Page 52 of Visions of Darkness

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.

---