Nephilius - A Walker Saga Book 5 (29 page)

I
swall
owed my tears, forcing my lips up in
another smile attempt. “I did nothing but fall into that Utopia
world.”

He moved his
hands up to cradle my face
. It seemed as
if every time he saw me lately he was touching my face. “You’re a
gift, sweetheart, don’t ever doubt that.”

He didn’t
remember that the Seventine had ruined
‘sweetheart’ for us, but in that moment, I didn’t even
care. His use of the endearment again, brought every piece of joy
back to the word.

“Brace. Can we go home, darling?”

He turned his head to smile at his mother.
Before turning back to devastate me with his soft gaze again.

“
I’m going
to take them home
. I’ll see you
soon.”

I felt my brows draw together.

“
We still
have to finish the tournament on Nephilius.” His murmur was close
to my cheek. And then with an exhalation he brus
hed his fingers gently along my face and left.

Damn, Brace
should just stab me in the heart whenever he saw
me
; it’d be less painful.

Josian
didn’t mention anything when I caught up to him and thankfully he
accepted the tears streaming down my face without needing to ask
questions. Delane was across the room with her fellow Angelica,
trying to explain to them where they had been for
such a long time.

There had been twelve Angelica and eight
Walkers in the room. Twenty total, which was but a fraction of what
we had found in the dark mountain.

Josian
seemed to think it was these twenty who provided much of the energy
to power the cage. They were necessary to the bigger
plan
, which had been to suck all of
Nephilius into the Isle of Souls. That was where the real power
would have been.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the
Seventine? I was feeling something along the lines of
stab-them-in-the-eye when I see them next.

Josian
opened a doorway to Neol the tournament land, and we helped the
Angelica through before leaving them with their flock members.
Steva
had been overjoyed that we’d freed
the Isle of Souls. In fact, her wizened features had almost creased
into a smile and she’d even touched my arm. Which was a huge show
of affection for the Angelica.

After
promising we’d be back t
he next day for
the broad-sword portion of the tournament, Josian and I left for
First World.

Lucy and Lallielle barreled into me the
moment I stepped through the front door.

“
Thank
god
,” Lucy sobbed into my
shirt.

I met the light green eyes of my mother over
her head.

“
I’m
fine
,” I assured her.

She kissed
my cheek. “I was so worried. But I knew you’d be
fine
; you’re strong and resourceful, and
I’m so proud of you.”

I smiled
through my weariness. The huge levels of energy that had run in and
out of my body
were taking their toll. I
was going to crash soon.

“Go to bed, baby girl.” Josian brushed my
hair back. “I’ll wake you in time to make it back to
Nephilius.”

I
practically dragged Lucy across the floor and up the stairs. She
finally let go of my arm when we were safely inside and sprawled
across my bed. The smell of my clothes wafted up at
us
. I wrinkled my nose and with a sigh
pulled myself up.

“I need a shower.”

“
Actually
, Abbs, I think you need
to be taken out the back and hosed down,” Lucy said as she shoved
me toward the bathroom.

She followed
me in and dropped on the floor, her back against the wall. I
focused on her for a moment
. Her face was
tear stained, eyes puffy, and then like magic the red started to
fade off her skin. The same way as it did for me. Pixies didn’t
heal quite as fast as Walkers, but it was pretty close.

I pulled off my dirty clothes, shoving them
into the hamper, before jumping into the shower. I used the energy
stream to turn the water almost scalding hot. In my core I was
still freezing cold.

“Where’s Colt?” I called out to Lucy.

“
In the dog
house
,” she replied. “And he better get
used to being in there.”

“I’m guessing he forced you back here
instead of searching for me.” I was sitting on the floor, my legs
drawn up with my arms hugged around them.

“Yes,” she sort of growled. “Apparently I’m
too small and weak to be of any use.”

I inhaled
sharply
. Hell no. “He didn’t actually say
that, right?”

She snorted
out a harsh laugh. “Well
, not exactly. He
peppered it with some crap about his mate being precious and he
can’t live if anything happened to me. But in the end he didn’t
trust me to be out searching for my best friend.”

And I’d bet Lucy’s famous temper got the
better of her in that situation. With a sigh, I decided to add a
little fuel to her already flaming fire.

“
I’m not
saying what he did was right or fair, but Walkers don’t think like
Earth men. You truly are precious to him
,
and he would not be able to live without you. You’re his other half
… imagine if you lost him.” I had to clear my throat, forcing my
own emotions down. This was not about me.

I heard her audible intake of breath,
followed by another sob.

“
It’s not
something you and I have to think about too much
, because our men are pretty much indestructible. But we
could still lose them, Luce. Don’t be mad at him because he loves
you too much. Every sentient species, of every world, searches
their whole lives for a love like that.”

“
Whose side
are you on, Abigail?”
she groaned at
me.

I laughed.
“Always yours. But I know you
’re going to
be miserable fighting with him. You two have to learn to find a
compromise between his over-protectiveness and your need to be
crazy and independent.”

It was a
balance Brace and I naturally had, but Lucy was someone that
inspired the protective instincts
in
everyone around her, and Colton was even more overbearing due to
his wolf side. There was something animalistic about Colton. He
fought against his wolf instincts, but sometimes he
lost.

“I’m not used to this mate thing.” I heard
tears in her voice again. “I told him I hated him, and he said that
was fine as long as I was safe.” Her voice broke a few times. “But
I saw the pain I caused him and … he even had a few tears which he
thought I didn’t see.”

Big tough
Colton was a softy under all of that growl and fur. And he loved
his little pixie
; anyone could see
that.

“Shit. I’ve got to go find him, Abbs. Will
you be okay?”

Her voice
sounded higher
. She was on her feet and
already moving.

“
See you
soon
,” I said as the door to my bathroom
slammed open and shut again. I dropped my head forward until it
rested on my knees.

I was so
tired, and cold. Deep aching shudders threaten
ed to wrack my body, but I held them at bay, forcing my
limbs to remain still.

Are you okay
?

I jumped
about a hundred feet in the air
. Okay, it
was like two, but it felt higher. How the hell was Brace in my
head?

How are you in my head?

Might as well ask him the question.

He laughed.

I’m not in your head
.
I just reached out to contact you and found your shield down. I
thought I’d check if you were doing okay.

Damn, what the hell was with my shielding? I
knew in this form of communication he could really only hear what I
sent to him, or thoughts I projected very loudly. He could not
search around in my head, and considering all the secrets I was
keeping that was a good thing.

I’m okay, just a little cold. How are your
mother and Caty?

His voice
sounded lower.
Keep an eye on
the cold.

I was already feeling warmer just hearing
his voice.

And they’re doing great
. The Abernath people are showering them with presents and
parties. Although both of them are in the same situation as you:
tired and cold. Mostly they’re looking for some rest.

There was a
pause, a comfortable moment where we just sat in silence. If this
w
ere the old Brace I’d have asked him why
his mother hated me, and how he truly felt about finding his
family.

I’d want to
hear the joy in his voice and feel the love in his mind. Of
course
, if it were old Brace I wouldn’t
even need to ask; I’d be feeling it all in his head.

I’m looking forward to seeing you in the
morning.

I could tell
he wanted to say more
. The pauses felt
too much like someone who was skirting around the real reason for
contacting me. But I didn’t push – very unlike me – because
sometimes there was no going back. And if I’d learned anything the
last few weeks it was that I needed him to still be in my life. It
kept me from going completely crazy.

Bye, Abby.

I
t felt like a caress stroked my
body as he left. Closing my eyes, I let the tears fall, the shower
washing away the evidence of my pain.

Abbs.

I gasped, realizing that Brace hadn’t
exactly left when I thought he had.

Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’re killing me.
There was an extended pause.
I’m coming there right now.

No. I’m fine
, Brace.
Just overwhelmed with everything that’s been happening.

There was no
reply. I flew to my feet
, just about
killing myself by slipping and falling through the shower door. As
I scrambled back to my feet, the air rushed around me drying the
water on my body. I dived into my closet and found underwear, jeans
and a simple white shirt. There was no time for anything
dressier.

Meanwhile my
heart was beating at a million miles an hour. I had a terrible
feeling I’d just made a mistake
, and now
I was going to have no choice but to explain myself.

I felt Josian’s energy outside my door.

“
Come in,
Dad
,” I yelled.

My door slid across, silent as it
disappeared into the groove.

“
Brace is
here
,” Josian said, stepping further into
my room. Everything shrunk around the massive Walker as he reached
my side. “Do you want me to get rid of him? Because I’m pretty sure
I could take him.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, a cheeky
grin creasing his handsome face.

I gave him a
hug. It had taken me a bit of time to get used to the need Walkers
had for touch and affection, but now I
found myself craving some contact.

“
I think
maybe he’s here to demand some answers
.
He has dreams about us, and seems confused a lot,” I whispered as
Josian pulled me close into his side. “Do you think I could explain
to him what happened and maybe then he could help me maintain the
separation? It’s too hard with him trying to push for a
relationship. I can’t resist him.”

Josian
didn’t answer straight away; he was staring out
at the view through my balcony doors. “Brace is a really
smart guy, with an analytical mind perfectly suited for battle.
Which is part of the reason Que was so hard on him. His father saw
the potential in him and used these assets of his son to form a
formidable leader.” His eyes narrowed. “But when Brace met you he
changed, even more so once you were melded. In some ways he’s more
base instinct and animalistic than many mated Walkers.”

Except Colton.

“Why do you think he’s like that?” I asked
in a tight voice.

“Because you’re special … important. Without
you the worlds would come to an end. So fate decreed you a
protector who would stop at nothing to keep you safe, who puts you
first above all else.”

And that was
the part which made no sense to me. Why Lucy’s vision made no
sense. Brace and I were strong together
.
We had a melding bond which was more unbreakable than even the
Walkers’ normal mating. Why the hell, then, would my power be
weakened bonded to him?

And then in
a blinding flash of realization I cursed out loud. Following that
with lots of other four
-letter
words.

“
Damn, baby
girl, I don’t even want to kn
ow where you
learned those phrases,” Josian said while he gripped my
arms.

“It had to be false.” I was still cursing
under my breath. “There’s no way I was supposed to break the
melding bond.”

Josian’s
features pal
ed under my words.

“
Aribella.
Take a moment to think this through
. You
need to be careful with what you do now.” Josian spoke slowly. “I
concede that a discussion with Brace is the logical next step, but
before you reform any bond you need to speak with the lalunas. They
can help us understand what this might bring.”