Page 55 of Ecliptic

“Then continue, my bloodthirsty little soul flame. Exact your revenge.”

“I agree,” Maddock said. “It’s no less than what I deserve.”

“You don’t get to speak,” Rowen snarled, charging up and landing a punch to Maddock’s stomach.

Maddock fell to the ground, wheezing. “You’ve both got quite the aim. A perfect match.”

“You weren’t there when she fled from the crevice, running as if the Dark Spirit were on her heels. You didn’t gather her from the forest floor or hold her as she sobbed her soul out, incoherently repeating that you wereinside her. You weren’t there when she woke three days after you defiled her mind. I was.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness.”

“You’ll be trying a while,” I said, standing over him and glancing at Rowen. “And why were you two alone out there anyway?” I asked.

“I had my suspicions. I was going to beat him senseless. Though it seems you beat me to it.”

I wanted to keep punching Maddock’s face in, but I couldn’t deny we might need him. Especially if he could harness the Alcreon Light and help save Luneth.

“You will find a way to repay us but know this: it might be with your life,” I said, knowing it was an awful threat, but I wanted to scare him. Incite the fear in him that he once instilled in me.

“Then my life is yours. Both of yours, however you need it,” Maddock said as he stood and walked to the door. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

Rowen turned to me, seething.

I wanted to run to him and calm his raging storm. But Icouldn’t, and the constant ache of being unable to touch my soul flame was becoming unbearable.

“Keira,” Rowen said, pain strangling his voice. “You went to see your mother. Without telling me you were leaving?”

“I know. It was stupid. I wasn’t in my right mind,” I replied, catching a glimpse of myself in Takoda’s mirror. The bags under my eyes were stark against my pale skin, my hair was tangled in knots, and a bandage was wrapped around my arm. I’d been avoiding my reflection, and the sight almost took the breath out of me. I looked bone-weary, as if I carried the weight of the world.

“I can’t bear to see you like this—the pain and hurt in your eyes. The guilt.” I flinched as his words struck a chord. “I see you hurting, and how I wish I could take that pain away. But I have no such power. I can’t even touch you. Can’t offer a reassuring hand on the shoulder or a comforting embrace, not even the mind-numbing fuck I’ve been so desperate to give you since your return.”

His words stopped me short.

“Please try talking with Takoda.”

“I can’t,” I barely whispered.

Rowen nodded, but his body deflated, almost too imperceptible to notice. But I did. And it broke my heart.

I needed to get my mind off everything: my thoughts, my feelings, my inability to touch Rowen. I especially didn’t want to think about Maddock and how he stole my Light and bond.

I should have suspected, but I was a fool. I let him get too close. I’d even begun to trust him. I was no longer worried about panic attacks but rage attacks.

So when Dyani agreed to train with me today, I gladly accepted.

I walked along the organic pathway to the training grounds when the earth trembled beneath my feet. The earthquake was so powerful that I lost my balance and fell.

A familiar voice echoed down the path as I stood and wiped the dirt from my pants. “Star-touched, are you hurt?” Takoda asked, running up to me. “That was a pretty bad one.”

I felt the sharp splinter of guilt. I’d been avoiding him.

Rowen encouraged me to see the healer and talk, but I had decided long ago that therapy wasn’t for me. Even Takoda himself had made comments about me visiting him. But going there was just something I couldn’t do.

“I’m all right,” I said, eying the healer. He wore his tan linen pants, a sage green vest, and an open smile. “What about you?”

“I am all right as well,” he replied as he reached for me instinctively before remembering my touch was hazardous. I may as well have a flashing neon sign on my face that said, “Danger. Don’t touch.”

I dusted myself off, eying for an escape.

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