Page 24 of Rebirth

“And if we don’t get on this, I won’t get to enjoy this new beginning.” She meets my gaze. Gone is the frightened female who hid behind a narrow tree, scared of me. “You saved my world once before. It seems only right I help ensure it stays saved.” A wry smile tugs at her lips, chasing shadows from her face. “Besides, you said it yourself—the war isn’t over yet.”

A growl rumbles in my chest at her stubborn will, her fearlessness. And yet, in its own way, her persistence gladdens me. That spark she’s lit within me brightening at our simple exchange.

“Very well,” I say again. “I will tell the others. There is more work to be done.”

* * *

SOPHIE

I sit at a round table, pack braced against my chair where Mina set it down. Sitting alongside me, she braces her elbows against the dark material that makes the table, steepling her fingers as she rests her chin on them.

On my other side, my new partner sits. Back straight, eyes forward, He’rox is just as silent as the other Vullan in this room. And there are several of them. Four to be exact, and three other females not counting Mina. They may all be different, obviously not related, but all have something in common. They all wear a similar suit as Mina does. Like thick black ink, it sits on their skin and the more I look at it, at them, I swear I see it move.

“Why have you summoned us here?” The voice is so deep, almost like an animal growling, that at first, I don’t recognize he’s speaking words. Fierce eyes that look like fiery lava pierce across the table, directed at He’rox.

Beside him, a female leans forward, and I get the sense those two are in charge. Adira, she’d introduced herself as. And beside her sits Fer’ro. Her mate, she’d said.

And if that information was not enough to shock me, the others had arrived.

Sitting in a room that seems choked with the intensity of the Vullan, I can’t help but feel small…almost useless. And the females that sit by their side are just as all-encompassing as they are—almost as if they’re no longer human, carrying much greater power and strength than their forms suggest.

It doesn’t take long for me to put two and two together.

They are all mated. All pairs.

That reality is staggering.

And now it all makes sense. The way San’ten had growled at those men when I arrived.

He is Mina’s.

I glance at them now, noticing how Mina closes her eyes, breathing deep as if she’s trying to calm herself, and how San’ten sits still, everything about him like still death except he’s snarling, every second his rage becoming more evident but does not seem to be directed at anyone in particular.

The other couples, a woman named Sam and her Vullan mate Ga’Var, and another woman named Deja and her mate Fi’rox, sit calmly. Waiting.

“There is work to be done.” He’rox’s words seem to fall on static air. Hanging there, as everyone’s focus zones in on him.

Fer’ro narrows his eyes, gaze flicking to me for a brief moment before returning to He’rox. “What work? We have purged the Gryken from this world. Wherever they are left, they are being cut down now that humanity has the weapons to defend itself. We have fulfilled our purpose.”

“Not entirely.” He’rox glances at me, and I offer what I hope is an encouraging smile. This is it—our chance to convince them the threat isn’t over yet. “There are…concerns that require investigation.”

The female—Adira—leans forward, bracing her forearms on the table. Her suit ripples over her skin, shadows chasing shadows. “Explain.”

He’rox inclines his head. “The veins.”

Silence falls on the group, and I glance from one to the other. It’s clear they already knew about these veins. Their reaction says it all. But then, Mina shatters.

“I knew it,” she says. She grips her head, digging her fingers so hard through her hair as she grips her skull that my eyes widen in alarm.

San’ten growls, reaching for her, but she shakes her head, even while accepting his embrace.

I blink several times, struggling to follow the rapid exchange of information. Questions race through my mind as I try in vain to piece together meaning from the fragments of unspoken conversation around me.

“I felt it. Even though they were dying I could still feel them. I can still feel them.” Mina’s voice trembles and there is a haunted look in her eyes as she stares at the table, not seeing it before her, but seeing something else entirely behind those eyes.

I frown at her words, glancing at He’rox for some understanding. His gaze is unreadable as he looks down at me.

“Mina and I…” he says after a few moments. “We have something in common.”

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