Page 96 of Spiritwarrior

Silas sighed. He was weary of responsibilities. He felt as if he’d already lived a thousand lifetimes. This medallion could destroy everything his family and their ancestors had strived to achieve. They would have to use all of their gifts to protect the cherished artifact.

“Silas?” Fynn’s young voice cracked in fear. “What are we going to do?”

Silas gave the answer he didn’t want to give. How could the delicate piece of jewelry have the power to change the destiny of mankind? Silas couldn’t explain how, only that it did. He had been groomed from birth to follow Mother. His unwaveringloyalty wouldn’t let him shirk the responsibility they had been given.

“We have no choice,” he answered, his voice firm. “We protect it at all costs.”

Jody silently slid out of bed, careful not to wake Sophie. Dressing quietly, he walked out of the bedroom to go into the other room, where he put on his shoes and a jacket before he opened the door to head out.

Striding familiarly in the direction he knew as well as the back of his hand, he made his way to the overlook where his family gathered to watch the stars. The death star was gone after destroying Chastity’s star.

Kneeling, he looked up to the heaven above. “Thank you, Mother, for sparing my soul mate and her loved ones …”

Jody stayed, giving homage to his queen until his muscles ached, only rising when he saw a shooting star racing across the sky.

Rising, he walked back to his trailer. He left the door unlocked and removed his clothes before sliding back in bed to pull Sophie into his arms.

He might be a lowly knight, but Mother had given him a king’s ransom by giving him Sophie as his soul mate. A soul mate he would work hard for each day to earn the honor of calling Sophie his. She had gone to sleep still thinking he had been joking about his family’s gifts; in the morning, he would have to show her the truth of his family’s abilities. She had a place in their family, and he wasn’t willing to keep any more secrets from her. Jody felt an overwhelming emotion as he held her in the darkness. He hadn’t felt it so long that at first, he didn’trecognize what the emotion was before it came to him…it was pure happiness.

Nervously, Jody shifted from one foot to the other, waiting for Sophie’s reaction after witnessing his brothers’ gifts.

She didn’t appear happy as she watched them walking away from the trailer to return to their own homes.

Jody cleared his throat.

“I know it’s a lot to accept at first.”

She stared at him balefully.

“I thought you were joking last night.”

“I wasn’t.”

“I saw that,” she said sarcastically. “You don’t think you could have told me before you asked me to marry you?”

“I wanted to wait until you fell in love with me. I didn’t want you to be afraid of them.”

Her expression gentled. “I could never be afraid of them.”

She would have run in terror if she had seen them last night after she had gone in the house. Jody wisely kept that thought to himself.

“Their gifts can be inherited by their children?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” she gave a long, suffering sigh. “At least all I have to worry about you is passing on your good looks, which combined with my looks, at least the female population will stand a fighting chance.”

Jody stared down at his nails. He needed to clip them.

“Jody?”

Should he go clip his nails now and avoid this conversation or wait…

“Jody!?”

He winced at her loud voice. “Baby…”

His attempt to sweet-talk her failed miserably.

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