of and not one where everyone struggles to survive. I want her to have my children. I want us to grow old together. I want every day with this female at my side and in my arms.
But I have to save the world first.
With a weary, slightly irritated sigh, I tuck her hand against my cheek, close my eyes, and sink into my mind.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
AZAR
I have no idea how I'm going to do this.
It's the first thought that crops into my head. I know how to be a Salorian. I know how to entrap minds and direct them. But to close a Rift? To force a gate between worlds shut? I don't know how to get started. I only know that I must try. If this doesn’t work, I will try again in battle-form. But for now, we will do it this way, with my senses intact.