Page 61 of Hopeless Realm
Daxdyn’s comment has me arching a brow at his carefree demeanor. He’s so aloof it nearly sets me more on edge.
“I am.” I stop and stare up at him. He needs to know this is important. He has to. “My people need us,” I whisper. Warmth pushes down my arm as Dax pulls me closer to his chest. His hard body envelopes me in calming waves, demanding the anxious thoughts to push from my mind.
“They do, but they’re not your people anymore,” Daxdyn tells me. “You’re fucking Hopeless now,” he says, his eyes shining with humor.
A smile tips my lips as I realize how right he is. All this time I’ve been in this realm, that thought hadn’t even occurred to me.
I really am Hopeless now.
Ryder stops at my side and his smirk mirrors mine.
“Beautifully and perfectly Hopeless,” Ryder adds, his arm skimming mine.
Streven passes me, his shoulder bumping mine and jostling me closer into Dax’s chest. His narrow and assessing eyes lock on me before calling out to the Armed Seven to quicken our pace.
Daxdyn’s hands lower on my hips and the sweeping feel of his thumbs tracing against my skin draws my gaze back to him.
“Don’t fear what tomorrow brings. You’re more ready than you’ve ever been in your entire life. Take confidence in that.” Daxdyn’s words pull Darrio’s attention.
He backtracks to us. The three of them, along with Nefarious surround me with more encouragement than I’d ever have the strength to have on my own.
My courage rises just from their support, and from today forward I’ll be responsible for so much.
But I’m not alone in this journey.
I consider how long we have to plot our attack. Do we have a day’s hike ahead of us?
“This route feels longer. How long until we reach the mortal realm?” I finally ask.
Darrio pauses to look down at me as hundreds of soldiers push past us.
“We can’t enter the mortal realm the same way we came into this one. It’d be a death wish. Tristan may not be a general, but he’s not an idiot either. I guarantee he knows how to plot a simple trap. Those nix would slaughter us the moment we fell from the Hopeless well. There are other ways to enter the mortal realm. There are others who can help us. We have to take the safest route. Even if the safest is the hardest.”
“The most testing, you mean,” Dax adds with a roll of his eyes.
I nod as a crease pushes between my brows.
“Where will we go then?”
Ryder’s fingers slip through mine and he squeezes lightly as if to reassure me. Daxdyn still holds me in his arms, attempting to push waves of tranquility into me.
All the time that the four of us have spent together has led to this. It’s led to this moment of understanding one another, of loving one another, needing one another and fighting for one another.
But it’s also brought the ability for me to sense when something is not as it should be.
And suddenly my heart is pounding before he even tells me.
Somehow, fear trickles in as if I already know what Ryder’s about to say before he even says it.
“We’re going to the Realm of the Gods.”
Epilogue
Daxdyn
I’ve lived off of the emotions of others for centuries. Zakara Storm is the first person to ever force me to feel something real. Something entirely mine.
Her fear storms my heart, but my calm steadies her rising adrenaline.
