Page 51 of The Highseer's Mate

I want to go after him—need to—but Kylor is holding me around the middle and for an older male, he’s stronger than I thought.

“Paige,” he says in a voice that is too calm.

I want to tear from his hold and ignore him, find Varek, and say to hell with this place.

“Varek made his choice. Now it is time to focus on your friends.”

Hot tears streak down my cheeks and my insides are splitting apart. If I had known I was going to cause so much trouble, I never would have asked him to hide their existence. I would have done a hundred things differently.

I look over at my friends who are all staring at me. Lara appears as though she wants to come wrap me up in a hug, but everyone else looks confused.

Oh yeah. They can’t understand what’s going on.

Kylor lets me go and I stumble away from him, my legs threatening to give out. I feel naked in front of the Vruts now—like I’m too afraid to stand on my own. Before, I had Varek at my side. He protected me and without even realizing it, he gave me strength.

Now the other women are looking at me, waiting for me to assume the leadership role again when all I want to do is curl into a ball and cry. I’ve made so many damn mistakes up until now, I can’t risk making any more.

“Paige,” Lara calls out. Her brows are knitted as she wrings her hands. “W-what’s going on?”

I let out a ragged breath and wipe my tears. God, I probably look like a mess.

“The Vruts say you can stay. The healer is waiting inside.”

“Inside where?” Ryan blurts out. The bruise across her cheek is a nasty blueish-purple color. Draxel’s eyes snap in her direction as he hears her voice, his grip on Melina tightening.

“The mountain,” I answer, my voice shaking. “Inside the caverns.”

I can’t bring myself to sound excited, like a host ready to take their guests on a full house tour. My heart pounds in my chest. I want to go see Varek, but I don’t even know if I’ll be allowed to.

Ryan scoffs. Nicole nods and says, “Well, let’s hurry. Melina doesn’t have much time.”

I turn to Kylor who is waiting patiently, his cloak wrapped tightly around his shoulders. I can’t tell if I’m imagining it, but his dark eyes seem solemn. Regretful even.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Yes.”

He turns and leads us wordlessly inside the mountain.

I focus on my breathing as I hear my friends behind me taking in the glowhollows. The luminite in the rocky walls is shining as bright as they were the first day Varek dragged me in here, but I suppose I wasn’t paying much attention then.Everything here is gorgeous, or at least it would be if my heart wasn’t cleaved in two.

“Wow, what are these?” Nicole asks.

“Luminite,” I tell her. “Some Vruts call them the glows.”

“They’re beautiful,” she breathes, reaching out to touch one as we walk by. The path widens and Kylor takes a sharp right turn, taking us away from the private chamber I share– err, shared– with Varek.

I don’t know what the future holds anymore.

We walk further, past the kitchens and the path to the spring until Kylor stops and holds his hand up to a leather that looks freshly hung. It’s still curled a bit on the edges like the animal was only slaughtered recently and the humidity in the air of this place hasn’t yet wrung out all the tension. I swallow hard and pull the edge of the leather up for Lara to step inside first.

Nicole follows her. Then Draxel, who bows so his head doesn’t hit the ceiling—Melina in his arms. Ryan shoots me a look before following.

Kylor begins to walk away but I grab him by the shoulder, a million questions swirling around in my head. His brows raise as he waits, but then my mouth is too dry and I can’t force even a single one out. I don’t know what to ask and I don’t want to get Varek in even more trouble.

He nods his head as if he understands the torment. “You may visit him.”

A jolt tumbled through me, fluttering my stomach.

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