Page 33 of Visions of Darkness

But he also couldn’t imagine putting her more at risk by going to her, either.

That didn’t make any of this less unbearable, though, did it?

He dropped to his knees at her side. His stomach twisted in agony while his spirit coiled in hatred.

He had no idea what had happened to her. What had caused this or what was wrong with her. But if anyone had hurt her? They would pay.

“Aria, are you okay?” His voice scraped through the horror clotting his throat. Carefully, he turned her over where she lay in the deep grasses, and he slipped an arm under her upper back to support her, frantic as he brushed away the long locks of her black hair so he could see her face.

Her skin was always pale, but normally, it glowed with life. Tonight, it was pasty and dull.

“Aria, talk to me. I need to know you’re okay.”

She moaned something incoherent, and her lips barely moved as she mumbled, “Pax.”

The smallest amount of relief heaved from him at that.

At least she could hear him.

“It’s okay. I have you. I have you. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise you.” Every word was gritted out, an oath forever carved on his spirit, one he would do anything to keep. “I have you.”

Slipping his other arm under her frail body, he lifted her as he pushed to standing.

He carried her over the lush, green grasses of the meadow, his boots thudding as he treaded through the ankle-high vingas toward their Laven family, who sat along the brook that ran through the clearing.

Dani jumped to her feet when she saw them coming. “Oh my God, what happened? Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. She passed out the moment she stepped into Tearsith.” Fear ground out with his words.

Dani took Aria’s hand, and she searched her face. “Are you okay, Aria? Can you hear me?”

A low sound rolled from Aria’s throat.

Concerned awareness rippled through the mass of Laven, and in curiosity, they began to gather, their worry thick and clouding the normally tranquil peace of their sanctuary.

“Everyone back.” It whipped from Pax’s mouth on a command, his voice hurtling through the air with a viciousness he could not contain.

When they made room, he knelt and gingerly set Aria on the thick bed of grass.

Ellis and Josephine pushed through the crowd. Worry twisted across Ellis’s face when he saw them, and he was quick to kneel at Aria’s side.

“What has happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Frustration carved Pax’s response into blades.

Josephine stooped down. He could almost hear her bones creak, her long, gray hair wiry and thin. She lifted a hand and danced her fingertips over Aria’s brow and across her neck.

“She is drained,” she said, her voice hoarse. “Completely drained.”

She moved to the stream and dipped her fingers into the cool water and returned to dribble the droplets onto Aria’s lips. Aria’s tongue stroked out to receive the moisture.

“There, sweet child. You must rest.”

“What does it mean?” Pax could hardly force the question from his mouth.

Uncertainty furrowed Ellis’s brow. “I am unsure, but it seems her energy has been zapped.”

Dread pulled through Pax’s being, terror at the thought of what might have caused it. Here, in Tearsith, he wouldn’t be able to see if shehad any physical injuries, their sanctuary shielding their bodies from any wounds they’d sustained both while awake and while in Faydor.

---