Filed to story: The Chosen Saga Novel PDF Free
“I don’t know how.” River looked up. Araiya swore he looked at her, almost pleading. “It won’t heal,” he whispered.
“River, heal her. Damn it!” Cal screamed. River shook his head and Soren looked on as a tear fell from his eye.
“River,” Terran called from his place by the wall. “You know we won’t survive without her. You have to figure out a way to heal her.”
Soren reached out and cupped River’s cheek, wiping away his tears. River looked at her, devastated, and she smiled at him. She cleared her throat and looked over her men. “River did his best, but what remains is never going to leave me.” Soren ran a hand down her stomach. “It’s poison.”
“I’m sorry.” Another tear fell.
“It’s okay, River. It’s not your fault, so don’t even start.” Soren patted his cheek and smiled at him again as she wiped at another tear.
“How? What happened here?” Mac paced back and forth at the end of the settee. His anger at the situation was too high to stop moving.
“I need… “Soren’s voice faded out, or Araiya was fading from the dream. Everything grew fuzzy and then snapped back into clarity. “We have so much to do and not a lot of time. I need your help.”
“What does that even mean Soren. Who did this?” Mac gestured to the room.
“I’ll explain everything, but I need a few things first. Zeph, you are the fastest, can you go get Jay?” Soren’s shape grew fuzzy once again. Araiya had to assume she was waking up. Zeph’s voice brought her back into the dream.
“Of course.” Zeph leaned in and kissed her head. “Anything you need. Do you want me to go find-“
“Goddess, no.”
“Why don’t you want your mate with you, Soren?” Cal questioned.
Soren took a deep breath and then looked at the men she trusted with her life; with her last task. “It was Devlin,” she choked out, a sob caught in her throat. “I don’t want him here because he’s the one that did all of this. He sealed my fate here.” Soren again looked off to the side, her eyes coming to stop exactly where Araiya was hidden. “I do not want to relive this night.”
“Devlin did this, but why?” Terran braced himself on the wall.
“I do not know. I thought everything was fine. I thought he loved me, but I awoke to him attacking me. Something had changed in him these past cycles. When I woke, all I could see was hatred in his eyes. Hatred, and my death. I passed out from the pain, but I was able to force myself awake and I crawled out when I heard their cries.” Soren shook from the tears coursing down her face. Her eyes unfocused, reliving the torture of the previous night.
“Their cries?” Zeph came closer and gripped her other hand.
“Have you not been to the hatchery?” The sorrow in her eyes broke Araiya again.
“No, no fucking way.” Mac paced away, gripping his hair in his fists.
“They are all gone.” Soren slowly focused on Cal. He stared back into the eyes of a woman who had lost everything. “All of my babies are gone.”
“No.” He shook his head and gripped her hand. “Not all.”
“He’s been tainted by darkness. Devlin has turned from our Goddess’s path. He is no longer welcome in our realm and when I am gone, it will fall to you to hold on to this place. It will be you who become leaders of our people. Your Elementals will help guide you and you in turn will guide my children.”
“Stop.”
“Cal, I need to know that the people I love-my people, my children-are in good hands,” Soren pleaded.
“Stop it.”
“This will be hard. I know. But I need your help. As I will no longer be here to make sure everything is in place.”
“I fucking said stop!” Cal screamed. “You’re not leaving. You’re not allowed to leave us. You’re not allowed to leave me.” He ripped his hand from her and put his head to his hands. “Please don’t leave me.” He choked on his sobs.
“Cal, look at me.”
“No,” he whispered over and over, rocking himself. “Don’t leave.”
“Cal, look at me.” The men watched as one of their brothers cracked. The one person he held dear, the one he always wanted but could never have, just said she would go beyond the veil. They could only look on as his entire world shattered.
“Cal, for Goddess sake, fucking look at me.” Finally, he raised his tear-streaked face. “I know,” Soren said quietly.
Cal flinched back and he whispered, “You know?”
“Everyone does, you fucking moron,” Mac scoffed. “You are not very good at hiding your feelings.”
“Cal, I love you as a brother. I love you as I love them.” Soren gestured to the others. “But you are not meant for me, just like they were not meant for me. You are meant for an amazing, lovable, absolutely broken creature. She’s going to come into your life and change the very ground that you walk on.”