Page 65 of Fractured Souls
I didn’t even get a moment to appreciate the moment, though, my siren ripping us right out of our bodies and taking us airborne.
This was far from the first time I had star traveled, and my body naturally shifted through the icy cosmic space, keeping a tight hold of our passenger. It was only a second, if that, before we were amongst the stars and Nova was floating next to me, looking around rapidly, her breathing uneven and her eyes filled with shock.
Holy shit.
Nova’s thoughts floated through space as I tugged on her hand and drew her attention to me…which had caused the shocked expression on her face. To be fair, I was in star form, and I would be the first to admit it was unusual. Turquoise and purple stars covered my entire body, and my silver hair floated around me like a veil. It wasn’t worth trying to explain, though—even as a siren I found it hard to wrap my mind around how star calls worked—so instead I moved forward, knowing we didn’t have time to lose.
In this form I could hear the calls more clearly than before, and I had no idea how long I would be able to stay like this, completely in control, with that type of pain pulsating in my head. I didn’t want to end up leaving Nova stranded up here or some shit.
So we soared forward, passing millions of stars, explosive large dangerous ones and far more docile dying stars, breathing their last bit of energy into the universe. I felt Nova’s hand tighten in mine, but I couldn’t look back at her. I knew she would be fine—she was insanely powerful—but it probably wasn’t best to stay up here longer than we had to. I already felt like I was taking a risk by doing this, considering there was no anchor of magic or bond between us…fuck, why had I decided this was a good idea?
“You do this a lot?” Nova asked. I offered a brief nod, speeding through the small amount of galaxy we had left until I reached the sole reason I had done this.
Them.
Screams of warning like metal and siren bells combined in one horrible noise, filling the space around us as I let her bear witness to the horror that was the dark ones. My hand was shaky as I pointed her in the direction she needed to look, the black void of seeping toxic energy one that I could find in my damn sleep. Pure fear filled the space between Nova and me as the Earth’s heartbeat, loud and booming, drew my gaze. Three more dark ones appeared in the distance. Three more closing in on Earth.
They were on a direct trajectory right for our home.
They were going to take everything from us.
That was when my siren decided we had seen enough and were in enough pain. In a quick, sharp movement we were thrown back into our bodies, and I groaned as muscle-deep pulsating agony radiated through me, blood dripping from my nose and ears. Nova was kneeling over and coughing as I inhaled shakily, feeling absolutely drained. I could feel our men around us, but all I could do was try to hold myself upright, feeling panic filter through every part of my body.
How the fuck had they gotten so close? Before it felt like they were eons away, but now…fuck.Now it was so much worse.
Nova straightened herself, and her words were harsh and hard, filled with determination. “We are doing this. We are going to fucking do this, Lorcan.”
She was right. She was fucking right. We didn’t have an option but to handle this, and soon.
“We don’t have long,” I whispered, gritting my teeth. My men were talking behind me and Dean’s hand was running up and down my back, but I was holding Nova’s determined gaze as I tried to calm myself, knowing we needed to be rational—knowing we needed a plan.
“I’m going to go where I need to tomorrow,” she said. That was one of us.
“I think I know where I need to go to find the combination,” I admitted, thinking about Desmond’s plan to find Beryl and the possible Earth realm locations for sirens, as well as working with my brother. My hand rested over Dean’s heart, his rapid heartbeat telling me I’d scared them with the explosion of power my star traveling had caused.
“What then, though?” I questioned as I slowly rose to my feet, one of Nova’s men lifting her up. She seemed super unsteady, and I couldn’t help but blame myself.
“We need to figure out where they’re going to come at us from,” Nova muttered.
“Earth,” Bayton said, appearing out of nowhere.
No shit.I didn’t have the energy to even roll my eyes at his inane fucking answer.
“Earth,” he continued. “They will come to Earth realm, and you will be called to protect it when it’s time. Always follow your instincts, they won’t lead you wrong. Both of you are connected to these very cosmos—connected, even, to one another. Trust in that. You’re meant to be here and be the ones to save us all.”
He was right, and I couldn’t allow the pressure of saving the cosmos to overshadow the most important part:we were the only two that could save everyone.
Nothing else mattered because at the end of the day….
We were the solution to our problem…to everything.
CHAPTER23
Draven
Followingthe power surge between Lorcan and her new friend, one that damn near woke everyone in the institute, I found myself unable to fall back asleep even though I was objectively exhausted after such a long…day? Month? I didn’t even know what it qualified as anymore, but I was more tired than I had been in some time. Yet despite that, I couldn’t sleep, and I wasn’t the only one.
Outside of Lorcan, who had swam shifted in the pool for a while before showering and falling asleep in my arms, we were all up and waiting for it to be morning and an acceptable time to head out. The back of our room had a comfortable sitting area, and the silence between us had been relaxed with the exception of the occasional sound of others in the distance waking in the early morning hours.
