Page 54 of Visions of Darkness

Nearly frantic, Aria turned back to the water, leaning forward to peer deeper. “Valeen,” she begged. “Do you hear me? Do you see me? What is happening to me?”

“Aria, do not be afraid.” The female voice was haunting, so quiet Aria wasn’t sure she was even hearing it.

“Why me?” she asked anyway, tears still blurring down her face.

A face passed by in the ripple of the water, a vapor that twisted through like a ghost, though Aria heard her words before she was gone. “Because you are the only one who has the power to defeat this evil.”

“Valeen,” she pleaded, and she reached into the water, stirring it the way Ellis had done. “Valeen.”

But she was gone, and Aria was no closer to understanding what was happening than when she’d come.

“Ellis.” His name was ragged on her tongue.

With both of them on their knees, he pulled her into his arms. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How do you know?” she choked out.

“I have faith in you. And we will do everything in our own power to understand how and why. To fight it alongside you. Every one of your Laven family is to search. To listen. To protect.”

He leaned closer to her ear. “And you have Valeen. I understand it now. It’s what I’ve always felt in you.”

His words were only more confounding, and she held tighter to him. “I want Pax.”

She knew the admission was a clear confession of her heart. She couldn’t bring herself to care or to hide it.

Ellis went rigid, his spine stiffening where he’d once been soft.

Aria jerked back. “Where is he?”

Worry passed through his features. “He has not come tonight.”

“What do you know?” she pleaded, seeing the torment in his eyes.

Ellis shook his head as he edged back to hold her hands. “Each of us has our choices, Aria. I just pray you both make the right ones.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I pray that Pax will follow his duty and not do something that might put you both at a greater risk than you already are. But let’s not consider that now. You need to rest. You are weary, and you need to find your strength here.”

She clutched his shirt. “Ellis, please.”

What she was begging him for, she didn’t know.

Reaching out, he cupped her cheek. “Believe in yourself, brave girl. Do not let them steal that from you. Now, you must rest so you can fight while awake. I will seekThe Book of Continuanceand see if there is anything I can find. We will do everything we can to protect you.”

And for the second night in a row, Aria found rest within the safety of Tearsith.

During that time, she ached. Ached for her Nol.

Her Nol who never showed.

Chapter Fourteen

Aria

I awoke the next morning, blinking through the perplexity of what had happened last night. Wondering if I’d had a true interaction with Valeen or if the trauma had made me start imagining things.

One thing I knew was that I was unendingly thankful for the day.

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