Page 89 of Fractured Souls

Thank you for bringing me home, Alexis Carter. I am eternally in your debt. I must ask something of you now… I have no right to demand this, but I need you to let me take over. This wayward son will not trust any of you. He would die before revealing a thing to these Kordolians. This situation is dangerous, Alexis. If he feels hopeless, he will provoke them. He hopes for a swift death.

The strain was immense. It was taking huge willpower just for Anuk to be here; conscious, speaking in her mind.

Please. Trust me.

Alexis had to make a snap decision. She felt Anuk’s irresistible pull. She could give in so easily, surrender control even though it went against all her instincts.

Nythian’s arm was warm and solid against her chest. His body was her anchor.

Safe in his arms, she could do anything.

For the first time in her life, she understood what it meant to trust another person so completely you would give up everything.

“Hey Nythian,” she said softly, leaning into his powerful embrace. “I have to do a thing right now. I just want you to know that I’m doing this willingly. You’re going to want to flip out, but don’t threaten, don’t go violent. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Everything.

Just let go.

She submerged, letting the Tharian take full control of her mind, her body, her free will.

It was like being buried under an avalanche, only she was floating…

She was above, and she could see everything. It was the strangest feeling. She was both free and tethered, bound to her body and yet closer to that other place, the one she’d seen when she’d died on the Malachi.

There was Nythian, standing with his arms around her, his body dangerously tense, one hand reflexively going to his blade… for all the good that would do. His jaw was clenched, his nostrils flaring, his crimson eyes so cold and dangerous she would have been afraid if not for the fact that she knew him by now, and she knew he was keeping himself under control… only just.

“Alexis.” Nythian’s grip tightened. He gripped her chin and tilted her face upwards, staring into her eyes. Only they weren’t her eyes anymore. They glowed green.

Nythian’s demeanor changed instantly. “If you do anything to her, Tharian…”

“Be calm, Kordolian. She has nothing to fear from me. I am indebted to her.”

It’s okay, Nythian. Alexis wanted to reach out and touch him, but she couldn’t do a thing.

She was just a spectator here.

Anuk focused on the Tharian male and began to speak in a low, melodic tongue, her speech punctuated by strange whistles and reverberations that should not have been possible from a human throat.

The Tharian started to tremble. His eyes went wide. His fists opened and clenched, and suddenly he dropped to his knees. He placed his hands on the floor and bent over, touching his forehead to the dark surface, chanting a kind of prayer.

And slowly, impossibly, the words filtered into Alexis’s consciousness, and she began to understand.

“Oh, get up, child,” she/Anuk said as she gently broke away from Nythian’s embrace. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he let her go, even though his eyes were fierce, his entire body poised and ready to strike at the first hint of danger.

This male would kill for her. He wouldn’t tolerate anything less than complete possession of her, and in return, he gave her this…

This scarily intense loyalty, which made her melt over and over again.

The Tharian rose to his feet, still trembling. His hands shook like crazy. Tears welled in his eyes. “H-how are you here? And in the company of these groundless demons? Have they hurt you? I’ll kill them all…” He rolled back his sleeves, exposing his bare cerulean hands. If they were anything like Alexis’s black hand, then he would be extremely dangerous to Ektans and his men.

“Don’t move, Rucha.” Anuk walked slowly toward him and placed her—their—hand on his forehead. “Peace to you. I am here now, and as unlikely as it seems, these Kordolians speak the truth. They will not harm you.”

“How can you trust them when they’ve killed so many of us?”

“Remember what we always say, child. There is good and evil in every living being. These ones are capable of anything… but now they lean toward the light. Do as they ask, Rucha. I want you to take them to the Eternal Portal of Souls.”

“The Portal? But that is sacred—”

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