Page 150 of Walking in Darkness
A howling of the wind.
A howling of the wicked.
A profane whispering that curled through the air.
“He will reign. He will reign.”
Pax hopped off the back end of the tractor and pushed his way toward me. His breaths were haggard as he stepped into my space.
Energy rushed.
Frenetic and intense.
A tether tied so deeply within us that, in this moment, we felt the same.
One.
Our fabric completely woven together.
“She is safe and whole,” Josephine murmured in adoration as she released me so Pax could take her place.
“I knew that you would protect her.” Pax’s voice scraped with the adrenaline I could feel rushing through him in waves.
“With our lives,” Ellis said.
Pax slipped up to my side where we were still hidden behind the tractor, and brand-new power streaked up my arm when he threaded his fingers through mine.
“Aria,” he murmured.
A balm.
Belief.
Love.
I squeezed his hand.
“Together,” I told him.
Ellis edged behind me so he could get to Josephine’s opposite side. Then the four of us were linked as we held on with everything we had.
And all those who’d been summoned by the sinister suddenly broke apart and surged forward to surround the park.
In tandem, the Laven filed around the tractor, marching forward so we could see, still drawn and unable to do anything but come to stand where we had full view of the town park.
And the oxygen gushed from my lungs when I saw the depraved had dropped to their knees.
Bowing in reverence when Ambrose suddenly appeared from the shadows.
Anxiety rippled through the Laven, so severe that I thought they might scatter. Yield to the fear that crested and swelled.
But no.
They remained staunch, guarding me without anyone having told them why they should.
And my spirit wept and pleaded, begged with Valeen to give me strength. Begged that she would not have led us here if we didn’t have the chance to defeat the monsters that loomed in front of us.
Rise up; you must lead.
