Page 127 of Vardaesia
It took Kaiden a long moment, but he finally nodded.
So, with a blaze of light, Alex summoned A’enara and cut both of their palms before carrying out the ritual. Unlike with what Niyx had pulled, she had already made Kaiden promise to accept her Release, and while she could tell he did so now against his better judgement, he held true to his word, and within moments, he was free of her.
“You know, I can’t help being disappointed that you didn’t accidentally reveal anything while our minds were connected,”he said, his eyes playful as he leaned towards her, his non-bloodied hand moving to rest against her cheek.
“There was a reason I was against mentally communicating with you, if you’ll recall,” Alex said.
“Oh, I recall,” Kaiden said. “You were most adamant. Enough that I’m curious what kind of thoughts you wanted to keep hidden from me.”
Sliding her fingers up his neck and threading them into his hair as he moved even closer, Alex only said, “If we survive this day, maybe I’ll tell you myself.”
“Nowthatis a promise I expect you to keep,” Kaiden whispered against her lips.
But then he couldn’t say anything more, and neither could she.
Instead, he was kissing her. Kissing her like their lives depended on it, like she was the very air he needed to breathe. It was a kiss that sealed the words of her promise, a kiss that demanded she follow through on what she’d said, a kiss that all but ordered she survive and return to him. And she had every intention of doing just that.
The problem was, she didn’t know if she would succeed.
But, kissing him back just as passionately and exacting the same promises of survival from him in return, Alex knew she was damn well going to try.
When Alex and Kaiden arrived at the Med Ward, Jordan, Bear and D.C. were no longer there.
After a quick word from the very busy Fletcher, they learned that the three had taken off to find Alex. Kaiden offered to go after them, while nudging her towards the corner of the Ward where her parents were seated on the edge of a bed and looking at her, white faced.
Slowly, she approached, having no idea how to handle the coming conversation. But when she was only a few steps away, she couldn’t keep from uttering a sob-sound and launching herself into their arms, just as she had been longing to do for the last week during her time in Tia Auras. They held her tight, whispering that they were okay, that she was okay, that everything would be okay—all the promises that she so desperately needed to hear from them.
Only when she pulled herself together enough to speak did Alex untangle from them and say, “Mum, Dad, I—”
“Smart boy, that Kaiden,” Jack interrupted, looking at the doors Kaiden had just left through.
Alex followed his gaze and then turned back only to ask, “Sorry?”
Rachel, despite her pale features, had a smile tugging at her lips. “And so handsome. He’s perfect for you, sweetheart. We knew it from the moment you introduced us.”
“Seriously?” Alex couldn’t help saying with clear disbelief. Sure, Aven had outed Kaiden as her boyfriend, butstill… “Don’t you think there are more important things we should be talking about right now?”
They both just looked at her, and Jack said, “Such as?”
“Such as?” Alex repeated, incredulous. She knew her parents were laid back, but this was verging on ridiculous. “How about how you were both abducted two weeks ago? I can’t imagine what you went through in that time, and I—” She choked on her words, tears welling in her eyes. In a whisper, she tried again. “Everything that happened to you is my fault. I never should have brought you to this world.”
“Oh, honey,” Jack said, pulling Alex close so that she was seated between them on the bed. “If you’ll remember, we didn’t give you a choice in bringing us here.”
“You did everything you could to keep us safe,” Rachel agreed, curling her arm around Alex and kissing the top of her head. “If we’d stayed inside the Library as you’d told us to, over and over again, we never would have been captured.”
“So, it’s our own fault that we were abducted, not yours,” Jack said.
“But,” Rachel said, reaching for Alex’s hands, “sweetheart, whatever you think happened to us in the time we were gone, it’s likely much worse than the truth.”
Alex shook her head, certain they were only trying to make her feel better. “You were atTaevarg. You were—”
“Protected.”
Rachel’s quiet word made Alex pause.
Seeing her confusion, Jack said, “Despite what you think, we were only at that prison place for a few hours before we saw you yesterday. The rest of the time we were at Chateau Shondelle with Marcus and Natasha Sparker, who kept us safe from Aven and all his… people. They assured the elf that they were handling us in a manner that would please him, and because of that, he left us alone, presuming we were being mistreated as expected.”
Part of Alex couldn’t believe that after everything, her dad was still referring to Aven as ‘the elf’. But what he was saying about Jordan’s parents… Alex struggled to believe it. And yet, Marcushadtackled Aven, his sacrifice ultimately saving them all.
