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)
A gentle chuckle rippled from Jill. “I’m sure that can be arranged, Jenny. What do you think, Aria?”
“Um, hell yeah, my new BFF will totally hook me up,” Jenny answered for me.
A soft grin played at my mouth, interwoven with the anxiety that I couldn’t keep at bay. “I’ll do it first thing tomorrow, Jenny.”
“I’m going to hold you to that. Don’t forget, I like them dark and dangerous. Maybe a piercing or two in some unmentionable places.”
I could almost see her waggling her brows through the fabric separating our beds.
Amusement shook Jill’s head as she applied a new bandage. “How about we keep this one safe?” she suggested. “Maybe one of those supercute gamers. A coder, maybe? You know, someone who doesn’t have a bad bone in his body.”
“As long as he’s got black hair and a few tattoos, then it’s a deal.”
“And if I don’t?” I couldn’t help but play along.
“Then you don’t get my Snack Pack.”
“She runs a hard bargain,” Jill teased.
“Apparently so.”
Then I felt Jill sober, a sweeping of concern and curiosity. Her voice quieted, close to whispering in my ear, “It seems it would be very difficult for you to reach this area on your back.”
My heart fisted in my chest, a clutching as I felt her stretch her spirit toward mine. The goodness she possessed, searching for the questions that had formed in her mind. Was there a chance that she could believe me? Would she . . . help me?
She cleared her throat like she’d immediately regretted what she’d said, and she stood up and patted me on my uninjured shoulder. “All finished.”
She shoved back the drape and crossed to Jenny, watching over her as she took her pills. Then Jill moved to the door, and tenderness filled her demeanor as she said, “Let me know if either of you need anything.”
Flicking off the light, she slipped out, leaving the door open a few inches.
The moment she did, terror slipped into my veins, rising up from where I’d tried to keep it contained. The horrible awareness that everything had changed howled from my soul.
Would this be my last night?
Would the monster come?
Did I have any chance if he did?
For the longest time, I fought sleep, my ears perked, my senses acute. But as the hours drifted, I could hold it off no longer.
The exhaustion.
The fatigue.
My eyes fluttered as I was dragged toward sleep.
I hovered in that bare space for a short time, trying to fight it.
But lights flickered at the edges of my sight before my spirit flashed, and I flew.
Chapter Thirteen
Aria
Tearsith
Aria arrived at Tearsith’s boundary.
The air was cool and warm, perfect where it breezed across her flesh in a bid to weave respite and relief and comfort into her soul.
But she found no solace in it tonight.
She needed only one thing.
She needed Pax.
She rushed to the meadow’s edge, frantic as she stumbled into the clearing, seeking her reason. Her eyes and heart scanned the grass-covered plain.
It welcomed her like an embrace, though for the first time in years, Pax did not.
Despairing, she staggered farther out into the meadow, lifting her arms to her sides and spinning in a circle as she shouted, “Pax! Pax! Where are you?”
Her spirit wept his name.
Didn’t he understand this might be their last chance?
Couldn’t he hear her calling?
“Pax, please, I need you,” she begged over the torment that threatened to consume.
It all became too much as the true reality of what was going to happen to her hit her full force.
She dropped to her knees.
A startled gasp tore from her throat when a hand gently curved around her shoulder from behind. She whirled around to find Ellis. The lines in his face were etched in empathy. “Oh, Aria, my sweet child, do not fear.”
How could she not?
He slowly moved around her and tipped up her chin. “You are safe.”
Tears clouded her eyes, which was so rare here, but she didn’t know if it was possible to stop them with the onslaught of emotions.
Gusts of wind whipped around her like strands of preservation, ribbons of warmth—ties to bind her with strength.
But she’d never felt so weak.
Stretching out his hand, Ellis helped her to stand. “Did Pax tell you?” she begged.
“Yes,” he answered.
He watched her with the love of a father, and she surged forward and clung to him as she begged for understanding.
“Why?” She wept against his chest. “Why me, Ellis? I don’t want to die.”
But she knew that was what this was, wasn’t it?
A death sentence?
Ellis lost his breath in a large gush, and he wrapped her in his frail arms, which somehow remained so strong. “No, Aria. No, it doesn’t have to be that way. It is not carved in stone. You have to find the strength inside yourself to fight it.”
“What am I fighting?” she begged.