Page 58 of Fractured Souls
I winced. “Yeah…that could be rough.”
“Ah, there you are!” Bayton’s voice filled the space as we stepped into a large dining room. “Make yourself at home. I’m going to go show your counterpart and her mates the way.”
I looked around the space, nodding in understanding before coming to a stop near the long table that was set for ten on each side along with a seat at the head that I had to assume was for Bayton. The space, like many here, had high ceilings, and the walls were painted a pearlized white. The blue floors and tall windows made me feel like I was in an aquarium, and the way the light threw undulating waves onto the walls was absolutely mesmerizing.
“Come on.” Dean squeezed my hand and led me towards the seat near Bayton. I slowly took a seat as the others talked lightly, each sitting on the same side as me. I tried to mimic their relaxed demeanor, but it was impossible because it felt like my chest was getting tighter and tighter.
Suddenly I felt angry. Angry that I was in this situation to begin with. Fear that the men I loved were in so much damn danger. Concern that we wouldn’t be able to figure out a solution. But then a resolve hit me so hard I felt momentary breathless.
Determination.
We had to figure this out. This wasn’t an option, and clearly Nova knew it as well if she’d come all this way.
As if summoned by my thoughts, her magic slammed into mine like a Mack truck. I felt momentarily blinded by it becausefuckhad she gotten stronger. I blinked, wavering slightly as Dean tried to say something to me. I knew Nova was entering the room, but for just a moment all I could focus on was the intensity of her magic and how many sources it was feeding off of—nine in total, I believe—and the way my magic was reacting rather…intensely.
The walls I slammed up almost immediately had me feeling far better as she did the same, both of us surrounding our men. Our magic wasn’t combative, but like I said—boundaries. After a long moment, no longer feeling so overwhelmed, I stood to greet Nova, noticing the way her gaze darted around the room with a calculating edge before darting to Zander in confusion and then back to me.
I was going to guess she’d noticed that Zander was a new addition…but I’m pretty sure she had a new man in her group as well. Maker. We were something else over here.
“Lorcan! You’re here!” Nova’s voice filled the space like her chaotic stormy energy as she flashed me a big smile, breaking any possible tension between the two groups. “What are the chances, right?”
I nearly snorted at that as she strode towards me, and I felt an instant relief at being in her presence. Suddenly I felt like my men and I weren’t completely alone in this effort. I mean, if there was a team we had to work with, I was thrilled it was them—they were sort of fucking crazy, and that could totally work in our favor.
I rounded the table and met her in a hug, unable to help the smile on my face. I wasn’t a hugger by any stretch of the imagination, but I wouldn’t lie, I felt a total friendship with Nova. Possibly the only healthy female friendship I’d had so far…
It helped, of course, that I didn’t feel like I was corrupting her. With that Maya girl, she had been so sweet, and it made me feel like I had tainted her, even during our short interaction. Nova was pretty much as dangerous as they came, and it was cool having a badass buddy.
“It’s so good to see you again!” I pulled back from the hug, squeezing her before stepping back, easily admitting that to her. Before I would have been more cautious about my emotions, but life was short—and more specifically, our timeline seemed to be shrinking.
“Yeah, I just wish it wasn’t because of this insane prophecy,” Nova muttered in frustration. Despite looking a bit tired and very much annoyed, Nova looked completely put together and honestly, lethal—her entire group did. From her ombre storm-colored hair to the tattoos that seemed to cover everyone in their group, they were really intense and a total vibe. I would know—I’d been around a lot of people in the modeling industry. People would fucking love them.
I let out a small groan, sighing. “I wish I could say it was nonsense.”
Images of the dark ones flashed through my mind, and I tried to shake those thoughts, namely the insanely painful star call I’d had so recently. One that I was still feeling the effects of, even after the revitalizing bath.
“But it’s some real fucked-up shit that’s coming to Earth,” I continued. “I can hear it; I can see it. We can’t ignore this, though sometimes I’m tempted. It would be way easier.”
Likewayfucking easier.
“Yeah, I mean…Bora Bora isn’t very far away. It would be a pretty spectacular way to spend the end of the world.” Nova said, looking beyond amused.
I flashed a smile. “That sounds amazing.” An honest-to-god vacation after all of this was done sounded perfect.
Nova’s eyebrows contorted before going up, processing my words. “Wait, you can see the threat? And hear it?”
How did I even answer that besidesfuck yes.Luckily, I didn’t have to tell her about it yet, which would probably ruin our happy mood, because Bayton interrupted in a frustratingly cheery voice.
“Let’s not talk about cosmic beings before breakfast. Please, everyone sit down and enjoy our little feast. I don’t get to host very often, so I hope you like it.” Then the bastard moved between the two of us, interrupting our conversation. I grumbled and sat down, following his lead, Dean to my one side and Nova across from me. It appeared, at least from here, all the other men were getting along easily, and it made me feel much better about this whole thing because we had a lot to handle, and if there was tension amongst the psychos…well, that sounded bloody.
Suddenly, Bayton began to pass food around that had been laid out in the center of the table, drawing my attention to the feast in question. Well,shit. He really had outdone himself. And honestly, I was pretty fucking hungry.
“So how did everyone sleep?” Bayton looked at me and then to my men, although I had a feeling he was well aware none of us really slept. “I hope well! Did you enjoy the water feature?”
Ah shit. Draven released a low rumble that I tried to ignore, trying to look amused by Bayton’s question, but my heated cheeks probably gave me away.
Nova offered me a questioning look, so I explained, “Our room has a pool—althoughpoolmay not be the right word…it’s a bit larger than that.”
Immediately her gaze narrowed on Bayton. “And here I thought we had a special room, but apparently not.Wedidn’t get a pool.”
