Part 22 (1/2)

”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 h.e.l.l, 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.

”d.a.m.n, baby girl, I don't even want to know 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 paled 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.”

I pursed my lips. Before biting down on my cheeks in worry. ”I don't trust them,” I finally said, smiling to lessen the bluntness of my words.

I knew Josian loved his little crazy lalunas.

”Well, we still need to talk to them first,” he insisted. His face was definitely pale, very unlike his usual luminescence.

I got that he was worried understandably so. One wrong decision could mean the end of the worlds.

”Okay,” I finally agreed.

Some color crept back into his cheeks, which made me feel a bit better.

”I'll get Brace for you. Call me if ... it doesn't go well.”

I grabbed his arm. ”No, I'd rather be outside to talk with him.” I wasn't sure if he was going to lose it, and open s.p.a.ces were better for energy explosions.

I walked down with Josian. We made random small talk, discussing Lallielle's new artwork that he had splashed all around the house, and the next town fair, which was coming up soon. He mentioned that Samuel was back in the house and that Quarn was still leading the protective duty at the castle. I missed my guardian. I needed to find some time to visit him.

”Has Samuel seen Lucy since she got pixiefied?” I asked as we crossed to the white room.

Josian shook his head. ”No, the men I sent to keep an eye on him reported that he'd been holed up with some old friends. He only got back today.”

I chuckled then. I had thought Josian was being pretty relaxed about Samuel. Good to know he'd been on top of that one. There were definitely benefits to being princeps and having men at your beck and call.

When I stepped through the doorway, my eyes were immediately drawn to Brace. He stood in front of the large windows, legs splayed, his expression serious. Seeing him in front of the gla.s.sed wall brought forth the memory of smas.h.i.+ng through that front window, the pain of all the gla.s.s, and how he had taken care of me. I forced the memories back. It was time to focus on now.

Brace straightened, zeroing in on me with his melting-pot-of-chocolate eyes. He looked tired, but s.e.xy as h.e.l.l. He had a few days' growth on his face, which took his general bada.s.s vibe and tipped him right over into dark and dangerous.

”You have some explaining to do, Red,” he bit out, narrowing his eyes at me.

Red.

I swallowed loudly. Oh, h.e.l.l, how much did he know?

Chapter 15.

We walked in silence and I could feel the simmering heat from Brace. The salty breeze ruffled my curls. I was mentally searching for the right words. How to start this conversation? It was hard not knowing what he'd remembered.

But I couldn't deny my joy at hearing his nickname for me. I'd missed the way he called me Red. His voice always went a little deeper, husky with untold things. And it jolted me the same way every time.

Finally, when I couldn't stand it any longer, words started to fall out of my mouth. I always sounded like a lunatic when I was nervous, and this was even worse than usual.

”I'm so sorry, Brace. I never wanted things to end up like this. I'm not sure what you remember, but yes, we're mates, and we were bonded before ... a melding bond.”

He froze.

I hurried to continue, needing to get it all out. ”There was a prophecy from Lucy, the end of the worlds. But now it turns out she's a pixie and some of her predictions might be planted or fake or something. I don't know.”

He was watching me closely, his expression guarded. But his jaw was locked in a way that meant bad things.

So of course this only increased the word-vomit.

”And now I think maybe the vision was wrong, but the lalunas destroyed the melding bond and Josian said we have to talk with them before we do anything ” I broke off. ”I mean, if that's what you want to do?” I forced my mouth shut, teeth clinking together.

He didn't answer. I doubted he could even talk through that rigid jaw. d.a.m.n, he might be so p.i.s.sed off at my choices and lies that he'd walk away from me. Just say 'screw you, Abby, and your melding bond'.

And then with a groan he dragged me into his arms and kissed me.

With all of his pent-up anger I expected his lips to hit mine hard, in a punis.h.i.+ng sort of kiss. But it was the complete opposite. So softly did he touch his mouth to mine, and the moment I tasted him, after so long without, the tears flooded my eyes. I was leaking all over the place lately. He took his time, building slowly until the kiss started to morph into something more.

Hotter. Instantly drying up my tears.

Our breaths came out in hard gasps. I poured every bit of my anger, sorrow and loneliness into that kiss, but the strongest emotion was my love. I loved this man so much. Was more in love with him than I'd ever thought possible. And Brace gave back as good as he got.

He finally pulled away, before cupping my face and resting his head on mine.

”I think I followed along with what you said, but I need you to tell me everything,” he said quietly. ”Start at the beginning.”

We sat then, on the gra.s.s with the ocean roaring in front of us. It was dark, stars and a few of the planets twinkling in the sky above us. Brace held my hand but otherwise we didn't touch. And with one big breath I started right at the beginning: the dreams I'd had of him on Earth, details of the house in the snow which I'd been dying to visit again and followed our story right up to the moment I went to the lalunas and asked them to break our melding bond.

My hand felt sweaty in his, but I held on, afraid he wanted to pull away. Telling him everything was painful, but for the first time in a long time I wasn't lying, and that was the biggest relief I could imagine.

He silently processed my words for a little while, before he spoke.

”I thought I was going crazy,” he said, staring out into the darkness. ”I continued to hear Red in my mind, as if I'd called you that a million times, and yet I knew I hadn't. All of the dreams, having a mate. I was trying not to push myself on you, but I was desperate to spend time with you. I made Colton find excuses to bring me in to things. Hoping it wouldn't seem weird.” He cleared his throat. ”And every time we were together the need to touch you almost strangled me.”

He pulled his hand away then, and everything inside me clenched so tightly I thought my heart might actually be crushed. I had expected anger. h.e.l.l, I wanted him to be angry with me. But this sadness was torture.

”I'm ... I'm so sorry,” I stuttered out. Stupid useless words. My actions were what counted, and they'd been nothing short of terrible. ”I wanted to tell you. I went to tell you so many times, but Lucy kept having those visions. Everyone was dead. Josian said you would never let me break the bond.”

”You went to Josian and Lucy,” he growled, lowering his eyes, letting those inky lashes fan across his cheeks. ”This was about us. You should have come to me first.”