Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
But he couldn’t.
Not alone.
Because loving Noelle wasn’t a one-sided thing—not for him. He didn’t just want her for himself. He wanted to share her. To complete the bond that had seemed possible for one brief, shining moment. And the only male he wanted to share her with—the only one who’d ever fit—wouldn’t even look at him now.
“Oh, Burn,” he murmured, closing his eyes against the tight burn of emotion. “If only you could forgive me—if only you could forgive yourself…”
The silence around him pulsed gently, a soft ambient hum of the Mother Ship’s energy systems whispering through the air vents. Familiar…dull…oppressive.
And then—
“Warrior!”
A loud, commanding feminine voice rang in his ears with the resonance of a bell struck deep within his chest.
Bright shot upright so fast his vision swam. His heart jackknifed in his chest.
“Who’s there?” he demanded, scanning the room wildly. His pulse roared in his ears. But there was no one.
No one he could see, anyway. But he could feel a presence surrounding him and it was definitely female.
“You know who I am,” the voice said again, closer now, though still bodiless.
And Bright did know. He couldn’t explain how—he simply knew.
The air was suddenly warmer, softer. His skin prickled with golden heat and his heart began to pound for a different reason entirely.
“Goddess?” he whispered, breathless. “Why have you come to me?”
“To warn you,” she said, her voice a melodic blend of sorrow and power. “The woman you and your other half both love is in grave danger.”
His breath caught.
“Noelle?” he asked. “What’s happened? What—?”
“You must go to her at once—both of you!”
“But Burn won’t talk to me!” he protested, panic rising in his throat like bile. “He won’t listen—he won’t answer! I’ve tried everything!”
“I will see to that,” she said, her voice cool and certain. “Go to him—and then the both of you must get to Earth.”
“Earth?” Bright’s stomach dropped. “Noelle’s gone back to Earth?” he demanded, his heart thundering. “Why? What—?”
But there was no answer.
The warmth in the room faded, the golden light gone as if it had never existed. The divine presence evaporated like mist in the morning sun, leaving only the whisper of her words echoing in his ears.
The Goddess was gone.
But the urgency she left behind crackled through Bright’s nerves like lightning. His hands trembled as he swung his legs off the bed, already reaching for the Think-me.
He didn’t know how the Goddess was going to get through to Burn—but if she said it would happen, he believed her.
And he believed something else, too—Noelle was in danger and they had to save her. Together.
Hold on, Noelle, he thought as he bolted from the room. We’re coming.
76
BURN
Burn sat slumped at his workstation, eyes fixed vacantly on the glowing screen in front of him. The interactive battle simulation he’d loaded an hour ago flickered uselessly, waiting for input. He hadn’t touched the controls in ages.
He couldn’t.
The game—one he used to love, full of strategy and violence and structure—had become meaningless. He couldn’t focus. Couldn’t keep his mind in the now.
Everything inside him ached.
I miss them.
The admission carved through his chest like a dull blade. He’d been trying to deny it for days, pretending he could survive this aching silence, this unbearable isolation. Pretending he deserved to suffer. That it was penance for his actions—for how he’d hurt Noelle… and for what he and Bright had done with each other.
But I still love him. Still love her. Gods, I love them both so much.
He clenched his jaw, trying to force the thoughts away. But the future stretched out before him like a barren wasteland—endless, gray, and cold. A life without Noelle’s laughter…without Bright’s ridiculous grins and bright ideas. Without their warmth.
It felt like a death sentence.
But he couldn’t go to them. Couldn’t make himself speak. He didn’t deserve forgiveness. Didn’t deserve them.
Suddenly—
“Warrior! Enough self-pity!”
The voice blasted through the room like a thunderclap, so loud and powerful that Burn jolted upright from his seat—only to be slammed back down, flattened to the floor as an invisible weight crashed over his entire body.
“Please…” he gasped, barely able to draw breath. “Can’t…breathe.”
His lungs burned and his chest heaved. The pressure wasn’t just physical—it was divine. The very weight of the Goddess’s will pressed him to the floor like an insect beneath a god’s thumb.
The pressure lessened slightly, just enough to allow a shallow inhale.
“Listen to me,” the Goddess thundered, her voice echoing in every molecule of his being. “The life of the woman you love—the one I chose for you and Bright to share—is in danger!”
Noelle—the name rang in his heart like a bell made of fire.
“You and Bright must go to Earth at once to save her!” the Goddess commanded.
“Earth?” he gasped, trying to lift his head, but the divine weight still held him down. “But…but where on Earth is she?”