Page 95 of Gift from the Nexus

“What the hell was that?” he asks, winded, once the chaos stops.

The sudden calm is unnerving, though, and I look around at the still intact but now visible ward.

“It’s not over,” I whisper, feeling the small vibrations continue to build up and up through the ward. “Hold on,” I yell at him as the tremble becomes painful.

A sonic boom bellows through the forest, shaking the surface of the realm, flattening surrounding trees and sending the wildlife fleeing. Quickly, I turn my head back to make sure our wall is still standing strong, and I breathe a small sigh of relief when I see it is, but that breath was premature. At least for us.

As the ward comes crashing down, the two of us get swept up in the force of the wind and we go barreling through the air, over our wall, and through the trees. Branches and leaves smack us around before my own air shoots out of me, encasing us together in a bubble.

Our protective globe bounces off the ground like a basketball, then bursts midair, sending us tumbling across the greenery in a heap of limbs. I land hard on top of Lyker, both of us gasping for air as the winds knocked out of us.

“Shit,” I wheeze, rolling off him and onto all fours while I try to force air into my lungs. He’s in no better shape, so I reach my hand over and lay it on his chest, pushing some of my element into him to help him catch his breath, then I do the same for myself.

There’s a beat of silence as we take deep breaths, then Lyker breaks out into hysterical laughter, pulling himself and me up to our feet at the same time.

“Fuck. I think we did it,” he says, smiling.

“Ya think?” I chuckle.

The cracking of limbs and heavy footsteps sounding to my right tell me my men are trampling their way through the woods, looking for me, and I can sense they’re close.

I kinda figured it was coming, but as they break out of the cluster of trees and halt when they see me, I know that’s my ass. Tillman has tremors shaking through his body and even laying eyes on me doesn’t calm them down completely. Draken is in full predator mode. Glowing cobalt eyes and claws for hands. Caspian’s little devilish smirk may fool some, but that’s not the sexy grin I get when he’s up to something. That’s the I’m looking forward to delivering your punishment look. And Corentin’s blank mask screams I’m in deep shit.

“Am I in trouble?”

“So fucking much trouble, princess,” he says gruffly before stomping up to me and capturing my mouth in a world-shattering kiss. It’s so devouring, I forget for a second we have company until Lyker clears his throat awkwardly.

“Can we go see what we uncovered before y’all get into…that…”

Snorting, I quickly cover it up and force my face to be serious because the guys did not find that shit amusing one bit by the deadly glares they’re shooting my way.

“I swear I didn’t know that was going to happen. It was as much of a surprise to me as all of you,” I say when the tense silence starts to bother me as we make our way back toward the others.

“You didn’t see that coming?” Tillman asks.

“No, I promise I didn’t. I wasn’t even sure if adding my blood to Lyker’s would work. It was a trial-and-error thing.”

“Well, next time there’s a trial-and-error thing, how about don’t block us off from you,” Caspian snides.

I don’t like the attitude one bit, but I understand where it’s coming from. Caspian lashes out with sarcastic-ass remarks or cold words when he’s upset, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

“We didn’t know what was about to happen. So everyone’s safety was a concern at that moment. You four, Gaster, Oakly, her Nexus, Aria, Lyker’s brothers. I wasn’t trying to block you out. I was trying to protect my entire family,” I say softly.

I’m not trying to come across defensive, but I want them to know my motives were more than just keeping them out. Literally, almost everyone I love is here. I wouldn’t have survived if something had happened to one of them because of this.

Their emotions simmer down a smidge at that, but none of them speak. Instead, Draken takes one hand and squeezes, while Corentin takes the other. Tillman sends me a pulse of understanding down the bond, followed by a heady dose of love, and Caspian doesn’t make a move closer to me or responds, but I feel his shadows circle the wrist opposite my bracelet and sit there.

“Holy shit,” I mumble as we climb over the last batch of fallen trees and see what was behind the ward.

A cobblestone path weaves its way through a stretch of lush green grass that’s teeming with flowers and plants. Following the mismatched brick road with my eyes, I see the most beautiful, enchanting cottage nestled in the flourishing meadow. With a moss-covered roof that’s sprouting wildflowers, irregular shapes and rounded edges, it’s like a perfect storybook design.

My mind can’t map out every feature fast enough, but I sure as shit try. From the quirky, crooked chimney to the lavender door, I take it all in. Lanterns hang with a magical, never-ending flame from the front porch post, casting an ever-changing dance across the windows.

Oh, Elementra…the windows.

Stained glass windows flicker with the light emitting from both the flame and the sun, creating a breathtaking story happening right before my eyes. The kaleidoscope of colors merges into depictions of creatures I could recognize anywhere.

Wolves and dragons.

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