Page 29 of Gift from the Source
“Fuck, that was incredible,”Draken mumbles.
“Fucking glorious,”Cas agrees.
My eyes close softly and a smile breaks out across my face as their mesmerized voices plus Corentin’s and Tillman’s hums of agreement settleinside my heart. When I turn to face them, I’m met with twenty-one gazes that warm me from the inside out.
Although I don’t really know the three newcomers, I know the look in their eyes. They have an understanding that speaks to me on a whole other level. I’m not the only one experiencing a taste of freedom from decimating that place.
“Now we can go to my tree,” I say as I take my place in the middle of my men.
“You sure, little wanderer?” Draken asks sweetly with a grin on his lips. He’s so pleased with my little improv decision of destruction.
“I’m sure. I’m done here.”
“Finally. I’m so over missions that don’t go to plan,” Ry grunts as he turns and stomps through the trees.
I chuckle at the eye roll Oakly shoots him, followed by the wink she gives me.
“He’s grouchy about the almost being burned to death bit earlier and you having to save him. I’ll cheer him up later.”
“Gross, Oak.”
“Yeah, yeah…”she grumbles before softening her voice.“I’m so proud of you, Willy.”
“Thank you, but I never could’ve done anything without all of you. Especially you, Mrs. Future Most Renowned Archivist. You saved my ass from being squashed to death.”
“Well, now that we know that Carrington was the giant tied to the protection rune, I don’t think you would’ve been squashed to death. Maybe some broken bones.”
“Reassuring, really.”
The newest members of our little ragtag family stare at us like we’re crazy as we laugh into the silence and our guys groan, knowing we’re conversing without them, but they don’t call us out.
My gaze traces over everyone while we trek through the trees and I let my smile linger on each of their auras. The mixtures of yellows, oranges, and shades of pinks make everything that’s happened today so worth it. Despite Ry being pissy, even he’s got a halo of happiness around him. Theonly one whose mood is dimmed is Aria and she must sense my stare or concern. When her head turns toward me, I nod her over.
“You okay? Did something happen?” I ask as she joins Oakly and me.
“I’m okay. It’s that thing, relic…it’s got my ability going haywire. I don’t think the illusionist’s disdain for it is that farfetched,” she whispers.
“What do you mean?” Oakly asks.
“There aren’t complete souls, per se, trapped inside, but there are pieces of them. There’re so many, and they’re screaming out. I don’t know how to explain it really. It’s overwhelming me, to say the least,” she says, blowing out a harsh breath.
“You can still sense it even though it’s in Gaster’s dimension?” I ask with wide eyes.
“Yeah. It’s surrounding him. Not in a harmful way, just its presence,” she tacks on when she sees the panic skirting across my face. “I’m fine, though. It’s not causing me any harm or anything. It’s just taking a lot of my focus not to focus on it.”
Reaching out, I give her hand a reassuring squeeze. “We’re going home, and we’ll get you some space from it. Then we’ll figure out what its true capabilities are.”
She nods, squeezing me back, and I don’t miss the way my brother and his brothers keep looking over their shoulders at her. This is the longest I’ve witnessed a Nexus be close and not have an awakening yet.
Part of me feels guilty for having that knowledge and not sharing it with Lyker, but my more intuitive side tells me I can’t. Just like it told me when I first met Aria that I could and should tell her the truth so she could prepare herself.
My ol’ Alpha wolf brother and his Nexus brothers have some things to learn first apparently.
“Are you ready to try to open a portal?” Aria asks just as the tree line to the clearing comes into view.
“I’m going to have to get my mom’s book out. I’m confident I’ll get the information and instructions I need just like I did with my overview on portals and how to detect them.”
“You’re going to need to know how to close them too,” Trex comments nonchalantly up ahead.
