Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 116263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
She waffled with the inconceivable, her mind and heart torn, and her gaze traveled to Pax, whom I could feel was standing behind us, the man in the middle of the room, a power all his own.
I knew what he looked like to other people, but I knew right then that the only thing that really mattered was the way he looked to me.
“He’s real. It’s . . . real.” Blankets of moisture poured down her face as she shook her head, as if her logic urged her to refute it while her spirit swam with the realization.
“It is. And the reality of it put you all in danger.”
My attention swept to my father, who was silently sobbing against the far wall, rocking and rocking as he looked at us.
“I don’t . . .” My mother’s expression pinched. “I don’t understand.”
I squeezed her hand. “The ones we fight were after me, and they used Dad as a way to get to me.”
Tears of disbelief poured from my father’s eyes as he continued to sob.
“Pax knew I was in trouble, and he came for me. He got me out of the facility to protect me. But I knew you were all in trouble, so I came back.”
I simplified it times a thousand since I knew she couldn’t fathom all that we were and all that had happened in the last week.
“Because of me? Because of my disbelief, this is what happened?”
Sorrow clutched my chest. “No, they would have come for me anyway.”
Guilt crushed her features. “I still don’t—”
“It’s okay. You’re not supposed to understand. I think you need some time to let this settle. Why don’t you let us take you to Grandma’s, and tomorrow, we’ll meet for coffee and you can ask me anything you want.”
Obviously, I couldn’t leave her here. Not after what my father had done. I didn’t believe he was a threat to her any longer, but I couldn’t imagine her having to stay in this house with him. And I had no idea what the future would look like for them.
My mother stumbled forward and threw her arms around me. “I’ve always loved you. More than anything. It’s why I . . . I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
I hugged her tight to me, wrapped her in my arms, which should have been weak after the energy I’d just expended but somehow vibrated with power.
“I forgive you.”
My smile was sad when I finally pulled away. I took two steps back just as Pax took two forward, and he threaded his fingers through mine the way he’d always done in Faydor, though now, it felt like a promise that he would always do it here.
Panic blanketed my mother’s features. “And where will you be?”
“With Pax. Because he’s where I belong.”
My mother didn’t pack anything. She simply took my hand and allowed me to lead her out the door while my father continued to quietly weep.
I’d touched his forehead, murmured, “I forgive you,” before we’d left, unsure if I would ever speak with him again.
If I could ever trust him again.
But I also knew how powerful the Ghorl had been, and maybe there were no humans who could have resisted that type of influence.
The only thing I knew was that I was filled with hope as we pulled up outside my grandmother’s house in the earliest hours of the morning. I stepped out of the passenger-side seat and lifted it so my mother could climb out. She wrung her fingers, unsure, her gaze slanting between me and Pax, who sat in the driver’s seat. “I don’t—”
I reached out and squeezed her hand, and I promised, “Tomorrow.”
Her nod was shaky. “Tomorrow.”
Without saying anything else, she hurried up the walkway to the front door of the single-story condo, and she dipped down to grab the key that was hidden under the same rock where it had always been. She unlocked the door; then she paused to look back at me with a soft, adoring smile on her face.
I lifted my hand in a goodbye, and she lifted her chin before she walked inside.
Chapter Forty-Six
Pax
I reached over and ran my knuckles down the defined line of Aria’s jaw where she sat facing me in the passenger seat, her expression both sorrowful and serene.
I’d expected her to be completely spent after the ordeal, to be wasted the way she’d been when I’d found her in a heap on the floor of Target, but it was different. Life beat through her veins.
“I can’t believe it’s over,” she murmured into the darkness, which covered the car like a shroud. Lights flickered over her gorgeous face as we passed beneath the streetlamps that tossed a dingy glow through the thick fog of Albany.
“I was so fuckin’ scared, seeing you through that Ghorl’s mind,” I admitted. “I wanted to jump right through it so I could get to you and rip his hands from your throat.”