"You aren't leaving us, are you, Aaron?" He turned to find Kai on his feet.
Aaron realized he couldn't abandon these people. They needed him, too.
As he walked back to take his seat, he felt light. He'd shared everything with her.
Her dragon had reached out to him through the evolving mating bond. The animal had already recognized him as her mate.
He'd just have to trust that the fierce, passionate woman she was would also make the right choice when the time came.
40
Hope
Hope had never felt so helpless in her entire life. When she’d heard Aaron speak, the pain and loneliness in him had reached out to her.
It was only when she’d stood next to him that she’d realized the depth of his grief had pulled her to him.
She’d wanted to soothe him, to share the hurt and anger that cut through him. She hadn't realized until then how much Zayn had meant to him.
She couldn't imagine losing any one of her siblings, knowing it would hurt beyond comparison if any one of them were to be harmed in any way. Hope couldn't even begin to imagine the devastation he must have felt to lose his twin.
He'd laid his soul bare to her. He'd shown her who he was, told her why she was important to him.
Aaron thought Hope gave his life meaning…and she believed him.
For he did the same for her.
When she’d touched him, and he’d looked up at her, she’s seen herself reflected in his eyes. She’d felt the depth of feeling she had for him.
Both the dragon and the woman had been in sync. She’d felt her soul reach out to him, wanting to twine with his. If she had stayed a second longer, she had no doubt she'd have opened herself mind, body, and soul to the mating bond.
And then it would be too late, and she couldn't do that. She couldn't risk the force of the psychic bond hurting him. Not when she realized how much he'd come to mean to her.
She'd done the only thing possible. She'd taken the coward's route and fled.
As Hope crossed the now-empty courtyard, someone called out her name.
The man walking toward her was as tall as Aaron.
The sun was behind him, and she couldn’t see his face. For a second her heart stuttered. It couldn’t be Zayn, could it? But Aaron’s twin was no longer alive, so it had to be someone else. One of the other Ascendants?
He came to a stop in front of her and held out his hand. “Hope, isn’t it?” His face cracked into a broad smile. His ultramarine-blue eyes widened. “Logan,” he introduced himself.
She took his hand, realizing she’d guessed right. “If you're looking for Aaron, he’s at the session.” She nodded toward the building she’d left behind.
“I’ve met you. It’s the same thing.” He raised his arms before letting them drop. “The Elysians have been spotted.” His tone grew serious. “On Reunion Island, which is just off the harbor of Bombay. It's deserted except for abandoned oil rigs which were destroyed by the tsunami of 2014.”
“Freya?” she breathed out, clutching her hands together in front. “She’s there?”
"On a routine check to the island, one of the soldiers caught a glimpse of the telekinetic handing over the girl to Elysian soldiers." Leaning forward, he touched her shoulder. “The rest of the Guardians have been called out to deal with another attack at the far end of the city. It’s likely a hoax, but we don’t know yet. I am heading there myself to find out.”
“Aaron and I will leave right away.” The need to get going had her turning to retrace her footsteps.
“Be careful, Hope,” he called out after her. “You may be walking into a trap, but as long as you and Aaron are together, you will be strong enough to overpower whoever you come up against.”
His words sent a chill of foreboding down her spine. Shaking it off, Hope headed into the building she’d just left, only to come to a halt.
This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. She should just leave.
And why not? She had the address of the place where the telekinetic was last seen.
She was strong enough to take on any enemy… But, was she strong enough to take on the Elysians?
The range of their powers was just being discovered. She had no idea how many of them were there either. But anything was better than staying here.
If she took Aaron along, he'd only insist on putting himself between her and the Elysians.
Worse, it would tempt her dragon to reach out to him and mate with him… One way or the other, it would put his life in danger.
The thought of anything happening to Aaron had the breath shuddering out of her. No, she wouldn't risk his coming along.
Best to leave right away, save Freya, and get the hell out of this city. He would be safe then, and her dragon…well, her dragon would simply have to learn to live without its mate.
Turning back, she ran into the courtyard. To her relief, Logan was nowhere in sight.
Running to the building which housed her apartment, she climbed the steps to her flat.
She burst into the bedroom. Finding her boots, she pulled them on. The slipped on her jacket. She was out in less than five minutes.
Back on the ground floor, she turned away from the courtyard onto the road and made for the harbor.
Her dragon fretted and pushed against her skin. When she clamped down on it, trying to hold it back, it skimmed her senses.
It pulsed with such longing, a feeling of such craving, that she realized the dragon was calling out to Aaron, to her mate.
Her dragon was awake.
It had been devastating when she'd lost touch with the animal part of her. Roused and alert, the force of its need to go to Aaron was so strong that she almost stumbled.
Helpless against the assault of emotion which twisted her heart, she let the tears flow.
She wasn't going to give in to her dragon's need, but never had her dragon acted so before, as if it was going to pull away from her, leave her… No. Shoving another shield over the dragon, she put on a final burst of speed to reach the pier.
Dragon 2. Woman 4.
It hurt too much. She wasn't going to keep count anymore.
41
Hope
Hope had wanted to transform and fly to the island but doing so would only announce her presence.
When she reached the pier, she headed to the nearest boat and jumped aboard.
She offered money in exchange for hiring the vessel, the owner of the boat balked. His gaze slid to the amber pendant around her neck.
No, she couldn’t part with it.
It was all she had left of her grandmother.
"Perhaps your need of the boat is not so great that you couldn't part with a piece of jewelry?" The boatman's lips twisted.
Freya's life, and likely the future of her race, depended on this. Was this what Nora had meant when she'd said that the pendant would come to her rescue when she needed it most?
Taking off the pendant, she bartered it for the boat.
She dropped anchor far enough from the island to keep her arrival a surprise and swam the rest of the way. Reaching the shore, she kept going until she made it to the summit of the hill in the center of the island.