Page 20 of Her Immortal Protector

Isit on the edge of the bed, my mind reeling as Christos paces in front of me. His wings twitch nervously, casting strange shadows on the cabin walls.

"Aria, there's something I need to tell you." His voice is low, urgent. "We're leaving. All of us. The vrakken, I mean."

I blink, trying to process his words. "Leaving? To where?"

He takes a deep breath. "To Protheka. It's... another world. The place we originally came from."

My jaw drops. Another world? I knew the vrakken were otherworldly in a sense, but this... this is beyond anything I could have imagined.

"Our deity, Akeldama, is taking us there," Christos continues. "The time has come for us to go to our true home."

I feel like I've been punched in the gut. "So you're... leaving? Just like that?"

His green eyes meet mine, filled with a mix of longing and sorrow. "I have to. But Aria, I..." He hesitates, then rushes on. "I don't want to leave you behind."

My heart races. "What are you saying?"

"You have a choice," he says softly. "I can help you get away from here, back to your life. Or..." He swallows hard. "You can come with us. But that would mean going through the Change."

The Change. The process that turned Christos into a vrakken. The one I've seen fail so horrifically.

"If I don't Change?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

Christos's face crumples. "Then I leave you here. Either way, I'm going to Protheka."

I feel like I'm drowning, gasping for air as the weight of his words crashes over me. Leave everything I've ever known? Risk death to become something... other? Or lose Christos forever?

My mind spins, trying to grasp the enormity of the choice before me.

"I know it's an impossible decision," he says softly. "The Change is dangerous, Aria. Many don't survive it. But if you do..." He trails off, leaving the implications hanging in the air between us.

My heart races as I consider the options. Both seem impossible.

"How long do I have to decide?" I ask, my voice trembling.

"Not long," Christos admits. "A few days."

I stand up abruptly, needing to move, to do something with the nervous energy coursing through me. "This is insane," I mutter, pacing the small room. "A week ago, I was chasing down corporate corruption. Now I'm considering leaving Earth for an alien planet?"

Christos watches me, his expression pained. "I'm sorry, Aria. I never meant for any of this to happen. I should have left you alone, but I couldn't... I couldn't stay away."

I stop pacing and face him. "Do you regret it? Meeting me?"

He shakes his head without hesitation. "Never. But I regret putting you in this position."

I sink back down onto the bed, my mind whirling with possibilities and fears. The journalist in me is fascinated, itching to learn more about this new world. But the human in me is terrified, aware of all I'd be leaving behind.

I pace the small room, my mind a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions. The weight of Christos's revelation presses down on me, making it hard to breathe. Another world. A complete transformation. Leaving everything behind.

My fingers brush against the rough wood of the cabin wall as I try to steady myself. I think about my life on Earth – the endless nights poring over documents, chasing leads, always pushing for the truth. The adrenaline rush of uncovering that corporate scandal, followed by the terror of being hunted. It strikes me that I've always been searching for something bigger, something beyond the ordinary.

And now, here it is. The biggest story of all time, right in front of me.

But the cost... My humanity. My family, though we're not close. My career that I've worked so hard to build. Can I really give all that up?

I glance at Christos, his otherworldly beauty both enthralling and terrifying. The thought of losing him, of returning to my old life knowing what I know now, makes my chest ache in a way I can't quite explain.

"Tell me more about Protheka," I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

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