Page 108 of Phoenix Falling
Raine gave a humph of a laugh. “Because they’ve believed all their lives that they are human and want to remain so? Because they have a life they don’t wish to leave? Because they don’t want to become some unknown something with a gift they have no way to foresee, that might very well make them the target of literal evil, if they aren’t already?”
I settled my hand on Raine’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze. I had no doubt of the truth of Lyris’s words—not only was she right about all our mothers, but I’d seen the darkness growing in Raine with my own eyes. Nevertheless, she would not be forced; I’d make certain of it.
“You would wish to live in the human world?” Lyris asked.
“I intend to do that either way,” Raine assured her. “I asked my boss for a week off to recover, but I’m going back to work. And to my apartment. I won’t be living here.” She glanced around the room. “Nice as it is.”
“We can’t protect you as well if you’re not here. You won’t have the benefit of the clan.”
“We’ll work something out,” I told Lyris.
“You think Sun will agree to not only let one of our precious females out of the lair, but allow her to go untriggered as well?”
“It might seem ridiculous to you, but Raine has the right to determine her own future.” I had no idea what Sun would agree to, honestly. His mind was full of tradition and honor andprotecting the female.But Raine was mine to protect, not his. “We’ll figure it out.”
One way or another, for Raine, we’d figure it out.
ChapterThirty-Nine
SUN
Ihadn’t seen her in three days. If there was one thing I could say about Rissa, it was that she knew how to avoid someone. Either that or I’d walked right past her a hundred times in another form. Who knew? Either way, I hadn’t seen her. But it was now a half hour before one of the biggest moments of my life, and I’d be damned if it happened without my mate. Her absence had been like a hole inside me since the last time we’d made love.
Which was how I ended up outside the door to her suite, my palms sweating and breath held as I knocked.
Raine pulled the door open, again. She’d answered every time I came by. If Rissa wasn’t actually hiding, she was hiding behind someone. I wasn’t gonna let that deter me anymore either.
“Sun.”
“Raine. Is she here?”
Raine hesitated. Unashamedly using my mass, I pushed my way forward. She backtracked automatically. By the time she realized what she was doing, it was too late and I was already inside.
“Raine, who— Oh, Sun.”
There she was. Everything inside me relaxed at the sight of her. Well, almost everything. My libido had been craving her for days, and there was no calming that without some serious time with my mate—not that I expected that to happen soon. Rissa was nothing if not stubborn.
I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice. “Were you going to come see me?”
Guilt flashed across her face. “I…uh…”
Disappointment spread through me, tainting the moment, flooding me with resentment. “That’s what I thought.”
She glanced at Raine. “I was going to see you at the coronation.”
“You’re my mate. Your place is beside me, not in a crowd.”
Red crept into her cheeks. “I—”
“Rissa, what the hell are we doing?”
Her eyes went wide. Guess she hadn’t expected me to bring things right out in the open, especially not in front of someone else, but she’d given me no choice. I refused to wait any longer.
“Uh, Raine, would you give us some privacy?” Rissa asked. Finally.
“Oh, sure.” Raine’s hands fluttered in the air before she tucked them behind her back. “I’ll just, um, go meet Lyris. She’ll need help with, um, something, I’m sure.”
I held Rissa’s eyes as the door opened and closed. I was tired of being without my mate. I needed her—or at least needed her to make a decision.
