Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
What’s different is that she’s small and frail. Much smaller than she’d appeared in my dreams. More like a child than the fully grown adult she should be.
A blazing wave of protectiveness rolls through me, followed by a rush of uncontrollable tenderness. I’ll have to be careful with her. I can easily hurt her by forgetting my own strength.
Sweat runs down Vitai’s temples as he concentrates. Healing takes a lot of mental as well as physical energy. His body trembles by the time he’s done. He doesn’t have to tell me he’s succeeded. I can feel it. The throbbing pain and brokenness are gone. In their place, vitality and a healthy appetite beat in my chest.
A smile pulls at my mouth. The automatic gesture is foreign and stiff on my unpracticed lips. I can’t remember the last time I smiled spontaneously. My grin widens as I sense her hunger for food. Even unconscious, she’s demanding. I’ll take great joy in feeding her. Soon.
When I look up, Gaia and Vitai are staring at me with slack jaws.
I guess a smile on my face frightens them as much as a grimace or growl. Maybe more. And for good reason.
Only Kian observes me with a bland expression that gives nothing away.
“What do you need from me?” he asks, carefully studying me.
I don’t let him see much, only what I want him to see. My brother is powerful, but I can block him from sifting through my mind with his sharp, claw-like scrutiny.
Using my own power, I prevent him from digging around in my mate’s thoughts too. That would be as invasive as seeing her naked.
“She doesn’t speak our language,” I say.
He stares at me with a pinched brow.
I stare back at him coolly. I don’t have to dig through his mind to know what he’s thinking.
How is this possible?
How is any of this possible?
There’s only one guess I can venture.
“I believe she was brought here from Earth,” I say, my voice steady despite the rage flaring back to life inside me. “She was being held by slavers when I found her. There were other Earthlings there. She spoke to them in their language as I was carrying her away.”
Gaia gasps, and Vitai and Kian exchange a look.
They’re thinking what I’m thinking. My mate being on Earth would explain why I couldn’t sense her all these years, until I suddenly could. And like me, they know that at the time my mate vanished, only one person was powerful enough to create a portal to Earth, the forbidden world—and the realization, as well as its consequences, leaves them shaking in their boots.
“Do it,” I tell Kian grimly. “Make her understand.”
Vitai winces, but Kian doesn’t argue. He knows what’s at stake.
He steps closer and trains his eerily observant eyes that resemble the deep gray of cooling lava on the woman’s face. A long rush of air escapes his lips as he exercises the manipulation that will facilitate communication.
When that’s done, my brothers observe me quietly, waiting for my next instruction with the calmness of convicted men who’ve already accepted their sentence.
“You can go,” I say. “She needs to rest.”
“Me too?” Gaia asks, perking up.
I’ll confront my family soon enough. There’s no point in keeping my sister here any longer. Besides, I trust no one in a room alone with the woman who’s destined to be mine.
I wave toward the far wall. “Go.”
I release my hold on the stone particles, and the entrance opens.
The moment my siblings are gone, I make quick work of climbing from the bath with my mate in my arms. The purifying water has cleaned her body and hair. Not a mark or trace of dirt is left on her pale skin.
The sight of her does things to me, things I shouldn’t feel when she’s passed out. The heat starts deep in the pit of my stomach and travels to every extremity of my body. Flames scorch me from the inside out, erupting with a crackling of sparks over my skin.
I carry her to my bed and lay her down with the utmost care before using a small fraction of my power to evaporate the drops of water that cling to her body. I don’t want her to be cold. Seeing that I’m standing in a puddle of water and dripping over the bed and floor, I repeat the same exercise to dry my boots and clothes. Then I cover her with a sheet and leave her to sleep. Resting is vital for her full recovery.
After sealing the room so no one else can open it, I make my way to the royal quarters in the west wing to get my answers.
Chapter 7
Aruan
The floor quakes under my feet as my boots hit the polished flagstones. My mother is already in the sunroom where she receives her visitors, standing tall and regal in front of the arched window that overlooks the lakes and valleys on the hilly side of the kingdom.