25. Lexa

Chapter 25

Lexa

B lindsided, I stuttered, " W-What? "

"Lexa, we're losing him," Sava urged, pulling my attention.

Ravyn stroked her brother's face. Arim's skin glowed where she touched it, and then she faded from sight, a sad smile on her face.

"Focus on the power that beats within you." Sava sounded so grave I looked up at him. I wasn't used to seeing him so serious, so ancient, and his intensity helped clear the cobwebs of confusion from my brain. "Call upon your feelings for Arim, that love you dare not mention but can no longer ignore."

I didn't like admitting to the emotion that made me so vulnerable. It went against everything ingrained in me from the time I'd learned what it truly meant to be a Dark Lord. But I couldn't turn away from Arim, not when he needed me most. I had so many questions, but now was not the time.

Taking a deep breath, I once again lost touch with the physical and stared into a Darkness shimmering with Light — the core of me. The demon taint no longer existed. Instead, love, an iridescent rainbow of feeling, throbbed in my soul, a testament of Arim's power so generously shared.

I could do no less than pass it back to the man I couldn't live without.

Freely and without hesitation, I shared my love with his soul, which flared so brightly it hurt to look at…until I noted the black speck at its center. That part of Arim he wanted to deny but couldn't called to me on a level I understood.

Possession, desire, and raw need filtered through me back to him, and I allowed the Darkness he'd given me to seep back into his being. Traces of his gift of Light refused to leave me, though, and I instinctively held on to what my mind told me I couldn't afford to let go.

As I shared the moment with Arim, my heart fluttered, knowing that I truly loved him as I never would another.

Sparks of energy shot through us, tying us together in a way words never could. In a few seconds, I saw the immense void where Tanselm's power had been, a boon the land granted Arim that Tanselm would never willingly give Sin Garu.

I realized the energy I had shared wouldn't sustain Arim forever, but it would do temporarily. We would have to hope it would be enough to rid us of Sin Garu and free Tanselm from the Malinta demons' touch.

Arim's groan shook my concentration and severed our link. Shouts from behind me told me the spell holding the Storm Lords frozen had vanished.

I yanked Sava close and whispered, "Not one word about Ravyn's visit."

Sava placed a finger over his lips and whispered back, "Not one word, little mother. "

Clenching my jaw, I shot Sava a look to kill, irritated at the mirth on his face. Ravyn had to be joking. As I helped Arim sit up, my mind flashed with fears and hopes of possible futures that confused me, Sava's teasing making my heart race. Little mother.

"What happened?" Arim rubbed his temples and stood with Sava's and my help.

"Arim, are you okay?" Marcus and Tessa spoke at the same time.

Someone else said, "Damned Dark Lord."

"Jonas, ease up!"

"What the hell?"

A cacophony of voices filled the room, but I had eyes only for Arim. To my relief, he steadied on his own. His energy seemed as strong as it had been before, if a few degrees dimmer than its normal intensity.

"Arim, what happened?" Aerolus shot me a wild look, and I realized he'd seen Ravyn. Uh-oh. Hopefully, he hadn't heard everything she'd said.

Arim rasped, "I was kneeling by your mother when everything went black. I couldn't see you anymore," he said to me, his eyes narrowed.

The others glanced at us, quiet, until Darius groaned.

"What the fuck is going on?" He glared at Arim. "Mother's…passed. You're as white as a sheet, and you've brought the Dark squad with you." He glared at Jonas, Sava and me, and I wished I'd taken the time before to work on Darius and his smart mouth. "Are you okay or what?"

I ignored Darius and nudged Arim toward a chair. "Sit down before you fall down."

To my satisfaction, he grunted his displeasure but walked with his usual arrogance toward a nearby chair while the others peppered us with questions and angered looks.

Once Arim sat, I turned to address the others. "All of you just shut up for a minute." I deliberately glared at Darius, pleased when his vocal cords seized under my enchantment. The spell worked to silence the others in the room as well. "Your uncle is feeling the effects of Tanselm's draining energy."

Not the entire truth, but one that will suffice until I can have a good heart-to-heart with Arim. "Sin Garu has somehow bridged the demon world to Tanselm. As we speak, the demons are stuffing themselves with Tanselm's energy."

I released my mute spell, waved away their angry protestations, and added, "I'm going to take care of Sin Garu just as soon as I can locate his whereabouts."

Sava nodded. "I found him. He's holed up in the Between. I can show you where."

"Perfect." Arim's menacing growl underscored his newfound health.

The others grinned with relief that their Guardian of Storm seemed both hale and hearty.

"We'll come too," Aerolus pledged and took a step forward, only to find Alandra under his arm and once again seething with temper.

The Shadren amused me, and I found I liked her spark. And the fact she didn't allow powerful Aerolus to tell her what to do.

"Not without me," she asserted.

"And me." Tessa crossed her arms over her chest, daring Marcus to contradict her.

"Actually, none of you will be going," I said before Arim could. I waited for everyone's protests to die down before I explained. "Light Bringers are generally foolish, but not foolish enough to take pregnant women into battle. No, your most royal highnesses." Was it wrong to revel in the princes' irritation? "Your place is here, defending your land and your expecting affai."

Cadmus frowned. "Pregnant women?"

Darius frowned as well. "Expecting affai?" He paled in understanding.

"Mother of Shadow," Alandra gasped and faced Aerolus. " That's why I've been so emotional lately. I feel such extremes, and I'm always so tired. I just thought it was the stress of all this." She sadly glanced at Ravyn before looking away.

But I saw tears of joy in her eyes as she looked into Aerolus' face. "We're going to be parents."

Aerolus blinked down at his wife. "What?"

Marcus and Tessa stared at each other in shock.

"Nicely done," Sava murmured in my ear before joining his niece. He gave Alandra a gentle hug. "I'm so happy for you. And for you as well, Aerolus." He glanced around with a smile. "Congratulations to all of you."

"I don't understand." Darius still looked confused, but Samantha grinned from ear to ear as the realization of my words settled.

"Your. Wife. Is. Pregnant." Jonas spelled out. "You're right, Sava. Light Bringers are slow." He gave Ellie a thumbs up. "So long as the baby looks like Ellie, Cadmus, I think you'll be okay."

As understanding filled the room, a sense of grand happiness mingled with the melancholy still lingering over the group, giving me a tender buzz.

"I wonder if Ravyn knows." Arim startled me. I'd been so focused on the others I hadn't heard him rise. He gathered me in his arms and hugged me from behind, his chin on top of my head. "I think she'd be pleased."

"She knows. This is just what she wanted," Aerolus said, his gaze resting curiously on Arim and me. Then he turned and nodded at something Sava said.

I sucked in a breath when Arim rubbed my belly. Had he heard Ravyn?

By the Dark, I hoped not.