Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
His lips pressed tight.
I smiled, or at least I tried to. Then I took a step forward, wrapped my arms around his ribs, and gave them a quick squeeze before stepping away just as quickly.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as his gaze moved over my face. A muscle in his cheek might have even moved too. Then he said it, sounding almost disappointed, “You make it really, really hard to not like you.”
Oh boy.
I smiled and thought about that vision his grandmother had shown me. “I know exactly what you mean,” I replied, hearing just how high and squeaky I’d sounded but not able to control it.
Because I mean…
What life was this? How was this moment even possible in the first place? It broke my heart and mended it together at the same time.
There wasn’t one thing in any life that defined a single person. We were all a mixture of a lot of different things. Alex wasn’t just The Defender. He was a brother, he was a friend, and he was sweet when he wanted to be, just like he could be such a fucking turd when he did too.
And maybe he would rarely ever need me for anything, but I could be there for him regardless. I’d be on call for him. I promised myself that right then one more time. To always be there for him if he needed me.
The sound of his sister or brother clearing their throats reminded us both what was happening. They were on the balcony, both of them looking up toward the moon. With the beam of white hitting their features perfectly, they really did look like gods.
“Why didn’t we go downstairs to do this?” Robert asked.
“We’re already here,” Alana explained. “Whenever you’re ready, Lex.”
“When was the last time you tried?” Robert asked.
“Couple nights ago.”
He had?
The blond man frowned. “Everything else is almost back to normal?”
Alex nodded again, this time tipping his own head back to the moon. His chest rose and fell, and his jaw went tight. I wanted to give him another hug.
“When she did it to Achilles, it took him six months to recuperate. Dad told everyone that he’d been in a car accident,” she said in a way that sounded like she was telling me about it.
That’s what had happened to Achilles when he’d hurt his classmate? When their grandmother had to “get involved”? She’d done to her teenage grandson what she did to full-grown Alex? What? She’d broken his back?
Alana wasn’t done. “Do you remember how long it took Leon to figure out how to do it? It was all in his head. He fell out of a tree when he’d been little, and he hadn’t been able to get out of that fear, even though nothing happened to him. He wasn’t able to do it until he was seven. You were three the first time. You were adorable, Lexi,” Alana said carefully, a concerned expression on her perfect face.
Could it all be in his head?
I looked at Alex who stood there, still soaking in the moon as he closed his eyes.
I took in the solid frame of his body. The strength that radiated so deeply from within him. The pure energy of his soul.
He was incredible.
Dammit.
And he was concerned.
Did he really think he couldn’t fly anymore period?
Moving toward the edge of the balcony, I peeked down. The snow had melted so fast, you couldn’t even tell it had ever been there. My heart started beating a little faster as I measured the distance to the ground and made a plan in my head.
There were two super-fast superbeings here who weren’t injured.
This wasn’t my place by any means, but…
I’d lived so safely for most of my life that I had never actually done a lot of dumb shit before. The dumbest thing I’d ever done was lie to my grandparents about who I was with and what I was doing a few times. I’d avoided putting myself into situations that would end up with me going to the hospital or possibly getting into trouble. That had never been me.
Yet this was a man who liked to protect. It was what he’d been born to do. Maybe he’d been second-guessing continuing to do this, but some part of me understood now that it was more out of a concern of failure than anything else.
I knew what I had to do.
I did the sign of the cross before I glanced back to see that the three of them hadn’t moved, but I wasn’t a fool enough to believe they didn’t know exactly where I was. They wouldn’t be expecting it though, not unless their ESP was a lot better than mine. I tested the guardrail around the balcony to make sure it was sturdy as inconspicuously as possible.
“You know what to do,” Robert started talking.