60. Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty
Ryker
I hadn’t slept all night. I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried.
Every time I closed my eyes, I was terrified I’d open them to find her gone again—to find that she’d left me again. So I stayed awake, holding her all night and listening to the soft sounds of her sleep. She twitched and jerked all through the night, and each time I would hold her a little tighter, grazing down the bond to soothe whatever was tormenting her slumber.
I was tempted to enter her mind, to see what horrors haunted her dreams. I wanted to aid in her rest and chase away her nightmares, but I resisted. Losing her had turned me into something I never wanted to be, and I refused to be that beast now that she was back. She didn’t need that kind of invasion, and if I was being honest with myself, it was better I didn’t see. I had to trust she would tell me in time.
Even if the trust between us was brittle.
Just as the winter clouds began to flush soft shades of pink with the morning’s light, I decided to wake my slumbering wife.
“Kya.” I brushed her hair away from her face, pushing it off her neck and behind her shoulder.
She didn’t stir, stuck in a deep sleep. I hated to wake her, but Odarum was only going to wait so long before he came barging in here demanding to see his Worthy, and I didn’t want that to be the way she found out.
“Kya,” I said out loud this time, softly rubbing my hand up and down her arm.
She still didn’t move aside from her eyes darting back and forth beneath her lids.
I leaned my head forward and placed a kiss on her dry, cracked lips. “Little gem.”
Her eyes snapped open with a gasp, looking around frantically and breathing heavily.
“Easy. It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re home,” I soothed.
Her face relaxed, and a ghost of a smile splayed across her features. “I thought…” She swallowed. “I was afraid it was all a dream. But you’re really here.” She nuzzled into me, sighing.
“It’s real. I’m here. You’re here.” I kissed the top of her head.
“He insists he see her. He knows she has rested,” Theron said from wherever he was.
“Tell him we’ll be there shortly,” I clipped.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to thank me. I would have done anything to get you back. But I do want to prepare you, today is going to be an…emotional day,” I said quietly
She looked up at me with concern, and I could hear her worried thoughts.
“It’s nothing bad. But it will be a lot to take in,” I reassured her.
“What is it?” She sat up, and I noticed the dark circles under her eyes were lighter.
I took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you, but I want you to remain calm.” Even though I knew she wouldn’t be.
She grinned. “I’ll be fine.”
I smiled in return. “I went to Hylithria to talk to Xareus, demanding he send me to you.”
“You made demands of your God for me?” she breathed.
I flicked the tip of her nose playfully. “Little gem, when are you going to learn I would do so much more than that?”
Her cheeks blushed.
“While I was there…” I squeezed her hand. “I saw Odarum. He’s alive, and he’s here. To see you.”
Kya’s entire body froze, and I thought she didn’t hear me for a moment, but then she leapt out of the bed and stumbled her way to the wardrobe.
I threw the sheets off me and walked over to her just as she was taking out some warmer clothes.
“Kya, wait. You said you’d remain calm.” I grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face me.
She looked more confused than anything, and she stared blankly in the distance for a moment. “Why can’t I speak to him? The bond is—”
“I don’t know. But you don’t need to rush this. He’ll still be there when you’re ready. He’s not going anywhere.”
“Odarum wishes to see her now,” Theron growled.
“Just give her a fucking minute!” I barked.
“Get dressed and eat something, then we can go see him.” I soothed down the bond again, trying to keep her calm and needing her to take care of herself first.
She shook her head. “I can eat after. I need to see him.”
“No, you will eat before,” I said firmly. “It’s not a request. I know you’re eager to see him, but a few more minutes and a belly full of food won’t hurt anything. ”
She sighed and nodded then began to change. “Alright. But I want to hurry.”
Dressed and fed, we briskly walked down the corridor to the balcony. Once we rounded the corner and saw the doors leading outside, she stopped—frozen in place. The palace was silent and everything was still.
I reached out to touch her, to see if she was alright.
Then she ran, bolting through the doors and darting toward the roof as I chased after her, her loose hair flying behind her.
She gasped a sob at the sight of her Spirit Guardian standing in the center of the building with Theron behind him.
Odarum raised his head with his ears turned forward, his black wings shimmering in the morning light peeking over the mountain tops.
She didn’t stop, dashing across the cold stone roof and threw herself against Odarum, wrapping her arms around his thick neck. His head curled around her back as a low, soothing rumble sounded from his chest.
I slowed to a walk, placing my hands in my pockets, and went over to stand next to Theron so Kya and Odarum could have their reunion.
“What are you doing here?” I asked the dragon.
“I brought Odarum,” he said as if it was obvious.
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. “You brought him? Why?”
Theron lowered his head. “Because he can no longer Travel in the ways of the Spirits.”
“How come? Is he still injured?” I asked with a pinched brow.
I glanced to Odarum with Kya rubbing a hand over his mane, still holding him. He didn’t look injured.
Theron was silent for a moment, watching the interaction between Odarum and Kya. “Odarum made a sacrifice. He is bound to guard your mate until her last breath. He made that choice when he chose to be her Fylgjur. In order for him to survive so he could continue to protect her, he chose to sacrifice his immortality.”
My head whipped to him. “What?! What does that mean?”
Theron’s fire-filled eyes met mine. “It means that Odarum is no longer a Spirit. He still holds the bond to her—now reformed with their reunion—as well as his magic, but he can no longer Travel. He is no longer welcome in Hylithria. He is mortal.”
He gave up his immortality. He did that for her.
Odarum looked at me then and held my gaze. He lowered his head toward me—a gesture of gratitude.
The side of my mouth lifted, and I nodded in return.
Kya took a step back and ran a hand down her Guardian’s face with a tear-streaked smile. She shivered, and I could tell she was cold, so I released heat far enough to reach her while she continued to stand there for a long while.
I assumed they were talking to each other, and I waited beside Theron for well over an hour while they reconnected, giving her time with her Fylgjur.
“Odarum and I aren’t bonded. We don’t have a connection. So how was he able to talk to me in Hylithria?” I asked Theron. I figured since we were sitting here, I might as well get some answers to my endless questions.
“What we are able to do on Hylithria is different from here. At least it is now,” he said.
“Care to elaborate?” One of these days, this cranky-ass would actually offer up information freely and not make me pull it out of him.
“Not particularly, but I will. Spirits used to be able to communicate with all life here in Taeralia. But ever since the accord to no longer interfere with your realm was created, we no longer have that capability. Except with our Worthy. ”
“Oh. It seems that ‘no interference’ bullshit has caused a lot of problems for everyone,” I huffed.
“Not as many as there were before,” he said seriously.
That was unsettling. I struggled imagining it being worse then than it is now, our realm plagued by a dark wielder and on the brink of a continental war.
My mind wandered. This was only the beginning of what had changed while Kya was away. She still didn’t know about Atara or the Atarans. And I wasn’t looking forward to telling her she had her Nation and her people back, only for me to tell her about the impending threat of war with the Worthy.
“We have our bond back,” Kya said, bringing me out of my thoughts to see her walking toward me with a soft smile that melted my worries away.
I had missed that smile. I missed everything about her. I reached for her hand, needing to touch her again.
“That’s good.” I pulled her closer to me and kissed her forehead.
“He said he gave up his immortality so he could stay with me…” Her head fell.
I brought my other hand up and lifted her chin until she looked at me. “I know. But it was his choice. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know.” She nodded. “You both made such great sacrifices, and I…” She blew out a breath and closed her eyes. “I have to tell you something.”
I rubbed my thumb across the back of her hand. “What is it?”
Her eyes opened, holding an anguish that had a chill running down my spine. “It’s about your mother.”