CHAPTER 32
A tear slid down Alora’s cheek. Stuck in her dark place during the day, she had nothing to keep her company. Nothing, that is, except her tortured thoughts. I couldn’t leave Veromé. I just couldn’t.
She wiped the back of her hand over her cheek. “Damn you, Zedron.”
Despite her desire to protect Anlon and Carine, she couldn’t bring herself to go to him. She loved Veromé far too much to hurt him that way. Instead, she’d stewed about it all night until time ran out and she travelled to her dark place.
Now, she’d suffer the consequences. Zedron would schedule an appointment with the council and turn her in for cheating. A flash of irritation made her fingers twitch. How she hated Zedron for dragging her into this war.
The tendons in her jaw tightened. I’m not giving up. There’s still time.
What she would do, she didn’t know, yet, but she had to believe that somehow, some way, she’d find a way to defeat him. Zedron couldn’t win.
The familiar tug started inside. Time to return home.
Her particles broke apart, travelling over time and space. She headed for her house nestled in the branches of a Rolmdew tree. As she materialized into her living room, smoke and the smell of burnt wood filled her senses.
Warning bells rang in her brain. Her heartbeat raced.
Her foot broke through a charred floorboard. She stumbled and her knee crashed against what remained of her couch. Her hand landed on the burnt coffee table. The charred wood gave way, crumbling beneath her palm.
Fear’s cold fingers slithered along her nerves. She glanced around her home. A fire had destroyed everything in sight. Large pieces of the walls were gone. Through the openings, the surrounding tree’s green canopy had turned into black, charred limbs. The remaining branches looked like sharp claws.
Alora’s pulse spiked, blood rushing through her veins. “No…no…no! Veromé!” A sob escaped her lips.
“I’m right here, my love, waiting for you.” Veromé wrapped his strong arms around her waist, pulling her to her feet.
She turned and threw her arms around his neck and kissed his lips, his cheek, his chin. Soft hitches eased from her chest, but she couldn’t stop them.
He drew back enough to look at her. “Sh…it’s all right. Carine and I are safe.”
The tension in Alora’s shoulders eased for the moment. “What happened?”
“A fire swept through the area. The wind,” he ran his hand through his hair, “carried the flames through the treetops before we could stop it.”
She swallowed. “Did everyone get out okay?”
A tic started in his jaw. He shook his head. “Two families died in the blaze. I tried…”
Alora cupped his cheek in her palm. “It’s not your fault.”
He gripped her fingers, drawing her hand away from his face. “I know, but I wish I could’ve saved them all.”
“That’s who you are and one of the reasons I love you so much.”
“Go to my father’s home. Radnor has taken us in, at least until we can find another place to live.” He planted a kiss on her knuckles and glanced through the charred trees. The last rays from the setting sun turned a vibrant shade of red, reflecting in Veromé’s beautiful blue eyes.
Alora’s chest tightened. She didn’t want to let him go, but she had to tell him what happened with Zedron. “Veromé, there’s something you need to know about Zedron.”
His features hardened, his mouth pursing in disgust. “Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like this?”
Usually, his ire would ignite hers, but not tonight. She glanced at the blackened remnants of her coffee table before returning her attention to his eyes. “You were right. I should’ve listened to you and gone to the council with Zedron’s disk.”
A low growl eased from his throat. “What did he do?”
Unable to maintain eye contact any longer, she drew away from him. She turned and stepped over a broken floor board. Careful not to step on a weak spot, she glanced over her shoulder at him. “He gave me a choice. Give him one of three things and he wouldn’t go to the council and turn me in for coercion.”
Veromé’s eyes narrowed. “What things?”
She faced him, her body trembling. “Either Anlon, Carine, or myself.”
His eyes widened. “What did you do?”
“I couldn’t give him the babe or Carine, so—”
“Did you go to him?” Veromé’s voice boomed in the small space, echoing out into the trees.
Tears blurred her vision, and she shook her head. “No. I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t do that to you, to us.”
He closed the distance and wrapped her in his embrace. She inhaled, and his cool, fresh scent filled her lungs and chased away the acrid smell of smoke.
“I love you, Veromé. I always will.” She choked on the heartfelt words. “I’m so weary of being separated.”
He stroked his thumb over her bottom lip, his gaze intent and hungry. “I love you, too. When this war is over, no matter the outcome, I look forward to reuniting with you. Nothing is more important to me.”
Alora’s breath hitched, bottling up her words.
Veromé brushed his lips over hers then claimed her with a bruising kiss. She melted from his onslaught, and she dug her fingernails into his shoulders.
The last rays of the sun faded over the horizon. As Veromé drifted away, she squeezed him tighter, but his molecules slipped through her fingers like untouchable stars.