Page 129 of A Trial of Two Worlds
“Come back,” Nyssa signed. “Come back to me, Castor.”
I raised my left arm against the stone above her head, leaning forward and shifting my weight to the side. I released my hold, trailing my fingertips along the seam of her dress. I watched her reaction to my touch as I traced over the body I desperately needed to bury myself within. When I reached her breasts, I circled a hardened nipple as she inhaled a sharp breath. Her body instinctively leaned against me, silently asking me for more.
“Oh, Nyssa,” I purred, dropping my lips to the shell of her ear. “Was this your way of incentivizing me to come out of this suicide mission alive?”
I felt her nod as her arms encircled my middle. I cradled the back of her head as she buried her face in my chest, molding her flawless body against mine. I felt her hands unlatch as she placed two fingers against my thundering heart. She tapped it three times before removing it and resting on her own.
I mimicked her motion, tapping her heart three times before returning it to my chest.
“Castor!” Daxton called out. “It’s time.”
I pressed my brow to Nyssa, inhaling a sharp breath and holding it captive before daring to release it, willing time itself to stop. “I swear on the Mother and Father, I will return to you, Nyssa. Death would only delay my arrival, never stop it.”
I leaned in and kissed her. The overwhelming pull to remain with my mate countered my sense of duty to help my brother and Skylar. If it meant staying here with Nyssa, I was teetering on throwing it all away, casting mymiddle fingers up at the world, and laughing as we disappeared.
“Castor!”
“Fuck,” I cursed as I pulled back in a snarl.
Nyssa gave me a half-smile and a nod, encouraging me to fulfill my duty toward my brother. Understanding that if I turned away from him, I would never truly be able to live with myself.
“I’ll be waiting,” Nyssa signed with a devilish smile.
I returned one of my own, biting my bottom lip as my eyes trailed over the gorgeous figure and even more breathtaking soul I was forever bound to. When my eyes met hers, I felt a connection begin to fall into place, and I knew—I knew I would carry Nyssa with me no matter where my path wandered in this life or the next.
I silently tapped my heart once more, and she smiled with a nod, doing the same.Pushing off the rock face, I forced myself to turn away, rejoining my brother and the shifters for the final trek of the trials to free our world.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Castor Aegaeon
“You ready?” Daxton asked me.
“Let’s make this journey a quick one, shall we?”
My brother nodded as we joined Skylar and Shaw, who were waiting at the bottom of the hill at the border of the wilt. Zola was no longer within the vicinity, and I could only imagine that Skylar was interrogating her beta for more information.
“For now,” Shaw said as we approached. “We’ll have to wait and see what becomes of it.”
“I’m—” Skylar’s expression dropped, almost as if she could feel Shaw’s emotions as her own. “I’m sorry, Shaw.”
“It’s not a rejection, Sky,” Shaw answered. “And with everything that’s happening, I would be concerned if she didn’t react this way. It took almost four months for you to accept your feelings and even imagine that a mate bond with Daxton was possible.”
“True,” Skylar said, looking at my brother, a spark igniting in her amber eyes in a special way reserved only for him. Turning her gaze, she asked, “So you’re all right, Shaw?”
Crossing his arms, Shaw looked over the camp. “I have something to fight for beyond today. Something that I know will be worth the wait.”
Hmm, perhaps Shaw was a perfect match for Zola after all. He would need that blessed patience to understand her.
“All right, I don’t see a pathway. Is there a magic incantation we need to say to make it appear?” I said in a mocking tone, waving my fingers at the wilt.
“Seriously, Castor?” Skylar clicked her tongue, making me chuckle.
I always enjoyed ruffling her feathers.
Our champion strode forward, reaching to unsheathe the alpha’s dagger from her back. The blade was humming with magic, similar to her armor and Daxton’s sword. It seemed plain, yet power lay embedded within the ancient steel. Magic was utilized to forge this weapon and give it a purpose beyond our comprehension.
Skylar raised the blade to her palm and sliced her hand. Daxton tensed, being the overbearing male he was despite his mate’s independence, as Skylar kneeled on the wilted earth and placed her bleeding palm on the ground. Once her blood trickled onto the dying earth, the blood of the shifter champion, a pathway appeared.
