11. Raea
Raea
I’m thankful for the tonic Ryker gave me.
My head feels clearer, and the pounding has stopped.
I hum to the music stuck in my head from last night as I head toward the closet in search of clothes.
I open the drawer I keep some of my things in, only to find it empty.
Well, that sucks. I feel Ryker’s presence shift the air as the colors of our Bond dance around me.
Then, he wraps his arms around me from behind.
“Need some clothes?” His mouth moves along the column of my neck as I arch back into him.
“No. I mean, yes,” I say breathlessly. “Maybe.”
A warm laugh rolls through him.
I really want to drop the towel right now, but I’m also trying to respect his annoying righteousness. I wouldn’t mind having his hands on me again, or feeling his body pressed into mine.
His hands slide down my arms, the callouses scraping against my warm skin, leaving tingles in their wake. “Here.” He reaches somewhere behind him, bringing a handful of my clothes in front of me.
“Did you steal my clothes?”
He bites down on my neck, and I yelp. “Brought them to you? Yes. But no, I didn’t steal them.”
“Same thing. Thank you, Ry.” I glance over my shoulder, pressing my lips to his. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to get dressed.” I bat my lashes.
He nods and steps back against the wall, ankles crossed, arms folded over his chest, a thumb running over his lips as he drinks me in.
Fine. If he won’t leave, then he can deal with the consequences. I’m done playing these games. I want him, and it's my birthday.
I drop my towel with a flourish. His eyes clamp shut as he mutters a curse. I bend slowly, dragging my panties up my legs while Ryker curses beneath his breath.
His hands close over mine as he kneels before me. He helps drag them ever so slowly up, his mouth pressing hot kisses against my thighs. His fingers tremble, and when he gets to the apex of my thighs, he exhales and his control snaps.
“Fuck it,” he groans, standing and capturing my mouth with his.
My panties fall to the floor as his hands find my soaked core, working a finger into me, then two.
“Tell me no, and I’ll stop. Tell me yes, and I’ll set the world on fire for you.” He walks me back until I’m pressed against the wall.
“Yes,” I chant, clinging to him as the world around me falls away.
My breasts scrape against the fabric of his shirt, and my leg is hiked up around his waist. He swallows every moan as he builds that burning heat that threatens to consume me.
Energy floods my system as I cry his name. “Ryker, please.”
I reach for his waistband, but he pins my arms to the wall with his free hand as he continues to stroke and build. That fire within me ignites as my magic floods my body. Still, Ryker lets me burn as he kisses me like he’s finally taking a breath for the first time this year.
My body quivers around him. “Yes, gods.”
He chuckles. “Quit praising the gods when I’m the one answering your prayers. Now, stop trembling and show me how hot you can burn.”
With another swirl of his thumb timed perfectly with a stroke of his finger, I shatter, turning my world into an explosion of color and heat.
Light illuminates my skin, but I contain the heat within me.
My whole body trembles against his as he strokes that very sensitive bundle of nerves with his thumb.
“So beautiful,” he mutters against my mouth.
“Fair is fair.” I slip my arm free of his grasp only to stroke him over his bulging pants. “It's your birthday tomorrow.”
He grins, pressing a kiss to my mouth as he shudders with another stroke of my hand.
“Or—” I slip my hand beneath the material, gripping him as his eyes shut.
“Fuck,” he mutters. “I am about this close to losing control.” He inhales sharply. “Okay, tonight we can play, but right now—” He pulls my hand from his pants. “I need you to focus.”
I tuck my lips in to stop from asking questions. Tonight?
I take a step back, finding my panties discarded, and slip into them while he disappears from the closet for a minute. I’m fully dressed when he returns.
He leans his shoulder against the door frame and lets his eyes rake over me from head to toe. “Good. Dressed. Now…” He pulls out a black velvet bag from his pocket. “Hold out your hand.”
I roll my eyes, holding out my hand. “You like me without them.”
A soft laugh reverberates through him. “I like you every way. Quit distracting me.”
“You make it so easy,” I tease, beckoning him to give me the gift.
Ryker dumps the bag in my palm, keeping eye contact with me.
Colors dance around my periphery from our Bond, wrapping me in iridescent waves.
The sensation of cold metal against my palm draws my eyes downward.
It’s a silver necklace with a massive dark sapphire wrapped beneath a tree, its branches wrapping the jewel. My eyes water, making my vision blurry.
“It reminded me of us.” He shuffles his feet and slips his hands into his pockets.
I turn the necklace over, and my heart lodges in my throat. He had it engraved—You have my whole heart. He bought me jewelry. But not just any jewelry. This is custom-made. I know the sapphire is a rare jewel.
When I look up at him, he looks uneasy. I’m sure he’s hoping he didn’t cross a line. “I love it. Thank you.” My voice wobbles and betrays me. “And yes, I think it fits us perfectly. It reminds me of your eyes.” Heat creeps up my neck, lighting my cheeks on fire. “Can you help me put it on?”
I hand it to him and turn. His hand is so soft as he brushes my neck. The touch alone sends heat down my spine, heating my core. The slow movement of clasping the jewel has me holding my breath.
“Done,” he says softly.
I turn toward him and nearly lose it as his lips seal over mine, stealing my words as he lifts me into his arms. His love for me mixes with my own thoughts and feelings, and I pour every ounce of love I have into it.
We’re both two souls attempting to collide and merge as one, but can’t. We can’t get close enough.
Energy builds between us, but it’s not me drawing upon it this time. It builds and builds. Our kiss becomes more urgent, but then something in the air vanishes, leaving nothing but a cold stillness. Ryker pulls away enough that I watch as color drains from his face.
It’s only then that I place the wrongness in the air.
Like a torch being blown out, the energy, the strands of light that flow from planet to planet, the flowing streams of magic…it’s just gone. That familiar current of energy, the heat, the extra bands of light I never noticed all seem to disappear, only leaving a hollow space where they once lived.
I already know the truth, but still I ask, “Ry.” I hear the terror in my voice. “Is it gone?”
He looks horrified before he confirms, “It’s gone.”
The halls are chaotic when we finally leave his room, students hauling bags and luggage from their rooms, others yelling into their Prisms. The scene makes my stomach churn. We’ve been holed up for the past hour speaking with our parents and coming up with a plan for Ryker and me.
The Veil is gone.
I feel numb to everything. Across every kingdom, the Veil is just…gone. The quadrants, our military force, have moved into defensive positions across the system, though none of us know what to expect.
There haven’t been any attacks, nothing has changed, even the weather patterns have stilled. Honestly, it’s the eerie nothingness that sends a chill up my spine. I might not be connected to the Veil anymore, but I can feel a whisper in the winds that something is coming.
Weeks ago, the Veil was damaged. Now it’s gone entirely.
I can’t help but feel like we should have taken it more seriously.
“This way,” Aksel says.
All four of our guards move into defensive positions around us as they lead us down the hall.
My parents' transport is on the way to retrieve me and some of the other Treon students. We will all be taken back to Kyrr, and once we can, we’ll send students to their home planets. Resources are slim at the moment.
My head spins with how quickly things have changed. In an instant, school was shut down and all two thousand something students are being sent home.
Ryker will be taking a school transport back to Malaya with Trysten and Gunnar. The Okenen transport is taking the rest of the students back to Saedn, the largest planet with the most transports headed around their kingdom to shuffle students back to where they need to be.
Aolyn is unable to get to Cryos—her home planet—so she’s taking a transport back to Ashum, a nearby planet.
I guess her parents promised to come for her when they could.
I can’t believe they wouldn't care more, but I have a feeling they're involved in this. I attempted to get her to come with me, but she said she couldn’t, that her parents had given her strict orders to head to the outpost at Ashum.
“Raea.” I turn to see Kellan heading straight toward me.
Rune steps between us, blocking him.
“Follow behind us, do not get in the way,” Aksel barks.
“It’s okay,” I say to Kellan. “Just stay close.”
I remember how the hall was full of palpable excitement on the first day of school. This…this is fear embodied. It took all of thirty minutes before the news about the Veil spread faster than our hyperjump capabilities. Once the crowns were notified, the nobility panicked.
“Ryker,” I whisper, gripping his hand tighter. “We aren’t ready for this.” Dread pools in my stomach. Not just because the Veil is gone, but because he’s leaving, and I’m supposed to save the system and—
“Hey.” He pauses, halting our entire party. He slips his hand to my cheek, cupping me with such tenderness as he tilts my face up to meet his. “It’s going to be okay. We are going to be okay. We do this together.”
“But you’re leaving,” I say, my voice wobbly. He sighs, bringing our foreheads together. “I can’t do this without you.”
“You can, love. You’ve always been stronger than you give yourself credit for. You can do this. And no amount of time or distance will keep me from you. I will find a way.” He gives me a chaste kiss, then nods to Aksel as we leave Taeolyn. I don’t even have time to look around.
This might be the last time I walk these halls.
When we arrive at the Treon transport, I bury my face in Ryker’s chest.
“Promise me,” I whisper.
He grips my hand, wrapping it around the beautiful necklace, still cool to the touch, around my neck. “You don’t need my promises, Raea. You have my whole heart. I will let you know when we’re back on Malaya, okay?”
I nod and swipe angrily at the tears spilling from my eyes. “Ryker, I—”
“I know.” He pulls me flush against him. “I love you too,” he whispers, capturing my mouth with his in a searing kiss.
For a moment, the world falls away, and it’s only the two of us. Every stroke of his tongue is a promise, every breath—life. All too quickly, he pulls away, placing one more kiss on my forehead and then walks away.
“Princess,” Ezra says, guiding me up the open ramp where Kellan is already waiting for me at the top.
“C’mon, RaeRae,” he says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “He’ll be okay.”
For the first time in hours, a laugh escapes me.
Did Kellan just acknowledge my love for Ryker?