Page 20 of Gift from the Source
“He…he…fuck, I don’t know what to do right now. I’ve read minimally on them. They can talk, right? They’re plenty smart. But have unmatched strength,”Willow whispers.
“He can talk, but I’m afraid right now, he’s on the verge of feeling cornered,”I tell her.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I promise,” Will mumbles, holding her hands up toward the giant.
His eyes soften on her.
Then he charges.
“Shit. Carrington, be easy,” Xander shouts as he and Dec rush behind Willow, blocking us from getting to her. “Don’t attack him. He won’t hurt her.”
My vines shoot out, wrapping the two brothers up to move them the fuck out of my way, and shadows spread across the giant’s legs. We ignorethe two of them as Corentin and Draken barrel forward, but they stop when we hear Will’s sweet voice.
“It’s okay, big guy. Everything’s going to be okay now.” She coos as though she’s speaking to a baby, not a fucking giant.
Said giant, I guess Carrington, gently sways back and forth as he holds her cradled to his chest. He softly hums repeatedly the more she shushes him and pats him on the back.
What she can reach of his back.
“If he doesn’t stop hugging my little wanderer, I’m going to fry his ass,” Draken says, causing the giant to spin Willow away from us and growl menacingly at him.
To which Draken growls back.
Fuck me.
“No one’s going to hurt you or me, I promise. Let’s introduce ourselves, okay? Will you put me down?” Will asks softly.
Carrington tilts his head down to look at her, then over at all of us before giving her a clipped nod. The size difference between the two of them is absolutely petrifying and it takes everything in me to hold my position.
“Explain, now,” Corentin whisper-yells at the brothers when we release them.
“This is Carrington. He’s been tasked with protecting Willow’s blood for…some years now. It’s ingrained in him, so when he smelled her…” Dec trails off.
“He had the urge to protect.” I finish, releasing a deep breath.
“Come on, Car, get it together and show some manners,” Xander says playfully.
Carrington’s face turns a red shade as he takes a step away from Willow, rubbing the back of his neck like an embarrassed teenager.
“Uh, sorry about that,” he says sheepishly as he clears his throat.
“It’s okay. No harm done.” Willow laughs, walking toward us.
I sense the adrenaline pumping through her with every step she takes. Part of her knew everything was okay, while the other was scared to death that she was about to get squashed.
“Fuck, that’s exactly what I was feeling,”she says as she crashes into my chest and the rest of our family surrounds us.
“I can’t wait any longer,” a breathy voice sounds from behind us, seconds before Trex barges through our group.
Dec and Xander pale as though they’ve seen a ghost, but the stupor is broken when Trex pulls them in for a hug. The three of them fall into each other silently. No words are spoken, but you can feel the emotions in the air. They have so much to catch up on, it’s ridiculous, but for now they seem more concerned with just making sure this is real.
“Hold tight,” Trex mumbles.
A hiss falls from Dec’s throat when Trex places his forehead to his, and the small beam of light passing between the two of them makes the entire room fall quiet as we stare in fascination. Keeper is the only one to react, and he moves closer to them, watching the process keenly.
Once Trex finishes with Dec, he moves to Xander, repeating the same thing, and right before our eyes, the two men seem to come to life.
They stand taller, their skin brightens, and their dull eyes begin to shine. Just like when Keeper and Aria helped Trex, it’s as though life has been breathed back into them with the rune removed.
