Page 145 of The Lands Defying

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I slowly begin to move my head down. Scared, hopeful.

Ba-bump.

My eyes land on Rhea.

Ba-bump.

The glow of the water brightens.

Ba-bump.

Her power that bled into the water is suddenly sucked right back into her.

Ba-bump.

Her body arches.

Ba-bump.

A gasp.

Ba-bump

Her eyes flutter.

Ba-bump.

They open.

Ba- bump, ba-bump, ba-bump.

And then, my knees buckle.

Forty Four

Rhea

Green eyes lock with mine as we crash into water below us. I suck in a breath at its coldness, my eyes fluttering as I’m hauled into a warm body.

“Rhea,” Darius breathes, and his arms tremble around me. “Fuck…Fuck!”

“Darius?” I whisper, bringing my arms up to come around his neck as I cough.

Why is my throat so dry?

Darius’s face goes into my neck as he hauls me closer, my legs on either side of his waist. His breaths are choppy on my neck, his body trembling as his fingers dig into me.

I blink, looking over his shoulder and recognize my cave. Flowers are scattered everywhere, and is that…are they blessings?

“Vihnarn.” His trembling intensifies, and a sound comes from him that I have never heard before. “Vihnarn.”

It makes my heart beat faster, and he moves a hand to it, fingers digging in.

I try to speak, but all I can do is release a choked sound, my throat thick.

What has happened?

He pulls his head back, hands on my face as he looks at me so intensely, touching me everywhere.

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